Happy Holidays everyone!
It has certainly been a busy month so far. And far from over! We leave for Pittsburgh on Sunday morning, laden with gifts. Hopefully the weather will abide it! So...the past two weekends have been grand...
Last Weekend: Friends! Oldies and Goodies.
Yes, it was the weekend of old buddies last weekend, starting with Friday and the arrival of Jen and Karim from the days of UMBC. They got in around lunchtime and met me at my office, after which we dropped off their stuff upstairs and went to purchase some extremely expensive deli fare. $10 for scrambled eggs and french fries? (Apparently a normal NY combination) Heck no! However, they made up for it by bringing us a large bowl of cole slaw and pickles. Mmm. They spent the rest of the day wandering Midtown until I finished work. Then we met up again and took the subway to SoHo, where we met an abundance of wonderful people in an impromptu middle school reunion at a bar called Off the Wagon. Joe Lott and his girl Kate were there, and Adam came after work. And, would you believe it, Joe Monaco came, who I haven't spoken to in possibly 10 years!!! Back in the day I had a major crush on the guy (my first, actually), and I never really told him how I felt (I was...you know...like 15 at the time). He looked great! He is studying Neuroscience at Columbia, and still playing piano (which he played amazingly even at 15!). Marie showed up right after and half of the old gang was together again. Adam caught up with Karim and Jen, and the gang and I reminisced about old times over many, many drinks. We all hugged and laughed and expressed our love for each other, it was a fine evening indeed.
We started out Saturday right with a visit to our favorite breakfast haunt, Eisenberg's. Jen and Karim and I ALL got the same thing, two eggs, over easy, with lox, cream cheese and a sesame bagel, toasted. Oh, and orange juice. I ordered a small, which turned out to be the size of a Dixie cup, so Karim shared. It was delicioussssssssss. Then we went to the Union Square holiday market, where Karim bought a winter hat with a yarn mohawk on top. It must be seen to be believed. Pictures coming soon. Then we all just walked all over Manhattan, literally from 9th street to 58th street. It was CRAZY! When we reached 5th and 55th, something insane happened in front of Saks. We were walking and all of a sudden we were caught in a crowd packed so tightly together than you couldn't move forward, backward, nothing. You just had to scooch forward very, very slowly, almost carried along by the people around you.
Adam and Karim thought this was funny. Jen and I did not. Adam started shouting, "Help! I got in this line when I was eight!" It was a bit terrifying. Some lady departed from the group she was with (somehow) and the little girl with her mother said, "Where is she going?" The mother replied, "Oh, she's leaving," to which I yelled, "You can leave???"
We finally got out of it, and with me grumbling, finally reached the Apple store, our destination. Just to look at it really. So, we looked at it, and left. We jumped on the nearest train and went down to SoHo for some great Italian food. Somewhere during this trip, Jen mentioned something about a "scoopula" which, in actuality, isn't what I thought it was. However, Karim and I jumped on the concept and started making jokes about "Count Scoopula" and intoning, "I vant to scoop your blood" and such things. We thought that this was so riotously funny that I kept talking about it literally all night. Karim offered, "I vant to filter your meaty sauces," after which Jen corrected us, "No! That's not a scoopula, that's a SLOTTED SPOON." So I decide to write a children's story about Count Scoopula, who has an identity crisis when he realizes he isn't a slotted spoon. Hilarity ensues.
Jen and Karim left Sunday afternoon, and Adam and I met Joe and Kate later in the Village for some sushi. Wonderful, as always. A great weekend!
This Weekend: Holiday Party Madness
So, um, Newscorp throws quite a party. The GW crew and their significant others headed over to the Hilton across the street around 6 and got into an incredibly long line to enter. Hoo, boy! What a crazy party that was. The theme was a "Save the Planet" type thing, and each room had a theme. Also, there were people dressed in biohazard suits and army uniforms making sure we were all "carbon neutral" or something, which was a little weird. When we walked in a guy was passing out these beakers of orange liquid and expecting some kind of cocktail I asked, "What is it?"
"Juice." That was it. Ok, I thought. Whatever.
The main ballroom was "Central Park," complete with an ice skating rink and projections of the Manhattan skyline on the walls. There was an ice room (fittingly freezing), a firey room (strangely, also freezing in there) where there was karaoke and dancing, a gaming room that looked like an arcade (with old school games like X-Men and TMNT!) and some others that are slipping my mind. The place was PACKED. Adam, Vicki and I walked around all night, sipping drinks and taking in the sights. We eventually met up with Sarah and Bill and walked around with them, too. I was quite overawed at first, but after about 3-4 hours the crowd started getting to me so we headed home. All in all a fun party!
Saturday we finished up our holiday shopping and then waited for our ride to the K6 party at the principal's house in Long Island. After some difficulty with traffic and directions, we got there and spent the evening hanging out with Adam's teacher buddies. The food that was prepared was pretty incredible, and I filled up happily. Adam filled up on Scotch, for the first time, at the principal's request. He was a happy camper, let me tell you. We got home, exhausted, around midnight.
Sunday was wonderfully laid back, in contrast to the rest of the weekend. We cleaned and I practiced cello and made a stellar breakfast. (I have really mastered the art of the fried egg.) In the evening we needed to go get something from Target, and decided to see I Am Legend while we were out. After Target we stopped in a cute little place in Brooklyn for some calamari and drinks while we waited for the movie. They had great music there, and the cute waitress gave us free Bellini's! We were so happy. Then, the movie.
Adam was not pleased at the scariness of this film, and if I hadn't been so excited about seeing Will Smith, I would have been too. There were a lot of ".......OHMYGODHOLYCRAP!!!!!!!!!" moments throughout, and it was totally eerie seeing our city completely empty like that. Good movie...but with A LOT of plot holes. A lot. But hey, Will Smith does pull-ups. Shirtless. So, come on.
So we walked to the subway in the FREEZING cold after that, and we were both sort of terrified about the whole thing. We went to bed when we got home, and neither of us really slept. The wind howled all night, and caused a lot of unsettling moans and squeaking noises to erupt from the surrounding environs, and the cats decided it would be a good night to scratch ominously at the door and groan like ghasts. Yeah...not very restful. Stupid monsters.
Anyway, that's pretty much up to date now. Another busy week ahead!
