Blog Master G

After a Friday evening at the wine bar, we decided to rally some troops for a little sangria action last Saturday for Day 2 of Jane’s visit. But first, some porching with the dogs:

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Last weekend we were pleased to welcome Jane to Saratoga for a fun-filled weekend of wine, sangria, good food, great friends, and tremendous fun. The weekend festivities began with a late-night outing to the Wine Bar, where we met up with Patricia and Becca for some drinks and laughs.

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Once upon a Monday night, Alex and Cati hosted us, along with Kat, Lara, and Cati’s mom and sister, for a fun-filled evening of pizza-ettes, Norwegian spirits, and what I like to call “ass candy.” Alex has written in far more detail about the evening in this post, so I’ll leave you now with photos from my collection:

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Sundays rule. When I’m not spending the afternoon catching up blogging about our crazy summer, it seems we’re making the most of the day of rest. After the Lake George outing and an afternoon at Justin’s a couple weeks ago, we spent the night rocking out till midnight at Seth and Niki’s place. Here are some (rated PG) photos from the evening:

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Following our grease attack once upon a Sunday, we spent the afternoon soaking up the sun in Justin’s back yard. A little zebra even stopped by to say hi and enjoy some beer. However, Isaac seemed confused.

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Sunday, June 24th was supposed to take us to a little brunch place in Corinth, NY called Jack’s. Sadly, when Jen, Justin, and I arrived, the doors had been shut — seemingly, for good. It’s always sad when local establishments go under, no doubt soon to be replaced by a national chain in the small town about 20 minutes outside Saratoga.

But we pressed on — we enjoyed a nice Sunday afternoon drive up Route 9 to the beautiful, Tahoe-esque Lake George, NY. What was supposed to be brunch turned into bloody maries and a grease-filled lunch at Christies on the Lake, as fried food filled our lakeside table (and then our guts).

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On the way home from Kevin’s graduation picnic, we stopped by Olana State Historic Site for a photo op. What is Olana? Aside from being a beautiful hilltop mansion that was once a private residence…

Named for a fortress treasure-house in ancient Persia, Olana was the home of Frederic Edwin Church (1826-1900), one of America’s most important artists, a student of Thomas Cole, and a major figure in the Hudson River School of landscape ainting.

The last time we went to Olana was with Karen in 1998 or 1999, but it really didn’t seem like it had been that long.

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The day after Jen’s last day of work we found ourselves in Germantown, alongside the Hudson River, for a beautiful Saturday afternoon picnic with Jen’s family — to celebrate her dad’s cousin’s son Kevin’s high school graduation. So what does that make Kevin to me? My third cousin-in-law? Is there a once or twice removed in there? Beats the heck out of me, but congrats Kevin!

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To celebrate Jen’s last day of work two Fridays ago and her transition to an exciting new life path, I joined her in her office to say goodbye to it. Then we proceeded to enjoy happy hour with a couple of her now-former coworkers.

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Here comes the first of a series of blog posts featuring events from the past several weeks of nonstop summer fun in Saratoga and beyond!

Our series begins with photos from Brian’s June 21 wine tasting party, featuring delicious cuisine, tasty wine, and some raucous Cranium action. Team Gabe/Jen/Brian kicked some ass, though Jen and I had the honor of bringing the losing bottle of wine (Blackstone Merlot). Sarah’s Australian boomarang wine was among my favorites, but alas, it didn’t win, either.

And, of course, what party would be complete without the crowd-pleasing sounds of my infamous sweet karaoke tunes? Here’s one crowd member’s look of delight at hearing the glorious notes flow from my wind pipes. And look how honored these two look to be in the presence of a karaoke legend. Eric and I rocked at least a couple karaoke duos before getting booed off the virtual stage.

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