Lounging at Lake Beseck

Dave's family grew up spending summers on Lake Beseck in Middlefield, CT. This history extends past Dave and Chrissy, but is actually the place where Dave's parents first met. They were 12 and 13 years old and each of their families spent time in homes on the lake, but on opposite ends. Greg and a friend were water skiing while Sue and her cousin were canoeing. Greg decided it would be cool to "swamp" Sue and her cousin...and with that, a teenage romance was born that is now on the verge of their 31st wedding anniversary this Sept. 11th.

Two years ago, Greg and Sue started rehabbing the cottage that Sue grew up in and they have done a phenomenal job of extending the space and bringing it up to modern standards. They put a tremendous amount of blood, sweat and tears into it and it is definitely a true lake cottage now, perfectly comfortable for family and friends to drop by at a moments' notice (or no notice at all!). Here is a picture from the back:


I wish I had a before-after photo, but know that "before" the cottage had its makeover, it was a place filled with fun memories, but lost the "fun" in "functional" as it needed an overhaul to bring it up to the modern times (starting with a plumbing system - the outhouse was one of the first things to go!). It is great that the family as a whole could let go of the history and allow it to once again be the great central meeting place for summer gatherings that it once was and is again.



So where is this place? Exactly here:

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Yes, it appears to be in the middle of "nowhere" and that is exactly how you feel. It's within 5 miles of big stores, restaurants, etc., but when you are in the backyard or enjoying the relaxation and fun of kneeboarding or skiing behind the boat on the 1 mile loop of Lake Beseck, you feel like there isn't a care in the world beyond Rosemary Lane.

One of the big highlights, aside from spending time with Dave's incredibly large and incredibly fun family, was spending time with Dave's cousin Justin and his wife Diane. Everytime we are together, the time is not enough. They have always been so great about visiting us every year (regardless of where our nomadic butts are living!) and we cherish every moment we get together. J&D, here's to many, many more years of memories together.


Thank you and congrats, Mom and Dad Bryand....we loved sharing this week with you! For a few more photos from this week, check this out.

Happy (Belated) Birthday, Dave!

Dave's birthday was on Tuesday (Aug. 28th) and we celebrated during the day in NYC with a truck tour I was supporting for work (more on that later), but in the afternoon we took a train to Meriden where we SURPRISED his family who thought they were missing Dave's birthday and were expecting us the next day.

Not only were Dave's parents there, but his sister and our brother-in-law, Jon, were there as well! Jon is on leave from Iraq for a few weeks (his 2nd term completes in the Spring of 2008), so we feel really fortunate to share this time with him.

But alas, back to the birthday boy! Dave and I don't typically buy each other items for our birthdays or Christmas, but this year I decided to create a small surprise for him by creating a custom birthday cake from the local Stop&Shop. As you may recall, we added a third member to our small Bryand family back in June with the addition of his iPhone. In a tribute to this family member, I created the following birthday cake for Dave. He was surprised and thrilled to see the representation!

So as the cake states, "Happy birthday, Dave! Love, Your iPhone" (and me!).

We're Back In The Kitchen!

To celebrate Dave's birthday on Tuesday and Chris' birthday last weekend, we treated ourselves to a posh night out with a Chef's Table experience at One Market. This restaurant is special to us because it was our first "grown up" dinner Dave and I had together...back in 1998!!! We were 20 years old and it was our first trip to this far, far away place called California. We had a fabulous dinner 9 years ago (ostrich and a fabulous white grape juice) and then took the trolley back to our hotel. Some of that magic was recreated last night, but with an entirely new perspective and a new set of friends to share in the experience! Back to the present day, here is a rundown of our fabulous evening!

5:00pm: Chris and Valerie come over to our apartment for a glass of Veuve (my fave) and some light hors d'oeuvres.

6:30pm: Our reservation at One Market begins as they lead us through the restaurant and into the back kitchen where a private booth awaits us and custom menus celebrating Dave & Chris' birthdays! Dave filmed this video and it gives a good feel of what we experienced....from the calm elegance of the front room through the organized chaos of the kitchen and into our secret hideaway at the chef's table!

And here are a few photos of the area....

6:32pm: Open our first bottle of wine! The first bottle is one we've saved for a few years and was quite tasty. Chris and Valerie also brought a bottle - their selection was a Cabernet from Honig and was AMAZING. Definitely a highlight and we're so glad they shared it.

6:40pm-10:00pm: SEVEN courses are served! The team of waiters served each course so they were placed before us in one motion.

You can see on the menu what each item is, so I'll just post the amazing photos and hope you can get a taste through the visuals. Unfortunately, you'll have to visit One Market on your own (or with us!) in a visit to SF in order to get the true feeling.

After the 4th course of delicious day boat scallops, we had to ask for a 20 minute intermission just to let our stomachs settle a bit! After the 5th course of an amazing duck with cocoa rub on it, the restaurant manager took us on a tour around the restaurant and into the wine cellar where a tasting was awaiting us.

10:00pm-10:30pm: Dessert! For the final course, Valerie and I were invited into the pastry kitchen to finalize the SIX desserts the pastry chefs prepared. In addition to these samplers, they THEN surprised us with two full-size desserts to commemorate Chris & Dave's birthday one final time.

10:40pm: As we stumble (yes, it's a bit of stumbling at this point) out of the restaurant, we were looking for a taxi when instead we saw a Cable Car! Since arriving in San Francisco, we haven't taken one before so it seemed like the perfect opportunity (late evening, only 2 tourists on board so we weren't exactly clamoring to get on) and it was a blast! I highly recommend it. Here are a few pics from our adventure (the lens is a little blurry b/c we were a little blurry....oh, did I forget to mention that we capped the night off with an Irish Coffee each? oops).

We had a super fun evening with great friends. It was an excellent way to celebrate Dave and Chris' birthdays!

31 And Loving It...

Noooo, not ME - the GEEZER in the family just turned 31! Lindsay's birthday was on Sunday (19-August) and it was great to celebrate with her.

We began the celebration the day before by biking to the Mission Bay Coaster, playing some good ol' fashioned arcade games and ending up swimming in the ocean at the beach afterwards - perfect!

We started the actual birthday day with a trip to La Jolla's Farmer's Market where we met up with our friends Kitty and Colin. We then went to Mom's place where we enjoyed lots of French toast before Lindsay dove into her gifts.

You may notice in the last photo that Lindsay is a bit teary-eyed. I blame it on the age, but Jon also very sweetly put together a spa day for Lindsay...in LA! The part that got her all choked up was the way he presented it - it was very thoughtful and homemade and from the heart....
We also celebrated by going to a delicious Italian meal at Mamma Mia, a neighborhood restaurant run by Italians (no really - like the kind from Italy...not the kind from the Olive Garden). The beauty of this place? They don't have a liquor license, so it's bring your own! And we have a match, people!!!!

The "kids" (I'm not sure we can even KEEP Lindsay in that category anymore) went to a bar called "Firehouse" afterwards where we met up with friends who came out to celebrate.

Mama's New Pad

We took our first trip down to San Diego this weekend since Mom moved there in June! She is in a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom adorable place in La Jolla. She can walk just about everywhere from her new location. Within a 5 block radius, she has the ocean, tons of restaurants, two grocery stores, the liquor store, the drug store, book store, the library and lots of adorable boutique shops. She bought an updated Jag for her old faithful that she sold back in Raleigh and she has settled into her new life quite well. Here is her location - ahh, smell that ocean air! You can also click here to go to Google Maps and see it (satellite, street view, map, etc.):

I wanted to show a few pictures of her new place. Like me, it will probably be weird for some of you to see her "stuff" that we're so used to at 7140 North Ridge Drive to be in her new place, but it's definitely much more suitable and the place is adorable!!
We'll start with the foyer where you may recognize the elephant!

And down the hallway, the kitchen is open into the dining room/living room area. Mom made DELICIOUS Brockton Villa Coast Toast (French toast) for us that morning.

The kitchen opens into the dining area where she has her regular dining room table and ready to entertain at a moment's notice:

The dining room then opens into the living room. She ordered a new couch which will arrive in another three weeks, so until then it is a little more spacious than necessary, but definitely comfortable! She upgraded to a modern flat-panel television and some of her favorite furniture is reincarnated here, such as the bureau she used to have in her bedroom in Raleigh that now serves as her bar in the living room!

The living room then opens onto her outdoor L-shaped balcony where she has her white wicker sofa and chairs along with a grill that all fit perfectly. The living room also leads into the guest bedroom which features a butterfly piece of art that Lindsay created during college:

I don't have photos of the bathrooms or of Mom's bedroom, but rest assured that they all look equally fabulous as Mom continues to settle in and create a new life on the West Coast! She already had her first visitor, a dear friend named Gaye who she has known since before we were born, and is anxious for more!
Congratulations, Mom, on your new home...because it feels just like that - HOME!