Zach Finds His Rhythm

This weekend Sara and I traveled to Lancaster, Ohio to be a part of my great friend Zach Levy's graduation party. Zach earned his BFA from the University of Ohio with a major in Biology. Although some of his final exams were pretty hairy, he powered his way through them all and finished strong with his name on the Dean's List.

His whole family made the trek out to their home for two fabulous dinners expertly hosted from his wife Susan as well as a great lunch from Susan's parents on Saturday. The event was topped off by an incredible gift from his family of a Martin Co guitar which sounded as
beautiful as it looked.

Zach and Susan have both grabbed new jobs as teachers in Fort Lauderdale, Florida where they will be moving this summer with their two dogs Nigel (a four year old Black lab) and Ruby (a one year old Yellow Lab). With some luck we will be able to see them again soon and
soak up some sun in the process.

Great job, Zach. You proved just how dedicated you were to doing well and showed us all how you could excel in the face of difficultly. We are all really proud of you.

Here Comes Hiroko

Last year we asked our friend, Gary Demercurio, for some pictures of the dog he rescued - Hiroko - a very young and very adorable Akita. Hiroko (generous child in Japanese) and Gary lived for a few months together in their North End apartment seeing the sites and selectively marking their own territories. Then Gary took a job in Connecticut at Sikorski, the helicopter manufacturer. Now they have plenty of room to lounge about suburbia. It only took about a few hundred days to get Gary to send us some photos of Hiroko but we've finally got them to share. Hopefully he'll keep us updated with more photos before the next leap year returns.

Bezanson's Bakery

When Nicole sent us this photo of a cake she recently made for a friend's baby shower we were amazed. The combination of colors, polka-dots, and of course the green baby carriage couldn't have looked more like the invitation to the event (pictured next to the cake). We are just waiting to see what Nicole pulls off next in the kitchen. Since her whoopee pies are to die for, we know anything she bakes will have us coming back for more. No matter what sweets enter the scene next we are always willing to be on call as taste testers!

Greater Portland

This weekend, Sara and I packed up the car one more time to jump up to Maine. It took all of our effort to roll out early in order to get Sydney to a new kennel (Palmer Kennels of Acton MA - which got an 5 star from us as well as Sydney) and I would like to take this opportunity to credit Sara on a new found skill of packing her things the night before to easy the morning departure.

We arrived in time to see Mom before she returned from Gorham to Bethesda. We got to see her new rug which looks terrific - so soft! She had to leave just hours after we arrived so we helped out for a few moments, winterizing the house, lowering storm windows, and pretending to be helpful.

Just down the street we did find time to relax and catch-up over delicious food and ale at the Sebago Brewing Company. With a great list of not your average beers, there was something for everyone. Northern Light - a light beer for Sara, Slick Nick, SBC's holiday ale, and I skipped the soup de jour to partake in 16oz of Lake Trout Stout - wow.

After hugs and kisses, Mom was off to the skies and we were off to Cumberland to see the Bezansons and Plettes. We found the whole crew - Sandy, Andre, Laurel, Jennifer, Nick, Nicole, Alex and even Gary to boot!

Kristin and Tim Grannell arrived soon after to drop off Perrin which brought out a total number to 11. It was quite a raiding party for that evenings dining at Thai Garden in Freeport. As usual, I found room to put in another meal within three hours.

We stayed in at the Plettes after that - playing pool and staying up late to play Axis and Allies - which Nick lead a surgical strike against Gary (who had only played once before).

Oh, and Nicole made whoopie pies. I had two. That's probably why I had no problem staying up late.

The next morning we found it tough to say goodbye. (Nick, Nicole, and Alex fly back to Okanowa, Japan next weekend). We will miss you.

Welcome Home Bezansons!

We had the best time seeing all of our family and friends over the past couple of days. One of the many highlights was the time we spent with Jay's Big Brother, Nick (they have been friends since birth) his wife Nicole, and 22 month year old, Alex. Since our wedding the Bezansons have been living in Okinawa, Japan where Nick is currently stationed as a Marine. Life hasn't been the same without them around. Nothing could ever replace the time we spent together. We hope to get in some more visits before they leave for home in mid-December. Here are a few images of the most beautiful family around.

Congratulations Perrin and Jonathan!

On September 29th we had a blast at Perrin and Jonathan's wedding in Westport, MA. For those of you that don't know, Perrin and my friendship goes all the way back to our Kindergarten days at Dedham Country Day School. Perrin looked absolutely stunning. Right now they should be returning from their honeymoon to Greece (they were chartering a boat around the isles). I only hope they don't return too tan -- only kidding. We love you guys and can't wait to see you soon. Here are a couple photographs from the wedding.

I've never seen Perrin so happy. The veil she wore had been in her family for three generations. It complimented her dress beautifully.

Perrin has always said she can't dance. After seeing her and Jonathan on the dance floor, I will never believe her again. Both of them can definitely move. She needs to give herself more credit.









Jonathan gave such a heartfelt speech to Perrin during the ceremony. I couldn't help but get teary again. Of course it had been impossible for me to hold back the tears during the ceremony.








Perrin truly lucked out finding these dresses for us to wear. The polka dots mirrored the tie her father wore when her parents got married.

I couldn't resist ending with this image. Yep, you guessed it -- that's Jay dancing! He is impossible to keep up with. How he never breaks a sweat I just can't understand.

Perrin and Jonathan, we can't thank you enough for including us in the celebration. We had an absolute blast!