Austin Visits Connecticut

I've just finished another very long week at work (until I have to work some more this weekend, that is), so I decided to take a few minutes to update my poor, neglected blog while I wait for the trick-or-treaters to arrive. I spent a couple of days in Washington DC this week for training and even managed to give a presentation to the people in my group. I've realized that accountants, in general, are very poor bowlers, but very entertaining to watch :)

We were excited to have Austin come visit us last weekend. He's currently unemployed, in between his job at FedEx Kinkos and his new job at Microsoft and decided to spend some of his time off in scenic Stamford, Connecticut. With all of the work I had on my plate while he was here, I'm afraid I wasn't a very good hostess, but we tried to show him some of the sights. On Friday night after work, we headed down to South Norwalk. I had to take advantage of having someone in town who could eat both sushi and chocolate, so we headed to Kazu and Chocopologie - YUM!

I worked most of the day on Saturday, but we did manage to make it into Manhattan for an early dinner at Mesa Grill.

We even made it home in time to watch the Longhorns narrowly beat Oklahoma State. Hook 'Em!

Sunday we headed to Mystic to visit the Seaport Museum. The Seaport museum is a re-created 19th Century seaside village with a shipyard that builds and restores seafaring boats, many different ships from that era for people to explore, and re-creations of stores that demonstrate the different trades of that time. It was a beautiful fall day and we really enjoyed exploring Mystic. Here we are:

And some views of Mystic:

We ate dinner at a hole-in-the-wall seafood restaurant right outside Mystic. Great lobster rolls, clam fritters, and fish sandwiches!

It was really great to see Austin - I only wish I hadn't had to work quite so much! On another note, I'm starting to realize that I need to buy some more warm clothes ASAP. I've started having to use the ice scraper on my windows and the winter is just beginning - I hear its supposed to be especially cold this winter!

Touring Eastern Connecticut

Once again, I had to work on Friday, so Mom and Dad set off to New York alone. They saw the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Ground Zero and Wall Street - by now they are experts at taking the subway and getting around New York City!

We finally slept in a little on Saturday morning and then headed east on I-95 to see some of Connecticut. We pulled off of the road in New Haven to drive around Yale, but didn't stop. Our first stop was a few miles East of New Haven at Bishop's Orchard. We picked out a pumpkin and mum to take home, ate some kettle corn and tried some very interesting fruit wines that they make at the Bishop's Orchard Vineyard. We took home a dry apple wine and a berry pie - Yum!

Next, we headed to another vineyard - Chamard, toured the vineyards and tasted some wines (of course!). Here are Mom and Dad at the Vineyard:

We continued on to Mystic - a cute little seaport town near the Rhode Island border. We arrived too late to visit the Seaport Museum, but drove around the town and stopped at a cute shopping center. I'm sure we'll be back later!

After a long day, we grabbed pizza at Frank Pepe's in Fairfield (white clam, of course!) and headed home to watch the Longhorns beat the Missouri Tigers. Could there be a better end to a great day? Hook 'Em!

Dinner and a Broadway Show

I went to work for a half day on Thursday and then we headed into the City again - this time for dinner and a show. We had 5pm reservations at Otto, another Mario Batali restaurant in NYC. This one is a casual pizza, pasta and antipasto restaurant that is supposed to resemble an Italian train station. We started off with a quarto of wine each - a glass and a half (and a beer for Tommy) and some salami, assorted cheese and roasted peppers for an appetizer. Mom and Dad had pastas for dinner and Tommy and I had pizzas - mine was butternut squash, carmelized onions and smoked mozzarella - sounds strange, but it was delicious. We finished off dinner with gelato and headed off to the play. Here we are at dinner:

We saw Wicked. For those who haven't heard about it, Wicked is the Wizard of Oz, told from the perspective of the Wicked Witch of the West. Very interesting, with amazing sets and, of course, amazing singing and acting. Tommy even enjoyed it and Dad stayed awake for the whole musical, so it must be good! No pictures allowed during the play, of course, but we managed to get a couple of flash-free photos before the show began:

We walked back through Times Square to Grand Central so Mom and Dad could experience the craziness that is Times Square at night. Here they are:

We arrived home back in Stamford at close to 1am - tired, but happy after a wonderful night!

The Bitlers Take Manhattan!

Mom and Dad have been visiting all week and I've gotten to see so much of New York City and Connecticut! On Tuesday, unfortunately Tommy and I both had to work, so Mom and Dad headed up to the Litchfield Hills region of Connecticut. They visited 3 wineries and explored the countryside. They were not too impressed with the fine wines of Connecticut, but the fall foliage and scenery were beautiful.

On Wednesday, I took the day off of work and Mom, Dad and I headed into New York City for their first visit ever. The weather was great for our walking tour of the city - high of about 70 and sunny, as it has been for almost all of their visit. We started at Grand Central Station, headed up 5th Ave. (stopping at Henry Bendel for some candles and FAO Schwartz for a gift for Evan) and through Rockefeller Plaza. We wandered all around Central Park, including Strawberry Fields to satisfy Mom's Beatles fix:

After Central Park, we headed to Bloomingdale's before stopping for a late lunch at the famous Carnegie Deli. The walls were covered with photos of all of the famous people who had eaten there and the sandwiches were HUGE! Here's Dad attempting to eat his corned beef:

And the 3 of us at lunch:

After lunch, we headed to check out Chelsea Market, of Food Network fame. There were lots of specialty food stores with some very interesting things, but it was not the open air market Dad was expecting. Fortunately, we walked through Union Square on our way back to Grand Central and caught the Wenesday fresh food market there. Tommy cooked roast for us for dinner when we got home - a delicious end to a jam-packed day!

A Cultural Affair - A Hindu-Quaker Wedding

Sunday night we all headed to Seema and Tim's wedding. None of us were quite sure what to expect. Seema is Hindu and Tim is Quaker, so we weren't quite sure how the evening's ceremonies would blend the two cultures. In the end, everyone attending the wedding learned something about another culture - and thoroughly enjoyed themselves!

The wedding and reception were held at the Fruitlands Museum, a failed transcendentalist community turned museum with a gorgeous view of the Massachusetts countryside and bright-colored leaves. The ceremonies began with a meeting of the two families on the lawn, called the "Baraat" in a traditional Hindu weddings, but tailored to this bride and groom because the Groom's family marched in to the sounds of a fiddle and banjo!

Several short cermonies followed, involving the exchanging of garlands by the bride and groom and the exchange of recitations by family and friends:

Following this, we headed upstairs to the Mandap, where the marriage ceremony would be held. It was beautiful - held at sunset overlooking the gorgeous view. The ceremony was administered by the pandit in Sanskrit, an ancient Indian language. However, as many of us had never been to a Hindu wedding, he paused to give explanation of each part of the ritual cermony - very interesting. Here is a picture of the mandap:
After the bride and groom were officially married, we experienced a quaker tradition, the signing of the marriage contract - all who were there to witness the wedding sign the contract, which will hang in the bride and groom's home. Here is the groom's father signing the contract:

And the happy couple:

From there, the party got started. Much to Tommy's dismay, the meal was all vegetarian, a mix of Indian dishes and traditional Massachusetts dishes like butternut squash soup and apple crisp - I thought it was delicious! There was plenty of dancing - from the Indian Bhangra to Contradance, complete with a stringband and caller to lead the dances. Katy was honored to be the only one of the bride's friends to give a speech - a wonderful one that even made Seema cry. Evan was a little tired and fussy by the time we left at 10:30 for the 3 hour drive back to Stamford, but everyone had a wonderful night!

It was such a pleasure to have Katy and Ian here, even if it was only briefly. Mom and Dad are here until Monday - stay tuned for more entries about our upcoming adventures in New York and Connecticut!

Walking the Freedom Trail

Sunday morning was our one chance of the weekend to get to see some of Boston while we were so close. We just had a few hours, so we chose to do what would give us the best sense of Boston in a short time - walk the Freedom Trail.

There are so many interesting pieces of American History along the Trail. From the graves of John Hancock, Paul Revere and Sam Adams, to the site of the first reading of the Declaration of Independence, the site of the Boston Massacre and Paul Revere's house and the streets of his famous ride, Boston is just bursting with American history. Here are some of my favorite photos from our stroll:

We had to head back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding, so we didn't get to see nearly enough of the city. Tommy and I will definitely be back!

Apples, Beer, and Mehndi

Strange title for a blog entry, right? Keep reading and you'll understand...

Saturday was another early morning as we left Connecticut early to make it to Boston in time for apple picking at 10am. For those wondering why we headed to Boston, one of Katy's close friends, Seema Suri was getting married and we all headed up the Massachusetts for the weekend's festivities. The drive was beautiful - the leaves on the trees in Massachusetts are in full-color - much to Mom's delight:

The wedding guests gathered at Carlson Orchards for apple picking. It really was a great way for everyone to get to know each other (we finally got to meet Tim, the groom-to-be), enjoy the beautiful scenery, and pick some delicious apples. Here are some photos from the occasion:

At the end, we got the chance to sample what is probably the best apple crisp I have ever eaten. Yum!! Evan wore is Halloween hat and shirt and thoroughly enjoyed apple picking (until the very end):While the rest of us picked apples, Dad and Tommy visited the Sam Adams Brewery (brewery tour was free, tasting included!):

The wedding festivities continued on Saturday night with the Sangeet, a tradition in Hindu wedding celebrations. Seema brought Katy a beautiful sari back from India to wear to the Sangeet - both Katy and Seema looked amazing:

Here's our lovely family:

As part of the tradition, the bride has her hands and feet painted with elaborate henna (mehndi)designs. The henna stains the skin and lasts several weeks. All women attending the Sangeet also had the option of getting mehndi designs painted on their hands (not nearly as elaborate as the bride, of course):

(after this photo, we finally did convice Mom to get her hands painted as well!)

Our Guests Arrive

The past weekend was definitely a whirlwind - but in a good way. Mom and Dad arrived on Thursday night with enough time left in the day to eat pizza from our favorite carry-out pizza place in Stamford, John the Baker.

Mom and I arose before the sun at 4:30am on Friday morning to drive to JFK airport to pick up Katy, Ian and Evan. As soon as we got back to the house, most of the Davis family crashed, getting a little much needed rest. I can't believe how much Evan has grown since I last saw him in August - my favorites are the smile and laugh that light up the room. He finally got to meet his Uncle Tommy - here we are with our nephew:

We headed into Greenwich for lunch and to do a little sightseeing. We had lunch at Meli Melo, a yummy crepe restaurant and took a walk down the scenic main street of Greenwich - the weather was beautiful! Evan really enjoyed himself:

Mom made some delicous spaghetti for dinner and we all had an early night - we had a busy weekend ahead!

Happy Birthday, Tommy!

It's been a while since I last wrote - sorry about that. Since Tommy's return from Maine, there has not been much excitement in Connecticut. The leaves are changing colors and we're starting to need jackets - the low tonight is in the 40's!

Sunday was Tommy's 31st birthday. We began the celebration early on Saturday night with dinner at Capital Grille, a steak restaurant here in Stamford. We've eaten at the Capital Grille locations in Dallas and Orlando and always enjoyed it, so we decided to try the one here. I must say, I was very impressed. I mentioned on the online reservation form that we were celebrating Tommy's birthday. When we arrived, the hostess wished Tommy a happy birthday. Our table was decorated with confetti and a card signed by the restaurant staff. They took our picture, gave us a free dessert (that wasn't even chocolate), and paid for our valet parking! Maybe I'm easily impressed, but I've tried putting special instructions in online reservations before and Capital Grille is the only restaurant that has ever done anything. Our meal was delicious, too (proscuitto, mozzarella and tomato appetizer, steaks, potatoes au gratin, and creme brulee) - a very nice night out, right here in Stamford!

We spend most of the rest of weekend cleaning the house, running errands and getting ready for Mom, Dad, Katy, Ian and Evan to arrive at the end of this week. I baked Tommy his favorite cake (other than his Mom's amaretto cake) - yellow cake, no icing (strange, I know) and we spent Sunday evening playing his birthday present on the Xbox - Rock Band 2.

As a last piece of entertainment, we gave Max and Albert each a peanut butter "Lollipop" as a treat - basically a piece of rawhide with some peanut butter on one side. Being the brilliant dogs that they are, both dogs completely ignored the peanut butter end and started with the rawhide. They did eventually find the peanut butter - and thoroughly enjoyed every bite!

I'm so excited that my family is coming in town this week. I can't wait to visit Boston with everyone this weekend and spend the next week exploring Connecticut and New York with my parents. More posts to come soon!