The Bridal Shower

...here are the remaining pix that I took from Coco's 'surprise' shower.



I can't reiterate how great it was to see those that came. Those that couldn't come were definitely missed!

Her "Surprise" Bridal Shower

Jeez - get a load of that hat!?!?

Many thanks go out to Coco's mom, Lamy and her friends for putting together a great surprise shower at Laguna Grill. Family and family friends made the event a special moment to remember.

As a man, you can imagine I really don't know what goes on at these things but I did make a few observations:

1) I now know what a wishing well is.

2) there are varying definitions of 'surprise'

3) Coco will always be snooping for something. Anything.

4) Family and friends that couldn't make it were sadly missed.

5) It's totally about the effort - never about the gift.

6) Yet gifts never hurt. Gifts of the flesh variety are especially appreciated!



More pix to follow....

Come dite?

With the Honeymoon quickly approaching, I think it's high time I get to learning Italian. Ideally, I'd love to find the best means via an iPod. I haven't done any due diligence as of yet, but if you have used something that has worked well for you, please pass it along. Grazie

ps...our vino del mese (read: wine of the month) is Valpolicella (Allegrini). Fitting, huh? And delicious. Perfezioni per qualcuno che stia cominciando a godere il vino rosso.

Prelude To A Wedding Dinner

Part of the package that The Carlyle offers once you go to contract with them for the big she-bang, is to be invited back for dinner at The Oak Room - on them - as a means to sample the menu. Friday night we did a whole 'o sampling.

While not every item on the menu will be available for us to select and include during the wedding, our waiter notified us of such before ordering. He, I think his name was Alex, was very helpful in detailing any variations in how plates might be served on the wedding side of the house.

For appetizers, we started with crab cakes, calamari, stuffed artichoke hearts, a medley of salads (ceasar, blue cheese, and some bacon bean concoction), and my favorite, blue cheese batter shrimp. De-lish.

Entrees included filet mignon, mahi mahi, baby lamb chops, a greek chicken cutlet, and pasta.

Dessert included an assortment of chocolate molten something, brandied bananas, and an ice cream dish. All very good on the eye and the palate.

Unfortunately, I can't tell you what will make the wedding day menu because I'm being threatening by Coco. (Bad, Coco, bad. Now you must be punished ;) Besides, I would think that the menu might evolve between now and then. Let's just hope the menu selection process is easier than choosing a spot to honeymoon. BTW, I think we're going to cruise the eastern Mediterranean. S.W.E.E.T.

I should note that the house could do a better job of noting the meal comps on the reciept. While they were clear in what was being comped, you had no idea what the amount of each comp was. Big A was clearly befuddled when trying to tip the waiter. Big A is a big fan of service and wanted to make sure the waiter received his grat on top of the freebies.