Paradise
11.29.2005
11.27.2005
The Honeymoon's Over...
So sad, we are back from Hawaii after a ten wonderful, sunny, and fun-filled days. Mark and I had the best time exploring both the islands of Oahu and Kauai, and it was very hard to get on the plane to go home. Fortunately, we were able to return to our families, with whom we celebrated Thanksgiving. This year's festivities at the Farm lasted for three days, with Friday being capped off with a wild (and now annual) O'Connell Family dance party/sing-along (in the kitchen!) on Friday and then Sissy and Erik's wedding shower on Saturday. I will write more (and post pictures) about both of these events (and more on Hawaii) later on. For now, it's time to get rid of the trash--we've been putting all of our wedding presents away all day and now have to take an apartment-full of boxes and paper outside. We're also throwing away a few old household appliances, so I won't be surprised if a few of our neighbors go dumpster diving tonight!
11.09.2005
The pictures just keep coming
Below is a quick glimpse of our professional photos, all taken by the incredibly talented Steve Ridzon. I can't wait to see the rest of his shots. These, so far, are amazing! Enjoy!
In other news, we had an impromptu Sister's Summit tonight at Bec's in which we enjoyed her delicious mac and cheese. I must report that Bec's mac and cheese is about 200% better than the concoction I whipped up for Mark last week. Let's just say I need a little, well, a lot more practice in the kitchen. But at least I'm trying!
We're watching Tivo'd LOST right now, so I'm a bit distracted. Also, I'm extremely excited babout the fact that in less than 72 hours, Mark and I will be in Oahu, where LOST is filmed! This is going to sound very corny, but it's truly a dream come true for me to finally visit Hawaii and I can't wait!
In other news, we had an impromptu Sister's Summit tonight at Bec's in which we enjoyed her delicious mac and cheese. I must report that Bec's mac and cheese is about 200% better than the concoction I whipped up for Mark last week. Let's just say I need a little, well, a lot more practice in the kitchen. But at least I'm trying!
We're watching Tivo'd LOST right now, so I'm a bit distracted. Also, I'm extremely excited babout the fact that in less than 72 hours, Mark and I will be in Oahu, where LOST is filmed! This is going to sound very corny, but it's truly a dream come true for me to finally visit Hawaii and I can't wait!
11.06.2005
WHAT A DAY
I can barely keep my eyes open as I write this...and it's only 8:50 p.m.! Today was quite eventful. The day kicked off with me hailing a cab at 3:45 a.m. to make it to the New York Public Library by 4. True to it's reputation as the "city that never sleeps," Manhattan was bustling at that ungodly hour, with many people milling about the many bars in our neighborhood alone. I made it to the Library in time to meet my co-workers and about 200 volunteers who showed up (gotta give them so much credit for being there...without the lure of a paycheck!) to help out at the start. The buses eventually rolled out to Fort Wadsworth in Staten Island, where we were greeted by colder temperatures, an eerie, thick fog, and weak coffee. After wandering around aimlessly for a bit, we finally found the rest of the volunteers who were assigned the information-giver duty and my manager briefed them on the FAQs. Little did these unsuspecting volunteers know that marathoners are quite the inquisitive bunch. I don't think they knew what they were in for as nearly 40,000 runners arrived in droves between 6 and 10 a.m. My main responsibility was to oversee the volunteers in the orange corral (the runners were divided into three start areas, designated by color), and I was lucky to have some very smart folks in my crew, making my job pretty easy. I mostly walked around to various areas within the corral, answering questions as needed but more importantly making sure the runers were as well informed as possible.
A little after 10, I took two of the volunteers (a mother-daughter team from Staten Island) onto the Verrazano Bridge, where we, like spectators at a parade, watched the runners stream by to their starting position. I kicked myself a few times for not having my camera as there were many picture-worthy sights, like a group of guys running in rhino (yes, rhinos--the big, spiny animals) costumes, or the man in full drag..fake, um, chest and butt included. We then watched the official start, where the professional men, leading a massive pack, took off just after Mayor Bloomberg and Mary Wittenberg offered spirited parting remarks. Although I got a glance at Paul Tergat taking his first steps en route to his victory 2 hours and 9 minutes later, unfortunately that's all I saw of the elite group. After all, I was there to "work," so we weren't able to catch any more of the race.
Later on, we returned to Central Park West, where I just roamed around observing the Family Reunion area (where runners can meet their family members). Mark (on his bike) joined me there and we had fun just watching all of the runners staggering about with their telltale mylar blankets as we headed to his office before eventually coming home.
Above is a picture of the start (not mine)...maybe next year I'll be in that crowd!
11.05.2005
One Week Anniversary!
Mark and I have been married officially for one week! Unfortunately, the real honeymoon has yet to begin as we've been working since we got back from our wonderful wedding. Mark has been putting in long hours at the office and I've been running (well, not literally, but I kinda feel like I've already run a marathon) around for the ING NYC Marathon, which kicks off tomorrow at 10:10 a.m. In fact, I'm boarding a bus in just about six hours (4 a.m.!) to head out to Staten Island, where I'll be working at the race's start in Fort Wadsworth, just before the Verrazano Bridge. I'm contemplating whether to go to sleep now or just stay up until 3:30 when I have to go out and find a taxi to take me to the NYC Public Library where the bus is is picking us up. I attempted to induce a food coma with a delicious "anniversary" dinner at an adorable French restaurant called AOC L'aile ou la Cuisse on the corner of Bleecker and Grove Streets. Mark had lamb, I had an endive salad with roquefort cheese, walnuts, and grapes, and mashed potatoes. We sat outside--without any heaters---and I barely even shivered! We highly recommend the place to anyone and hope to take many future visitors there!
Here are some pics we took on the way home---including a stop at the car parked a couple blocks away. It gives us some comfort to check on the car every once in a while, to make sure it's still there because in this city you never know! We'll be back tomorrow with a marathon recap!
11.02.2005
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