Good evening, we made it to Wednesday!  Hope everyone celebrated in the right way (namely, No Pants Wednesday). Even though I have volleyball tonight, I’ve taken a break at home to enjoy some No Pants time…  and some blogging time.

Though I teased you all with some tidbits of my cousin’s wedding this weekend, there was more to it than silly mustaches and food on a stick.  In fact, there was a whole weekend of fun.  And it all started with the rehearsal (and rehearsal dinner!)  We were running a little late due to traffic from that crazy Occupy Wall Street stuff, so we went underground. Namely, to the subway!

Get her to the church on time!!

Luckily, we just made it, and the church was stunning.  Having been featured in Godfather II, Moonstruck, Men in Black, and Confessions of a Shopaholic, the Church of St. Anthony of Padua was picturesque, to say the least.

My camera just doesn't do it justice.

After watching the rehearsal go down (since I was giving a reading!!) we hopped a cab back to the hotel, which was luckily a stone’s throw from the location of the rehearsal dinner!  The location of the dinner was Open Door Gastropub  and, after reading some Yelp reviews and checking out their menu, I was specifically stoked for the extensive  drink menu. I decided, with so many options, it was definitely going to be a beer night.

Bottom's Up!

I started the night off with a Goose Island IPA which was tasty but not incredibly hoppy. A good way to start the night.  Also a good way to start the night?

Mini Beef Wellingtons... I'll be wolfing you down all night.

The appetizers were quality bar food, and also included pigs in a blanket. Pretty much a party in my mouth.

The best part of the night was definitely when my oldest brothers finally arrived!!

The Golden Age!

Despite our massive amount of love for my youngest brother and sister (the one I just had the Sister Date with!), the three of us always joke that we’re the “Golden Age”, as it took 3 years for all of us to be born, and 4 years later came the babies.  Well we were reunited in full force!

After all the tasty beers and appetizers, I was not all that interested in the food, but it was a pretty impressive spread.

Hot bar!

I was really looking forward to the infamous Mac and Cheese here… alas, no luck.  But let’s be honest, the real focus fell to the massive selection of beers.  Over the course of the night, I enjoyed:

• Goose Head IPA
• Southern Tier 5 Boroughs BPA (Something I’d NEVER seen before!)
• Chimay Trappiste
• Ommegang  Hennepin Farmhouse Saison
• Brooklyn Brewery’s Brooklyner Schneider Hopfen-Weiss
• La Chouffe

My lovely lady cousins! (the bride's the one in red...)

Getting our drinks after a looong wait!

Mini cupcakes from Crumbs. Oh my goodness...

Don't worry, I had no interest in this vodka.

My cousin, on the other hand.

All in all, it was a beery, bar-y fun time had by all.  But I still don’t understand the name, Open Door.  Darn doors were closed all over the place.

Or lead to nowhere.

Maybe they were being ironic?

I heard that’s big in NYC.

What’s your dream rehearsal dinner spot?

I’d love something with lots of tasty beers, comfort food, and good music!!