Sam’s Visit

Posted in Daily Pictures, Friends and Family, Good Times, Vacations with tags , , on August 23, 2011 by Verge

I met Sam back in 2005 or so when I was the manager of Sam Ash and one of my employees, Tom, suggested I give her a job.  She was working at Tower Music with him at the time, and was only 19 years old.  I didn’t know when she walked in for her interview that she would become one of my best friends, that I would care about her so much, that she would become such an important part of Monika’s and my life.

She and her boyfriend drove in from Ohio for a weekend of, well…

They arrived Thursday evening and the first order of business was a stop at Eulogy.

but we soon headed to Triumph across the street for some home made beers

this appears to be a flight of beers, but you'd be foolish to not assume it's actually a round of whiskey shots.

the girls express their fondness

this is Donovan who works with me at Films, and John, the friend that tagged along from Ohio, hanging out on Chestnut Street close to 2 am.

Monika hanging outside with Hurtuk

Sam and Donovan, laughing. Alcohol does that sometimes

Friday morning an immediate trip to LBI was in order. Neither Monika nor I had to work that day, so we headed off early after Cory and Erica arrived.

we went swimming, even though there was a ton of jellyfish, and the storm clouds were rolling in. Got in a decent Frisbee toss as well. The girls did some beach yoga as well.

and then we finally found Lorie, and headed to a local pub for some dinner over a live band.

the six of us had a great afternoon. I hadn't been to LBI in years.

then, that night, we headed to Yakitori Boy for some good old fashioned karaoke! This is the traditional elevevator snapshot.

Sam and Monika sing a along with some Queen

the next morning we met up with Steve and headed to Gloucester City to visit with Sam's family.

Sam made a ton of gifts for everyone. I played football in the front yard until I was covered in sweat.

Saturday night we stopped by my brother's birthday party, but we couldn't stay long because I had a show at the Indian Chief, both of which produced any memorable photos. And then, as crazy as the weekend was, Sunday morning Sam headed off to the speedline to return to Ohio

it's always sad to see her go, and I'll have photos from our Ohio trip hopefully sooner rather than later.

gone...for now

Sam brought us a bunch of hand made gifts and left us with a bunch of memories.  We hope to make more of both with her and Steve for many years to come.

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The Twelth of August, Two Thousand and Eleven, Migdalia’s Masquerade Party

Posted in Daily Pictures, Good Times with tags on August 16, 2011 by Verge

A while back, we though that we should throw a masquerade party.  Our house is now a mess, and we have to postpone all house parties for at least another 6 months or so, and Migdalia decided to go for it in celebration of her 23rd.  I didn’t take a whole lot of pix, and as much as I’d like to wax poetic here, you’ll have to make do with the following few snapshots!

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Last Night of Cape May…Britney Spears

Posted in Daily Pictures, Vacations with tags , , on August 14, 2011 by Verge

Yep, that’s right, you read that correctly.  We headed to Atlantic City to see Britney on our last night of vacation (Britney Spears Atlantic City 8-6-2011).  Now, you might think that it is completely normal for Monika to want to see Britney because, well, that’s the music she grew up on…and it is.  You also might think that my taste in music is questionable for also wanting to see Britney as much as Monika, and I guess that’s kind of valid.  But honestly, I love all kinds of music…yes, even country sometimes.  Britney is a pop superstar.  She is one of, if not the best pop star of my generation.  I’ve never seen her before, and it was a perfect opportunity to close our vacation with a concert in AC.

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The concert was wonderful, even though she lip syncs a ton of it.  And even Lady Gaga was there to hang out with all of us.  Our tickets were cheap by today’s standards (62 a piece, compared to the 110 a piece for the Taylor Swift show in Philly the same night), the venue was awesome (Boardwalk Hall, which I had never been to), and we got to see Britney perform 20 or so of our favorite pop songs of the last decade (some of which you can check out here, albeit poor quality).  Well worth the money.

We had car trouble leaving the parking garage at 11 at night, and by the time we got home to Cape May, everyone was asleep.  But one last story.  When we got home, Kreg and Kat were asleep on the couches, not in their bed.  Kreg stirred and got up, clearly confused as to where he was.  As Monika and I began to make ourselves a nightcap, he wandered outside.  I chased after him, knowing that he had no idea he was outside.  I found him trying to get into the pool area, unsuccessfully because he was sleep walking.  He informed me that he was going to the bathroom, which was not in that direction whatsoever.  I laughed my ass off as he fumbled with the gate lock!

Eventually, after I had my hilarious question and answer session with Kreg, I led him back inside to the actual bathroom.  That’s what friends are for right?  Monika and I had a martini and talked about the Britney show for an hour or so while everyone else slept their last night in Cape May.  What a week, and this blog only skimmed the surface.  And we’ll do it again…stay tuned.

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The Eleventh of August, Two Thousand and Eleven

Posted in Daily Pictures, Reflections on August 11, 2011 by Verge

Since the lockout ended, the cafe at Films opened again, with a new food services company. As a gift to our starved company, they gifted us this huge loaf of bread, which is hopefully an indicator of the bounty all of us will enjoy in the coming season.

After a long day at work, we headed to our friends' home to help them move out. To my surprise, while moving boxes from their garage, I discovered the Stanley Cup! Victory was mine.

Kreg, Monika and I helped them pack two U-Hauls full of their entire lives' belongings. They were short on time, and in exchange for beers and laughs, we loaded two trucks and cleaned out as much as we could.

Though we don't see Bruce (my brother and lead singer of Red 7 Fury) and Dee (our close friend, and our wedding photographer)as much as we'd all like, it's always nice to know that no matter how much time and distance separates our face-to-face encounters, we're always there for each other. Best of luck to both of them, and their beautiful children, in their new and ongoing adventures!

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The Tenth of August, Two Thousand and Eleven

Posted in Daily Pictures, Vegan and Vegetarian Lifestyle with tags , on August 11, 2011 by Verge

another day in the cold depths of our vaults

was in the area, so I stopped by Iron Hill to see what was going on for lunch

I found this!

we needed to harvest a ton of things from our garden because of our week off in Cape May

this is just the tomatoes and a cantalope. and seriously, not even all the tomatoes. mostly the ones that were really ripe or had already fallen on the ground after I re-staked them up.

some of our pepper crop

I wish we grew this, too, but this is mostly suburban organics. one day perhaps I'll be in some place warm enough to grow my own fruits./ I guess I could grow apples and peaches and blueberries...but I only have so much backyard right now

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Cape May Continued…Cape May Winery

Posted in Daily Pictures, Good Times, Vacations with tags , , on August 10, 2011 by Verge

Kreg and Kat came to spend a night or two at the house, to play some pool, swim in the pool, and have some fun…

hmmm...what can we do that might be fun, and involve alcohol?

let's visit a Winery!!!

got us some drinks...for free!

all right, there's not much to say about this photo

this is much more adorable

at Cape May, we were allowed to hang out in the vineyards, and explore the winery

flowers among the grapes

there was a band on the back deck who was quite entertaining

and we hung out there, among the grapevines, in the wind among bamboo from the Atlantic, sipping local spirits...

...among friends

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The Tenth of August, Two Thousand and Eleven

Posted in Daily Pictures with tags on August 9, 2011 by Verge

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Cape May Continued…Cape May Lighthouse

Posted in Daily Pictures, Vacations with tags , , on August 9, 2011 by Verge

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The Eighth of August, Two Thousand and Eleven

Posted in Daily Pictures with tags on August 8, 2011 by Verge

Back to work after a week’s vacation.  Not done blogging about that, but here’s some everyday, normal, not as interesting to anyone but me kind of things.

deposited this check today, fresh off a vacation. It is the entire amount of my former 401k from Sam Ash. It's not a ton, but it's more than I contributed, was 100% vested, and most importantly, got cashed out before the stock market shit it's bed this morning.

we have a fridge full of produce left over from vacation. Marinated portobello caps in Italian dressing for dinner. I fail to see why people thing that because I'm vegetarian, I do not grill, or BBQ for that matter.

It's hard to see, but that's an English Muffin (whole wheat, mind you), with guacamole inderneath the portablello mushrooms, and a side of fresh summer fruits. And it was amazing.

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Cape May Continued…Turdo Vineyards

Posted in Daily Pictures, Good Times, Vacations with tags , , , on August 8, 2011 by Verge

After visiting the Cape May Lighthouse, we found one of the two local wineries in Cape May, Turdo Vineyards.

Much like Valenzano, the tasting room is around the back of the owners beatiful home.

the tasting room, which came with a rather attractive wine server and a delicious assortment of red wines, and an amazing dessert white.

looking into the vineyards and a sunny, beatiful day...

and looking down the driveway. the tasting room also sold wine by the glass, and had this very quant European-like outdoor cafe.

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