Winterfest and ICE WARS 2011...

Yesterday we headed down to Lyman Orchards in Middlefield for some winter fun and some quality time with the Easts. The orchard was packed, and it was a nice day for some low-key winter fun. We started in the Apple Barrel, which is their market. So many wonderful things in there! We snacked and sampled and purchased some of our favorites. Then we headed outside to see the ice carving competition. Circus theme!

Then it was up to the snack bar for peppermint hot chocolate and hot apple crisp. Mmm.
I think the sign says it all.

BUCKCHERRY...

Anyone who knows me will be able to tell you that I'm a big BUCKCHERRY fan. I refuse to be embarrassed about it. They're a great rock band; a very real rock band. They're from Los Angeles for crying out loud! So, needless to say, I've seen them a million times, and this most recent time last Wednesday night, was AWESOME.

Our wonderful, funny, talented and handsome friend Keith Buckley was on tour with his new band The Damned Things, so we were going to see them when they played CT. The Damned Things is one of those new "super groups" (haha) and is made up of 2 dudes from Anthrax, 2 dudes from Fall Out Boy and 2 dudes from Everytime I Die. The combination is good! Check it out. As excited as I was to check these guys out, the real elation came over me when I found out it was a BUCKCHERRY show! Yay! It turned out to be one of those Jagermeister Music Tours my husband is so fond of (sarcasm font). The bill also included All That Remains and Hell Yeah. Old friends from bands and crews all around! So fun.

Some of the photos I snapped...
The Damned ThingsMy credentials... (thank you Keith!)And I don't want to brag, but I got some really great shots of Josh Todd...
So, it was a great show and a great night! Except for the part where I lost my Iphone, there's a very good chance I left it in a casino bathroom. It was an OLD
2G, so that turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Book Club 02/11/11...

For February's book club meeting we read "Cutting for Stone" by Abraham Verghese.Marion and Shiva Stone are twin brothers born of a secret union between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon at a mission hospital in Addis Ababa. Orphaned by their mother’s death in childbirth and their father’s disappearance, bound together by a preternatural connection and a shared fascination with medicine, the twins come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution. Yet it will be love, not politics—their passion for the same woman—that will tear them apart and force Marion, fresh out of medical school, to flee his homeland. He makes his way to America, finding refuge in his work as an intern at an underfunded, overcrowded New York City hospital. When the past catches up to him—nearly destroying him—Marion must entrust his life to the two men he thought he trusted least in the world: the surgeon father who abandoned him and the brother who betrayed him.

An unforgettable journey into one man’s remarkable life, and an epic story about the power, intimacy, and curious beauty of the work of healing others. (taken from bookbrowse.com)

And here is my brief review from Shelfari...
Whoa. What a LONG book. Not only is the page count high, but the book spans decades and continents. Reading it is a journey. In the end I will say that overall I enjoyed it and I am very much looking forward to discussing it with my book club. The book is heavy with medical terminology, and descriptions of procedures and afflictions are often vivid and gruesome. This book is definitely not for the squeamish!

Turns out almost everyone at book club enjoyed the book, with only one of my fellow book lovers absolutley hating it. The nurses in our group loved all the gross medical stuff, and everyone found the political details and history to be a little boring. We all agreed that Marion and Ghosh were stand-outs for favorite character, and that Genet is completely worthless. If you have some extra time to kill and are a fast reader, I'd recommend checking this one out.

How Romantic...

Sean and I went to a CT Vineyard for a pre-Valentine's tasting special. It was great! We went to the Jerram Winery in New Hartford last Sunday for their annual VD special. The package included 8 tastings accompanied by cheeses and chocolates and it was only $25.00 per couple! And we got to keep our glasses as a souvenier! The wine was so good we bought 4 bottles! Jim & Catherine were wonderful hosts and we will definitely visit their vineyard again. If you're looking to check out CT wine country, try Jerram Winery

As we were leaving the vineyard, we turned on our GPS and discovered...

We were on Pussy Lane! How romantic!