An Occasion to Toast

Our friend Marc proposed to his lovely girlfriend (now fiance) a few weeks ago on a sunny Saturday at a local orchard. To no surprise Balem said yes, and we had the chance to host a little engagement party that evening. There was plenty of congrats and champagne to go around, and we are very excited for them. Congrats, friends!

Valentine's Day = Spa Day...

This year my wonderful sweet Valentine got together with 3 other guys in CRW and they all set up a spa day for us girls...it was great! A spa day is a rare treat, and even better when you get to go with a bunch of girlfriends. You did well, guys!

Here's the whole group: Becca, Alison, me, Sara, and Kristine.











This is my hot wax treatment...pretty strange yet awesome.














Sara and Kristine












Al and Sara

Won't you be my neighbor?

James and I are "deacons" for our building this year...which does not mean much more than we get a budget to throw a few parties throughout the year for our building to foster community. Not a bad deal, really. So in February we finally got a party set up for the folks in our building. During the spring, summer, and early fall months we have a weekly BBQ together, which is a great way to stay in touch with your neighbors. But during the winter months we all turn into hibernating bears, so this gathering was a fun chance to catch up.

Here are two of our youngest neighbors, Ryland and Josiah.

Lucas, James, and Bradley

Allie and Shannon

Tara (who has the 1 year old son) and Anthony (Allie's husband)

Lucy (whose husband and 2 kids couldn't make it), with Ryland and Josiah

Anglophilia

I have recently discovered a few blogs that warm my heart and cheer my soul. I think the appeal of these blogs stems from my intense penchant for all things Anglo. Yes, I should have been born in England. I love Jane Austin, I love fox-hunting scenes with hound dogs and red jackets, I love croquet, I love tea and crumpets, I love reading studies with deep mahogany bookshelves and chocolate brown leather chairs, I am becoming more theologically Anglican everyday, and the list continues. Thus my newfound love of the following blogs:

http://socialprimer.com/

A blog written by a man committed to excellent manners and all things gentlemanly...and certainly many good tidbits for the woman folk to pick up as well. Yes, manners DO MATTER and this blog reminds me why. Propriety is for the good of society.

http://stylecourt.blogspot.com/

This woman lives in the south and has excellent taste in interior aesthetics - the interiors that she features usually have some hint of Anglo influences. And she also has unique commentary on a wide array of art.

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

Those of you who know me well know that I have always had a side interest in architecture. And those of you who know me very well also know that I do not normally take a strong liking to modern architecture. I much prefer the grandeur and beauty of classical architecture to the haphazard and willy-nilly designs of much modern architecture. But one of the modern buildings I have always found enthralling is the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, was designed by architect Frank Gehry and built in 1997. It is a very well-know building by now, and certainly is unique in its curvaceous lines and whimsical stature. Its close proximity to the water also makes it seem to flow along with the ebb and tide of the sea. So yes, this is a modern building that I can stomach and even appreciate. And Gehry has other buildings that I find very attractive – the Disney Opera House in L.A., for example, is quite wonderful. But Gehry also has some (what I find to be) atrocious buildings – namely, the Experienced Music Project (EMP) building in my home city of Seattle. Why did Seattle have to get such a jumbled mess of a building? I would have much preferred something like that of the Guggenheim Bilbao for my beloved hometown. Oh well – nobody asked for my advice when the time came to commission a building from Gehry.

The Blue Oxford

Doesn't matter who you are, what your style is, or where your from - if you live in Princeton the chances are that you own a blue oxford. And the chances are that you'll show up in a blue oxford alongside somebody else at a party. James and I have had this happen before - if we're on a different schedule for the day we might both end up in class with khakis and a blue oxford.

But I've never had it happen with 4 people all at once before - we all showed up at a party together and felt like we were in school uniforms. So much for creative fashion, but every once in a while you just have to go along with the herd.

Circa 1961

Well, James and I haven't been doing anything too interesting lately. Both working on papers now. And hanging out with friends here and there. And greatly looking forward to the two hour LOST premier tonight. But nothing I have felt worthy of taking photos. Or of getting new batteries to put into my dead camera. So I've decided to post a photo here and there of some of our Princeton Christmas parties, which were a blast and which I haven't posted any pictures from yet. The one above is of James and Adam at the "Mad Men" Christmas party we had - Mad Men is a TV show based on an early 1960's advertising firm in NYC. So we all dressed up circa 1961, and had food and drinks to fit the times. I think James and Adam both look quite dapper in this photo....