Friends, make them a part of your life

It's quarter past two in the morning.  Ashley is sound asleep, and I'm sitting on our couch in our back room listening to the buttons on my clothes gently make clicking sounds in the dryer upstairs.  In a matter of 20 minutes, that dreaded buzzing sound will tell me it's time to toss in load number three.  Ashley won't stir, though, when her lights go out she couldn't hear a Mack truck driving through a nitro-glycerin plant*.  Anyway, I find it interesting that now is suddenly a good time for me jot down an entry.  By all accounts I should be exhausted, yet here I sit, feeling like I might be able to get the juices flowing.

Ash has really put me to shame with her latest spree of blogging, considering my last entry was over a month ago, but I'd like to remedy that.  There are so many things I've been wanting to write about, but I'm not sure how far I'll get since it's so late.

August 21st 2010 — Save that date!
There isn't so much to say on this topic, since I believe we've already mentioned it.  Still, I wanted to post the finished design.  A lot of people asked what printing service I went through, and the answer is postcards.com.  It's been years since I've done print design, so it was fun to draw something up that would ultimately be tangible.  Now Ash and I are using a variation of the save the date as our desktop wallpaper.  For some reason it feels guiltlessly narcissistic.

Team Friends!
Lately, we (Team Fiends!) have been spending a lot more time with our friends - and guess what - it's rejuvenating!  Whether it's after work, or on the weekends, we've just been finding more time to see the people that mean the most to us.  I think this is a real challenge for us college grads and twenty-something's who find themselves frequently exhausted from the 40 hour work-week.  For couples, it's especially difficult because sometimes it feels like the weekend is the only time you really get to spend quality time with each other.  Still, after these past weeks, I must say that it is crucial to find the time to spend with friends... especially mutual friends.

When I spend time with my friends, I notice that they tend to revive a bit of energy that seems to have been lost in the nostalgia of my university days.  Maybe it's not the aging of our bodies and minds that makes us tired, but the distance from rejuvenating sources of energy such as our chums.  I think back to the all-nighter's I pulled in college, and the late-night antics despite homework and looming tests... there's no way we could have done it without each other!

This brings me to mutual friends... there's just something about being around people you love when in the company of your significant other (sigfig).  Now, not only do they feed your own energy and personality, they feed your sigfig's too.  Suddenly you start noticing character traits about each other that you forgot about, and you can't help but remember how lucky you are to be with this amazing person.

So here's a shout out to everyone I've spent time with lately!

I chatted it up at Beerworks with Jon and Ryan, and had such a good time that I completely missed my train and had to wait 2 hours for the next one.

Tim, RaeBeth, and I tried a new restaurant in Salem recently, before returning to their place and getting totally engrossed in Wii Mario Kart.  Tim and I used to dominate the Salisbury video game scene... since then I've apparently lost some of my skills when it comes to handling a virtual go-kart.

Mike and Rhys, joined Ash and I recently for pizza and Beatles Rock Band at our house.  We wore hats... so many hats.

Nikki and Mike, two friends of mine who I've known since high school, recently bought a house right down the street from Ash and I, and we've wined and dined together on a few occasions including a classy shindig at their place on New Year's Eve.

We've met up Kevin and Alyssa on multiple occasions, and have begun to make a habit of documenting our activities (such as bowling) on video... it may sound boring to watch, but Kevin transformed over an hour of footage into a few minutes of trailer-quality material, music and all! 

Jackie (a.k.a. "MOH", and "Rrrrrooomie!"), and I recently had a blast getting lunch together and talking about ridiculous sightings that she blogs about daily, then she joined Ash and I for dinner at Not Your Average Joe's.

In a stroke of luck, we bumped into Laura at work in Newburyport while we were with Jackie, and next thing we knew, Andrew, Jamie, and Julia were all at our house, serving up gelato and epic guitar riffs in Beatles Rock Band!

Speaking of Rock Band (haha, it's still new okay!?), Pete joined us for a session recently before heading out to Colorado for a vacation.  Ash cooked up some spaghetti and garlic bread for the occasion, and I do believe we tapped into a bottle of wine... or two?

Last Saturday, I caught up with Mike and the rest of the gang at the Eggroll Cafe, after Ash and I met with a promising, potential photographer.  Then Mike informed me of skiing plans for Sunday, and next thing I knew, we were sitting in a gondola (haha -- or as Mike referred to it the "ganjala")!

On Tuesday, Tang took Ashley, Mike, Curran, and I out to an incredible sushi dinner at Kayuga in Brighton.  Mmmm -- nothing stimulates my palate like good sushi, and nobody stimulates my intellectual side like these guys.

Lastly, tonight Kevin, Alyssa, Nick, Kate, and Chris all joined Ash and I in Beverly to behold The Roger Brockelbank Jazz Trio (+1).  We opened the night with dinner and drinks before filling up on sexy jazz that flowed until midnight.

...what can I say, I'm still on a high from all the fun.  I guess that's what's carrying me into the wee hours of the morning, typing away.  Alas, this is all I've got in me for now.  More to come soon about our experience in hunting for a wedding photographer, and about our upcoming vacation in California!