Homecoming - July

Last Friday (20 July), we returned to the United States for our third trip home since arriving in Amsterdam. This trip was the best one so far - we got some excellent beach time, saw tons of friends and family, saw our good friends Drew and Paige tie the knot and ate an unbelievable amount of junk food like burgers, chicken wings and crab dip. Plus it was great to have some warm and sunny weather after being punished to no end with the rainy cold in Amsterdam. Spectacular indeed.

We took our standard flight to JFK that gets in at 8pm on Friday. My parents picked us up and we headed, excitedly, for a weekend in the hamptons. Saturday and Sunday was excellent beach weather - sunny and hot, but with a nice breeze on the beach, and cool in the am and pm. The beaches in eastern Long Island are unmatched - soft sand, clean waters and for the most part pretty desolate. We even found some time to go for a run and a long bike ride - it's nice to do those things without having to worry about getting hit by a tram, or speeding car, some jerk on his motorbike or reams of meandering tourists that are confused by the concept of walking on a sidewalk. My parents cooked up a mean bbq on saturday night, chased by some even meaner caipirinhas, then a late evening stroll through the westhampton town, which has become 80% real estate brokerage offices. On Sunday, my aunt and uncle hosted a luncheon to keep the eating frenzy in motion.

On Monday we took shelter from the rain by indulging in some retail therapy. It's fun shopping with dollars now that we have euros - it's kind of like monopoly money. Quite dangerous. On Tuesday it was back to the beach before heading out of LI and into NYC to meet some friends for dinner at Dos Caminos. Mike, Stacy, Liz and Saurab were kind enough to meet us for what turned out to be a really fun time at a mediocre restaurant (why does Robert DeNiro come here??). It was bittersweet since we knew we only had one night with them. We headed to New Jersey to Matt's parents' house that night.

On Wednesday, I did some damage at the new Anthropologie store that opened up in Red Bank (love that store!). Afterwards we went to an enormous supermarket - not really enormous by American standards, but to us it felt like Disneyworld. We sped along the aisles with our shopping cart and marveled at all of our options - it is truly amazing how many options we have in the US, what a great country. Mrs. Sgrizzi picked up a tremendous pack of ground beef to make hamburgers and I just stared at this thing with wonder, a reaction upon which Mrs. Sgrizzi responded with "You think that's big, you should see what they have at Costco". Wow.

A couple of delicious hamburgers and fabulous eggplant rollitini later, we were spent, also no thanks to the two-glasses-of-wine-and-two-Benadryl cocktail I inadvertenly swallowed (I'm allergic to Matt's dog Casey). Not much time for lounging, though, since we were catching the 7pm train to Baltimore.

We said goobye to the nice, breezy summer weather of the northeast when we boarded that train to Baltimore, where the weather was no less than 90 degrees and humid. A short train ride later and we were greeted by our good friend Ryan, who drove us to our friends and hosts Emily and Bryan's huge pad. After dropping our bags, we head out to the bars and met up with our friend Glowacki. While I was on the phone with a friend, Mattt had ordered me a Coors Light. Now, I've never been a fan of this beer, and especially now that I live in a country where "light" beer has no home, I was quite disappointed by this choice. But we were in Baltimore now, and we had to be as the Baltimorons are.

On Thursday, Matt had a hectic day of going to his office in Baltimore to say hello, then going to pick up his tux in Towson for the wedding the next day, then going to the rehearsal at 5, and the rehearsal dinner at 7:30 (Matt was one of the groomsmen). All this in a suit in nearly 100 degree weather - unfortunate. I, on the other hand, chose to lounge around for most of the day in my good friend Mia's bridesmaid boutique that she opened not too long ago. We gossiped and tried on some bridal gowns - I was tempted to take a picture of me in one and send it to Matt via SMS, just to freak him out. I decided against it though! After a few hours of fun, Ryan picked me up and we lunched al fresco on some crab dip in Fell's Point. Later I met Matt at Sabatino's in Little Italy for the rehearsal dinner. This is also the restaurant where Matt and I had our first date over 5 and a half years ago, so it was nice to go back. The dinner was good, but the portions were incredible! I couldn't finish even a quarter of my pasta dish, and neither could most people. Matt, however, had no issue here. And our espressos were like a triple shot! So gluttonous. When we got home, Kootman "surprised" us by coming up from DC to see us. We then went out to Fed Hill, our old haunts, for some more light brewskies. Our friend Andy also came out to meet us. We were surprised to see that The Thirsty Dog was renamed The Dog Pub due to some copywright infringement and that Ryleigh's was transformed from a sports pub where we used to watch all the Giants games to a suped-up lounge. Life actually does seem to go on in Baltimore since we left - odd.

Friday was wedding time - and it was a very beautiful ceremony and reception. The color of the details was a nice bright tangerine, which was different and worked out really, really well. Paige was a beautiful bride, and Drew looked dapper as always. We were so glad to be able to share that day with them, so many miles away.

Saturday, our last day in Baltimore, was spent lounging for the most part - playing Mario Kart and eating greasy food. In the evening we went back to Federal Hill for milkshakes and to walk up the Federal Hill and catch a view of the harbor. From here we could see the Trapeze School, and they were having a little performance that we vouyered. We also stopped by Matt's old apartment, which Glowacki lives in now. That was a pretty weird experience to see it all again. We decided to skip the Yankee game since it was too hot and there were only standing room tickets left. We were mindful enough to remember what an awful time those games used to be when it was hot and overcrowded. Saturday night we all went out - me, Matt, Ryan, Emily, Bryan, Glowacki and his girlfriend Traci. We all proceeded to drink too much, and I ended up getting into a verbal dispute with a redneck at Royal Farms b/c he was being mean to Ryan for no reason. And because he was holding a pillow, which I thought was weird and felt that I needed to call attention to that.

Great trip overall - and one we hope to continue doing in the future. With three of our good friends getting married next year in the US, all in different states mind you, and none of which are New York and New Jersey, it may be hard to pull off it in 2008. But thanks to all who were able to come out and spend time with us, hopefully we'll catch the rest of you next time!

P.S. Several people have indicated to me that they don't feel we are blogging enough. And to those I respond - we have quite boring day-to-day lives. But I do realize that certain things do go on that I am undecided as to whether or not they merit a blog. And from now on, I will choose yes. I will also try to post some of our many random musings for your enjoyment. Just remember that you asked for it!