Chuck Turned 30

A couple weeks ago on February 17th, Chuck turned 30.

I tried to make his entrance into a new decade special and memorable, starting the night before his birthday when after everything he did I would say something like "ohhhhh it's the last teeth-brushing of your 20s!" which may have been more annoying to him than memorable but, it was fun for me! But in all seriousness, I did try to make it as fun and memorable as I could because he deserves a memorable goodbye to one decade (which was pretty amazing for him) and a big welcome to the next decade (which will probably be even more amazing.) Also, he's just pretty great and I really like him and planning celebrations for people is my love language.

On his birthday, he had to go into work for a little bit that morning but I got him to leave by lunchtime and we met up with his sister Shannon and 2 of our nieces to start the weekend of celebrations.

With a couple of hours to kill before our dinner plans, we weren't sure what to do so we ended up at a bowling alley where I obviously let him beat me 3 games in a row since it was his birthday. :)

That evening, we met up with our family at a Hibachi grill, where we surprised Chuck with our group gift of a ping pong table that was not only already purchased, but already set up and ready to play on in our basement because our awesome dads snuck in and set it up that morning while Chuck was at work!

As you can tell, he was pretty excited.

Then it was on to the next surprise location, Great Flood Brewery where a bunch of our family and friends were waiting with beer, cake, balloons, and some I Heart Chuckie stickers- a throwback from when Chuck ran for Class President as a freshman in high school and handed out stickers with that slogan on them for his campaign. (Yes of course he won the election, and stickers were soon banned from Eastern High School because those things were on EVERYTHING in the building.)

Henry got to stay out late and party, too!

Of course the celebrations didn't stop there, because there's always a party after the after party! A bunch of friends came back to our house from Great Flood to help us break in the new ping pong table. We played from about 10:30pm until 3am so I'd say the table got broken in pretty well. We created a bracket and held the very first tournament on the table. And because our basement is still mostly empty because we need a lot of furniture in our house and furniture is expensive, all our friends got to sit on the floor when they weren't playing! (sorry, friends)

The tournament came down to the final 2....

and the birthday boy emerged victorious! (Please pay close attention to the region names and ignore the fact that we don't know really how to draw a bracket for 13 people.)

Even though his birthday was technically over, I had one more surprise for him on Saturday which was to go to Breakout Louisville with some of our friends I had convinced to celebrate Chuck's birthday for a second day in a row. Breakout Louisville was SO. MUCH. FUN. and we all wanted to go do another one as soon as we were done. We broke out of our room but with only 4 minutes to spare. It was way harder than I anticipated and also way more fun. We felt just like Nicolas Cage in National Treasure.

And that pretty much sums up his birthday weekend! I'd say it was definitely one to remember.

Oh and if you're wondering if I spent all of his birthday reminding him of things like "awwww, first french fries of your 30s!" the answer is DUH.

A Post About Cookies

This blogpost is all about cookies.

On Friday, I hosted my 4th annual Holiday Cookie Swap Party. I hosted my first Cookie Swap in Boston with some of my girlfriends there, and it was so much fun that I've continued it every year since. The idea is this- you bake one kind of cookie. Invite your family and friends to make one type of cookie and bring it to your house. Everyone swaps cookies and then gets to go home with a variety of cookies after only having to make one! Whoever came up with this idea is genius.

Of course, you also have to test all of the cookies during the party and then vote on them too. Or is that just us?

This year we made everyone go around and say which cookie they brought and what it was. People got really into it this year as far as trying new and more difficult recipes. Some turned out really well, and some... not so much. Whether their cookie turned out great or not so great, everyone seemed very stressed by the whole process this year. I have a feeling people may not be as adventurous next year.

Baby Henry got to join us at the party even though he didn't get to try any of the cookies. :( Maybe next year, Henry!

And while we're on the subject, can we talk about how freakin' cute Henry is ALL THE TIME?!?!

After we ate entirely too many cookies, it was time to vote. This year we voted on Best Looking cookie, Best Tasting cookie, and a booby prize for "Aw, at least you tried. Maybe baking isn't your thing."

Of course there were prizes.

And the winners were.... Jennifer for best tasting- SHE MADE HER OWN CARAMEL. WHAT?- Anna for Best Looking -she made the polar bear cookies - and Laura for "aw at least you tried" because her cookies somehow became one giant cookie that was kinda collapsed in the middle and may or may not have fallen apart if taken out of the pan. It's ok. She owned it.

We had such a good time, and even though I was awake with a stomachache most of the night from too many sweets and felt like I had a hangover the next day, it was totally worth it. I can't wait to do it again next year!

(The group minus one- Pat had left already when someone said "hey we should take a group picture!" If I knew how to photoshop I would put her in but just imagine her standing to my right.)

Summerness

Remember when I said the blog would now mostly contain cute pics of our nieces and friends' babies? Well. I'm about to deliver on that promise. 

We've spent the last month enjoying our summer, spending time with friends and family, and traveling. Here's a summary of July in pictures. 

We spent 4th of July in Virginia Beach with Chuck's sister and family. It rained most the time we were there so we made the most of it anytime the sun was out!

Colonial Williamsburg

Fireworks on the bay!

I love how their dog sleeps on the steps.

We've been trying to utilize our apartment complex pool this summer more than we did last summer. We've spent a lot of Saturdays at the pool and a super fun Friday night pool cookout with friends.

Chuck's other sister (who lives in Louisville) got a new puppy and he is ADORABLE.

The whole family got together to celebrate my Grandma's birthday!

We went to the lake with friends to celebrate Jen's son Brendan turning 13!

And last but not least, we hung out with this little dude a lot. I CAN'T STAND THE CUTENESS!

That's all for now. An update on the house hunting process coming soon......

The Last Three Weeks in Boston

Chuck graduated from MIT on Friday, June 6th. The three weeks leading up to that day were CRAZY. A lot of "end of the year" activities happened and we were busy non-stop. If we weren't at a school activity, party, dinner with friends or some other fun thing, we were at our apartment trying to pack. Sleep was always the last thing on our list of to-dos.

Some days we had so many activities, we had to run (or I should say "Uber") back and forth between events. Like the night we went to Sloan Follies because Chuck sang and played with the Rolling Sloans, then went to Fenway Park for a retirement party for Don Rosenfield, the LGO director and then back to Sloan Follies because Chuck had to sing with the a capella group. Phew. I'm exhausted by it all over again just thinking about it!

The view from the room where Don's retirement party was held.

While the rest of the MBA class flew to the British Virgin Islands for a graduation trip, we flew to Louisville over Memorial Day weekend for my cousin's wedding and our friends Shane and Liz's wedding shower and bachelor/bachelorette parties. My cousin's wedding was AMAZING. Most of us cried through the entire ceremony because it was so sweet and then the reception was awesome too.

As Matron of Honor, I was in charge of the planning for Liz's bachelorette party and had to plan most of it from Boston. Thank God for my sisters and cousins who helped me pull it off! That weekend was way too much fun.

Liz's parents and mother-in-law accidentally crashed a part of the evening. So we took a picture with them.

When we got back to Boston, I finished up my last week of work and that's when the lack of sleep really began. Chuck's dad came in that Sunday to stay a night and then head to Foxwoods for a few days. My sister and her boyfriend Austin arrived in Boston Monday to spend the week sight-seeing and exploring both with us and on their own in the city. Tuesday we got a break from driving to the airport, but Wednesday we were right back there to get Chuck's mom and sisters, and on Thursday we picked up my parents, Laura and my Grandma!

With Gold at some Sloan party on the Harbor.

My last sailboat picture. :(

Besides the actual graduation on Friday, Thursday of that week might have been my favorite day. During the day, Sloan held a convocation just for Sloan graduates (the graduation Friday was for ALL MIT students- undergrad, graduate, etc.) at a theater in downtown Boston. The Dean spoke, a student speaker gave a speech that made everyone laugh and cry and want to change their lives, and there was pretty music.

Chuck and his classmate/friend Marcus

Selfie in the T station

After the convocation, we ran back by our apartment for a short bit before heading back into downtown Boston to the Prudential Center to go to a Sloan reception at the top of the Pru. Besides the top floor of Eastgate apartments, the top of the Pru offers some of the best views of Boston. It had been raining all day so I didn't get many good pictures, but did snap one of MIT's campus from the top.

Like all good Sloan events, there was tons of free food and of course, drinks. Oh and this sweet ice sculpture.

After the event at the PRU around 10:30 (told you, sleep was always last) we headed to one of our most frequented spots in Cambridge, the Asgard. On Thursday nights they always have live band karaoke. So naturally we had all of our visiting family meet us up there where we caught up on our day and enjoyed some karaoke. Of course we participated, too.

All the siblings!

Around 2 am when the restaurant closed, our ginormous group wreaked havoc on the streets as our family felt inspired to create the human MIT and then human LGO in the middle of Central Square.

Yep, that's my Grandma- enjoying watching our crazy antics at 2 in the morning.

Can't stop laughing at Austin as the L.

Then we walked home and quick anecdote:I decided to take my shoes off and walk barefoot through Central Square and then spent the following 3 days convinced I had contracted a disease from it. I do not advise walking through Central Square barefoot, ever. I think Chuck and I finally crawled into bed around 3am and set our alarms for 6am because he had to be somewhere a little after 7 to get in line for Commencement. 

I'd say we made the most of our time in Boston in the final weeks.