Hartford, CT

Forty and fabulous is the theme for this stop on my tour of the Northeast...  I arrived just in time for the start of my friend Renee's "surprise" 40th birthday party.  Even though she figured out there was going to be a party before anyone was able to shout "surprise", she wasn't expecting me to make an appearance until the next day so I was able to pull one over on her which was fantastic.  Renee is married to one of my best friends from college, Jeff, and ever since he introduced us to one another we've been thick as thieves.  He'd tell you he reconciled a long time ago that he "lost" me to his wife 5 minutes after he introduced us!  :)  I'd tell you that I love them both equally, but it's a lot easier to spend hours chatting with a girl friend about non-sense so she gets the phone calls now-a-days.

In preparation for the party Jeff finished their basement, complete with a custom bar!  He put the finishing touches on things the day before the party and I can't begin to tell you how impressed I was with his handy work.  Not only was the basement fabulous, but he had thought of everything to make the party special.  Caterer, decorations, cocktails, music, etc.  Not that I doubted him, but I was even more impressed than I was expecting.  Great job, Jeff!

Huge poster Jeff had made for the party!

Highlights of the "surprise" party include one of Renee's friends from the gym arriving with a few drinks already under her belt.  She proceeded to drink shot after shot after shot followed by several martinis.  At one point she decided it would be hilarious if she took an open bottle of water and sprayed it all over the new basement, dousing the bar and numerous party-goers.  I did my best to intervene by diving over the bar in her direction, but to no avail.  In hind sight, it was worth the minor inconvenience just to see Jeff's face.  I thought he might actually evict her from the party on the spot (which would have been priceless given his easy going nature!)  He didn't and the festivities continued so that we could enjoy things like:

Pouring tequila shots only to find that one of the shot glasses contained the tooth of their oldest daughter, Olivia.  Apparently it was put there for safe keeping when it feel out, but long since forgotten about until someone nearly shot it!

Renee and Brian having a sing-off to 80s classics

Renee, Amy and I dancing like idiots after moving all the living room furniture to create a dance floor.

Being introduced to pudding shots.  Similar to jello shots, but way better!  (Tip: best served in a hollowed out strawberry!)

The kids were staying at a friend's house, so we were clear to sleep as late as we wanted the next day - helping us avoid the early morning realization that we really are old and hangovers are brutal!

I had a whole week in Hartford and couldn't be more excited about it.  The fall weather was perfect and as mentioned in my email that went out to provide all of you the URL for this blog several weeks ago, the view from their window was idyllic:

Apple orchard and fall colors outside the window

Jeff and Renee have 2 beautiful daughters, Olivia and Kate.  Since I was there the week before Halloween, we had loads of fun activities to pass the time, including trying on their costumes when they arrived in the mail:

 

Kate the fancy zebra and Olivia the fancy cat!

If the fun we had at the "surprise" party helped remind me that we weren't as old as we thought, deciding to go the grocery store (instead of a bar) after a nice dinner out squashed that idea immediately.  The beauty of old friends is that we can make an outing to the grocery store fun. We started with a photo shoot in the parking lot:

Jeff and Renee pointing the the "Big Y" sign which was the location of our post-dinner outing

Any shopping cart with an item called "Moist and Meaty" is a good time as far as I'm concerned!

Renee and I enjoyed pedicures and a movie on Thursday before I headed back to Boston on Friday morning.  We have an annual tradition of spending a few days together between Christmas and New Year each year and I look forward to keeping it alive in 2012!  Thanks for a fantastic visit, peeps.