Thank You, Good Night!!!

Time of our lives! 

Thanks to everyone who made this night happen! It was everything we had hoped for and more, celebrating with some very special family and friends, who we love dearly.

We'll leave this little blog open and post some pics and video as they come in (if you have anything, please send it to us!).  Until then...Don't Stop Now...Don't Stop Now!!!

 

Tomorrow's the BIG DAY!!!!

my beloved Liverpool squares of against Jess's Manchester United!!!  Live at 8:00am on ESPN2.  Who's with me?!?

From Saturday, October 15th, 2011 moving forward...Jess and Gary WILL NEVER WALK ALONE!!! :)

The Carefree Kitchens Are a Blast

A quick note about the food being served Sunday.  You will have your choices of the following:

1. Bouillon
2. Saltines
3. Gum

That's a joke.  Dinner will be a served in the form of 3 self-serve stations:

1. Pittsburgh Station
2. Italian Station
3. Satay Station

Hors d'oeuvres will be served beforehand, and the 3 Stations above will remain open from 7:30 to 9:30.  Food and drink is permitted inside the theater, however they are not allowed above the 1st floor.  Feel free to peruse the museum as you wish, just please refrain from taking any food or booze upstairs.

Thank you...and ENJOY!

Oh...bars will be open for the duration.  For pop and stuff :)

Pete Batjes, Best Man

I met Pete around the same time as Bucky.  In fact, we all hung out in the same little crew.  I don't think Pete liked me when we first met.  We went on this double date (the girl I was with was friends with Pete), and I think his initial under breath comment was, "who's this jerk?"  It's ok.  I've been called worse.  To be honest, I thought he was kind of an ass.  But somehow, I must have impressed Petey Pete with my charisma and great taste in music, because we became really good friends soon after that.  I'd say we were best friends by the time we graduated high school.

The best story I can recall about Pete, is the time he drove me 6 hours south down I-57 to Southern Illinois, so I could register and enroll as a freshman Saluki.  It was early August, and it was hot.  Pete's new ride was an early 1980-something Volkswagen Rabbit (it might have been a 1970-something Rabbit.  Damn, we're old).  You get the picture...

Check out those sweet rims!  The only option on the radio was the AM dial.  There was no A/C, but it did have a sunroof.  It definitely had a sun roof.  My car was out of commission at the time, so it was at least a ride.  And it was pretty much the only ride I had.  Pete did what best pals do, and helped a brotha out.  Of course, the main agenda was to register for school (these were primitive times when the Internet thingy didn't exist yet).  But also on the agenda was a tour of the campus, so I could get used to my surroundings to be.  I wanted to check out where my new classes were, peruse the lecture halls, visit the library, and find the closest beer store to my dorm.

Anyways, we knew it would be a long journey, so we wanted to make sure we had some frosty treats upon our arrival.  You know...to celebrate the fall semester and stuff.  So before departing, we stopped at a local liquor store outside of Oak Park, near Austin Blvd.  This was our favorite liquor store.  Not only because they sold to minors and carried our favorite flavor of the time (Keystone and Keystone Light), but they also sold cassette tapes.  It was this day when we picked up a tape of De La Soul's Three Feet High and Rising.

Our thought...well that looks interesting.  We then stopped at Walgreens to pick up this $40-something boom box, to solve our AM radio issue.  We hopped on the highway, threw the tape in, and basically played De La Soul on a constant loop the entire 6 hour ride.  It was hot and sticky (vinyl seats) and uncomfortable and windy, but at least we had good tunes.  I think we had only heard one tune previously on MTV, but the entire album was addictive and awesome.  Three Feet High and Rising went on to become one of the greatest hip hop albums of all-time.  Rolling Stone rated it as one of the 500 best records ever, and Spin named it the 7th best album from 1985-2005.  And we (Pete will argue this...but more like I) discovered it.  Before the Internet, it was pretty sweet to "discover" something.  It was like a right of passage.  After getting back to Chicago, De La Soul was on the top of any playlist of any party we went to.  And the chics digged it, too.

Like Ron and Bucky, Pete is one of the few friends I've remained close with who remember my mother. Shortly after she passed away, these were the friends that were there for me, during some pretty hard times.  And I will never forget that.  And just like Ron and Bucky, I love Pete like a brother.

What a break!!

There was a little concern over traffic to the Warhol this Saturday due to the Pitt / Utah game at Heinz Field.  However, the game time as FINALLY been announced and it's a NOON start.  So hooray for that!!  No Pitt football traffic to deal with.

Conqueror of the Moon

Looking for places near your hotel in Moon Township?  Here's a few places that are walking distance from all 4 hotels that we blocked:

Primanti Bros.

This the famous Burgh place that throws cole slaw and greasy fries on your french bread wrapped sandwich.  They're pretty awesome.  Turkey, roast beef, ham, capicola, corned beef are just a few of the flavors.  Don't be fussy and order one without the slaw or with fries on the side.  When in Rome...

The Primantis in Moon is located directly across the street from the Hampton and Doubletree at 8651 University Boulevard. Lots of flat screens and a big bar, also. Their pizza slices are pretty darn good, too. After the reception, this is probably where we will end up after the busses drop us off at the hotels.

Wings, Suds, & Spuds

Located just down the street from the Hampton, again within walking distance, at 8806 University Blvd. Great wings, and a variety of flavor choices. Good fries, also.  Friendly wait staff from what we've experienced.  Not the biggest place, so you may need to wait a few minutes for a seat during busy times. But well worth the wait. Your prefect old school Moon hole-in-the-wall establishment.  Ned's been there.  Ask him.

Eggs N'at

THE breakfast joint in the immediate area. There's also a Bob Evans across the street...meh. This is the place you wanna eat at for breakfast. Again, another quaint little place, so you may have to wait a few minutes. Pretty cool decor utilizing old records for artwork.  If the weather is nice, and you're lucky, grab a seat outside on the back patio. Located right next to the Hampton (or close to it), at 8556 University Blvd. Yummy breakfast burritos, and my favorite...Crabby Eggs Benedict!!!  The home fries are darn tasty, too.

This is strictly a breakfast joint, but is open until 2:00pm for the late risers. I wouldn't know about that :)

Hometown Pizza 

Need a pizza delivery?  This place is the best, bar none.  Not a lot of pizza places I like in Pittsburgh, but this thin crust is the best around.  It's open until 2:00am on weekends.  Do it.

Need Beer or Booze?

Pennsylvania is one of those bullshit states where you can't buy beer and booze in the same store. Something about gouging its citizens for more tax dollars, I presume. Anyways, if you need beer, you may wanna ask the hotel shuttle to take you there. This place is not far, but definitely not a walk you wanna make, especially with the hills. Here's where you want to buy beer...

Moon Pop & Beer 

it's behind the Giant Eagle, which is the mecca of grocery stores in Western Pa.  If you're looking for wine or liquor, there's...

Wine & Spirits Store

it's located in the same plaza as the Pop & Beer place.  Both of these places are in the plaza that's directly across the street from RMU, and the chapel where the ceremony will be (in case you need to pick up a piece of booze on your way to the chapel :)

Jacksons Lounge - Doubletree The one hotel of the four we blocked that has a bar, is in the Doubletree. Looks like it's open from 11:00a until 1:30a

Rehearsal Dinner

Apologies in advance for the exclusiveness of this post.  For the bridal party and few others coming to the rehearsal and dinner following on Friday evening (you should know who you are by this point), here's everything you need to know...

Please be at the Rogal Chapel at RMU at 5:00pm Friday.  For those of you staying at the hotels on University Blvd, this is about a 5 minute shuttle ride.  It is not a long ceremony; we're estimating about a 1/2 hour, but there are still some particulars and sesquentials to review.

A dinner following the rehearsal will be held at the Sewickley Cafe across the river.  For those of you out-of-towners, there will be enough people driving to the chapel, who will be able to provide rides to the cafe.  It is located at 409 Beaver St in Sewickley.  Simply take University Blvd to the Sewickley Bridge, go across the river, and proceed directly into downtown Sewickley.  Once you hit Beaver St, you're there...

The Cafe is one of Jess & I's favorite local restaurants.  The outdoor patio garden is lovely, and the cuisine is pretty tasty.  The raspberry walnut chicken salad is especially delightful, and we decided to include that on the menu, after some mini crab cakes and crostinis are passed.  Dinner will consist of 3 choices: Asiago Chicken, Macadamia Nut Crusted Tilapia, or Prime Rib.  Each choice will have a wine pairing, however, feel free to order something else if wine is not your thing.

After dinner, at approximately 9:00, we have a limo that will be picking up everyone from the Cafe. We are inviting everyone to our house for after dinner drinks. We live approximately 1 mile down the street. The limo will make a couple of trips shuttling people from the Cafe to our house. The limo will be on standby for our use as needed throughout the night (or at least until 1:00am when its reserved until).  The limo will be able to give rides to anyone staying at the hotels in Moon whenever they feel like calling it a night.

Robert "Bucky" Buss, Best Man

Bucky has been one of my best friends for more than 20 years. So long, in fact, we used to argue baseball, and whose team was better...his Cubs or my Buccos. We used to wager $50 a year on who would win more games (yeah...I actually used to care about the Pirates). Not like we ever paid each other...we just kept a running tab. I remember that I used to be up for awhile. From what I hear, though, Bucky might be winning by now. But who's counting?

Like a few of my other pals in high school, Bucky was also a hockey player (stress on was). I used to sneak a couple of brews into Ridgeland Commons and watch their home games. For you smart folk putting 2 and 2 together...yeah, I had a couple of brews while I was under age in high school (I blame a primitive 80's society that deprived us of iPods). Anyways...I think I was Oak Park Hockey's biggest fan. One player's mom used to sit behind me, and constantly yell, "SKATE! SKATE! SKATE!" Much like I do now at Pens games, I also used to yell at the players on the ice. My biggest saying was, "PASS THE PUCK, BUCKY!" Bucky thought he was Wayne Gretzky with one slight difference...the puck never left his stick until he was knocked off it. The term "assist" didn't apply to Bucky's stat line.  He either put the puck in the net, or ended up on his ass (more of the latter). 

Bucky and our crew of pals did everything together back then.  Before adulthood and responsibility was invented, summer days consisted of playing sports and eating gourmet foods (tacos, Italian beefs, hot dogs, burgers, gyros).  Nights were spent bragging to each other about the latest band we "discovered" on 120 Minutes over some cold soda pops.  Occasionally, when we were able to escape all of our female fans and there was nothing better to do (no parties to attend), an all night Nintendo tournament would break out, again over cold soda pops.

Like many of my close pals in those days, Bucky was like a brother to me.  Some of those brothers have become a footnote in the brotherhood memoirs (or perhaps a friend on Facebook).  People change, they move on, they become increasingly disinterested with your increasing amount of interests.  It happens.  But Bucky has been a true bro, through and through.

Similar to many close pals, Bucky and I had our share of bitter moments.  Like the time we shared an apartment in Forest Park, and Stiffler pooped on his pillow (they say dogs are great judges of character).  Yeah...Bucky was pissed.  And I don't blame him.  No one wants to come home after a night on the town (drunk), and find poop on their pillow.  But we hugged it out.  And that's what good friends do.

In all seriousness, and sometimes this is hard for dudes to express to each other...I love Bucky.  There.  I said it.  I love Robert "Bucky" Buss.
 

note to self: don't be the first one to pass out at the camp fire.

Video Killed the Radio Star

Come the big day, you will see two HD video cameras roaming around. Don't be shy. We're big fans of documenting (ask groomsman Ned). The video will be done by Brian Brown at Brown Multimedia Productions. I met Brian while attending RMU, and working (playing) at RMU-TV. Brian, meanwhile, was known for some of his work in the Documentary Center at RMU. I got real up close and personal with Brian when we slammed into each other chasing down a fly ball in an intramural softball game. Chris Clarke was telling me "plenty of room." Actually, at the time, it was no laughing matter. Neither of us saw each other coming, and I'm pretty sure Brian got the worst of it (broken nose, shoulder). It was pretty brutal. I ended up with the wind knocked out me.

Anyways, we've seen some of his work, and highly recommend Brian for any of your events around the Pittsburgh area. He's very professional, and if you need his contact info, please let us know. We'd be happy to set you up.

Pictures came and broke your heart.  Yes indeedy...