Fantastic Labor Day Weekend!

I apologize for not posting on Friday, but after Thursday's EVA didn't go well, work became crazy busy preparing for the next EVA (on Wednesday) and I didn't have any time at all before I left to head to the airport in the afternoon.  I flew into Newark and met up with my parents at the airport for what proved to be a very fun and productive weekend.  We stayed with my brother and his fiance in Clinton, NJ.  They live in a really old half double that is walking distance to the adorable downtown of Clinton and the historic mill (picture above) - the charm of the area is absolutely undeniable.  We spent all day Saturday doing pre-wedding prep work like helping stamp and put together wedding invites (Juli is making all of them by hand and they're gorgeous!!!) and shopping for bridesmaid dresses.  Saturday evening was a luau themed engagement party for the happy couple thrown by two of the other bridesmaids.  A bunch of local family and friends all attended and we had a wonderful time - looks like the melding of the families will be a piece of cake!

Saturday we went to the US Open!  There was a group of 10 of us and we had day tickets in Arthur Ashe Stadium.  We started off watching the Djokovic vs Benneteau match, then we grabbed a snack and headed down to the employees entrance because my brother, who has been working at the Open as a master racket stringer, got us all a behind the scenes guided tour!  It was pretty awesome, J was whispering the names of all of the major players we passed and we got to see the stringing room where he works.  We caught lunch afterwards and I also purchased a Honey Deuce, the signature cocktail of the 2012 US Open, which came in an awesome commemorative glass (I may have had another one later in the day as well - they were tasty!).

The afternoon was mostly spent at the Roddick vs Fognini match, which was a great game.  Fognini may not be ranked, but he was a very entertaining player to watch.  The big draw was that this was potentially Roddick's last match as he announced earlier in the tournament that he will be retiring (at age 30!!!).  Roddick did wind up winning, but they took the match to 4 sets, and it was some good tennis!  Click here to see highlights from the game including Fognini's under the leg shot from the 3rd set!

We spent a couple of hours after that match exploring the grounds a bit.  The stunning globe from the 1964 World's Fair was one of my favorite parts.  I also picked up a fantastic 2012 US Open track jacket as a souvenir and we spent a little time in the Grandstand watching the Gasquet vs Johnson match.  That evening we drove into the city for dinner with family at Rare Bar & Grill where the truffle parmesan fries were to-die-for!  We dropped my brother off at his hotel afterwards (he had to work in the stringing room on Monday) and then headed back to Clinton.  Monday was low key - sleeping in, doing some shopping, and snacking on leftovers from Saturday before we packed up and made our ways home.  Overall a fantastic weekend!