And it's Over!

Most of NYC is breathing a collective sigh of relief today now that the Broadway strike is over. Speed was back to work at 9 a.m. this morning--considering the battling stagehands and producers reached an agreement just hours before then, he must have been in for a brutal wake up call. But now (hopefully), his current show Rock and Roll will rake in some big bucks after all of the pre-strike glowing reviews (and hopefully I'll be able to see it!). Now maybe the L.A. writers will meet a similar outcome with their strike, and all of our telly shows will resume as normal--we're all going to go nuts eventually if we can't find out what's happening with Mer/Der on Grey's!

Throw Down!

Today, I accompanied Bec to Cadence for what I thought was a taping for a Food Network show called "Creative Classics." Since it took place in a triathlon store--and since the featured chefs were both Ironman athletes and claim their cookie is a good post-workout snack--Bec was chosen as a taster. She wasn't told much more, and I was able to come along to be part of the studio audience.

I arrived a bit late and snagged a spot in the crowd gathered in front of the two chefs, who are from Lavain Bakery. They had brought in a heavy-duty oven and many other kitchen accessories for the occasion, and the women were going through the steps of making their prize-winning cookie. I couldn't quite figure out where Bec was going to fit in until I looked up and in walks Bobby Flay. I'd just been looking at his picture on the cover of the cook book Maureen got Mark for his birthday! Turns out, the show was actually Throw Down--for those non-Food Network Junkies, this show always pits local chefs against Bobby Flay, and he always surprises them, then challenges them to a cook off. This time, the chefs went head-to-head for a chocolate chip cookie making competition, and Bec and a pastry chef instructor from a culinary school were to make the tough, tough decision of deciding who's was tastier.

The audience all got to sample the cookies and the buzz around me was that the Levain Bakery cookie was much better than Bobby's. Bec and her counterpart agreed--though they had to first discuss it on film! I even got a bit of the action by being plucked from the crowd to stand between the two competitors and hold up the winner's arm after Bec announced their decision (they wanted it to be similar to a prize fight decision). I'm sure everything will be edited down, but no doubt Bec will be prominently featured on the show! We'll be sure to let you all know when it airs.

More reunion pics...

Class of '97 Reunited...

The class of '97 reunited in Bethesda on Saturday night, and we had a great time! I spent the evening chatting away and catching up with people I hadn't seen in years (or a decade, in some places). There were newlyweds, parents, soon-to-be moms; some were larger, smaller (and some of the guys were sporting a lot less hair), but mostly it seemed like people hadn't really changed all that much. Which was rather refreshing considering it feels hardly any time has passed since we were all walking the halls of WM!

We partied til we were pooped and crashed at Corinne's place, just a few blocks away. (And yep, that's Tom in one of the pics--he ditched is own 10-year to come to ours! Hah!).

Some cute shots of the "next generation"...

Thanksgiving Day Festivities

We had an excellent time, as usual, over the Thanksgiving Holiday. We jetted down to MD on Wednesday night, with no major traffic. Whoo hoo! After a quick bite at the Whea-tone Subway, we went to bed and arose very early on Thursday for the Virginia Run Turkey Trot. This was a different race than I've done in years past--a 5K, it's half the distance of the Bethesda race--and it was also conveniently located just a few minutes from the Flynn's house. All four Flynn kids, plus me (a psuedo Flynn) ran and enjoyed the unseasonably warm temps (check out our team pic, taken by Mr. Flynn). I crossed the line in 15th overall (20:41; it was very competitive with a lot of the typically fast NoVA runners showing up!), feeling great and ready for the big D (that's D for Double, as in two Thankgiving meals!).

Meal #1 was a scrumptious one at Gaffney's. Aside from the regular crowd, we got to see Ann Marie and Tyler, who is now 4 and adorable. I held my breath at the beginning, hoping my various contributions (chocolate cheesecake, spinach and cheese puff, and pumpkin spice cake) didn't poison anyone. Fortunately, they went over well!

We then shot up the road to Thurmie for Meal #2. The drive up 15 was beautiful, with the Catoctin Mountains splashed with autumnal hues of reds, oranges, and yellows. We got up there just as the troops were about to dig in to yet another delicious meal. This time, I didn't hold back and devoured a plateful of turkey, ham, and all of the fixings. Thanks to Bubba's organization and everyone's contributions, all of the bases were covered, food-wise--and then some!

Even though we were dearly missing some key players (Jeanie & Uncle Phil, Andy & Julie, and The Stirling-O'Connell's), the Farm was as lively, warm, and booming as ever. Maybe that's because there were 7 children under the age of 7 present: Anna, Ella, Alex, Philip, Sophie, Lucy, and Sam kept everyone smiling all day long.

Aleta has posted some amazing (as usual) pictures on her blog. I had to snatch this one as it's just too cute...Philip wasn't too sure about Mark at first, but after a little of his "baby whisperer" magic, they were BFF by the end of the trip.

New pics of Sam!

Sam is definitely getting cuter by the second! He's making really adorable sounds and is offering a few smiles here and there. Here are a couple of pics from the past week or so, many more can be found at Speed's picture blog here.

weekend recap

We just enjoyed our first non-moving, relatively stress-free weekend as Hoboken residents. The apartment is looking better by the day, and we're down to just a few more boxes! The small-town vibe is really growing on me--it's a much more neighborhood-y feel, and I love seeing all of the mom and pop shops, delis, and bakeries that still seem to be thriving despite all of the fancy chain stores that are popping up in the southern part of the town ("SoHo" as Patty deemed it).

We ventured out to my most unfavorite part of the world, Secaucus, to pick up Mark's new TV--his very first flatscreen! It took us a few extra minutes (and the dreaded Jersey U-Turns) to get to the Circuit City, but once we did, it was totally worth it to see how excited Mark was to get his new toy! He set it up right away, in the bedroom, leaving the other TV out in the living room. It's so much fun to be able to watch telly before going to sleep, something we've missed for years.

After all of that Jersey time, I was in need of a city fix, so I rose early on Sunday to head over to CP for my Urban Run. Afterwards, I worked out a bit, then met Leezie and Sam. The three of us went to Cadence to watch Karl and Bec participate in an indoor trainer race, in which they battled eachother out on bikes attached to a Computrainer. It was pretty cool to watch, and I was happy for the chance to all get together. Then it was back to 'Boken for me, and Mark and I utilized our new, fancy, and BIG kitchen to make a meal of tilapia, quinoa, and salad. Yum!

Happy Friday! Start your weekend off with a little tour-de-Belize, Sarah-style. Here are some of many, many shots taken during all of the festivities surrounding Andy's wedding. I tried to edit and caption most, but I'm getting a little dizzy with so many pics. So, if you have a few minutes (OK, maybe 30!), check out the full album here. Or, just peak at the slideshow!

My camera cord is with Mark in Stamford, so I can't post my pics...yet. But I noticed Andy has some great shots up on his blog. Check them out--plus some awesome underwater shots of various critters he encountered on one of his daily dives. (And can you imagine a better location for wedding pics??!!)

Back to Reality

Belize was amazing...absolutely perfect, beautiful, fun, and totally worth the very long return trip that had us on a water taxi, regular taxi, puddle jumper, two regular-sized planes, and Air Train, a subway, a PATH train, and a taxi before we got home at 1:30 a.m. this morning. Needless to say, I need a bit of time to recover, unpack, and rid my stuff of the piles of Belizean sand that's managed to make its way into my bags! But as soon as I get that done and find my camera cord, I'll post the many, many, many pictures and video we took of Andy and Julie's spectacular wedding and all of the pre- and post-nuptual fun!

Bye, Bye 'Boken, Hello Belize!

In a mere four hours, we are leaving for Belize! I've yet to pack a stich of clothing (too busy with Project Craptastic!), but I guess I'll just stay up all night and catch up on my sleep on the two plane rides (the Miami-Belize City leg will also have my rents, Jeanie and Uncle Phil, and Andres and Kasia on board!) and ferry trip we're taking before we reach our destination in Ambergris Caye. Hope to be able to blog from there, and of course, post pics of the Wedding!

Sleepy Sam

Sam's trying out to be the next model for Angel Soft toilet paper; Mark's a strong contender for Uncle of the Year

It's been a whirlwind of a week, and after five days of struggling to tread water among crap, crap, and more crap (courtesy of our move), I'm finally coming up for air. We're settling in to our new abode, slowly ridding ourselves of boxes, and making ourselves a lovely home here in Hoboken. I'm loving the neighborhood, the extra space, the pretty hardwood floors, the washer, the dryer, the dishwasher, the bathtub, the big windows...and well, I could go on and on. It still has a ways to go, but I think we've made some good progress, thanks to Karl's cleaning and Mark's handyman skills.

Despite my obsession with unpacking and organizing, I allowed myself some fun over the weekend. First off, Karl and I bussed into Central Park early on Saturday morning to meet Bec and catch the men's marathon Olympic Trials. It's times like these that I truly miss working at NYRR--it would have been awesome being a part of all of that action. But being a bystander isn't so bad, either. We found a great spot to spectate and were able to cheer on all of the runners by name (thanks to our track-geek knowledge, plus handy bibs emblazoned with their last names). We even had a Deena Kastor spotting and were happy to see that she is decidedly *not* a noassatall runner, unlike the many other women we saw throughout the morning!

We went home with all intentions to continue the clean/unpack project, but were soon met with the news of Ryan Shay's death. I was completely shocked, as everyone else was. Just a few days before, I'd watched a video interview with Ryan and his new wife, Alicia, and I was thinking how sweet and cute he was, and how he seemed like such a good, loving husband. It's unimaginable what she and his family must be going through right now--I can't quite get it all out of my head yet. It's the last thing you'd ever think would happen at an Olympic Trials, espcially to someone so amazingly fit. I suspect that, like Pre's untimely passing in the 70's, Ryan's death will have a profound and eternal impact on the running community. But the fact that he was merely running--not driving a car at a high speed around a sharp bend--makes it all the more tragic and just so, so sad.

On a MUCH happier note, we celebrated Sam's baptism on Sunday! I made an appearance at the Urban Run, then scooted up to the church to see our boy be officially welcomed by the Lord. Hah hah. He is as cute as ever, and didn't even make a peep when the priest doused him with the holy water. He is such a good baby. Maybe because he has such great parents! All of his "greats" were there (except for Grandpop Irv and Grandpa Ron/Grandma Karen), so it made for a nice little get-together. The spread was great, the company excellent, and it was a nice way to end the weekend!