Friday Faves 7/10: Wedding Hitches, Dating Around, Zucchini Fritters, Disco Dancers, and West Cork

A wedding story:

This Tuesday was our third wedding anniversary. Tiff and I were married on Friday July 7, 2017. Every wedding has its hitches; ours was harmless (as most are) and funny (in hindsight).

The wedding took place at a church in Charlestown. I prepped at our condo with my buddies, a five minute walk to the church. Tiff, her bridesmaids, my sister, and my mom were at the Liberty Hotel on the edge of Beacon Hill. Probably a ten minute drive to the church. Tiff called two Ubers to drive her and her bridesmaids to the church. My mom and sister rode in the second car. Unfortunately, the driver in my mom’s car plugged in the wrong St. Mary’s Church and hopped on the Mass Pike heading west, on a Friday, in July, Pre-pandemic.

Our wedding was supposed to start at 4:00PM. This was after the priest asked another couple (who was more proactive than us) to move their wedding in the smaller chapel below the church to 5:30PM. This allowed for us to use the 4:00 window (because… we booked the reception venue BEFORE the church…whoops…).

Okay, back to the Uber adventure. My sister knows Boston, but not well enough to catch the Uber driver before the perilous turn down the Mass Pike towards Seattle. My mom doesn’t venture 10 miles from home behind the wheel, her driving experience is like those old colonization video games when area that has been explored yet is black until you push your character into the void. There wasn’t much hope of fixing the problem before it manifested into a panic.

So now, everyone is filling the church, it’s getting close to 4:00, and there’s no sign of my mom and sister. Not ideal. My sister is doing a reading at our wedding and my mom is MY MOM! While all this is going down, I’m not hanging in the back sipping from a flask of delicious bourbon. Instead, the priest thought it would be a swell idea for the two of us to wait in the wings to ensure I don’t see Tiff when she arrives at the church.

So, while I’m sitting awkwardly with the priest, surrounded by all his priestly things, my brother pops his head in to let us know that mom and Careena are heading back to Boston from Anchorage, Alaska and it might be a while. Remember it’s a Friday in July and my mom and sister are trapped in a tunnel underneath Boston. On a Friday, in Boston. On a Friday. In July.

My discussion with the priest had reached the point where the awkward silences were broken by commentary on my watch and my socks. It was now after 4:00, and the concern was we might have to start the wedding without my mom and sister. The 5:30 wedding in the chapel began looming large because 4:30 was the lasest we could start..

The wonderful singer, who was filling the church with “Ave Maria” for the 45th time moved onto the 46th time when my brother peeked in on the priest and me again to let us know that they were getting close, but the rain was making the trip tricky.

Again. A Friday. In Boston. In July. In the freaking rain.

At 4:20 the singer stopped suddenly and the organist blared the first notes of our processional. The priest jumped up and told me to follow him (and keep my hands out of my pockets. But how am I supposed to hide my chewed up finger nails???).

According to everyone that saw it, my mom stepped out of the car, walked into the church, gathered herself, and marched down the aisle like a champ. Yes, she might have aged 2-3 years during her cross-country road trip, but she was steely-eyed and determined to not allow it to effect the rest of the wedding.

And it didn’t.

There is nothing more humbling than moments in our lives when we are faced with great, swelling emotions in front of the closest people we know. Sometimes those moments are planned and other times they are spontaneous. The moment from our wedding that stands out to me are seeing those doors swing open and getting my first glimpse of Tiff as she walked down the aisle (20 minutes after the planned time…). The church is build above the street, so guests walk up into the building and then up a flight of stairs into the main section of the church. The massive doors swing open and Tiff literally walked up the steps, so the reveal was this crazy moment when I only just the top of her head and then she slowly appeared. It was similar to how we met, when she wandered up the steps in into my apartment after she replied to my add for a roommate on Craigslist.

Three years later, during a pandemic, those moments of stepping back and just taking it all in have evaporated. Currently, those moments that do exist are filled with a tinge of fear, faces covered in masks and a strange, unknown future ahead of us.

But when I think back to that wedding I am so grateful for those moments Tiff and I captured over the course of the night, watching everyone around us dance, eat, and sing. The people we love meeting each other on a beautiful July Friday night after the rains cleared out.

Here’s to many more wonderful memories for all of us. And I hope we all manage to carve out some positive moments in the next six months of 2020.

Best Watch

Dating Around - This show is delightful. It is glossy Netflix at it’s best, if you ask me. Yes, it’s a dating show, but different than any other dating show. Each episode shows one person on five different dates. However, each date is at the same restaurant, which allows for really cool transitions from one date to the next. There are no confessionals from the participants, you’re just watching the five dates happen as they’re woven together. At the end of the five dates, one person is picked for a second date, which we see the beginning of as the show ends. The other fabulous part of this show is the various ages and orientations of the participants. This isn’t all gorgeous millennials, and my favorite episode from the first season was an old New Yorker in his 60s looking for a little twilight love.

Best Listen

I’m Going Down (Bruce Springsteen cover) - Every now and then this song pops up in my life, and it always grabs my attention. The original is an exceptional song, and Vampire Weekend does a fabulous cover.

West Cork - On our 12 hour drive home from Ohio on Sunday, this Amazon podcast pretty much got us through New York and Massachusetts. The 14 episodes cover a fascinating unsolved murder in the far reaches of Ireland in rugged West Cork. The prime suspect is an egomaniac and the twists and turns of small town Ireland, poor policing, and a lack of resources leads the French government to get involved because the murdered woman, Sophie Toscan du Plantier, was a well-known French woman who loved visiting her house in West Cork. It’s a free download on Amazon here.

Best Eat

Zucchini Fritters - On Tuesday night, we celebrated our third wedding anniversary with a dinner at Alcove in Boston. It’s a walkable distance from our condo, close to the TDGarden, and they have an excellent outdoor space to eat. It’s not jammed on a sidewalk; instead, they have a big space just outside their doors. The food was delicious and the standout was the zucchini fritters with a sesame dipping sauce. To Alcove’s credit, the portion was solid, too. Big chunks of zucchini, I’m willing to bet the we ate nearly an entire zucchini between the two of us.

Best Drink

Disco Dancer - In Springfield, Ohio there’s a brewery called Mother Stewart’s (the landing page will give you the “itchies” in this day and age…). We’ve been trying to get to the brewery for years, but every time we’re in Ohio around the holidays it’s closed. The building and space is very cool and perfect for CoVid-times; we had some beers and sat outside. The beauty of driving to and from Ohio is the freedom to bring stuff home, so we brought some Disco Dancer back with us. It’s a delicious IPA, and I was pleasantly surprised. It’s got a hint of sweetness to it, which I am finding I like in beers (Bud Light, I’m looking at you). A good summer IPA.

A Little Rain - This was a wonderful beer to sip on while sitting out on Alcove’s patio for dinner on Tuesday night. It comes from a brewery called Small Change, and their story is really interesting. It’s a husband and wife team that doesn’t actually have a brewery and borrows space from other brewers. I am by no means a hop expert, but I’ve found that mosaic hops are in many of my favorite beers. A Little Rain is an American Pale Ale that comes in a cool can. It has a fruity/citrus taste and the low alcohol percentage makes this a must drink. If you come across it, buy it and spread the word.

Best Plugs

The Imperfect Game - We’ve spend nearly 7 months researching ten small English soccer clubs. Our most recent episode closes up this little series. Both and I select our all time Starting XI using only players that have suited up for the ten teams. Spotify. iTunes.