Happy Birthday Matt! - Part 2 of 3

From: Melonie L. Stanton
Sent: Thursday, February 18, 2010 12:25 PM

To: 'Stanton, Matthew A.'; 'Pepin, Marc'; 'Jenny.McCabe'; 'Kelley Henderson'; 'Harry Henderson'

Subject: Disney Here WE COME!!! (whether you're ready for us or not...)

Hello Disney Travelers,

It looks like we are in for some beautiful weather! Be sure to bring that sweatshirt though. Alcohol can only warm you for so long. And divers, don't forget your masks. And suits! I don't think the kiddies are ready for free-ballin' divers :)

Also, you should have all received an email about online check-in. I recommend doing this. They say it saves time. Although last time we were there, check-in still took a long time, but maybe it would have been longer if we did not do the online check-in. I requested that our rooms be together or at least very close to each other. If you do the online check-in, there is a place to make special requests, go ahead and mention it there as well. The reservations are under Melonie Stanton, Kelley Henderson, and Marc Pepin.

So, here is the plan for Friday. We get an early start - this will maximize monorail bar-hopping time as well as ensure that we can call it an early night (relatively) and we will be refreshed and ready for a fun-filled day on Saturday. The original plan was to get a quick bite at the hotel and then head out. But I thought of something better... I did not take into account that we are in Winter Olympics Season. So, if we all get to the hotel early and can leave for an early dinner, the wait should not be too bad at...

THE ESPN CLUB (da-na-nant na-na-nant - woo!!)

at Disney's Boardwalk. There we can dine, guzzle beer, AND watch our > fav athletes and events on at least 100 TV's. Doesn't get more American than that!

And then the monorail bar-hopping adventure can begin! How does that sound??

In case you are wondering about wardrobe - I was thinking nice jeans and a cute top for Friday - Harry, I know you have lots of cute tops. Bonus points for Marc and Matt if you guys match. Park clothes for the rest of the weekend - jeans and a t-shirt. Be sure to ONLY bring comfortable shoes. There will be a lot of walking. Even for monorail bar-hopping. This means you Mom, no heels!

One more thing - you may want to bring a beverage supply. We will be staying on property and there is only one gas station with very limited (and expensive) options. I reserved preferred rooms, so we should all have a mini-fridge in our rooms.

Well, I think that about covers it. Can't wait to see you all TOMORROW! And let the Birthday/Soon-to-be-married/Just got our C-cards/Harry gets to go away for the weekend celebration begin!!!

Love ya guys, Mel

Happy Birthday Matt! - Part 1 of 3

It is Matt’s 32^nd birthday! We planned a fun weekend to celebrate, but his birthday is on a Wednesday this year. I asked him what he wanted to do and offered multiple birthday scenarios – night out at one of our favorite restaurants with friends, a date night at the local high school play – a Charlie Brown play, go see a movie – any movie he wants, even that new Wolf movie, or a night at home. He chose a low-key night at home with some of our closest friends. So, we had a chili and game night at our house featuring our made-up whodunit game - Suspect. Each person emailed me a fun fact about themselves that no one else knew and I made up little notebooks with the facts along with some fabricated facts (or at least I thought). We then asked the ‘suspects’ questions in turns and then wrote down our accusations. Melissa was the best detective (most correct accusations) and Katie was the best suspect (least suspected). Who would have thought Katie’s grandfather invented the glass eye!?! Since Matt is thirty-TWO, everything was in two’s. We had two kinds of chili, 2 kinds of margaritas & probably 32 kinds of beerJ. After dinner we all sang Matt ‘Happy Birthday’ and ate some cookie birthday cake while we sat around the TV watching the Winter Olympics. We had a lot of fun commentating the Curling and cheering on Sean White as he won the Gold. And NBC’s lack of bleeping-out. It was a fun night and great way to kick-off the birthday festivities!

Christmas ain't over till the beer is gone

Finally, after 2 months of search and consumption, I have finished the Tour de Christmas Beer 2009. For those that don't know, the motivation for the vast collection of holiday cheer came via last year's Christmas present from Melonie; a book all about Christmas beer. So with the help of my brother Jay, best friend Marc, and father-in-law Harry, I was able to procure and sample 33 different Christmas beers ranging in style from Belgian Strong Ale to ESB to Saison. My favorites though came from the classic holiday style, "Winter Warmer." Topping the list was Anchor's Our Special Ale, followed by Ipswich WInter Ale, Wyerbacher Winter Ale, and Landcaster Winter Warmer Ale.
In my opinion these beers embody the winter ale style, with unique flavor profiles containing chocolate, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Thanks again to Jay, who provided 50% of the winners. In all the adventure was quite successful, although I may be hard pressed to do it again. Although we did see there is a winter beer fest in Pennsylvania every year...