ah man, i was waiting all summer for this weekend. 4 days, 3 nights in new york and a buncha saudi crew that i haven't seen together in a loooooong time.
here's a photojournal of what happened:
Thursday - September 1, 2005
i flew out of LAX @ 11pm and landed in newark, new jersey @ 6am EST. my next flight wasn't until 9:05am so i decided to do something productive...
at the airport taxi booth:
Taxi Ladi: destination, sir? Mel: white castle!! Taxi Ladi: excuse me? Mel: WHITE CASTLE!!!Mel: the closest white castle around!! Taxi Ladi: Taxi Ladi: you want a cab for some burgers?? Mel: damn straight!!
so about $13 later...
unfortunately when i got there, only drive-thru was open. its all good though cuz when i got to the airport...
(what you're looking at is 10 cheeseburgers...and that's not even including the other 10 cheeseburgers in the other bag!!)
so anyways, about 9 burgers and a couple hours later i met up with alan @ albany airport.
Alan: so amy's picking us up, right? Mel: yeah, i'll call her right now Mel: ....hmmm, no answer. its all good, she knows we're here.
45 minutes later...
Mel: yeah umm, i guess she doesn't know...
a bagillion phone calls (and a quick visit by julie & mr. craig) later, alan and i were finally picked up by amy. praise the lord!!
this was the first time that we had seen baby anna isabelle.
the rest of the afternoon was mainly munching on the extra white castles, swimming @ the pool and taking a nap until josh flew in @ 7:30pm. oh yeah, throughout the afternoon the white castles from breakfast started kicking in:
Mel: Alan: yuck!!! Amy: your farts smell like white castle!!! Mel:
not too long after we picked up josh, the guys headed over to saratoga for a little bar hopping while the girls had their little Girls' Night Out. we spent a lot of time playing some drunken shuffle board @ some irish pub:
after the bar hopping, we had the munchies so we headed over to the closest gas station. i stocked up on pudding, cookies and half-and-half (i thought that stuff was milk ). oh yeah, how can i forget the cashier chick...
Cashier Lady: i just have to ask...are you hawaiian? Mel: hawaiian? nah, i'm filipino. i have a little hawaiin in my blood though. Cashier Lady: oh okay... Cashier Lady: well, i probably shouldn't say this because my co-worker might tell my husband Cashier Lady: but you are a very nice looking man
yeah that's right, she wanted my balls.
so after our munchies, we passed out.
Friday - September 2, 2005 - josh's 23rd birthday
the next morning alan, josh and i got a rental car @ enterprise. (note to self: enterprise's underage fee was only $22.50/day compared to $115/day @ budget.) we drove down to poughkeepsie then took a smelly train to grand central station.
oh look, there's some turkish dude waving to us!!
(for the guys that are wondering, erol is now workin 100+ hours/week @ JPMorgan. )
we spent the rest of the afternoon walking around new york city. and of course, there was a hot dog stand literarly on every street corner.
by the time we got to erol's kickass apartment ($3,000/month between two people ), we were tired as hell. we ended up playing some FIFA 2005, ordred in some chinese delivery and watched some crazy movie until we passed out.
Saturday - September 3, 2005
it was a good quick trip to nyc, but we had to get up early so we'd make it back in time to albany airport to pick up samir's ass.
some parting shots:
we got in around 12:30pm, just in time to pick up this brown man:
after picking up samir, we went to the mall to meet up with amy, cathy and daniel h. but of course, that little drive didn't happen without a few wrong turns (i was the navigator)...
driving nowhere:
Samir: i don't think the mall is this way Alan: minus 5 for melvin!! Mel:
a few miles later
at some random toll booth:
Alan: wtf, we have to pay to get off this toll and then get back on?? Mel: fuck it, just flip a bitch [do a u-turn] here!!
we found our way to the toll booth that got us onto the freeway...
Toll Lady: ticket, please. Toll Lady:reads Toll Lady: Toll Lady: i'm supposed to charge you all the way from buffalo for doing this. Toll Lady: its illegal to do a u-turn on the freeway!! Toll Lady: but i'll let you guys go this time. Everyone:
fast forward a few hours later...it was wedding time!!
Toast!!:
Drunken Josh: cheers!!! Drunken Josh:pounds champagne like a shot Alan: sloncha!! Alan:drinks Mel: KINKY!!! Mel:drinks Alan: ...dude mel, its "clinky" not "kinky" Alan: and josh, you take a sip, not pound it.
yes, the meditaranean chicken was good.
the wedding cake was f'ing orgasmic.
the group shot:
Alan: yo, remember that one 9th grade prom picture with us guys??
well, we didn't have mike there so we got josh instead.
all in all the wedding was beautiful, the stony brook crowd was cool, the mother-in-law was drunk and Cotten Eye Joe will always be a kickass party song.
after the reception we headed over for some bar hopping in saratoga again.
(note to self: a buncha guys walking into a bar while rockin their suits is an awesome way of making a fashionable entrance)
drunken josh and sam kept us entertained for the rest of the night. as you can see from samir's post, the drunken josh show went a little longer than necessary...
in the parking lot:
Alan: dude, i have to piss so bad!! Alan:runs behind the corner Drunken Josh: yeah, me too. Mel: well get in line then, bitch!! Drunken Josh: ...i can't hold it anymore... Drunken Josh:pisses in the middle of the parking lot police light flashes on josh*
Sunday - September 4, 2005
ah, good 'ol sunday brunch. a time to catch up and reflect on the previous night; and tell everyone that wasn't there about the drunken josh show.
and now for some parting shots:
and the obligatory poses:
you know, i think the best thing about our crew is the fact that when we're all put into the same room -- even after a long period of not seeing eachother -- its like we never skipped a beat. its never awkward. and if it ever is, the awkwardness doesn't last very long.
congratulations once again, will & julie. we wish you all the very best!!
