This past Saturday, Karen and I attended an anniversary party. Now, I suck at anniversaries. It just so happens that my neighbors (Helen and George) tied the know fifty years ago. As a result, their family threw them a surprise party.
Fifty years is a long time. In regards to my friend (Andrea/Rachel), that would have meant that my circle of friends changed at least seven times. Karen and I have about forty one more years to go to reach that number. Fifty years of marriage is quite a milestone, so congratulations Helen and George!
For anyone curious, the party was held at the Norwood Elks... in Norwood. Karen and I had quite the time trying to find the place. It was borderline comical, both getting to and from there. But one interesting note: Karen and I drove by Andrea's place of employment.
While at the party, Karen and I actually hung out with a couple of other neighbors who were also invited. It almost felt like we were crashing a party because we knew so very little people there. Speaking of which, I think I'd like to add that to my bucket list: crash a wedding party. Some day.
Anyway, Helen and George were absolutely surprised by the party. The look of surprise on their face was priceless. Needless to say, it was a nice celebration for a great couple. We're lucky to have them as neighbors.
Showing posts with label anniversary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label anniversary. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Friday, May 25, 2012
I Suck At Wedding Anniversaries
Today is my wedding anniversary. Too bad I suck at wedding anniversaries. It was nine years ago today that I duped Karen into marrying me. And still, the joke is on her.
In the past, when we were young and wild whippersnappers, we used to celebrate our anniversary by exchanging presents based on the traditional anniversary gift list. Sadly we stopped that practice as those traditional gifts became increasingly difficult to plan around, like iron for the sixth anniversary. As much as I enjoy a little ferrous, I can't for the life of me imagine wanting anything made of iron. (Bueller... Bueller... Bueller...)
Needless to say, we ditched that idea. For the past few years, however, Karen and I have been dining out at the same restaurant on our anniversary. That restaurant: the Square Cafe, located in Hingham. A few years ago, my favorite sister-in-law's BFF (Gretchen) had recommended the place to us when we were deciding on where to go out for dinner on our anniversary. Always up for something new, we gave the restaurant a try and we've gone back ever since on our anniversary. (Thanks Gretchen!) We enjoy the food that much.
This year, however, there was a slight twist with our anniversary as we decided to bring our children with us for dinner. In years past, Karen and I had offers from family to watch our kids while we celebrated our anniversary. For our ninth anniversary, no one outside of my friend (Andrea) offered to watch our kids. (Thanks Andrea!) And as much as we appreciated Andrea's offer, we felt bad sticking her with a two year old and a two month old. So the kids came with us to dinner, which is always a daunting task because it could either go very well... or very badly.
Luckily for us, today our two year old (Briana) was very good. In fact, I would say that Briana enjoyed the food at the Square Cafe too because she ate practically everything on her plate. In case anyone is curious, I had the ribeye steak with jumbo shrimp and scallion mashed potatoes and asparagus. Yum! I had no problem being part of the clean plate club today.
Karen and I actually did something we hardly ever do when we dine out. We ordered an appetizer and a dessert. Generally, if we are to order something besides our main dish, it is usually appetizer or dessert, hardly ever both. But since the food was so good, we had to indulge. We had the crispy hot and sour calamari (made with grapefruits and mango) and the strawberry rhubarb crisp. It was so good.
Needless to say, it was a delightful dinner. I enjoyed it immensely. And as a side note, we ran into one of the librarians from our library. She was out walking her dog when we ran into her. It was good to see her... and her huge labrador retriever, Jasper.
All in all, it was a good anniversary. I can't believe it has been nine years.
In the past, when we were young and wild whippersnappers, we used to celebrate our anniversary by exchanging presents based on the traditional anniversary gift list. Sadly we stopped that practice as those traditional gifts became increasingly difficult to plan around, like iron for the sixth anniversary. As much as I enjoy a little ferrous, I can't for the life of me imagine wanting anything made of iron. (Bueller... Bueller... Bueller...)
Needless to say, we ditched that idea. For the past few years, however, Karen and I have been dining out at the same restaurant on our anniversary. That restaurant: the Square Cafe, located in Hingham. A few years ago, my favorite sister-in-law's BFF (Gretchen) had recommended the place to us when we were deciding on where to go out for dinner on our anniversary. Always up for something new, we gave the restaurant a try and we've gone back ever since on our anniversary. (Thanks Gretchen!) We enjoy the food that much.
This year, however, there was a slight twist with our anniversary as we decided to bring our children with us for dinner. In years past, Karen and I had offers from family to watch our kids while we celebrated our anniversary. For our ninth anniversary, no one outside of my friend (Andrea) offered to watch our kids. (Thanks Andrea!) And as much as we appreciated Andrea's offer, we felt bad sticking her with a two year old and a two month old. So the kids came with us to dinner, which is always a daunting task because it could either go very well... or very badly.
Luckily for us, today our two year old (Briana) was very good. In fact, I would say that Briana enjoyed the food at the Square Cafe too because she ate practically everything on her plate. In case anyone is curious, I had the ribeye steak with jumbo shrimp and scallion mashed potatoes and asparagus. Yum! I had no problem being part of the clean plate club today.
Karen and I actually did something we hardly ever do when we dine out. We ordered an appetizer and a dessert. Generally, if we are to order something besides our main dish, it is usually appetizer or dessert, hardly ever both. But since the food was so good, we had to indulge. We had the crispy hot and sour calamari (made with grapefruits and mango) and the strawberry rhubarb crisp. It was so good.
Needless to say, it was a delightful dinner. I enjoyed it immensely. And as a side note, we ran into one of the librarians from our library. She was out walking her dog when we ran into her. It was good to see her... and her huge labrador retriever, Jasper.
All in all, it was a good anniversary. I can't believe it has been nine years.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
I Suck At Celebrating My Anniversary
Yesterday was my wedding anniversary. Unfortunately for Karen, I suck at celebrating my anniversary. Karen and I have been married now for seven years. It's amazing how quickly the years have passed by.
In years past, Karen and I have exchanged anniversary presents based on the anniversary year. For example, the traditional first wedding anniversary is paper. That year I gave Karen a gift certificate to a spa. This year, however, we decided not to exchange any presents.
For anyone curious, the seventh year is traditionally copper. I'm not a big fan of copper, especially when it oxidizes and becomes blue. Luckily, neither Karen nor I could figure out a copper present to give to one another. So this year we decided not to exchange gifts. As a small token of appreciation, I had considered putting a penny on Karen's pillow. I was going to say that the penny was from our son (Braden) who passed away almost two years ago. (Karen enjoys the notion of pennies from heaven ever since her grandfather passed away.) Unfortunately, I could not leave the penny on her pillow because... well... she was on her pillow... and I had to leave for work.
Anyway, rather than exchange presents we decided to just go out for dinner. My favorite sister-in-law (Janine) had offered to take care of our baby daughter (Briana) a long while ago for our anniversary. In fact, she might have called dibs on babysitting when Briana was born. (Thanks again Janine!) And now apparently it seems like Karen's mom has called dibs for next year's anniversary. Who knew so many people wanted to babysit Briana? (I'm not complaining, of course.)
For dinner, Karen and I ended up at the Square Cafe located in Hingham. We probably would not have gone there had it not been for Janine's BFF (Gretchen) who recommended the place. Based on her recommendation, we decided to give the place a try. And luckily we did because Karen and I originally thought about going to Tosca's. It turns out that Tosca's is closed on Mondays.
Needless to say, the food was absolutely delicious at the Square Cafe. Everything was simply good. Our meal consisted of the shrimp and vegetable tempura, the petit grilled beef tenderloin, the grilled chicken salad, and the strawberry rhubarb crisp. I would definitely go back. I actually did not know the place even existed (in part because I do not go to Hingham Center that often). And for anyone curious, the place apparently was featured on the Phantom Gourmet.
It turns out as well that Karen and I were probably lucky to go on Monday. The waitstaff had informed us that the weekends are generally mobbed and require reservations. The restaurant itself is a little cozy as tables are set up right next to each other. Luckily when Karen and I went, we basically had our own space in the corner by ourselves.
Needless to say, we had a great experience at the Square Cafe. The waitstaff even put a little candle in our strawberry rhubarb crisp to celebrate our anniversary. I thought that was a nice touch. All in all, it was a great meal and I was quite impressed.
In years past, Karen and I have exchanged anniversary presents based on the anniversary year. For example, the traditional first wedding anniversary is paper. That year I gave Karen a gift certificate to a spa. This year, however, we decided not to exchange any presents.
For anyone curious, the seventh year is traditionally copper. I'm not a big fan of copper, especially when it oxidizes and becomes blue. Luckily, neither Karen nor I could figure out a copper present to give to one another. So this year we decided not to exchange gifts. As a small token of appreciation, I had considered putting a penny on Karen's pillow. I was going to say that the penny was from our son (Braden) who passed away almost two years ago. (Karen enjoys the notion of pennies from heaven ever since her grandfather passed away.) Unfortunately, I could not leave the penny on her pillow because... well... she was on her pillow... and I had to leave for work.
Anyway, rather than exchange presents we decided to just go out for dinner. My favorite sister-in-law (Janine) had offered to take care of our baby daughter (Briana) a long while ago for our anniversary. In fact, she might have called dibs on babysitting when Briana was born. (Thanks again Janine!) And now apparently it seems like Karen's mom has called dibs for next year's anniversary. Who knew so many people wanted to babysit Briana? (I'm not complaining, of course.)
For dinner, Karen and I ended up at the Square Cafe located in Hingham. We probably would not have gone there had it not been for Janine's BFF (Gretchen) who recommended the place. Based on her recommendation, we decided to give the place a try. And luckily we did because Karen and I originally thought about going to Tosca's. It turns out that Tosca's is closed on Mondays.
Needless to say, the food was absolutely delicious at the Square Cafe. Everything was simply good. Our meal consisted of the shrimp and vegetable tempura, the petit grilled beef tenderloin, the grilled chicken salad, and the strawberry rhubarb crisp. I would definitely go back. I actually did not know the place even existed (in part because I do not go to Hingham Center that often). And for anyone curious, the place apparently was featured on the Phantom Gourmet.
It turns out as well that Karen and I were probably lucky to go on Monday. The waitstaff had informed us that the weekends are generally mobbed and require reservations. The restaurant itself is a little cozy as tables are set up right next to each other. Luckily when Karen and I went, we basically had our own space in the corner by ourselves.
Needless to say, we had a great experience at the Square Cafe. The waitstaff even put a little candle in our strawberry rhubarb crisp to celebrate our anniversary. I thought that was a nice touch. All in all, it was a great meal and I was quite impressed.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
I Suck At Celebrating My Wedding Anniversary
sunday was my wedding anniversary. it was six years ago that i duped karen into thinking i was a wonderful guy worth spending the rest of her life with. little did she know...
anyway, what better way to start off our wedding anniversary than breakfast in lowell? supposedly, there is a lot to like about lowell... or so karen's cousins would have you believe. sure, i suck at celebrating my wedding anniversary.
karen and i spent the night at her cousins (karlene and tommy) who live in lowell. after all, we definitely were not going to head home after staying up till the wee hours (4am) the previous night. (as it was, i had some trouble driving home later that day... not that i was driving badly or anything. i had simply spaced off and missed our exit.)
nevertheless, the four of us got up bright and early for breakfast at vic's located in lowell. vic's is one of those places that remind me of the old school diner... probably because there is a row of seats at the counter.
anyway, the food was good. karen had cran-orange french toast, while i had blueberry pancakes. to my surprise, the blueberry pancakes were huge. karlene actually had an interesting breakfast as well. she ordered an almond joy pancake. i think it's a pancake with chocolate and coconut... interesting.
the blueberry pancakes at vic's were definitely filling. compared to the annual tradition last year, where i had ordered blueberry pancakes at this breakfast restaurant in lowell called "the owl", these pancakes were much better. of course, it was not too difficult to taste better than the blueberry pancakes i ordered last year because the blueberries were actually in the pancake this time around. (last year, i ordered blueberry pancakes... only to get regular pancakes with blueberries on the side.)
after breakfast, karen and i headed back home... where, as mentioned before, i missed our exit due to my lackadaisical state. once we got home, the first thing we did: assemble our dyson vacuum and take it for a test run. needless to say, we were giddy with excitement. heck, i still get giddy whenever i see the vacuum. (yes, we may be a little odd, but it's an awesome vacuum!)
shortly thereafter, we both crashed from exhaustion. when we finally did wake up, karen and i opened our presents to one another: candy galore. right now, our house is packed full of candy. yum! gummy bears... bouncing here and there and everywhere!
anyway, to celebrate our anniversary we decided to go to salsa's in hingham. salsa's was pretty empty when we arrived. interestingly enough, the paw sox were on television there. i didn't even know minor league baseball was even broadcasted. as usual, the food at salsa's was delicious. (cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound.)
the delicious food was a great way to end the night. i still can't believe it has already been six years. it's interesting how quickly time goes by.
anyway, what better way to start off our wedding anniversary than breakfast in lowell? supposedly, there is a lot to like about lowell... or so karen's cousins would have you believe. sure, i suck at celebrating my wedding anniversary.
karen and i spent the night at her cousins (karlene and tommy) who live in lowell. after all, we definitely were not going to head home after staying up till the wee hours (4am) the previous night. (as it was, i had some trouble driving home later that day... not that i was driving badly or anything. i had simply spaced off and missed our exit.)
nevertheless, the four of us got up bright and early for breakfast at vic's located in lowell. vic's is one of those places that remind me of the old school diner... probably because there is a row of seats at the counter.
anyway, the food was good. karen had cran-orange french toast, while i had blueberry pancakes. to my surprise, the blueberry pancakes were huge. karlene actually had an interesting breakfast as well. she ordered an almond joy pancake. i think it's a pancake with chocolate and coconut... interesting.
the blueberry pancakes at vic's were definitely filling. compared to the annual tradition last year, where i had ordered blueberry pancakes at this breakfast restaurant in lowell called "the owl", these pancakes were much better. of course, it was not too difficult to taste better than the blueberry pancakes i ordered last year because the blueberries were actually in the pancake this time around. (last year, i ordered blueberry pancakes... only to get regular pancakes with blueberries on the side.)
after breakfast, karen and i headed back home... where, as mentioned before, i missed our exit due to my lackadaisical state. once we got home, the first thing we did: assemble our dyson vacuum and take it for a test run. needless to say, we were giddy with excitement. heck, i still get giddy whenever i see the vacuum. (yes, we may be a little odd, but it's an awesome vacuum!)
shortly thereafter, we both crashed from exhaustion. when we finally did wake up, karen and i opened our presents to one another: candy galore. right now, our house is packed full of candy. yum! gummy bears... bouncing here and there and everywhere!
anyway, to celebrate our anniversary we decided to go to salsa's in hingham. salsa's was pretty empty when we arrived. interestingly enough, the paw sox were on television there. i didn't even know minor league baseball was even broadcasted. as usual, the food at salsa's was delicious. (cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound.)
the delicious food was a great way to end the night. i still can't believe it has already been six years. it's interesting how quickly time goes by.
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