Month: July 2011

The Meeting of the Families

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Today was the day that my parents and M’s parents met for the first time.  We decided on Sunday brunch to bring everyone together.  I will be honest and say I was a bit nervous.  I think I get along with M’s parents great, and my parents love her but just getting them all in the same room for the first time you never know what anyone is going to say.

I didn’t have that much to worry about.  Or I should rephrase, I think I had plenty to worry about but everything was as close to perfect as you can get in a situation like that.  We picked a really nice brunch place in mid-town.  It was a really good buffet and all the parents were on their best behaviors.  All in all a good meeting.

After the brunch my parents drove us home and they got to see the apartment for the first time.  It was a brief visit since they had to run home, but at least they got to see it.

The rest of the day was much tamer than the early afternoon and M and I just hung out and got work done around the house.

Date Night

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Tonight M and I had a date night.  Well that is what I am calling it anyway.  We had scheduled time to go see a band we like for the wedding in Manhattan.  Since they were playing at someone elses wedding we had to dress up.  The bride had given her permission for us to come by but we couldn’t go in street clothes.  We figured since we were going to be dressed up and we didn’t need to be at the wedding till 10PM we should go to dinner.

We ended up at the Capital Grill.  It was really good.  We had a good time at dinner and then decided to walk around near Rockefeller Center before going to the venue nearby.

The band was pretty good.  We liked them, but still want to see other bands to ensure we picked a winner!  We both loved M’s friend Jenn’s wedding band but they are far away and there is risk in them driving in from out of town the morning of our wedding especially in the winter.  So our search continues…

The Next Vacation

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M and I have been putting off dealing with planning our next vacation since we have a lot going on planning a wedding, so we were glad to take some time today and figure out when and were we want to goto next.

After discussing Seattle, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Quebec, Arizona, Grand Canyon, and a few other places we opted to go with Santa Fe. We wanted somewhere a bit warm, with some history and also were we could do outdoor stuff. M thought New Mexico and off we went to research. This winter Joe was giving me a hard time for never using American Express Travel even though I have had a card with them for years and my fee pays for some nice perks. We decided to give them another try since they really helped with our cruise planning we booked for January 2012.

We ended up booking 2 resorts. One is a Hyatt that was one of the best rated resorts. It has horse back riding and other cool outdoor activities we wanted. We are going to spend 3 nights there unwinding and then going to a Hilton resort nearer to downtown so we can sight see, but also relax since it is a resort.

We are both pretty excited for the vacation and with all the deadlines for me at work this trip can’t come fast enough.

My Mom’s Birthday

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Today we got up and went to a local Crepes place in Woodside. We had seen it on Yelp a few weeks ago and had wanted to try it but have been busy. I have been craving crepes since our trip to France. I fell in love with them there. It was nice to find a Crepes place in Woodside, and it turned out to be this really small nice place. After getting us lost (my fault) we finally found the place and had a great breakfast.

We did work around the house during the day and then traveled out to Little Neck to meet my mom for her birthday. My mom wanted to take M and I to one of her favorite restaurants. My dad wasn’t feeling well so he stayed home. We had a great meal before M and I had to rush to the LIRR to head home. The only issue with visiting my parents on the weekend is that there is only 1 train every hour. Thankfully we are in woodside and it is really easy to take the LIRR to my folks. In LIC it was significantly more difficult.

Food Truck Rally

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For the past year I have been a fan of Time Out New York.  It has had great date ideas and things to do.  Last month I got a print subscription (i know it goes against my trend of all digital) for half off via Groupon.  One of the first things we saw was a Food Truck Rally every 3rd Sunday of every month in the Summer at Prospect Park.  M and I jumped at the chance to do that.  We had planned going for weeks.

The rally didn’t disappoint.  I had grilled cheese at one truck.  M had a lobster role at another.  We also had ice cream from a 3rd.  It was really yummy.  We were stuffed and then went into the park to lie into the shade and read and relax.  It was a fantastic afternoon in the park.

I am hoping we can go back again before the summer is over.

BBQ

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Today M and I got a zipcar and drove to Jayson & Gretchen’s for Seth’s 2nd birthday BBQ.  We went up early so we could have Jayson take some Engagement photo’s of us at nearby Vasser College.  We had fun for the photo shoot but it was really hot out to be in pants!

The BBQ was fun.  Lots of little kids, but we did get to meet little Eli for the first time.  He and I bonded pretty well!

M and I had a fun time!

Picking a Photographer

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Tonight M and I went out to Jersey to visit with 2 photographers we really like.  We have looked at a few but they stood out.  We liked their photo’s and also liked that they were a team so we would get 2 different angles on the wedding.  After meeting with Shelley and Keith we are pretty sold on them.  Being the wafflers that we are we are still going to look a little bit further but we seem pretty confident they will be the ones we pick.

Wedding Date

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We have set the date for the wedding. It will be January 8th, 2012. M and I went with her parents to the View on the Hudson today to show them. They were last people we wanted to see it before signing contracts. With their positive comments along with our own and my mom’s we signed and put in a deposit. We are very excited.

After visiting the venue we went to visit a florist. From there we went to the Hilton nearby that we want to use to get a block of rooms the night before. We had lunch with M’s parents, got some dining room chairs that M’s parents had been holding after being worked and and we headed back home. It was a very productive day.

My One Day of Religion a Year

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Today M and I went out to Long Island for a party celebrating her Aunt’s 60th year as a nun.  We meet up with her Parents, one of her brothers, her sister in law and 2 nephews.  It was an interesting party.  It was the first time we saw everyone since we got engaged so that was different.

Being in family photos was a bit different for me since it is a new family for me.

Besides the party I was just happy that a major work release went over well and didn’t cause a distraction durring the day.

Venue Visits and a BBQ

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Today M and I went back to visit the View on the Hudson with my mom to show her the venue. We still think that venue is the front runner for us. We also had an appointment to another venue that my mom originally recommended that is out on Long Island.

My mom loved the View. After talking it over M and I agreed the View on the Hudson was the place for us. We canceled the last appointment we scheduled later in the day.

We went back to Bayside and had lunch with my mom. After that we got my dad and went to my friend Amy’s BBQ. It was fun. There were lots of people there I hand’t seen in ages. It was also good to introduce M to everyone.

We had a ton of fun. After the BBQ we took the LIRR back to Woodside.