Last Days at 306--August 27, 2006

FREE: dirty brown corduroy chair pefect for Bohemian lifestlye.

Bohemian chair including ottoman. Steve and Drew one last time with the chair--may it find a happy new home, or rest in peace.

306 tagged by Drew--"BIG DREW"

Right to bear arms--August 20, 2006

"I AM AN FBI AGENT" quoting Brodi from Point Break

Yes folks, this is a real gun issued by the US Government to one of Steve's buddy's.

Peace Corps Nomination--August 18, 2006

Today, Steve and I received our placement offer from the Peace Corps.

The placement team found us programmes in Francophone Africa departing in July, 2007! Steve will be a Community Health Education volunteer and I will be a Nutrition Extension Agent.

That's all we know thus far.

To find out about our possible country placements click on this LINK, which will direct you to the Peace Corps website.

Countdown to Geneva--August 17, 2006

In exactly one month from today, our adventure begins. Steve and I will be en route to Gevena, Switzerland via London. Our status update:

JOBS: In progress. We have appointments scheduled and we continue to apply and outreach to organizations.

ACCOMODATION: Check. We will temporarily live on rue de Zurich, in the “new town” of Geneva. (The apartment is roughly 3 blocks from where I lived when I studied there, so at least we know where to go when we arrive)

"Goodbye High Fructose Corn Syrup, Hello Emmenthaler"

Tichy-Schwartz Women visit--August 13-16, 2006

As Annie put it, "all the hens" came to NYC for a visit.

Sunday night, Barb and Jennifer worked their way into the Big City just in time for a home cooked BBQ meal. Poor Jennifer had a "planes, trains and automobiles" experience that day--flying to Syracuse from Minneaopolis, driving to Monsey and training to NYC. After a long day of traveling, a delicious meal was in need. On the menu: chicken, potatoes and salad. And for dessert, Tasti D-Lite!

Monday morning, Annie and Jadyn flew in from Spokane. I had to work part of the day, so Steve took the ladies on a sightseeing tour of the lower half of Manhattan: Battery Park, Financial District and up to the West Village. Then, it was time to meet me after work. We decided to grab a snack at Serendipities--Frozen hot chocolates, Frozen pink ice and some appetizers kept us full until dinner time...

As per (the male) tradition at 306, Monday nights is spent at Brother Jimmy's. We took the ladies up the hill to the restaurant/bar. Erin and Drew joined as well. It was an absolute blast...the pictures speak for themselves.

The Boy's favorite waitress/aspiring actress brings us THE FISHBOWL...and the fun begins....
Close up of Annie. Close up of Barb. The whole gang. We used the 2 straw approach.
Tuesday, after a not-so-good-night's rest (side note: 7 people slept in our apartment that night), we all got up and prepared for the long day of (...drum roll please...) wedding dress shopping! We had 3 stores on the agenda with some shopping stops along the way. 11am: Amsale. Dress number 1. 11:30: 5th Avenue. 12pm: Rockefeller Plaza-coffee break. 1pm: Shopping/browsing. 2pm: Kleinfeld: Countless numbers of dresses. This was definitely a NYC experience. Highlight (though I missed it since I was dressing): A girl falling over in her dress. I saw the dress and did not need any explanation as to how she fell...it was my worst nightmare of a dress--strapless, see-through and puffy. Oy. (Back to the day) 3pm: Shake Shack in Madison Square Park. Food was much needed at this point. Greasy burgers and fries were on the menu. 4:15pm: Wedding Atelier-last stop. A few dresses here, but with a full stomach, I was not in the mood. 5:30pm: Cab ride home...Jennifer says she's getting car sick and is going to puke in "Life Aquatic"--that was my highlight of the day. 6pm: We're on our way out to Monsey to see Ruth, Ron and the girls as well as take Barb and Jennifer back to their car. We rode out to Monsey in style--in an ELEMENT! Poor Jads had to ride in the trunk. After a brief meet & greet and catch up, it was time for Barb and Jennifer to hit the road, as well as for us to get our "zip car" back to the garage. (we got back with 2 minutes to spare. It was a close call). 9pm: Annie, Jadyn, Steve and I are FAMISHED at this point and decide to eat at the local Moroccan restaurant. 3 hours later, we finished our meal and walked home.

Wednesday. There wasn't much planned for today other than buying "the wedding dress". By noon, that was taken care of and we all were starving (surprise, surprise). Jadyn's one request for the trip was to go to Dinosaur BBQ. Since we had nothing better to do, we walked to the West side, caught the subway uptown and found ourselves at 131st Street. Dinosaur BBQ here we come. We had hungry bellies and the smell of hickory tempted us as we waited (all of 10 minutes) for our food. We DEVOURED our food. I was proud of Jadyn for nearly completing a Tres Hombres (that's 3 meats--brisket, ribs, chicken thigh/leg).


Annie, Steve, Jaren and Jadyn. Jadyn's feast--Dig in!

Impressive eating Jadyn.

In our comatose state, we cabbed back to our humble abode, packed up the Annie and Jadyn and said our goodbyes.

It was a wonderful weekend! Thank you everyone for coming!

Here's to the Moms! ...and the sisters too!

Impressive BBQing-August 12, 2006

Steve grilled up some grub on Saturday evening. On the menu: corn on the cob, cheeseburgers and watermelon. What is impressive about this meal is that fact Steve put it ALL on the grill at once. You can see the 4 pieces of corn, 4 patties, 8 buns, and some watermelon. You may wonder “why the watermelon”, well that’s something to bring up with Steve…it might have been curiosity (or his drunkenness). It was a delicious meal nonetheless.

Saturday Night Fever--August 5, 2006

Saturday was a pleasant day, so Steve and I decided to host a BBQ in the backyard. Around 7pm, a few folks came over to enjoy good company and good food. On the menu: Steve’s burgers/cheeseburgers, which were juicy and flavorful (the secret came out that the patties were made with turkey rather than beef), fresh corn on the cob brought by Deborah, coleslaw (Tichy-family style), grilled pineapple and homemade rice-crispy treats! Yum, yum! After several hours of grazing—it was a rolling meal, course after course—someone came up with the idea to go to the Big Easy (to most known as the Big Sleazy). Ghetto-flava rap music echoed off the walls while scantily-dressed ladies roamed the dance floor. The group of us huddled near the bar—easy access for refills—with the speakers booming right above us. We were feeling the beat. Before we knew it, it was dance-off time.

Round 1: Drew vs. Steve. Drew showed off his footloose style fancy footwork while Steve came back with a Michael Jackson Thriller-inspired routine. The two went back and forth for 3 times. I don’t think we decided who won, but the two sure drew a crowd and got others up on the dance floor.

Round 2: Keith vs. Susanna (Deborah’s friend). Susanna started with a quick little ditty while Keith came back with a dirty-dancing style grind. Susanna housed him with her booty-bumpin’ rump-shaker.

Round 3: Drew and Steve again. This was pretty much a repeat of Round 1.

I honestly felt like I was back at a Frat party in college…It was a fun night, but I think I’ve outgrown the Big Sleazy.

Dawn in the City-August 1, 2006

My friend Dawn was in town for a quick visit. She was busy playing tourist seeing all the sites because it was her first time to NYC. But, she made the time to come have a bite to eat with me. We met up for a long lunch to catch up and to escape the 100 degree, 70% humidity weather. We went to some sushi joint across the street from the UN. There I filled her in with all the exciting news that's going on and vice versa.



It was great to see you Dawn! Enjoy the rest of your visit.

In honor of Annie, here's a picture.