Life of Steve

Kathy's Wedding

Last night my little sister, Kathy, got Married to her boyfriend, Andrew Murphy, at my church St. Athanasius Church in West View, PA. This wedding was a lot of fun since we had such a diverse group of people. Andrew's family is from South Africa and many of Kathy and Andrew's common friends flew into Pittsburgh from The United Kingdom for the wedding.

One memorable moment was during the vows during the ceremony. Previously, Andrew had told the priest that he wanted to include the word "Obey" in the wedding vows (It appears that the modern practice is not to have that word to be included.) When he told me this prior to the wedding I knew in my own head what was going to happen. Since the Groom does his vows first the priest included that he needs to obey Kathy and then when it was her turn he did the same thing in reverse. This led to some laughing during the vows which was pretty funny.

Kathy and Andrew decided to have the wedding reception at Renaissance Pittsburgh Hotel in Downtown Pittsburgh. They had a cocktail hours first in a lobby area up a grand staircase on the second floor. The actual room for the reception had a beautiful view of the North Shore and the River.

Kathy and Andrew chose a photographer who also made a wedding video for them. This was the first wedding that I have been to with an actual wedding video which was very professionally done and also was a nice touch. In the wedding video they had separate interviews with the bride and the groom about each other, how they met, interesting qualities, etc. In addition, to many great pictures and movie clips of some of the places Kathy and Andrew had gone together and adventures they had.

My nephew, Dante, was the ring bearer and the only child at the reception. Although he was very excited about having his picture taken during his birthday only a couple of months ago he was very camera shy during the wedding and the pictures I got of him usually involved me chasing after him while he tried to hide from me. Of course that was pretty fun too! Dante wasn't really into dancing but did enjoy playing a tag and chase game with many of the adults at the reception.

We had a lot of couples at this wedding but we still had enough single guys and girls to enjoy the throwing of the bridal bouquet and the garter. My youngest sister, Amy, (Who was also the maid of honor) stood right in the center and made a diving catch of the bouquet. She also seemed to be very excited to be the girl to catch it. Not sure if my mom is ready for the thought of Amy getting married soon though! (She still has a couple years of college left.)

The night seemed to go very quickly (They always seem to when you are having fun) and Kathy and Andrew completed all the wedding tasks (Cutting the Cake, Speeches, Wedding Dances, etc) and decided to get a start on their honeymoon (or at least that is what the DJ announced when they left.) After all the great food, drinks, and entertainment we were done with another Munoz Family Wedding. Kathy and Andrew did a great job (As did the Parents and everyone who was a part of the preparation and execution of this grand event.) Once we got in the car to head home I was left wondering.....

Who will be next?

(Check out the new Photo Album KATHY'S WEDDING on the right side)

New Years Day Bowl Games: Another New Tradition?

While I am on the subject of potential new traditions, I think I have another one for the list.

This year my friend Ed had multiple bets on several bowl games with another one of our mutual friends. We had many e-mails discussing the merits of the various conferences in College Football (Which one was better, etc) and we decided to watch some of the bowl games this year together to add to the fun (and the debate.)

We decided to meet at 11am (early I know!) on New Years Day at The Fox and the Hound Pub and Grille to start off the day with Penn State vs. Tennessee in the Outback Bowl. We picked the right place to watch the PSU game since about 10 minutes later a giant group of Penn State Fans joined us to also watch the Nittany Lions win against the Volunteers.

It was all guys drinking beer, watching football, and chatting about guy stuff. After many social gatherings during the Christmas Holiday this was precisely the type of day I needed. Getting up that early on New Year's Day was a little rough but it was worth it. I think we need to keep this tradition going and get an even bigger crowd of guys to join us next year!

Pre-Christmas Happy Hour- New Tradition Perhaps?

This year one of my friends organized a Pre-Christmas Happy Hour. I am starting to think that this might be one of those types of events that we should be holding every year. Every year during the holidays most people have lots and lots of family commitments. In addition, most people do a lot of preparation type work prior to Christmas on top of their regular work schedules and need to loosen up with a few drinks before going into the madness of the Christmas Holidays family routine.

This year we went down to Bar Louie in Station Square and talked about Christmas and New Years Plans, took advantage of the drink specials, people watched, and gave commentary on the music the DJ was playing. We even got some new ideas for the Wedding Do Not Play List. (Also for the Wedding Do Play List.)

One thing I was surprised by is that we didn't really see anyone dressed up in any Christmas gear. The closest we saw was one guy who was dressed up with a red flannel vest over a green plaid shirt. He looked more like a lumberjack than a Christmas character. His cigar smoking made us wish for the passing of the Smoking Ban that is supposed to become law sometime soon. Maybe that could be my Christmas Present! We did see a Bachlorette Party but that was about it. A couple of Santa's €œnaughty helpers would have livened the place up a bit. Maybe they arrived after we left.
I think next year I will organize an "Official" Pre-Christmas Happy Hour with everyone. Goodness knows we will need it again! Only one change. Everyone needs to dress up in Christmas Type Costumes.  All you need is some christmas spirit and a seasonal hat and you are good to go!

Thanksgiving Prep

This year for the first time we are having Thanksgiving at our house with both Crystal’s and My families. Since my Dad is working and almost all of my brothers and sisters are out of town, this seemed to be the perfect way to have us all to share a Thanksgiving Meal without driving all over the place and having our families make multiple complete dinners (like last year.)

 

My initial thought was to try to Deep Fry a turkey this year. (I have always wanted to do that and heard great things from people who have.) However, there were stuffing issues and also I didn’t want to try something completely new on the First Thanksgiving at our house together. So we are going to have the Turkey prepared “Old School” style.

I had a lot of fun shopping for Turkey Cooking Supplies last weekend. Although I think I enjoyed saying “Gobbles! (Download 414_gobbles.mp3 ) ” over and over again (From the South Park Thanksgiving Episode) while we were looking for the right Bird.

Thanksgiving is a great Holiday. Food, Football, and Family a great day makes! I hope everyone travels safe and has a lot to be thankful for. I know I do!

 

2nd Annual Fourth of July Picnic

This past weekend I held my second annual Fourth of July Picnic. Some old traditions continued (like me working the grill cooking up food for everyone) and some new ones materialized (like the guests taking turns walking the dog.) One thing that was very nice this year is that some more of my old high school friends were able to celebrate with us. We had a picture perfect day and my friend Becky brought her camera and took some pictures. Check out my new photo album to see them!

Things not to say at a Halloween Happy Hour

I was at a happy hour event at Bar 11 with Halloween Theme this evening which I went to right from work. Since I came directly from work I was not in costume (Turns out this was a mistake because the majority of the people there *were* in costume.)

So anyways I was standing near the bar when three young ladies came up to talk to me and try to get some drinks from the bartender. These three girls *were* in costume and I thought I knew what 2/3's of them were dressed as. So I started to talk to the one I couldn't figure out the costume for (She was wearing a black tank top and brown khaki pants and had a gun) and asked her who she was dressed up as. So she tells me she is Lara Croft. I mentioned that I figured her one friend was dressed as Pocahontas (That guess was right) and her other friend was the Jolly Green Giant (This one was wrong.) Of course the lack of wings would have made my second guess be Peter Pan... So immediately after I say this the friend turns around and says "I'm Tinkerbell!" and proceeds to lose her mind for about the next 30 minutes over my misinterpation of her costumes. (Having them lose thier mind seems to be an effect I do have on females) Myself not being in costume I couldn't make fun of her too badly. So after they call me over again to continue to talk about my bad guess about the one girls costume (Is this was flirting is like for the younger girls today?) they decide to inquire about what *my* costume will be this Halloween. So I proceed to tell them that I think I am going to be myself from 1988 (an 80's type theme) and then they say "You would have been really young back then! I was like 10!"

So I not only managed to insult her costume but also got to show my age. Hmmm, I'm really not good at this am I? Pretty bad, not quite "CAPITAN LOSER!" bad or "I want my picture taken with the Witches!..........But I'm a Cat!" but funny nonetheless.

Octoberfest Attire?

Here in Pittsburgh there is a German Themed Brewery called "Penn Brewery" on the North Side of Pittsburgh. Every fall they have an Octoberfest celebration during the last two weekends in September. Since I had decided to attend the celebration this year I had the following dilema: What is appropriate Octoberfest Attire? I know for St. Patricks Day to wear lot of green and such, but the Octoberfest left me wondering. Aside from ledderhosen (which was NOT going to happen) what to wear? Since it was a Saturday during college football season I opted for a pair of jeans and a PSU T-Shirt. My college football attire choice was also found to be the preferred choice of one of my buddies who went to school at Wisconsin. In addition, I did get a thumbs up from another drunk patron (also wearing Penn State Attire.) Gotta love it.

Well it looks like I'm next.....

At the wedding this Saturday I managed to get something unexpected. They lined us all up for the traditional garter toss and I couldn't dodge it any longer. I swear it just flew into my hand this time. Didn't even move from my spot on the dance floor. We'll see if this supersition is true......

Country Club Casual?

I am attending an event tonight that the dress is supposed to be "Country Club Casual?" I still have no idea what that means. Never been a member of a Country Club (never wanted to be one of the "elite") Does that mean I should dress up like Colonel Sanders? LOL.

My 1st Annual Fourth of July Weekend Picnic

So this past weekend I decided to (finally) have some people over to my (not so new) apartment (I moved in back in Feb) and celebrate the long weekend with some quality BBQ, Beer, great side dishes, deserts, and the like. Had a good group of people, some from high school, some family, and also some people who I have become friends with here in Pittsburgh just since I moved back in 2002. I admit it was long overdue, but well worth the wait!

Some memorable moments included:

-One of my friends almost hitting herself in the face pulling a cork out of a wine bottle.

-Half the attendees of the party asking me to fire up the grill at the same time. (Hey! I was still waiting for some guests to arrive.)

-Stocking my fridge full of beer (Mmmmmm Beer.)

-Grilling lots and lots of dead animals (meat) and a couple veggie burgers for everyone.

-The great deal of amusement a picture of me from 1992 caused our guests (Hey we all had mullets in 1992!)

-More picture viewing on my computer in my offices of some of our (not just me) drunk and amusing moments over the last couple of years.

And the good news is that I still have enough beer and frozen food left over for either an additional party or some tailgating in the Fall! Sweet!