Birthday Fun Times c/o Buffalo Billiards, Han Dynasty and Yakitori Boy

My birthday fell on a Tuesday this year, which isn't really ideal for a night of celebration given the propensity for the people I know to have jobs that require them to use their brains effectively on weekday mornings. So I sent out a call to birthday arms for the Saturday preceding the actual day of my birth. It was sort of a two-pronged call. To a slightly  more select group I suggested dinner and to a broader, more dart-loving group I suggested darts before that dinner. This was all a bit more last minute than might have been ideal, but I was still really pleased and grateful for the turn out...nothing worse than inviting folks to your own birthday celebrations and finding yourself totally alone. L. and Fat T. came down from Brooklyn a bit before our first scheduled activity. I made a little cheese plate and L. and I drank champagne while Fatty and A. drank beer. We all threw some darts. Then it was on to Buffalo Billiards, where our numbers soon allowed us to take control over all three boards.

Mr. Ass couldn't make dinner, but we did play a game of darts. It was a funny mix between the true blue darters and some of my less dart savvy friends. The majority of darters are legitimately better than me, and usually when I played them I lost. Meanwhile the friends who aren't throwing darts on a daily or weekly basis were quite impressed by my prowess. My dart ability: a sliding scale of awesome based solely on others' own abilities.

After a good amount of time playing the darts, it was time for our rather late dinner reservation at Han Dynasty's new Old City location, just down the block from its old one. I basically ordered for all of us after hearing certain suggestions or desires from the crowd. So our meal ultimately included dumplings in hot chili oil.

Cucumbers in hot chili oil...these suckers are sooo good .

Dan Dan Noodles. Not everyone ordered a sazerac, but I did and I loved it.

This was the cumin lamb.

This was L. reacting to her imminent turn getting the cumin lamb as A. scoops some on his own plate.

I think this is Fatty and LW with the eggplant.

Yep. Succulent, savory eggplant. Love it.

This was either the kung pao chicken or the garlic chicken,

I think this was the twice fried fish maybe?

String bean magic.

Pepper scallops if I recall correctly. SO GOOD.

The dinner was quite lovely and I was so pleased to share my birthday with such fun and funny folks. After that C. and R. went home while Fatty, L., LW, A. and I decided that we would try to do some karaoke at Yakitori Boy, which we did. I sang a Tom Petty song. We also just sang along with all the other people singing. A.'s gf G. joined us and the night went late.

Sake bombs did happen.

I don't really know what's happening in this photo except that LW and I both look quite taken aback, but from different things.

I'm a homebody for much of my daily, weekly or monthly existence, and the older I get the more okay I am about it...that said, every once and a while it's good to have an evening full of folks and fun, and this was certainly such an evening. A hearty thank you goes out to all who partook in my pre-birthday fun times!

Spicy Ramen c/o Nom Nom Ramen

Tuesdays are dart nights, and usually I come home from work, shower, and then practice with my roommate for a bit before making it to either our home bar or the other team's home bar. A few weeks back I showered, played some darts and then decided to leave home a little earlier so I could stop by Nom Nom Ramen for a dinner of noodles and broth. While our home bar is still a bit of a trek from my home neighborhood, it's still centrally located in Philly, which can't be said for the majority of other places we shoot. These other teams often are from the relatively far south or north of the city. But this particular evening we were going to an opposing team smack dab in Center City, so it was the perfect excuse to get my noodle on.

I mentioned my plan to my roommate and he came along too. It was his first proper ramen experience, which I find funny because I also facilitated his first pho experience. When it comes to Asian noodle soups, it seems that I am his sherpa. Or something. In any case, I chose to go with the spicy version, which definitely had some kick to it, but wasn't set-your-mouth-on-fire hot. I do love me a good seasoned soft boiled egg, and that was certainly in effect along with a few pieces of fatty pork and a good helping of noodles that still had a little oomph to them.

Our actual dart match didn't go our way, but it certainly can be said that we tried.

Cuz K. and A.'s Wedding/Why I'm Not A Professional Photographer

The day of Cuz K. and A.'s wedding started out early enough. After the rehearsal dinner I crashed on the couch of Cuz K. and A.'s hotel suite. We awoke and went in search of breakfast, which was slightly an ordeal, but not one I feel like discussing at this juncture. Soon after breakfast A. went his way, the other bridesmaids rolled up to the suite, and then the primping began. I'm hoping that the professional photographer took a few photos that might highlight my own hair and makeup of the evening, but I didn't actually get many of myself, so there's little proof that I got myself properly did. In any case, I would say that this was a relatively laid back prep day. Hair and makeup went smoothly, we actually didn't have any pre-wedding drinks during this time...I don't think the groom and his men could say the same. So below are photos of the prep and the reception (can't really take photos of the event itself when you're in it). I could probably track down the funny GIF my father made with his new phone...and maybe I will. Interspersed with the photos will be the draft of the Maid of Honor speech I wrote that morning. I had written two previous drafts, but they were way too long and never really went anywhere thematically. So I went down to the hotel lobby and just hunkered down and focused. Honestly I got a little weepy writing it. Cuz K. is a stalwart friend and presence in my life and I had so many things I wanted to say about that. And I really can't help but get a little teary that Mom wasn't around to participate because I am pretty sure she would have had a blast. I adlibbed a few things when actually reading it (we basically came into the reception and then I was immediately put in front of a microphone), but the overall sentiment is very much accurate.

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Last night A., S. and I were talking about terrible wedding speeches. And from our conversation I confirmed that talking for 25 minutes, weeping consistently during the speech, and generally not having a point are altogether not good aspects of wedding toast. Honestly I’ve never been the best at brevity, but I will do my best to keep it relatively short and not to cry. We’ll see how it goes.

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I’m an only child and as such I never had to deal with the trials and tribulations of navigating siblinghood. Never fought over who got to use the bathroom first, or whether a parent favored one kid over the other, or any of the other hassles and joys of growing up with a brother or sister. But K. has been basically the closest thing I’ll ever have to a sister, but perhaps without some of that drama. I’ve known her my whole life and we have both seen each other at some of the best moments and some of the worst moments of our individual lives and of our whole family. And even when I was annoying her with my inability to have an opinion (there are at least two memories I have of K.asking me what I wanted to do and me being so noncommittal that she stormed out of the room in frustration) I knew that the anger would pass and in another 20 minutes we’d be playing cards, or jumping on beds or doing any other number of things two girls do as they grow up.  We may not have lived in the same house or same state, but she has been a constant throughout my life and one I’m so grateful for having.

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A. I’ve known for much less time, but I’m excited to add him to the list of folks I plan on knowing forever. And I’m even more excited that he’s going to be by K.’s side as the years go by and be her constant companion and partner. When preparing for K.’s bachelerotte party back in August, I found a list of questions to ask A., which became a little trivia game for K. during the first leg of our evening. It was kind of like the newlywed game – what article of clothing does K. wish you would throw away? (Overalls or, as I learned this morning, bibs). They were generally silly questions that were designed to get silly answers, but not all of them. One of the questions was ‘What did A. care about the most when planning the wedding.’ I honestly expected him to say food or beer…but, sitting outside on that summer night he paused thoughtfully before saying that what he cared about most was that K.'s family was all there, and that her parents were happy. And, to me, that says it all. A. and W. and K. fit so well into the M/M clan that it’s like they were there all along, and I’m so glad to be able to call them family.

--> The path K. and A. took to find each other was not straightforward or simple, but it was the path they needed to take to get where they are today. I just think about the years that K. went on a variety of first dates, which never led to second ones because she would quickly see the flaw or thing about the guy in question that just wasn’t going to work for her. I suggested numerous times that perhaps she should give these poor guys a little more of a chance before writing them off…and perhaps that advice would have been true for a different girl or a different date, but I willingly admit that I was wrong and K. was right. K. wasn’t looking for a perfect man with zero flaws (newsflash that guy doesn’t exist) but she was looking for the perfect man for her, and she knew when it wasn’t happening.

--> A second date wouldn’t have changed a thing. When she started seeing A. there was none of that, no ‘well he’s great but…”. She and I went to Jamaica not so long after they first started seeing each other, and already the joy she had in knowing A. was palpable and clear; this was a different thing than anything that came before and it was better and greater and special. A. was not a guy to write off. He was a man to keep close and know well. The first time I met A. was when we gathered outside of Gettysburg for a memorial for my mother. A. so effortlessly fit in, allowing us to have our moments of sadness and also joy, without thinking twice about it. Willing to contribute to our extremely complicated plan to break into the hotel’s pool after hours. Not blinking when K. and I, for no real good reason, got into a tickle fight. What I’m trying to say is I can be slow to trust or warm up to folks I don’t know, but A. never felt like a stranger to me. I really do wish that Mom had had the opportunity to meet him because I think they would have gotten along famously.

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To me a solid relationship or marriage has to be based on trust and laughter and honesty and loyalty, and K. and A. have all four. They know the best of each other and they know the worst and while I’m sure that they’ll both rub each other the wrong way at one point or another in their lives, I have the utmost confidence that they have the love and complementary outlooks and true appreciation for one another to weather even the darkest of storms or most annoying of habits. I could wish for nothing more for my sister cousin. And on that note I’d like us all to raise our glasses and toast these two and the long, happy, fun, silly, marvelous, messy life that they’re going to have together. I love you both. Now let’s celebrate!

End of speech. The kids were super duper excited about the dancing...when my uncle and Cuz K. were doing their dance, they were all lined up on the stage...just waiting for the word that they could join.

W. and K. best buds.

I just loved when R. was changed into her pjs, but still rocking the dance floor.

Q. in full strut.

Sometimes dancing is better from a different altitude.

Cuz. K. with her mom and two bros.

The evening was entirely a success as far as I can tell. No drama. No mess up with the venue, food or location. Just folks having a good time and getting their dance on. I wish you could understand how high my heels were...but you can't because there is no evidence of them. They had a photo booth set up, and I may try to track down some of those photos...there's a pretty good series of me with my Dad, as well as the fact that I was one of only two people to manage to get into the booth with the bride (pats herself on back for being pushy).

The end of the evening many of us went back to Cuz K. and A.'s room for one more round of beers. I'm not exactly sure what groomsmen B. is doing here...but it's all good because he repeatedly told his wife how awesome I was...on the sole basis that I wanted to be the Taco of a fantasy football league (problem there is I started to care and made the playoffs!) and that I loved dim sum...so basically anyone who repeatedly exclaims my awesomeness is, in fact, awesome.

Wedding Rehearsal and Dinner

Before most weddings, there is the rehearsal. We had just such an event. Here are some photos of the rehearsal and of the party/dinner that took place afterwards. Somehow I took zero photos of food, but food was actually part of the evening.