Rafa & Simone visit

Saturday, December 8th 2007:

Yay, Rafa and Simone visit the DC area! Another Mazur group gathering in a month - always fun times catching up on the ongoings in Boston, and it was Simone's birthday - Happy Birthday!

Iva recommended Clyde's which is in Chevy Chase/Friendship Heights, not too far from us, just a metro stop away. But we decided to drive since we were running a bit late.



Nice balance...never seen dishes carried out quite like that before.



After dinner, we drove Rafa and Simone to their posh boutique hotel, Hotel Rouge, which was not your usual hotel room, with its red (or rouge) curtains, carpet and headboard, a mix of David Lynch-ness, 50's kitch, and modern classics - does that make any sense?


Simone gets a small birthday gift from us - two free passes to the ICA in Boston


The mini-bar included all sorts of interesting items, including a teddy bear-shaped jar filled with soft yummy gummy bears that Simone and I decided to indulge in, and an "intimacy kit" shown above.

Go Suns!

Friday, December 7th 2007:

Phoenix Suns vs. Washington Wizards: Brian's first NBA game and my first since 2000. Nothing like my courtside seats during the '99 finals between the Knicks and the Spurs with the "Twin Towers", but it was fun nonetheless, especially to see Steve Nash in action, even if he was just a speck of dust in the distance.

I got tickets super early back in July?, the cheapest of course, so it was funny to see that all the upper level seats were filled, while the lower levels were sprinkled with empty seats. I made sure to wear my team's colors to show where my loyalties lie. Surrounded by fans of the opposing team is nothing new for me...think Yankees hat in Kenmore Square.

Not having eaten dinner beforehand, we indulged ourselves with some pricey eats

Random comment, but during half-time, they had a show where the performers would be dancing and then their clothes would change instantly. They did this several times. Kinda cheesy, but the last change/transformation was pretty cool. I forgot how entertaining some of the breaks were and the competitions they held during them.

Final score, no surprise, Suns 122, Wizards 107

Some shots of the game:

For Lola

We love you, and you'll always be in our prayers.

Thanksgiving weekend

Thursday, November 22nd, 2007:

What a fantastic idea. Before gorging ourselves in the traditional Thanksgiving feast, we decided to join Sarah in our first Abington YMCA Gobble Wobble 5K Run.









And we're off!


the home stretch...









So here are the results & rankings (Age/Gender/Overall) out of 696 runners:

Sarah - 23:10 Pace: 7:27 (3/26/122)
Ruby - 28:44 Pace: 9:14 (18/134/381)
Brian - 28:45 Pace: 9:15 (18/248/382)

link to results

Of course, Brian just kept me company during our leisurely run and would have run much faster had he gone on his own.

Back at the house...the cooking commences


Post-run stretching...

then passing out...






those folks are going to have a blast raking all those leaves


I guess the backyard isn't looking too good either




Later that evening...




It's dinner time! Here's what my first plate looked like:



gotta love turkey...and stuffing and mashed potatoes and canned cranberries and veggies...




The dessert table, with Midge digging into my 2nd annual Thanksgiving chocolate bread pudding, which sat next to another chocolate delight







Friday, November 23rd 2008: Wissahocken Park

Sarah went to run off all the food from the night before, as Brian and I made our way to the hidden Native American statue.



Apparently, a tree had fallen across our path not too long before we reached it, perplexing those returning to the entrance.





Unfortunately on our trek, we both had the crippling urge to urinate, and although there were places to "go", people would just randomly be hiking here and there. So we had a really small window of opportunity, and when we took it, it was not 10 seconds later that a group of people started approaching our area. What a relief it was in both senses. Been a while since I've had to do that.









We went to see Enchanted at the movies, which was quite entertaining although the ending could have been better, and had some yummy sushi for dinner, which was the first for Sarah. Like mine, her favorite turns out to be salmon.



A perfectly light dinner to end the evening.