instead of us welcoming sam and kristin to the city, they hosted us at their apartment on friday. an amazing 14th storey apartment with an L shaped balcony that has incredible views. the only bad part is they only have it for another six weeks.

soggy concert. alicia and i went with sam and kristin to see fiest play at prospect park. the concert was fun, although we had to endure a rain shower during the first act.

wedding pictures. the photographer has posted a slideshow with highlights from the pictures of the wedding and reception. there awesome. check em out.

married! so the wedding went really well, a couple minor mishaps, but despite the forecast for rain, the weather even turned out to be great. we spent the next 11 days in greece and turkey on our honeymoon. its been very hard going back to work after all this.

thanks to all who came to celebrate, and everyone else who has sent their best wishes our way. everyone was so generous we have to figure out how to fit everything in our new york apartment!

the knot. less then a week until we tie the knot! programs are printing; tuesday we pick up the dress and head to the in-laws; wednesday i pick up the tux; thursday is the rehearsal; friday we're married!

in case you haven't visited, our site has all you need to know for the big weekend!

a lecture to help you keep things in perspective. (thanks mum)

basketball anyone? i went to see the semifinals of the big east friday night. it was my first time in the garden and first ncaa basketball game(s). i got to see pitt win and georgetown beat west virginia. go pitt!

service. getting to dinner last night seemed like it was going to iffy. five minutes before we planned to leave, hurricane style weather moved in--massive downpour and horizontal rain. wind gusts that you could literally feel move the building.

but it all moved through in about 10 or 15 mins, at least enough that we felt safe getting into a car to cross the bridge. we then spent 3 hours enjoying not only incredible food, but a level of service rarely found these days. everything from the standard wine and water glass never reaching empty, to printing happy birthday at the top of menu and written in chocolate on my dessert plate. there was always someone there when you needed or were ready to order or ask for something--always--and not once were we interrupted or hurried along. the place, to me, had a 1920s feel, as if you were enjoying the spoils of your industrial revolution empire. even chef Humm came out to greet guests. yes, the executive chef that still physically runs his kitchen every night.

and then we took the subway home.

three-oh. yesterday marked my thirtieth birthday. went out for some drinks with friends last night at il posto and dba. today i got my birthday gift from alicia--a massage at a spa in the city. it was the first massage i've ever had, but certainly won't be my last. it was great.

tonight i continue my self indulgence with a dinner at 11 madison.

Verdi. We saw Otello last night at the met. This time we upgraded our seats to first row balcony. I have to admit that a Shakespearian based opera felt more familiar to me than did Die Walkure. Botha (Otello) and Flemming (Desdemona) both had amazing voices (go figure). But for overall experience, this show probably rates in the top two.

spacewalking. the international space station grows.

recent movies. since i know ryan loves to hear my movie reviews, i've got two tonight. the first is "the fountain", which we got via netflix. not recommended. it's about a medical researcher trying to find a cure for cancer in order to save his wife, set in three time periods.

we went to see juno in the theaters. this i would recommend. addresses a tough subject in a funny but still touching way. the writing is quick, witty, and the cleverest i've heard in a while. and we bought soundtrack. the lead actress was phenomenal; i expect to see her in more things in the future.

week in review. this was a long week. work is busy, and without going into the details, i'll be happy to get some time off when the wedding comes.

this weekend i unexpectedly was invited to the opera. alicia's great aunt gets tickets for her, her mom and her sister every year. megan couldn't make it this year as she was sabotaged by her students with a case of the flu. so, i took her place. the opera was wagner's Die Walkure. By far the longest opera i've seen to date, but still amazing to experience.

loss. i found out that the husband of a good friend of mine during college died of leukemia this week. i didn't know jared that well, but anne and i were pretty good friends during school. both were such good, unselfish people it seems so unfair.

he did keep a journal and i'm posting the link in the event someone else may find it helpful in dealing with a similar situation.

whisky tasting. since new years eve wasnt enough to kill my liver, i decided to host another whisky tasting with some good friends. my best man even came up from philly to join us, which was an awesome surprise and welcome addition to the group. in total there were 9 of us. and since i got proper whisky glasses for christmas, we did it in style.

there was no real theme here, just what was on my shelf as i try to keep a wide range just these sorts of gatherings.

in the order tasted:
arran, unchill filtered, NAS (no age statement)
auchentoshan triple wood
glenfiddich 12 year reserve
longmorn 15 year
glenmorangie 12 year port wood finish
johnnie walker green label, 15 year
highland park 18 year (mine is the new design)
ardbeg 10 year
bowmore darkest

In searching for links to the whiskies tasted, i stumbled across this article comparing some of the same whiskies we tasted. As for my guests, i think the overall winner was the highland park 18 (certainly my fave for the night), although we had votes for the bowmore, ardbeg, glenfiddich and auchentoshan.

Christmas photos. We're now back in brooklyn and tomorrow back to work. I got around to posting the pictures from the holidays in san diego. It was fun to see the excitement of the boys on Christmas day. I just wish I had that much energy.

Happy new year kids!

no reservations. went to see anthony bourdain and michael ruhlman at a barnes and noble event on monday. a- and i are big fans of no reservations, the travel channel show, so we were excited to see him live. he was...himself.

Christmas is coming. today we woke up to an inch of snow. it seems like we completely skipped fall this year and went from summer to winter. this afternoon we picked up a tree and started the decorating. we've put on the lights and a few ornaments that a- bought. but without the lights on it looks a little bare. we'll have to find some more ornaments to put on. once we do, i'll post some pics.

dinner party. last night we had some friends over for dinner. a- made julia child's recipe for coq au vin. the food was great (of course) and the mixing of my friend from work and his wife with a-'s friend from her old job and her husband turned out to be lovely company. i'm sure the three bottles of wine and the whisky didn't hurt anything.

i went to the bedford cheese shop for cheese earlier that day and much to my surprise they also had penguins for sale. i couldn't resist even tho they were absurdly expensive.