Wedding Bells

Hey there folks,

Right now the sun is setting on a balmy August afternoon and I figured I would look back and tell you all a little bit about a big happening in my family from last month.

Frequent followers of the blog may know my cousin Eddie and his fiance Ashley from my time down in D.C. They live in Virginia and I was a often in there apartment watching Yankee games or spending my last day in a snow-covered capital.

Well after ten years of dating (all the way back to junior year of high school) and six months of engagement, the day had finally come for them to tie the knot! They got married in their hometown of Wappingers Falls, NY. I was also very fortunate to be asked to be a groomsman in their wedding party.

My duties as a groomsman commenced with a bachelor party in June held in none other than Seaside Heights, NJ. Come mid-July however, it reached it's pinnacle with the big day.

The wedding was set for Friday evening, but I made the trek from MA to NY early for the rehearsal dinner. They decided to hold it at my uncle's (Eddie's father's) house. Complete with deck, pool, and enough room to crash, it had everything we were looking for. Once back from the church, the wedding party wasted no time in sampling the caterer's hors'doeuvres.

The groomsmen were also sure to do one thing immediately: empty their pockets. With the combination of 20-something men and an in-ground pool, it only meant that sooner rather than later we would get our turn touching the bottom of the pool with our dress pants and polo shirts. One by one, the groomsmen would shoot looks to each other planning which unsuspecting soul that would get next. I eventually fell. Before the night was done, all the members of the wedding party except the bride would find their way in the pool.

After we dried ourselves off, we went inside for the wedding party gifts. While the bridesmaids got necklaces, the groomsmen received engraved wood baseball bats to mark the occasion.

The next morning was a case study in gender differences. The women woke up around 7:30am, ate breakfast, got their hair done, got their makeup done, set up the bridal suite, took pictures, waited for the limo, yada, yada, yada...

We groomsmen awoke around 10:30 or 11am, realized what time it was, went back to sleep, woke up an hour or so later, had some lunch, and swam in the pool. Around 2:30, we started getting dressed and climbed in the limo (complete with suicide doors for that Back to the Future look) and made our way to the church. Here we are recreating our best Michael J. Fox pose...

Cue the "Here comes the bride..."

After a brief ceremony, we were back in what was now a very crowded limo for a ride to the picture location: a park along the Hudson river. We took a few pictures and spied an empty shipping vessel docked and climbed aboard for some action shots. We then made the short ride to the reception, which was a tent overlooking the Hudson and Mid-Hudson Bridge.

The wedding party camped out in the bridal suite enjoying the drinks and hors'doeuvres that the wait staff kept bringing us. I was starving, so this was a welcome surprise. When I had devoured all I could from the suite, we were all introduced and the party was officially kicked off.

It would not be a wedding without ridiculous dancing...and this was no exception. It seems that we are all given immunity from looking like fools. Whether it is my cousin's husband Rob stinging guitar solo during 'Don't Stop Believing", my cousin's boyfriend Chris channeling his Darwinian past through his crocodile nose and gorilla thumping, or my trademark "crypt walk" during "Beat It", it seemed like we are were serial offenders that night.

Here's to another great family wedding in the books!

Congrats Eddie and Ashley!

Take care all!

We're Back!!!

Here's another YouTube video courtesy of Brian and I. This time we tackle the SpoCo...


Enjoy!

Good Food, Good Weather, and E Street Radio...

Hey folks,

The title says it all. It is the story of my vacation.

We started out Friday morning. My parents came and got me at Stonehill, pulling up in a grey Chevy Malibu. I instinctively piled in the backseat, ready to relax with my earbuds and a fully-charged iPod. Then my mom dropped the A-bomb:

"You're driving."
"Oh, C'mon!"
"We got satellite radio..."

Done.

You may or may not know that my one of my favorite things in this world is XM/Sirius radio. It is awesome. I am constantly amazed at all the options and, of course, the all Bruce station E Street Radio. We don't have it in any of our cars, so whenever I get a chance to use it, I jump at it!

There I was, rolling down Route 6 blasting "Badlands" and ready to start my vacation. We got into our hotel around 4 and I took the liberty to plop myself down on the bed for a much-needed nap.

Upon waking, I hazily turned to A&E for the Criminal Minds marathon. Before I was able to get too invested in Hotch and the team, my mother hurried me along to get ready for dinner. The Lobster Claw in Orleans awaited the hungry Gormans.

As we took our seat in booths that made a school bus seat feel comfortable, I promptly ordered and soon devoured the swordfish and a side of scallops. After we were done, we stopped over at the Eastham Post Office to mail the postcard that was given with our check and spied a Christmas Tree Shop. A good hour and fifteen minutes later, we were finally out of the store and on our way to the next stop of the night: a Cape Cod League Baseball game!

I love going to Cape League games. Unfortunately, the real MLB names like the Mets, Athletics, and Cardinals have been replaced by the likes of the Harbor Hawks, Anglers, and Firebirds. You still get to see some great players and just enjoy a cool summer evening. We stayed in Orleans for a home game, dodging rain drops as we sat in our lawn chairs.

We left the game a tad early and cruised around Route 28 for a bit. I stopped at a store that smelled like old incense and browsed the selection of Springsteen posters and Dylan records. In the end, as is the sign of a great night, we ended up at an ice cream shop next to our hotel.

The next morning came quite quickly as we caught the mid-morning ferry to Nantucket. I had never been before, so I did not know what to make of the farthest point in the eastern U.S. My parents and I browsed the shops and side-streets and stopped into the likes of Vineyard Vines, Murray's Toggery, and the Black Dog. After our walking, we crashed near the docks and ordered drinks and appetizers at a local restaurant.

To escape the heat, we booked tickets aboard a tour bus so that we could get a better sense of the island. The bus took us all around and we were able to see Sankaty Light-the island's lighthouse and tried to decipher an incredibly convoluted story on the island's origin. Upon disembarking on our tourist-infested adventure, we walked over to American Seasons, our restaurant for dinner.

The ambiance was really something. It felt like we were eating in a garden terrace. Our family, as usual, did not disappoint when it came time to order, as we shared two appetizers as I dove right into the flat-iron steak.

With our ferry approaching and our time on the island finished, we got ready for day of travel and family. By early afternoon, we were on the road once again. This time heading to Narragansett, R.I. to visit my cousins and my uncle and aunt who flew up from Florida. Momentarily pausing from the Bruce-tunes, we heard on the radio that a 2 mile back-up awaited us on the Sagamore. Upon conferring with a trusty Cape sherpa, we were instructed to find a mysterious "service road" that may or may not end at Hogwarts. Pressing on, we found the traffic report to be...totally false! Maintaining 65 the whole way, we made it across the Pell and Jamestown bridges and into Narragansett in short order.

Arriving at the house, we were greeted by my Aunt Eileen and my Uncles Joe and John as well as their kids, my cousins Joey and Erin, with her husband Greg. Of course, I can't forget Joey's son A.J. and Erin's daughter Isabella. We caught up with each other and stayed late into the night eating and drinking. With the little ones running around, it was also anything but boring. It was really great to see them all.

And with that, my vacation was complete. We drove the sad drive back to Easton on Monday morning and I prepared myself for work the next day. All in all, the three ingredients above made for one heck of a vacation.

Coming soon: a brand new YouTube video and wedding bells in the family...

Take care!