All posts filed under: Family

This is where DJB brags about his family, so be warned!

The Tastes of Vacation: The “We Are Still Eating (and Living to Tell the Tale)” Edition

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Four nights into DC Restaurant Week and the Browns are still eating (and living to tell the tale).  We last left you following Monday evening’s upscale Mexican dinner at MXDC. But we’ve continued our visitation to new (for us) restaurants in the Washington area. How we’d missed the long-time Woodley Park favorite New Heights Restaurant is a mystery, but we found it on Tuesday evening and it won’t be our last visit. First, let’s begin with the setting: a lovely patio, downstairs “gin joint” and upstairs casual dining area with an Arts and Crafts decor – what’s not to like! Then the food and service were top-notch.  Andrew and I – being gin and tonic fans – tried two very different variations on this theme from the extensive offerings.  Both were superb. All three of us took advantage of the three-course Restaurant Week menu (which we have agreed we cannot do every night unless we want to add 15 pounds of weight by the end of vacation.)  We shared heirloom tomato salad, crab cake, fettuccini, …

MXDC

The tastes of vacation at MXDC Cocina Mexicana

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Our “DC Restaurant Week” vacation began in earnest on Monday evening, as we took the Metro downtown to sample  upscale Mexican food at MXDC. A short two-block walk from Metro Center, this three-level Todd English restaurant was new to all three of us, making for a promising beginning to our week. All three agreed that Andrew’s Black Sea bass with Brussels sprouts was the top choice of the three entrees.  I had a very good Mole de Costilla (short ribs) while Candice went with the steak option.  I also had an Azul Guacamole with blue cheese, bacon, chipotle, and red onion that was wonderfully spicy. We have six more of these lined up over the next week, so I have to pace myself in both writing and eating.  We all gave MXDC between 3-to-3 1/2 stars.  A good start! More to come… DJB Image: Andrew gets ready to kick off Restaurant Week by digging into the Sea bass at MXDC

DJB Family with TB

Summer views

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From deep in the American West (yes, I’m traveling again), here are some photos and very brief observations from the last two-three weeks that I’ve wanted to post…but haven’t found the time.  And I’ll begin with a few pictures from Tom Brown’s Excellent 90th Birthday Adventure.  (Or the Tom-Tom Palooza, as coined by my niece Rachel.) A vivid memory from family gatherings from my youth were my uncles Joe, Jimmy, and Paul — along with my Dad — sitting together and watching the children play. Here’s the next generation, although the vice has turned from cigars and pipes (everyone but my father smoked) to beer.  Here two of my nieces, their husbands, my brother-in-law Mark, and Candice join me in relaxing by the pool. And now for something completely different. We celebrated the start of the new (fiscal) year at work with that great Southern tradition — seersucker.  Unfortunately, not too many folks at the National Trust own any seersucker (at least not any that they would be caught dead in out in public), so …

Tom Brown transition

It’s a Wonderful Life (For Tom Brown on his 90th birthday)

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My father is celebrating his 90th birthday on Sunday, July 5th, and the night before fireworks will be set off in his honor all across America! Daddy told me recently he didn’t think he would live past 73. So while he may not be a very good prognosticator, he still has much to recommend him. That got me to thinking, and in the spirit of my 60 Lessons from 60 Years, I’ve pulled together 90 things about the wonderful life of Tom Brown on the occasion of his 90th birthday.  Just like George Bailey in the movie of the same name, life for so many people would be much the poorer if Tom Brown had not lived these 90 years (and counting!). These are all true, even if they aren’t all factual.  If you have others you would like to add, please list them in the comments section below.  (And thanks to Candice, Claire, and Andrew for their contributions to this list.  Besides being a pretty terrific dad, he’s an amazing grandfather and father-in-law.) 1.  …

At the Van Wickle Gates

Happy graduation day, Andrew

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Andrew has been singing professionally since he was 8 years old.  So fourteen years later, it comes as no surprise that as we celebrate his graduation from Brown University, the weekend has been filled with his music. (Editor’s Note:  This is the second of two posts about the commencement weekends as the twins graduated from college.  I treat my blog like the 21st century version of letter writing, in that I can write one item and it can go out to family and friends everywhere.  These blog posts are all about family.  If you don’t want to read about how wonderful my children are – then stop reading.  Note…you’ve been warned!) Candice, Claire, and I arrived home on Tuesday from Claire’s graduation just in time to fall into bed, get up the next morning to run errands and wash clothes, and then pile into the car on Thursday to drive to Providence to be with Andrew.  As one friend said, “You all must be approaching exhaustion, but what a lovely way to get there . …

Claire at Pomona

Happy graduation day, Claire

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Twenty-two years ago, I never dreamed this day would come. Not that Claire wasn’t always eager to learn.  But when your hands are full with new twins, two decades seems like such a long time in the future. But the years have flown by and this weekend finds us in Southern California for Claire’s graduation from Pomona College. Wasn’t it just yesterday that we were all flying here to leave our daughter on the west coast, at a school she obviously loved but that seemed so far away from home? Pomona was recommended to Claire by Leonard King, her insightful and supportive high school teacher and college counselor at Maret, who had an amazing record of linking students with just the right college that offered the most chance for personal and intellectual growth.  Claire and I first saw Pomona together on a spring break trip. When she decided to apply early decision and Candice was concerned about having her so far from home, I did what any take-charge father would do: I said to Candice, …