Well this was quite the Epic Weekend In Pictures. Anytime you throw an annual outdoor party, and 250 people show up, that definitely can be defined as Epic. I think I need a weekend to recover from my weekend. Even though Awesome Girlfriend Megan and I weren't able to spend as much time together as we would have liked due to some of our commitments, we still made every moment together count.
We will start our Epic Weekend In Pictures with Friday night. Friday night at 5pm we flipped 102.3 WSUS to The Christmas Station. On the scenes, I'm the afternoon guy here at 102.3 WSUS. Behind the scenes, I'm also the Program Director for WSUS. Long story short, flipping your radio station over to Christmas is basically an additional full time job because you have to change every minute of every single hour of every day. It's a huge undertaking, and so worth it once we get cranking with our yule tide cheer making so many people happy. Normally we flip by November 15th. This year, many were craving it even earlier. No matter when I flip, I've learned over the years there will always be some who aren't happy. Whether it's November 4th, 15th, 23rd, 30th, some just won't be happy with it. That's okay. We can have different opinions, philosophies and still be friends!
By Friday night, I was tired. A double date dinner night with our besties Jasen and Brendan was just what the doctor ordered. They along with Awesome Girlfriend Megan were able to help me perk up and laugh a few times after what had been such a long week for many in our radio industry. We split a pepperoni pizza, which I ordered to be well done. Steve Andrews always blasts me for having the nerve to order my pizza to be well done. If I order a hamburger medium rare, why is it such a big deal to order my thin crust pizza with a topping to be well done? Who wants floppy pizza falling apart on them? Not me. I'd rather my pizza be in me instead of on my shirt, thank you very much. We had a wonderful time at Smokey's in Vernon. Terrific Friday night.
We then went back to Jasen and Brendan's to unwind and have some more laughs. Brendan randomly gave Awesome Girlfriend Megan a Kitchen Aid device because he had a spare. You know me the career bachelor before Awesome Girlfriend Megan, I had never even heard of a Kitchen Aid device in my life. Apparently these devices can help you with baking items, and also help you make soups and stuff like that. Brendan got a new massive one. I told Awesome Girlfriend Megan I could try using it to scramble eggs, since you likely know my struggling to make scrambled egg Facebook live videos are rather epic, hilarious and humiliating. I just can never get that whisking motion down at all, no matter how many times friends have tried to help me. Awesome Girlfriend Megan then promptly called me a Jack@$$, and said I better not dare borrow her Kitchen Aid to try and make scrambled eggs. She's very protective of this device that she loves, swears by, and I had never heard of before Friday night. I also learned about this attachment device called a "Vegetti," which before Friday night I honestly would not have said aloud in mixed company. I learned so much this weekend!
Saturday morning Awesome Girlfriend Megan helped me elect my health benefits for next year. I don't need help checking off things for our company's health insurance, it's just last year Awesome Girlfriend Megan demanded to help me with it. She demanded to help me with it so that way she knows stuff like what my copays are, since I never remember stuff like that. Fortunately for me knock on wood, I don't have to go to the doctor too often.
Saturday afternoon time for us to go our separate ways. Awesome Girlfriend Megan had to go to a family birthday party in Pennsylvania, celebrating her brother Shawn's 60th. I missed seeing her family so much. Meg's brothers, Rick, Kevin, Shawn and Tim all took me in like a stray puppy immediately. I'll see them someday soon again for sure.
Saturday afternoon we had a big job to do. Host our annual WSUS Christmas Kick Off Party over with Shoppes At Lafayette. This was an interesting one. With the times we are in battling the pandemic, we had no idea what to expect for a crowd. Are people still willing to come out and play?
It was so surreal, driving to this event in our WSUS truck, cranking Christmas tunes while it was 70 degrees outside! Normally we freeze our Cabooses off at these events every single year. I have always wondered what it was like to do radio outside of the northeast. It felt like I was driving to a radio station live remote broadcast in Florida as opposed to Sussex County, New Jersey.
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4pm. One hour before Santa's arrival, and we have a few people starting to show up. Fast forward to 4:45, we ended up having 250 people strong all around Shoppes At Lafayette. After this year that we have had, we could all use a little Christmas!
We started our Facebook live video with Steve Andrews. I guided Santa and Mrs. while in the red Subaru from Subaru World Of Newton throughout the mall to the big tree. Shoppes At Lafayette did a fantastic job lighting up their Christmas tree! We did the big countdown at 5pm, and Santa lit up the tree with his magic! (and a little magic help from our friends at Shoppes At Lafayette.)
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This was one of my favorite events, ever. Everyone kept smiling under their masks as far as the eye could see. Everyone kept thanking us for still doing free, socially distant pictures with Santa. So many were grateful that we still try to do fun events, like my Pet Of The Week and the Christmas Kick Off Party.
Saturday night, chill night with Meg eating pizza watching Rutgers. While Rutgers lost by a lot, which was expected, we were so proud of the fight they displayed. Seeing Rutgers be competitive again was a beautiful sight for us. They're definitely turning the program around quickly under Greg Schiano wooohoo! Then after halftime, we switched over to the Notre Dame Clemson game. WHAT A GAME! We loved watching that dramatic overtime game. Our bestie Carrie came over to enjoy a beverage with us. Future Stepdaughter Cait came over too.
With the Florida Georgia college football game rivalry, there was some comedy involved. Long story short, Luke Bryan is a diehard Georgia fan, and he's friends with Florida Gator alumni Tim Tebow. If you want some comedy gold later, I recommend watching the Luke Bryan videos that Bryan posted on Instagram. Him draping Georgia colors on Tebow's Heisman Trophy are absolutely hilarious.
Sunday was a good chill Sunday football day at The Cottage, laughing with so many of our besties, Artie, Vince, Tom, Packer Fan Patrick, and more. It was nice to have an off day before my Patriots take on the Jets. Meg was happy to see Dallas Cowboys at least trying to be competitive.
Why was my heart in Jacksonville? This weekend, my Uncle Bill Allan (and amazing friend to me my whole life,) married his new wife Rhonda. I'm so happy she's in our family now. Unfortunately with the pandemic, I was unable to attend their wedding in Jacksonville, Florida with Meg. We were so bummed we couldn't be there with them. We had been holding out hope as recently as 4-6 weeks ago how we could pull it off. Fortunately, Rhonda was able to have their photographers Facebook Live it for those of us who couldn't attend.
Sunday morning, Awesome Girlfriend Megan and I were able to watch their first dance. I cried. It was beautiful. Love them so much.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my Epic Weekend In Pictures. I hope you had a wonderful weekend too. Time to start planning next weekend!
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