Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. O'Regan

Congratulations! I'm so happy to have shared this moment with you and all your friends. Love you!

Hello San Diego

Brian, Beth and I flew into San Diego yesterday for my best friend's wedding this coming weekend. We went from a cold 18 degrees to a warm 75 degrees. We hung out at the beach most of the day and watched the sunset. I can definitely get used to living here.

Irreplaceable

Chicago's very own Emmanuel Garcia recorded two lip syncin' dancin divas in Chicago this past weekend. Watch out Beyoncé, looks like you come some serious competition!

iPHONE FUN

PAN'S LABYRINTH

This movie better get some sort of Oscar nod. I saw Guillermo Del Toro's "Pan's Labyrinth" the other night and LOVED IT! This fairy tale, as some have called it, is not for kids! There was some blood and violence througout the movie. The score to the movie was fantastic, both beautiful yet haunting. It entranced me so much that I had to just get it on iTunes after the show. Check it out here: Pan's Labyrinth Soundtrack. Anyway, here is the plot summary from IMDb.com: "Pan's Labyrinth" is the story of a young girl who travels with her pregnant mother to live with her mother's new husband in a rural area up North in Spain, 1944, after Franco's victory. The girl lives in an imaginary world of her own creation and faces the real world with much chagrin. Post-war Fascist repression is at its height in rural Spain and the girl must come to terms with that through a fable of her own. [Source]

My Box In A Box

First it was Justin Timberlake's "Dick In A Box", now it's "Box In A Box". HILARIOUS!

Apple's Revolutionary Mobile Phone

Apple has just outdone Motorola with it's new iPhone device. Maybe it's time for me to start looking for a new job.

CRACKER IS THE NEW MEDUSA

After looking at this picture from last weekend I really think that Cracker should try out to be the new Medusa in the Warner Bros.' remake of Clash of the Titans! She got the look.

Passed Out

This is just wrong. Here is what a little bit of jet lag and driving 6 hours to Cleveland for New Years can do to someone. Thank God the Weiner Bandit didn't show!

Sylvia's Original Sauce

Okay, we ended up buying this awesome sauce last night that you can use for cookin', dippin', and moppin'? Sylvia, who is THE Queen of Soul Food, has some damn good sauce but what does "moppin" mean? I guess I'm not all up on the lingo but my first thought was of its use to mop the floor but that's just not right. Any thoughts?

Auf Wiedersehen Deutschland

Here is Brian buying some brotchen to munch on for our flight back home. :-( Wiele dank fur alles Genie. Tschuss.

Cologne, Germany

A few days ago we visited Cologne to check their Christmas market out and to also see the mother of all churches, the Cologne Cathedral. I should have taken a video of the cathedral since I couldn't fit the entire church in my camera. Below are a few pictures of the cathedral.

Picture off the web of what the church looks like.

Here is a picture of me standing next to a replica of the two crosses that sit atop the cathedral steeples. I meanz, this is one big church!

The big doors for a big cathedral.

A picture of the inside of the cathedral.

Here is a picture of the tomb of where the 3 Magi are supposedly buried. The casket is made entirely of gold.

Photo of the left side alter in the cathedral.

A picture of the right side alter.

Frohes Weinachten

Cathedral of St. Peter

Here are a few of the pictures I took of the Cathedral of St. Peter (Wormer Dom) which was constructed between 1110 and 1181. It still amazes me how these great pieces of work were constructed hundreds of years ago without modern machinery.

Worms, Germany

Here are a few pics of things I saw today in Worms, Germany. I mainly wanted to go see the Cathedral of St. Peter (aka Wormser dom) but found many other interesting things to see around the city.

Pigeons taking a bath in front of a fountain.

St. Martin's Church

Part of Roman wall that once surrounded the city.

Me and an old Pope.

Wormser Dom

??? Photo taken at a museum.

Rüdesheim am Rhein

Last night we went into Rüdesheim to check their Christmas market out and to look for the cuckoo clock I've always wanted. We finally found it on display in this little shop that was all lit up like the Griswold's home in the movie "Christmas Vacation". They said they had it in stock but then came back after 15 mintues and told me they did not have it anymore. :-( I was really bummed and needed some comfort so we went out to eat, of course. There's nothing like big German meal with loads of pork, beef, chicken and potatos to comfort a soul.

Bad Münster am Stein-Ebernburg

The other day Brian's mom suggested we go to a small Christmas market in Bad Münster am Stein-Ebernburg. This town is located in a deep canyon between castles and cliffs. The town is famous for its sulfur springs which is evident by these huge moss covered walls located throughout the town. Water from the springs gets pumped up these walls and it slowly trickles back down. During the warm weather, people gather around these walls to breath in the sulfuric fumes for medical purposes. This is what I was told. I thought sulfur was poisonous but what do I know. Nonetheless, it's quite a beautiful town.

FRANKFURT WEINACHTSMARKTS

Yesterday we traveled into Frankfurt am Main. There has been a Christmas market in this city for over 600 years. It is said to be one of Germany's oldest and most popular markets. This was evident on the day we went by the large number of people. Although very crowded, we were still able to shop, eat, drink, and have a good time. Gluwein always makes things fun and makes us more interesting (per Paul). LOL!