Elektra Opera 2009

We went to the opera last night to see Elektra. We sat in the balcony and I tried to think tall thoughts so I could peer over the ledge and watch Elektra fight with her sister over whether or not to kill their mother. Don't worry, I won't spoil ancient Greek mythology for you if you don't already know.

Kevin and I enjoyed singing along, "Agamemnon! Agamemnon!" I also enjoyed the beautiful chandeliers in the jewel room Met theater (those never get old), watching the man playing the triangle in the orchestra, and pushing the button on the translation box so I could see what Elektra was saying in Spanish, or um, German. This last thing made absolutely no sense to me since the opera Elektra is already in German. Is this translation only for deaf German people? Oh, I know it's probably always the third language, but are Germans who don't speak English the third most likely group to go to the opera in New York? I would guess it would be Chinese or Japanese speakers.

The Met at Christmastime

Nick and Emily Engagement 2009!

We had more happy news after Christmas, as our good friends and perfect couple, Emily and Nick, got engaged in Manhattan. We met them out at Jimmy's Corner for drinks to celebrate their engagement. Congratulations!

Nick and Emily at Jimmy's Corner

First Married Christmas in NJ 2009

We had a nice first-married Christmas Eve with my parents in New Jersey. Dinner was Cuban-style Noche Buena with pork, delicious black beans and rice, and yucca (by special request). Dessert was flan and toron. Really fantastic.

 

Me and Kevin on Christmas Eve

My cute parents

We also had a bit of a photo shoot. My mother just about lost it when Kevin was photographing and he requested that we act "ferocious" instead of the old Tyra Banks stand-by "fierce."

We are ferocious!

Christmas day itself we stayed home and had Chinese food for dinner in tribute to what Kevin's family was eating on the Cape. This time, I graciously let Kevin eat his fortune cookie, despite his accusations on Things My Wife Complains About.

Holiday Visits from Friends and Family 2009

Before the holidays, Kevin's friend Briggs and his brother Andrew came to visit us for a few days each. Kevin and Briggs went to the usual bars, and the next morning we introduced Briggs to the Brooklyn brunching lifestyle at our favorite brunch spot Abilene. Kevin walked Andrew all around the city and then we went with our friend Akua to see Avatar. By the way, Avatar is the best movie ever (if you ignore all of the general's lines that is).

And then Kevin's brother Andrew visits:

More on these in next post.

Baby Owen 2009!

Belated baby news. My friend Chrissy and her husband Jason had a super cute baby just before Christmas. I was waiting to have a proper picture to post. They opted not to find out the baby's gender early so: It's a boy! Ha ha. My post name gave it away I guess. His name is Owen and he is adorable. (His blog is http://babyvonderhaar.blogspot.com/.)

Owen!


Happy family in time for Christmas.

Things My Wife Complains About: #10 Eating Fortune Cookies

After purchasing a tree, dragging the stand out of the closet, putting the tree up, watering the tree, and stringing the lights, my wife complained that the lights were not distributed evenly enough around the tree. That might be post worthy, but something happened immediately after the conversation that was even more post worthy, which was my wife giving me a fortune cookie that I opened to discover the following message:

"It is better to light one small candle than to curse the darkness."

Flush with the thrill of serendipity, I triumphantly held the slip of white paper before my wife, who willfully ignored the ancient wisdom of mass-produced fortune, complaining instead that I had eaten the cookie, which she felt entitled to eat, even though she had just eaten her own fortune cookie, message unknown.

Possible Solutions!

1) Don't eat anything before offering it first to wife.
2) Convert to Judiasm and purchase electric menorah.
3) Cancel Christmas and/or Chinese food (hard).

Los Angeles 2009

This weekend, I went to go visit Brooke in Los Angeles. It rained the whole time I was there but I was so excited to see Brooke that I didn't care. She showed me LA, we went shopping and had drinks in the afternoon, and we went to a comedy show in which her boyfriend Marc performed. Good times!

It's raining so fancy martinis are the answer

Hollywood Walk of Fame

Outside the Pig n' Whistle from the movie Chinatown

Los Angeles 2009

I went to go visit Brooke in Los Angeles. It rained the whole time I was there but I was so excited to see Brooke that I didn't care. LA is the largest city in the state of California and the second largest in the United States. One of the things I found unusual was how spread out LA is compared to New York. There's just vast land and highway with nothing on it.

It's raining so fancy martinis are the answer

Hollywood Walk of Fame

Outside the Pig n' Whistle from the movie Chinatown

Hollywood in the rain

Elephant statue in Hollywood

The beach outside Brooke's door

NYPL Christmas Party 2009

After our engagement on the steps of the New York Public Library, I have mentioned to Kevin on occasion that I have never actually been inside the NYPL. So Kevin became a member so that he could take me to their Christmas party so that the first time I went in would be special. Isn't he the sweetest husband?

Me outside the NYPL

The NYPL Christmas Party

Private Concert

Kevin's "author picture"

Before the tour of the stacks

Things My Wife Complains About: #9 Not Putting Her to Bed at the Exact Right Moment

My wife prefers being awake to being asleep. It's one of the reasons I married her. Although she loves being awake, it endlessly annoys her that I don't put her to bed at the exact moment she wants to go to bed. I italicize wants because one must differentiate what my wife believes she should do from what she wishes to do. It's my responsibility to recognize this dichotomy, make a unique nightly decision in her best interests, and enforce this decision in a way that respects her autonomy. When I fail to do this correctly, which happens six to seven times a week, it is her burden to complain.

Possible Solutions!

1) Remove all light bulbs, so as to give the apartment more of a sleep-inducing feel
2) Replace collapsing, spring-less mattress with mattress that massages muscles, doesn't cause one to wake in excruciating pain
3) Rock and roll all night and party every day (hard)

First Married Thanksgiving in MA 2009

We had a lovely first-married Thanksgiving on the Cape. We went to visit Kevin's mother and her family. His mom even made my favorite dish of sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top. Kevin's cousin Katie doesn't usually make it for Thanksgiving so we missed her this year.

I'm used to spending holidays on the Cape. Besides spending the last two Christmases with Kevin's family, my dad's family has been spending Thanksgiving on the Cape for many years. This year we got to have two Thanksgiving dinners, one with the Rogers, and one with the Shutes!
I was completely spoiled this weekend with loads of old family pictures from Kevin's mother and grandmother. Kevin also drove me around to get my hair cut (I cut it all off!) and nails done, and Christmas Tree Shop-shopping. I am one well-rested happy wife.

With Kevin's mom

Kevin's grandparents have been married for 59 years!

Nesie, Steve, Gramps, Dickie, Chris (not pictured Mary)

One of the best parts of seeing the Shutes is watching my cousin Griffin grow up. I hate it when I don't see children for many years and they hardly remember who I am. I didn't get to spend a lot of time with my brother when he was growing up, and if I had to do over again, I would go out of my way to see him more. I missed seeing my other cousins Graham and Rachel grow up as well. Now I worry about the same thing with my friend's babies.

With my parents

Cooking dinner together


The yearly burning of the sweet potatoes and marshmallows

Good times!

Boston Celtics v. NY Knicks 2009

Good times! Can you tell who we were rooting for? Most of us are Celtics fans, though I'm not sure where Brian stands on the issue. Sadly we lost and I don't really want to go into the sadness. But at least we saw a bunch of famous people courtside.

Mike, Brian, Me, James (low down) Kevin, Jon, and Becky

Brunch Moment of Zen 2009

Sarah and Lukas came to visit us in Brooklyn and we did our favorite thing - brunch at Abilene. Woo!

David's 21st Birthday 2009!

Last night Kevin and I went out for my brother David's 21st birthday. I accidentally ended up celebrating someone's 21st birthday about two and half years ago, but in general, I haven't done that sort of thing since the year 2000. He celebrated with dinner and dancing at a Latin restaurant/club in the East Village. After sending him some flan with a birthday candle in it, Kevin and I got down with our bad-salsa-dancing selves. We are very bad at salsa, but a large mango martini told me that this was not so.

David and his best friends celebrating his 21st with dinner

Melanie and David

Blowing out a candle on his flan

We had a fabulous time and we love David and his girlfriend Melanie. His other friends were also friendly and fun. David and I have really odd things in common considering we weren't raised together and it's interesting and weird to figure them out. We both have the family dimple in our shoulder, we have bad senses of direction, we are what people call "light weights" though I don't think either of us minds this, and we feel compelled to label friends as family members. There are other things, but those are the easiest to explain.

Happy birthday, David!

Everyone on the dance floor

Familia! and Mango drinks!

Tuscany 2009

Two weekends ago, Kevin gave a presentation at a conference in Italy. I tagged along. We stayed in Florence, where Kevin renewed his love for "el Duomo," the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore.

In front of a nice view of Florence and its Duomo

View from Fiesole of Florence

From there we caught trains to Pisa and Lucca. Pisa was my favorite. I'm a sucker for the Leaning Tower, even if getting the perfect cheesy shots in front of it took forever. But the city is beautiful and historic in its own right, complete with its own smaller duomo, and I would have spent more time there if I could.

Pisa! What a dream!

Lucca was probably Kevin's favorite. It is a small charming town with treasures down random streets. The town is supposed to have the best food in Tuscany, and we went to one of the best restaurants for dinner. Kevin got the delicious rabbit ravioli and I got the Tuscan yellow pasta with mushrooms (yellow from extra eggs). His dish was better, or at least, I always think it is.

In front of the walls of Lucca

On day three we missed getting into the Boboli Gardens and lost our guidebook, so on a whim, we hopped on a bus to Fiesole, the town that sits just above Florence. The town has an amazing night view of the city, and some pretty fantastic restaurants too.

We went to the impressive Uffizi gallery and Boboli Gardens (again) before leaving on the fourth day. More about our trip here: http://eralontravels.blogspot.com/search/label/Tuscany.

Florence, Italy 2009

In October, Kevin gave a presentation at a conference in Tuscany, and I tagged along. We stayed in Florence, where Kevin renewed his love for "el Duomo," the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. We walked around a lot, and went to the impressive Uffizi gallery and Boboli Gardens (again) before leaving on the last day.

In front of a nice view of Florence and its Duomo

You can glimpse the Duomo everywhere on the streets of Florence

Close up to the facade

Boboli Gardens on our last day