The Move-March 26, 2006

I officially moved into 306 today. Steve was my moving man. He lugged my stuff down 2 flights of stairs from my old apartment, packed it into a tiny zip car and unloaded it all into my new home. We spent most of Sunday using our creative energies to find ways of storing our stuff in his room. I have to say, Steve amazed me with his ability to move/hide/store stuff.

Here is the new layout. On the window side, Steve removed his large glass table to create space. We put the dresser and TV in one corner and moved the bed around. The bed is now against the side wall, as you can see. (And here's Steve doing what he does best--examining his fantasy teams...I love you, Steve.)

And the closet:

Impressive. Steve is such a gentleman. He put all my clothes on the lower bar (so I could reach--I'm vertically challenged. I can't help it.)

And you're probably wondering why I didn't take pictures of the room all tidy and clean. Well, when it is clean I will.

St. Patrick's Day-March 17, 2006

Happy St. Patrick's Day






St. Paddy's Day was not only on a Friday, but it was the second day of the second round of the NCAA basketball tourney. Steve and I met up for lunch at a local bar to watch the Ohio State game and to indulge in some Irish cuisine. There's nothing like split pea soup! Yummy.

I went back to work while Steve met up with Claudia at Margarita Murphy's (sounds Irish doesn't it) to continue the festivities and watch basketball. After work, I joined the troops as did Ewan. Later Drew, Maria, her sister Annette, Chris and Trisha joined. By this point, the bar felt like the entire mid-town after-work crowd was in the bar. It took hours to get another round. It was a challenge to fight your way to the bathroom line. Fortunately, Claudia scored us prime real estate--a large table near the bar and by multiple TVs--so we were not about ready to give up that. So, our St. Paddy's day was spent all night in Maragarita Murphey's consuming Harp and watching basketball...with a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!

Weekend with the Parents-March 9-12, 2006

Ann and Greg arrived early Thursday morning. While I was at work, they checked into the hotel and took a nap. I met the parents for lunch at Ben and Jack's Steakhouse where they were FINALLY able to see the ring.

I've had some requests for a picture of the ring. How is this one?

That evening the four of us went to dinner at Bar Americain, one of Bobby Flay's famous restaurants. Everything about the restaurant--from the decor to the service--was phenomenal. After studying the menu for hours (pre-dinner of course), we finally made decisions. Our appetizers included: sweet potato clam chowder, and fresh oysters. The following were our delectable entrees: duck, wild salmon, smoked chicken and red snapper. On the side we had sweet potatoes and goat cheese cauliflower. For dessert, chocolate mousse and éclairs with caramel sauce satisfied our pallets. I receommend Bar Americain to any food lover.

Friday was a half work day for me. I met the parents in the afternoon. It was a beautiful day--in the 70's--so we strolled around 5th avenue and enjoyed the nice weather. We had an early dinner at the Burger Joint, the best burger joint in Manhattan. It was the best kept secret, but word got out and now it's a happening place. And an increase in prices always indicates success. What used to be a $4 burger is now $6. Ugh.

Post dinner, we made our way to Times Square and the Theater District to see Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. We looked at the playbill and realized it was a musical...but, it ended up being a good one. As Steve said, "there was cursing and singing" which made it that much more enjoyable.

After the play, we went up to "The View" ontop of the Marriot for a quick drink and to see the view of the city. It was a great night.

Saturday morning rolled around and it was time for the big meet and greet between the Tichy- Schwartz parents. We went to brunch at Willy's. Then walked down to Steve's apartment to show the parents the picnic table (minus the tent...may it rest in peace). From there we strolled through Central Park. We took a quick pit stop at the boathouse. Perfect timing for a photo-op.

We made our way to the west side and caught a cab, which was quite the experience, to our dinner destination. We went to Dinosaur BBQ, the best BBQ joint I've ever been to.

Here's the group left to right: Annie, Greg, Barbara, Jaren, Steve, Erin, Drew, Maria and Bob.

...and the sweethearts enjoying the "Sweetheart Platter", which is a rack of ribs and 4 sides. Delicious. Sorry Kyriakos.


Sunday, Steve and I made our way down to the hotel to meet the parents. We had a nice brunch at Moonstruck Cafe. Then it was time for the Schwartzs to catch the train. We said our goodbyes and headed to Buttercup Bakery. The rest of the afternoon was spent killing time buying cupcakes for Jadyn and watching the bakers frost cakes.

Steve and I finally said our goodbyes to Ann and Greg.

It was a great weekend!