italian[party]again

 

[bristol]party

a friends 40th birthday party lead us to a new part of the state last month.  slightly short of a two hour drive we discovered the area known as seal cove next to the town of south bristol.  it was a wonderful little day trip and allowed us to have another great weekend enjoying the summer with friends near water.

[barn] party

when the group wants to go out, but one of your friends has to work...

you dress up!

this summer, our friend ted, had to emcee the "owls head transportation museums barnstormers ball!"  though he had to work, our little group thought it would be the perfect event to go to as well!  with the theme being, "gin and jazz" we all got dressed up in our roaring 20's best and headed up the maine coast.  the night was spent eating amazing food, swing dancing to an actual big band orchestra and gallivanting with friends against the back drop of biplanes and studebaker's.  gatsby himself would have been impressed!

what can i say other than the entire evening was the bees knees! although we were supporting our friend ted during "working hours" its little events like this that seem to bring a group of friends even closer!

christmas eve eve [tradition]

well, it looks like "public's" christmas eve eve party is a full fledged tradition now, as they hosted it for the third year.  i may be partial, since it's my favorite bar, but to me it's the perfect holiday party. everyone is usually back in town, but still has the night off from any family obligations. allowing you to connect with out of town friends. nothing seems more like the holiday spirit than enjoying good drinks with good friends....and "christmas vacation" on the big screen.

gin blossoms [again]

it's hard to keep a good party down.

after a brief hiatus the annual [june bucket] was back the other weekend for it's fourth year.  old and new friends once again joined together to drink a gin cocktail out of a bucket using turkey basters. 

[rouge][rouge] wine

life can't always be filled with dive bars and spicy pickles...sometimes you have to class it up a bit; and april turned out to be pretty classy. i was also able to mark a couple items off my wichita bucket list.

the first event was the wichita art museum's annual [color] party.  i'm still not sure how but i was lucky enough to be on the planning committee for this wonderful event.  the past 5 months were filled with brainstorming, planning, donations and calls.  not only did it turn out to be a completely wonderful event, but i loved seeing it go from a hand written word [rouge] on a piece of paper to a full fledged party covered with the color.  i also met some wonderful new people in the process i'm now lucky enough to call friends.

a few weeks later the gf and i also attended wichita's annual wine fest.  on the way walking to the event we ran into our new friends from the color party!  we decided to conquer the festival with them.  the evening was spent sampling various wines, snacking on hors d'oeures and fostering new friendships.

i wasn't able to capture as many pictures as i would have like, mainly because both events found me with a drink in my hand most of the night, but i hope you enjoy a few snaps of these [classy] events.

 photo by wam

 photo by cf

photo by cf

lord of the [bachelors]

bachelor parties should be as unique as the bachelor they're intended to celebrate, and my buddy tim's couldn't have fit him better.  the best man secured a large house on the shores of the lake of the ozarks for 15 of us to enjoy a long weekend.  time was spent fishing, grilling, floating, watching soccer and of course drinking. for the most part we all lived like complete bachelors for a few days have no contact with the outside world.  most of us spent the majority of the time covered in a mix of sunscreen and bbq sauce, using the lake to rinse off occasionally.  meals consisted of grilled meat of all shapes and forms and beer.  with this group of hob heads we probably had the best selection of beer on the lake, and as much as we hate to admit it, the occasional "mangarita" thrown in for variety.  the only thing missing was a conch shell. 

all in all it was a perfect way to send tim, a guy who loves the company of his brothers and friends, off to get married.

the year in pictures [2013]

year nine for the [year in pictures] post.

as i've said before, i never plan out a theme for this post.  only after the year has come to a complete end do i try and figure it out.  as it turns out this years theme started early, although i didn't know it. while sifting through the hundreds of photos taken this year, trying to find just 10 to best represent the past year, the theme slowly started to to present itself.  once it had, it was easy to see what this year was all about.

this was a year of [next steps]

some [next steps] were taken by me, some by family and some by friends.  often times, it's hard to know if you've actually moved forward in this life or not.  only when you stop and take a moment to look back do you see just how many [steps] you've taken.

i hope you enjoy taking a look back at some of my favorite [steps] taken this past year.

singed_sealed_delivered_3.20.13

for seven years i driven by this horse, wondering when the day would come when i would walk in and order my official architecture stamp.  for seven years this horse haunted me, mocked me, laughed at me, digging it in that i hadn't finished my tests yet. for seven years this horse ran wild and eluded me, a beast unable to catch.  well my friends, on march 20 of this year i was finally able to lasso this stallion in...and order my stamp. a long overdue [step].

public_shockers_4.6.13

april found the entire town in wichita in a great mood, and for good reason.  our local university had defied the odds and made it into the final four, a great [step] for their basketball program.  i've never seen an entire town in such good spirits. although this picture was taken on wsu's final game in the tournament, it perfectly reflects the feeling of that day.

freemont_friends_5.25.13

i was invited to join my future brother-in-law on his bachelor party along with nine of his closest friends.  nine guys i had never met before. by the end of the weekend, i found myself with nine new friends...

vegas_sunrise_5.26.13_4:54am

....mostly because of this night...and that's all i have to say about that.  

final_bucket_6.11.13

this year i said goodbye to some very dear friends who decided to take their [next step] and move to a larger city.  although it was sad to see them go, lucky for us they wouldn't dare leave without throwing one, final, amazing party. this past summer we celebrated our 3rd [june bucket] a tradition they introduced us to.

lunch_date_8.13.13

i love walking to work.  the two blocks between my apartment and office has seen a lot of development and activity the past year, making the walk better and more enjoyable with each passing month. you never know what you're going to see. one summer afternoon i witnessed an elderly couple on their way to a lunch date at the old mill tasty shop.  every time i see this photo i smile.  i love the fact this couple is still holding hands and [stepping] out on dates.

rehearsal_8.23.13

this summer also included the wedding of my little sister.  her and her boyfriend decided to take their [next step] and get married.  spending the weekend with family and friends was nothing short of amazing. not only did this weekend find our family with one new member, but it made me appreciate all of them so much more.  by far the most memorable and enjoyable weekends of the year.

acl'ed_out_10.5.13

i couldn't dare do an "end of the year post" without including a picture from acl.  traveling down to this texas town to spend three days in the sun chilling with friends to amazing music has become a benchmark in my year, and i'm not exactly sure what i would do without it.  on this day we came across a fellow that had had a bit too much fun, and i couldn't help but take a picture.

winter_coffee_12.8.13

i entered into a relationship this year, which in my opinion, is a big [step] for anyone to take.  i don't pretend to know what the future holds for us, all i do know is that the last half of this year was made better because of this person.  on this particular day we fought the freezing temperatures off with some coffee, an activity that became a bit of tradition during our december weekends together.

boston_steps_12.27.13

i wanted to end with this photo taken on my recent trip to boston.  the last twelve months were filled with family and friends taking [next steps] as well as a few of my own, both professionally and personally.  it seemed only fitting to end the year with a beautiful set of architectural stairs.  a little reminder of the [steps] i've taken...and those yet to take.