A Beautiful Summer Night in Washington Square Park

Mini-Golf for City Kids

Coolest Dog Ever

Last night, after getting home from the Cape, we headed over to Brooklyn for a Birthday/Welcome Back party for Jeff Contray. It was great to see Jeff and Danielle and hear about his trip to South Africa for the World Cup, and to finally see their new apartment that they have been in for quite a while now.

After we left their place, we met up with my friend Allison and her boyfriend Justin, who were hanging out with some friends at Great Bar Harry, just a few blocks away. It was so nice to see them and catch up, AND, since it's a dog-friendly bar, we finally got to meet Justin's dog Boss who we have heard so much about.

The best part? Boss knows how to give high-fives. (Justin taught him so he has someone to high-five during Raven's games.)

A Week at the Cape!

Brian and I spent the last week at his family's house on Cape Cod! Other than a little bit of humidity, it was a wonderful week! Lots of relaxing, cooking, beach time, antique shopping and having fun!

This is the car that we were driving behind on the way down...

In case you can't read the license plate, since it's sort of blurry, it says "BRAILLE".... anyone else find that a little disturbing?

On one of our day's shopping adventures, we found this really cool store call Picnic Fashion. It is all picnic stuff! Neato picnic bags/baskets, vintage picnic accessories, tablecloths, etc. If you are ever on the Cape, I highly recommend going in just to check it out.

When we pulled up, this was one of the vintage things sitting out on a picnic table...

I have one exactly like this that my Aunt found in my great Aunt's house!

Here we are at a Cape Cod Baseball League Game!

And here we are on the beach in Wellfleet at sunset, where we met our friend Tom for a few Dark and Stormy's.

What a great vacation!

Cousin's Weekend

This weekend was the Renoni Cousin's weekend. All of the Renoni's gathered in Greenwich, NY where Ron and Naomi live.

Brian, Danielle and I drove up Friday afternoon from NYC and got there around dinnertime.

It was lots of fun to see everyone and hang out in Ron and Naomi's fabulous backyard! On Saturday we even went to Manchester, Vermont which marked my first trip to Vermont! I'm now at 40 out of 50 states! Woohoo!

Saturday night was fun too - Ron built a fire for us all to sit around, and Brian, Dave, Chrissie and I had stocked up on sparklers while we were in Manchester!

Unfortunately, I never got my camera out, so these are the only pictures I have to document the trip...

This is the bathroom at the pizza place we stopped at on the drive up - the lazy person's solution to a broken toilet? Just put in a new one and write "Out of Order" on the lid of the first!

And this is the weirdo coffee make in our motel that we stayed at. It's attached to the wall. You put the coffee, water and filter in the little compartment at the top and then set your mug on the shelf below... I don't even think there was a start button on it.

Cleveland and Heat

Checking in from Hoboken, in the air conditioning. Temperatures here in the NYC area are around 100 again for the second straight day. Tomorrow looks like it will drop off, but for now, it's pretty disgusting out.

We spent our holiday weekend out in Cleveland visiting Beth's family. A last minute decision, we bought tickets friday afternoon and took off early saturday morning. Cousin Bobby picked us up at the airport just before noon, and brought us back to Alexis' house to surprise her. After checking in there, we set out to surprise Kathy. Bobby and Alexis picked her up at Harbour Court and brought her to "Tomaydo Tomahdo" for a bite to eat. We were there waiting. Kathy's face was priceless as for a second she only kind of realized it was us, and then it hit her. I'm glad we were able to make the trip out there, to lift everyones spirits a bit, and see good people. Alexis and Bob are great hosts and its always good to visit Fairview Park. Beth headed back to Harbour Court with Kathy and Alexis while Bobby and I went to pick up supplies for a Sunday cookout. We swung over to Lakewood to see Mal and got some brats and italian sausage.

That afternoon Uncle Bob and I met up with two of his co-workers for 9 holes at a nearby public course. It was great to get out there and play a few. I wish it was easier to get out to play here in Hoboken, but anything requires a car or a long trip on public transportation. But I digress. After golf, I picked up some dinner and went to visit Kathy and Beth at Pete and Kay's. After a short visit, I went back to Alexis' and crashed.

Sunday we mostly hung around, and then everyone headed over to Alexis' around 5pm for a 4th of July family cookout - even Pete and Kay! There was lots of watching Brandon be his cute little kid self, and also lots of corn-hole. (Even Pete got in a game.)

Monday, Brian and I headed home, but instead of flying, we picked up a U-Haul Truck so we could drive the newest member of our family home to Hoboken - A PIANO!!!!!!

I have been wanting a piano for a while now, but we haven't really gotten around to looking too much, plus they aren't exactly cheap. Then, I got an email from Auntie Lex saying I could HAVE HERS if I wanted it, but she didn't deliver. The rest is history.

We took our time driving home on Monday, and Tuesday morning we had piano movers come to carry the piano up the stairs. It fits perfectly in the corner in the living room and I am SO HAPPY to have it there! I have played it every day so far.

Thanks again Auntie Lex!! You're the best!

Lime Heaven!

So I (Brian) had a nice trip up to Attleboro on Wed/Thurs. Got to take mom to a Sox game as a belated b-day present, and see gramma and grampa. Not to mention the awesome Amanda Nelson visiting. I think i've said it before but i will say it again. Traveling by train is my favorite way to travel. It's so relaxing and such a breeze. Pop in a movie on the computer, and enjoy a crossword puzzle or two. Bring along some snacks, and time flies. Just a nice experience. (Granted, i know things can get messy in winter weather, delays and such.)

But back to the point of this post! Before i left for Attleboro, i mentioned to my lovely wife, that i would really enjoy some Tequila Lime Chicken, a recipe from Barefoot Contessa. She gave it a maybe, but i figured i'd get chicken. Low and Behold, not only did i get my chicken, but i got the makings for some delicious margaritas on the rocks, and in the freezer, a HOME MADE KEY LIME PIE. Amazing! It was delicious and exactly what my sweet tooth wanted!

Speaking of sweet tooth. This morning, i had to go to the Endodondist to have a root canal. I wasnt in any pain, but because of the location of a cavity in relation to the nerve bundle, they were not going to be able to fully clean out the cavity, without touching the nerve. So they decided the best course of action would be a root canal. I had heard some pretty big horror stories, from the time in the chair, to the pain of them doing it, to the pain afterwards, to the pain caused by the damn they put around the tooth... Well this high tech office (with only two people working!) did it all, pain free, worry free, in 45 minutes. All while i got to watch the World Cup game.

(But don't tell Beth, or she might try and make me stop laying on the couch playing video games.)