Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween, Everyone!
(Here is our nephew Lucas in his costume! Cutest cow ever.)

And here is new baby nephew Tanner, too! So sweet. For more pictures of Tanner from his birthday, courtesy of his Mommy and Daddy (Kristen and Eric), click here.

Stay tuned to this blog for a fun update about Sherry's birthday weekend and a whole gaggle of pictures from the festivities. We're waiting for pics from friends, and time to sit and, as Liz puts it, "blog it out."

Welcome, Tanner Eric!

Welcome to the world our new nephew,
Tanner Eric Haus,
born to Brian's twin brother Eric and his wife Kristen
on the afternoon of Wednesday, October 26.
He is 7 lbs. 13 oz., and 20" long.
He joins big brother Lucas Brian, age 17 months.
We love him already.
We will post a picture when we get one!

Happy News . . .

I (Sherry) attended an amazing Women's Breakfast this morning for a terrific organization called Horizons for Homeless Children. The testimonials about what this organization has done in Massachusetts to help women with children get back on their feet by providing resources and childcare, so that women can get jobs and retain housing, were truly inspiring. Over 800 women from the city of Boston attended; the huge ballroom was packed to the gills and vibrating with life from all these wonderful and accomplished women coming together for a good cause. As one of the women who had been helped by the organization so eloquently put it in her speech, "Women are strong." So true. The keynote speaker was Rory Kennedy, a documentary filmmaker whose work was unfamiliar to me. If the clips shown are any indication, her body of work is socially conscious, daring, moving and inspiring. I truly look forward to seeing more of it.

Also, some nice happy news about our dear friends Chris and Anne and their baby Madeline! Their offer was accepted on their first home this afternoon (see right)! Isn't it perfect? We're so excited for them. Congrats, A&C! It's the second bit of good news for these great friends this month. Little Maddie recently had surgery, and she has being doing wonderfully since coming home and is making a full recovery! She's a cute little trooper.

Pretty good weekend

We had a pretty good final weekend before Brian heads into a very intense ortho trauma month. Friday night we went to a wonderful performance of the Boston Chamber Music Society, then met up with our friend Sherry for a couple drinks and some fun conversation. Sherry had a great time hanging with Sherry and Jens at their place in the South End on Saturday night, while Brian attended a resident social event across town.

Happy Birthday to Adrian!!

Happy Birthday to our dear friend Adrian!

Adrian and Sherry were sorority sisters at UCLA. They were roommates in the Chi-O house, where Adrian now serves as social advisor. She is one of Sherry's closest girlfriends who will always be an important part of her life. Always one for a crazy story or a long talk, she means so much to both of us. Have a great birthday, A! We miss you! (Here she is catching a break at her wedding.)

Adrian recently moved from sunny Hollywood to just-as-sunny Pacific Palisades, and boy do we wish we were there to celebrate this weekend with her (and with Stacy, who lives in sunny Long Beach). It has been pouring down rain in the Northeast for nine days straight and it is supposed to continue for days more. We're drenched!

Happy Birthday, Stacy!

Happy Birthday, Stacy!!!

-- my baby sister and dear friend . . .

(here at a friend's wedding)

We love you so very much. Your smile is radiant and gorgeous, and you become more beautiful, inside and out, every year. You change the world for the better every day in your job, and in the lives of your friends and family. Your heart is enormous and your spirit is young (even if you are a year older!).

Love so very much, Sherry and Brian

(P.S. Check back later for an audio blog that will be added to this post!)

Columbus Day Weekend Trip Report

This past weekend was Brian's first off since he began this job four months ago. It was Sherry's first weekend off in six weeks, and only her second day off in the same time period. She's been practically working an intern's hours herself. With this generally sad state of affairs as the background, we set off on a trip over the Columbus Day weekend to relax a little. Sherry got to practice her underdeveloped ability to say "no," when a Very Important Partner told her late on Friday afternoon about the lovely project they'd be working on together over the weekend. It was hard for her to do, but we survived with our trip (painstakingly planned by Brian) intact. We drove Friday night to the middle of Vermont, and stayed at a lovely bed and breakfast with a jet tub and fireplace. It was raining, so we opened the windows and lit the fireplace, and poured some wine. It was very cozy.

We awoke Saturday morning to a beautiful view of the fall foliage outside our window, and a very relaxing breakfast. we drove up to Montreal, enjoying the gorgeous New England "leaf-peeping" along the way. We also stopped at the lovely Simon Pearce gallery and factory. The glass-blowing was fascinating, and we could not help but pick up a little vase for ourselves, as well as a wedding gift for some dear newlywed friends. We checked into our very modern club-like hotel, and had a fun dinner at a jazz club restaurant in Old Montreal (Vieux Montreal). After dinner, we took a cab to Montreal's world-famous Casino de Montreal, and walked away about $125 richer.

Sunday we enjoyed the renowned Montreal bagel (much different from NY bagels), as well as the views from Mont Royal and around town. We toured Vieux Montreal, and did some window shopping on Rue St. Catherine, Montreal's shopping district. We had a dinner at a French restaurant we had visited on a romantic trip at age 23. (Brian's response to a question posed by the French waiter-- "Si." Hee-hee. And he'd been doing so well, with the notable exception of his inability to pronounce the French word for "three" without adding an extra "t" onto the end, which sent Sherry into fits of giggles every time it happened. We're so mature.)

We drove back on Monday, enjoying the foliage. We stopped for a quick lunch in Burlington, Vermont (home of UVM) and a cozy dinner in Hanover, New Hampshire (home of Dartmouth). Brian liked Dartmouth so much he wondered why it never occurred to him to apply there back when he was 17. Sherry agreed that it seemed to be very suited to him. We drove back, practicing a certain foreign language with audio CD's. (We wouldn't want to ruin the suspense of where we intend to take our next vacation, now would we?)

You can see pictures here.

Happy Belated Birthday, Maya Helfenberger Dulay!

Our beautiful friend Maya turned 29 on the 27th! She is a brilliant doctor, and a wonderful friend of ours since high school. We wish her a tremendous 29th year! We love you, dear Maya!