Attention occupants of MafiaReturns land:

Indeed! It is that fabulous time of year once more! The time to officially announce the coming of our annual Mafia Returns Meet and Greet! (Minus the Greet, and plus 'Lots of Drinking'.)

For those of you who are unfamiliar with this event, I will take the next few sentences to give you a small synopsis: Every year MR players from all around the world take one week of their time away from work, school, family or what have you, and meet for a fun filled week with other players in the fine (lolz) state of New Jersey, USA. We rent a house on the fabulous (serious adjective this time) Jersey Shore, enjoy the beach, the quiet, quality time spent with other people with our similar mafia RPG passion, and generally have a grand time.

Now that we're all on the same page, I can fill you all in on the details of this year's meet. However, since I (with the help of Belle) am organizing it, things will be run a little differently than usual. (Don't be too afraid.)

This year the meet will be held earlier than usual. SATURDAY OCTOBER 9TH TO SATURDAY OCTOBER 16TH are the dates the house has been booked under. Earlier than the usual November, yes, but this guarantees us some warm weather, rather than the flooding and extreme cold temperatures we were plagued with last year.

The house we are staying in this year is located in STONE HARBOR, NEW JERSEY. (For more information, including pictures, amenities and the like, please view HERE.) By our estimation, the house we booked will hold/sleep 17 people, so it is strongly suggested that if you are interested in coming, you book your vacation with the Kendra Travel Agency as soon as possible. Note: We can hold more people *if* needed, with pull out beds and air mattresses; beds and actual bedrooms will be reserved on a first come first serve basis.

There are many ways to arrive to the Mafia Returns Meet and Greet; many people drive (if able), but most people fly via airplane (as opposed to flying... well, no idea how). Because of the volume of people we have flying in, we want to keep things as simple as possible this year: we are asking that everyone fly into Philadelphia International Airport (PHL). *If you fly into any other airport, please be advised you will have to figure out your own road travel to the meet house. We don't have the resources to make trips elsewhere this year. Sorry!* The Mafia Returns Team will be providing transportation from the airport to the meet house (and vice versa) on both weekends surrounding the meet. If it makes an extreme difference in flight price, we do have the option to crash at a local player's home for the evening of Friday the 8th, as opposed to flying in Saturday the 9th. (Limited space applies, so again, this will be done on a first come first serve basis.)

To break up all the droning, I'll take a moment to highlight, again, why this trip is so fun and memorable for all involved. Not only do you get to meet some of MafiaReturns' players and administrators to reminisce and chillax (did I say chillax? Oh God.) with, but we pack plenty of entertainment into every meet, to ensure that things stay at the appropriate level of AWESOME. This year, among other things:
- Nightly parties, filled with drinking, games, drinking, chatting, drinking and eventually unconsciousness.
- We will be making another return trip to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for cheese steaks and (limited) sight seeing, with a gaming stop at Dave and Busters;
- We will be adding an optional trip to the Medieval Times dinner theater, for the Renaissance at heart;
- And as always, the ever popular Atlantic City trip, so we can get our gamble on. *High fives.*

Now that I've gotten through all the fun stuff, I'm briefly going to touch upon the MEET RULES:
- This year, we are asking that everyone who attends please be at least 21 years of age (the legal drinking age in the United States).
- You will be responsible for dinner one night during the week (whether it be solo or with a partner). The Mafia Returns team will provide all food for breakfasts, lunches and snacks, but YOU must come up with a dinner for your scheduled night. (This can be as elaborate as creating a five course meal *cough cough Kittie* or as simple as ordering in pizza *ala Belle and I*.)
- As stated above, we will provide for basic breakfasts, lunches and again, as mentioned, dinners will be covered. If you are in need of extra groceries we will have scheduled shopping trips; otherwise, fend for yourself.
- Our transportation will unfortunately be limited this year. We will do our best to have ample room for the scheduled trips, however, if you are eager to strike out on your own day trips, you will have to provide your own transportation. Period. (Side note: all those driving with me, gas money and tips are appreciated, tyvm.)
- All those attending are going to, nay, are OBLIGATED to take the introductory shot of Everclear that is demanded of all new MR Meet goers. If you can't do it, then you're a pussy. Come on, we all did it.

So now that all the pleasantries are out of the way, it's time to discuss the cost of this lovely vacation package. Again, as mentioned in the beginning, things will be a little bit different this year, but before I launch into how, I would like to discuss why.

In the past, when houses have been rented, the attendees have all paid for a portion of the weekly rental. Squishy has put down the rental deposit himself, out of his own pocket. If too little attendees show interest, he also floats the amount that is left over on the rental, as well as paying for the food and drinkage, etc. etc. Afterward, he gets whatever is left on the deposit minus the cleaning charges, excessive damage charges (which are rare, but could happen), so on and so forth. Not to mention the fact that the rental has been in his name, solely, making him liable for everything that goes on in the premises. Me? I'm a lady who is all about equality, so this year things will be done this way:

- Everyone, upon payment, will be emailed a waiver form that they will have to fill out and return in a timely manner. We have not yet had problems with emergencies or catastrophes of any nature, but it is nice to have on file in CASE of aforementioned emer-tastrophes, and it is nice to be able to split the liability between the house, instead of having it resting on my shoulders. I'm not taking the fall for y'all, sorry.

- To reserve your spot at the meet house, you must pay a $100 deposit, up front and center. This $100 reserves your spot in the meet house, and depending on how early it is paid gives you first-come-first-serve status on choosing your bedroom, roommate for the week, and all those other fun details. This $100 will be applied toward the actual security deposit on the house. About two weeks after the meet, this $100 will be refunded to you- IF we return the house in perfect condition. If damage or cleaning charges are taken out of the total deposit, all funds will be evenly distributed between all attendees. Alternately, if any excess charges are assessed, we will be dividing them.

- If you decide you cannot attend the meet, you will forfeit your deposit unless someone else decides to take your spot and attend. In the past, again, we have had to scramble for funds to fill in the spots of the last minute dropouts, and while we will have no problem refunding your rental fee, we feel keeping the deposit is fair for holding that spot for you and denying others the chance to attend because of this.

- The rental fee this year will be $250 per attendee. This will cover your room and board, as well as food (the breakfast, lunch and snack). (This rate is based on the division of the price of the house between 17 people, as well as an average on price of groceries from the past few years, again divided equally.)

- The $250 must be paid within 60 days of putting down your deposit. We have to pay the price of the house upfront, and while floating the money is fine, I'd like to see this reimbursed as quickly as possible as it gets a bit pricey. At the very latest this needs to be paid by August 31st, or you risk losing your place in the home, as well as forfeiting your deposit.

- For the people who want to come, but don't wish to stay the entire week, we are more than happy to do a pro-rated rental agreement with you. This ensures that you only pay for the days you are staying, rather than paying for an entire week and not getting the full benefit of the pricing. As a forewarning, though, people who are interested in short trips are subject to being placed wherever we have open room in the house (people who pay for the full week have first priority). This includes, but is not limited to: pull out couches, air mattresses, the master bedroom closet and/or the bed of shame.

All payments can be made here, by clicking on the "make a donation" button and filling in your payment information that way. (Note: please notify us when a payment has been made, so we know which payments belong to whom.)

This new way was not done to confuse anyone, but rather to make things easier on the administration side of the Meet deal, so I hope you can all bear with me while this gets organized. Thanks in advance for having the patience to put up with me.

Well, that's it! If you have any questions, feel free to post them here or Mob Mail me. If you are interested, please contact me via Mob Mail, and have your $100 ready to reserve your spot.

Can't wait to see you all there! :)

Dis-fucking-claimer: DO NOT DRIVE. YOU WILL DIE. That is all.

Pfft, I drive EVERYWHERE, oh, and straight through too - I am still alive...

I can't drive all the way over there... My car won't float

Can I just wack you instead?

No? =( Ok, seriously, I'm going to check my vacation schedule and see if I can move some things around so that I can attend this little event.

I think this is an extremely attractive concept on the basis telkin will be unable to attend.

I might attend.

If I sleep in my car, do I have to pay room?

You'll probably get a bit cold in your car over night.

You still have to pay if you plan on eating the food and drinking and alcohol initially bought for the people who are attending.

- Nightly parties, filled with drinking, games, drinking, chatting, drinking and eventually unconsciousness.

tis all I needed to hear, sign me up.

Despite by boyish features and youthful charm, I assure everyone I am of legal drinking age. I'm hoping to make it up at least one of the nights. I won't come empty handed. I'll bring my ID too in anticipation of everybody carding me for looking so young.

For people who aren't big drinkers, or who can't drink for whatever reason, there will be sober people at the meet.

Fun games we played last year were Risk, Guitar Hero and "Hide the *****"

For those interested in day trips, Philedelphia is the birthplace of freedom and home to the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, along with the Franklin Institute and many other sites of historical interest.

The Statue of Liberty is accessible from the New Jersey side and if properly coordinated is an easy day trip made with public transportation. If the trip is made early enough in the day, a ferry from the Statue can be taken to the New York side for further site seeing.


If you have never had the chance to visit any famous state parks, this is a chance of a lifetime! Touring Independence Hall is free, as is access to the Liberty Bell. Public transportation costs, but is not prohibitive and ferry tickets to the Statue are $12.

Also, it was not a 5 course meal, it was uh *thinks* I'll get back to you on that. :D

Today this would cost me $600 without spending money. This is hugely cheap considerering its from london... I'm sorely tempted...

It's going to cost me that much for room and board, deposit, and ticket...but it's worth it!

I will only be 20 at the time of the meet. Shocking. Marco can also not attend. :(

since i can't go i will second kitties point about day trips. having lived in philadelphia for ten years i know that you can't see everything in ten years much less in  a couple of days. but there are so many sites that if you can't find something worth seeing you are blind.

If you're heading to Philly for cheesesteaks, do yourselves a favor and get them from somewhere other than Pats or Genos. Tourist traps. There are much better places to get steaks in Philly, for instance every other steak shop in Philadelphia

I think we went to Geno's last year... Or was it Pats.... Either way, I thought it was pretty decent. Of course this is coming from a guy who grew up in New York his whole life, so what the fuck do I know about a philly cheese steak eh?

I will only be 20 at the time of the meet. Shocking. Marco can also not attend. :(

I'm in then.

The picture section has officially been updated.  Thanks to everyone for their patience while we were setting that up. 

Again, remember to book your trip as soon as possible, so you guarantee a bed!  Three people have already put down their deposit, don't wait until the last minute!