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Long after his car pulled out of the garage, Mom woke us to start getting ready for school. We headed into the kitchen for breakfast and were always delighted to find the Valentine’s fairy had not forgotten about us. Sitting on the rickety old kitchen table sat three heart shaped boxes. One extra large box for mom, and two miniatures for Amanda and I. The Valentine’s fairy came. And although I would take a bite out of every piece and inevitably spit it out, because I only liked one kind, he did it every year.

This Valentine’s Day I climbed out of bed, put my slippers and hoodie on and slowly made my to the kitchen to make breakfast. Passing by my big black dining room table, I couldn’t help but notice that it was empty, not a thing on it except my red backpack sitting on one of the chairs. I got my English muffin and water and sat down at the table by myself. I smiled as I thought of those red heart shaped boxes, and wished that if I closed my eyes long enough one would appear. Because although I only ate one out of the five pieces, it wasn’t about the chocolate at all; he was our dad, and we were his Valentines girls.

And, drum roll please, I’m pleased to announce the winner of the Megan Beth cupcake contest is: comment number 30, Lindsay Thompson! Email me your address Lindsay for your box of a dozen fresh Georgetown Cupcakes! If you didn’t win this time, there will be another contest coming up soon for something equally as awesome!

Lastly since no post is complete without a picture, here is a little gold nugget of Amanda and Brian at one of my weddings last year, who both just celebrated birthdays during the snow storm last week. I won’t mention how many years, but there was a milestone in there. Love you guys!

It snowed a little here in the DC metro area over the weekend, shutting down practically everything. Everything except for my street which stays well plowed because of the fire station at the end of the road. And fortunately, or unfortunately in some cases, there is another snow storm coming tomorrow and Wednesday with another foot of snow. I love the snow, but standing at five feet, I’m slightly afraid it will soon get over my head. Must remember to wear my hat with the flag for easy Megan Beth GPS locating.

Check back tomorrow for an AWESOMELY delicious CONTEST! You heard, a CONTEST.

And here I am making sure my dance moves are still sharp in half of the twenty-eight inches of snow we got. Still got it! Holla!

I grew up never having broken any bones and no real emergencies, so hospitals were kind of mysterious to me. They were exciting, fast paced, and the only one I was familiar with had George Clooney playing Dr. Doug Ross in it. I envisioned the day when I would get to visit one first hand, limbs cut off, bleeding out and Dr. Carter pulling out the crash cart in the waiting room. And then my life changed, my dad was diagnosed with a neurological disorder, he started falling and thus started the visits to the ER and the hospitals.

The last time Dad and I were at Hopkins we sat in the waiting room for five hours and I came to a conclusion, this isn’t fun. This isn’t exciting. Actually it sucks. People in hospitals are sick. People in hospitals come because they need serious help from medical professionals. And unfortunately these last few years I have spent may days in the ER, and at hospitals. I don’t think it gets any easier, but it is comforting to know Dad is at John’s Hopkins, one of the best hospitals in the nation.

Tomorrow we are taking him for his pre-surgery anesthesiology consultation in preparation for Monday and Tuesday. I’m a little nervous, and certainly not looking forward to going but hopefully this surgery pushes things in the right direction. I’m going to be out of the office tomorrow, Friday through Wednesday, and answering all emails when I get back.

I shot this image last time we were at Hopkins, right before the security guard told me I couldn’t take pictures…I may or may not have complied with his warnings.

I was walking to my car coming back from a client meeting on Sunday and noticed a long line coming out of a small new store front in downtown Bethesda. I did indeed learn a few things in my Criminal Justice career at the University of Maryland, so I was off to investigate. To be honest, I was a little embarrassed. A cupcake place opened up in Bethesda, and I DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT IT. I did an immediate about face and scurried on over and got in line. Georgetown Cupcakes in Bethesda. Sigh, thank goodness they put in one more, cause the three cupcake places we already have JUST AREN’T ENOUGH. And so it continues, my mission over the last few years to try as many cupcakes as I can find.

I thoroughly enjoyed Georgetown Cupcakes, and ordered the Chocolate 3. The cake was moist and flavorful and the icing was a scrumptious chocolate ganache. I’m not a huge fan of The Sprinkle, but these seemed like chocolate gourmet sprinkles. Definitely a must try spot. What is your favorite cupcake place, near or far?