Babysitting, take one...

In celebration of Felix's six month birthday, Shannon and Benjamin spent the afternoon at the movies and left Felix for his first solo afternoon with Jay and I. It was awesome! Isabel was a little unsure of the whole thing at first, but eventually she wanted to do nothing but lick Felix's face. He didn't seem too bothered by her. I'm pretty sure they are going to be best friends soon enough. Jay fed Felix his first taste of zucchini and was proud that he actually got half of it in his mouth. Felix's new favorite album is Garcia-Grisman's "not for kids only," but he also enjoyed some raver dancing. The diaper changing was not too graceful, but we pulled it off. Pretty much, Felix loved it here we are already looking forward to his next visit.

slackers-

As you may have noticed, Jay and I are really slacking on the blog-posting front. I think facebook has monopolized my computer use lately, so there hasn't been much blog action. Between that and our new wii, blogging just isn't a priority. In short, things here at the Curley house are going well. I have a new found interest in holiday decorating, which Jay is not too thrilled about. We cut down a tree last weekend and even put some lights on a tree in the front yard, which look awesome. Winter has finally arrived here, and it is a bit of a mixed bag this year. Neither of us have really cheap passes to the mountain (as we've had for the past few years), so it's kind of been a tough transition, but we're working through it and trying to get to the mountain soon enough. Otherwise, we are looking forward to holiday visitors and celebrating Isabel's first birthday. Hopefully we'll get back on the blogging train on a more consistent basis soon.



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Isabel on Animal Planet

Last night on a show called Dogs 101, Isabel was on TV for a few seconds. The show featured a few breeds including a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. One of my co-workers has one and was featured. In the process they showed a bunch of dogs at Ben & Jerry's including Isabel. So she's pretty much famous. If they show reruns, it will probably be listed here.

An endorsement

A Single Pebble.











Tonight we had dinner at A Single Pebble. A Chinese restaurant in downtown Burlington that gets rave reviews, but I've always steered clear of. I must say, I now understand what all the hype is about. Very interesting and delicious dishes like Mock Eel and braised local beef with noodles. Here is the key to this place... You must go with at least six people (who are not picky eaters) that you can all share all the food. True family style, they even had a big lazy Susan in the middle of the table. This evening we had the pleasure of dinning with Shannon and Benjamin, along with Benjamin's father, brother, and sister - excellent company that really made the food taste that much better.

Halloween

After stressing about what to be for Halloween for weeks, I ended up being an i pod commercial. It was a bit strange to be covered in black paint and a little annoying to have a giant piece of foam board attached to my back but, all in all it worked out pretty well...I didn't poke any eyes out or break any expensive collectibles in Lloyd and Kelly's new house. More importantly I made friends with Lance Black (Jay's costume), who made his first appearance when we were in college and let's just say we didn't really get along back then. Lloyd and Kelly's new house is great and the party was a blast. The prize for the best costume goes to Little Sean who didn't make it to the party but was showing off his costume for the family at lunch the next day.

Smell My Mule

Last night I ran a food drive a the Gov't Mule show at the Flynn. Warren and crew rocked it and I forget how awesome the sound is at the Flynn. One note on Mule fans and food drives, you have a real mix of hippies, red-necks, and bikers - kind of all rolled into one. They would much rather spend $30 on a lame tee shirt or Mule rolling papers, than pay $10 for a limited edition poster. Oh well. Ted did a great job on the poster (Jake, Cole, and Greg - I've pulled one aside for you).

wedding season 08...

short of any shot gun weddings in the next two months, jay and i are officially done with wedding season 08. since april, we have been to five weddings and had to say no to one other. i have to say, i loved all five of them but i am glad we have some time until the next round begins. to officially conclude wedding season 08, we spent last weekend in preparation for wedding season 09. greg and beth, who will be married next october, had a fabulous engagement party at their home in belmont, ma. it was great to see friends and witness an epic family dance party in the living room. their wedding should be a blast given the dance moves that were brought out at the engagement party. jay and i forgot our camera, so these photos are compliments of greg's sister's boyfriend jim (thanks jim).

Trey is back

Yep, last Sunday night, Trey rocked out at Higher Ground. He's back.

Urban Golf

Last Sunday we held the first annual Burlington Urban Gold tournament in the south end. We explored some of the lesser known and more industrial areas of the city. What's urban golf? Check out a video here or another site here, but it's basically just like it sounds. It was great time and we ended up at Franny-O's for a few beverages.

Leaf peepers

Last Sunday was a great day for a hike with the family.

Happy 30th to Vermont's Finest

Stacy and John's wedding

Last weekend Stacy and John were married! It was an amazing fall Vermont day in the mountains, it could not have been a better setting. We had a little too much fun, but it was a beautiful evening. Pictures below:


Full gallery here.

Vacation!!

Jay and I spent last week lounging on the shores of lake champlain with some old friends and some new ones. It was just plain awesome! Highlights include: outdoor fires pretty much every night, amazing sunsets, great meals with great people, board game craziness, lakeside reading, llamas, an impromptu beer and cheese tasting, a visit to a local winery, Isabel's first canoe trip, white wine spritzers (Jay's new fave), swimming in the freezing cold lake, photo shoot with Felix and I in matching outfits, discovering cha-cha, and trying to play trivial pursuit with the first set of cards ever made (impossible!!). Hope to do it again next year. Better yet, we are saving up so that some day, we can own our own piece of paradise on the lake. Thanks Cleary and Amanda for organizing the trip! Enjoy the slideshow but, be forewarned that there are lots of shots of sunsets.



Full gallery here.

Niki & Tim

Niki and Tim rolled into town this week for a wedding and I had not seen them since we left Denmark seven years ago. It was great to show them a bit of VT and catch up. Niki also thought Isabel looked great in her scarf.

Surpise 30th

The Donadio's were able to keep it a secret and Christine was certainly surprised as she walked into a room filled with friends and family to celebrate her 30th birthday. We had a blast seeing everyone and celebrating, well worth the trip down. Happy Birthday Chris!

_ of 1500: The Higher Ground and JDK book

"_ of 1500" is a 112 page book that documents the show posters created by JDK for Higher Ground. This was the final project I worked at while at JDK and it is the piece I am most proud of. I was the account manager on about half of the posters and about 20 were created for Conscious Alliance food drives we ran. The book uses the posters from JDK and photography of Rick Levinson to tell the ten year history of the areas best venue for shows. Order one up today, as the name indicates, there are only 1500, each cover is individually screen-printed and numbered, just like the posters.

Art Hop

The South End Art Hop was last night. We spent most of the night at JDK and Pursuit. It's only been two weeks, but it was nice to be back and see everyone. The show at JDK was a launch for the Higher Ground/ JDK book "_ 0f 1500" a ten year history of Higher Ground through the posters of JDK and photography of Rick Levinson (more on that later). It was also the final show at Pursuit as Seth and Skye are moving to a new space. Walking home we hit a few more shows. The event itself is amazing, you have thousands of people wondering up and down Pine st. enjoying art and partying. Can't wait until next year.

Party of the summer

Last night Stacy and John had a big party at their house down in Waterbury. I think it might have been the party of the summer. A Dead cover band, a couple kegs, huge BBQ, killer bonfire, some fireworks, one of the best views in VT, and we think Isabel may have fallen in love. She was flirting all night with a black lab named Oli. Thanks for having us down, we'll be back in about a month for the wedding.

Season three ends.

We lost in the playoffs last night. We played well, but they played better. Darren put it best:

Well, that was disappointing. But we gave it a good fight. The Boot is tough. A lot of good competition in the league this year. We set the standard and others are now catching up.

A quick history: last year, we were clearly the best team and lost in a fluke of a final; the first year, we were clearly the best team and romped through the entire season before taking the championship.

I have to say, I think we were beaten by a better team yesterday. There’s no shame in that, no criticism of us, either. We’re one of the elites, the only team to have made the playoffs every year of the league’s existence. Plus, we had to play out the end of the season without Coach Curley (and his game-changing speed) on the field.

That’s all right. Better yet, Miya is all right. That was a scary moment. I’ll be honest, when I saw her down I didn’t care about the game. The way we rallied around her, and Glenn (in our opening huddle), brought home again that the best part about kickball is all of you.

So, enjoy the offseason. Let’s come back next year and live up to our Go-Go legacy. Let’s kick some serious ass.

And I bid you good night...

After six years (20% of my life), Thursday was my last day at JDK. I'm very excited to move on, but I will truly miss working there. It has been an amazing experience.

Kate and Ryan's wedding

Kate and Ryan were married in Harvard, MA on Saturday night. They had a beautiful ceremony, amazing food, and rockin' music (a New Orleans style brass band). We even got to bunk up that night, hostel style. It was great to see them, and meet new people. Also a big bonus for me is that we were sitting at a table with a bunch of people who work at NPR, so we had a lot to talk about.

Mike Gordon at the Waterfront

We saw Mike Gordon play a free show at waterfront park Friday night. We had a little BBQ gathering at Shannon and Benjamin pre-show and then walked down. Page came out for a very cool version on Makisupa and they ended the set with a Meat. Overall it was a rocking show. Mike's on tour now, and it is certainly worth checking this band out.

Feist on Sesame Street

This one goes out to Felix. Apparently being a kids is really hot these days (big in Japan).

Home Improvements-

before
















after

Last week we had new windows and a new front door put in. We are quite pleased with the result. It was tough to part with the decorative glass on the front door, but we are surviving. We are trying to decide what color to paint our front door. Ideas?? Suggestions?? We have a couple ideas, but I won't reveal them as I don't want to influence other people's creative process.

Not that it's a contest...

but, the Roesch's are making us look like slackers when it comes to blog posting. We joined them this weekend in Stonington for lobster day, but unlike them, we took almost no photos (except for the cool sky picture below). Despite our lack of photos, we had a blast hanging out with family, playing with all the kids, eating clams and lobsters, and introducing Isabel to the family (as usual, she was awesome). Isabel's new pink red sox collar got mixed reviews; it was funny to see a couple yankees fans get upset when they realized it wasn't just a cute pink collar, but it was decorated with red sox logos. HeHe! Isabel's collar was not the only red sox/yankees conflict of the weekend... poor Joan is trying to figure out what to do with her seven year old son, who recently, after a lifetime of cheering on the yankees decided to be a red sox fan to impress a cute girl who lives next door. Joan, a Bronx native, is devastated with her traitor son. Jay, though delighted to have another fan on his side, couldn't quite wrap him mind around how hard that must be on a mother (or father). All in all we had a great time.

In other news, Jay had shoulder surgery on Monday and is busy getting better. Today has been the toughest day so far. He's in a fair amount of pain, but is hanging in there. He is sporting a pretty fancy sling (seen below), otherwise known as the ultra-sling 2000. I've been playing nurse for the past three days, and I have to admit that I will happily be returning to work tomorrow. Nursing is not really my specialty, but after three days, I have been able to master a pretty awesome milk shake recipe. Luckily, Jay has his mom to take care of him for the next couple days while I am at work.

Ang and Jimmy's wedding

After three years of being engaged, Ang and Jimmy tied the knot on Saturday in West Hartford. It was well worth the wait. The ceremony was beautiful, the reception was rockin', and Pete's after party was, as Pete would say, "bangin'". Highlights include spending some quality time with old friends, Ramble on Rose sign along, the burger from Pete late night. Above all, it was great to see Ang and Jimmy so happy, and so in love. More photos here. Or check out the slide show below.

Coleman