A View from the Bridge 2010

We went to the play A View from the Bridge and loved it. A View from the Bridge by Arthur Miller is set in 1950s America, in an Italian American neighborhood near the Brooklyn Bridge in New York.

Outside a View from the Bridge, at the Cort Theater

The main character in the story is Eddie Carbone, an Italian American longshoreman, who lives with his wife, Beatrice, and his orphaned niece, Catherine. Scarlett Johansson, making her Broadway debut, played Catherine. Tony winner Liev Schreiber played Eddie. Jessica Hecht played Beatrice. Hecht is the same actress who had small roles on the television show Friends, as Ross's ex-wife partner Susan. I didn't recognize her until the end of the show because she was so deeply in the character of Beatrice that she didn't look or carry herself the same way. I thought she was by far the best.

It was particularly awesome because it is narrated by a lawyer, and I feel like he was telling the story of my professional life right now.

Things My Wife Complains About: #11 Failing to Predict or Identify Where She Wants or Needs to Be

My wife likes to do things sometimes. It's difficult to say when, as many times she prefers to do nothing, but when she does want to do something, I'm often given several seconds to determine what to do and where. The other night my wife texted that she was on Lexington and Third (two avenues that run parallel for approximately ten miles). She was hoping I would meet her, and after multiple counter-texts (sample text: where are you?), I called to determine what stretch of Manhattan she occupied. After a conversation in which I failed to guess her location (87th street) or where she wanted to go (unknowable), I was chastised for not knowing either of these things. When she returned, she decided that I didn't want to go anywhere, potentially on account of not loving her.

Two days earlier, I had been critiqued for neglecting to have memorized the weekday timetable of the Port Jefferson branch of the Long Island Railroad, a line I've taken nearly three times in my life. In my wife's defense, I was given almost an entire minute to direct her through Penn Station while she repeatedly bemoaned her inability to locate the Port Washington branch.

Possible Solutions!

1) Always stay no more than fifteen feet behind wife, even at the risk of surrendering my career or entering womens' bathrooms
2) Meet at the Pizza Hut on 50th and 7th, no matter what
3) Commit every bus, train, and plane schedule to memory, identifying fashionable spots at each stop (hard)

Cathy and Mike's Baby Shower 2010

We went to Cathy and Mike's baby shower this weekend. The shower was very Tens/Teens Decade (what are we calling it? why do none of these decades have names?) in that men were invited, beer was served, and there was an after-party to celebrate the daddy's last days of freedom, as he will be the primary care-giver after mommy's maternity leave ends. We had a lot of fun bar crawling around the bars and restaurants in State College, PA.

Tigger-theme decorations

Cathy and I have been friends for almost nine years!

Drinking pitchers of mixed drinks! (Not Cathy though.)

Bomb Scare 2010

We sort of had a bomb scare yesterday. Gotta love New York.

And I say sort of, because while there was a lot of commotion on the street right outside my job, no one on the news or at work reported anything to us. We found out from a coworker who was not allowed to cross the street to get to work. The police told her to leave "before it went boom."

Don't worry, there wasn't a bomb. It was just two bags of clothing abandoned on the street. But I'm glad the city took immediate action to prevent detonation, just in case. And since Kevin is teaching classes in Manhattan for the winter session, he took immediate action too-- we went to lunch together a few blocks away from the bomb area.

I hope this is not the foreshadowing in my blog to a real boom one day.

Boston Bruins v. NY Rangers 2010

We recently went to a ice hockey game in Madison Square Gardens, making this the third time in a few months that I've been after never having gone before. So that's a country music concert with Brian, a Celtics game with Kevin's large crew, and Bruins. All three times I have been extremely stressed about work while trying to enjoy myself. Also we lost (BOS 2 @ NYR 3) But the Garden is awesome no matter what.

Me and Kevin and Madison Square Garden

Also I heart ice hockey. I can definitely enlist myself to the one Boston team that Kevin does not follow. Between the two of us we can now cover all the bases (goal posts?).

Bruins v. Rangers

Grandma Catherine 90th Birthday 2010!

Grandma Catherine just turned 90 years young! Congratulations!


With Grandma Catherine after Christmas 2007


At our wedding in 2009

Review of 2009- Part 2

Kevin and I were newly-weds and life was good!

July
Kevin and I were living in Brooklyn, but we celebrated the Fourth of July at Jaime's place in Arlington, Virginia with a fun mix of friends. I missed my dad's 60th birthday when our friends Wendy and Clark had a somewhat impromptu wedding on the same day. Aubree and Patrick got engaged.

Clark and Wendy's wedding day 2009

I started this blog.  Kevin started writing Things My Wife Complains About (TMWCA). The first one was, Her Coffee Being Too Heavy and the second one was Allowing Her to Nap.

August
Kevin and I went to an M. Ward concert in Central Park, but then I had to skip the Red Sox-Orioles game we had planned because I was too busy with work (TMWCA). Kevin went to the house upstate and Lake Placid with me and my parents for the first time. Ash visited me and Michele in Manhattan for the evening.  I complained that this blog was getting kind of boring... four years ago! Oh-oh.  Are you still reading?

A bunch of us crashed at Kevin's aunt's Cape Cod cottage for the weekend and went to the beach. Cory and Robin got engaged, and so did Jeff and Inga! Finally, I bemoaned evolution's short falls. Opposable toes really would be handy.

My family in Lake Placid, 2009

Kevin and Jon's good friend Erik passed away on his 30th birthday. He is very missed.

September
Kevin and I had been married for three months when we roadtripped with Jon from Brooklyn to Chattanooga for Trey and Sunny's wedding.  The way there was pretty easy, but on the way back the boys were a bit hungover and were not exactly singing road songs.

Trey and Sunny dancing at their wedding 2009

Kevin and I decided to drive down to Philly on a Monday to celebrate Brady's 30th birthday. We had some dinner, ice cream cake, and went to the Local and had some drinks. We closed the place on a Monday night.

 

Brady's 30th Birthday in Philly 2009

October
We went to Sarah and Lukas Engagement Party in Astoria, Queens. Kevin wrote a Things My Wife Complains About: #8 Loving Fake Football Players More Than Her.

Kevin gave a lecture in Florence and we used it as an excuse to do a big Tuscany trip. We went to Florence, Fiosole, Pisa, and Lucca. When we were at the airport on the way back, I found out that Donald and Sarah had gotten engaged.  Brian and I went to a Brad Paisley concert. I got so sick that I had to go to the emergency room, and though they failed to diagnose me I'm pretty sure I got the Brooklyn Mumps.  Halloween was a non-event, I moped around Brooklyn looking at kids in costume, desperately wanting my own. Kid, that is.  Well, I wanted a costume too.

In Pisa 2009

November

Becky's friends celebrated her completion of the New York Marathon by eating burgers at Shake Shack. Kevin and I went out to Manhattan to celebrate my brother David's 21st birthday.  His friends were really nice, and we all had a great time drinking and dancing. We had brunch with Lukas and Sarah in Brooklyn. I saw people walking three camels down the street in Manhattan (Rockefeller Christmas show!). A few of our friends went to a Boston Celtics v. NY Knicks at Madison Square Gardens. A bunch of celebrities were sitting in the court-side seats. James W. crashed with us for a few weeks in our Brooklyn apartment.

David's 21st birthday 2009

Kevin and I celebrated our first married Thanksgiving with his family and had a second Thanksgiving dinner with my dad's family the following night.

Thanksgiving with Kathy's family

Day after Thanksgiving with my Dad's family

December

I cut a foot of my hair off, donated it. Kevin made fun of me for relying on him to tell me to go to bed (TMWCA #9). We went to New York Public Library Christmas Party to celebrate our engagement on the steps two years previously. Kevin wrote Things My Wife Complains About: #10 Eating Fortune Cookies. We went to see the opera Elektra.

I went by myself to visit Brooke in Los Angeles. Chrissy and Jason had their first baby Owen. Nick and Emily came to New York to visit, and got engaged!

Kevin and I celebrated our first married Christmas with my parents.  Briggs and Andrew came to visit us in Brooklyn.

Our first married Christmas at my parents in 2009

My parents, Christmas 2009

Review of 2009- Part 1

The beginning of 2009 was fantastic because Kevin and I got married and went on a wonderful honeymoon. Even in the months leading up to the wedding, I was super excited and happy. Here's a review.

January

Kevin and I were engaged and living in the Cobble Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn. We celebrated New Years out in Brooklyn with Briggs, Jon, and Becky. Then we raced off to New Jersey the next day for Chrissy and Jason's wedding!

Briggs, me, and Kevin at Jake Walk in Brooklyn on New Years Day 2009

We visited my grandmother Daisy, and David and Melanie, and later my parents came to visit us in Brooklyn. We had date nights at Lucali Pizzeria in Carroll Gardens (yum!), La Taqueria in Park Slope, and Pongal Indian in Manhattan. Those were the days!

Kevin and I watched Obama's inauguration from Times Square.  Rachel and I went out to dinner with our friend from Spain, Monica.  I worked late and on weekends a lot. Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 43rd President of the United States.

February
Kevin and I were living in Brooklyn together and we were in full-blown wedding countdown mode. I dragged Kevin and Brian to New York's Chinese New Year Parade. It was pretty similar to the DC Chinese New Year parade, but with more dragons. We saw Cat Power at the Apollo with Jon and Becky.

I passed my Bar fitness interview.  I freaked out because our wedding invitations were printed in the wrong color, then I embraced it and moved on to freaking out about addressing envelopes. Brady, James W., and I celebrated Kevin's 29th birthday on Valentines Day, which I decided was not as romantic as it initially sounded. Jeff M. visited us, Kevin punched him as part of an on-going punching game they play, and then Jeff stole my pillow case. My pillow case lived in California for a while. Spike Lee came and gave a talk at my law firm. We celebrated Jinsoo's 30th birthday with a party at his place and some organic cheesy poofs.

Brooklyn Heights Promenade, Valentine's Day 2009

March

We got to see Casey and he hooked us up with a ticket to Boston University's production of La Tragedie de Carmen. Kevin decorated our apartment with balloons and a bunch of us went out for my 30th birthday in Brooklyn. We celebrated Cory's 30th birthday at Hill Country (back before I really appreciated Southern barbecue).  Kevin, Jon, James W., and I had a relaxing St. Patrick's Day in Brooklyn. My parents and I drove 20 hours round-trip to Ohio, to get my wedding dress fitted by the designer. Yes, we really did that and survived our relationship. Kevin and my dad came to my bar swearing-in ceremony. Michele and I went to the New York Philhamonic in Lincoln Center. Kevin and I sent out our wedding invitations!

My NY Bar swearing-in ceremony 2009

April
Kevin celebrated his bachelor party in Vegas, and my friends threw me a bridal shower in Warwick, NY, and a bachelorette at hotel/club in Mahwah, NJ. Janice got her pug Fudgie. My friend from work, Tevia and I went to see a Broadway show, Distracted.

 
My bachelorette party

May
Kevin's family threw me a little wedding shower on the Cape, which was really sweet. My parents came up for it so we were able to spend Mother's Day with both of our moms and my dad. My friend Rachel celebrated her first Mother's Day as a mom. The following day, Kevin and I got our marriage license for our wedding that was in month. I worked on our wedding table place cards which were photos of all the guests. My mother and I went to buy makeup for my wedding, and we got a makeup test even though my mother did my makeup on my actual wedding day. The makeup test convinced me to switch lipstick colors from my muted coppery corals to pink. I still wear mostly pink lipstick these days.

 

Cape Cod wedding shower

Mother's Day 2009

June
Kevin and I left Brooklyn to head for the Cape on a Wednesday, and we pulled away from our apartment building I squealed, "when we come back we'll be married!" On Friday other people started arriving, and the bridesmaids and I got our nails done, then we went to the rehearsal, and the rehearsal dinner at Scargo Cafe.  I surprised Kevin with a Red Sox "grooms cake" at the rehearsal dinner, and Jon gave an awesome speech about watching Kevin propose to me (he was taking photos).  Then we all went to the 28 Club for the Welcome Party.

We had the ceremony outside at Wychmere Harbor. We wrote our vows, and we asked Janice, my mother, and Briggs to do poetry readings we chose. The cocktail hour was both outside and inside with our friend Jinsoo playing classical piano inside.  We had a beautiful reception that didn't feel too short-- maybe because I danced almost the entire time. When we got back, I changed and we went to an after party in Kevin's brother's room. Kevin's aunts and mother put on a lovely breakfast the next morning.

Our wedding day

The next day we were on our way to Greece for our honeymoon.  We explored Athens, Folegandros, and Santorini.

Of course, when we got back, Brady was the first visitor.  Makes sense since he's the one that performed our wedding ceremony. Then we went back to the Cape to have a month-late memorial for my grandfather on the Shute side.

New Year's at Ash's 2009 --> 2010

Kevin, Brady, and I spent New Years Eve at Ash's. We had a lot of fun, a lot of drinks, and a lot of finger food.

Me and Ash on New Year's Eve 2009

Ash serving champagne!

Our first married New Year's Eve!

Besties: Nicole and Ash

 

Brady and Kevin toasting with 4 drinks

 

The classy ladies

Midnight yay!

Everybody do "the Brady"

The next morning we stayed for brunch, and a SVU marathon (you know you love it), and went to a petting farm. Really.

On the way to the farm 

Brady at Penning's Farm and Petting Zoo

And honestly, we're still at Ash's house, so at this point it's unclear if we're ever leaving or if Ash will eventually make us leave, by say, calling the cops on us or something.

My awesome photo of Harley