Crazy Beans

Long Island is Starbucks Nation. If there is one coffee shop on the corner, there is another on every corner on that road, and just about every other corner on the Island. Being an Upstater, we don’t exactly value the franchise nation. Granted, Starbucks has its perks, but local coffee shops offer something that just can’t be enjoyed at a chain.

The morning after the wedding, the new couple headed out on their honeymoon and we headed to Crazy Beans. We invited an Island friend out for some good coffee and good conversation.

Crazy Beans is cash only, so we walked to Stop and Shop for some cash back first. I bought an orange carrot juice and some gum, and got cash back for the shop. Then, in the parking lot, we found a case of Vitamin Water Zero under a cart! There were no shoppers near by, and the case had a “thank you” sticker. We took the case with few regrets, since it had already been purchased, and the owner was long gone.

When D-man arrived, we browsed the menu and made our selections.

• Me: Coffee with toasted marshmallow and white chocolate syrup. aka, a smore coffee.
• J-Man: Coffee with pumpkin and dark chocolate syrups.
• D-Man:  Hot latte with strawberry and chocolate syrups.

After J and D sampled their coffees, swapped and sampled each others, and affirmed their loving bromance, we discussed an electric swing bar, pageants, and hair care products. Time certainly goes by fast when you’re drinking great coffee!

Wedding at the Swan Club

We left slightly later than planned, but still had a great fun time driving an hour to the Swan Club in Roslyn, NY.

The ceremony was quick and sweet. Actually it was rushed, but by no fault of the bridal party. I’m actually annoyed from a professional point of view that the crew would begin to break down the setup while the guests were still sitting, and not to mention have a “technical error” during the initial procession and ask the wedding party to do the walk again, after the ceremony. Poor planning from management’s responsibility.

Cocktail hour took place while the wedding party got their pictures taken. The food was spectacular. J-man and his 5 siblings were in the same place for the first time in nearly 10 years, so of course it was a photo opportunity. It was wonderful to meet all of J’s siblings. I had previously not met 2 of them!

Dinner was inside. Following a salad course and pasta course, we could choose from steak, chicken francese, stuffed sole, or veggie ravioli. Again, from a professional point of view, I wish the matre d was not so controlling and in every picture. The DJ was telling the crew what to do, yet the matre d was on the dance floor the entire time, telling the bridal party where to go and what to do. It was distracting.

Highlights of the evening: J dancing on his hands, teaching his aunt the Cha Cha Slide, his brother thoroughly analyzing (and publicly making it known his dislike for) cookie dough cake pops.

The next wedding, M & J, is a year away. Needless to say we are all very excited, and can’t wait for the next one!

Passover Week

 

One of the most known Jewish holidays is Hanukkah, but for some people the most popular Jewish holiday is actually Passover.

According to scripture, when Moses was freeing the Jews from Egypt, they had to leave at night. As a result, their bread didn’t have time to rise. In honor of this, during the week of Passover, in addition to traditional kosher laws, many Jewish people omit bread or leavened foods from their diet.

This year, I decided to celebrate Passover with Jon and his family. Rather than just show up at the end for the big Seder celebration dinner, I actually managed to stay away from leavened foods all week too! Trust me, that was a lot harder than just avoiding bread! So many foods have leavening in it. Pretzels, Girl Scout Cookies, and even some soups.  But we avoided it, and h ad a lot of good conversations about why we were omitting it from our diets, and using the fasting as a form of worship. It was really interesting, because for the first time I was aware of what I ate and tied it back to my relationship with religion. I had to skip some of my favorite meals, and sometimes went longer without eating because a grain free alternative wasn’t available. It really opened my eyes in a spiritual manner.