A Birthday, A Food Coma and A Good Day

Haven't these past six months just flown by? I can't believe I've been in New York for half a year now, almost. Well, it's been a busy month, and next month is setting itself up to be hectic as well. So let me recap on the past few weeks...

Adam's Birthday
So Adam turned 26 on November 16, and I had quite a lovely weekend planned for his enjoyment. Luckily, we had both overcome our bouts of the plague (aka the common cold) enough by then to enjoy the festivities. On Friday night, his actual birthday, I hung up a birthday card and six little haiku (3 lines, 5-7-5 syllables) I wrote for him from the blades of the ceiling fan. It looked a little scary when he opened his eyes and saw them, so I was glad I did it that night and not for when he woke up in the morning. They were these sweet little poems, one for every year since we met. Here is my favorite:

Twenty-three
The October rain
stops so the sun can listen
as we say “I do.”

Adam was 23 when we were married, so there you are. He was touched and it was very nice. The next morning I got up bright and early to make him his favorite breakfast, French toast and sausage. Despite the fact that I got Italian sausage instead of breakfast sausage, it turned out quite good and Adam ate an incredible amount given his size. After that we headed out to Macy's, where thousands upon thousands of sale-hungry, wide-eyed and pushy shoppers invaded to reap the benefits of the largest department store in the world. Adam hemmed and hawed over several watches before settling on a DKNY chronograph watch, silver with a black face. He spent the rest of the day exemporaneously informing me of the time, and claiming that the watch was giving him superhuman powers, including the ability to lift me with one hand (the one wearing the watch, of course). After some more shopping (H&M) and exploring (the New York Library), we headed home to rest and ready ourselves for dinner in Little Italy with Vicki and Charles.

We met at Da Nico (our favorite) around 8, and had a simply succulent dinner with our lovely friends. Vicki is a civil engineer and works on bridges and subways in New York City. She is also a avid traveler. Charles works in GPS systems, and knows a lot, about everything, it seems, so he is a great conversationalist. We had wine and bread and butter, and talked and talked. Adam had a special with artichokes and other lovely things, Vicki had gnocci, I had Linguini with clams in white sauce, and Charles had the most expensive and most gargantuan meal available (we goaded him into it), which was called something like Linguini a la Everything. In came in this trough-like bowl and included most inhabitants of the sea; i.e. lobster, crab, mussels, shrimp, scallops, starfish, narwhal, walrus, sea cucumber, upside-down catfish, eel, stingray...wow. He had to wear a bib. You can see a photo of a triumphant Charles on our photosite. It was a wonderful evening, and Adam loved every minute!

Thanksgiving
Last Wednesday, I raced home from work and finished packing our bags for our trip to Maryland. Adam arrived, breathless, soon after, and we made a beeline for the bus on 33rd St. Luckily, we got there just in time to get our favorite seats right behind the bus driver. We arrived in Maryland by 10PM, which was good timing, and hung out for a bit with my folks before heading to bed. The next day was filled with wonderful relaxation and the smells of chicken and other things cooking wafting up from the kitchen. We had dinner with Nikki and family, and it was delicious as always, especially the sweet potatoes. The next day we did a little shopping, and then had dinner at the best restaurant in the universe, Ikaros, and had heavenly Greek food with the family. Sophie, consumed with some inner turmoil that she would not voice to anyone, climbed onto my lap and slumped contendedly until I offered to put lipstick on her. That perked her up. Before I left I think I was wearing two flavors of lip balm (orange and gardenia) and two layers of lipstick. Sophie was quite fine by then.

We were then ceremoniously picked up by Ben and Dave (college buddies) in Dave's new sports car (that, rumor has it, is equipped with a Turbo button) and taken to Jack's house in Bel Air. There we played various video games (Guitar Hero 3, Halo, Mario Party 8) and watched as Ben and Jack rocked out on the drums and electric guitar. It was totally cute. A funny moment was when we were all playing Halo online and I was wearing the headset. I was shamelessly yelling, "Hellooooo hellooooooooo" into the mic and finally some guy from lord-knows-where calls out "Holy fizz, it's a girl!" Delighted, I said, "Hello! Where do you live?" to which he naturally replied, "Man, that's creepy."

After that we went to pick up Natalie (Ben's girlfriend) from the mall where she was working at GNC. We picked up some food and went off to Ben's house, where I patted their miniature Scottish pony (they have four horses) before going inside. We had a fun evening and slept over, and after a hearty breakfast at Bob Evan's my parents picked us up to go back home. The rest of the weekend included more delightful foodstuffs and family. We made it back in one piece, which is always good after Thanksgiving weekend.

A Good Day
So I'm now writing this on Friday, which is post-Good Day, but really this week has been good all around. The Good Day that I am specifically referring to, however, was Tuesday. The awesomeness began in the morning, when me and some other GW folks went to the Donnell Library to attend the annual Anne Carroll Moore Lecture on Children's Literature. While there we met up with Ian, one of my favorite GW illustrators. We talked for a few minutes before trooping into the lecture hall to see the speaker, Mr. Ashley Bryan. He is an author and illustrator who focuses a lot on African-American poets and African folktales and spirituals. I don't know what I was expecting, but Mr. Bryan simply blew me away. He stood up there on the stage for an hour reading poetry to us, making us chant along with him, his voice so powerful and shamelessly loud and melodious that he made the microphone irrelevant. He was so bouyant with life, he was so happy simply to be there, at that moment, reading poetry to us. I found myself smiling and giggling at him like a 5 year-old, drinking in his joy like warm, sweet cocoa on a cold, blustery day. I walked up to him afterward and shook his hand, which was large and full and warm. I said, "Thank you, it was wonderful. You made my day." He smiled, genuinely, and said, "Good. Good. I'm so glad."

Then we got back and since it was the 27th, I decided I would call Kevin and wish him a happy birthday. Virginia had sent an email to everyone saying we should, and I thought, well, why not me? I met him, it would be nice. So I called, left a message on his machine with good wishes, and felt pleased with myself. Imagine my surprise when my phone rang a couple hours later and when I pick it up I hear, "Hi Michelle, it's Kevin! Thanks for calling, that was so sweet of you. It made my day." Made his day? Well, once again, another miraculous person had just made mine. What a great day!

Then we had our weekly meeting, which I always look forward to. It's such a fun chemistry when everyone gets in a room together. So yes, a very, very, very good day.

And now it's Friday and I'm enjoying that feeling of impending fun and relaxation. Tomorrow we go to look at my cello...and perhaps....yes, buy it! *gasp!* I am praying that it will feel right and I will want that very one, because I don't know how many they will actually have. Oh gosh. We also may be seeing Adam's old friend Jayaram and his sister and girlfriend, who are coming to the city to visit. So good stuff all around. I'm also kicking a really fun novel idea around in my head...so, yes, things are good here.

The Dozing Drunkard.

No, that isn't me. It's the theme for part of the first movement of Vivaldi's "Autumn" from The Four Seasons. Although, being that this is me talking, I can see how you'd get confused.

I felt all sophisticated this morning on the subway as I stood with my iPod listening to Vivaldi and following along in the score Adam gave me. The Four Seasons is brilliant. If you look at the score, you'll understand why.

Anyway, why am I reading symphonies, you ask? Well, I am gearing up for the arrival of a new cello! Yes, I am going to take up the cello. I've wanted to for a long time, and I finally decided to go for it. Adam is going to teach me to start, and then I'll try to find a teacher nearby. The place that Adam bought his school instruments from is going to give us a great deal on a nice instrument next month. I can't wait!

Last night was the Art Preview Party, and it was fantastic. We had an incredible turnout, fantastic food (we're still eating it today, and probably will tomorrow, too) and it was so great to meet Kevin Henkes, Ian Schoenherr and Carin Berger, authors and illustrators all. Their original art pieces, as well as dozens of others from our upcoming lists were on display and they were just incredible to look at. There was art from every medium you can imagine, acrylic paintings, watercolor and inks, cut-paper, mixed media...it was amazing. Kevin was so sweet and signed a poster for the nieces and a book for my reading buddy (I'll get to that...) and Carin really encouraged me when I told her about my family memoir that I keep wanting to work on. It was so nice to mix and mingle with all the Greenwillowites in a more social setting, too, even though we were working. I felt myself looking around and different points during the night and thinking, "Wow...this is what my life is now." And I couldn't be more grateful.

The sickly Adam is finally feeling better after succumbing to a cold, and tonight we will venture out to an Australian restaurant in Brooklyn to wine and dine with my designer friend at GW and her beau. They are lovely.

So, back to the reading buddy thing, I am now volunteering (thanks to another GW'er) with a program called Everybody Wins!, where employees at certain companies go to elementary schools in the city at lunchtime and read with a student. This fosters a great relationship with the kids (you always have the same student) and a love for reading! My student is a sweet 4th grade girl who reminds me of Tali, my niece, except older. She and I got along from the first, and I told her I would get her Kevin Henkes' autograph when I see him. Boy, is she going to be thrilled!

So, yes. Things are well. Looking at my calendar is a bit scary with everything getting crazy for the holidays, but it should be fun. Jenflur and Karim of UMBC fame are going to be visiting for the weekend in early December, so that will be fantastic, I'm sure.

I swear, I will be posting photos of Halloween, Art Preview Party, and some other stuff ASAP!

Blowin' in the Wind.

Whew, it's been a while, hasn't it? What can I say, it's been a busy month. I'm sitting here, trying to remember what we've done and it's a blur. Well, here's some highlights in a nutshell:

Maryland and Amie & Brian's Wedding
We took a trip down to Maryland to see the family and attend Amie and Brian's lovely wedding. Nikki and family came over to the house and we all had our usual feast and then went to Brookside Gardens to walk around in the lovely weather. You can see photos of that on our photosite! Then that night Margit (my lovely friend from Hollins) came in her pickup truck to take us to the wedding. It was a beautiful affair and Amie looked so happy. I got to see some great people from Hollins, including Melissa and Amanda the director of our program! We drank and danced and had a lovely evening.

Halloween
While in Maryland, Adam and I got to buy our costumes for the infamous Halloween party, thrown by Jackie, Adam's buddy at K6. (She's the science teacher.) I went as Alice in Wonderland, and Adam was Albert Einstein. We were very convincing! Our main concerns: Adam's luxuriant mustache getting into his cocktails, and my butt showing from under my teeny-tiny dress. Thank goodness, neither was a problem. We went to Jackie's first to help her carry stuff to the bar she rented out, and met her friends the sexy racecar driver, the gladiator guy from 300, and Edward Scissorhands. Jackie was a cheerleader. We were quite the group! It was kinda odd since we didn't know anyone at the party except for the school people, but luckily Jackie made 750 jello shots (NO JOKE) to loosen everyone up. Let me tell you, jello is not a good texture to experience after you've had a little too much to drink. But we were smart and didn't drink too much and left before things got too crazy. We had a great time! I'll put some photos of that up on the website too.

Other than that, things have been pretty normal. Adam and I have been busy working and trying to stay conscious. Adam has finally gotten his instruments in and his band started, and he is feeling upbeat about his program, very exciting! And I'm enjoying my job immensely, I even got to have a lovely conversation with Kevin Henkes (very famous, very great author) on the phone last week, and am excited to meet him at our upcoming Art Preview Party on Wednesday! I hope to take a few pictures of that, too.

This weekend has been a hodge-podge of things, and last night we decided to make a trip to Astoria to grab some great Greek food for dinner. Unfortunately, what actually happened was that we visited the worst restaurant ever (It was in Zagats! I don't get it!). I won't name names, so we'll just call it The Restaurant of Eternal Wrongness. Here's what happened, in chronological order:

1. We walk into the restaurant. It is virtually empty, but we chalk that up to it being early. SHAME ON US.
2. We're seated in the corner, where a blast of heat like Satan's breath begins melting my eyeballs. We complain about the heat and move to the next table.
   
3. The heat is abruptly turned off and replaced almost immediately by cold air. We put our coats back on.
   
4. We are offered a plate of highly seasoned yet disappointingly stale bread.
   
5. We order appetizers only to be told they have no artichokes that night. We order the salad instead. Authentic Greek waitress smiles but has no idea what we are saying.
   
6. We receive semi-delicious spanikopitas and an ill proportioned Greek salad. Chunks of feta: 2. Olives: 2. Tomatoes: 6. Cucumbers: 4,663. Dressing: Hahahaha...
   
7. We wait about 45 minutes. Or 3 1/2 days. Either one.
8. Our food arrives. Adam's lamb and potatoes are lukewarm. My moussaka is DOA. I send it back to get heated.
   
9. The annoying Greek music CD starts skipping, and then shuts off altogether, leaving us in an uncomfortable silence with our mildly warm food.
   
10. The waitress brings us a dessert on the house, as to make up for the disastrous...everything. Sadly, it is weird, and tastes kind of like fermented raisins.
    
11. I get up to leave, and my uncomfortable chair falls over because my purse and jacket was hanging on it, and it is very light, being only constructed of half-made promises and broken dreams.

So, that was it. Boy, we can really pick them. Today we got to see part of the New York Marathon, which was totally awesome! Adam and I are going to try to train this year so we can do it next year. It is amazing, you run through all 5 boroughs!

I must cook now, so I'll catch y'all later! Stay warm!