Nostalgia...

First of all, I have to congratulate my best friend Rob Barone for catching a homerun at the Phillies game yesterday for the whole nation to see (or at least whoever the networks allowed to see the game).

I was so happy for him....imagine how many sons, fathers, grandfathers go to baseball games all over the country (and the world) waiting for the one chance they might get to catch a ball that reaches the stands...and to catch it effortlessly on tv - and then for the camera to keep coming back to watch you celebrate....PRICELESS!! Nice work Rob! Whether they are willing to admit it or not - everyone is jealous!

It made me think of all the games and the years I spent following baseball, and how happy those days made me. Even though the weather really hasn't started truly warming up yet summer style, once it does....I'm going to the games to catch some homeruns!

And this is why we do cardio......

to enjoy nights like last night!!!!!!!!

I got home from a LONG day of deposition testimony, mouth watering...thinking about nothing except for the pizza I was going to be creating and devouring...I scoured the city of Philadelphia for Buffalo Wing sauce. Thanks to Sabrina calling DiBruno Brothers in Philadelphia (a MUST visit if you haven't been), I went and bought a bottle of "Curly's Wing Sauce" - no doubt this night was meant to be...as my first guinea pig was named Curly.

I walked home - and even though I was looking forward to eating, something was missing. I needed to go for a run...I haven't run since last Friday and I was feeling gross. So I rolled out the dough which had been sitting in the fridge overnight (finally figured out that using lots of flour is the key to getting the dough to roll/shape as you want it to), cooked the shells just enough to give them some stability and took off for a 4 mile run. I came back, showered, prepared the toppings, and went to work!

The boys loved the pizzas....the first two to come out were the buffalo chicken pizza served with blue cheese dressing on the side (the winner of the night) and the regular cheese/sauce pizza. The second two were cheese/tomato (white pizza with parmesan and pecorino romano) and cheese steak pizza (steak, peppers, onions). All of them turned out great. This may become a monthly tradition and next time I am going to do four new pizzas....right now, barbeque chicken is definitely going to be one of them...probably some sort of veggie pizza (with feta) - and perhaps a hoagie pizza....next time, I'm probably going to put some ingredients IN the actual crust (perhaps olives or pepperoni)....oh yeah...getting hungry for lunch just thinking about it!

Tonight Sabrina's coming into town around 9:45...as soon as work is complete I am getting out of here, hitting the gym to lift a bit, taking care of some errands and waiting to pick her up. It's going to be a great weekend - one obligation for work tomorrow (annual Dorney Park outing) and the rest is just random little things...no schedule though....

TGIF

Why so excited for pizza?

Tonight my best friends decided to get together to watch Tom Hanks' old movie, "Bachelor Party" - which I have never seen. So of course, what would I be contributing to this little endeavor? PIZZA!! So last night, I whipped up 3 batched of my well known pizza dough, and for about a week, I have been thinking of creative toppings to use on the pizzas. There is honestly nothing better than pizza to make for people coming over (especially guys). You can be as creative as you want, the ingredients are very inexpensive, and it's really not necessarily bad for you! A fun night for sure....I had a bunch of ideas, but for tonight, I'm going to make the following pizzas:

1) Cheesesteak with onions/peppers
2) Plain cheese/tomato sauce
3) White pizza with tomatoes
4) Buffalo Chicken
5) Pepperoni - possibly

Of course, I have some dough frozen in the freezer and I need some dough in preparation for Sabrina's visit! She prefers the healthier pizzas - salad pizza to be one. It's really just a lot of fun - and if you prep the major stuff little by little during the week, the day of preparation really does not have to be stressful or time consuming! Can't wait to go work out (5 mile run for sure in advance of this night of gluttony!), shower, and prepare the pizzas!

The wedding approaches quickly...

and I have to say, I am VERY excited. This weekend, Sabrina's girls had a surprise shower for her up in RI, and for some reason, everything became so real! That's a GOOD thing - I am amazed at how many people talk to you about your wedding like you should be dreading it....we're 100% excited about it - as life is going to become much more normal. Two years of a long distance relationship is less than what many people have been through - but for us, we are very much thrilled to be done with it and moving on to a normal life! Who knows where we will end up - but wherever we go from now on, it's going to be as one unit!

Lately I've been thinking about how big the world is - and what a small segment of it we experience in our lives. I'm trying to lead a life where I experience as much of what the world has to offer - while maintaining the dedication to family that is part of my morality. Luckily, I'm marrying someone who is pretty much up for anything and will try anything (except fast food) - so it would be a shame to lead a conventional life when I have found someone with such an adventurous spirit.

So how do you balance between your desire to take risks and be adventurous, and the happiness and joy that comes with the simple pleasures of a home and family life with long term friends within a mile of where you live?