Boston

Still catching up on posts, this one from Halloween so we're still a couple of weeks behind! But we had a great Halloween weekend, ended up heading to Boston to visit Dan and Monica at their gorgeous house in Milton, Mass.

We had a super fun weekend - the weather was perfect and we spent a lot of time just hanging out at their house with friends and catching up. We also set up a folding table in one of their spare rooms and got back to college with some competitive Beirut (beer pong) tournaments. Here are Monica and Dan concentrating on their shots!


And Brad and Jay staring down the competition.

I also had to post a little video from the weekend...

First of all, I love the still shot that the video shows below. As the Beirut competition got more heated (and as it got later in the evenings and therefore the more beers consumed), the level of trash talking also increased. Here, Jay and Brad were trying to distract the competition with some signing and dancing (if you can call it that!) - hysterical.

But the great part about the video is that it captures one of Brad's musical premonitions. Those of you that have ever been with us to a concert, know that Brad is often able to predict the next song before it even starts (or at least call what song is being played before the first note is even finished). It's totally crazy.

Well, in this case, we were listening to a live Phish show on the radio (there was a festival in California that weekend that was being streamed live on Sirius radio). If you listen carefully on the video, you can hear Brad signing a song and then literally a second later that same song comes on the radio from the show. The timing is just amazing. The whole thing was hysterical at the time and I'm so glad I caught it on tape - not sure what made me start video recording, I was just messing around with our camera and the timing turned out to be impeccable. Anyway, it might be one of those things you had to be there for to truly appreciate but I had to post the video anyway!

Anyway, another great weekend with great friends - can't wait for the next get-together!

A Whole Lotta Happy

We've taken advantage of a few more Durham area events lately. We're still loving getting to know our new hometown and have a lot more to explore, but here are 2 of our recent favs!


The 14th annual World Beer Festival was in town and we took advantage of the great weather and the great variety of food, local beers and beers from the more traditional breweries. A super fun day - and definitely popular as you can tell by the line to get in!


Brad showing off a sample beer - as you can imagine, he thoroughly enjoyed himself as I was serving as the designated driver!



A few weeks later we took advantage of my new favorite Carolina tradition, the NC State Fair! Brad wasn't as excited about the event - I guess growing up in Texas, he got to witness State Fairs, but there weren't a lot of those on Long Island so this was a whole new experience for me. I couldn't believe how enormous the event was and the number of people that came out for it.


All the colors and prizes of the Fair were amazing. There were tons of games and rides everywhere.

And my VERY favorite part? The pig races! Yup, a true Carolina pig race (and goat race and duck race). All "officiated" by a very southern Hog-caller dude. And all the pigs were named after Nascar drivers. AWESOME.

And what's a southern State Fair without some really disgusting fried foods. Seriously, deep fried candy bars?? I had some deep fried cookie dough - so good and nauseating all at once!

We didn't try the pig lickers but I had to post the pic. I mean, "bacon dipped in chocolate", advertised as a cute little pig, really?? I think that about sums up the State Fair.

And of course, Brad and I trying to fit in to the local scene - he in a clown suit and me with a monster truck!

And, finally, there was a whole section of the Fair that was devoted to local NC agriculture - livestock auctions, a whole section of canned food, cakes, pies, breads, etc that had been judged and a section of produce (including the big huge veggies) that had also been judged.

All in all, for a Northerner like me, it was a crazy day - so totally random and fun! Can't wait until next year :)