Our Sister Weekend was like a spring renewal celebration. The love and the laughter, the food and the spring flowers, the tears and the reminiscing, the music and even a bit of tap dancing made it for an amazing weekend.
This was an event that we had only talked about as a group. Unfortunately only 5 of the seven sisters were able make the trip to our national’s capital to celebrate our our first annual weekend together. SueO had to work and JoJo was taking her teenage twins on college visits. They were so missed. We included them by posting pictures and videos, but it just wasn’t quite the same without them.
Helen and I arrived a day early to soak up some DC springtime fun. We walked to the National Cathedral, spent time in the Bishop’s garden, and ate lunch in the cathedral’s cafe. Janie used her tour guide skills to educate us on cathedral history and naming flowers, trees, and birds. Oakie was watching over us as we skipped along and marveled at the spring in bloom.
Janie was our very gracious hostess. Her Air B&B is homey and elegant all at the same time. We were treated to fresh lemon poppyseed muffins made by a young local baker Jamie. Delivery was just in time to add to our bowls of plump and juice fruit and light fluffy scrambled eggs.
Mid-Morning we were off to an estate sale. The weather did not cooperate but it allowed us to show off our Mary Poppins poses with umbrellas. In the afternoon we took a fascinating tour of the Post-Merriweather gardens and estate. Lunch was scrumptious and the estate felt like we were viewing an American royalty. Our evening was spent together chatting, laughing and watching Netflix.
Jean and Mare arrived on Saturday afternoon and we started off by going to get our hair done at a Dry Bar. What a treat! Then it was off to have mani/pedis. We all felt so pampered. Since we were all dolled up, we attended a wonderful fundraiser for Janie’s singing group The Capital Hill Chorale. We munched on juicy BBQ, had a toast of Prosecco, and danced to a sappy jazz band. Mum was certainly on our minds this evening. We all snapped our fingers to the music the way she did when surrounded by great music. Helen was successful at securing a silent auction item. It was a great evening of sister bonding.
Sunday was a slower start for the sisters. Helen left before dawn needing to get back to her family. Janie and Mare hung out early, creating a delightful breakfast. The sunroom was set with Janie’s China and we enjoyed a steamy frittata, bowls of fruit salad, croissants, plus chef Jamie’s lemon poppyseed muffins.
The savvy sisters spent most of our day catching up on each other’s lives, reconnecting, and reminiscing about growing up. We opened gifts like pen and ink drawings of the sisters, gardening gloves and relaxing eye pillows. An unexpected gift came from our brother Joe, who send along a set of "7" Russian Matryoshka Nesting Dolls. The sisters were very excited to receive such a thoughtful gift.
We talked and listened, laughed and cried. We ate and drank tea, we sang and even put on some tap shoes scanning our brains for old tap steps we learned long ago. The weekend was a reconnection to our past that was long overdue. Mum and Oakie would have been proud of the fine people we all turned out to be.
Thank you, Jean for being our wise, compassionate, oldest sister. Thank you, Marianne for your quiet, gentle, gracious way about you. Thank you, Helen for your generous, kind spirit and savvy ways. Thank you, SueO for your love of life and keen sense of humor. Thank you, Jo for your sharp wit, enthusiasm for life, and musicality. And thank you, thank you, thank you, Janie for your infectious laugh, beautiful singing voice, warm hospitality, and generously letting us stay in your snazzy DC home. What a delightful place to spend the weekend.
I can’t wait until the next Savvy Sister Event!
Smile and Be Kind,
Claire