Dinner Parties & Doggie Playdates

Winter has finally arrived in San Antonio, with lows in the 30's and highs in the 70's...brrr! That's what happens after living here for a year or two...you need a sweater when the thermometer reads anything under 70 degrees Fahrenheit! Fortunately for us, our fireplace has just been inspected and we have had occasion to use it a few times with great success thanks to Alexandra's fire-making abilities. Grab some hot chocolate and come sit beside us and the crackling fire.


Now that we're all warm and toasty, I'll share a few pictures from a dinner party that Alexandra & I threw for our friends a week ago. Alexandra did all the cooking and I must say that her job was made easier by my fine sous-chef skills (although she may tell you otherwise that I was in the way and ate things that weren't meant for me!). She spent an entire week preparing the dinner for 8 with first-class results. Everyone loved the food and we all ate too much. Here is the menu:

• Hors d'oeuvres:
• Roasted Chashews with thyme and rosemary
• Thinly sliced smoked tuna, drizzled with a cream sauce and lemon zest
• Crudités with "Green Goddess" dip
• Champagne punch with an ice ring made of cranberry juice and fresh fruit
• First Course:
• Squash soup with candied walnuts (thanks mom!).
• Second Course:
• Chicken Mirabella with olives and prunes
• Cous-cous with dried cherries and apricots
  
• Roasted beets and brussel sprouts
  
• Third Course:
• Grapefruit and Avocado salad with dijon dressing
• Dessert:
• Fresh strawberry short cake with strawberry jam & homemade whipped cream!

Here is what the dining room table looked like:






And of course everyone had a little take home gift prepared by Alexandra:

Now that you've heard about our successful dinner party, how about a few pictures of our little guy Bruno? (PS - at 11 months, he tips the scales at 124.9 lbs!!!). He's THE GREATEST dog and everyone who meets him loves him. As you'll see in the pictures below, he's got quite a good group of doggie friends :)













Here is a picture of Summit, a Shiba Inu that we are watching this week for our friends Mark & Elisa. He weighs all of 25 lbs I would imagine, yet he and Bruno get along really well - too well actually, as they have taken to racing around our house with predictable results. Summit looks like a fox, doesn't he?



Finally, my favorite picture: Bruno's favorite game in the whole world is...well, it's sleeping. But his second favorite game is to play tug of war with his leash. Here he is, victorious and care free:


Cheers to all.

Thanksgiving in Atlanta...

This year, we were very fortunate to have practically an entire week off of work during the Thanksgiving Holiday. We decided to drive the 1,028 miles from San Antonio all the way to the very drought-stricken Atlanta so that we could introduce Sir Bruno to the Atlanta family. We left our quiet little street at 2440 Brighton at 4:15 AM Sunday morning and had pretty slow going due to the densest fog one could imagine. After an hour or two the fog began to lift...and we promptly found ourselves in the midst of torrential downpours that made us glad to have just put on new windscreen wipers! The rain lasted for the majority of the trip, letting up just before our arrival in ATL. We passed through Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama before reaching Georgia, and it was most reassuring to have a 130 lb dog in our midst to protect us from some very interesting characters along the way. The funny thing is, Bruno is such a gentle dog that I was very surprised each time he growled at anyone who even dared look at our car while stopped at the local gas stations.


While at home it was great to see all the family: me mum & dad, Robs, Y+M, the twins, DJ, Karly, my bro and aunts/uncles/cousins. You're all special in your very own unique ways, but alas the twins are by far the cutest! See for yourself...













And in case you think it's all fun & games...here's a what it looks like when your mom & dad realize you've probably picked up dog poop!!!.....



Sheeshhh....a mother's job is never done....

Why I love Sunday Mornings...

My work week is filled with stress - as a resident I really am a "resident" at the hospital, responsible to countless bosses and patients with different needs, pulled in a million-and-one directions (surgery, studying, examinations, clinics, research etc) from the wee hours of the morning until late in the night. Every once in a while though I get the weekend off to share with my wife and our Great Dane pup...and the stresses of the week seem to just fade away. I love to get up early on a Sunday morning and take our puppy to a nearby field and watch him run around and roll in the wet grass, well before most people are up yet. By the time I get home, a wife appreciative of being able to sleep in a bit has made some delicious coffee, topped with whipped cream ...along with a breakfast reminiscent of the ones we used to share in Paris not so long ago...

007 - Operation Big Macher

The name's Gitt...The Jeffrey J. Gitt!

Two weeks ago while in St. Louis, we celebrated not only Bob's wedding but also Jeff's *0th birthday (sorry, but the actual number is on a need-to-know-basis only). "Asian Persuasion" & "Legs Galore" (code names for Susan & Alexandra) planned the surprise celebration with a Bond theme.
**The Setup: TJG (The Jeffrey Gitt) was under the impression that he was going out for a nice, quiet dinner with his wife Susan ("Asian Persuasion").

**Plan A: At precisely 10:01 PM on the evening of the planned event, a US Air Force Spec Ops C-5 Jet was going to fly over the house and 6 attractive blondes were going to parachute out, with the words "Happy Birthday TJG" on their chutes.

**Plan B: if the above failed, which unfortunately it did due to overcast skies, a stretched Chrystler 300 SS Limo painted metallic silver with a jet-black roof was to pull up to the house as TJG was leaving for dinner. Sure enough, as we were all leaving for dinner the limousine pulled up to the house and the first part of the surprise was sprung! We all got into our chauffeured ride and were whisked off to the Ritz Carlton for drinks and appetizers. After we had eaten half the cheese in the state & tasted THE BEST drinks this side of the Mississippi, we had the chauffeur drop us off at surprise #2: a swank dinner at Sydney Street Cafe (Veuve Cliquot included, naturally!). As the wee-hours of the night crept up on us we headed to the HOTTEST night spot in STL (sorry but if we told you the name it would no longer be the super-cool spot that it is...them's just the rules of the game). After a bit of dancing we were carted off in style via Bond Limo - precisely at the time the birthday boy began to feel sick :( We all had a fantastic time and even though he spent the rest of the weekend fighting off a virus - we think he had a great time too. Well, at least a memorable one!!

The Wedding, Part II

This weekend, Alexandra was in Dallas visiting a friend of hers. That left me with Bruno and we had a great weekend together. Luckily for me, Bruno gets pretty tuckered after a long walk and a few throws of a nice-sized stick. That left me with plenty of time to edit more pictures from Bob & Claudia's wedding last weekend. Here are more pictures from the wedding then (the theme is "people").






















Hope you like these pictures of people at the wedding. More on the way...

Bob's Wedding

**I've noticed that the photos are a bit pixelated when viewed on this blog. I have figured out how to post them without this distortion but that will have to wait until the next episode! Time for me to study...enjoy the show:

This weekend was a special celebration, Bob Horn's (Alexndra & Whitney's dad) wedding to Claudia Mink. The wedding was held at Bob's house in St. Louis and was a really lovely ceremony officiated by Rabbi Miller (originally from Durban) and attended by 50 friends and family members. Despite a small heat spell in the low-90's, the outdoor wedding went off without a hitch and I think that everyone had a fantastic time. Here are a few pictures to showcase the weekend, with more on the way.
*For the photography inclined: these were edited on my laptop so if you notice any color casts let me know :)

The outdoor wedding was held in the beautiful woods that surround the house. Lanterns lined the walkways and added a very romantic air to the ceremony. Keeping the mosquitos away - an added bonus!


Setting up the bar before the wedding...


Here is Rabbi Miller reviewing the Ketubah (the Jewish Marriage contract) and signing it. Even though it is a contract, it is a lovely document!


Next, Bob accepts a Tallit from the Rabbi signaling his acceptance of the Ketuba's terms (I think...anyone care to elucidate?).


I'll have to edit a picture of the Chuppah, but let's jump to the end of the ceremony! The breaking on the glass and the first kiss...





Now it's time for toasts, food, laughs and drinks!








Hope you enjoy and stay tune for more pictures...
Love from Kevin & Alexandra.

The Return

Today I finally returned from a month-long training mission in Norfolk, VA where I had the opportunity to concentrate on Pediatric Ophthalmology and do some great surgery. It was nice to get out of San Antonio for a while but no fun at all to be away from Alexandra & Bruno. The two of them did a great job of caring for each other and, while Alexandra is definitely the same size as when I left, Bruno is a completely different story - Sir Bruno now clocks in at an impressive 110 lbs and is not quite 9 months old yet :) His personality however is still just as sweet as when I left (although I admit, I'm a bit afraid of him when his enormous bark errupts!).
Alexandra has pampered me with my favorite foods, movies and a plethora of "welcome-home" signs. We had a fantastic day which started with me taking Bruno for a run in the park this morning, allowing Alexandra to sleep-in past 5 AM for the first time in a month. Bruno's favorite thing is to roll in wet grass which he indulged in at our field, pictured below. He also loves to play with sticks - you can see in the pictures that he found what is rather more like a small tree :)




After returning from our run in the park, Bruno indulges in his newest activity: eating acorns...don't ask, I have no idea why.

Hmmm....do these look appetizing? Bruno thinks so.
In the afternoon, the three of us went to Starbucks for a iced coffee (Pumpkin Spice...mmmm!). The thing is, when you go out with this dog people come up to you all the time: example - we ended up meeting some rather colorful characters who can best be described as (1) an artsy bohemian chain-smoker (fiance to manager of said Starbuck$ - could turn into free Pumpkin Spiced iced coffees), (2) an Air Force linguist specializing in Serbian and (3) an Alamo Heights snooty-pants! At least San Antonio isn't without entertainment :)


Finally we finished the day with a lovely walk as the sun was setting on Summerfield (our neighborhood)...