Happy to the New Year

So Jay and I decided that we're going to Puerto Rico (or some other similarly warmly climed place that is not Mexico) for New Year's in 2010--who's with us?! 

That's not to imply that this past New Year's wasn't fun; it certainly was, and I kicked it off by breaking my no-dairy resolution almost immediately by surprisingly enjoying an incredibly burnt piece of pizza. (Thanks Casey! [That is not a facetious thank you; I know how impossible it is to get pizza in Cincinnati at 2 a.m. This is why I will never leave New York.])

It was good to get to the 'Nati, especially since it had been over a year since my last visit. We're looking forward to Ben and Brooke's visit at the end of the month, though if the way Ben planted one on Jay at midnight on New Year's is any indication of the sort of craziness this visit will bring, then I may just have to buy an actual lock for our bedroom door. 

Oh, and yes: There is photographic evidence* of that kiss, I just wasn't allowed to post it. 

*New year, new photo-sharing service. I was having problems with Snapfish no matter which browser I used (I think it may be an anti-Mac thing), so welcome to my Flickr, mostly because you can view photos without having to register and it's just one photo stream. And! You can comment. Just be nice. 

Idling away

I thought by taking a job editing, I'd be more inspired to write, but instead I just find myself picking out typos in everything I read. Bo-ring.

Which is what life has been lately, though I know those of you in more exciting and far off lands check here for updates on life in New York, so I'll do the best I can in trying to make an unexciting existence sound remotely interesting.

We caught up with Ratterman, Franklin, Vicki and the Lishegos over the weekend and everyone is doing well, with the exception of a minor meltdown over the lack of enough vanilla extract for some peanut butter macadamia nut cookies, which turned out to be pretty good. (See what fun you're missing?! Octoberfest in Germany? The Great Wall? Bah.)

Next week, Jay is off to Melbourne and Sydney (and perhaps someplace else in Australia?), for the first flight of something that has the wingspan of a football field. I am making him take my camera and will try my hardest to also make him blog about it, though for whatever reason his love affair with blogging has been short-lived. What happens in Seville, stays in Seville, I guess.

On a more personal note, we had a Meet the Parents weekend two weeks ago. The Boehmers, in town for the weekend, met the Merritts in a casual yet intimate dinner setting at Arturo's. All went well and I wasn't very nervous about it until I saw that my father had managed to singe off most of the skin on his chin (not an exaggeration) from a piece of cheese on a sausage and pepper sandwich. It was the sort of thing you could tell everyone was staring at but didn't want to ask about, so I eventually felt compelled enough to explain my father's leprosy.

All in all, it seems that our parents were more concerned about how they came off rather than formulating a real impression of the other set. So the good news is, I think we'll all be able to hang out again.

And that, my friends, is all there is for now. I'm trying my hardest to stay away from the obligatory "I promise to update again soon!" sign off.

Oh, wait.

Another One Bites the Dust

I think I speak for both myself and Jay when I say how flattered we are that our trip to Spain inspired so many of you to one-up us. We love that you didn't let us bask in the glow of our extended vacation for too long, taking away our comeback high with more exotic life happenings like "moving to China" and "exploring the world," not to mention totally stealing our thunder by blogging about it all.

And so, a few weeks ago, Jay and I said goodbye to another set of dear New York friends, Jewitt and Sue. Or JewSue. (There's also GabLu. As for us? BoehMerritt. Though these nicknames never seemed to catch on with anyone beyond Jay and myself.)

JewSue are off on a truly epic adventure, which you can follow on The Voyage of Swill. (And, as always, there will be a link at left.) Their itinerary covers South America, Eastern Europe, India and finally, an official settling in Korea, for goodness knows how long, except that I already know it's too long since Jay can't stop talking about how he no longer has any friends in New York, which is largely why he decided to move in with me, I'm sure.

You don't know the trouble I've seen

...Trying to upload this video. I'll spare you the details, but it involved fights with a font program, beguiling moments on Blogger and numerous break-up threats since the video was supposed to be posted within minutes of landing at JFK.

I'll admit, I'm a little ashamed it took me almost two months to get this up. After all, I'm the Type A one. But I also think it's fitting, since the Spanish are rarely in a rush to get anything done in a timely manner. I guess those Spaniards really did rub off on me!

Two additional items worth noting:

First, Jay's good friend Gabel, along with his lovely girlfriend Luhan, recently ditched New York for Beijing. Like, permanently. He's blogging about trading democracy for Communism here. (You also can find a link under Friends & Neighbors.) The drinks, the pool games and the hugs that made up one of their final nights in New York is here.

Second, in an effort to milk this epic time waster of a blog for all it's worth (seriously, do you people even check in anymore?), I'm back to blogging. (And Twittering!)

So stay tuned, we hope you enjoy the video and a big thanks to everyone who continually checked in here while we were away. It was always an unexpected treat to have some of the blog posts recited back to us in e-mails, phone calls and upon our return, because it showed you were reading and that you cared. (Sniff.) It's nice to know we were still on your minds even though we were out of sight.

Sarah and a Series of Firsts

There is a first time for everything and it just so happens that a lot of firsts occurred with the visit of our friend and my former roommate Sarah. (She's an adventurous gal, so it makes sense.)

These first times included, but were not limited to, biking through Seville's city center (exhilarating, as we usually stick to the designated bike path); a bullfight (nauseating--or so I hear); driving through Spain (anxiety inducing); and a flamenco show at the renowned Casa Anselma, (fun, if not exactly as described by the guide books, which are becoming more useless every day, perhaps not surprisingly, given all the recent scandal).

Here are pictures, and above a video of said flamenco, which features an extremely sweaty man and a pretty bartender Jay totally would have put the moves on if I wasn't around.

UPDATE: The gauntlet has been thrown: Sarah has posted a whopping 526 photos on Snapfish.

Comped With Corrie

Our guests' visits are sort of evolving into a "Choose Your Own Adventure" series and in Corrie's case—who is the perfect guest because she is so c'est la vie—the trip culminated into "Spain: The Land of the Free." During her time here we netted complimentary jamón croquettas, a round of drinks, a separate round of shots and entry to Italica, the nearby Roman ruins. With the exception of Italica, these gracious givings were all at places Jay and I frequent on a weekly basis, places where we've gotten to know the bartenders and wait staff--at least to the degree our limited Spanish will let us. How generous the Spanish are! That, or they know how much we Americans like to impress one another.

Either way, having our first visitor was a blast and not just because she provided us with someone else to talk to. Have a look at mine and Corrie's 100+ photos from her visit.

Mi Amigo

Antonio works across the street from our apartment at a café called Las Columnas. That's him in the picture, and here are 10 things I like about him:

1) He always greets us when we walk into the café.
2) He knows what we drink and readies one beer and one white wine the second he sees us.
3) He talks to us, though we never understand what he's saying, since he seems to speak some version of Spanish even Jenn can't decipher.
4) He's quick to smile, even though he is lacking teeth.
5) He has what looks like a prison tattoo on his fingers.
6) He gave us free jamon croquetas when Corrie was in town, making us look pretty damn cool.
7) He took pictures of us with his cell phone.
8) He asked for Jenn's phone number and e-mail address, which was ballsy, considering I was standing right there.
9) He yells out our food orders to the kitchen in very loud voice.
10) He's the closest thing Jenn and I have to a friend in Seville.

It's 4 p.m. EST. Do you know where your expats are?

Dear Diary,

We made a friend! His name is Joaquin--or Quino, as his friends (like us)--call him. He doesn't speak very much English, but whatevs, he is patient with our inconsistent Spanish. He owns a café bar steps from our apartment and he has a dog named Pipa (short for Josephina) who just roams around the place looking for attention. And he, like, totes invited us to his bar's anniversary party on Saturday. Like, we're so excited we may just need to go buy new outfits. Can't wait! More soon...

TTYL,

jm & jb
(P.S. Yay--photos!)

Sevilla Later: The Party

What a great time it was. We drank, we ate, we practiced flamenco and no one cried. Which, now that I think about it, kind of pisses me off.

Party pics here.


(Special thanks to Ilyse for creating the hilariously embarrassing invite.)

And now, my photo homage to everyone who could not be there and was very much missed. (Some of these photos are ooooold, which means we need to hangout more. If you don't even have a photo, then we reallly need to hang out more.)

Abby














Forever my art girls: Nicole, Lauren and Kelly













Casey















The CDs, although Corrie gets a pass since she's coming to visit














Dawn and Gina, who I think took this picture, which is why she's not in it












Debbie, who was in Meh-he-co














Erin














Kerry, who would kill me if I put a photo of her on my blog














Lloyd


















Mariel














Megan














Molly














Renee, Danielle, Brendan and Arielle














Ratterman














Sue














Vicki














Ysolt