Lighting of the Christmas Tree in Rockefeller Plaza-November 30, 2005

Steve's client Nauta Dutilh, a Dutch law firm, hosted their annual holiday party during the famous lighting of the christmas tree in Rockefeller Plaza. I went as Steve's guest. We arrived shortly after 6pm and slowly worked our way through the free drinks and appetizers to the sight of the tree. This is the view from 1 Rockefeller Plaza, 15th Floor, the office of Nauta Dutilh. As you can see, the tree has yet to be lit because the show had not commenced. Arriving before the start of the NBC special holiday show, we were able to see the ice skaters rehearse as well as some of the artists. Entertainers included Sheryl Crow, Herry Connick Jr, Rod Stewart, the Goo Goo Dolls and many more. We could hear the musicians sing from inside, but not clearly see them since we were up so high.

This is the stage where Al Roker and Megan Mullally hosted the show. Click HERE to read more about the selection of the tree and the event itslef.


Steve and I mingled and enjoyed the good food and company. According to Brian, Steve's boss, "The Dutch certainly know how to throw a great pary" and he was right.

Thanksgiving Holiday-November 23-27, 2005

Thanksgiving 2005

Steve and I went to Manlius, NY to spend the holiday with his family! The entire Schwartz family was together again under one roof! Here's a brief run-down of the long weekend

Wednesday:
Steve and I left work early and caught the train out to Ruth and Ron's where we picked up the car and started towards Syracuse. We arrived with marzetti ready to eat (thanks to Steve's Grandma)! After dinner we went to "The Scotch" and had a drink with Kyriakos (Steve's buddy from FM) and Rebecca (his girlfriend).

Thursday:
After sleeping in, the afternoon was spent watching football and doing laundry. Before we knew it dinner time arrived! The Levy's, good family friends of the Schwartz's came to dinner as did Scott, Bob's partner. The evening was spent chatting and eating.

For appetizers we had homemade spinach dip and veggies. For dinner the main course was an 18 lb turkey with sweet potato wedges, stuffing, Grandma Gussie's spinach, homemade applesauce, cornbread and cranberries. It was DELICIOUS!
And for dessert we had our choice of pumpkin pie, pecan pie, death by chocolate cake with mixed berry sauce, cheese cake, or Mrs. Levy's Chattanooga Choo Choo's (not quite sure how to spell it, but they were yummy).

After dinner, Steve and I went and had drinks again with Kyriakos and Rebecca to Awful Al's a bar downtown in Armory Square.

Friday:
Slept in again and had french toast for breakfast. This was not just any regular batch of french toast, but "Grandma's french toast". It was outstanding! And I found out how to make them taste so good: canola oil and more eggs than milk. But, the real secret ingrident can't be disclosed! In the afternoon, we all went downtown to see Jennifer's apartment and later back to Armory Square. For lunch we had leftovers and then it was nap time. Dinner was again another delicious meal: vegetable soup and keilechal(I'm not quite sure of the spelling). After dinner, Steve and I went back to "The Scotch" and met up with some more of Steve's high school buddies: Kyriakos, Rebecca, Bill, Dan, Yuki, and Jeff. Good time had by all catching up.

Saturday:
I went to Temple for the first time! It was interesting to see the service and great to finally see where Steve became a man!

Afterwards I felt like a heathen because we went to Dinosaur BBQ and let's just say what we ate was not kosher.
As the sign says, we pigged out.

This is the outside of the original Dino. In the summertime instead of the car parked out front are all the bikes (motorcycle bikes, not ten speeds) lined up. Dino is a biker bar/restaurant for all those who don't know. Dino has the BEST BBQ EVER! After stuffing ourselves it was time to rest our bellies. Steve and I ran some errands around town and made it back home just in time for another scrumptious dinner waiting on the table. This night we had latkes, blintzes, applesauce and strawberry preserves. Yum, yum.

Sunday:
We all had a lovely brunch at the Brewster Inn on Cazenovia Lake. Our options included: lamb, salmon, sausage, beacon, omeletes, french toast, fresh fruit, salads, pastries, and desserts. I thought I was going to be rolled out from eating so much. Then it was time to head back to the City, after a quick trip to Wegman's. Funny story: while at Wegmans in the bulk food section I was approached by a random guy asking me if I wanted to be a cocktail waitress at Awful Als. Hummm...I think I'll keep my day job.

Fall in New York City-November 20, 2005

It was a gorgeous day in New York on Sunday so I decided to take a jaunt through Central Park. I took my camera with me to capture some of the beautiful fall colors.

Red tree on the Great Lawn. Light shining through the branches.

Another tree on the path around the Great Lawn

Another view

Lamp next to the trees

After walking around the Great Lawn, I strolled around the resevoir.

This picture is of the East side

The UES looking from the north end of the reservoir.

Midtown is in the background.

Runners on the path around the reservoir

Vegas Vaction-November 10-13, 2005

The Tichys take Vegas!

November 10-13, 2005

(And Yes, this is another Tichy shirt)

After arriving late Thursday night we all made out way to the Venetian Hotel on "the strip"!

We checked into our rooms and played "catch up" with everyone. All nine of us: Ann, Greg, Jobe , Renee, Jessamyn, Jason, Jaren, Steve and Jadyn were in for a fun-filled weekend!

Here Jason is Jason, Jessamyn and Jadyn.

And Steve and Jaren.
Thursday night, Ann, Greg, Jadyn, Jaren and Steve went out for a quick bite to eat at one of the many restaurants in the hotel. Jessamyn and Jason crashed early because they were waking up at dawn to see the Grand Canyon the next day and Jobe and Renee were exhausted and went to bed early.

After not much sleep (Steve and I woke up around 7:30am) it was time to start the day!

We took Steve on a tour of the Hotel. Here's the casino floor. This is were we spent most of our time gambling... winning, loosing, winning, loosing...the never-ending gambling cycle.
Boring Roulette anyone?



And this is the famous canal. It was designed to look identical to the real canals of Venice. Along it are shops and restaurants. And you can even take a gondola ride with this guy singing his heart out to you...any takers?

Here Steve and I are standing under some of the ornate paitings on the ceiling...is this a Michelangelo originial? Or is this Titian, Vernezze, Botticelli? Unfortunately not. But it still was looked beautiful.


After a tour of the hotel it was time to get serious. Time to gamble.

While Jadyn was learning the game "boring roulette" taught by Steve, we played the slots!

Mom winning big. She won $49.50 off $5 (I think)

Mom and I. This was my lucky slot, or at least on this day it was. I was $81.50!!! Woo hoo! And it turns out Dad won $50 on this machine on Sunday after I left.

And Dad! He too won big on this go! $31.50! Way to go old man!

Break time before heading to "Old Town"

Let's just say Old Town isn't as classy as "the Strip". The buffets, games and drinks are all cheaper in old town. Old Town is Jobe's favorite spot in Vegas

...so he can get a $4.99 steak!

The cowboy.

The cowgirl!

After old town as nap was needed. A quick kip we were good to go.

Family pizza party in the Tichy suite before heading out for the evening!

The stip at night!

We walked through the Mirage, Ceasar's Palace and the Bellagio. There we watched the fountain show! If you've seen Ocean 11, you'll know what this is...

Jobe and Renee

Steve and Jaren.

(Prom pose)




Saturday we all slept in after a late night out! Then is was time to eat! Great treated us all to a delicious lunch at Emeril Lagasse's steakhouse, Delmonico! Talk about yum yum in the tum tum! The appetizer: beer cheese beef soup! The entre: charboiled serloin steak with a twice baked potato! Other menu items: brie and grape salad, french onion soup, chipoltle chicken sandwich, and various other steaks!

Post lunch it was time to walk it off or sit it off. Renee, Mom, Jadyn and I went shopping on Las Vegas BLVD at Ceasar's Palace.... (Special thanks to Erin and the Kate Spade coupons) ...while the men watched football. It was a great day for the UW Huskies! We WON! Now we're 2-8...until next week in the Apple Cup. Plus THE Ohio State beat Northwestern.

The Tichy kids before heading out for the night.

Oldest to youngest: Jobe, Jessamyn, Jaren and Jadyn!

Jobe and Renee bought Mom and Dad tickets to a comedy show hosted by the Soprano's (Hey Yo Tony) so us kids could have some time together. We went to Carnegie's Deli in the Mirage. Check out the size of these sandwiches. They were unbelievable.

Here Jobe and Renee shared (but could not finish) "The Woody Allen" ruben sandwich.

Take a closer look

And the B.L.T. This is was HUGE!

Jessamyn and Jason attempting to eat the B.L.T. Good luck.

...more gambling.

Sunday came hard and fast. Staying up until the wee hours of the night and waking up only several hours later caught up to us all.

Espeically Jadyn. Poor Baby!

And Jason and Jessamyn

But not Steve and I. We entertained the troops by giving them a little cheer:
"tick, tick, tick, tick, BOOM daynamite"

And Steve...
"I'm in a glass case of emotion"

Side note: The bathrooms were bigger than my apartment that had an amazing shower with a little extra shower spraying right at you

We spent our last few hours going to other hotels/casinos. At the Wynn Hotel we had drinks on the water that overlooked this waterfall. It was perfect.

Jadyn also had the BEST LUCK out of us all. At the Wynn she won $98 off $5 in a slot machine. As you can tell she's extremely happy because now she's out of the red.

But, her luck didn't end there. We went to "TI" or Treasure Island and played boring roulette. There she won another $80 by putting her money between the 4 & 8. Steve too was lucky thanks to Big Papi--where Champions come from--and won big. But again Jadyn's luck didn't stop there. While Steve and I were on our way to the airport, she put a $1 in a slot machine and won $113. Later that day I got a message saying she won another $30 and Dad won $50.

....Vegas will never be the same

The Carport-November 4, 2005

BIRTHDAY FUN!

PUTTING UP STEVE'S CARPORT (in his backyard)

I had Friday off for Eid and Steve took a vcation day. We bummed around enjoying not being at work and decided to put together Steve's carport in his backyard. He purchased the carport as a tent to act as additional space once winter arrives. What a great idea. The 2 of us fit the pieces together like a puzzle (without looking at the directions, of course) and managed to raise the carport! I will admit it was a little difficult for me considering I'm under 6' and the tent is 7' high. But, I had the picnic table to give me the extra inches I need.

The individual pieces: Big poles, little poles, funky-looking connector pieces,

and rubber-band balls. The weight of the box was over 100lbs.

The poles.

Steve seeing where the pieces fit.


Hummm....

(don't worry he's not looking at the directions just at the picture)



Here's the top part of the frame. We're nearly finished.



A smile on Steve's face as the frame is up. Now it's time to put the cover on.

Another view of the frame. The tent is HUGE! And we didn't even use all the parts. We realized that the tree (in the back right-hand side of the yard) was getting in the way. Therefore we decided not to use the last set of poles and make the length of the tent only 3/4 long, which is perfect. The tent covers the majority of the backyard while allowing sunlight to shine in Drew's window!

The cover being pulled over the poles.

Voila! The Carport.

(The next day Steve put twinkle lights up on the inside)

See the smoker and the BBQ! Oh yeah baby!

For my birthday, Steve made a delicious leg of lamb per my request!

We ate under the carport. How romantic!