New York, New York

(photo taken at 4:30am at SNL after after party)










Another fun trip to NYC to visit Pavun and George and of course, to see SNL. Unfortunately, we did not do much sightseeing besides walking around SoHo in the rain, but we did get to watch SNL from Lorne Michael's office (where Eddie Izzard and the cast of Mad Men were also watching it!).

Jon Hamm, from one of our favorite shows, Mad Men was the host, and Coldplay was the musical guest. Ryan will probably even admit that Jon Hamm is one of the most attractive men we have ever seen.

After the show, we attended the cast after-party (where I once again chickened out on getting a photo taken with a celebrity), then the after-after-party and needless to say, I am just now beginning to feel normal. Guess I can't stay out until 5am anymore. Nor should we stay out all night, then fly the next day. Especially when the pilot lands at O'Hare, decides it is too windy, then proceeds to take off again. Scary!

Looking forward to a few weekends of not traveling, but also thinking about our next trip to NYC, whenever that may be.

European Vacation

Best. Vacation. Ever.
Or atleast this year. We started off our trip in Barcelona (Sagria Familia, Gaudi Park, Port Olympic - all on the highly recommened Double Decker Bus Tour!) then boarded the beautiful Gem. We grew to realize the boat design was pretty obnoxious, but the inside was great (and by inside I mean rooms and restuarants, not the carpet).

First stop was in Valetta, Malta. The most interesting thing there was that was where Troy was filmed, although St. John's was pretty cool. We then continued on to Capri (photos in previous post), the most beautiful place I have ever seen.

Next up was a run through Rome. I mean it when I say we ran. That place is huge and of course, all of the places we wanted to see were on opposite sides of the city - St. Peter's/Vatican, the Colluseum, and Trevi Fountain. We left the city with a sheen of sweat. Thank goodness we came in a season when it wasn't too hot! Rome was incredible with all of the history. We will definitely be planning another trip there soon.

Then there was Florence where we waited in line for an hour to see David and it was well worth it. Then climbed to Michelango's Park where we got the best views of the city and the countryside. Seriously some of the most amazing views. Everything almost looked fake it was so beautiful. Plus, it was awesome since Ashley studied abroard there so she mapped out the entire day.

And finally we headed over to the French Riviera where we visited Monte Carlo, Monaco, and Villafranche. Another beautiful day of wondering around and enjoying the sites. Maybe one day we will have enough money to drive our Bentley to the Monte Carlo Casino and play the $100 slots. Or not.

We would definitely recommend visiting all of these places and are hoping to visit most of them again. It was a bummer when the vacation ended, but luckily we got to come home just in time for the Cubs to start the playoffs. GO CUBS!

CA-pree

Thinking about retiring here in a few years. More Europe photos to come. This is just the place I am missing the most right now.

CakeBeard the Pirate

All ye who enter, surrender your sweets and your treasures. Look on in despair at the plunderer of cakes and the destroyer of frostings.
- Mya Verticchio's Journal 8/31/2008

I happened to see Mya's journal laying open on her workdesk the day after her 1st birthday party, and that's what she wrote. I'm not surprised that such a sharp little girl has already taught herself to read and write, but the pirate dialect she writes in was pretty impressive. I also admire her ability to concisely describe how completely she dominated her personal birthday cake. And she even managed to strike a nice pose for the cake papparazzi.

We had an excellent Labor Day weekend with Mya and all of her friends and family. The weather was great, Tony and Kristy threw a raging party with plenty of beer and cake, and the Ohio River fireworks were spectacular. The only negatives of the weekend were the terrible Illini defense against Mizzou and the disturbing sight of two rather portly Ohioans getting a little too romantic during the fireworks show. But when you've got CakeBeard the Pirate to keep you entertained, it's hard to get upset about anything.

115 Degrees and Rising

Yup, that's us, posing around a trashcan...early Sunday morning. And yes, that is a travel scarf around Sarah's neck.

I got to celebrate Nicole's bachelorette party this weekend in Vegas at Planet Hollywood. Needless to say it was amazing! How could it not be with 13 ladies, a play-doh contest and two free tables? I am still trying to catch up on sleep, but looking very forward to our upcoming trip to EUROPE!!

Like Mother Like Daughter

I mean really. If you don't recognize her, you're not looking hard enough. Bright eyes, trendy pink butterfly ensemble, a pose that says "What? You're taking a picture? Well thank God I look so gorgeous."

It's Lucy Carter!

We were lucky enough to catch up with Darlene and Lucy this weekend in Jacksonville after attending the Cardinals / Padres game in St. Louis. She is so much fun and impressed us with her roly poly moves and her scooting abilities. Plus her smiles and giggles are amazing! Can't wait til the entire Carter family comes to stay with us when the Cubs go to the World Series!

Read more about Lucy and family here.

David Blaine is a Hack

Well, I've managed to fool Laura yet again. Obviously, my first and most important illusion (GOB would be proud) was to trick her into marrying me. My latest ruse was even more important...convincing her to STAY married to me for an entire year. You might be asking yourself - how did I manage to pull off such an impressive feat? By distracting her with a trip to beautiful San Diego, of course!

Our trip out west to celebrate our anniversary was quite a success. Other than a few complaints about the ballpark (as you can see on the right), we saw an exciting Mets-Padres game and feasted on a couple foot longs to kick off the weekend. The next day, we did what any sensible married couple looking for romance would do...went to the zoo. The San Diego Zoo was quite impressive...we both got to spend some time with the panda bears, and Laura got to check out the koala bears that I'd already seen in Australia (no big deal). That night we had a great Mexican meal, at a place where some nice old ladies prepare your tortillas from scratch. We took advantage of the great weather by spending our last day checking out a surf competition at Mission Beach (no Laird Hamilton sightings) and dining outside at a nice Italian place. I'm already looking forward to our next anniversary trip - I hear downtown Detroit is beautiful in June.

It's been long enough since our last post that we've had some other good stuff to report. We spent a great 4th of July weekend at the beach in Michigan. We fattened up on some Redamak's, watched a hellacious display of illegal fireworks (now I know what Brad Gardner's version of heaven looks like), and got to spend some quality time with the family. I challenge any of our thousands of readers to tell me a better way of celebrating the birth of our great nation.

And finally, the Cubs just traded for Rich Harden. Sure it's a big if, but if Rich can stay healthy, he and Big Z will be quite the tandem when October rolls around. Then I can use my powers of mind control on Laura for my most daring stunt yet...to convince her that we should buy World Series tickets.