Avery's Bucket List

I've put off writing this post because it just breaks my heart to accept that this is really happening. But sharing it will help spread Avery's story in hopes that you will share it, too.

Last Friday, some very dear friends of ours, Mike & Laura Canahuati, received some unthinkable news. They have a precious 5 month old daughter, Avery, was slow to hit certain physical developmental milestones, and her doctors started worrying. After multiple tests, lots of prayers, and gut-wrenching weeks of waiting for results, their sweet baby girl was diagnosed with an incurable genetic disease called Spinal Muscular Atrophy, or SMA. It attacks her muscle development and will prevent her from walking, moving her arms, and eventually attack her lungs which will lead to her death. The doctors told Mike & Laura that she might live another 18 months, but in reality it could claim her precious little life at any time.

This is the part that I hate about growing up.

Engagements, weddings, pregnancy announcements, births... it's all so exciting until things like this happen and it drags you back down to reality. I'm not naive enough to think that babies are all born perfect and none of them are sick. But I am hopeful enough to think that it won't happen to people I love.

Last night, I read the email from Mike with Avery's diagnosis. I kept refreshing it, scrolling down, and re-reading it to make sure I wasn't skipping over words or missing something. I must have read it 15 times to make sure I was seeing it right. When we heard she was having tests done a few weeks ago, we just *knew* that everything would turn out fine, the doctors wouldn't find anything wrong, and life would go on as usual.

One of the hardest things about reading his email was how beautifully it was written. Mike displayed so much courage, love and strength towards his wife and their sweet baby. It is humbling to know someone who is so strong in the face of sheer tragedy. But... knowing Mike and Laura, this didn't surprise me one bit.

I still remember when I found out Laura was pregnant... it was a year ago yesterday to be exact. I remember talking with them at our wedding reception and noticed Laura was surprisingly calm for 9:30 pm at a party with an open bar, and she didn't have a glass of wine in her hand. When you become our age {and you're in our group of friends}, that can only mean one thing... PREGGO!! Like a good, polite friend, I didn't ask her any tacky or obvious questions in front of everyone. I waited until she turned around and asked all of our girlfriends ;) Sure enough, we got a text a few weeks later confirming the news, and we couldn't have been more excited for them.

Late last summer, Mike and Laura came to visit us in DC for a few days. I was SO excited that we were going to get a whole weekend with them!! But naturally, in the back on my mind, I was thinking... "Crap... what do we do with a pregnant friend??" Laura was one of my first friends to ever get pregnant or have a baby, and I remember being so nervous! Would she be tired, hungry, grouchy, bored, I don't know??? What do pregnant people do?

Surely enough, when they arrived in town it was like nothing changed. All that worrying for nothing. We had such an awesome time, Laura was such a trooper, and she made me realize that being pregnant isn't scary. I also quickly realized that Mike was incredibly sweet, attentive, and basically waited on her hand and foot ;) Here are two of my favorite pictures from the trip:

Mike's first trip to H&M.
 Piled high with baby girl's clothes. 

Laura and Avery's first Metro Ride

The thing that stood out to me was the genuine excitement they shared their little baby, and how much they loved her already. As I mentioned in the blog post about their visit, they made the whole "having a baby" thing look easy.

They are already role models for us on "how to be a cool pregnant couple"... and they continue to be role models in how they are rising above Avery's condition and making the best of it.

To help raise awareness about Avery's story, Mike and Laura started a blog called Avery's Bucket List. I encourage you to check it out so that you can educate yourself on SMA, help them raise awareness, and send a few suggestions for the bucket list their way. Please pray for them and the tough times they have ahead.

To Mike, Laura, and Avery- Your courage and strength are an inspiration to us all. We love you.

Steak, Wine, More Steak, More Wine.

Last week, we had the pleasure of hosting some wonderful guests at Chateau Smith: Jessica, Lauren, and Cody. 

Jessica, one of my BFF's, made her third trip to visit since we've moved. She wins the frequent traveler award... and major friend brownie points ;) She had a work event Thursday evening and conveniently stretched her trip out until Sunday. Lauren and Cody were DC first-timers. Lauren is a teacher, so she had last week off for Spring break, and they decided to use their time wisely and spend Friday-Tuesday with us.

Hosting a group is fun, but it comes with certain pressures. You want to make sure that each visitor has an amazing trip that they will always remember. We genuinely appreciate when friends/family make the trek to the East Coast, so we want to show them the best time possible. When we were contemplating plans for the weekend, we knew this one would be a little tricky. Since this was Jessica's third visit, she's "been there, done that" on the touristy front. A trip to the Smithsonian and National Mall was not in the cards. 

Lauren and Cody, however, were first timers. The good news what that they were strategic with their planning, and they booked their trip through Tuesday so that they could sight-see while we were at work, and could spend the weekends playing with us. 

We had the prefect week/weekend planned... {or so we thought!}

Wednesday: Kate/Jess dinner at Founding Farmers in DC

Thursday: Jessica's work event {Open bar, tequila, mariachi band. Duh.} then bar hopping in DC

Friday: Dinner at Ray's the Steaks in Clarendon, potential bar hopping after

Saturday: Chartered bus trip to 3-4 wineries in Loudon County, Virginia, who knows after

Sunday: Brunch, possible Sunday Funday

Monday: {Day} Lauren/Cody sight see, {Night} Movie at Arlington Cinema Draft House

Sounded awesome, right?! Too bad...

Wednesday: Jessica booked her flight into the wrong airport, landed late, and we missed dinner.

Thursday: Event was *awesome*, bar hopping turned into one drink and a fat steak dinner, then home by 10:00. 

Friday: Took Jess shopping and sight seeing in Georgetown. Lauren and Cody's flight was 3 hours late AND Delta lost their bags temporarily. No steaks, bar food at P Brennan's instead.

Saturday: SUCCESS! Made it to 2 wineries, were back in time for a make-up dinner at Ray's the Steaks. Well worth the wait-- some of the best steak I've ever had!

Sunday: Brunch happened, but no Funday. We all drank water, then came home immediately to sleep again. Home cooked pasta dinner by Kate and Lauren.

Monday: Dinner and NCAA Championship viewing at P Brennan's.

Even though everything didn't go exactly as planned, we had a fantastic weekend. Thanks again for visiting, everyone!

Wednesday: Post- event drinks with bestie at POV  

The ridiculously delicious  28 oz prime rib with lobster mashed potatoes at The Occidental.
{Jess and I split this, of course}

Jessica's first Food Truck Friday! 

Overall: not a top 5 favorite, but the Mac and Cheese was stellar!!

Quick trip to the Georgetown campus-- so pretty!

I'm officially obsessed with this house and I can only see the front door.
If only I had $2 million. Sigh....
#lifelongDCrenters

Enjoyed spring flowers 

Saturday- Chartered winery tour in Louden County

First stop: Bluemont Winery 

Easy, Jess. There's enough to go around. 

Lauren & Cody enjoying the scenery

He's the king of the world! With an empty glass :(

Second Stop: Sunset Hills <3 

Pretty outside patio

I see you! 

Jessica trying to finagle earlier reservations at Ray's the Steaks. In spanish.
"Si, si, si. A la ocho. Si si si."

A must every time: car bombs at P Brennan's before dinner

Sunday night home cooked dinner! Pasta making lesson with Kate & Lauren.
She's a natural! Cody-- I think your wifey needs a stand mixer ASAP ;) 

The finished product-- fettucini with sweet italian sausage and peppers in vodka sauce.

Monday night: Eoghain/Lauren bonding.
This one's for you, Rob!!

Tuesday, we came home to an empty apartment, and 11 emptier bottles of wine.
Great weekend!

Savvy Shopping: Guest Room Revamp

I gotta be honest... the whole "bargain shopping" thing wasn't as hard as I thought it would be thanks to a little store called Target.

I exchanged these $89.95 bad boys at Nordstrom:

For these $18.00 gems at Target:

Same look, less expensive. That gave me roughly $72 extra to spend on making my guest room the dream land I've been imagining for months now. Since I spent Saturday night watching DIY shows on HGTV, I gave myself the challenge of revamping the diggs for $100. 

My room inspiration came from some postcards that my mom bought when we went to France the summer I graduated high school. We spent 10 days exploring Nice, Monaco, Cannes, and Paris... it was such an amazing trip! Not only do they bring back great memories, but I'm drawn to the bright colors and chic yet relaxed vibe they give off. I  have a major color crush on yellow, so I thought these would be amazing to base the room around. 

When I started to research for items, I knew I needed to find the bedding first, and everything else will revolve around that. I've been obsessed with this set from West Elm for forever and a day:

West Elm $119

With these sheets...

West Elm $79

With this pillow cover...

Restoration Hardware $50

These three items already add up to $248 (pre-tax), and that's with ONE accent pillow cover, not even the insert or any other decorations... ain't happening. After a few hours of research, some sale rack scouring, and an impromptu trip to Goodwill, here what I came up with!

Smith Guest Suite! I forgot to take "before" pictures... doh! You weren't missing much-- brown and depressing.
Sticks on left: Ikea {Had them for years}, Headboard: Ashley Furniture: {bought when I graduated college}

Right Accent Pillow: $2.49 at Goodwill
Left Accent Pillow: Wedding Gift {Crate & Barrel}

Duvet $62.99, Yellow Stripe Sheets $29.00
Both Target

Decorative books: $4.00 at Goodwill {bottom 2}, Top 3 were gifts
Handsome couple in the back: My parents circa 1978
Table: Antique from my sweet Nana

All together, the room re-do total came to $98.48... I win! Considering it's where I basically get ready in every morning {I use the closet}, it's a double win. I'd much rather start the day with these bright and happy colors than the ugly brown stuff we had before. Since we move into our new place June 1 {more on that later}, I'm holding off on the paint, etc. But I plan on painting the walls in the new place grey, spray painting the iron headboard white, getting a tufted bench, and eventually splurging on some monogrammed pillows like the ones here.

Now that the room has a face lift, we are ready for our fun filled visitors weekend!! My BFF/partner in crime Jessica is coming in town tomorrow for work and staying through Sunday. As an added bonus, Zeke's long time family friend Lauren & her hubby Cody are visiting from Friday-Tuesday. Our weekend will be full of good eats, a trip out to the Virginia wine country, and photo opps with the cherry blossom trees. Excited! This will be my last post for a few days-- be good and have a great week{end}!

Xoxo, 

Kate

Weekend Wrap Up: G Love, Texans, Ball So Hard

Friday the 13th turned out to be pretty fantastic {sans the undergarment issue}. We finally arrived in Baltimore, checked into our hotel, and made our way to the Ram's Head Live to watch the G Love concert. What a great venue! It's a good mix of the Warehouse Live and House of Blues- just the right size for kick ass acoustics and a private show feel. This was my 5th time to see G Love... never gets old. I swear he gets better and better looking each time, too ;) And this was by far my favorite show yet-- HE TOUCHED MY HAND!!! {SwOoN} 

Oh yeah- that's him touching my hand.
We totally had a moment.

After the concert, we met up with some of Zeke's friends that live in Fells Point {in Baltimore} and did what most normal 28 year olds do: drank Cobra 40's until 4:00 am.

Saturday, we hopped on the train at noon to head back to DC. I found some fuel for the road:

We got to the apartment right as Mike, Mark, and Catrina were getting out of the cab. Perfect timing! As usual, we took them to Lost Dog to sample the beer selection.

My new favorite! 

Next, Gennie made it in town, so we got dressed, went to P Brennan's for Car Bombs, and took them bar hopping in Clarendon. Somehow I only snapped one pic... Gennie took some with her camera that I'll have to add.

7:00 am snuck up on us reeeeeeeally quick-- the trip to Baltimore for the game wasn't very fun. 7:00 am cab---> 8:10 train---> 9:00 cab to trailgate.

Poor Gennie 

I love McDonald's wrapper cheese. 

Pretty much how we all felt. 

Once we made it to Baltimore, I think excitement kicked in, and we were ready to get the party started!!

7 liquor rum punch

Sending good vibes to Arian Foster

Trying to stay warm in the 30 degree weather

When Zeke caught me in ski goggles, I think we decided to call it a night. 

Overheard on the train ride home: "Most importantly, let's talk about your white knitted scarf" 

Train announcer left the phone cabinet open. Big mistake around KMFJ.
I picked it up and made sure the entire train knew I "Ball so hard that shit cray".
Luckily this was before the last stop, or it would have been a long walk home.

We had a slight technical difficulty after the train ride... one of our friends somehow got lost between the restroom and the taxi line, hopped into a random cab by himself with a dead cell phone, and spent 2 hours {and $120} on the cab ride home. Never a dull moment with this group.

Thank goodness Monday was a holiday... we were all very slow to get moving. We successfully watched 16 straight hours of movies and TV series including {but not limited to}: Casino, Cocktail, The King's Speech, Man On Fire, The Bachelor, Shameless, Californication, and several other that I can't remember right now.

It's weekends like these that remind you how much you miss your friends and family. We had such a good time and are glad we have crazy impulsive friends that love football just as much as we do :) To Ryan, Mike, Mark, Catrina, Gennie, and Ryan: Thanks again for coming to visit!! You're welcome on our floor any time.

I hope everyone else had a great holiday weekend!