Apple Heaven

There is a new (only authentic) Apple Store opening in Philly today at 5 p.m. directly across the street from my office. There is already a line of nerds because they're giving away free t-shirts to the first 100 people. I think I can wait until Monday on my lunch break when there isn't a crowd. It will be very distracting though to see the Apple logo every time I walk out of my office. They had the whole building wrapped in black so no one could see what it would look like until this morning. Looks pretty awesome though I must admit. Much better than the old bank that was out of business with crusty punks and their dogs playing broken guitars in front of it. An Apple store and American Apparel right next to each other? Philly my actually be becoming a real city.

Crabfest 2010

This year was the 5th year I've hosted a Crabfeast. The first in my tiny two bedroom apartment on South Street, the second as a joint party with a fellow Marylander and the past 3 at my house. That's right that means I've been there two full years. Special guests included Eleanor, my cousin Chris and his wife Susan and my friend Fiona, who has always wanted to come but spent the last 4 years in Scotland. Since a lot of guests end up only eating one or two crabs (or none at all) I usually have to make a lot of other food. I did my now fail-proof beer-can chicken, burgers, dogs, shrimp, and corn. All that grilling kind of burned me out so I couldn't go full steam on the crab eating. Somehow we're never able to finish eating a bushel (about 85 crabs) and I either have to crack them all the next day or trash them. It was still a fun time had by all. Brick was a big hit and the massive clean up was postponed the next morning by Chris treating us all to brunch at Jose Garces' Tinto.

Jessica designed the flyer and invite.

Lake Tahoe

Wonderful time in Lake Tahoe. Beautiful weather. Enjoyed seeing the athletes/celebs at the golf tournament. Crowd favorite was Oscar de la Hoya (1st picture).

A Santa Fe Fourth of July

Over the Fourth of July Connie and I travelled back to Santa Fe for a friend's wedding.
After a rainstorm on the drive up from Albuquerque we caught a couple amazing rainbows.

Of course right after landing in ABQ on Friday, Connie had already scheduled to tour a small brewery 40 miles outside of town. This is the very small Rio Grande Brewery. Here we got to try Green Chile Beer.


Although the College looked pretty sad- it was obvious, Santa Fe, the city had been spending a lot of money on beautification and tourism. This is the new railyard area. They've built restaurants, stores, farmer's market, park, and even trains to take people through and out of town.

We also toured the Santa Fe Brewing Company again. We were here once before on the way to Kyler's wedding. But this time we had a more discerning eye on their systems and beers. Research. But we also ran into some old friends from school and it was good to catch up.

It was quite green.

And of course we had to take some pictures of our favorite attraction.

Overall it was a great trip. The wedding was beautiful. It was really fun to see old friends. Thank you Santa Fe for a great fourth.

In brewing news, we are thinking up some beers to submit to a competition this fall. We also have arranged with two of our good friends and fellow brewers to start working together on forming the LA RIVER BREWING COMPANY. We'll send out highlights as things start to fall into place.

Love ya,
Jess and Connie

Summer Fun

Where are all the fun summer pics y'all? I know I'm not the only one doing anything this summer. Santa Fe? Old Faithful? Fourth of July? Sardinia pics are coming very soon. As you can see, I learned how to make pasta.