a few wedding photos before bed

I've been lazy this week. No, scratch that. Other than one frantic night of making travel plans for next week, and one night devoted to the season finale of Project Runway, I've been lazy. Believe me, I had every good intention of posting wedding photos earlier this week. Sorry.

I won't say too much in this post save for this:

Allison was gorgeous.
Sean was handsome.
They are very much in love and well suited for each other.

Can you ask for more?

I'll post photos of others tomorrow or Sunday. My lazy post for tonight, though, is all about Allison and Sean, happily married (and still honeymooning in the Rockies, I think).

The bride before the wedding.

Vows.

Signing the documents.

Newlyweds.


This is how Allison ALWAYS is in my mind's eye: happily laughing.

More laughter.

A kiss for the photographer, and not the last kiss at that!

With Sean's restored '68 Mustang.

Outside the reception hall, formerly a cinema.

First dance.

quick dispatch, post-wedding

I've barely begun looking at the 266 photos we (Conrad) took at the wedding and reception yesterday. Expect photos on the blog later today and this week. For now, while I sit at Pearson International awaiting my flight back to Chicago, I offer you this shot taken as we left the reception just after midnight last night. Allison and Sean had a wonderful movie theme they executed magnificently. What a fun night!

rehearsal dinner

Oh gosh, not much to report here. Just read into this post the ever-growing anticipation of the wedding this afternoon. The skies are clear, blue, and sunny over Toronto; the temperature is pleasant. Allison and Sean have a wonderful day before them in so many ways.

Last night, the happy couple gathered the wedding party (and in case it wasn't clear, I'm one of the groomsmen) and immediate family together at Spring Rolls on Eglinton for dinner. Conrad and I got to see Brenda (YAY!) for the first time in a few years. I got to see Allison's parents for the first time in even longer. We got to meet a number of the people (like Marie, whom we shared some wine with at the hotel last night) I've heard so much about for so long, as well as meeting Sean's family. Instructions received, gifts given to us (a digital image frame - I have ideas for it in the front foyer - cool gift!). And a fun, easy, casual dinner wherein we got to chat with a whole lot of people. And Brenda got the toast she wanted.

We have a few hours yet before we leave for the wedding. I think Conrad and I will go for a walk just to get some nice down time together. In the meantime, photos from last night...

Brenda and me.

Sean's cousin's wife, Fiona, and his mother, Phyllis.

Fiona, Phyllis, Conrad, Nina, Janet (the matron of honour).

Percy and Portia.

Allison's mother, her Aunty Kathy (Cathy?), and Marie.

Sean's brother Mark, Mark's girlfriend Donna, and Allison's cousin Rina (Reena? - we needed name tags last night, in retrospect).

The groomsmen receive gifts: me, Kevin (the best man), Tom (Sean's cousin), and Mark (another Mark).

Brenda and I with our gifts.

Opening the gift.

Brenda shows me her gift.

Jewelry for the bridesmaids.

Brenda and Sean.

Sean's parents, Ted and Phyllis.

Sean and his best man, Kevin.

Allison, with me, in a stunning dress.

Conrad and me.

a lovely dinner in TO

We're not sure if Allison or her friend Marie or anyone else will stop by the room before bedtime for a nightcap. We have a bottle of Pinot Noir we're glad to share, but who knows. If not, then we'll keep it corked and turn in for a good long night of sleep. We have a busy day of wedding tomorrow. Fun!

Last night we dined with Liza and Steve. In case you're not keeping track, Liza is an old schoolmate from Terrace; Steve is her handsome, friendly husband. We met at North 44, just a short stroll up Yonge from the Eglinton stop at 6:30, and settled in for a very good, leisurely meal.

I love restaurants where I am so very torn between menu items because I see so many key ingredients mentioned and that I love greatly. It was tough ordering, for that reason, but oh so easy to dine. We didn't force Liza and Steve to take photos of their meals, so only mine and Conrad's are shown here.

We shared a bottle of the restaurant's own private label unoaked Niagara Chardonnay to start with. You know, I don't know Ontario wines well, and the ones I've had (including the ghastly Baco Noir at the hotel lounge on Thursday night) have not been nearly so good as BC wines. I still think BC is better - chauvinism to some degree, I know. We did fine with our Ontario wines last night, though.

My appetizer: Pork belly "Confit" with kale, crackle, and pan drippings. Mmmm, pork. See Dad? I had MORE pork.

Conrad's appetizer: Caramelized curry scallops with okra and coriander chimmichuri. He said they were good. We playfully did not share our food with each other.

With dinner we switched to an Ontario Pinot Noir, the Hardie, from Prince Edward County. I liked this wine as well, and I'm sorry I couldn't find it in the LCBO store we popped into today.

My meal: Duckling "Three Ways" with crisp confit, pink breast, and seared foie gras with soubise, natural juices, and spiced apple. Another outstanding dish.

Conrad's meal: Fresh Dover sole roasted with caper berries, lemon, and chives. Before I knew it, his plate was clean.

Of course we had dessert. Well, Conrad did: Chocolate3 (imagine that 3 as a superscript, as in chocolate cubed). A trio of bittersweet chocolate banana cloud, milk chocolate phyllo cheesecake, spiced hot chocolate shooter. All of us agreed that the shooter smelled wonderful but was not as tasty as we'd like. I just don't care for hot spices and chocolate, I admit.

(Just back from sharing a bottle of Pinot Noir with Allison and her friend Marie. It's after midnight here, which means the wedding is later today.)

I had cheeses instead of dessert: Vieux Bruges, Delice de Bourgogne, Bleu L'Etoile, and Le Grand Manitou. If pressed, I would say the Delice was my favourite. I was a little daunted by how generous the portions of cheese were, and Conrad got a nice share of my plate.

In fact, generosity of serving was an interesting quality of dinner. North 44 is not cheap (and thank you Liza and Steve for treating us), but the portions were fine. Come dessert, the portions were a little much. Liza and Steve ordered the dessert platter for two (or more, as it was listed). We think that it was suitable for six. So much dessert, far too much. Almost a bit of a mess on the plate, but tasty, yes.

And then some little treats to cap the night!

All in all, it was a lovely meal, spanning 3 and a half relaxing hours. Our turn next time for treating Liza and Steve, and we hope we might have an opportunity to do so in Chicago.

countdown is on

You know, if I were truly as cheesy as I mock myself for, I'd have titled this posting "The Final Countdown" and launched into some emulation of the Europe song. Sometimes, rarely, I have a little more taste/class/discretion than might be believed. Happily.

I know, I know. I said I was going to bed after one short post. Conrad is still clicking away through the Internet and work mail though, so I figure I may as well quickly post other photos that don't need much narrative.

The lovely woman with us is Allison. Less than 48 hours from now, she'll be a missus. Married. Contentedly. Conrad and I are thrilled to be in town for her wedding to Sean. Allison is such a marvelous friend and has been now for ten years, since library school. At one point we lived two floors apart in a small building. She came to my place for heat in the winter; I went to hers for television. We bonded over Britpop and movies and have remained dear friends since. Conrad also adores her. So we're delighted to come see her in any case, and especially as she begins married life.

We grabbed lunch with her today.


On this busiest of weekends (Thanksgiving weekend, for any American readers), we won't get much alone time with her and Sean. He couldn't make it today, alas, but we did meet up with Allison at Richtree. She and I have a long history of satisfying my maple syrup addiction by means of the ultra-light waffles made to order there. Lunch today, not breakfast, but a place of good memories for us anyway.






She looks gorgeous, doesn't she? All aglow. Less then 48 hours, less than 48 hours...

swinging

Hey baby, care to trip the light fantastic before I take you home and show you some of my etchings?



The perfect touch to go with my cheesy little grins, no?

A fine sunny day in Toronto capped by a lovely dinner I'm too lazy to fully blog tonight. For now just a photo from tuxedo fitting today. Hmmm. Should I get my chest waxed before the wedding?

;-)

pork and lentils

Yes, Dad (if you're reading this), we had pork tonight. May that make you giggle at least a little.

One of my favourite old restaurant recipes is for a side dish of lentils prepared according to a recipe in a cookbook by John Bishop. [Side note: I've yet to make it to his restaurant. I really should one day.] Cumin stewed lentils.

Tasty as all get out. Fragrant beyond words. Necessary to close the doors to the other rooms because otherwise we'll go to bed smelling it in our room and wake up to find that all our clothes and furniture in the bedroom have a subtle reek of cumin and curry. All good things come at a price, right?

The lentils served as the bed on which I parked slices of pork tenderloin. I seasoned the meat very simply and tossed it in a hot oven. I even rested it afterwards, resulting in decently juicy meat. Well done Peter.

The other accompaniments were some simply cooked Brussels sprouts and dried Rainier and sour Michigan cherries plumped in Venturi-Schulze balsamic vinegar and a bit of petite sirah. We sipped some of the (overly oaky) red wine with the meal, and had a relaxing little meal of it.

And now, friends, I'm listening to the Christmas music I downloaded from iTunes. Hey, it's October - that's not too early.