Hey! Sorry to take so long to get these pics online, but it literally took me *days* recover from the wedding event of the season: J and Jackie's wedding!!! Just breathe that in a bit... my little brother all married up!! Now, let's rewind just about two weeks ago (Aug 31) and lemme walk you through the three-day event. (ps: Is wedding season almost over??? Four down, two to go!)

(Quick special thanks to Erin + Rob.J + Shoops for letting me steal yer pix!)



So, I wish I had some pics of Thursday's roadtrip up - me and McD picking up ten tuxes, grabbing a sandwich, getting stuck in midtown NYC traffic, realizing we're kind-of running late for the rehearsal dinner, then realizing we're definitely going to be late, then fielding the "this is NOT the type of thing you're late for - CLICK" phone call from my Dad, pushing the Hovepod close to 100mph, getting a $250+ speeding ticket (despite pulling the "I'm the best man and I've got all the tuxes in the back!" line)... and then pulling into ever-so-classy Holiday Inn in Schenectady, NY with exactly five minutes to shower and iron it up.



And when I say ever-so-classy, I mean Duct Tape Holding the Soap Dish In Place classy. Ha!

Me + McD, all spruced up, race to the church (20 mins away). Dad calls me while we're stuck in traffic on the Schenectady backroads and gives me the whole "You know, you're so late don't even bother coming... just meet us at the restaurant" (which makes my heart sink - I'm the best man! I need to practice!") but of course ol' Dig is just joshin' me. By the time we rolled in - 20 mins late - the pastor was just getting her rehearse on.



You ever been to a wedding rehearsal? Usually a fifteen minute job - "You stand here. You walk with her. Then someone's going to sing annnndd we're done!" type of thing. Not this time. This one lasted almost two hours (someone back me up?) - we practiced walking in, walking out, waking in, walking out. Jackie and J practiced their vows (all of them!), the "I Do's", everything. By the end we were starving and exhausted. If I was still five years old, I'd be on the floor kicking and crying.



But that's okay cause the rehearsal dinner (!) had this whole raw bar spread! Crab legs, skrimps, oystahs = delicious. We barely made a dent in the thing (foreshadowing) - I mean, do you really need to stuff yer face with raw seafood on a stomach full of Bud bottles just 12 hours before your brother's wedding?



Open bar, family + friends = good times. Please bathe in this magical scene of one of last photos of me + the unmarried version of my brother that you'll ever see on the teendrama.

It's getting near the end of the summer and know what that means? I'm trying desperatly to keep up with the teendrama so I'm not 800 entries behind for when the fall rolls around. And, more importantly, I'm trying to clear my plate before J's wedding (two days! holy doggy!).

So rewind just a wee two weekends ago to August 18. MLS Soccer isn't something you'll see too often on the teendrama (World Cup is a different story), but when McD + Milberger came through with some freebee tickets to see David Beckham ("Oh my God, David Beckham!!!") and the LA Galaxy take on whatever the local team is the New York Red Bulls, I gladly accepted (Will, consider us half–even for those Yanks luxury box tix I scored earlier this summer, k?). (Hey this is the first time Beckham had played in the East Coast, no?)

Anyway, about 10 of us made the trek out to NJ (Giants Stadium) on Saturday afternoon to lounge in the parking lot, eat some delicious grilled meats, enjoy a beer or fifteen and, oh, watch some soccer.



Fired up the Hoverpod around 4p. She gets confused with all the tunnels and such (here: Holland Tunnel) - who knew it wasn't just a straight-shot across? The route is actually much more windy.



And about an hour's worth of traffic later = parking lot dreams. Not a very exciting shot - moslty dudes wearing different flavored Beckham shirts - but see that yellow highlight? Rumor has it that's slated to be the first indoor skiing facility in the US! What?!? You've never seen indoor skiing before?



We let McD take over the grilling tasks. (Me + J both brought our BabyQ's on a lil' fieldtrip)



Spitting sausages down the middle and then filling them with Miller Lite? Pretty genius.



Splitting them with this "Alaska" pocket knife that Dad gave us back in, what?, 1995??? Legendary. (J, I can't believe you actually have this in your car. Mine's still at home - I opened it once - back in high school - and was never able to figure out how to close it. Huh.)

Hello Christmas 2006 recap! Man, I was gone for a good, what, two weeks? And just look at all the action packed excitement you missed! Let's start this off with Christmas Eve (we'll just fast-forward through those three days worth of last minute trips to the mall).

Now, if you remember from last year, Christmas Eve's main event is the Yankee Swap. 20 people + 20 gifts + everyone draws a number. Lowest number picks first, and after you pick (and open) your gift, you have the option of swapping for someone else's (already opened) gift. That person's gift (the one that just got taken) is then allowed to make *another* swap from all the opened gifts (though they can't take back what was just taken from them). Got it? Oh, and since whoever draws the #1 spot doesn't have anyone to swap with, that person gets their choice of *all* the opened gifts at the very end. So, #1 = the best number to draw. #2 = the worst number to get.

Now, let's hand out some numbers!



Poor Gam got stuck with #2(, sucker!)...



... though she chose wisely and got blessed with this this year's Must Have Yankee Swap gift, the garden gnome.



Meanwhile, Rob with #11 traded away whatever crap gift he got (scented candle?), quickly trading up for the gnome. I think the gnome traded hands two or three more times before Rob skillfully ended up with it after the final trade.



Anne drew the Golden Ticket which awarded her my gift - a mini reindeer made from recycled Christmas tree pieces (and yes!, purchased from the same dude that sold Mike + I the reindeer we dragged to Clay's holiday party).



Meanwhile.... Michelle, a dartboard? Other amazing gifts included scratch tickets, bottles of whiskey, some African vase, scented candles, Dunkin Donuts cards and a toy Coast Guard helicopter. What else? (Sorry, no half-eaten hamburgers this year)



Late night (and post Yankee Swap) one of our departing guests found this Yukon Cornelious doll on their car. A crpytic note from the anonymous gift giver was attached. Me + Dig tried comparing the handwriting to the 100 or so Christmas cards my parents had hanging on the walls, but we couldn't find a match. (It's like CSI: Suburbia up in here!)



And then a few hours later, I got an email from Yukon! I tried dorking out with the email headers, but no luck. The gift-giver remained a mystery for another 24 hours until she revealed herself to me over some good'ol townie-bar karaoke.



Okay, Christmas morning. For the non-VIPs who haven't done Christmas with the Crowley's, it goes down like this:

Round 1: Stockings (from Santa)
Round 2: Presents from Santa
Round 3: Family presents
Round 4: Go to Auntie Jeans and eat melted fruit cocktail.

I'm behind on teendrama so, loyal reader, you get stuck 12 days worth of teendrama told via 15 pics...



Mon 11/6 - Continuing the "How I Became a Master Chef" thread, JJ and I cooked up some double-breaded fried chicken the other night. That's right, double-dip, double-breaded and then fried up in two inchs of vegetable oil. I think we overdid the double-dip (I felt kind of dirty for like 2 days), but still....



Tues 11/7 - LVHRD (CLL) PHN LCKN (read: Cell Phone Lock-In) @ MOMA. Check your cell phone at the door (they put it in these little ziplock bags) and listen to this really loud band in a really big space with really bad acoustics. Come'on Happy Corp, I'm just busting you - I love you guys! Oh, free beers = good beers.



Btw, every confiscated phone was hung on this 60 ft long wall. Apparently at the end of the night they had some magic internet machine that made all the cellphones ring and light up and the same time. Didn't anyone YouTube that shit? Come'on!



While waiting for the elevator on my way out, I ran into four ninjas (and a Doug.J in a spacesuit). Btw, more pics on Flickr

Wed 11/8 - Jill's Happy Birthday dinner @ Mercadito in the E.Village. Sorry, no photos sucka.



Thur 11/9 - Milberger's #27 bday @ Lolita. Tequila shots = actually not so bad this time. Cool art on the wall made from found refrigerator doors (mrjaymillar, $650 - $1200).