RUBASHKIN FAMILY:
We had an exceptional thanksgiving holiday. David's sister and family moved to London this summer, and as they usually host Thanksgiving, we all flew over the pond to celebrate with them! They live just outside the city, a short commute away, and we spent five busy days sightseeing in cold (but relatively dry) London. As Sophie said, we went to eight museums, two plays, two concerts, and crossed the Thames on foot countless times.
The city is vibrant, full of people from all over the world, and so much more alive than the last time we were there in 2000. Highly recommend it! Now we are home, and buckling down for the end of the school semester. No movies to recommend, but I did read Verghese's new book Cutting For Stone, which was an engrossing novel, especially if you happen to be a physician (as you may have noticed, we have a high number of MD's on this block!). In our house, the kids have begun the count down to winter break. Pamela, David, Sophie, and Jacob (Hannah in absentia sends greetings from NYC)
FORREST FAMILY:
We took a quick trip to L.A. for Arthur’s pre-production on the Rose Parade. While there we dined with Arthur’s long time friend, Hal Cooper. Hal was the director of the All in the Family and Maude sit coms. The men had a great time over dinner exchanging stories from past productions.
Marcy Vamoosed up to NYC for a dear friend, Fran Healy’s birthday dinner at Le Cirque. The ten friends who gathered at the dinner table have enjoyed forty years of friendship. It was a gloriously happy event.
Marcy had the opportunity to hear the music and reminiscences of two divas. First, Marcy and Farrell Cosmas attended a dynamic performance by Dee Dee Bridgewater at the Strathmore Performing Arts Theater. The evening’s tribute to Billie Holiday was a range from ballads to blues.
Secondly, Marcy and Nicole enjoyed a cocktail reception at the New Zealand Embassy for “Conversations with Opera Legend,” Kiri Te Kanawa.” Later that same week, at the Kennedy Center, Nicole and Steve enjoyed Dame Kanawa’s performance, as part of her farewell tour. Zak and Chad took ZF Films to Kentucky to film Foxy Shazam’s wild stage performance for Warner Bros. They continued filming the rock group from late night into dawn on the street for a music video.
We enjoyed two nights of Thanksgiving feasting, Thursday night with Steve’s family in The Plains, VA. and Friday night, Steve's parents joined us for dinner at the Bearhouse. It was fun to enjoy our own family as well as another family’s tradition.
(wow ...there is no stopping them...look who sneaked in)
Since the next LSSN will be printed January 10th, I will take this opportunity to recommend the NBC Rose Parade for your viewing pleasure on New Years Day...once again, Arthur serves as Executive Producer and Director of the NBC Production.
This year’s Grand Marshall of the Rose Parade is Captain Chesley Sullenberger, the US Airways Pilot who heroically landed his plane in the Hudson River. The Rose Parade can be seen New Year's Day on NBC . It is a jubilant way to begin your new year.
STROTHER FAMILY:
The Strothers plug along. We're caught up a bit right now in the St Albans Christmas House Tour, which will have just concluded when the LSN publishes. Molly has been laying mats in the houses; Jim is helping with the buses. Football is over for the season, with St Albans taking the IAC championship, and our William faces the task of repeating the feat next year.
BOLAND FAMILY:
Our Thanksgiving was very nice, but not the usual large group since Shannon and Joe went to Joe's parents in Wisconsin and Jeb and Jen hosted Jen's family. Monty came home with a turkey from the University Club where he works, so I fixed a mini Thanksgiving on Tuesday for the boys. On Thursday, we went to Columbia for Thanksgiving dinner, and then to Jeb and Jen's for dessert. It was the first Thanksgiving in their home which is in the neighborhood across from the Bethesda YMCA on Old Georgetown Road. Monty and Patrick polished off the stuffing I'd made on Tuesday by Wednesday morning, so I fixed some more on Friday to get them through the weekend!
I have a sister who lives in Easton and she opened her second paint your own pottery store this week. The second Clay Bakers is located at 151 Main St. in Annapolis and we will attend the Grand Opening. Karen's original store is located at #1 S. Washington St. in Easton. My Mom is coming up, as well as another of my 3 sisters, for the opening and we'll enjoy a quick visit.
Friday morning I host my French conversation group which necessitated doing a bit of Christmas decorating earlier than usual. The Americans have introduced the French ladies to a cookie swap which is lots of fun, not to mention delicious. The French tend to fix things like " les truffes" and "les tartes", but they love our American "biscuits.” Cookie is new to their vocabulary!
The Bolands welcome the Patches back to Leland Street. It is wonderful to see the great house alive again with the daily activities of family, rather than the daily activity of the workers! We wish everyone on the block a wonderful holiday season, and hope that we are all fortunate to be blessed in sharing it with our loved ones.
AYAZ FAMILY:
November was a busy month. We traveled to Arizona to visit with Nicole’s parents and attend a wedding in beautiful Sedona, AZ. We highly recommend making a trip to Sedona if you have never been.
The red rock mountain formations are stunning. Then we traveled with some friends to Grand Cayman for Thanksgiving. It was a treat to spend some time in the sun and surf!
Nicole’s parents and brother are coming to Chevy Chase for the holidays and we look forward to a full house in December! The most exciting news is that Tony has been promoted to Vice President of Federal Markets at his company. He has been working extremely hard and it is wonderful that he has achieved this recognition. Nicole is continuing to work for her California law firm and is enjoying the new challenges. Arianna and Sophia are busy with school and have their first ballet recital this week.
They have enjoyed their trips but have informed us that they will not be taking another long airplane ride for “a long time”! We want to thank the Vicente family for taking such good care of our two fish, Sally & Strawberry, while we were away! We wish everyone a very merry holiday season!
Book Recommendation:
Nicole completed” The Great Influenza.” It is a non-fiction account of the 1918 influenza and really provided a lot of information about the development of modern medicine in the United States. I found it to be a fascinating read especially in light of the new H1N1 virus.
DUFFY FAMILY:
We enjoyed Thanksgiving in Gastonia, NC with Charles' family. By the time Charles' 5 brothers and sisters, their children and friends gather, we always have a big group.
This year we had 40 people, 3 turkeys and countless pies and cakes. And of course there's the turkey bowl... As always, the nephews beat the Uncles in football and soccer, with the Uncles limping around and taking lots of advil for the rest of the weekend. Each year the Uncles declare "this is the last year we're doing this."
Matthew is enjoying ice skating lessons at the Rockville rink. He is determined to become a hockey player (specifically, a goalie) and is asking Santa for a goalie helmut and goalie shin guards.
We really enjoyed meeting Sigrid's parents during their recent visit - and particularly enjoyed discussing travels to New Orleans, music and politics.
MELISSA, DOUG AND FAMILY:
We have been having a wonderful Fall, filled with family and the anticipation of the pitter patter of little paws. On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, one of Melissa's brothers flew in from Washington State and the rest of Melissa's extended family drove to Leland Street to visit and celebrate with a lengthy dinner. It was a wonderful, relaxed event, catching up with family from near and far. For Thanksgiving, we traveled to visit Doug's family in Pittsburgh. Between the numerous cousins, grandparents, snowflakes, and the high level of culinary
offerings, Molly and Gordon were reluctant to come home.
The week after Thanksgiving, Doug and Molly spent Friday night on the road, in an attempt to beat the snow for the Saturday morning pick up of our new puppy! On Saturday afternoon, they drove through the snow from West Virginia to bring home Lucy, our 8 week old Landseer Newfoundland puppy. Lucy did not disappoint, we are all completely smitten with her and, as Gordon said, it's nice to hear the sound of paws in the house again.
BATEMAN FAMILY:
The Bateman's had a wonderful Thanksgiving with everyone home and all cooks in the kitchen! Jill's mother and father were visiting from Florida and Jill's brother Mark came down from NYC.
All enjoyed a lot of great food and good company, a lot of football (the boys) and scrabble (the girls).
Annie and Claire will be home in a few weeks for the Christmas holiday and plans include a trip to New York to see the Christmas decorations and maybe a show. Jill and Terry were charmed by the beautiful snowfall on Saturday.......so enchanting. Also, Jill and Terry saw Pirate Radio Friday night and highly recommend it......very funny and reminiscent.
ANN LEE:
My son, Michael, and Velina were married in a beautiful ceremony in the mountains of North Carolina on November 27. It was a small and intimate group including my family, spouses and children, my sister's family, spouses and children and Velina's mother (who made the trip from Bulgaria), her brother (who made the trip from Canada) and good friends from Sweden as well as Velina's daughter, Simone who is 8. There were 10 children under 11 who made the butterflies for the cake ( you have seen a practice cake in a previous edition). We are thrilled to welcome Velina and Simone into our family. Presently they are renting a house in Somerset but will soon be looking for a permanent home.
The caroling party is coming up and all are invited. It will be on Sunday, December 20 at 7:30 pm. You will be getting an evite if I can figure it out again. It's helpful to know who is coming or who might be home due to illness, etc. so we know where to sing. I love starting out the holidays seeing all the neighbors with such spirit.
Note from editor:
Ann Lee's painting has been accepted in a juried show at the Yellow Barn Gallery in Glen Echo. There is a reception today, Sunday, from 5:00 to 7:00 pm but the show will continue until December 20. Congratulations!
LIPPOLD FAMILY:
Paul and I had a great Thanksgiving. Our four children, their spouses, and seven grandchildren had dinner at our house for the feast with all the fixings. Two of our daughters love to cook and bake so we had both smoked turkey and a “normal” roasted one as well as six different kinds of pies and a delicious cake.
(Editor’s note:
Anne did not have a photo to offer but with that many guests and that much food, it may have looked something like this)
The grandchildren that attend Philips Exeter Academy flew in on Tuesday before Thanksgiving and their parents drove from Kentucky. Our youngest daughter came from Arizona. The entire crew ate and spent the week together playing bridge attending the Phillips Gallery and eating at local restaurants. It is the only time a year that our nuclear family gets together. Paul and I see them in the summer, but they usually come independently of each other. It was a wonderful Thanksgiving.
PAYNE/SIMPSON FAMILY:
We waited too long to buy our plane tickets for Thanksgiving in Charleston and so we decided at the last minute to take the family to the Homestead as a fun alternative. This is the first time in 15 years we have missed Thanksgiving with Michael’s family in Charleston and while we missed the tradition, we all had a fabulous time at the Homestead. The place was beautifully decorated for Christmas and the kids just loved the ambiance, outdoor ice-skating under the stars – it even snowed! It was a real treat not to have to cook and they served the most fabulous buffet breakfasts and dinners. Other activities the kids loved while there included bowling, swimming, s’mores on the big outdoor firepit and hiking – despite the large warning sign that read: “Bears are very active in this area…fight back if attacked!”
The kids are all excited that their aunts and cousins are flying in for Christmas. We had a wonderful snowy Saturday yesterday in front of the fire, decorating the tree. Now on to the outdoor lights!
PATCH FAMILY:
We are excited to be back on Leland Street - we moved in on Friday, November 20th and hosted 22 family members for Thanksgiving dinner. Owen, Emma, and Erin are all acclimating well to living in their "grandparents house"!
Our tree conservation fences came down the other day, so we must be getting near the end of our year long renovation. Thanks to all our neighbors for putting up with our ongoing construction.
Tracey took the girls up to New York (Rye) yesterday to stay with her twin sister and go to the Rockettes Christmas Show at Radio City Music Hall, while Owen and dad are having a boys weekend that included a Caps game, a Wizards game and lots of college football!
TROCCHIO FAMILY:
Jennie has been named President of Casa Blanca Academy, a new school in Hollywood, FL for children with autism. Last night she attended her first board meeting and says it is going to be a great experience. Julie has been traveling a lot this fall: Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, Albany , NYC and places in between. But now she is home until after the holidays. Elizabeth and Julie have been reading “The Help “ about a group of Mississippi housewives and their maids. We love it.
