On Friday night we celebrated Renee’s 27th birthday at her and Bogdi’s place in Astoria. I provided the party food (burgers from Shake Shack), Osalis made the drinks (strawberry margaritas) and Bogdi brought the entertainment: Rock Band 2 and RB: The Beatles. It was a fun night, with lots of playing and singing until way over 2am.

After the party Suzette drove Ethan home, so I joined to keep her company. We were both craving some bubble-tea so we spent half an hour cruising through Flushing trying to find a place open that would sell it. Sadly, at 3am, there wasn’t a single one.

Pictures can be found here. Looks like I’m sticking with SmugMug for now, so love it or hate it, it’s here to stay. Feel free to play with the Style button on the top, especially the Journal mode for a nice viewing experience.

In other news, I’m trying out a new photo storage service: SmugMug. I already uploaded a few pics from Friday night, when Linh, Helena, Danny and Paula stopped by for some Wii Sports Resort time. I’m still experimenting with my camera, so some of the pics might look a bit weird. Photography advice is always welcome.

It wasn’t a good end of week. Bogdi and Roxana’s grandma passed away on Thursday night after a long battle with cancer. The funeral was today. Had to skip work to attend it – which is sure to get me in trouble with HR – but I wouldn’t have thought of missing it.

I usually don’t get overly personal on my blog – especially about somebody else’s personal problems – but I knew her for a good while and it’s because of her family that I am here today. During my last years in Romania I was the link she had with the loved ones here and I always used to visit her before and after each of my trips to the US. I was very happy when she finally came here and got reunited with the rest of the family, I only wish it would have been for longer. She was a wonderful, loving person and always treated me like one of her grandchildren.

Rest in peace grandma, you will be missed.