I'm Married!

As a lot of you already know, I got married on November 19^th!!!   I couldn’t be happier to be married to my beautiful wife Theresa!!!  She truly does make me happier than any other person ever could!

The festivities kicked off with the rehearsal at the church (Nativity BVM right in Media) and rehearsal dinner (at Iron Hill in Media) the night before the wedding.   It was really great to have some good quality time with our closest family and friends that helped get us to this point in our lives.  It really did mean a lot of have all of them involved, not only in the wedding, but in our lives in general.  For all of you those involved in the wedding, we really would not be the people we are today without you, so I want to give you all a huge thank you!  After a great celebration with all of those involved in the wedding itself, I headed back to the hotel to spend some time with the guys.  It was a lot of fun to see a lot of my buddies and family from out of town and have a few beers.  I don’t get many chances to see a lot of them, so it was really fun to spend some time with them.  It also helped to make up for some of the time we lost at the bachelor party because of Huricane Irene haha. 

The guys at the rehersal dinner (left to right): by buddy Zorro, by best man Tom, my brother Marty, my brother-in-law Harry, me, my brother Keith, my  buddy Matt, and my buddy Veggie.

The wedding day was a gorgeous autumn day and was perfect for a wedding.  Around 2pm, I found myself standing next to the priest in the beautiful church watching Theresa walk up the aisle to me.  I don’t think I’ve had butterflies in my stomach like that ever in my life! :-)  After a beautiful ceremony, we were married and couldn’t be happier!!!  After posing for a few pictures at the church, the party began in the limo on the way over to Penn Oaks for the rest of the pictures and the reception.  After doing all of the pictures, we were able to relax and have an amazing time at the reception with some of our closest friends and family.  And I can honestly say, I really don’t think I’ve ever danced so much, or had such a good time in my life!  It really was an incredible night!  Here are a few pictures from wedding day:

Theresa and I with Father Belle during the ceremony.

Theresa and I walking down the aisle as husband and wife!

Theresa and I dancing in the middle of the dance floor - this is pretty much where we were most of the night :-)

Oh, this happened a few times throughout the night.  Veggie and I just like to get down on the dance floor!

Thank you so much for all of you who were able to get us to this point in our lives!  Thank you to everyone who was able to share the big day with us, and thank you for your thoughts and prayers to those who were not able to make it to the wedding!

On the Monday after the wedding, Theresa and I flew out to San Francisco for our honeymoon.  Neither one of us had been out to the West Coast in our adult lives, and we had heard lots of great things about San Fran, so we decided to go out there for our honeymoon for ten nights (all those Marriot reward points from my consulting days really paid off).  After settling in to the hotel the first night, we set out to see the sights in the city the next couple days.  After hoping on and off tour buses and walking all over the city for two days, we had seen a lot of the main sightseeing attractions in the city itself, including the Golden Gate Bridge.  Next, we got to have a very non-traditional Thanksgiving by doing a Wine Tour of Sonoma and Nappa Valleys.  As it turned out, there were only three wineries open that day, and we got to see all of them – Jacuzzi (owned by the same family that invented the Jacuzzi hot tub), Cline Cellars, and Hagafen (a kosher winery).  We had a blast on the tour and our tour guide, Vladamir, was awesome!  In keeping with the non-traditional Thanksgiving theme, we had a great dinner in Chinatown. 

The next couple days after that were filled with exploring around Chinatown, Fisherman’s Wharf, and riding the cable cars.  We also had a chance to have some really good seafood at the Wharf.  If you ever find yourself around here, I definitely recommend getting clam or crab chowder in a sourdough bread bowl – its incredible!  To cap the weekend off, we did a really cool night tour of Alcatraz on Sunday.  It was a lot of fun to see this historic prison all light up at night (which was also a little creepy in places).  It also provided some of the coolest views of the city from the top of the island.

Monday brought a cool trip up to the ancient Redwoods in Muir Woods and the beautiful town Sausalito.  On Tuesday, we decided to get a little further outside of the city and rented a car to drive down the coast.  Although it was a very foggy day (which there are plenty of in San Fran), we were able to get South of most of the fog and get some absolutely incredible views of the Pacific coast.  I have never seen anything quite like it – the crashing waves against the cliffs really was breathtaking to see! 

On our last full day there, we did a brewery tour of the very famous and traditional brewery at Anchor Brewing Company.  It was really cool to tour the historic brewery and to see the equipment they use to keep with traditional brewing methods (including using open coolships as the primary fermenter for all of their beers).  For our last dinner in San Fran, we went out with a bang and went to an awesome Italian restaurant called Zingari (a big thanks to the Director of Operations at the JW Marriot who hooked us up with the reservation and a complimentary bottle of wine with dinner!).  After a long day of travel back home the next day, Theresa and I were both ready to be home and relax for a few days before returning to the work grind.

We went to some very cool places when we were in San Fran and I figure I should sum up some my favorite restaurants, breweries, and wineries that we had a chance to experience while we were there, in case you ever find yourself in San Fran looking for a solid place to go or drink to have.  Here they are in no particular order:

·         Zingari Restaurant – Probably one of the best steaks I’ve ever had.  And I love steak.  The service and food were incredible.  The bruschetta we had as an appetizer was incredible, and both of our entrees (the filet and the seafood ravioli) were perfect.

·         Nick’s Lighthouse – A delicious casual seafood restaurant right on the Bay.  The oysters and the chowder were awesome.

·         Jacuzzi Winery – A really nice boutique winery in Sonoma Valley.  It is owned by the same family that invented the Jacuzzi hot tub and a bunch of other patents.  Since they produce smaller quantities and focus on quality, their wines are incredibly flavorful and aromatic.  I highly recommend the Merlot, the Nero D’Avola, and the dessert wine in a chocolate shot (not included in the tasting but definitely worth the $2).

·         Tropisueno  – An awesome authentic Mexican restaurant in San Fran.  Their carne asada and pollo asada were both incredible.  If you’re looking for a really good Mexican dinner and a restaurant with a really cool vibe, check this place out.  The margaritas are great too!

·         Franciscan Crab Restaurant – This place has some outstanding food and has a very nice atmosphere.  I highly recommend their tureens (which is kind of like a seafood stew in a tomato broth) and the sizzling seafood platter. 

·         The Stinking Rose – If you like garlic, eat at the Stinking Rose.  The whole menu and theme of the restaurant is shaped around it.  Their garlic humus is really good (hope you don’t mind garlic breath) and their Italian meatloaf and lasagna were incredible.

·         Anchor Brewing Company – A vacation wouldn’t be complete without a brewery tour, and Anchor Brewing is definitely a cool one to check out.  They use some different equipment (like coolships) than a lot of other breweries do because of their more traditional nature.  One of the other cool things about this brewery is the fact that it is their main production brewery so you get a chance to see pretty much every part of the process, including the bottling line.  While in San Fran, don’t just restrict yourself to their most popular beer, Anchor Steam (which is relatively easy to find in other parts of the country), and branch out to some of their beers that are less-widely distributed.  Make sure to check out their Liberty Ale and their seasonal (I liked their Christmas Ale a lot).

·         Speakeasy Ales and Lagers – A San Francisco brewery.  I had a chance to try a couple Speakeasy beers while out to dinner in San Fran – Prohibition Ale and Big Daddy IPA.  I particularly enjoyed Prohibition Ale.  Check these guys out if you get a chance.

Here are some pictures from San Fran:

Theresa and I at Jacuzzi Winery.  This place had some awesome wines!

Anchor Brewing Company had an awesome tasting room with all sorts of old beer signs and brewing memorbilia from, not only their company, but from a bunch of other old breweries from all over the country.

The jellyfish all lit up in their tank at the aquarium at the Academy of Sciences.  This place was really cool with an aquarium and a self-contained rain forest.

One of the butterflies in the rainforest section of the Academy of Sciences.

Me in front of one of the old walls on Alcatraz.



Alcatraz at night while we were approaching the dock on the ferry.  This was definitely one of the coolest things we did while in San Fran!



 

Desert wine in an edible chocolate shot glass at Jacuzzi Winery - well worth the extra $2!



Me in one of the ancient redwoods at Muir Woods.  I've never seen trees so tall and straight in my life!



The Golden Gate Bridge on one of the foggiest days we were there. 



This is one of the gorgeous views that we had when we were driving along the Pacific Coast.

Theresa and I on the Golden Gate Bridge.  This was on one of the beautiful afternoons that we were there.  The fog would usually clear off by the afternoon most days that we were there.

Well that about sums up the wedding and honeymoon, and now its back to reality (returning to work after being out for two weeks is not fun haha).  I am hoping to be updating this blog a lot more in the coming months and hopefully finally get around to posting some brewing recipes and other goodies up.  I have some brews coming up that I am very excited about and I am planning on brewing like crazy the next couple months (I desperately need to re-stock my supply of homebrew), but more on that in the next post.  Until next time, stay frosty.

Song of the Day: “Stand by Me” by Pennywise

Beer of the Day: Namaste from Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales

Ummm, its the End of the February???

Right, so haven't updated in awhile.  Seems like I was just posting about brewing the Banana Bread Ale yesterday.  Then I realized that I just bottled it on Saturday after one week in a primary fermenter and two weeks in a secondary.  So here's an update on the highlights of the last few weeks:

A lot of Theresa's cousins and aunts and uncles from out of town were in town a couple weeks ago for the weekend.  It was great to see all of them again.  Friday night, we went out for dinner with her cousins to Iron Hill.  It was a lot of fun to hang out with her cousins!  The weekend was a great opportunity to see a lot of her family that aren't often in town. :-)

About two weeks ago, I finally picked up a 6 gal. glass carboy for fermenting beer.  I have been meaning to do this for awhile now and finally got around to getting one.  I debuted the carboy as a secondary fermenter for the Banana Bread Ale, after a one-week primary fermentation.  Fast forward two weeks.  I bottled up the Banana Bread Ale this past Saturday, and the secondary seemed to do a great job.  The flavor conditioned nicely and the color came out beautiful.  The secondary did a lot to clarify the beer.  The one downfall is that the banana hasn't come out much in the flavor - but the other flavors did nicely - the vanilla and cinnamon came out very well balanced.  We'll see how it tastes in a couple weeks after bottle conditioning.

On the video game front, I picked up NHL 2011 a week or so ago.  I have been meaning to pick up a solid hockey game for awhile now, and I must say, NHL 2011 is a lot of fun.  I especially like the Be-a-Pro mode, where you can create your own character.  The storyline starts with your character as a player in the junior leagues just before you get drafted into the NHL.  Rather than controlling a team through seasons in dynasty mode, you follow and control only your character.  If you do well, you earn better contracts and other honors.  If you don't do well, you get sent down to the minors until you start performing better.

This past weekend, I also borrowed Mass Effect from my buddy Jim.  I have been meaning to pick up Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2, but just haven't had a lull in other games to give it the attention it deserves.  Finally started playing it, and it is an awesome game so far.  The game play mechanics are smooth and the storyline is solid.  I can't wait to see how the storyline advances.  I have heard a ton of praise for the Mass Effect series, so I'm holding it to a high standard.  So far, so good.

Another highlight from the weekend was dinner and a movie with Theresa on Friday. :-)  Went out and saw Cedar Rapids.  If you get a chance to see this movie at a theater near you, definitely do it.  Cedar Rapids is one of the funnier movies, I've seen in a long time.  John C. Reilly was absolutely hysterical!  It isn't as widely distributed as a lot of other, more mainstream movies, but is definitely worth going to see if you get a chance.  After the movie, Theresa and I went to Rock Bottom in King of Prussia, where I had a burger that pretty much sounds like a heart attack. :-)

Theresa giving the thumbs up behind my 2A.M. burger (a cheeseburger with a hash brown and a fried egg :) ).

This next picture isn't really relevant to any particular event, but Abby is pretty much the cutest dog in the world, so here's a completely off-topic bulldog picture. :-)

Loungin' pup! :)

That's all for now - hopefully the next post will come a little quicker than this one.

Song of the Day: "Modern Wolf Hair" by Chiodos
Beer of the Day: Midas Touch by Dogfish Head Brewery

Starting 2011 on the Right Foot

It probably sounds kinda cliche to say that I'm trying to get back in shape this time of year.  However, I'd really like to lose about 20 or 25 pounds over the next few months.  Trying to get back down my typical adult-life average weight.  So far, so good.  Haven't lost much weight yet but I haven't been eating as much crap and have been running and going for long walks with Theresa and Abby fairly consistently over the last couple weeks.  I have already noticed my energy climb a little.  I am trying to continue on this path and keep it up to incorporate it as my normal routine.  I'm also trying to do this by making a few compromises but still enjoy myself food-and-drink-wise.  For example, I'm not giving up beer.  Considering I don't drink mass quantities of beer (usually in the neighborhood of 2 - 3 beers in a night most weekend nights), and considering that beer-hunting and homebrewing are the hobbies that I am most passionate about, I think its a reasonable compromise.  I think I should get there slowly, but surely, over the next few months simply by exercising more consistently and eating better.

Now to the much more delicious and interesting portion of today's program ... BEER!

I'm pretty excited about my homebrew selection.  This Thursday will mark the two week mark on the bottle-conditioning of the Ruination and Ubu clones, which means this weekend is tasting time!  Both beers will probably get better over the next few weeks but I'm pretty amped to try the two new beers.  These two will also give a bit more variety to my homebrew selection; with the addition of these 5th and 6th volumes I will have three brews in bottle - the Tripel, Runiation, and Ubu.  Three brews is the most I have had in bottles at one time.  I am hoping to sustain this variety, if not increase it, as I continue brewing.  Its definately going to be nice to have a good variety of homebrew in the fridge.  I am hoping to get another brew or two in fermenters in February.  The next one will probably be a good session beer - maybe an ESB or something of that nature.  Sometime in March I want to get something in the can for the Spring.  I'm thinking of doing something like a blueberry wheat or something along those lines.

Equipment-wise, I'm thinking about getting some new gear.  Right now, I'm doing extract brews with a big stainless steel pot on an electric range with a beginners starter kit with a plastic fermentation bucket and bottling bucket.  I also picked up another plastic fermenter recently to use when I have two brews fermenting at once.  Next on the wish list is a glass carboy.  I want to get this mainly to use for secondary fermentations so I can do longer secondary fermentations with better quality.  For one, it will let me rack my beer onto other ingredients to age with, such as oak chips (I really want to do an oaked black IPA sometime soon).  Also, it should reduce some of the sediment that I get in my bottles (especially on bigger beers like Ruination).  Been looking into doing some other minor things too (like waxing or putting foil wraps on my bottles for better presentation for gifts).  However, I doubt I will do any other major upgrades at this point (like an all-grain setup) until I have house - I just don't have the space for the extra equipment right now.

On the beer-hunting/drinking front, it has also been a good start to the new year.  Among my favorites that I've picked up at Pinocchio's Beer Garden in the last week or so are Dogfish Head's Pangaea (a beer brewed with ingredients from every continent - even Antarctica (water)) and Samuel Smith's Imperial Stout.  Also had a chance to stop into the restaurant side of Pinocchio's and have a couple Lucky Bastards (which they had on draft) with my buddy Jim this past weekend.  It was good to have a couple solid beers with Jim and catch up.

Dogfish Head's Pangaea in one one of my Stone Brewery glasses.

Stone's Old Guardian Barleywine in my Vertical Epic glass.

That's all for now - hopefully I'll get in another update this weekend after tasting the new homebrews :-).

And I know you're dying for today's beer and song selections :-) .....

Song of the Day: "In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3" by Coheed & Cambria
Beer of the Day: Samuel Smith's Imperial Stout