Is it Christmas? My Birthday?

That's what I had to ask myself when Frankie gave me a gift Friday night. My digital camera hasn't been feeling so good lately (takes regular pics but the other modes don't work), so Friday night Frankie came home from work early to give me a present. I was in complete shock when I saw it. He's always giving me nice gifts- but this was way beyond anything I could have expected. And it's a kick-ass camera too!!! The Canon SD700- I love this thing. A sweet upgrade from my Canon S400. He figured with all the events we have coming up- weddings mostly- that I would need a new one soon, so he gave it to me before cousin's night so I didn't take a chance at the camera not working. It was one of the best presents I ever got- thanks babe!

All in the Family

Well it's Monday and I am recovering from a kick ass weekend with the family.
Saturday was our big night out for the 14 cousins. We started at Tony DiNapolis- excellent food. Followed by Avenue Q- even more excellent play. Topped the night off at Faces and Names- most excellent drinks. When I woke up Saturday morning to start the day I was like a little kid on Christmas, or should I say Christmas Eve since that's (sadly) practically the only time we all get together. Everything went perfect! Everybody's flights arrived, we were all on time and we were ready to party.
Tony DiNapolis was delicious. Very crowded, but not expensive at all. This family can drink and eat and the bill was a hell of alot less than we thought it would be. I definitely recommend it.
Avenue Q was absolutely hilarious! I expected it to be funny, but it was way beyond what I thought it would be like. I never thought puppets having sex could be that funny. Two things that we learned is that everyone's a little bit racist and that the internet is for porn. Favorite line- put my earmuffs on the cookie. It still cracks me up!
Faces and Names was the perfect choice for drinks after. Sean took care of reserving a table in the back and it was perfect. The place was not at all busy so we pretty much had the run of it, which was awesome. We wanted to be somewhere nice and quiet so we could all talk and catch up and that's exactly what we did. We stayed there for about 2 1/2 hours and somehow managed to almost match our bar bill to what the dinner bill was- now that is some impressive drinking.
Then it was time to head out so we could somewhat function for Bo and Amy's engagement party on Sunday. I was impressed, we were all there and nobody was really hungover. My family makes me so proud. We were all able to be together one more day and I got to see all my new little cousins that were just born this year- all so cute.
Then we started another night of drinking. We all had a few at the party and then Bo and Amy joined us at the house for more drinks since their flight back was delayed until the morning due to weather. It was great to spend more time with them before they headed back to Atlanta. It sucks that everybody had to go home but I know we'll do a night like this again soon.
With over 150 pics from the weekend it's hard to chose a few, but here's some of my faves...

Couldn't Have Said it Better Myself

Check out this Miami Vice review...this critic took the words right out of my mouth.

What the F#@k????

That was all me, Rachel and AR could say when we left the movies today. We thought it would be a good idea to go see a movie after work. Our choice? Miami Vice- and it was awesomely bad. I can't even really tell you anything about it because to be honest I didn't understand any of it. The dialog was not only all over the place, but I couldn't understand half the things they were saying, the acting was soooo horrific, and the music could have put you to sleep. All I wanted was to see Tubs and Crockett jump in a speed boat and to hear the theme song. Sadly, I waited two hours and it never happened. And there was no Elvis (Crockett's pet alligator)...how could you leave out Elvis? I never expected it to be an Oscar winner, but I figured how could you go wrong with drugs, sex, violence and Colin Farrell? But trust me- it can go very wrong. Even though it sucked we did have a good time laughing at for two hours- there was no way we couldn't it was just that bad.

There's just no comparison...

Bonsai!

Well the weekend has come to an end and although I'm tired, it was crazy fun!
Started off Friday at Taj for Cristina's birthday. I had never been there before and it was really pretty and the music was good. If you ever go, don't believe it when they say ladies drink free 12-1. The only free drink is some kind of shot that they gave us, it was ok but one was enough.
Saturday we had Silvia's bachelorette party and it was so much fun! We started out at Arirang with friends and some of her family. We were very cautious with how much we drank since we knew it would be a long night- very smart on our part. Arirang is Silvia's favorite place to go. They do a little happy birthday Bonsai song thing that she loves, so we had them bring her the little cake and we all chanted "getting married" in Japanese accents instead of happy birthday when they brought it over, which is what she always wanted. It was pretty funny and she was very amused. After dinner 10 of us headed over to Culture Club to continue the fun. This was the first time her two married sisters have been out in about ten years and I think they even had fun. The night was pretty tame considering. Silvia drank enough, but not so much that she doesn't remember the night. Although Jenny wasn't feeling to good this morning, she called me fairly early, barely able to talk through the hangover, to tell me how much fun she had and to thank me for taking care of her on the limo ride home. I can't help it, even when I'm bombed for some reason some kind of motherly instinct kicks in when my friends are drunk- especially if it's Sil and Jenn- I just love those two so much and always worry about them.
Yesterday was a long hot day in Island Heights, NJ for my cousin's Christening. Always nice to see the family, but it was outside in a tent and saying it was hot was an understatement.
Today I was smart enough to take the day off. I have some cleaning to do but then I'm hopefully going to spend some time today with my cousin Mike who's in from Chicago.

The Party Never Ends

...or should I say "the parties never end". Due to a few changes in our plans, last weekend turned out so relaxing. Friday night was a trip to Culture Club to celebrate Trisha starting nursing school. Saturday turned out to be one big nap for me followed by dinner at Carmens on the water with Frankie, Melissa, Denise and Nan- we hadn't planned it and running into the girls was a welcomed surprise! Sunday was spent at the beach and then swimming with Grace. I'm glad we got to rest because the next few weekends are hectic and filled with parties for every occasion you could think of.
Friday- Cristina's birthday at Porky's. Saturday- dinner and back to Culture Club for Silvia's bachelorette party. Sunday- a Christening in Island Heights, NJ. Monday- hopefully a day off (still waiting for my boss to approve the vacation request). And the next weekend is just as crazy- but also filled with fun parties!
Next Saturday me and my 14 cousins, some who are flying in, are having dinner at a family-style restaurant in the city (they are even giving us a private party room since there's so many of us), followed by the 8 pm showing of Avenue Q and then off to Stout for drinks! We all can't wait! It's not often enough we get to see each other and we all have the best time when we're together. Then Sunday afternoon we are all getting together again for my cousin Amy's engagement party. My aunt figured since everyone was flying in for "cousin's night" that we should just have it all together. Can't wait to see how hungover everybody is. Who knows with us, we could wind up going to the engagement party straight from the bar- it wouldn't surprise me, or our parents I'm sure, one bit!

Happy Birthday Princess!

Grace turns 6 on Monday. I can't believe it. I feel like it was just yesterday that we were all sitting in the hospital waiting area for Rob to come down and tell us whether it was a boy or a girl. After what felt like forever (even though it was only and hour or so) he finally stepped off the elevator with the tiniest pink hat in his hand. It was one of the best days ever. And now that she's growing up, she's just too much fun!