well i didnt finish, but i did make a little progress last night on catching everyone up with all the events and projects of our busy holiday season. hope you all are enjoying this so far, and hopefully i can make a little more progress today over lunch. lets see how far i get, haha...
moving
kitchen
new years
craigslist
electrical
roof
new years.
well new years was pretty awesome. i think it was probably my favorite of all time. [although i did have some fun with matt & tina a few times over new years, haha!] but before we get into the end of 08 and the start of 09 and all the excitement surrounding it, lets take a quick step back to the 30th.
on the day before new years eve karen had gotten us tickets to go to a musical at one of the local cultural arts centers. shes a member of all these different email lists for all kinds of art related groups, clubs, what have you, and on one of them the week before christmas there was the mention of a new show coming to town and karen thought i might like it and got us tickets. well it ended up being a lot of fun for both of us. the show was part of a young professionals club thing in town and our tickets included a catered pre-party with other young professionals that were also attending the show. it was a chance to mingle and meet people and socialize a little before the show [which we really didnt take advantage of seeing as how the "young professionals" were all in their late 30's to early 50's... anyone else find that a bit odd??] and get to enjoy some really awesome food as it turned out that was catered by a local restaurant/culinary arts school.
well as i mentioned we didnt really socialize much but we did have a good time and really enjoyed the food. and all this was a nice precursor to the nights festivities. so enough suspense aside, the show we got to see was monty pythons spamalot! i dont know how many of you are familiar with monty python, ive only actually seen the holy grail as far as the movies go, but i loved it and i was really excited to see this show. karen had seen parts of one of the movies she thinks and wasnt sure how well she liked it, but we both ended up loving the show! it was hilarious! and they tied in all kinds of humor tied to the cincinnati area and even the current media cycle, it was pretty awesome. if you ever have the chance to see spamalot and youre into the monty python humor at all, id really recommend this show - if nothing else it makes for a nice out on the town for a quazi-cultural event. [because really, how cultured can it be if its monty python, lol!]
so now we can get to the new years festivities hm? i just had to mention the show because we had so much fun! so new years eve karen and i both had to work, but immediately following we went home and got showered and dressed for the nights exciting events. i wont bother trying to make this one overly dramatic and suspenseful, haha, we were attending my buddy mike and his fiance's wedding downtown at a fancy hotel. we were actually really excited about it and had made sure to get some good presents the weekend before, get them wrapped and ready to go. the wedding/new years party was a black tie affair and karen had picked up a sexy new dress [and i didnt look too shabby either, lol] so leaving not a moment too soon we arrived and got seated about 5 minutes before the wedding started.
the ceremony was beautiful to say the least and i certainly dont want to see the price tag for it. first of all we were in a gorgeous art deco ball room at a very nice hotel in one of the oldest buildings in downtown cincinnati. the detailing and decor were awesome, very much in tune with karen and my love of art deco style [it definitely brought memories of our art deco decor at our wedding, haha!]. other than the ball room, the ceremony itself was just very very nice [and i couldnt possibly do it justice with words]. there was a violinist, a classical guitarist, a soloist, mike even brought in a bag-pipist! [that irish blood runs deep, lol, and i cant imagine bag-pipers are easy to find...] the decorations were beautiful, the dresses, you name it. it was pretty much the event of the year and definitely lived up to it.
following the wedding we all went to the pre-reception in the lobby of what would be one of the nicest reception halls i think ive ever been in. this part was pretty awesome all in itself. there was a lot of seating or standing tables to choose from and in the center of the place was an hors derves table piled high with goodies while wait staff circulated the room with even more trays of goodies. and the food... wow. i cant even tell you. there were tons grilled veggies and jumbo cocktail shrimp with a variety of sauces [karen and i loved the portobelo and the shrimp!] on the main table, and circulating there were little bruschetta type pieces and im not entirely sure what was in them [we think olive was definitely part of it, but other than that i couldnt tell, they were awesome though!] and also [what we did find out was in them] duck spring rolls that were just mouth watering. i dont think id ever had duck before, but these spring rolls were very delicious. and accompanying all that there were three open bars with your choice of drink, wait-staff circulating with pink champagne of some kind, and an ice sculpture that was chilling another special drink. i dont know that im an expert on classy, but i do recognize pricey, haha!
after the newly married couple had finished their pictures and were ready to start the next phase of the evening, we were all ushered into the banquet hall [wow!!] and directed to our assigned seats where we introduced ourselves to our table-mates and enjoyed more drinks and some really scrumptious chocolate covered strawberries [dressed as bride and groom, lol!] that were waiting for us. before long the happy couple made and the entourage made their grande entrance [and boy was it, lol, every person made a hollywood entrance with announcers, their own song, and a lot of hoopla, lol!] to a chorus of applause and exaltation. after cutting the cake and getting some introductions and pleasantries taken care of, we all got yet another amazing treat - dinner! dinner was phenomenal... again i dont want to see the price tag on this thing, it must have been upwards of 100 bucks a plate - easy. the first course was various types of bread with a main crab bisque and a small plate of something with an asian salad thats escaping my memory at the moment. but i do remember it was all very delicious and we were having nice conversation with all of our table mates and sharing humorous memories and stories about the couple. it was really a lot of fun! now the main course, that was really something! there was a gorgeous piece of fillet minion on a bed of mashed potatoes all wrapped in bacon and topped with more shrimp! wowee! it was delectable - i cant even relate it to you... the fillet was perfect. and i do mean perfect! ive never had a steak this good! for desert we had wedding cake served to us, and more drinks and great conversation [im sure ive forgotten something, but the food was all just so amazing and there was so much going on that night, i do appologize.] at some point in the night there were a series of toasts and traditional dances, mixed with all the traditional festivities surrounding the bouquet and the garter, and plenty of dancing - tons of good times.
but we're not finished yet, oh no. as midnight approached, we were all given glasses of champagne, party hats, beaded necklaces, and party horns to really bring in the new year the right way. there was more dancing, more partying and of course the traditional kiss at midnight with your special someone. karen danced her little heart out [as she always does, lol] and eventually we even got our turn to talk to the happy groom, lol! by around 1am i was exhausted and we were ready to make our exit, so we gathered our things said some good byes and headed to the door for one last attempt to say our thanks and dote the bride with her much deserved praise. [mike is a lucky lucky man, she looked amazing all night, and she was just glowing! well done sir, well done.] we finally did get the chance to give her a hug and our thanks for a wonderful evening before heading home to crash. now at this point i would absolutely love to show you all some extraordinary pictures of the epic event, however im afraid karen and i both managed to forget our cameras in the rush to get ready and arrive on time after work... bummer, i know. it really was one of the most beautiful weddings ive ever been to. either way, karen and i are really just elated for the new couple and we wish them a world of happiness in the new year and the rest of their lives together! congratulations buddy!
well, that was new years eve... [and happy birthday to mom by the way! dont worry, i didnt forget to call her, haha] and new years day was another story all in itself. however, im afraid i dont have the time to tell it now... my time is up. so i guess we'll have to just keep this going tomorrow, lol! hope youre all having a great day and a fantastic week to come!
cheers!
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