The FidLorbs

Meet Samson Lorber!!

2009-05-04T20:31:00.000-07:00

We adopted a new puppy this afternoon! His name is Samson and he is a 7 mo old brown/gray pit bull. He is 50.5 pounds and did very well at his first vet visit. He also had a bath and spent time exploring the house and wrestling with Ronin. He and Ronin get along very well so far - they were rolling around and wrestling all night! When they were tired and thirsty, they drank out of the new giant water bowl we bought at the same time - super cute :) Here are some of Samson's first pictures...

At the vet's office - getting a check-up and all the right vaccines.

This is when I first picked him up this afternoon

This is both Samson and Ronin sitting like good doggies after playing around for about an hour. Notice how they are both so out of breath, their tongues are hanging out of their mouths. Even though this picture makes Samson look a lot bigger than Ronin, it's only because Ronin is sorta laying down. They are the same size at the moment, but I think that Samson is going to gain 20 or so more pounds yet. We'll see...

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T22:29:00.000-08:00

Tonight we went to Uncle Ru and Aunt Lou's place for a Valentine's dinner party. Our friend, Steve is in town visiting and he came along with us. Steve lives in Chicago and that's where Ru and Lou are from most recently so they had plenty to schmooze about. First of all, here is a picture of my new haircut...curly mode. It's sorta long for the cut (I'm getting it trimmed next week).

This is the first time in about 6 months that we have seen their Dog, Deneshka. He's a Black Russian Terrier. He is giant! He's only about 7 months old and is already over 7lbs! Here he is getting his Valentine's day treat...a huge raw beef bone.

The gourmet hard at work...we had a delicious feast of apple & squash soup, salad, prime rib with french lentils and potatoes dauphinoise. Then Ru brought out a beautiful Valentine's plate - homemade chocolate ice cream, heart-shaped lemon sponge cake filled with a kind of chocolate ganache and a dark cherry jam button, garnished with sliced strawberry. The plate was decorated with red and creme syrups. Yum!

A cute one of Steve and Abe:

Whistler, BC

2009-02-10T09:27:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, Abe and I trekked up to Whistler Blackcomb in BC, Canada for a long weekend of skiing (snowboarding for Abe), food, and beer. We were there with a large contingent - 21 people - and we had a blast making some new friends, enjoying the breathtaking scenery and of course having a cold one (ok, many cold ones) in the hot tub. The group rented two mountain-side houses at Taluswood which I would highly recommend. The one we stayed at was ski-in/ski-out to the Creekside Gondola.

We naturally had way too much food - including a never-ending supply of bacon and some of my newly discovered and amazingly delicious cookies. Even though there was relatively no snow on the mountains, most of the runs were decent and we only had a few run-ins with rocky dirt patches. The weather on Friday was spectacular and we took a number of impressive pics of the area. We had lunch on the peak of Blackcomb at Christine's which was excellent but also pricey.

On Saturday, we met up with some of Abe's work colleagues for a couple of runs. Here is a pic that we took with them.

Abe and I with some of his LP colleagues who were there also (Photo by Tim).

For lunch on Saturday, Abe and I checked out the "best mountain bar in North America" (top 10 worldwide) called Garibaldi Lift Company. The atmosphere is pretty cool and the food was definitely yummy. We also ate at Sushi Village which had delicious food and sake margaritas which were good, but overrated.

We also discovered that our feet are terrible and always hurt :( We got a tip to remedy this problem in the future (bananas and foot massages - I'm down with that!), so we'll have to try it out this weekend if we head to snoqualmie. All-in-all, it was a great trip and we definitely want to go back soon. For a brief moment, I wanted to figure out a way to spend a season up there working at the resort so we could ski everyday. I think the 60+ yr old that we met on the lift who has skied 61 days this season (!) inspired me. On the other hand, I'd miss my husband since he said "No way!" to that idea.

Honeymoon in Jamaica

2009-02-02T11:11:00.000-08:00

I know that I have been negligent in posting about our honeymoon. Finally, here it is - there are many more pics on snapfish, so comment or email me if you want the link to them. Also, I know I have promised pictures of my new haircut in curly form, but I honestly have not taken ANY. We are going to Whistler with some friends this weekend, so I'm sure there will be some from the trip.

This is the view from our room at Sandals Dunn's River Villagio Here's another:

This is the island-side of the resort:

We went on zip lines through the rainforest...here we are all geared up:

At the beach-party

Abe LOVED playing beach volleyball - he played twice every day

The weather was pretty windy most days

We went on dune-buggies through the back country and then cliff jumping to wash the mud off. It was definitely a highlight of the trip!

Swim-bar + all-you-can drink + inner tubes = vacation bliss

There was a big focus on Bob Marley EVERYTHING

We also enjoyed playing life-sized chess

Overall, we had a fantastic time!

Haircut

2009-01-12T09:41:00.000-08:00

I cut my hair really short yesterday to donate to Pantene’s Beautiful Lengths program. Here are some pics of the process. I’ll take some pictures of it curly soon and post them as well.

Pistons in Portland (updated with pictures!)

2009-01-09T12:55:00.000-08:00

Abe is definitely a Pistons fanatic; probably even an NBA fanatic. That is why we made the trek down to Portland on Wednesday night to see the Pistons take on the Portland Trailblazers. (Note: Portland is the closest we can get to the NBA these days now that the Sonics have jumped ship to Oklahoma). It was planned to be an amazing trip, we would head down after work, enjoy the treat of club-level seating, stay at a hotel for the night, and drive back up to Seattle for work by lunch on Thursday. And it started out almost exactly as planned.

We decided to cut out of work a bit early, excited to get to Portland (a three-hour drive) early enough to change and relax a bit. It poured the entire trip down; some of the small rivers we passed were noticeably starting to rise over their banks. When we checked into our hotel, the hotel receptionist told us they were already talking about shutting down I-5. I-5 is the main (some would say only) North/South highway in Western Washington and is certainly the way we would go home. Simultaneous thoughts of “uh-oh” and “oh well” went through my mind, but really I was focused on having fun and watching Abe revel in his Pistons-mania. (More on being stranded in Portland next).

The game started at 7, we were dressed and ready to go by 4:30. We decided to start the party early and head to the bar for a drink (or two) and some snacks.

Abe’s eagerness didn’t take long to hit and by 5:15, he was itching to head over to the arena. He thought perhaps we could get in early, watch the players warming up and maybe even get autographs! Since we were there to live out Abe’s passion, I decided to go along with the fantasy and we set out for the Rose Garden. It was only a 5 minute walk from the hotel and they weren’t letting anyone in before 5:30.

We went around to the Lexus Club entrance and waited with other eager fans (maybe they were just eager to get in and dive into the gourmet buffet, cause I didn’t see anyone else bouncing off the walls with glee…Abe). When they finally opened the doors, we ran right to our seats (front of the 2^nd level) to plan our route to the court. After talking to many security guards and finally sneaking by the “guys in red coats” (later we were told that these were the people that will ruin all your fun), we made it down to the court! Most of the starters were already in the locker room, but Walter Herrmann, Amir Johnson, and Jason Maxill were sitting on the sideline. After an elbow to the ribs, Abe got the courage to call out to Herrmann and ask for his autograph. He said yes! Abe walked over and got all three of them to sign his hat.

Then we went back upstairs, ate some delicious food, and settled into watch over beloved Pistons continue their winning streak…or so we thought until the 4^th quarter when they blew their lead and ended up losing to the Blazers by 1 point! My very official take on it is that AI couldn’t find the basket, Prince couldn’t miss, and somewhere in between, the Stons just let the Blazers score too many.

We wish this was a picture of the final score, but actually it ended at 84-83 with Portland on top :(

On Being a Negligent Blogger

2009-01-07T16:03:00.000-08:00

I know that is been quite awhile since my last post. That's only because SO much has been happening! I don't have time to elaborate on all of it right now, but I will find the time soon and don't worry, there are lots of pictures as well. Here are the highlights:

-Meeting Eytan in DC with Megan and Bibi
-Honeymoon in Jamaica!
-New Year's Eve in D-town
-Grandma's 75th b-day brunch (including special video msgs)
-Pistons in Portland (that's tonight, I hope they win!)

Also, Abe and I are in Portland and it's been raining so much here lately (and melting snow) that there is a possibility they might close I-5 (the main North-South Hwy) tonight...we would be stranded! I guess if that happens, I'll have plenty of time to blog!

That's all for now folks!

Happy Birthday, Grandma Lois!

2008-12-01T21:49:00.000-08:00

Today is my Grandma Lois' 75th birthday! She probably doesn't want anyone to know her age (as she's told me many times), but I think that it's pretty cool that she is 75 years young - it is quite an accomplishment. Here is a recent picture of her (and my grandpa) from the wedding festivities - I think that you'll agree that she does not look 75 :)

Thanks, Talia for the picture!

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

The Biggest Loser - Fidler Edition

2008-12-01T21:34:00.000-08:00

It has begun: The Fidlers vs. The FidLorbs (Lorbers) vs. The Fid-Baums 'Biggest Loser'-style

Starting November 29th, 2008 and ending on July 1st, 2009 we will be participating in a weight-loss competition with the other Fidler couples. The rules are simple, whichever couple loses the most weight by percentage without any medical or surgical intervention, wins a grand prize. The exact prizes are still being negotiated - some ideas are: a day/weekend at the spa, tickets to Seattle (for non Seattle-ites), a cruise, maybe evening moving to Seattle (hey, I can wish and scheme).

We all weighed in (but I'm not ready to post the starting numbers) and we'll have weight check-ins once a month. Good luck to everyone and may the best couple (the FidLorbs of course) win!

Gobble, Gobble

2008-12-01T10:53:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

Abe and I traveled back to Michigan for the holiday; it was a very quick trip (in on the red-eye Thursday morning and back on the evening flight on Saturday), but it was filled with seeing family, friends, and eating (lots and lots of eating). I also got to show off the wedding scrapbook that I recently finished. It was great to re-live the memories with (almost) everyone in the family.

My mom got up super early on Thursday to pick us up at the airport (thanks, Mom!) and we were able to sneak in a quick nap before heading to the Fidler Grandparents' for a "lite" lunch. Meal #1: Bagels, Cream Cheese, and Lox...mmm Then we journeyed to Pickney, MI for Thanksgiving dinner with my mom's family. It was really fun! There were 35 people there, all of the Wolfe/Vincent cousins were there. It was great to see everyone and to celebrate Zach's 15th birthday! Here is a picture that Andy took of the original Fidler family (I think that Abe was playing foosball with some of the younger cousins.

(Thank You, Andy for the great photo!)

So Meal #2: Traditional thanksgiving dinner with ALL the fixin's. And of course, Marty and Kim made sure we had a turkey cooked with the latest technology...the oil-less deep fryer using infrared technology.

We slept-in on Friday to catch up a bit from our red-eye journey the day before. Then Abe went to H-woods to see his family and hang out with Adam a bit. I ran errands with my mom; it was nice to have some quiet time alone with her. We went over to Aunt Rhona and Uncle Rob's for shabbat dinner. Meal #3: Homemade matzo ball soup, brisket, chicken, and of course a challah from Dakota Bread - THE BEST!!

Abe and I went to Adam and Rhiannon's (the LeeCholski's) house to hang out until the wee hours of the morning. We introduced them to "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" which Abe and I recently discovered and love. It was a blast and definitely worth the lack of sleep.

Saturday was another all-day eating adventure. We went over to the Lorber's house for Thanksgiving revisited. It was great, my family was there, the LeeCholski's, and a close family friend of the Lorbers. Meal #4: Cold and hot turkey, cold and hot brisket, BBQ chicken, sweet potato pie, stuffing, green beans, multiple salads, and on and on...There was so much food - probably more for the 15 of us than there was for the 35 on Thursday! Somehow, I managed to try almost everything that was on the table - especially Bibi's delicious chocolate cake!

Then it was time to head to the airport and travel back to Seattle. Our flight was fine (though the DVD player ran out of batteries 15 minutes into the first episode of the six episodes of "How I met your Mother" that we had wanted to watch on the plane). We picked up Ronin on our way (he spent thanksgiving with McKenzie, John, Scrappy, and Chance) and finally settled back in at home. We hope you all had as much fun, family, and food that we did this thanksgiving!

Cookies, Cookies, Cookies

2008-11-23T15:05:00.001-08:00

For whatever reason, I have been on a major cookie-baking kick lately. A couple of weeks ago, Abe was really craving oatmeal raisin cookies. As many of you know, I am not a raisin fan, but because I love my husband. Also, making cookies that I won't gobble down 5 at a time is the only safe way to bake homemade cookies so I set off to find a spectacular cookie recipe. Normally, I would have just used the one on the top to the Oatmeal container (thanks Quaker Oats!), but, alas, we store our oats in plastic containers so we didn't have the Quaker recipe.

Then I remembered that Abe's Aunt & Uncle gave us all of the Cook's Illustrated (CI) volumes from the last 10+ years, nicely bound and indexed, for our wedding. A particular gift, yes, but for cooking enthusiasts, it really is a very cool and useful reference to have around. All I had to do was look up "cookies, oatmeal raisin" in the index and Voila! I had a tried and true awesome cookie recipe. The good folks at CI had tested multiple variations and methods to find the perfect recipe for chewy, delicious cookies (just ask the people at Abe's law firm who are the frequent recipients of my cookie-baking marathons). I also whipped up a batch of peanut butter cookies that day along with a tray of rice krispy treats (my fav).

Tonight, we are headed to the Alcantars' for our new Sunday night dinner tradition and we are bringing dessert. I thought it would be fun to make ice cream sandwiches with different varieties of homemade cookies. So I made another (and better this time) batch of Oatmeal Raisin, a batch of Oatmeal Chocolate Chip, and tried my hand at some soft & chewy sugar cookies. So if you need a good cookie recipe this holiday season - let me know and I'll pass along the Cook's Illustrated magic!

The End of College Football Season

2008-11-22T15:22:00.000-08:00

As today was the Michigan-Ohio State football game, and this year, marks the end of the Wolverine's 2008 season, I felt it was necessary to say a few words about my beloved Wolverines. It was quite a disappointing season - beyond disappointing really. We knew starting out with a new head coach (Rich Rodriguez) and a lineup heavy with rookies that it was going to be a year of rebuilding and patience. But we still wanted to WIN! Throughout the season, there were moments of excitement and glimpses at future glory; the Wolverines even managed to break a few records. They started the season with the losing-est record in Michigan history, it's the first time since 1967 that they have had an overall losing season, and it's the first time there will be no Wolverine post-season since 1974. Most importantly, today they lost to Ohio State for 5th consecutive time; the most consecutive loses by either team in the history of the 'Greatest Rivalry in Sport'. It is not easy to be a through-and-through maize & blue fan today, but I will hold my head high and 'hail to the victors' nonetheless. Here's to the prospects of 2009 - GO BLUE!

Abe's Quilt is Finally Finished!

2008-11-22T15:11:00.000-08:00

Here it is! As a wedding present, I promised to make Abe a memory quilt of all of his old t-shirts. This is something I did for myself in college and the whole family loves to cuddle under it. As a special treat, I quilted Abe's favorite video game character (Mario, of course) on the back. As I am certainly a novice quilter (not to mention that this is the second time in my life I've used a sewing machine) I am very proud and happy with the outcome. Now Abe, Ronin, and I can cuddle under both of the memory quilts!

Abe's a REAL lawyer now!

2008-11-13T16:46:00.000-08:00

This is stepping back a bit, but I wanted to share some pictures with everyone who has seen them yet. In October, we got the official notice that Abe had passed the Washington state bar exam - yay! Afterall the years of school and intense studying, Abe could finally practice law...but wait, not quite. First, he had to stand before a judge and recite the oath (I'm note quite sure what it is technically called - Abe?) and sign some papers. I was lucky enough to get to be in the courtroom during the ceremony.

Welcome to life with The FidLorbs!

2008-11-13T15:56:00.000-08:00

Let me first explain who the FidLorbs are: me, Stephanie (Fidler) Lorber, my husband, Abraham "Abe" Lorber, and our fabulous pit bull, Ronin. The FidLorb name originated from when Abe and I were dating & engaged (think "Bennifer" and "TomKat" era). We always felt that it was a great way to refer to our egalitarian relationship and once our friends got a hold of it, the name sorta stuck. Though we are all (even Ronin) officially Lorbers now, we still have the Fidler essence in our lives and besides, I like the homage to my roots.

Now for the purpose of the blog. First of all, I have to pay respect to my good friend, Aaron Averbuch. He is an avid blogger about his family and interesting items related to his life and that is really my inspiration to start a blog. Secondly (and similarly to Aaron), I have family and friends living all over the country (and world) and I would love to use this forum to keep them all updated on what's going on with the pacific northwest branch of the family. There is maybe a small third reason: Abe started a blog recently to catalog a restaurant critiquing effort are undertaking and I want my own virtual voice too :)

I have never written a blog, so at least for now, it is going to be very experimental. Stay tuned...