Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

So yeah, I passed the FM exam. I felt like it went really really well. I can get my score in 8 weeks or so, I really want to know what I got. I've spoken with two of my friends from my classes who both passed as well. I'm curious as to how the rest of the people I know did.

Starting tomorrow I'm kicking off studying for my next exam. Going to be the P exam in Probability. I have to sign up for the exam for August, trying to figure out if I'm going to be able to put in the 250 or so hours I expect to need. We shall see.

From One Test to Another

So finals are now all done and I did okay. I'm ridiculously pissed at myself over one of my finals. I thought it had gone really well and it turned out I got a 70. I still pulled a B in the class but so annoying. So I ended the semester with a 3.538, which is great but I thought it was going to be a little bit better.

This weekend Megan and I are up in Massachusetts doing all kinds of wedding stuff. She's getting her hair and make-up done early Saturday, then we are off to an early morning engagement photo shoot. We're going to start in some historic ruins, we'll see how that goes. Dinner will be at a restaurant we think we may do our rehearsal dinner at. Sunday morning is our cake tasting then back home to CT. I'm looking forward to getting away for a little bit, even for all this wedding stuff, because I've been cooping myself up constantly.

I've been staying in studying for my actuarial exam. I'm taking it on Wednesday again!!! So I've been taking 2 three hour long practice tests a day and going over the questions I got wrong. Fries the brain sometimes. I've got 9 practice exams in my study guide and then an online service called ADAPT. I've been doing okay, but it can always be better... unless it's 100% which isn't happening. So, I'm going to relax for a bit then hit the sack so I can get up and get some more studying in.

Disappeared Again!

Sorry for disappearing on y'all, it's just that I've been really busy (not busy enough that I shouldn't have posted) but this week is finals week, so I promise I will post afterwards. Only 3 final exams tomorrow! Yaaaaay

Tournament

I played in a Warhammer tournament today with my buddy Jon and it was really great! I've never played in a tourney before so this was a first. There ended up being 11 players. Jon tied for 2nd and I came in 5th, not too shabby! It had a setup where if you won you got 7 points, loss was 0, draw was 3 with 2 ways to get an extra point per game. I don't remember how many points the player in first got but Jon and the other guy tied at 17 for 2nd and the guy in 4th had 16 points. I got 15 points so it was close and great.

Ooooooooh yeah the other surprise today was Subway. I go maybe once a year and we went today and it was buy one get one free. That's how it goes sometimes I guess

Another Weekend Dead ;o(

So I don't know what I ate this past Saturday but it did not sit well. Spent all of Saturday night and Sunday sick on the couch trying to keep food inside. Monday a day of rest and now it's back to solid food. Unfortunately I missed dinner at my moms on Sunday but Megan went and brought me all the leftovers I could imagine! It's ham sandwiches for the rest of the week!

Ham Ham Ham!

Brooklyn Brewery Brofest

So last Saturday I went into NYC to meet up with my brothers for a serious Brofest(with a capital B). Reuben, David, Elliott, Reuben's roommate Corbin and I hopped onto the L to Brooklyn. By sheer luck and happenstance everything we wanted to do in Brooklyn seemed to be within 4 blocks of wherever we were... so as far as I know Brooklyn is less than a square mile.

We went to brunch at some little latin type place. I think Elliott won the best meal award with the pernil with eggs any style... I wish I liked eggs so I could eat it. Everybody elses food was pretty darn good though. We were sitting in an open window and some guy drove by twice singing something awful at the top of his lungs. It was hilarious but who drives through the same intersection from the same direction twice in ten minutes?

The Brooklyn Brewery was about three blocks from lunch. We all missed the brew tour since it seems to just be an excuse for them to have a bar serving their own beers. $20 gets you 6 tokens and each token can be traded in for a beer. We managed to get a picnic table which was nice so we could sit and enjoy ourselves. Seating was prime real estate in that place. Utz potato chips for a dollar a bag... that was a damn good deal. I'm not sure if Elliott managed to find anything he liked but maybe the Pennant Ale worked for him. We blew his last tokens on a glass of Brooklyn #1 that came in a Brooklyn Brewery glass. For 3 tokens I really would have thought they'd give you the whole bottle, but I guess there is some reason they can't. I don't think that glass ended up making it home with Reuben or anybody else.

Our next stop was Barcade. On the way I made a friend. His name was Naranjito. He was a pro athlete. Pops would have loved this guy. Naranjito could roll straight from one person to another. He was also an orange. Reuben apparently had something against him and rolled him a good two blocks down the street. As I said, pro. Barcade was a lot of fun, classic arcade games, good beer selection, and jerkey sold at the bar. Contra, robotron, and asteroid, good times.

We were only a couple of blocks away from some crazy delicious BBQ place and I have no idea what the name of the place was. This place has 3 long picnic tables inside and 5 or 6 outside. No seating arrangements, everybody fends for themself. At the same time that you're trying to find a table you have to arrange getting your food which takes quite a bit of time as well. We split into 3 elite teams. Reuben and David were tasked to get the grub. I got a gallon of beer (with 5 mason jars to drink from) and arranged to sit with strangers to get their table once they left. Elliott and Corbin were in charge of holding down the fence and making sure it didn't go anywhere.

So the BBQ was amazing. They didn't have any ribs or lamb shank left but the brisket has resurrected my hope of learning to make real BBQ. I found the beans to be a bit lacking but Reuben swears by them. I've been craving more barbecue ever since... I see a trip to Bobby Q's in Westport in my near future, who's with me?

St. Patrick's Day Dinner at the Schoolhouse!

So last Wednesday Megan and I went to dinner at the Schoolhouse restaurant in Wilton, CT. Oh my god was this place amazing. This was a gift from my father and step-mother to Megan and I. It turns out that we were the only people to be signed up for the St. Patrick's Day special dinner and I am sure that it's because of the holiday and no fault of the restaurants.

Dinner was a five course meal that you had two options to decide between for each course. Chef Tim LaBant was super accommodating as far as handling Megan's food allergies and he was extremely nice to talk to when he came out to speak with us after the fourth course. For each course (aside from dessert) I had whichever option Megan did not choose. She decided to do the wine pairing with each course while I had the beers. Without further ado, here's the menu:

First Course

Lola duck hash with a sunny side egg (We skipped the egg, I think this was Megan's favorite)

Cauliflower and parmesan soup with a sea scallop, hazelnuts, and chives

Second Course

Beet ravioli with Prosciutto, watercress and pistachios (This may have been my favorite surprisingly!)

Ricotta gnocchi with jabugo ham, tomato jam, and scallion soubise

Third Course

Bronzini with broccoli rabe, potato rosti, and tomato onion jam (Other contender for my fav)

Chicken with rutabagas, kale, and maitake mushrooms

Fourth Course

Corned beef brisket with Brussel sprouts, apples, black trumpets and parsnip puree

Lamb filled Shepard's pie with a side of broccoli rabe

Fifth Course

Chocolate Guinnes cake with whiskey blood oranges, chocolate malt ice cream, and warm butterscotch cream (we both had this)

Earl grey panna cotta with chocolate sauce, caramel ice cream, and a Scottish shortbread cookie.

So a big surprise for me was the mushrooms in two of Megan's dishes... they were great! The maitake were especially good. I believe these are also known as Hen of the Woods mushrooms but I'm not entirely certain. If they are, I know they are particular favorites of my fathers.

The beet ravioli's were hands down the single best fresh ravioli's I've ever had. You could tell that they were made there and their texture was spot on perfect. I'm not sure, but I would swear I tasted white truffle oil on top and it combined very well with the watercress.

The bronzini and the chicken were both perfectly cooked. I sometimes get angry when a restaurant brings out as perfect a dish as both of these and I just want to stand up and yell "Why can't my chicken/fish come out like this?!?!?!?" Crisp on the outside and moist deliciousness on the inside.

The beers and wines were all delicious. I was excited to see each beer that came out as they were significantly better than I was expecting. The Captain Lawrence Imperial Pale Ale was a very special surprise as well since I've been wanting to try that beer for a bit now.

The pastry chef made Megan up a coconut sorbet from scratch during dinner to go with her dessert and it was really great. The only thing about the dessert I was not crazy about was the caramel popcorn that was between the ice cream and the guiness cake. It made for a very interesting texture but felt a little over the top.

I would recommend this restaurant to anybody. They source as much locally or wild as possible and everything felt hand selected by the chef himself. Megan and I are planning on trying to go down another time and Megan insists that we only go on a night when our waiter Larulo (guessing there) is there again. The service was extraordinary and I'm sure his brother Mario does a great job as well.

If you want to check out their website you can find it at http://www.schoolhouseatcannondale.com. Enjoy!