Surprise 60th Birthday Brunch

Michelle & I were invited to Larry Horowitz's home Sunday for a surprise 60th bday brunch for his wife Naomi. Several friends and relatives were present (including both daughters, a rarity these days). Safe to say their family pulled off a well-planned event (see shock value on her face). We were treated to some lox, tuna, egg salad, and pastry treats. We also met some additional distant relatives from Michelle's family ... 4th cousins perhaps? :-)

Whiz in the kitchen

Enjoy some beautifully baked challah bread by Michelle .... oohhh .... ahhhh :-)

4th of July adventure

We heard through word of mouth about the Comerica CityFest. It's an annual event held in downtown Detroit starting on July 4th, with various restaurants selling delicious samples of food. Lot of smoky meat aromas in the street (see the bbq pictures above). There was also live entertainment, including some upbeat jazz music.

Michelle really wanted to chow down on some crispy corn-on-the-cob (bargain price of 7 tickets = $5!). Overall we had a good time, and relaxed the rest of the day. Caught some fireworks later on TV, as well from our backyard deck. Happy 4th!

Happy 2nd Birthday!

Ginger officially turned two years old today! Not much in terms of celebration, Michelle bought her some new beef jerky sticks which she inhaled in a matter of seconds. She will get a prim & proper grooming on Saturday for an additional treat, we love you "baby girl" ...

Back in NY

Our work schedules coincided with time for another vacation back home in Long Island. Having no one to house-sit Ginger, we decided to drive back - a pleasant 13-hour experience on a Friday afternoon! We got home safe and went into NYC the next day to see friends and cousins of Michelle. We wrapped up with a beautiful afternoon in Central Park, with thousands of people soaking up sun and lounging around. Later we got to see Ginger and the aging wonder Coquette hang out (notice her tongue sticking out after all her rotten teeth were extracted!)

The rest of the week was spent relaxing at home and enjoying some beautiful weather in LI. We made it down to Jones Beach with my brother Zachary for some sun & fun. Later that evening we went to a delicious Indian restaurant nearby home:

Got see my Uncle Seymour, Aunt Arline, and Janis the following afternoon in Port Washington as well, with Seymour's beautiful wall art collection on display:

Finally my father and I got to have some manly "bonding time" catching fish on the Fishfinder boat out of Captree State Park. We each caught one fluke, mine was the 2nd-largest on board (unfortunately no prizes for 2nd place).

Got back late Saturday night, and starting work officially as 2nd-year fellows on Monday. Thanks to our hosts for a wonderful week, we'll be back in late August for some wedding celebration!

Commencement Ceremonies

Yesterday was a chance to say good-bye to the seniors at our hospital and congratulate those graduating from internship/residency/fellowship. The food spread was awesome with sushi, fruits, and chocolate dipping station for strawberries. They even had this cool ice bar with our hospital logo on it. Everyone had a good time!

Visit from Ray & Adrienne

It took a while but we were finally able to host these two in our home for the first time. Ray & Adrienne spent a very relaxing 9 days exploring the local Michigan area, including some fine Kosher eateries and other sight-seeing stops along the way.

As usual, Adrienne was a master in the kitchen, and we were served to hearty meals each day after work. On Friday we had a special Shabbat meal, and had our usual "highlight of the week" discussion.









Sunday we checked out the JCC and had a nice lunch together at the "Milk & Honey" restaurant. Ray enjoys climbing up the fake metal rope outside the main entrance :-)













Random shot of the week: little ducklings prancing on the golf course behind our condo after a recent hard rain (usually when they prance about).

We hope they enjoyed their visit, and look forward to seeing them in August for Michelle's cousin's wedding in NY!

Our Nation's Capital

Michelle & I were able to escape this past week for a GI conference held in DC at the Washington Convention Center. Thousands of gastroenterologists from all over the world were present to attend lectures and get up-to-date information on the field.

It wasn't obviously all work, as we saw David & Gretchen the day we arrived. First stop was to an animal shelter to see some cute dogs & cats, followed by miniature golf next door. Michelle drove down with them Saturday to Chesapeake Bay, MD while I was stuck indoors attending a postgraduate course.











We were also able to catch up with some old friends from college (Jon/Leslie) & medical school (Shabnam/Khalid) ...

Michelle was only there for the weekend, while I stuck around for a couple more days. Drug rep dinners galore at some very nice restaurants, plus some sight-seeing towards the end ...

Blissfield Train Ride

Several months ago one of Michelle's attending physicians gave us two free tickets to the Blissfield Murder Mystery

Train Ride. We finally picked a date, and drove ~ 90 minutes south to see what it was all about. The town itself is tiny, but it prides itself on running this inclusive meal & train ride. Kind of like "Who dunnit" with stand-up comedy mixed all together. We had a sit-down 5 course meal during the event, and left with some good laughs. Thanks Wil!

New trim for baby girl ...

It was recently time for Ginger to get another Petco professional grooming, this time more of a "Summer-Cut." They did a fantastic job, she usually doesn't care for the little decoration items though (see pink bandana go bye-bye). She should be good for another 2 months ...