Sunny Santa Barbara

Last weekend, our whirlwind adventures took us to Santa Barbara, CA for Zach and Megan's wedding!!! After complications with our flights and luggage, Erin's favorite chauffeur, Christopher Wargakis came to the rescue and swooped us from LAX, where we had missed our transfer to Santa Barbara. Dispite the frustration with American Airlines (never use them if you can avoid it), we made it to the elegant Motel 6 just in time to head to the rehearsal fiesta at Megan's parents amazing locale complete with ocean views.

The following morning (wedding day), we grabbed some breakfast and hit the sand to try and play sand volleyball.

After volleyball and finally getting our luggage, it was party time! Their wedding took place at the Four Seasons Biltmore and was absolutely amazing! The ceremony was outside in a private garden where the "priest" recounted Zach and Megan's path until the wedding; it was a very personable touch that everyone enjoyed. After the ceremony we had a splendid cocktail hour followed by a knock-out reception! We all had a great time Zachary, thanks for the memories.

Big Fish on a Hot Grill

Erin and I faced our cullinary fears today and conquered what was long in the making....grilling a whole fish!!! It wasn't cheap, and it wasn't easy, thankfully our friends at Whole Foods gutted, gilled, de-finned, and scaled the Sea Bass for us, so the dirty work was over, but that doesn't mean it was a walk-in-the-park. With Roger (we named him Roger) staring at us, we preped him for our friend Mr. Weber:

We are still ameteurs as Roger lost most of his skin during cooking, but it made the filet that much easier to gobble up (Before):After:

It was most delicious, but we have some perfecting to do to be worthy of any top-chef awards!

Romantic Myrtle Beach

Erin and I spent a fabulous weekend away in the beautiful city of Myrtle Bea....oh wait, I mean....I thought that's where I was going, but my favorite people in the world tricked me!!!! It was the best trick imaginable, as Borgie planned a Fish Lake retreat for myself and 23 (at least) close friends to spend a weekend celebrating my last days as a single man. We parttook in many traditional games and activities such as sunbathing:

croquet:

Horseshoes on the beach:

Multiple rounds of golf:

Mulitple hot dogs:

Jeff Cirillo (yeah, the hot corner ladies), sporting a beautiful 1970's Fiddle Faddle deluxe:

Dancing:

Drinking (not too much of course)

and Dano:

It was a very successful weekend given there were no objectives but to kick back and relax. I really appreciate all you guys coming up to enjoy the weekend. It was a great segway into what is to come this Bastille day; lots of friends, fun, and fiddle faddle. Borgs, thanks again for rounding up all the homies, and boys, thanks for making the trek to Wisconsin to make it happen. I hope everyone was sterilized upon re-enterance into Minnesota. Thanks again fellas!!

Fiesta Fiesta

Alas the summer has hit and we have had several recent BBQ's!!!!! We decided to tee off our June with a South-of-the-Border grill out consisting of some grilled steak and chicken fajitas, along with some of our award-winning guac and some knock-your-socks-off Margheritas!! We pulled game 5 of the cup finals to our apartment window and had a spectacular evening with Bobby, Petz, Jenny, Meat, Leslie, Hall, and the Gurtner family! Great friends, terrific food (as always)!!

Last night, the Grimasuckaravencrofts had some friends over to enjoy the finer things in life...burgers, brats, and brewskies, and feeding human food to dogs. The usual suspects were once again in action and it was a relaxing early Saturday evening.

Bridal Tea

While Lou flew back to the Midwest for bachelor party madness at the infamous Borgestad cabin in Wisconsin last weekend, Linsey came down from Boston to attend a bridal tea being hosted by my girlfriend Sheila and lounge around our pool. We had amazing weather all weekend for sunbathing, feasted at a local neighborhood restaurant and the tea couldn't have been more quintessential with cucumbur sandwiches, tea, scones, smoked salmon tartines and cookies. I am so lucky to have such great girlfriends in DC (and a sister nearby) and can't wait for them to visit Minnesota for the wedding.

Guns and Graduation

Normally guns and a graduation party do not mix. However, in northern Minnesota we like to throw caution (and sometimes common sense) to the wind. On a recent trip home for Jenna's graduation, my dad seized on our friend's Chris and Melissa's curiousity by giving us a lesson about what life would be like as a sharp-shooting, NRA-membership-holding, gun-slinger like himself. A thorough safety lesson was followed by an all out competition as we raced to shoot clay pigeons (Future boyfriends of my little sisters please note our families excellent marksmanship.)

The competition continued as we played a round of one hole golf in the yard.

Grimmy-Some-More

Erin and I were in Philadelphia last night and today for Grimas and Giana's wedding take two, a Grimmy family get together to make up for those that didn't make it to Vegas. We arrived at 2ish and the four of us played at a pitch and putt course north of Philly about 20 minutes. It was Erin's first time playing actual holes of golf, and while she has a ways to go, she did very well and even got a par on one hole!! She is a natural!

After golf, we went to the reception, where we had a hearty Italian meal and danced the night away! Grimas (and now Giana) have terrific family and friends...we had a blast!!

This morning on our way home, we made a spur of the moment decision to stop in downtown Philly and walk around for a bit. We parked in the old town and walked to the Italian Market, where the annual festival happened to be taking place. We grabbed a bite to eat and took in the neighborhood, it really seems like a tight-knit community that values their heritage. The food they offer doesn't fail to impress either!! All in all, it was a successful weekend full of friends and adventures!!

Betch Conquers DC IV

We had the pleasure of hosting Mr. Betch out here this past weekend, and he didn't disappoint. We hit the ground running, heading to the historic Clarendon Ballroom in addition to tasting a little of DC's diverse culinary scene - Tabaq Bistro (Mediterranean Tapas) and Mihn's Vietnamese Restaurant. We hit a variety of spots in and around U Street and Adams Morgan on Saturday Night, and even caught some blues with Petzel at Madams Organ.

Following our tour de North DC, Jason and I enjoyed some more standard fare.

We also attempted to spend a whole day in the mountains doing some vineyarding, got a little late start after finalizing our wedding invites, and then blew a tire on 66. Betch and I sprung into action and took care of business. Notice we fired up the mini weber and had a dog while changing the tire;-)

After spending an hour in Centreville, VA getting new tires (long overdue, mom's birthday present went directly to Goodyear), we made it out to Rappahannock, tasted a little vino, played a game of lax, and took our time exploring the countryside on our way home. We capped off the night by grilling some strips and playing hi-low with Jason and Justin!

Parkersburg, West Virginia

Take me home, country roads.....and roads, and roads. This past weekend Lou and I and our friends Steve and Nancy took a road trip to Parkersburg, West Virginia, for the much anticipated wedding of Marissa and James. And drive we did, 7 hours there and 6 hours back. But it was worth it!!! The wedding was absolutely beautiful and we couldn't be more lucky to have such great friends! We stayed in the historic Blennerhassett Hotel and even got in a game of tennis Saturday morning before the festivities began. Here are a sample of the weekends best:

Haines Point

First, let us apologize for being totally slackers on updates. The truth is that we have been in wedding mania, running from bachelor party to bachelorette party to wedding, which has been tons of fun, but our downtime has been spent working and getting ready for our own soire on Bastille Day!

We spent a recent Saturday morning at Haines Point in Washington, D.C. hitting balls with Mike and Gianna, who kindly spent a few hours with us before heading off to their own wedding in Vegas. They were great sports and have actually agreed to take lessons with Lou and me this summer.