Honor Thy Father

A lot of you reading, may have already heard this before, but for those of you who haven't, today's the day to share it with all of you. Written by my brother's best friend, Tommy Bushnell, this memoir is the best written explanation of the amazing man my father was:

"Only real men wear pink, Tommy." Rick Montano was one of the most kind, gentle, generous and real men that I have ever met. This may sound a bit cliched, but it's the truth. He was the consummate provider-- a hard worker, a wonderful father and a true friend. I spent many afternoons at the Casa del Ricky and am fortunate and privileged enough to have witnessed this first hand. Rick loved to talk to people because he genuinely loved people. Who else could take a snipet from a television show on the 1972 Miami Dolphins and turn it into a 45-minute dissertation on the difference between the bottle-nosed dolphin and the porpoise? Only Rick. This may seem arbitrary or obnoxious, but it never was. It was real, an opportunity to banter back and forth, laugh with each other, and, most importantly, share company with a friend... "Only real men wear pink, Tommy."

There was nothing Rick loved more than his children, my friends Jared, Joe, Marisa. Unlike his calloused hands, there was nothing insensitive about Rick, especially when it came to his kids. You could tell that his eyes lit up and his heart melted when he spoke of them. When others questioned their decisions, he stood up for them, stronger than ever, never waivering in his pride and confidence in them, always stoic, a beacon of fatherdom... "Only real men wear pink, Tommy." I have never seen anyone work harder in order to provide his children with what they needed.

Rick painted his entire house in Knollwood, including the chimney, green. He used to say, "Geniuses pick green." Yes, Rick, I know. Rick was not a genius in terms of Einstein or Freud, but yes, Rick, I now really know that you geniuses pick green because you were a genius in raising your children, in providing them with an indestructible blueprint for success-- a very simple equation- impeccable character plus hard work plus love. I am writing this while on a train to London, but my upcoming voyage is the furthest thing from my mind and heart, which remain at home. I am devastated that I cannot be with you all to celebrate the life of Rick Montano. Nonetheless, I offer my heart and prayers to Rick, Jared, Joe, Marisa, Mrs. Montano...family and friends.

If I may offer some advice in absentia-- to Jared, Joe and Marisa- to continue to follow in your father's footsteps because that can only lead to greatness and happiness. To Jared, my dearest friend and brother...I share in your father's pride and confidence in you. My prayers and love are with you. To Rick, I am going to wear my pink shirt tomorrow. "Hey, only real men wear pink, Tommy." Well, Rick, then you should have worn pink everyday.



See Joe's tribute to his dad on his personal blog.

Big Bro's 3-0

Contrary to Joe's family, members of mine don't all live within five miles of one another. So this past weekend, all of us drove between 69 and 100 miles to meet at a very strategically chosen point of interest to celebrate my big brother's big 3-0. By strategic, I mean, I think Ryan (my sister-in-law) literally laid out a map and measured which small town was located with the least wavering radius to each of our home towns of Antrim, NH; Farmington, CT; Old Saybrook, CT and Wallingford, CT. How else does one "stumble" upon a spot located 75, 69, 100, and 83 miles, respectively, from where we each lay our heads. She probably would have gotten more precise if there was actually a restaurant in every small town, but as you head more and more north, they are few and far between. It just so happened this one was...conveniently off the highway...had a patio...and good beer. Job well done, Ryan. No controversey there. Here are a few pics of our Saturday afternoon lunch.

"Homewood" is Where the Heart is...

Here is the all-suite hotel info, as promised. With all rooms comes free breakfast, which is not continental, we like to think its a bit more sophisticated than that.

Homewood Suites by Hilton Hartford Downtown
338 Asylum Street
Hartford, CT
United States, 06103
Tel: 860-524-0223
Fax: 860-524-0264

If you didn't already know, its the "Montano-Faraoni Wedding" on 9.26.09. Rooms have been blocked off and ready for your booking.

The hotel is within walking distance of all the restaurants and entertainment Hartford has to offer! Not to mention, a few blocks from our wedding.

Check out our "Preferred Vendors" List

We wanted to include something on our blog to help out other people planning weddings or any type of event. Throughout the process, Joe and I put a lot of weight on (trusted) people's opinions and referrals, rather than any online or magazine ratings. We could really care less if you're a 4- or 5-star whatever, because if we don't like the person we have to deal with, well we could give a %&$# less if you have the finest caviar or view in the state.

If you're good people, and have the customer's best interest and vision in mind...we like you and think you deserve props! So, there's a measily start at our list to the right, but we plan on updating. And if you've been following our blog and/or just know how many other vendors/businesses we've dealt with but did not select, we're happy to give those opinions as well. We just don't think it's proper to hate on them on our blog.

Home (Not so) Sweet Home

What a welcome home party we got today! As I was getting off the highway after running some errands, I thought, "UGH! The usual midday traffic on Route 4. Why did I get off this exit?!" (sidenote: the reason was because I was on the phone with Joe and lost track of what I was doing. Literally, in the ten second span it took me to locate, pick up, and answer my phone, I saw 1, 2, 3, ...12... I can't keep up!.... town and state police. I say "hi" to Joe, and I'm baffled by three news crews as I round the bend to make my way to the center of town. WFT!? "I'll just cut down the side street to avoid this mess." Think again--road blocked by another cop. "Ok, I'll just go down the road at the main intersection." Not-uh. Road blocked by fire truck. As I have to make my way through the insanity that pervades through the middle of quaint little Farmington, Joe tells me there is a manhunt going on for something that happened the town over in Bristol. I think, come on, Farmington, is it really that serious?! All you uppity people have your knickers in a bunch. So as I'm sitting in bumper to bumper traffice on Garden Street (which is usually a secret cut through, only really travelled by residents and Miss Porter's students), and I check the news on the ol' Crackberry and find out it's a lot more serious than I thought, with police, news, and hounds, targeting specifically...you guessed it, our neighborhood to find the armed robber. By the time I got home, with helicoptors swarming overhead, I read that police are "urging residents to stay inside." Who wants to stay inside your place when you have armed robbers around!? I say, grab your stuff for work and get the ^&$ out!

Edible Underwear, Nono Turns 80!

I hate nothing more than being delayed at the airport... our flight went from 5:40 departure to 6:20, 7:20, now its been pushed to 7:50! Its now 20 minutes till our departure and no plane at the gate. Yippee! Our misfortune leads to your reading pleasure.

This weekend we traveled to our favorite destination to celebrate my grandfather's, (Nono, for those of you Italians) 80th birthday.

When traveling to Orlando, Marisa and I must prepare ourselves like Takeru Kobayashi or Joey Chestnut to even begin to hang with the inordinate eating and drinking that goes on with my family in Orlando. We usually start a couple weeks ahead of time by drinking entire gallons of water to expand our stomachs followed by bread, roast beast and turnips. The weight of these foods really does a number on stretching your stomach to capacity. Just kidding.

We love hanging with family and not only were we there for for Nono's 80th but we were surprised with a secret Jack and Jill Wedding Shower! We have lots of gifts (including a frisbey that strangely resembles the upper female anatomy along with far more pairs of edible undies than anyone should consume) and had to figure out how to pack them all and get them home safely. I mean, we don't want all that "food" going to waste!

I can't believe the multiplication my family has made in the last few months. There seemed to be babies everywhere... not comlaining cause damn they are cute!

This weekend was full of excitement. An 80th birthday party, a secret shower, an amazing cake tasting and the "Blue and White Ignite" crew making it to the Finals!


BTW, Piston or Celtic fans would never use a Britney song, by name of Circus, to make a hightlight reel! Just saying!

In all, this weekend was great and if you are coming to the bachelor or bachelorette party do some research on competitive eating. Please, no more edi-undies.