Whirlwind Weekend

This was my kind of weekend: Nonstop activity, lots of guests, and lots to do. Because of our extremely loving and generous families (particulary our dads!), we were able to spend Father's Day here in NYC, giving us the opportunity to compete in our FIRST triathlon of the year (Mark's first ever!) in Long Island, and I got to head out to Point Pleasant for a bridal shower for my roomie from the Mount, Shannon. Add to the mix a Father's Day lunch and various NYC walking tours, and it was a very exhausting--but fun--two days for everyone. A glimpse of the weekend in a nutshell:

FRIDAY
The weekend kicked off with a lovely dinner at Chestnut in Brooklyn with Mark's 'rents, who were staying at the Brooklyn Bridge Marriot. The food--and company--was excellent, and well worth the "trek" out to the outer borough (hah hah). Upon our arrival back to the hotel after dinner, a bunch of post-prom revelers were hanging out in the lobby. Suffice to say, prom fashion has changed dramatically since the good ol' days at Watkins Mill (good to know, given my new line of work!). All of the girls were totally glammed up in poofy dresses in colors like turquoise, lime, and magenta (even brighter than sissy's infamous pink dress of '96! Wow, that was ten years ago!)--and almost every one of them had glitzy tiaras on. Since I'm not much of a fan of lime, and definitely not a tiara girl, I'm glad that I'm not in high school any more!

Once we said our goodbyes and made in back to our neighborhood, Mark and I made a quick stop at Tastee D-light, my new home-away-from-home. It's not even that the ice cream (or whatever it is) is that good. I just love the fact that it's warm enough to walk down the street in a summery dress licking ice cream and streaming past all of the cafes bursting with laughter and conversation. As hot as it's sure to become, you really can't beat summer in the city!

SATURDAY
Saturday brought me to Point Pleasant, NJ, home of one of my best friends from college, Shannon Mariani. Shannon is getting married next month, so her many, many, many (about 50 in all!) friends and family members gathered together to surprise her with a bridal shower. Forever a surfer girl, Shannon arrived to the shower fresh from the beach, dressed in a bikini and a terry-cloth shorty jumpsuit (think Crissy from Three's Company) that only she could pull off. She was definitely shocked, overwhelmed, and soooo gracious. Because Shannon and her fiancee, Jeff, have traveled so much together (New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Spain, just to name a few countries), the theme of the shower was "Around the World." One of her four sisters, Kelly, even made a cake shaped like a globe.

After the shower, I jetted back to the city to meet up with the Flynns, who by that time, had already navigated their way from midtown to downtown. While the Mr. and Mrs. went to see Hairspray, Mark, Maureen, Erin, and I met up Leezie and Liz for dinner at the Hudson Cafe, followed by trip #2 to Tastee-D. Then it was off to bed to get ready for the tri!

SUNDAY
At 5 a.m. sharp, my alarm shot us out of bed on Sunday morning. Our triathlon in Port Washington, Long Island, started at 7:30, so we were shooting to leave at 5:15. For the record, the idea of a triathlon (and waking up that ungodly hour) is much more appealing during a long day at work, when you're just dying to get outside. When the day actually arrives, it's easy to question why in the HELL you aren't still sleeping as you're making your way through the midtown tunnel at 6 a.m.!

Despite it all the race was a great experience. I can't express how proud I am of Mark for completing his first triathlon. He did AWESOME--especially given that he completed the swim (in 60 degree water!) without the luxury of a wet suit. Karl also rocked and won her age group by about a mile. I won't go into my race because I wound up doing something really stupid and ruined what could have been a very good performance. But, as with all mistakes, I'll learn from this one and will make sure never to do it again!

The funniest part of the race was the fact that Queer Eye for the Straight Guy was filming an episode around it. It seemed like the Fab 5 was making over one of the athletes, and Thom (the home guy, I think) ran it with him. There was a big to-do surrounding the filming, with Carson doing color-commentary with a bullhorn during the swim, riding around in a 2-man bike (probably purchased just for the episode), and rolling around on roller skates and butt-shorts. Kinda bizarre, but entertaining nonetheless.

After the race and a bit of relaxing, we went over to Bec's for our Father's Day luncheon. What was at first meant to be an outdoor picnic, the 95-degree heat brought us inside to her cool and party-friendly apartment. But we kept the spread picnicky--with chicken salad, cold cuts, pasta salad, and fruit salad. And we got a great Giselle sighting (she was actually sweeping her expansive patio) to boot!

Once the guests departed, I punished myself for my stupid race mistake by running (with Bec) to the gym, biking, and running home before crashing out on the couch. And now, to avoid the Sunday night yuckies, I'm blogging and drinking a beer. Ahhhhhh.

Pictures of the weekend are below!