A Ferndale Fourth

Abe and I drove down to Ferndale, Pennsylvania to spend the 4th of July at our friends' new home. There were about 18 of us there for the weekend - we set up Tent City in their backyard and just had a heck of a lot of fun.

I would say one of the most exciting moments was when a bat got into the house and flew into Jessica's hair. Preeya and I went inside to shoo the bat out of the house. Preeya was really good at throwing her sweatshirt at the bat, but in the end the best solution was Mike just wrapping the sweatshirt around the bat and carrying it outside.

I didn't take that many pictures because even though the weekend was filled with laughs and good times - and quality time with the baby - it was very uneventful. Uneventful because it was so relaxing and all we did was eat, drink, sit by the fire pit, light off fireworks, play with the baby, and eat some more. I feel like I had a 2-week vacation in those 3 days.

We got the wood, now where is the fire?

Losing hope.

Oooh...I see a spark.

Doug's a good stoker.

Yachts = too much fun

Last Thursday Abe texted me and said "Do you want to go to a yacht party tonight?" and I thought to myself "What are the chances? I do want to go to a yacht party tonight!"

Turns out that Abe's co-worker's best friend works for a family with two yachts and they let him take one of them for a bit as a birthday present. Since they are from Chicago and don't know a heck of a lot of people in NYC we really lucked out when they docked at Chelsea Piers.

The yacht was basically a floating 5-star hotel. Two jacuzzis, a crew of 12, a chef cooking gourmet food, and unlimited Dom Pérignon.

Older women and gay men instantly fall in love with Abe when he hits the dance floor.

We arrived around 8pm in our best "yacht chic" clothing, took off our shoes and boarded the ship. From there things got progressively more gluttonous and hazy. I never knew this, but it is very hard to control your alcohol intake when someone is constantly topping off your champagne flute - especially when you are on a 200 foot yacht.

The photo isn't blurry - it is just a special effect so you can feel how drunk I was.

We left sometime around 2am and took a cab home with Sam. I somehow lost one of my new shoes. Good thing they were from Payless (shhh...don't tell the yachties).

Captain's desk - mapping the route to the New World (a.k.a The Hamptons)

Anchors Aweigh :: What I sent....

I am sending out my ATC's for the swap I hosted titled "Anchors Aweigh!"

I created these ATC's using some scrap papers, paint, glitter, ink, but mostly they were created from the security envelopes that I receive at work. Ever since I started collecting these security envelopes I have become slightly obsessed with finding ways to use them (see examples here and here). The patterns are pretty amazing.

Men Who Look Like Zach Braff

Everyone knows how much I enjoy a good Zach Braff moment. Two of my best friends invented a blog dedicated to ZB look-a-likes (some are a stretch, but it's hilarious to see the hidden similarities).

http://menwholooklikezachbraff.blogspot.com/

Super Fun Game

My dear friends know that I have a favorite game that I like to play when I'm bored, or when I meet new people. Everyone likes to play this game and I find that you learn a lot about a person just from playing it with them. Plus you get to talk about food and who doesn't like talking about food?

Game: If you could only eat 5 foods for the rest of your life, what would you pick?

Rules:

• You get unlimited salt and pepper
• You can only pick a basic food item - not a meal. Not okay: tacos, sausage pizza, egg sandwich, mussels in white wine sauce
  
• You have to be specific. Example: brown rice, Gala apples, cheddar cheese
  
• Beverages don't count (they get a separate game)
• You can pick 2 additional "simple" condiments. Examples: ketchup, ranch dressing, soy sauce, mustard, horseradish, peanut butter.
  

So here are my choices (I know, can you stand it? So exciting!)

Avocado

Basmati rice

Granny Smith apples

Free-range, organic eggs

Manchego cheese

Goddess Dressing

Natural peanut butter - but not this kind, the kind that you get from the machine at the store