Last Shift

When my mom cooked for us last night, she fed us in shifts. My dad got fed as soon as he got home.  Andrew and I each ended up working a little late, getting home late as a result and eating around 6:15 PM. 

Last shift was Amy and Phu at 7:45 - Amy experiencing another long and sucky day at her job and Phu having gotten soaked in the short walk from the T station to our place.  Both starting feeling better as they dug into the meal.

Amy's Birthday at American Craft

The special person that inspired the cupcakes? My younger sister (only sibling, in fact) Amy, who just keeps getting older which means - you guessed it - that I keep getting older too.

We are known to hang out at The Publick House in Brookline way too often, but this time, Amy opted for American Craft because she figured it would be easier to make a large dinner reservation (I think there were 11 of us total).  And despite the fact that this celebration took place in a restaurant I had never eaten at, I took no pictures of the food!  I remember some of the dishes being really good and my entree being nothing special, so I don't think the experience was strong enough to lure me from Publick House on an ordinary night.  And I feel a little lame for complaining about this, but I guess American Craft is all about serving food and spirits from craft brewers and distillers.  Which is fine and dandy and even admirable, but when I order a Tanqueray and tonic, I would prefer that you tell me what the restaurant stands for, tell me you don't have Tanqueray and give me another option rather than say nothing and deliver a G&T that tastes like crap because the waitress made a substitution for a gin that I don't like in it.  So my recommendation, stick with the beers or the cocktails!

Back to the object of our celebration, what does one get a birthday girl who is an ardent Bruins fan (who has cheered them on for years, not a bandwagon fan from this year) and whose birthday falls the weekend after the Bruins win the Stanley cup?

The group gift contained some worthy contenders. including a Bruins Stanley Cup towel:

What's this? A tattoo sleeve (calm down mom, not the real thing!)

Did you figure it out? Yes, that's a Bruins tattoo sleeve that Amy is so elegantly displaying:

Then came the biggest part of the gift...

Amy's own jersey (apparently that's a small and the smallest size that her friend Kira could find)

That grin on her face? It's for the name across the back of the jersey - Lucic!

A view of the table (minus me, obviously) and with the cupcakes on the scene - yes, we were those people who brought our own cupcakes in a cupcake carrier. Our waitress was surprisingly fine with it (so I'll forgive her for the nasty gin and tonic)

Here's a close up of the left side of the table that you couldn't see well in the picture above

Amy presided in the middle and was thrilled to see the cupcakes! We even shared with the waitress and gave her one of each type - she seemed to like them too.

Amy's birthday celebration? Success! I think in Amy's eyes, she got her true birthday gift with the Bruins' championship win.

Ride On, Cowgirl

Andrew and I had the busiest of weekends, and I've got much to share about Boston Beer and Bacon Festival and the Walk for Hunger...but, I'm sick.  So I've lost motivation to do a long, picture-filled post.  While Andrew and I are feeling sorry for ourselves (I totally passed on what I had to him, thus fulfilling the whole "in sickness" part of our vows), I decided to share this delightful slideshow that I've created of my sister Amy.  I bet she is really regretting 1) that we convinced to get on the horse ride right after we left the Blue-Eyed Crab in Plymouth's waterfront area and 2) that she was stuck on it long enough for Andrew and I to snap a series of photos. Enjoy - I know I don't get tired of seeing the startled/joyful/stoic expressions on her face!

Guess Who's On The Road Now?

Amy in her stylin' new car!

*Apologies on the quality of the photo, I took a quick pic with Andrew's iPhone and clearly do not know how to get a good picture out of it! Or show most of the car in it. :)

Happy Birthday Amy!

Karaoke queen at 28 years young!

The Esquire Club

Since I can't mention it too many times, my sister Amy found out that she passed the bar yesterday - yay!

Of course, this called for a celebration so we headed to one of our favorite bars - Cornwall's in Kenmore Square for some celebratory drinks.

Here's Amy reveling in her new status:


She pauses to reflect on the life experiences that brought her to this point in life...just kidding! She models a thoughtful, "lawyer-like" pose and inspires her roommate Pete to do the same:

In a recurring theme, Alabama Slammers (blech!) are ordered to celebrate - thankfully, I passed on this round:

We took time for a classic sisters shot - it never gets old! I am obviously in the role of proud older sister:

Amy and Jen pose for their imaginary billboard to advertise their new legal partnership - Amy fails to hold a serious legal face:

A group shot of everyone present who just passed the bar - needless to say, with Andrew included, lawyers outnumbered "civilians" at our table:


Always a plus for Cornwalls - the bartenders appeared unfazed by the constant shouts of "Esquires!" and "We passed the Bar!" but were diligent in supplying the table with drinks.

Congratulations to everyone who just passed the Mass Bar!

Amy, Esquire

As I had mentioned back in May, my sister Amy just graduated from Suffolk Law School.



However, it wasn't until she received word that she passed the Bar today that she officially became a lawyer!

Congratulations Amy! We're all so happy and VERY PROUD of you!

Birthday Celebration Continues

After dinner at Charley's, and a quick stop at JP Lick's for some Yotango frozen yogurt,

We headed over to Cornwall's for some pool:

We took over the middle table for the rest of the night:


After several rounds of gin and tonics and a couple rounds of shots:

We were all having a good time!

As Amy puts it, here's the same old sappy picture that Andrew and I always take (it's because we look so darned cute doing it!):

A similarly cute shot of Amy and the roomies, Phu and Pete:

A fun night to celebrate Amy's big day!

Birthday Dinner at Charley's

Last night, we had a belated birthday celebration for Amy. We started at one of our favorite places to grab a burger or a french dip sandwich - Charley's on Newbury Street.

For dessert, the waitress surprised us with a slice of their Banana Chocolate Chip Cake for Amy:


Amy gets ready to make her wish - her obvious wish, which she said out loud, is to pass the Bar:


There were many willing forks to help her finish off the cake:

Including Andrew and Pete:

We relit the candle and put in the remainder of the cake, giving Amy a second chance to make a wish without announcing it, so it would come true:


I'm pretty sure it was the same wish as the first time.

Then and Now

In honor of Amy's 27th birthday, a look at then:

Roughly age 3 and age 5 (excuse the poor quality, and the obvious picture of a picture):


And now:

Happy Birthday Amy!

My little sister turns 27 today – yikes!

For some reason, it’s her birthdays rather than my own that make me feel older.

I’m going to tell her the same thing that Jen and I would say to each other when we turned 27 within a week of another – 27 is the last year you can honestly say you’re in your twenties without adding “late” in front of twenties.

As for me, I’ll enjoy being a mere year apart from Amy for the next month and half, before I turn 29. That’s when Jen and I will tell each other, “29 is the last year we can honestly say we’re in our twenties before we hit the big 3 – 0!”


Happy Birthday Amy!

Amy's and Andrea's Graduation Bash

Finally, it was the day of the party that was the culmination of months of planning by my uncle Rich, my aunt Rena and myself.

I have to say that I was pleased overall by our choice of the Braintree VFW Hall for the graduation party - it was cheap; the space itself was big with a kitchen, a huge dance floor and room for 90 people; and everyone that worked there was very pleasant. Ditto for Fasano's catering - everyone kept raving about the food, so it's worth getting it catered and I recommend the stuffed chicken/sirloin combo that Rena picked.

This is what the centerpieces ended up looking like:

Each table had a bucket of a different type of candy, surrounded by small Chinese food takeout boxes with ribbons in Andrea's and Amy's school colors, 2009 buttermint packages and special graduation fortune cookies. The sand buckets and the pinwheels were purchased at a dollar store, the candy (including Starbursts, Ghiradelli chocolates, Swedish Fish and Hershey's Miniatures) from BJ's and everything else from Oriental Trading. If I had to do it again, I wouldn't do the takeout boxes because no one used them - guests just ended up munching on the candy at their table, rather than visiting each table to fill their boxes as the notes urged them to do.

First to arrive at the party were obviously family members - this is a shot of my cousin Janel, co-guest of honor Andrea, Rena, me and my cousin Andrew:

This party was also important because it was the first time that Andrew's parents met my Mom - here's a shot of me with Andrew's mom Charlotte and my mom Koom.

Here's co-guest of honor Amy, my Dad and me:


Amy and Andrea take a break from chatting with their guest to pose for a picture:

This what I call the BC shot - Andrew's sister Amanda, me and Jen - all members of '02:


I can't remember what was so funny but obviously Jen, Pete, Andrew, Phu and Joe are having a good time:

Shot of me and Andrew, one of my biggest helpers for the event:

Andrea enjoys some of Fasano's great food:

Both sets of parents get up to give a toast to the new grads:


Finally, it was time for cake!


Andrea and Amy shared cake-cutting duties, with my mom hovering to the right with advice:


Perhaps due to the open bar, there was also a lot of dancing (that would be Betty and my Uncle Rich on the dance floor):

Andrew taking his sister Andrea for a spin:

Did I mention that there was A LOT of dancing? Andrea pulls her dad Rich onto the dance floor and Amy and my Dad join after to demonstrate that our family's collective lack of rhythm.

The money shot at the end of the night - a rare shot of me, Amy and my parents - we're usually only in the same place once a year:


The party was considered a rousing success by everyone who attended and most importantly, Amy and Andrea had a blast. Congrats to them both!