Monday, August 31, 2009

A Very Northern American Weekend

We started out the weekend in upstate New York for the Travers Stakes at Saratoga Springs.
On my way out of our hotel, which was built in the early 1800's, the housekeeper told me that Caroline Kennedy stayed in our room...I'm choosing to believe her even if she made it up!

After the big race, we jumped in the car for a few hours and headed north through the Adiron- dacks and up to Montreal to meet up with Tony's cousins. Joey and his girlfriend Stephanie met us for dinner at The Keg and we went sightseeing the next day.







We had cupcakes for breakfast...

and poutine for lunch, aka heart attack on a plate!
And, of course, Tony had to stock up on dozens of bagels...
We saw some beautiful architect- ure...

And as luck would have it, we literally stumbled upon a really cool recreation of an 18th Century Public Market in the Old Port..."Take a trip back in time to find yourself in the company of farmers, craftspeople, and entertainers as they existed in 1750, at the time of Montréal's very first public marketplace.
A not-to-be-missed event in Old Montréal, Pointe-à-Callière's 18th Century Public Market is a unique experience, a festive market- place that retains its agricultur- al role while offering an array of historical activities and presenta- tions in an atmosphere unique to New France."
The performers all stayed in character, having conversa- tions they might have had in that time - of course, it was all in French, so we had no idea what they were saying!

Next we did some shopping and then got to see Joey's place - and more notably, his awesome exotic cat!



We finished off the night with a great dinner at Tony's aunt's house with the whole family.
Click HERE for all the pictures.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Bonfire at the Beach

Mary Grace Lima is a lady who knows how to "camp"! Mom booked a room at the Hyatt Hunting- ton Beach for a "last weekend of summer" family getaway...the room itself was a beautiful suite overlooking the beach, where we enjoyed cocktails and hors d'oevres. Then we went down to the beach where we had a pizza dinner deilvered to us - but, the best part of the night was that she had arranged for "bonfire service," where someone set up a fire for us, maintained it all night, and brought us all the makings for s'mores - or, as we call them, "schmoes"!

Monday, August 17, 2009

I'm Taking a Ride With My Best Friend...

...to the Hollywood Bowl for the Depeche Mode concert! A great new album and a lot of great old stuff...






Black Bear Island's Barn

Sunday morning we went to the barns to meet Black Bear Island, a beautiful 2-year-old from Ireland. Tony is in on the horse with Mr. Hubbard and several others. He lost by just inches in last week's Secretariat, but looked great!
He couldn't get enough of the carrots we were feeding him...





...and he has a cute little birthmark on his nose!







He will
"vacation" in Del Mar for the rest of the summer, but will be back up here next month.

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Congratulations, Vito and Lisa!

Always a fun weekend in Pittsburgh for a wedding! Vito and Lisa's wedding was such a great time...
a total blend of American and Italian traditions, music, and food... including a LOT of Lisa's relatives FROM Italy!


Mom and Dad tore up the dance floor all night long...













Lima/Cedros Girls' Pic...



and Gregory was looking dashing as usual in his tux, with a sister on each arm...