TSO Rocks DC

As a birthday/Christmas gift, Jackie was nice enough to take me to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert at the Verizon Center.

This band always gets me in the Christmas spirit. It's one of the few CDs my family listens to while we open presents on Christmas morning, so I had a great time seeing them play live.

Thanks so much, Jackie!

The lighting and effects guys did a great job of making it visually appealing to go along with the fantastic music.

It's like being at the Hansen Planetarium light show. So cool!

And here's a video from my favorite TSO song during the show

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Smyths Gonna Run This Town Tonight

My brother Adam came out to Washington DC for an HR conference, and I was stoked to get to see him during his visit. We got to spend time together a couple of nights, which was great. The first night we met up at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Portrait Gallery, and then the second night my little bro and his wife came down from Philly, and we all went to see the monuments.

Checking out the Jefferson Monument

Grabbing a bite to eat at Good Stuff Eatery. Mmm, love those burgers and shakes.

Seeing the reflecting pool and Washington Monument from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

Note: we even left a space between us for Linds to slip in.

Adam brought his moon boots so he could walk up the Washington Monument.

And Pete just likes to lounge while defying the laws of physics.

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Putting Competition

My friend Alli and I played a round of golf at Hains Point (where I've golfed a bunch this summer) and then decided to have a putting competition afterwards. Let's just say we had fun, got a little wacky and inventive, and she owed me a prize when all was said and done. It was quite a duel, though, as you can see.

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A SuDan-ese Wedding

Living in DC, I've been fortunate to re-unite with old friends, such as Su Chang. She and I went to high school together, which is longer ago than I'd care to mention...

Anyway, we've hung out here in the DC area, and I've gotten to know her better and also her fiance Dan. Well the day finally came, and they tied the knot in a beautiful little setting in Arlington, VA. The entire weekend was filled with friends and fun, so here are some pics along with snippets of info. It'd take far too long to do a detailed rundown of everything that happened.

Rehearsal Dinner

The rehearsal dinner was held at a Korean restaurant and included socializing; dinner buffet & in-table meat cooking;

traditional Korean wedding ceremonies, involving grandparents & relatives, as well as bride piggy-back rides; karaoke; and even a bar fight just for good measure.

Wedding Ceremony & Reception

Su's sister officiated the wedding, and she did a great job, even writing a very cute poem for the occasion. After the short, elegant ceremony, there was tons of dancing, toasts, delicious food,

more socializing, me awkwardly getting rejected when asking a girl to dance (3 times. ouch!), a fainting aunt,

and even rootbeer floats. Awesome.

Afterparty in Courthouse

Because Su and Dan have so many friends, not all of them could be accommodated at the wedding, so they had an afterparty at a place in Courthouse.

Roast Duck Brunch

Good times were had by all, and I'm so grateful I was able to spend such a memorable weekend with Su and Dan and so many other friends!

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Halloween Bash

Since Halloween was on Sunday this year, we mostly celebrated on Saturday night. Wes, Justin, and Dan hosted a house party and we had a lot of fun there playing games and enjoying food and beverages.

Rachael as a "Peace of S#*&", Jackie as a pirate, Michelle as Wilma Flintstone, and me as a 1930s mobster.

The officers from Reno 911 make a huge bust!

Wes had to change costumes after his pet parrot deposited a present on the front of his cop uniform. Welcome to the party, rocker Wes!

Rich and friends had great costumes: Ina as doctor, Matt as runny nose, me as mobster, Liz as "thinking outside the box", and Rich as Peter Pan.

Ryan was rockin' the referee costume

Another great Halloween, spent with friends and having lots of fun!

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Grown Up Version of Calvinball

Does anybody else remember reading Calvin & Hobbes as a kid? One of my favorite scenarios was always when they'd play Calvinball. Such youthful creativity, and nothing was off limits in terms of making up new rules. See a great example of Calvinball here

Today I found the grown-up version:

So who wants to play with me?

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Fall Soirée

After the wildly successful Summer Soirée, I was hopeful there would be a similar party to celebrate the new season. Fortunately, I was right. Here are a few pics from the Fall Soirée, for your enjoyment.

With Seth, the head planner and host with the most.

Thanks for putting on such a fun event!

Everyone was supposed to wear red, yellow, or orange. Since I have red shorts, I had to sport them. And they happened to go extremely well with this quilt on the lawn.

Enjoying the pleasant evening with friends. What more could you ask for.

By the way, congrats to Justin on winning the pie-eating contest.

Hugging super-cute Becca. My life is complete.

More friends, and this is only a smidgen of the fun peeps that were in attendance for the festivities. A good time was definitely had by all.

Any chance for a Spring Soirée, Seth? I'll cross my fingers...

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