Aruba, Thanksgiving and a Visit from the Schoenys

December 6-10 – Aruba
With the help of an incredible Travelocity silent auction prize from my days in the NYC office and a pair of free round-trip tickets on JetBlue, we celebrated Jenn’s 31st birthday (December 10th) in Aruba. We had a fabulous four-night stay at the Radisson Aruba Resort and Casino – unquestionably one of the most relaxing trips we have taken. We didn’t do much in the way of sightseeing or excursions, but we did plenty of lounging around at our oceanfront (beach hut), enjoying Balashi beer and sampling some of the freshest fish in the Caribbean. We met some great people down there and really enjoyed ourselves. We highly recommend this fabulous island and the Radisson for anyone in need of a relaxing escape from reality. Although it certainly wasn’t the most direct route, we flew through New York and were able to also enjoy a birthday dinner on Long Island with Joanne and Len. Happy Hanukkah y’all!
Photos >

November 21-26 – Thanksgiving in New York
Despite all of the hype about traveling on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, we expected the worst and were pleasantly surprised to have absolutely no problems at all getting to New York for Thanksgiving on one of the busiest travel days of the year. A great Turkey Day dinner with Joanne, Len, Jonathan, Audrey and Michael was followed on Friday by a fun visit with Grandma Ruth, Mark, Dee, Cindy, Heath, Hannah, Spencer and Brett. On Saturday night we had a great time catching up with some friends in NYC at Divine Bar. Kim, Leigh, Doug, Pat and Flo (we still can’t get over that awesome surprise!) represented. On Sunday, we met little William Jackson (it was great to see you too, Bill and Christine!), Jenn scored her bridal party dress for Heather and Dave’s wedding and we chowed down with the Schoenys, Melissa and Mike at Michael’s new restaurant in Long Beach. We also snuck in quick visits with Nick, Leslie and Sam and Cappy and Chis before our long weekend came to an end and we were on our way back to Music City. It was definitely great to see everyone and hope to see many more of you the next time we're in town!

November 9-11 – A Visit From the Schoenys
For the second time in a month, we pulled off a Nashville sports hat trick – a Vandy football game, Predators hockey game and Titans football game. Not bad for a 24-hour stretch! We had a great time with Joanne and Len (hope we didn’t wear you out!) and look forward to their next trip to Music City. Maybe we can plan a Vandy baseball/basketball weekend in the spring?!

Recent birthday shout outs … Damion G., Angie S., Pat S., Sara A., Victor S., Jack M., Kayla M., Michael P., Jeff V., Scott L., Rebecca T., Sam L., Shana D., Jen F., and last but certainly not least … Plinko the Cat!

Until next time …