Monday, April 23, 2007

An Italian monument of sorts...

Actually, we would like to dedicate this post to our friend, Cory, back in L-Town. He has a certain love for a certain designer and there happened to be a monument, of sorts, in Rome. We ran into this monument, with the initials LV all over it while in Italy (more about this trip coming soon), and had to take a picture for our friend Cory! It is actually an up and coming store front for Louis Vuitton.
The lighting was really bad at the crazy hour in the night when we found this priceless monument. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a good distance shot, so you'll just have to imagine how amazing this soon to be store front was from a distance! We did get a detail shot to show the craftsmanship that our friend Louis' is known for and how far and wide his name has spread among the fashion industry.
Lastly, Louis V you better watch out. There are some talented folks out there making some incredible reproductions of your famous work...but never fear there will always be someone out there defending your reputation!

Sunday, April 22, 2007

MBA Softball Tournament Weekend!

It was a nice sunny weekend in Charlottesville where the 2007 MBA softball tournament took place. There were a number of schools, from up and down the East Coast, which converged on Charlottesville for this wonderful weekend that was filled with softball.The first day consisted of pool play to determine who was playing on Sunday in the playoffs and where the teams would be seeded. We had a bit of a ruff morning seeing that we went with the other teams to register at McGrady's Irish pub where they had free beer and drinks for us...Game one we were moving a little slowly, and we should have won. The rest of the day was pretty good, but the team got a little banged up as we slaughtered the next team. By the time we got to the last game of the day we were all pretty tired from sprinting around the field and just being in the sunshine all day, but we knew by then that we were playing on Sunday.
That night was a more relaxing night than the night before, mostly due to the fact that we were exhausted from playing softball all day. Most of us called it a night early, but a few of the single guys stayed out at a place called Orbit (another place that was offering us free drinks and beer).

Sunday came and we made it to the semi-finals where we played the first year team from Darden. It was well played game by them and we held in there, but our bats just didn't deliver when we needed them.

All in all a really fun weekend with the team! The biggest downside was staying at the Econo-Lodge, but I guess everyplace you stay on the road can't be an inviting place to come home too. This place was downright scary!

...Coach we're gonna have to fly you in next year...

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Roatan...diving, diving, more diving, and some new friends


For the last week of our Honduras adventure we were on the island of Roatan! The water was beautiful, the weather was wonderful, the company was perfect, we got in a few dives (a day), and Brian almost saw a whale shark!

One of the best things about getting to Roatan was there were no more fried plantains with every meal. At the beginning of the trip I thought they were great, but after a week of plantains I've had enough...But the rumor is there are some good place to eat in West Bay, so off we went the first night to the Argentinean Grill where we met Andy and Anne. We talked with them through dinner and then shared a taxi back home where we met up with the rest of the cast of characters for a beer or two. This is when the stories began...The most memorable was how Eric got Tiffany with the conch shell mating call and then clubbed her to drag her home and marry him. So some of the stories were a little outlandish, but a fun night was had by all.

The rest of the week included a bunch of relaxing scuba diving into the ocean. One of the highlights was going on a night dive w/ a couple of night dive virgins. Tina and Armen were another incredibly nice couple that we got to enjoy some time with, but the night dive with them was one to remember. Tina was a bit concerned, but once she saw a few creatures in the coral, she relaxed a little and took her nervousness out on her flashlight. So for those of you that have never been on a night dive, or SCUBA diving for that matter, there are a bunch of hand signals that one uses to communicate. Many of these hand signals get replaced with flashlight motions during a night dive considering its pitch dark underwater. For example, to get your buddy's attention one would swing the light beam back and forth on the sea floor in front of them. Back to Tina. She apparently saw something amazing and was shaking her flashlight back and forth nearby Armen like she was going to run out of batteries so we decided to go check out what she found. None other than the elusive sea cucumber, which she thought was the leg of an octopus. Long story short she had another flashlight convulsion, and guess what she found...Yup, another octopus, oh wait, sea cucumber! Other than the entertainment that Tina provided it was a nice and relaxing night dive with some incredible phosphorescence as we swam without our lights off.

I mentioned earlier that West Bay had some of the best places to eat. Well surprising the best restaurant we ate at in Honduras was an Indian place called Ooloonthoo. The food was magnificent and the service was good too. This is definitely a place that will make your eyebrows sweat and that isn't even with the dish that says "This preparation is very hot and definitely not for the uninitiated!"

Before I forget I saw two out of the three signs that there is a whale shark in the area. First one sees the birds off in the distance swooping down at the water picking up fish. Once you are nearby the swooping birds, then you get to see the living room size circle of fish jumping out of the water and into some of the birds mouths. Those are the two signs that I saw. The third and most important one is the whale shark swimming by or near the surface...no luck, however, maybe next time.

That is it for Honduras, but here is to many more adventure to come!

Friday, April 13, 2007

Wedding Photos!

Just the other day, we got our wedding picture proofs along with a link to some of the pictures up on the web.

Hope you enjoy the sampling of pictures as much as we have so far!

Wedding Photos by J. Garner

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Ever wanted a Peculiar Aristocratic Title?

I found ours this morning and thought that everyone should have an opportunity to have a title associated with their name, even if they are "peculiar."

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is:
His Highness Brian the Imaginary of Lower Hellswicke

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is:
Her Excellency Sarah the Contrite of Burton-le-Coggles


Saturday, April 07, 2007

Dirt Track Racing!

It was a guys night out! We went up to Urbana where Mike had put together a fantastic BBQ spread that included steaks, salad, potatoes and more. This got us ready to go to the Virginia Motor Speedway and watch some locals battle it out on the dirt in their homebuilt racing machines.

We were on turn two of two. The first place we sat was a little to close to the track because we were getting showered with some of the dirt, from the track, as the cars came screaming around the corner in a full four wheel drift. So we walked up the stands a little further where everyone else was sitting. Looking back, I thought it was kind of strange that no one wanted to be close to the action. But, in a stadium about the size of a high school football one, you can see all the action from just about every seat.

The most amazing part of dirt track racing is I now have a glimpse into understanding why people love NASCAR or any other kind of racing. The rumble of the track as the cars fly by along with the roar of the engines is absolutely amazing!

I'm Dreaming of a White Easter

It has been sunny and in the 70's all week, but we were greeted with a little surprise this morning. It was snowing! There had been reports of potential snow coming in all week, but with the great weather neither one of us actually expected the snow.