For many this would be called a summer photo dump or drop. These past week plus has definitely been action packed with many fun and wonderful memories. Last week I was able to go up to Mansfield, Massachusetts and see my family. I don't usually do a Sunday to Wednesday vacation back up home seeing my family, but that was just the way planets aligned best this time. My parents kept me coming up as a surprise from my Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and Grammy. It was definitely fun getting to surprise them. We had a fun combo party celebrating multiple birthdays. I had a great time getting to see Aunty Donna and Uncle Paul, Aunty Peg and Uncle Buck, Aunty Carolyn and Uncle Dan, Grammy, and my wonderful cousins Matt, Brandon, and Konrad. We had a great time together.
The next day I ventured over to Patriots Place and Gillette Stadium. I had to see the new 17 foot tall Tom Brady statue in person and it was definitely impressive. It always cracks me up whenever I post a selfie at Gillette Stadium like a tourist, several of my friends will direct message me on Instagram @SteveAllanRadio with their displeasure. I'm not ever sorry at all! Haha. I was able to get some great deals on 2 shirts at Express. They were both on clearance, one long sleeve shirt for $14 and a dress shirt for $24. I was thrilled. I tried on the dress shirt to make sure it fit, and it felt great. I haven't tried something on in a dressing room for the past couple of years. I even did a selfie mirror picture which is a rarity for me. (I know, the guy who does selfies all the time with people yet don't do mirror pictures that often, ironic.) After that I had a great lunch at Fresh Catch in Mansfield, with a delicious, outstanding Lobster roll, or Lobstawh as we say back home. It was perfect, Connecticut style with just warm butter. It drives me insane when many serve lobster rolls that are loaded with mayo and celery. We're paying big bucks for the lobster meat, not mayo and celery filler. Fortunately you never have that problem at Fresh Catch. I later then bought a quart of New England white Clam Chowder, or Chowdah as we say back home. I loved hearing from Brooks who had New England Clam Chowder for her first time, and she was very impressed. She's used to New York style. I think we have now converted the native NY / NJ girl to a bigger fan of New England Clam Chowder.
The next day I ventured up to Braintree, Massachusetts at South Shore Plaza for my first time in years. I went into Lucky Brand store and scored a new t shirt for just $12. I was on fire with getting great deals! Whenever I get a new shirt I try to get rid of an old shirt. Apparently I need to start decluttering and removing shirts from my place soon, but that's for another day. While at South Shore Plaza, I hit up the historic Regina Pizzeria. They follow the original 1926 recipe from Regina Pizzeria and it is fantastic! The best!
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Friday, Steve Andrews informed me that ShopRite had some great sales on steak. Yes! I went to ShopRite Sussex and bought a couple of steaks that I planned on grilling Friday night. These strips, combined with my Longhorn seasoning rub and grilling came out perfect! Redder is better for me and Brooks, we were very happy. Friday night was a good quiet night in before my parents were going to visit me on Saturday. It was a great, quiet Friday night in just watching Big Bang Theory reruns after enjoying the awesome steaks I grilled on my electric grill. If my coworkers keep referring to my legal electric grill as a frying pan, they will no longer be getting anything from me off of my grill! While I was grilling, Brooks was rewashing, refolding, and organizing my closets for me. Her experience from years at The Gap, plus the OCD nature makes Brooks the perfect person for this job. My closets look like a shelf at the Gap, and I'm too scared to touch my closets now! I can't mess this up! I wore a polo shirt from another closet Sunday morning so at least my closet went one plus solid day without me ruining it.
Saturday morning I was doing some minor cleaning, nothing too dramatic because my place was honestly already pretty clean. Maybe not spotless before Saturday morning, but still definitely clean and presentable for company. Saturday afternoon my parents Madre and Padre (Karen and Mike,) arrived! We were psyched.
Saturday afternoon Madre, Padre, Brooks and I were able to relax on my deck and enjoy the beautiful weather. We then kept up with our tradition of me taking them to Industry Kitchen & Bar in Sparta for dinner. Talk about my home sweet home. I had a delicious 14 oz NY Strip, Madre and Padre had delicious pasta meals, and Brooks loved her Cod special. We went four for four with our dinners, then nailed it with their delicious chocolate chip cookie skillet desert. Absolutely mouthwatering. I don't cave into that vice often, but when it's a special occasion with my parents visiting, let's go! I try to give my parents as wonderful a time here in Jersey as possible.
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Saturday night we went to Minerals Tiki Moonshine Bar. We had a great time with besties Jasen, Roy, and Marky. It was wonderful hoody sweatshirt weather. Bartender Kevin then invited us to a cookout he and his girlfriend Liz were hosting. I'm trying to get better at not overscheduling my parents and running them ragged like I used to here, promise!
Sunday I grilled for them these Spicy Italian Chicken Sausages that were on sale at ShopRite. I had fun grilling poultry for my first time on the new electric grill. Even though I prefer my beef to be rare-medium rare, we do know that chicken might not be as good medium rare, lol. I had my meat thermometer handy and used it on my Spicy Italian Chicken Sausages. My friends have all been busting on me for this. I didn't make them eggs like a normal person probably would. No, I didn't have any eggs at my place. I didn't care! I joked that we didn't need eggs to have a great party! You might remember my struggles / challenges with scrambling eggs on those Facebook live videos from a few years ago. That wasn't even part of the reason at all!
We then went to Crystal Springs Vista 180 Pool to enjoy the weather and shade near their tiki bar. I took my parents for a walk showing them off the beautiful Biosphere and Chef's Garden, they were really impressed with the wonderful ambiance and garden.
We then ventured off to Alias Brew Works in Vernon getting to hang with besties Jasen, Brendan, and Marky. Even though they were a little low on their beer selection, the Snowblind beer I had was pretty good. My main motivation was getting my parents to see Bearded Baby BBQ. They just missed them last time, leading my uncle Jeff / JDawg to bust on me for not getting my parents great barbecue. I definitely helped them get great barbecue this time around! Not like a cookout that's burgers and hot dogs, no this was real barbecue food! I had a terrific brisket sandwich, and Padre also got Smoked Shrooms. I had never tried smoked mushrooms before, but these were tremendous! I can't wait for them to open their location in Sussex this fall. I'll definitely be keeping an eye open for that.
Sunday afternoon we went over to bartender friend Kevin & Liz's for a fantastic cookout. They really know how to host and throw a party, that's for sure! We could've eaten and drank like kings & queens, but were still very full after the grilled spicy italian chicken sausages, and then barbecue food on top of that.
We then ventured back to our home base of Minerals Tiki Moonshine bar. We had a great time seeing besties JG, Brad, Steve, Jasen, Brendan, Sally and Douglioso. It was the perfect way to wrap up our weekend.
Monday we did our traditional farewell lunch as I call it at The Irish Cottage Inn. We were happy to see bartender B-Rad, besties Christine and Chris, Carrie, Roy, and Jasen and Brendan. I will say it was nice to get a bunch of hugs right after my usual teary goodbye with my family. We then ventured back to enjoy live music at Minerals Tiki Moonshine bar and it was great! They played tons of 90s songs that I was singing along too. One Night Only is a terrific duo! They included me in trivia and singing which led to many laughs. Great time. Just what the doctor ordered.
To be candid these weekends aren't as fun as they used to be when we still had my sister Zannie with us. My parents saw several friends who haven't seen them since she tragically passed away in January. It was good for my parents and friends see each other, even though seeing friends for the first time after everything happened results in a ton of tears and hugs for several minutes. All we can do is keep trying to push ourselves surviving every single day.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my Epic Weekend In Pictures. Time to start planning next weekend and here we go. My first time golfing all year will be Friday with Tee It Up For The Troops, one of my favorite days all year long. Saturday the 10th annual New Jersey Taco Festival, and of course then the first football Sunday of the year! In between my weekends, Wednesday and Thursday night I had my fantasy football drafts. I had the 1st pick in both drafts, so I just took the same players first couple of picks. CBS Sports rated my draft as an A+! This is usually a major jinx for me, so we will see how this goes! I hope your fantasy football drafts went great if you play. If you don't play, congratulations you're probably much happier and saner. LOL.