SantaCon 2016

Ash and I are brave, wild, and young-at-heart. The evidence? We did SantaCon. We even enjoyed it! True, we did a vaguely scaled-back version, but still. We were like good PR for SantaCon. We did our donation, Ash gave out candy, and we made lots of friends.

Madison Tavern

Toy Soldier

Made a new friend

Santas at Stout Bar

At Stout

Zen Ramen & Sushi

150 West 36th Street- SO GOOD. SO GOOD!

Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree

Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree

Ash in Times Square. Thanks for coming out, Ash!

Andrew's 30th Birthday in Key West 2013

Sorry everybody's 30th birthdays. Andrew's won by virtue of being in Key West while temperatures in the Northeast dropped below the 30s. We stayed in these cute cabins called "Courtney's Place" with a pool and a breakfast that stayed open late. We were a two-block walk from Duval Street. We got in Friday afternoon and after some relaxing by the pool we had dinner and partied at Irish Kevin's, The Green Parrot, Smallest Bar, The Hog's Breath Saloon, and Sloppy Joe's. That was our warm-up.

Me, Kevin, Katie, Andrew, and Mike at Irish Kevin's on Friday night

Andrew, Stephanie, Corey, Ken, and Tatiana outside Irish Kevin's

 

Andrew, Doug, Marisa, and Tana dancing at The Green Parrot

Everyone had a lot of beers and jello shots, and I sipped water like a champ. We easily walked 4 miles going up and down Duval Street. Who says we're old? Mike S. may or may not have danced on a table at Hog's Breath, and Kevin may or may not have unbuttoned all the buttons on his shirt at Sloppy Joe's. Suffice to say, I have pictures I am not blogging here. Kevin's mom got some fun drunk texts from various phones. Thanks for babysitting Ma!

Ken plus the cousins at Hog's Breath Saloon on Friday night

It took a while for everyone to recover on Saturday, even me, even though I only drank water. So we started the day with some Cuban coffee at Cuban Coffee Queen, a walk along the waterfront, and some light window-shopping on Duval. A good number of people made it over to the Hemingway House, and everyone regrouped at the pool at Courtney's Place by the afternoon.

The Clou men at Cuban Coffee Queen for coffee and Cuban sandwiches

Some mad posing at the waterfront: Corinne, Matt, Andrew, Mike M, and Kourtney

Contrary to appearances here, most of us went in the pool. 

We did a little walk to Southernmost Point, but the sunlight was bad for a picture. So after the boys stopped for cigars at the Dominican Republic Cigar Shop,  we all headed over to Mallory Square for the sunset. Some of us just missed the actual sunset but we were mostly there for the party. A few people were psyched for The Cat Man at the Sunset Pier so we checked that out too. Finally we gathered for a 22-person dinner at Finnegan's Wake! Andrew gave a really nice toast where he said he felt like he'd become rich by 30-- with friendship.

Me and Kevin at Mallory Square

Andrew giving a thank you toast to everyone who came out for his birthday

Everyone who went to Key West (except Dave who graciously took this picture)

After dinner, we would have liked to see some turtles race at Turtle Kraals, but they only do that on Mondays (!) so we settled for playing some really intense bocce. Kourtney impressed us with her kinetic super powers. If you'd seen it, you'd be a believer. There was much mischief at Captain Tony's Saloon, and thanks to Kevin, Katie met a man named "Bottom." Probably that's not going anywhere. We rejoined a bigger group at The Green Parrot and enjoyed some tunes from the band Xperimento. Google Maps tells me that means we walked at least 5.5 very fun miles on Saturday.

Kourtney, Mike M, Andrew, Stephanie, and Ken at Captain Tony's Saloon

Matt, Corinne, Tana, and Mike M at The Green Parrot

The weekend was epic, and will be hashed and rehashed for many years to come. Happy birthday, Andrew! Oh, and we had a little spa time before we came home from Florida, by which I mean:

I got Kourtney to walk on Kevin's back because I am the best wife ever. ;)

• Check out the last time we visited Andrew in Florida in December of 2012 or
• Kevin's 30th birthday in New York in February of 2010

St. Patrick's Day 2013

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Woo! We kicked off Kevin's Spring Break last night with a St.Patrick's Day bar crawl. We celebrated early, because if St. Patrick's Day falls on Sunday, Saturday is the designated party day. And then Sunday is also the party day. Haha, no, but we are celebrating some more today with Kevin's delicious corned beef sandwiches. They are pretty amazing actually.

Grandma Kathy babysat James for us. Brady came in from Philly to party, and the three of took the LIRR into the city. It started snowing on our way over. We met a green-eye-shadowed Sarah at Dempsey's. Lukas got sick and couldn't join us, but he generously encouraged his nurse Sarah to join us anyway. Dempsey's was a lot of fun because we got there early so we got a table and they played fun dance music and Irish jigs.

Sarah, Brady, Kevin, and me at Dempsey's

The ladies

The menfolk: Kevin, Jon, and Brady

For dinner, we though Vietnamese made perfect sense for St. Patrick's Day. Last year we got sushi for dinner, so maybe there's an Irish beer-Asian food symbiosis. Alternatively, I have a Pavlov's dog response to seeing Jon, because nearly everytime we visit him and Ben in Brooklyn, we pick up Vietnamese after. Anyway, V-Nam Cafe had awesome banh-mi, and very good Pho.

V-Nam's Cafe

We briefly considered going to Swift, but they had a cover and they were crowded so it would have been a lose-lose. So we head over to Scratcher's where things were less Irish but way more chill.

Snuggling at Scratchers

After Sarah left, the rest of us decided we were better off in Brooklyn so we could easily catch the LIRR back from Atlantic without a lot of advance planning. We ended up at 4th Avenue Bar which we really like, and we missed fully three trains back while we got more drinks, expressed our outrage about drone strikes and weighed the relative merits of Harper's or The New Yorker. Um, yeah.

The Clous celebrating at home today

Last St. Patrick's Day we went out in our Irish neighborhood with Jon and Michele. The previous year, in 2011, I was pregnant, so Jon, Briggs, Lukas, and Sarah came here for Kevin's corned beef sandwiches and some canned Guinness. Here are some St. Patrick's Day pictures from 2002-2011.

Grandma Kathy- January 2013

We had a wonderful weekend thanks to Grandma Kathy. She got here Friday night before James went to bed, and put him to sleep herself after playing with him for a while.

James welcomes Gaga

Saturday afternoon she went to meet our new best friend baby Ben. He was even wearing the little brown sweater Grandma Kathy knit for him. Look how adorable Ben is in his little sweater! Jon and Kevin were even able to grab a beer thanks to her.

Saturday afternoon with Ben and Jon

She babysat for us in the evening so that Kevin and I could have date night. The last time Kevin and I got a date night alone in Manhattan was in July! So we decided to go big and go to Comedy Cellar, and Kevin conscientiously looked into their reservations policy (that they didn't accept any for some portion of the tickets), but when we got there early they were sold out. We were too happy to be out to worry about it and decided it was time for make-your-own Greenwich Village bar crawl. We made it to the Slaughtered Lamb, Down the Hatch, and Vol de Nuit, before meeting up with our friends Nick and Emily at the Four-Faced Liar. I forgot to take any photos because we were having too much fun, but here's a recent photo of Nick and Emily off their Facebook.

Nick and Emily, December 2012

Grandma generously got up with James Sunday morning and then napped with him in the late morning. As a result of all her love and affection, he now calls her "Gaga" presumably after the queen of dance music. Either that, or it's his best attempt at "Grandma." Probably the former.

While they napped, Kevin and I sat in our living room marveling that it was daytime and we were both in the same room without James. We were giddy with freedom. When they got up we braved bringing James to lunch at a pizzeria and then took him to the park.

Sunday lunch at Village Pizzeria

Kevin and James at the top of the slide at the park

When I got back from the park, I thought it would be a good time to build Aunt Mary's Christmas present to James, a little kitchen set that didn't look that complicated. It was. It involved screws and a Phillips head, and it was very complicated. Kevin was happy we didn't involve him-- until we did. On the bright side, James really likes opening and closing the little microwave door and the little oven door. Over and over again. He also stole a bunch of paperwork from my office trash and jammed it in the microwave, so that's fun.

Sunday afternoon at the factory

 

Kitchen and shopping cart set- complete!

Visiting Andrew in Florida 2012

Kevin and I went to visit Andrew in Florida. It's been 2 and half years since our last visit to him there, so we were due. We were there shortly after Andrew's birthday, so Kevin planned the visit to coincide with the Patriots v. Dolphins game, which was Andrew's birthday treat.

Grandma Kathy is the big hero of this story, as she stayed in Long Island to watch James for... FOUR DAYS... alone! This is where I admit that I have never watched James for four consecutive days without any help.

Kevin, Mike, Andrew, and Kelly, Friday night at the Blue Anchor

We got there Friday evening and we went out with Andrew and some of his close friends to the bars in Atlantic Avenue. The weather was lovely that evening, and Atlantic Avenue is one of the few places in the area that has a bunch of bars within walking distance to each other. Some of the bars are open-air.

My new buddies, Marissa and Tatiana sitting outside in December- yay!

Even though it was a travel day, we had a lot of fun Friday night. Too much fun perhaps considering we already had Andrew's birthday and a football game on our weekend schedule.

We checked the area out a little on Saturday afternoon.  We drove down A1A, went for a longish walk on the beach in Deerfield, and by my request we went to the outside shopping mall Mizner Park.

Walking along Deerfield Beach

The Clou brothers go a few buttons down on Deerfield Beach

Mizner Park in Boca Raton, where Kevin had his prom photo taken 14 years ago.

There are countless photos illustrating how fun Andrew's Birthday and Brother Bash were (celebrating both Andrew's birthday and Kevin's visit to see him), but many of them are a little embarrassing for someone, and as I get old, I try to post fewer and fewer of those on the interwebs. So here's a perfectly respectable and happy group photo from the party. Kelly and Megan got there a little late because they had to work so they missed the group shot, but I included them separately too.

Group photo- yay!

Kelly and Megan rock!

Andrew made enough chicken parmesean, eggplant parmesean, and angel hair pasta to feed anyone who wanted dinner. Marissa made the most amazing pepperoni dip ever. Connie brought 3 delicious desserts. Some of the guys even brought some of their home-brew beer. Andrew's friends are an amazing group of friendly, funny, and giving people. He's really lucky that they fill his life.

Let me tell you, it was hard for everyone to get up to go to the football game on Sunday. Especially since we committed to getting up early to tailgate. Really. We did that. After 2 nights of already being out. This was not any easier for Andrew who is still in his 20s than it was for us, though Mike seemed to be holding up valiantly. Adam and his uncle did all the tailgate cooking, which was super nice of them.

Tailgating with Andrew, Mike, Kevin, Adam, and his uncle!

I'm not a football aficionado, but I've always enjoyed watching a game live. It's more exciting, and there's beer and bad stadium food (which I secretly love). Sometimes I learn or relearn some rules of football or some fun plays. I often take I'm-at-a-football-game photos. That's obviously the best part. During this particular game, I developed a newfound appreciation of why people complain about the Patriot's Coach Belichick. He won a close game using sound mathematical strategy, but most of us were there to watch football-- we wanted him to go for the glory of a final touchdown to win. Instead the Pats kicked a field goal and ran out the clock to assure victory. He's no Coach Taylor, that's for sure. 

Me, Kevin, Andrew, and mike at the Patriots v. Dolphins game

Brady getting tackled

It was a great weekend, and it seriously took me about a week to recover because recovery is a slow process when you return to reality and your toddler insists on getting up at 5 a.m. or earlier every morning. But it was worth it!  

Michele's Goodbye to NYC 2012

Before Superstorm Sandy, the worst thing that happened to New York this year was Michele leaving. In addition to trying to hang out with Michele as much as possible before she left (and becoming even more emotionally dependent on her than I already was) we decided to give her a big send off.  Her friend Kirsten lovingly and appropriately nicknamed it "Tears in our Beers."

Before we started drinking, we decided to do one last crazy thing in New York. Ash, Michele, and I participated in something called Accomplice New York, where you tour a part of the city in the guise of helping some mobsters commit a crime. You have to follow clues from one location to another, passing on messages and items to help the mobsters along. I was going to blog in great detail about it, but I decided that it might ruin it for anyone thinking of doing it. It was pretty fun, and we got along well with the tourists that were in our group. If you do it, I think I would recommend having a full group of 10 so that your group doesn't split up too much and you don't miss things.

Michele, me, and Ash in City Hall Park during Accomplice

One crazy thing about the fact that we did Accomplice on Saturday was that a lot of it took place in the South Street Seaport area, which was a Zone A flood zone, so there's been a lot of flood damage there since the Superstorm Sandy. Some restaurants and bars have had to be completely gutted because of the damage. Luckily, the bar we spent the most time in, Jeremy's Ale House, only had a little flood damage and is reported to be okay for the most part.

Our entire Accomplice team at Jeremy's Ale House in South Street Seaport

So then we went to Jadis wine bar in the Lower East Side to meet up with Michele's other NYC friends who wanted to come say goodbye. Things weren't sad, probably because everyone was in deep denial like me. Though there was some talk of getting back together for a support group when the reality of a Michele-less life sinks in. We all wore clever little name tags that said, "Goodbye. My name is ---."

Enjoying good company at Jadis

Michele and Yianice getting in some more snuggles

Some of my favorite ladies: Rachel, Ash, Michele and me at Jadis

Nina, Vinay, and Michele

Cutest baby ever and she has more attitude than Harper Beckham

After some drinks at Jadis we took the party to Loreley Beer Garden, where we had huge German beers and delicious German food. Some craziness ensued.

Yael watering Michele like a sexy plant?

From now on, I always want to wear matching lipstick with my girlfriends.

People always ask how I met Michele. We both went to GW undergrad. Freshman year, almost everyone lived in the large Thurston dorm with a 1000 plus students. There was a smaller freshman dorm on the other side of campus, called Adams Hall (and then later called Lafayette) of about 160 students, where Megan, Christina, Michele and I all lived. I lived on the 8th floor, and I knew Megan and Christina who lived on the 4th and 3rd floor respectively. But because Michele was one extra floor away on the 2nd floor, I didn't really know her. This is very detailed, but I think about it sometimes because what if you just walked by one of your best friends in the whole world on a daily basis and just didn't know her? And kept not knowing her for 11 years even though you had a close friend in common? Super super sad.

Rachel, Ash, Michele, and Janice in my dorm room when I didn't really know Michele

Even though I'm sure I met Michele and saw her countless times, I didn't really know her until I re-met her through Ash at Ash's 2008 Barn Party. I was a little jealous because she and Ash were so close and having so much fun. Luckily I got over it, and then we actually started hanging out about a month or so later. At first, we hung out mainly when Ash came to town, but eventually we were friends on our own, though we always still miss Ash when we're hanging out and she's not there. For the last 4 years, she's been there all the time, in good times and in bad. She's super fun, smart, and understanding. I basically feel bad for everyone who is not friends with her, especially for myself from 1997-2008.

  

Greenwich Village Bar Crawl, October 2008

Self-determined bar crawl in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, November 2008

At my bachelorette party in April 2009 (Shut up, my face is awesome.)

The night before my wedding, June 2009

This is when things started to get out of control. The rest is blog history.

I tried not to be too terribly sad when saying goodbye to Michele, because I plan on still seeing her as much as possible so I'm focusing on that. She officially drove a moving van out of New York City today, and now that it's super real I am having a little trouble coping. I can't hang out with Michele next weekend? And the weekend after that? No. No. Nooooooo.

I might have staged a protest outside her apartment, except that she is off to self-actualize in Richmond. She is starting a food co-op in Richmond, most likely with a clever name like Richmond Food Co-op. I'm not much of a risk-taker myself, but I can tell from the planning that she's put into this, from knowing her, and from hearing about the other people involved, that it will definitely be a huge success. Again, otherwise I would have chained myself to her moving van. Not. kidding.

Bonus picture of a super fun night in 2010.