Toga! Toga! Toga!

First, this is the second of two simultaneously posted blogs, so make sure to go back and read the one before this...things will just make more sense and you'll also get to hear about two things very dear to our hearts: beer and champagne.

So as I mentioned in the last blog, last weekend we went to a toga party to celebrate our four friends' birthdays. All of their birthdays were around the same time, so why not have one party to knock them all out right?! Of course, it couldn't be just any party, it was a toga party! I must admit, I've never been to a toga party (I was in Cumberland for Renners' that one year), so I was a little bit excited!

Any-who, we were not going to be "those" people who were not in the spirit of the event so I gave Ag the task of finding togas for us....when I told her her mission (should she choose to accept it), she looked at me like I was crazy. "You know there is no Hobby Lobby or Michael's here right?" Say what? What-chew talkin' 'bout, Willis?! Obviously, I am not up to scratch on my US craft stores.....

Of course, she took on the mission. First thing was first, we had to read up on the proper ways to make a toga. Contrary to popular opinion, you don't just make a toga with a bedsheet. Basically, to make a proper toga, you need about 3-4 yards of material, some cool accessories, and vines wrapped around your head....then you got the Greek god look down. Well, yeah, you also need stunning good looks and heavenly bodies, too, but we weren't worried about that (ah hem)...

Agnes went to several stores throughout the city looking for materials. Or should I say "textials" as they like to call fabric stores here. She found a few places that had material, but were super expensive and opted to talk to the mom of the family she babysits for clues and ideas. The thought of explaining to Aviva (the mom) that she was looking for cloth for a toga party was kind of funny! Anyway, Aviva had the best spot ever for her to check out and in the end, we had our material!

We wore our "normal" clothes to Dave and Kevin's apartment that Saturday night and when we got there, everyone was in costume. We immediately put on our outfits and were set for the night. The best part about our hosts is that they bought extra material for guests who showed up "togaless" (....if that's a word?!). There was NO excuse for anyone not to get into costume!

The night flew by and we all just hung out, enjoyed each others company, drank and ate. We had a super fun night and can't wait for the next toga party!

On Sunday, we got up and went to the Zurich Open (pro tennis tournament). The women's finals were that day and we were watching Justine Henin and Tatiana Golovin play. It was really fun as we had never been to a professional match before. Some random highlights:

- People were dressed pretty nice, some ladies had dresses on, lots of men with suits on, and people were drinking champagne everywhere; we were the common folks in our jeans and the thought of a drop of alcohol touching our lips made us both shudder.

- The crowd gets COMPLETELY slient at the serve. Obviously we have seen this on TV but didn't realize the intensity of it. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

- They had "cheerleaders" that were awful! The median age for the cheerleaders was probably 12 yrs old. There were 10 girls total and they placed 5 girls in two different areas on the bleacher steps, totally blocking the walk-way. Then, when there was a TV time-out, music would play and these cheerleaders would stand and do different dances. They would move their arms all around, turn and shake it! We were lucky and were sitting above the madness. The best part was watching people try to get through them during a break (e.g., after coming back from going to the bathroom or having a glass of bubbly). They didn't stop their routine for anyone and if you weren't careful, you would be bopped in the head (we actually saw this occur more times than we could count)!

Henin won in 2 sets and afterwards, we just headed home to relax and prepare for the work week. Unfortunately, the weather took a major turn last Sunday too. We had beautiful weather in the 60's and 70's for the longest time and now it's highs in the 40's and lows in the 30's. Due to the extreme turn, we both got pretty bad colds. So, on top of working late and having major partners in from NY to review our work, I have been trying to get over a nasty cold. The good thing about it is that my office mate didn't want to get sick and kicked me out of our office...and into an empty one that I had all to myself! That was pretty nice and I'm not sure I want to go back!

This weekend we are taking it very easy! We are going to dinner tonight in Uetliberg. Basically it's a very small mountain that has a restaurant on top that overlooks Zurich. Then on Sunday, we are going to brunch at one of my co-workers' house in Zug (about 30 minutes southwest of Zurich).

Other fun upcoming events:

-Thanksgiving will be here soon! We are flying to London to visit Darren and Nicole Ludwig, who just moved there on the EY Global Exchange, as well as Matt and Brandi Render. After a couple of days in London, we are jumping on the "chunnel" train to Paris for a couple of days. Our Zurich friends Dave and Ali will be in Paris at the same time so it will be fun to hang out on a little road trip with them. To get home we are taking the TGV (high-speed French train) direct from Paris to Zurich...fun fun!

- In December we are going to Luxembourg and Trier, Germany for the X-Mas markets. We, again, are going to see Darren and Nicole Ludwig (who will be visiting Lux as well), as well as Brendan FitzGerald (flying in from Dublin) and of course Eoin, Sorcha and Robbie and Laura all there. It's going to be a great weekend and a big reunion!

- Also in December we are flying up to Copenhagen, Denmark for a day and from there to Berlin, Germany for a couple more days. Aggie has been busy working on our travel arrangements there. The day after we get back from there, the real fun begins...

- Josh comes on December 25th! We are busy trying to book up some rooms in St. Moritz, Saas Fee and Zermatt for the week he'll be here in Zurich. We are also planning to go to Gruyere for a cheese tour, a chocolate tour, and some cheese fondue. For New Years' we're going to book up a nice restaurant for dinner and all hang out. Should be a great time!

And...I'm spent! That's all we got for now, but we'll see you soon. One last thought that Aggie and I keep kicking around is.....time is FLYING BY! Better make the most of it!