2011 Gansett Games & Our Stay at the "Ocean Prunes"

Hello followers and friends!

Michael and I have just returned from an unbelievable weekend up in Amagansett for the bi-annual Novogratz Gansett Games!  Since Mike is a surrogate brother to the Novogratz family through his hetero-life partner/our best man Matty, we're fortunate enough to get invited to participate in the games every two years.  For those who don't know, the Gansett games are a weekend of parties, costumes, and some very intense competition complete with an Adventure Race, sand-bag relay, and even the HIGHLY competitive egg toss!




This year, by random computer selection, Mike and I were not on the same team, which helped fuel the competitive fire between us...well...mostly me.  And though my team, Team Dewey Beach (this year the theme was the beaches of the world!) came in 3rd to Mike's team (Team Venice Beach), the Dewey Devils were stacked.  I've uploaded a few pictures from the events...and I think we were robbed of a few points!

But outside of the games, the weekend was such a great time to spend with our friends.  We all live together in the city, but it was like a GIANT group getaway that was only a few hours away (well longer than anticipated this year due to unforeseen monsoons & car trouble)!  We stayed at the Ocean Dunes in



Amagansett...and for those who like to party, I do not recommend you stay there unless you agree to abide by the 9p "curfew".  Riad adoringly nicknamed the Ocean Dunes the "Ocean Prunes" based on the retirement home nature of the condos.

Some other memorable moments from the weekend are the costumes!  For those of you who don't know, Mike LOVES dressing up in costumes, in fact...it was one of his vows to me in our wedding ceremony.  So if you put a festive/nautical beach weekend together with a weekend of themed parties, you can imagine some of the attire that our crew brought along with them.  We had everything from sarongs (unisex of course) to crab hats...yes...crab hats.

We were so sad to come back...not to mention how terrible three days straight of partying is for your serotonin levels.  The weekend of the 2011 Gansett Games was amazing and we can't wait until 2013 (seems like SO FAR AWAY!), and even though we came in third...GO TEAM DEWEY BEACH! (Sorry hunny!) :)

I Do...times TWO!

I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to have met my husband, and I think I've said it before...there is no one else in the world who is more perfect for me.  Our wedding day two months ago was the best day of my life, and will never be topped.  

However, for those of you who don't know, I come from quite a large family of DuPonts here on the East Coast.  Since they were not all able to come out to California to celebrate our nuptials, my parents were extremely generous and threw us a second reception so that we could celebrate with our family in Connecticut!  We are so blessed not only to be surrounded by so many family members, but to be lucky enough to share the most important celebration of our lives...TWICE. 

Our reception at the Torrington Country Club was a bit of a departure from our tropical/rock concert themed reception in Laguna Beach.  The setting was at a beautiful, lush golf course with roses of every color at the tables.  My aunt Susanne even cut fresh lavender from her garden to put in the centerpieces.  Our attire was more akin to a summer J Crew catalog than formal wear, which gave the evening a more relaxed feeling. 

But what would any Mobley celebration be without a bit of 80s metal?  I surprised my husband with a custom made Van Halen guitar shaped cake, which was delicious.  Of course the party play list was compiled from all of our favorite 80s songs.  

As we've gotten older and moved further away, spending time with our families has become increasingly important to us.  So we were thrilled to bring the Mobley celebration across the country to the East Coast.  Not only was our little reception a day of family, it was also another day that Michael and I got to celebrate just "us".  A gift that most people only get on one special day...and we got to do it again!  Thank you to our Connecticut family for coming and giving us the gift of celebration!

Friends in the New York Groove

One of the best things about living in New York is we get to have TONS of visitors.  Not only is New York a central location for a lot of business for people, but it's one of the greatest cities in the world to visit for fun! :)

In the year that we've lived here, we've been  so lucky to have been visited by so many family members and friends.  It's so much fun to share our cozy little New York apartment and our home town with the people that we love!

But the very VERY best part is that when people come see us, it gives us an excuse to do tourist-y things that make us appreciate the amazing city that we live in.  Christmas is one of the best times to have people in town...and we had plenty of visitors during our chilly December, but it really makes us appreciate the festive sparkle that NYC has in the winter...a sparkle that you just can't get from any other city in America.

Of course we've had our parents and siblings come see us multiple times, but we've had other family members and friends come visit from California, Texas, Washington DC, and more!  The best part is, we know that there is always someone else planning a little impromptu visit to the Big Apple in our future!



So we just wanted to write a little note to thank all of the people we love for coming to see us and for helping us to enjoy the adventures that the city has to offer.  We know that we have many more weekends to look forward to with people coming in and out of the city, and can't wait to share them with you!

The Stars at night are big and bright......

Over Memorial Day weekend 2011 and our one-month wedding anniversary (silly, but over these first years of marriage these mini milestones give us something to celebrate!), Mike and I took our first non-honeymoon trip together as Mr. & Mrs. Mobley to  Dallas, Texas for a visit with the DuPont family.

Every year in Texas, over the last weekend in May, is the Byron Nelson Golf Tournament at the Four Seasons in Irving.  We've been once before, and had to skip last year (Garrett's Graduation), but it has become a family event with the DuPonts since my parents moved into their condo on the golf course a little over three years ago.  While it's a very prestigious golf tournament, it's also Texas, so you can imagine the heat!  We spent the majority of our time in the beer garden (naturally).

It was also the first time we got to see my brother's apartment in downtown Dallas since he moved there last October. We took the trolley to uptown and went to a fun little beer garden (Troy Aikmen MAY or MAY NOT have made an appearance...it was random).

 I know we just saw everyone at our wedding one month before Memorial Day weekend, but it was wonderful to see my parents, my grandmother, my brother and his GF, and my mom's cousin Johnny was even out there for part of the weekend (he's an amazing musician).  But being in the presence of family makes us forget about all the stresses we have at home with our jobs, and forces us to enjoy the moment, and each other.

We can't wait to go back in 2012!  I posted a few picture of the fun we all had! :)

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