My First Mother's Day

I had a wonderful first Mother's Day! Not only was I showered with many sweet, thoughtful cards and gifts, but I celebrated the holiday with some of the most special women in my life--my Mother Lois, my Mother-in-Law Nancy and Corey's Grammy Dot.

Corey and I took both Lois and Nancy to their favorite restaurants, and we had a nice lunch visit with Grammy Dot in Ocean City.

We're lucky we both come from families that enjoy good company and good food!

This first picture is with my Mom & Dad at the Carlyle Grand restaurant in Arlington, VA. Many special D'Agostino occasions have been celebrated here at Carlyle as it has been one of our family's all-time favorites for years. Dad enjoyed the skirt steak, Corey had the jambalaya which is always killer and Mom and I split 2 fabulous fish dishes. All four of us decided to be little piggies and each get our own desserts! My bread pudding was the winner, with Mom's banana pudding a close second. Yum-o!

Our meal in Salisbury, MD with Corey's parents, Andy & Nancy Benjamin, at Sobo's Restaurant fulfilled all of our culinary desires. This picture was before dessert-- a good thing because I didn't come up for air once that last course was served. I ordered "the Ultimate Sin" which was chocolate ganache cake with a layer of cheesecake. Even though I asked the server to bring 4 forks, my fellow diners all knew better (theirs were just courtesy forks) and stayed out of my way as soon as the plate hit the table.

Me and D.O.T as I call her. Or the G-Dot. I've got lots of nicknames for the Gramster. Doesn't she look great?! She had some surgery several months ago-- who would have guessed?

We only had a couple hours to spend with Dot so we thought it best to spend the time chatting over pizza and Fresca at the condo.

Special props to my hubs for my Mother's Day gift. He surprised the heck out of me with a new digital camera! I was expecting maybe a card and a book or something small, but he pulled out all the stops with a Nikon D-40 camera that has all the bells and whistles! I feel for all of you, though-- as soon as I learn how to use this thing, you're going to be inundated with pictures!

I'm a little nervous, though, with Father's Day right around the corner. Corey set the bar a little too high, I think. I'm going to have to re-evaluate my original plan to give him a Giants "18-1" t-shirt for $21.99.