The Caribbean, Mon!!

Editors note: to view pictures, go to: ericmayhaus.blogspot.com

So, we got married!

In our typical fashion, things started going wrong as soon as we got to the airport in Antigua. The flights were uneventful enough, both full with newlywed honeymooners, each on our way to our respective tropical paradise. But, after the high of arriving in the Caribbean, our spirits were lowered as we realized Christine’s bag had been lost. It seemed to be pretty par for the course in Antigua as well, as about half the plane was lined up to report missing baggage. A great way to start of the honeymoon, indeed. But, because we were on our honeymoon, we shrugged it off, and looked forward to a week in the sun.

As if on cue, we were quite literally handed some good news as soon as we got to the resort. Sipping our free champagne, we found out we had been upgraded to a beach front room!! AND, we had an open bar in our room that would be restocked every night, not to mention the “free” food and drinks we could order at any time at the 5+ restaurants. This is something I could get used to.

After relaxing in a couple lounge chairs right outside our room (because we had beach front, remember?) we got up to walk around, and enjoy the scenery a bit. Christine somehow managed to scrape her knee in the process. It wasn’t a “bad” scrape, just a little scratch. No big deal, right? So, the next day we went to the nurse to get a band-aid for it. 45 minutes later, we leave the nurse’s station with 3 band-aids, some ointment, and a little bit of our dignity gone. Even though it was quite clear that this scrape was far from life threatening, an official form had to be filled out, and I had to write a sworn declaration of how Christine scraped her knee on a lounge chair. And as if this wasn’t enough, while we were in the waiting room, some guy came in and asked for a band-aid because he had a blister. But he had no problem getting one, as it seems a blister is grounds to a free, no questions asked band-aid, whereas ours was a struggle against everything. At this point, I started to get the idea that this kind of stuff was becoming a trend.

The food was phenomenal. We had a different meal in a different restaurant every night, including: Japanese, Italian, English pub food, Caribbean, Mediterranean, and Tex-Mex. It was great, especially the “free”ness of it and the free drinks. I say “free” with a grain of salt, because although we paid for this resort up front, it was still awesome to not have to pay at every meal or for every drink.

The beach was amazing as well. There weren’t too many people around, and we could pretty much sprawl out wherever we wanted. Being the fair-skinned, German descent couple that we are, we tried to stay in the shade when we could. I’ll have the hundreds of people who told us at the wedding “YOU guys better put on sunscreen! You’re soooooo pale!” know that yes, we have in fact noticed we’re both pale, and yes, we both did get burnt a bit. Christine even got a little sun rash. Go figure.

To make matters even more perfect, one day we decided to sit under an umbrella on the beach. We were enjoying the day, sipping our pina coladas, and all of a sudden a bird flies under the umbrella and proceeds to poop onto Christine. As if losing luggage, getting a scraped knee, spending 45 minutes in the nurses office about said knee, and a sun rash weren’t enough, she gets pooped on. I applaud you, karma. I did what every great husband should do, and that’s laugh hysterically. What a perfect week.

In short: this week in the sun was great, mon. In the land of “Don’t worry, be happy,” it’s easy to see how the people there are always in a good mood and always ready for a good time. It was a great time, and I’m still stuck in the clouds 2 weeks later. But, all good things end, and it is great to be back.

Stay tuned for more zany antics in New York from the newly married Dynamic Duo!

Cinco de Mayo! And How!

--If you can't view images in email, go to http://ericmayhaus.blogspot.com--
Hola mi Amigos! Saludos desde Neuva York!  This week's episode has a distinct Mexican flavor, as we here at Adventures in the Big Apple celebrate the richness of Mexican culture, and the victory of the Mexican army over the impeding French forces in the Battle of Puebla.  For those of us not familiar with Mexican history, it's Cinco de Mayo!

The big party, at least for Christine and I, was the celebration of this great festival with our Young Adults group after Mass on Sunday.  So, it was really on May 3rd.  So, Treo de Mayo.  Or Tres de Mayo, I'm not quite sure.  Regardless, it was a celebration of the Mexican culture!  A large group of young adults in their 20's and 30's (sorry other-aged people, but this was a somewhat "exclusive" event) gathered in a room totally decked out in Mexican gear.  Banners, ribbons, sombreros, Mexican music, and streamers filled the room with character.  Drinks of choice even included Margaritas, Dos Equis and Corona!  Hurra por la cerveza!  The best part was obvi the food.  My favorite dish was this little rolled up flour tortilla shell filled with delicious cheeses and chicken and meat.  It was kind of like a rolled up quesadilla.  And it was also kind of like a mini party that exploded in your mouth! (I know that was kind of lame, but what are you going to do?)  We ate, danced (some), drank, and enjoyed each others' company.  My boy John B even gave a proper explanation of what the significance of Cinco de Mayo is, and a shout out to Our Lady of Guadalupe, a central religious symbol in Mexican culture.

The Main Event

After overwhelming amounts of food was eaten, the main event started.  I was drafted (by force, I'll have you), into entering in a hot pepper-eating contest.  First off, let me just say that these peppers were hand picked by someone very familiar with Latin American culture, were humongous, and were slightly intimidating.  And I don't know the names of the peppers, but just trust me on the hot-ness factor of them.  

The first pepper up was slightly longer than my hand.  I attacked it with hopes of finishing quickly enough to not feel the pain.  It was decently spicy (a 4 or 5 on hotness scale), but nothing I couldn't handle.  The problem was it was pretty bland and just didn't taste good.  All 3 of us competing finished quite easily, save the fact that John's eyes started watering and sweat started dripping from his forehead almost immediately.  The second pepper was a let-down (3 on the scale).  We all were disappointed, and got a little too cocky.  

The third pepper was about a 9.763 on the hotness scale.  I figured it was going to burn and churn, so I tried to force it down as fast as possible.  But, it was too big to just swallow, so I was forced to chew it.  NEVER CHEW!  I finished first (no big deal, I won), and for about 24 seconds, I was fine, even mentioning, "it wasn't that bad, guys." Says the unsuspecting fool, about to be pounced upon by the spicy gods.  At roughly the same time, John and I looked at each other, wide eyed, and made a mad dash for chips, tortillas, and anything liquid.  When one's mouth feels like it's literally on fire, one's brain doesn't work properly enough to realize water only makes the pain worse.  Luckily there was milk on hand, and the two of us guzzled ourselves a glass.  Celine (the other participant) seemed relatively unfazed, at least not to our level. 

 And you may also be asking yourself, "Eric, where was your lovely fiance throughout your suffering?"  Well, she was doing what all good people do, laughing and taking pictures of my sweat drenched and pain stricken face.  Love you!  The pain wore off, but my tastes buds were bland for another day.  All in good celebration of Mexico!

Best Mexican Dish

Tacos.  Hands down (or up).  Although those rolly things with cheese and chicken were pretty darn good.  Let's be honest here.  We can all agree that all Mexican food is delicious.  I personally eat tortilla chips on a daily basis, and could live off of fajitas, tacos, burritos, and quesadillas for a majority of my adult life.  I applaud the Mexican culture for making its heritage so delicious. 

Best Mexican Beverage

After an epic battle that originally featured Corona pitted against the Margarita, the old timer comes out of nowhere to pull the upset W.  I'm speaking of none other than Dos Equis.

Best Mexican Restaurant in NYC

Seriously?  He's for real, isn't he?  Why, it's Blockheads of course!  Who doesn't love the larger-than-life burritos, the unlimited chips and salsa, and the world famous $3 Margaritas?!  No one.  No one doesn't love it.

Thanks for stopping by again, everyone!  I can't believe in only 2 weeks our wedding will be here!  We can't wait to see all of you again, and until next time....

Easter Weekend!

Note: Some people say they can't see the picture link in their email. Go to http://ericmayhaus.blogspot.com to see the pictures.

For the first time in 9(ish) months, Christine and I did the unTHINKable: visit Cincinnati!!!

Easter weekend turned out to be a pretty perfect weekend for us to come home and hang out with the fams before the wedding. And of course to hang this pretty cool event on Saturday: our wedding shower. We were blessed enough to have wonderful family to plan an event of this magnitude for us, and we were even more blessed to have people actually show up to the thing! And how many grooms can say they were cool enough to go to the wedding shower? Not many, dawg. I guess that means I’m in a class all by myself. Since Christine and I did so many different things before the main event, I’ll just talk briefly about that and put some good ol’ pictures up for those of you were weren’t there, those of you who were there and want to reminisce, or those of you who were there and want to forget.

Food seemed to be a main attraction: mini cheese coneys, mini Larosa’s pizza, and Montgomery Inn ribs. Nothing better than some good old Cincinnati style food. I couldn’t pry my friends Justin, Tyler, and Nate away from the food all night, so I think it’s safe to say those three didn’t go home hungry. For those of you who made/brought/prepared this food: Thanks! It was delicious, and perfect for the occasion.

Now to the ‘awkward part.’ Christine and I had answered questions about each other separately before the shower, and my Aunt Sue compiled them into a question session. For any questions I got wrong that Christine answered, I had to put a grape in my mouth, and for any Christine got wrong, she had to put a piece of gum in her mouth. Let’s just say that both of us had quite the mouthful after the question session was over!

To all who came/sent their regards: thanks so much! Christine and I really appreciate everything you all have done for us throughout our relationship, and we’re finally getting close to the Wedding day!! We both were excited to see everyone and can’t wait till May to see everyone again!

Mayhaus Invasion!

Note: For those of you who can't see the pictures in their email, click here to view the website.

Since almost everyone else made a trip up to New York since we’ve moved here, it was about time for some Mayhausian influence to arrive in the City that never sleeps.   As the seasons changed from winter to spring, New York City was greeted by three smiling Mayhaus women: Emily, Christina, and Stephanie (see picture below).

Unfortunately, the weather didn’t really cooperate with us the first night or the last day they were visiting us.  Naturally, the first stop I made the girls take was the trek through the bustling streets of Times Square to Christine and my favorite pizza place: John’s Pizzeria.  Those of you who’ve been following this blog might remember seeing and hearing the glorious sights and sounds of “John’s Pizzeria,” as this is a definite stop on any NYC visit.  After eating more than our fill of delicious greasy pizza, we met up with Christine, when we began to walk around in the rain, with the brilliant idea of trying to find desert to eat.  Whosever idea that was, I’m really not sure, but a soaked hour later, we finally got some ice cream in the West Village.  Worth it?  Maybe.  Did it taste good?  Most Definitely.

Since some of us have to drive on the economy and had to work on the next day (a Friday), we went home and just hit the hay.  I can’t really comment on what occurred next, except that, even after extensive directions were given out, somehow the girls managed to get lost within the 3 blocks it takes to get to the bus to New York.  Amazing, I know, especially if you know Emily and Stephanie.  Friday night Christine and I hosted our second Fish Fry at our Church, which turned into another successful event.  The girls got to meet our cool and hip friends, and see how utterly cool and popular Christine and I have become while living in New York.  That night we met up with Jeremy to hit up some even cooler places and showed them a great time at Blockheads and Vinyl.  Vinyl even had bathrooms that were dedicated to a famous musician, being Cher, Elvis, and Nelly.  Why they picked these three characters as people to style bathrooms around, I’ll never know, but it was kind of funny to see a bathroom decked out in all that is Nelly.

Saturday was the typical “Do Work” day.  This was the sight-seeing day that all people can only dream about until they spend time with Christine and I.  I feel like I’ve written about all of these things before: the World Trade Center site, St. Paul’s Chapel, Battery Park, the Brooklyn bridge, New York Town Hall, the Financial District…..the list goes on an on.  One highlight of this trip was the trip to Battery Park, where the girls all bought purses from the people stationed on the street.  The girls used words like “a rush,” or “a high” when describing how it felt to negotiate for these purses from these guys, but my experience was more like “boring” and “dumb.”  But hey, women be shopping, so there’s nothing you can do about it.  I think all the girls ended up with more stuff than what they came with.  We hit up China Town (after I got a little turned around), and ate a lovely dinner in Little Italy.  We went to the same restaurant that we went with Charlie, and had another wonderful experience. 

    

After dinner (and after taking a break from all the walking), we went to a comedy show at Upright Citizens Brigade.  These shows are sketch comedy, much liked to the hit ABC comedy Who’s Line is it Anyway? with that silly clown Drew Carey and everyone’s favorite funny man, Wayne Brady.  UCB is most definitely better than Who’s Line, and I feel like the girls had a great time.  We hooked up with our friends Ben, Jenny, and Jeremy for the show.  We pretty much passed out after that, asleep by the time our heads hit the pillow. 

A lot was done that weekend, many sights were seen, and much fun (I hope) was had.   Christine and I are lucky enough to live in a place where everyone finds an excuse to visit, so we feel like we’re close to everyone still.  

Not of This City

Editor's Note: Pretend like this came out on March 23rd.  That will make it all seem better and ultimately cooler.  And if you can't see the pics, click on this link to see the post on the website.

Today, I will take you to a little unknown land down south, a land where Spring hits sooner than later, a land where sweet tea flows like wine, where pancakes and bacon line the breakfast table: a little town called "Charlotte, North Carolina."

Christine and I took a much-needed mini vacation down to visit our long-lost friend, none other than Keller Schnier.  Before we speak of times in the warm southern air, let us first acknowledge the fact that we hadn't left New York City metropolitan area for quite some time.  Christine went to Nashville in the Fall, but I haven't left the area (besides D.C., which doesn't count because it's still a 'big city') since July of last year!!  As much as I love New York, there are times when an escape from the City is necessary.  

Highlights of the trip include: high-stacked chocolate chip pancakes, sweet tea with a bigger-than-life burger, 67 degrees, driving in a car!!, and a late-night Taco Bell run.  In typical New York fashion, it was kind of stressful getting there.  We took a train from Penn Station to Newark's airport after we both had, more or less, an overly stressful week at work.  But as soon as we stepped on foreign soil of the southern United States, our stress and worries were left behind.  (Funny side note: I was telling our receptionist at work that I was leaving for Charlotte, and at first she didn't know where it was.  Then, she was telling me her friend was also going close to North Carolina to "either Arkansas or Oregon, or one of those other countries."  Yes, she's from Queens and has never left New York.)

  

Keller was happy to see us, and lent his humble abode for our uses for the weekend.  We ran each morning, we slept in (a bit), and we stayed out kind of late!  I don't know what else you could want in a weekend.  We even got to take a nap and watch some of the NCAA tournament!  Friday night, my other roommate, Lance, and his wife Sara came up from Spartanburg, South Carolina to hang out for the evening.  We hadn't seen them in a long time either, so it was a great get-together, reminiscing of college days of old and yore.  This is where the "late-night-Taco Bell run" occurred, mainly because all Lance was doing was talking about Taco Bell and the gloriousness of what it truly is.  'Glorious' can not even explain the explosion of taste a Crunch Wrap supreme offers its eater during a late-night run.

On Saturday, Keller took us on a lovely tour of Charlotte, complete with the St. Patrick's Day parade and everything!  Yes, that Saturday was March 21st, not the 17th.  You see, Charlotte freaks out when it's below 60, so they postponed the  parade from the following week because it was "too cold" out.  Good news for us!  The City was great - as can be seen from some pictures posted.  

  

Saturday night we hung out, played guitars, and did work, after we ate a ridiculously good burger with sweet potato fries!! Keller's friend Jake had us back to his house for rock-age, and from there we hung out at a bar for the evening's festivities.  Then we slept harder than most rocks are.

Sunday was a day for the Lord, so naturally we went to church then ate brunch at the Pancake House.  Naturally.  At 70 degrees and sunny, Keller and I got a little cornhole-age in, something I've dearly missed since my move to the Big Apple.  For those wondering - yes, Keller and I still have it in cornhole, and we will totally dominate anyone who dares play us.  Fact.

It was a sad goodbye leaving Kell-dog, but a great trip, and a much needed break for the two of us.  Until next time, when work is again done!!

The Single Greatest Thing in the History of the World

I realize that I have been more than lacking in updating our New York blog. I'm sorry. Would you forgive me if I told you that I had been real busy, and been doing these totally sweet and awesome things that have needed all my attention? Well, we have been busy, but it hasn't ALL been awesome. But some of it has, and here's a recap of some of the awesomeness.

Our good friend Dave Adams decided it would be a pretty good idea if he came up to visit us. For those of you who don't know Dave, he's about to start his tenure as a member of the Peace Corps efforts down in Jamaica, from which he won't return for 2 years. Basically, his weekend up here was our last chance to hang out with the dude. And work was done. Or completed. Or, "we hung out a lot." He arrived on a freezing cold Friday night, so naturally we thought it would be a great idea to go and walk around a little bit before landing at our dinner spot. We ate at this great cheesesteak place in the West Village, called Wogie's. Christine and Dave and I had gone there back in 2005 when we visited Christine as she was co-oping. It was so good that we remembered it and wanted to come back. De-LI-cious! Jeremy showed up and ate with us two, and he and Dave got along famously. The cool thing about this place is that they play awesome music. The first time we went, they played the entire What's the Story (Morning Glory)? album by Oasis. (BTdub - great album!) This time they were rocking some classic 90's rock. It's great to find a place that knows some good tunes in this City. And what's better than cheesesteaks and rock n' roll? Nothing. The answer is, there's nothing better than it.

We made the distant journey to our next destination for the evening, which was located conveniently across the street. Greenwich Treehouse was the name, a bar overlooking busy Greenwich Ave in Greenwich Village. Ben and Jenny joined up with us at the bar, and a night of fun, festivities, and fortitude ensued. The West Village, much like Samuel Adams, is "always a good decision." We went home, and utter and sheer domination also ensued by me over Dave in Wii sports. We crashed so hard it was crazy. That Saturday was all about eating, walking, and watching the UC basketball game. We at the Seinfeld restaurant, then headed back down to the West Village to meet up with Ben and Jeremy to watch the UC game. UC lost, like it seems like happens too much nowadays, but it was still a good time hanging out. After seeing a hilarious protest, we walked around Central Park, where I was read to by the late and great Hans Christian Anderson. We eventually made our way for a lovely dinner in Hells Kitchen, with the night ending in typical fashion at Blockheads, the greatest single bar (or place) in New York City. More often than not a weekend somehow makes it way to reside there, and this weekend was no different. Sunday was the Big East Track and Field meet, which was taking place up in Washington Heights, and the UC women's team was competing. We ran into many old friends, AND got to see an awesome track meet. Nuttin' better den dat.

Dave left us feeling sad, yet happy for such a great weekend. It was great to see such a good friend one last time before he left for two years, and even better to have a great weekend to do it on.

This past few weeks have been pretty busy for us. I ran a 5k race, finally content with my finish, and I feel like I'm back in the mix of running again. Christine and I have been pretty busy with work, church, and trying to have a social life. It's crazy to think we only have like 2 and a half months left till the wedding, and a month until we come home for Easter. CRAZY!! I vow to update this again soon, and until next time.........ummm, enjoy?

Finally February

I’m back in the saddle again! Once again, I apologize for the delays for updating this site – I have no excuses besides myself. (and that’s not even a good excuse, anyway!) But I come to you through the airwaves from New York to your respected homes, and hope you enjoy hearing about how some of Christine’s and my experiences have been in the self-proclaimed “greatest city in the world.”

Obvi, this past weekend included Valentine’s Day. As you have probably already seen from the pictures included on this post, we made a heart-shaped pizza for the festivities. It turned out pretty well, donchathink? We even made the dough, and since we didn’t have a “sifter,” we could use sifted flour, and the dough was literally like glue. But it was cool with me because Christine was the one getting down and dirty with the dough. But man, did it taste good!

We also hit up this pretty cool little joint called Beauty Bar. It’s in the East village, and it’s a converted old beauty salon, complete with the hair dryers on the wall and the salon chairs. They even have this insane deal where you can pay $10 to get a drink AND a manicure!! Needlesstosay, Christine was excited and labeled this one-of-a-kind bar as her new “favorite of the City.” They even played rock music from the 50’s and 60’s when we were there, complete with a dance floor. It felt like we took a step back in time. Only in New York (and L.A., San Francisco, and somewhere else?) can you find a place like this.

I was also in attendance, in beautiful Washington D.C., for the victory of the Cincinnati Bearcats basketball team over the Georgetown Hoyas. It was my makeshift Bachelor Party, situated on this weekend partly because of the game, partly because of the centralized location, and partly because my good friend Dave is leaving in March for the Peace Corps for two years. The weekend was phenomenal, and we pretty much overtook D.C. I still found myself breathe a sigh of relief, however, when we arrived back in New York at the weekend’s end. The City that never sleeps is starting to feel a little bit like home.