Red skies at night, sailor's delight!

What a great weekend!  The weather was spectacular, starting with a massive lightning display on the ferry on the way over that features chain strikes that sometimes spanned 135° or more.  Luckily, the storm passed us over completely for the most part leaving fiery red skies out on the deck as David and Lauren hooked us up with a long marinated batch of grilled deliciousness.   After the meal, we got to drinking as usual and after the bars, there was a round of midnight Frisbee on the beach with Lauren’s glow in the dark disc.

Beach day

The old adage proved true and “red skies at night” welcomed in one of the most gorgeous days in memory on Fire Island.  We broke out the surfboards and were able to catch a few rides with the long boards at a sandbar that has been forming up between Kismet and Saltaire.  The breeze was really light and we all were happy to spend time on the beach under the sun.  Aaron kept us well supplied with a cooler full of drinks.  Steve set up in the studio again and this time, we have tunes down there.

Party Planner

Around 3:00 Krista confidently marshaled a crew to get ready for the main event, the Luau.  We made a lot of improvements even before the decorations, such as replacing that crappy alarm-clock radio excuse for a stereo with a real receiver and a pair of rich sounding JBLs mounted on the walls.  The decorations were a lot of fun and they were very complete too.  Great care was taken in decorating everything from the railings (Tyler was waiting for an excuse to use a staple gun) to the cupcakes (special thanks to Alison and Christa for their great topping idea and surgical application thereof).  Even a coconut bra came into play.

The coconut bro

We all started early sitting around in our leis and drinking extra fruity drinks while rounds of finger foods came out.  Some of the big hits included: bacon-wrapped scallops with cream sauce, (Birthday girl’s fav) grilled sweet corn on the cob with a butter and pepper, and mini pulled pork sandwiches with grilled pineapple that were finger lickin good!  A few things that you may not know about our shares as fun facts:  Tyler makes a mean piña colada and Aaron really pulls off a coconut bra with surprising confidence.

Dave Warton's crew

The guests arrived in waves starting around 7:45 and included Chance House upfront, Blue View Terrace accompanied by party-goers from one or more previous engagements that evening who were kind enough to bring the smorgasbord with them, Cozy-A, and finally Dave Warton’s crew who stirred up the dancing until late.  Wherever there is dancing,  there is Steve and vis-a-versa –so there was dancing.  Hip hop, salsa, even some flamenco moves!

A hawaiian wind blows

Just around midnight, on Cat’s actual birthday we all circled up to wish Cat well and watch her blow out the candles.  We followed it up with a champagne toast and then headed out to the bars.  The next day was another stunning beach day and the hangover was taken care of first thing by Cat and Lauren with some spicy Bloody Marys of which almost everyone had two.  Later that afternoon Tyler stepped it up again with margaritas on the rocks and an original rendition, which I think was his best, the Black Cherry Margarita. yum.

Fruit skewers

By dinner time it became clear that we hadn’t left enough time to cook before the last ferry so we headed to the Surf’s Out for dinner.  We sat outside and the proprietor was nice enough to drag every heat lamp over to the table until he found one that worked for us.  In the meantime, some lady at another table filled with some sauced middle aged women fell backward off her bench and was knocked out cold. Lesson for you, if you’re gonna drink on benches at Fire Island, be sure you take Cat’s Pilates classes to stay upright. (This lady did not look like a Pilates enthusiast).

Opening her gift

Just before we headed back to the house to pick up the dog ad catch the ferry.  Cat opened her birthday present and received a set of pearls she’d coveted on a vacation last year.  Here’s the happy lady modeling them!  All in all a great weekend.  Special thanks to Krista for taking the helm on party planning and set up and to all of you who pitched in to make this the best 30th birthday party [yet]!

See you in Kismet!

Lady in pearls

Sunset

Bacon wrapped scallops

Birthday toast

Birthday girl

Party dancers

Grass skirts

Chair-dance action

NOW its a luau

Boys clean + make drinks

new bikini

Cat, Jamie and John B

Hey B Team!

Cupcake masters

Mark and Aaron

Sunbathers

Hula-la!

Jamie and Tyler

Luau ladies

Check Cat's face...

Birthday girl

Returning from a swim

Vince & Alison

On the beach

Fritatta artists

Toga Classic

Big fun last weekend, kids!  It all started out with a big bang on Friday night with the toga party at the Surf’s Out.  On the way over the ferry was full of folks in all kinds of greco-roman attire and thanks to our many white bedsheets, getting the whole crew geared up was no problem.  Of course the Out doesn’t get kicking until around 11:00 – 12:00 so Cat started us off putting gas in the tank by hand frying tortillas for a delicous meal of chewy nachos that got completely wiped out by the gang.

At the bar

The toga party ran late into the night with shares getting back to wind down at all hours.  Steve cut the rug so hard at the Surf’s out that the tiles were melting under the floor!  At the end of the night, we even had a very sweet and horribly lost dude walk out onto the balcony thinking he was at Brown Sugar until he closed the door to the deck behind him.  Spencer was kind enough to give Teddy a big red cup full of water and send him in the direction of his house.

Lauren's yoga class

On Saturday, Lauren helped the shares realign their alcohol soaked bodies and minds with a relaxing morning yoga session in the studio.  Ben finished up with the outdoor speakers so we now have stereo sound out on the upper deck and by about 11:30, Steve had transformed the studio into a relaxing massage room.  About 6 of us got a full massage and most of us that did needed a quick nap thereafter to fully enjoy the loosness.  When we woke up, Spencer helped us revive with Gouda-smothered hotdogs, one of the most delicous things ever.

Cocktail party

That evening, some of our friends in town came over for an impromtu cocktail party that turned out to be a lot of fun.  The Polaroid camera donated by Paul (C weekends) was a big hit and we took tons of fun snapshots for the bulliten board.  Tammy Lee, of Chance, made extra efforts to win the affection of Prozac, which (not surpisingly) were well recieved.  Steve and Joe made sure that martinis with a lemon twist were readily availible and Seven Seas loaned out beach umbreallas so that party-goers could make it home dry since it started to rain while we were all hanging out.

Karen shows her chops

Once the crown subsided, Karen was quick to start handing out her mushroom crostinis and searing the honey glazed porkchops.  The dinner was fantastic and the porkchops were sweet and tender.  For dessert, sweetened peaches in red wine were served as the share helped clear up the dishes.  Spencer and Kate got the medal of honor Saturday night for valliance in cleaning, knuckling down and leaving the kitchen completely spotless – 100% clean for the next morning.  Ben and Steve pounded the drumheads for a while to fiery music and by the end of it., the team was ready to hit the bars again.

Sunday Scrabble

Sunday was a recovery day for the most part.  Hearing of Seven Seas legendary Scrabble players, John Blesso headed over to challenge Spencer and Kat in a threeway duel that ended very closely in a victory for Spencer Beggs.  With this victory, it seems that Spencer now has top billing over Blesso and O’Leary and is the one to beat for bragging rights.

After the 8:00 boat, only Gabe and Steve were left at the house and Lauren reported a clean kitchen on her arrival on Monday so way to go Gabe and Steve!  Thanks for heloing her out!  Cat’s Birthday party is coming up next weekend so get ready for the Big Kahuna!  See you all next week in Kismet!

Aaron at the table

Tricia

Drum line

Toga chic

Ben, Spencer and John

Cocktail party

'Toga'-lates pays off, wow!

Steve, Tammy, dry martini

Gabe entertains

Mushroom crostini

Cocktail party guests

Karen, Tricia

Prepping the 'shrooms

K'OB and pal

Steve gets some love

Prozac relaxes

Gouda dogs!

Goofing off

Toga dancer

Toga dancer for real!

Lovely ladies

Tammy wins Prozac's affection

Toga on the deck

The silly shot

Cat, Yujin, Tricia & Kat

Ryan and Sing at the table

We had made exactly the right amount of food because when the last surviving peanut butter pie was found in the freezer, it was made short work of, even by the few who proclaimed “not to like peanut butter,” if such a  thing is possible.  That evening Michael R. revealed his inner bartender, demonstrating remarkable versatility and precision in creating everything from picture perfect Manhattans to fruity sweet concoctions to accompany the warm night.

After music (and a second load of dishes) the gang all headed to the Kismet Inn for drinks and company.  As the night proceeded, shots started coming out and inner teenagers were released. Folks trickled back to their beds into the late hours with only Ben J. and Johnny accidentally walking into some other house, where fortunately there was also a party in action.

British food

On Saturday morning, the team was up and about for egg breakfasts and up just in time to greet our Saturday guest arrivals.  The sun came out around noon.  That afternoon, the deck proved most popular, as a steady stream of snacks flowed from the kitchen.  Ben J. added his culinary contribution of corn chips with sour cream and peanut M&M’s –and you thought British food was bland!  Michael, of course, treated bystanders to hot dogs at lunch.

The day turned into a very nice beach day and everyone was happy to lie out in the sun, frolic in the water, and more.  Adam J. won the day’s award for most helpful share member, showing love for our great wood shop on the ground floor. Coming back from a run, he found Ben wandering around with the surfboards that came over on the freight ferry that morning in a confused manner.  He proceeded to devise an ingenious system for racking up our boards using only the materials on hand in a safe and aesthetically pleasing manner.  This grew into a second project to install our new audio system with outdoor speakers!  Now we can have music on the deck too!  Three cheers for Adam!

Butterflied Lamb

At 5:00, the whole house headed off to enjoy the great view and cool breeze on Bicycle Bill’s roof top for the 4th annual (KGB) Burger-Off competition, an annual event held to determine who in Kismet makes the most delicious burgers.  Although we ate well, it didn’t stop Ben and Andrea from dressing the stuffed butterflied legs of lamb for dinner that night.  They were delicious.

Salsa eruption

After dinner, the jam session got into full swing.  Kevin had brought his guitar too and we had all the instruments out for a complete tribal sound.  The music inspired a reprise of last week’s love chain (completely organically) and the ladies danced away in the living room.  Jeremy also wowed us all with his smooth salsa moves that accompanied our instrumentation quite well. Johnny led the charge to the Kismet Surf’s Out face first down the ramp (thankfully, no serious injuries were inflicted) and the rest of the party followed out to the dance floor, where Jeremy and Reena were already well in action!

Sing-sational Scrabble player

On Sunday, the crowd thinned out a bit, but the sun broke through in the afternoon and it got even warmer than Saturday.  Ben remained unscathed in a beach Scrabble match with Sing, Jeremy, and Heidi.  Meanwhile, Dagmar happily read through our copy of Sharehouse Confidential on the beach.  The left over lamb was enough for both people on the 8:05 to grab to-go sandwiches as well as to turn into a great meal with an avocado and tomato salad by Cat and some mushroom au jus prepared by Ben.  Barbara came over with a bottle of cabernet, and we had a nice meal in the sunset.

After dinner, there was just enough time for Tom and Kevin to break out in blues guitars with Ben trying to keep up on bass.   All in all another perfect weekend out at Seven Seas!  Thanks everyone!

Ben J and Jo get wet

Kevin beach lounging

Beach fellows

Ladies prep meat

Chips gang

Summer reading

Fish bowl twins

Sunburned

Ryan peels potatoes

Lady of the house

Dancing, or box out?

We love bubbly

Jam Session

Clean up on Aisle 7

Jam Session 2

Kevin shreds it

The Love Chain Returns!

Fearless leaders

Sunday on the deck

Dagmar and Ryan in the sun

Heidi readies a word

Andrea checks the time

Kevin counts 'em up

Marinated in magic

Undaunted by perpetual NYC showers, members of C series braved the LIRR and ferry and continued arriving at Seven Seas all the way until the very last boat.  Cat and several other of the lovely lady members made it out earlier on Friday, and prepared a feast of ginger-soy marinated sirloin and veggie kabobs, chicken thighs, salad and spicy rice. After dinner, members and their guests mixed and mingled, and despite the loss of our E string, Big Dave, Medium Dave, Lauren and Ben serenaded us as we sipped our after-dinner drinks.

Saturday on the beach

Waking up on Saturday morning, Mother Nature had made a complete 180.  It was cloudless, warm, and sunny with a pleasant breeze coming from the west.  The bold once again suffered the slings and arrows of Cat’s gut busting Pilates workout.  The breakfast that followed consisted of Ben’s banana-choco pancakes, bacon, scrambled eggs with cheese and hot sauce and OJ.  Ben had to lag behind the beach go-ers to make a few quick upgrades to the accommodations including dimmers on the upstairs lights (thank goodness he survivied the shock), and picking up and assembling our new bikes!

Cheering at the race

Down at the beach, the weather was perfect.  Like many first weekends at Fire Island, some folks overlooked the sunscreen, but thanks to our stocked coolers, it didn’t much seem to dampen the mood.  Cat and Ben brought a spread of grilled burgers, dogs and other goodies to the beach for lunch before everyone headed home to shower off before the Belmont Stakes.

Money shot

Right around 6, we all piled into the neighboring Chance House and were treated to Belmont Breezes, the official drink of the Belmont Stakes.  Bettors from Chance and several other neighboring sharehouses hoped they’d drawn the right $10 horse.  When the dust settled after the exciting race we learned our own Cat and Rachel both had the winning slip, and we walked out of there with everybody else’s money!  Ha!

1st course

As soon as we got home, Paul started up on the most complicated Saturday dinner to date- from scratch asparagus ravioli with shrimp alfredo sauce and butter sauteed summer squash.  The meal was to consist of 3 courses – a large antipasto round with cheeses, breads, mozzarella, peppers, artichokes, olives and lots of other stuff followed by the main event.  The spread was pretty breath-taking.  They say presentation is half the battle, and thanks to our many talented sous chefs, the platters had people leaning over the counter getting sneaky hands smacked out of the way right from the start!

Bustin out!

After the main course, we busted out a pot or two of industrial strength coffee which we thought would be the prelude to dessert, but was instead the prelude to bigger things.  Once Lauren got up and showed off some of her samba moves, the gauntlet had been thrown down and the whole house joined in a dance party and (despite Milda’s sage advise that lap-dances are best served before cheese platters) some spirited lap-dance performances .  That didn’t stop Blakeley from putting the rest of us to shame with her butt dropping hair-flipping combo moves.

Big Dave = Cat/2

The party didn’t stop heating up there though.  In classic fashion, we all marched out to the bars and had the warm up round of drinks out on the deck at the Inn.  After being there for about an hour, we headed over to the Surf’s Out, which by this time had converted into a full on dance party, and stormed the gates.  The Out held a few real prize winner this week.  First, Sean from Chance House laid down the law about who the next break dance master in Kismet would be complete with several splits and floor moves while wearing sandals. Matt B and Ben held their own, dropping to the floor with grinders and spins. Of course it was Rachel and Tammy who redefined dirty dancing in an enthusiastic and explosive bout of down low gyrations.  Rumors of late night oceanic nudity remain unconfirmed.

Sunday was just as beautiful as the day before.  Lauren helped us get back to our centers by starting us out with a yoga class in the studio. She also spearheaded the production of french toast with maple berry butter sauce and bacon. After grabbing some breakfast, the beach was populated pretty early on.  It was great to just chill out on the beach, playing cards and joking around.  Paul mixed up a Fire Island Iced Tea (which was inexplicably renamed “God Water” at some point later on) that packed a surprisingly solid load of liquid levity.  When you looked over and saw that massage chain had gotten going, leaving early was no longer an option.  Multiple plans to head out on one ferry or the next were postponed and put off on account of it being so pleasant out.

On the deck

There were 10 of us left when we sat down for a Sunday dinner of Monte Cristos made on the grill with homemade french fries, tomato and baby mozzarella salad in balsamic vinegar and cold keg beer.  After we finished, 7 of us left on the 8:05 ferry, leaving only 3 of us for the night.  We headed home after a quick stroll to a couple of neighboring houses to have a sunset glass of wine and chat with the other holdovers and to introduce Michael (who was planning a week on the beach) to a few other people who would be around that mid-week.  After loading the dishwasher, we busted out the dessert that had been untouched since Saturday and finished off the night with Sambuca.  All in all a lovely end to a very, uh, ‘potent’ Fire Island weekend

Saturday on the beach

Cheering at the race

Money shot

Big Dave = Cat/2

Dave and Ben jamming

Ladies of the Belmont Stakes

Sous chef

Antipasti

Ben and Cat

Homemade ravioli entree

Latin hips

Everybody dance now

Break it down

Breakfast on Saturday

Blakeley in the kitchen

Paul and Elias

B and B's beach R and R

Lunch by the sea

Setting out the spread

Antipasta

Olives and cheese

Chilling on the deck

Prozac finds an open lap

Lady of the house

Dancing fools

Sunbathers

Kara getting a tan

Cards on the beach

'God Water' on the table

Love Dominos

BBQ w/ special sauce

The 2009 summer season has arrived at Seven Seas Sharehouse in Kismet, Fire Island.  From grilling on the deck to hitting the dance floor at the Kismet “Surf’s Out”, it was a weekend chock full of good times and good food.  As members flowed in all the way until the last boat on Friday, we followed a wine and cheese plate with  a late meal of tasty barbecued chicken on the grill (with special sauce, expertly applied by David).  Cat’s system for placing the asparagus on the upper rack of the grill also worked out great- it had a delicious lemony-smoky taste when served.  The oil dripping off the asparagus on top made the flames pop up and sear the chicken (pictured right).  Lauren capped off the evening by serenading us on her guitar.

Laying out

Saturday morning we had pancakes and the morning sunshine in the deck was a great start.   Folks sweated it out to Cat’s weekly 10:30 Pilates class in the studio, and by noon, we were ready for to hit the beach.  Out on the sand there was plenty of space for members playing kadema, throwing the Frisbee and laying out getting a tan.  Our little Crate and Barrel beach table has proved invaluable, and we’ll be picking up a few more before next weekend for more drinks, books, games and lunch both at the house and the beach.

Matching drink and dress

Saturday afternoon, we hosted a cocktail party for a couple of houses in town.  Lauren took it to the next level by creating a drink with Judah to match her outfit all the way down to the shoes.  The house filled up with probably about 40 people all told.  Cat was thrilled to host, as she likes it when people go on about how clean the house is compared to before Seven Seas managed it.  Right in the middle of all this praise about cleanliness, Prozac saw fit to drop a fresh one right on the deck, luckily, it was detected quickly and no one brought in a one-shoe surprise.

mmm...clam sauce

That night, Ben served up shrimp linguine with a white wine clam sauce (mmm…clam sauce).  After dinner, we headed to the Inn and Surf’s Out for drinks.  Cat’s romaine, gorgonzola, blue cheese, and almond salad was so delicious, Ian had to take some “to go”… in his hair.  The Inn had a band playing and The Out was bumpin’ with bachelorettes like it always is.  It was great to see the amazing outdoor space at the Surf’s Out.  We all can’t wait for when the summer tent parties start out there because it’s comfortable, cool, and chic all at the same time.  The Inn remains the Kismet standby, and the place to run in to most of your friends from other houses.  Good news- it seems the restrictions on taking drinks from one bar to the other are loosening a bit, with the Inn offering to allow you to pour your roadie into a cup upon entry.

Enjoying the beach

On Sunday, Lauren both prepared her signature homemade granola with fresh raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries (YUM!) for breakfast and taught an amazing 10:30 yoga class as well.  Well done!  While waiting for the cloud cover to burn off, there was a round of Celebrity in which Team Awesome emerged victorious, though a special shout out goes to Mark’s animated charades portrayal of Monica Lewinsky.  In line with the forecast, the clouds parted promptly at 12:00 and it turned into a fantastic day.  After hanging on the deck for a while goofing off, we cooked up a batch of burgers and dogs and then took it back to the beach for round 2!  Even warmer than Saturday, the afternoon was very pleasant.  After a weekend of trash talking, Judah finally led the charge into the water before a spirited bocce game.

On the ferry home

Most of the crew caught the 5:50, which worked out great because the wind picked up just as the sun started to get too low in the sky.  The four of us who remained decided to have a quick reprise of Saturday’s dinner before hitting the 8:05 just in time for a beautiful sunset and lovely finish to a fantastic and relaxing weekend.  The crew on B weekend was so amazing, full of chill individuals, all very relaxed and down to earth.  Next B weekend is Cat’s 30th birthday party Luau, and Krista (taking the lead on party planning)  has promised to pull no punches in bringing home the authentic experience so next time you pack to come out, bring your party pants–ideally, bring your party grass skirt, I guess…

Guests coming soon!

How do you really feel?

Lauren's musical stylings

Kadema on the beach

Goofing off

Chillin

Prozac had a big day

Drinking sangria

More cocktail party

Chatting at the bar

Guests at the party

Cheers!

The lucky few who arrived early on Friday got their first taste of beach weather (and a little bit of sun burn). That evening, Spencer treated us all to a great meal of Surf ‘n’ Turf Kebabs, featuring marinated lamb, swordfish and fresh grilled vegetables served on a bed of pearl couscous. Champagne flutes of moscat made for a light dessert.

Karen with a martini

After digesting and enjoying drinks from the bar and frosty beers from the kegerator, we headed over to the Surf’s Out and saw it in action for the first time as a nightlife venue, rather than just a restaurant. Everyone in town was out tearing up the dance floor, and Ben had a dance off with glow-stick laden Johnny Thunder. Hard to tell who “out-wormed” who, but Seven Seas cheered loudest for our Ben.

Saturday the beach was windy, so it was a great day to go sit by the pool (GORGEOUS!) and take a dip.  Folks filed down to the studio in the afternoon for a quick core-killer Pilates session with Cat in “preparation for” the MONSTER ribs feast.  Before dinner the crew headed over to the Chance House for a season’s greetings cocktail party. The event proved to be a great little networking event and did its work to get people in to the small-town, friendly-beach-goer mindset that embodies Kismet, Fire Island.

Ribs on the smoker

After the party, Spencer stepped it up again with smoked pork ribs made with love and a few tips from the experts at Fette Sau in Williamsburg.  If that wasn’t enough, the main event was followed up by Chance House’s Marla’s decadent peanut butter pie and coffee.  When the meal was over, we commenced a lively jam session in the living room with Ben and John B. on the guitars, guest star singer Caroline, and Gabe hitting up the harmonica. It turned out to be a night to hit the bars again for a late night dance marathon.

On Sunday, the clouds burned off by noon and the beach was splendid.  It was so hot and summery that by late afternoon, a big contingency at the house broke out with a game of celebrity that had lots of twists and turns.  That night we ate tilapia fillets and summer salad with “Sex Rice,” rice so good, you want to have… with it.

Beach Jam

Memorial Day itself boasted the best weather of the weekend, and most of the day was spent out on the beach.  Kat O’Leary reigned supreme on the Scrabble board and Michael R took the prize for boldest cold water swimmer.  We finished off the weekend with a family style pasta meal prepared by Paul and Karen before the remainder of the sun-soaked Seven Seas gang headed off on the sunset ferry home.  All in all – the best of all possible weekends for the start to an amazing season of sunbathing, beach games, music, friends and food in sunny Kismet, Fire Island.  Long Live Seven Seas!

Karen with a martini

Paul, Ben, and Karen

Seven Seas in Bloom!

Jamie, Cat and Prozac

Surf n' Turf Kebobs

Cat teaching Pilates

The bar is loaded now!

Beach Jam