How Long is 27 Years?

Today is my birthday. 27 years ago, this morning, I was born into the world and started breathing the air and learning to live. First there was eating and sleeping, then walking and talking, followed by reading, drawing, laughing, crying, worrying, dreaming, et cetera, et cetera.

Oh, and loving, of course. There was always loving.

Life is strange. Whenever something monumental happens to you, you always look back on your old self like some other person, living some other life. But, if the change was good, you thank that person for making those decisions, often quite blindly, that created the you and the life you’re living now. In some ways, they are the mothers of the new you, the ones who endured the pain and the unknown to give birth to fresh life, to the possibility of better things. Their sacrifice made your joy possible.

So, um, thanks old me. It was all worth it.

Anyway, as my friends at UMBC were quick to inform me, it’s been a while since I’ve updated this blog. I will attempt to cram all that New Yorky goodness into this post.

Ben and Natalie’s Visit
Our buddies Ben and Nat drove up in the new Natmobile at the end of January to spend the long weekend with us, and what a weekend it was! We enjoyed many lovely meals, including some pho in Chinatown, some sushi in Greenwich Village, and some Ben’s Specialty Thai Chicken at home. Adam and Ben jammed on their guitars, and we drank and played Mario Party as per usual. Since it was Nat’s birthday, we also picked up some delicious cookies and cakes at a bakery in Greenwich. Since it was bloody freezing that weekend, we stayed inside a lot and just hung out. Another lovely visit from our Maryland lovers. We hope they’ll be back soon!

The Race, and That Almost-Vomiting Feeling
So on February 3^rd (otherwise known as Superbowl Sunday), Adam and I ran our first race with the New York Roadrunners: The 4-mile Gridiron Classic. We had joined this club in hopes of forcing ourselves to keep fit, and also because we have several friends who are members and have talked it up a lot. So, Adam and I went to the gym (well, me, mostly, but I’m not bragging, as you’ll soon see…) and practiced and trained. And then it was upon us, and there was nothing to do but double knot our shoelaces and pray.

We were up in Central Park by 8:30 for the 9 a.m. race, and it was cold. I was somewhat bundled, wearing yoga pants, a long sleeve t-shirt under a sweatshirt, a hat, and gloves, but I was still freezing. It wasn’t until later that I would regret the thick layers. As we stood in the crowd, we watched as what seemed like thousands of runners poured into the park like a great tide of fitness, bare legs and arms scoffing at the cold. Meanwhile, I stretched and tried to appear confident. The truth is, I am a slow runner. And I mean, really slow. Blind, deformed tortoises crawling through a river of molasses would have a leg up on me. I. Am. Slow.

So you get my point. Plus, I just don’t have a lot of stamina. I was never an athlete, so I don’t have that handy muscle memory to be like, “Oh, yeah, I remember this. Okay.” No. My muscles experience running and act like Puritans being forced to experience television. Exercising? More like exorcising. Anyway, there I was and boom, the race begins.

At first, everything was great. I had my iPod on, I was pumped, I was feeling good. Then, maybe about a quarter of a mile later, I start getting tired. And I mean really tired. I slow down. Sixty-five­ year old retirees with false teeth pass me with apparent ease. I start getting panicky which only makes things worse. Adam, who is loping along like a gazelle, tries to keep me upbeat. “Come on!” he says. “You can do it! Keep going!” So I keep going. Throughout the four miles, I felt many emotions: determination, worry, fear, despair, elation, a deep-seated hatred for hills, shame, pride, and finally, that almost-vomiting feeling, which came upon me as I crossed the finish line at top speed. What happened was, Adam--who, angel as he is, stayed with me the whole time despite the fact that he could have easily left me in the dust—wanted to keep me running (not walking) till the end once the finish line came into sight. I kept going, but those last 100 yards were the end of me. I blurted out, “I…can’t…go…any…more…” and he yelled, “ONE LAST PUSH!” And so I pushed. I sprinted, actually, those last 100 yards to the finish line. And once I did, I came to a grinding halt. And then, I wanted to barf. The need filled my being, and paralyzed me on the spot. Adam had to drag me to a nearby bench and force a cup of water into my hand before the feeling passed. And slowly, I came to the realization that we had done it. And, amazingly enough, in only 49 minutes, which is a great time for me. After gorging ourselves on hot chocolate, bagels and apples, and talking to our speedy runner friends, we headed home, where I proceeded to collapse onto the couch and remain there on a heating pad for the majority of the afternoon.

Can you believe we’re doing another one in a couple of weeks? I guess I love to suffer.

Miscellany
In the weeks to follow, we’ve done some other assorted things like attend an amazing gallery opening for one of GW’s illustrators, where I met up with many of my colleagues and lots of authors and illustrators, too. It was a wonderful evening, and it was so much fun introducing Adam to people and giving him a peek into that world that I’m becoming a part of. I love it more than ever!

We also had the opportunity to see The Lion King on Broadway, which Adam had seen years ago, but I never have! It was an absolutely breathtaking show, and we had amazing seats in the center orchestra. Worth every penny! And afterwards, we walked out of the theatre and straight into a freak blizzard that blew into Manhattan like a hurricane. It was surreal being in Times Square and having these huge white flakes blowing sideways into your face and covering you up in three moments. We warmed ourselves up in a nearby diner on sandwiches and coffee before heading home.

Birthday Weekend
This weekend was spent in Maryland with family, and we enjoyed the company (and the food, of course) immensely. Mom got to introduce us to the new cat, Mookie, with great pride. He’s a lug and she is thrilled. Adam spent a great deal of time playing a game called God of War, which seemed to entertain my parents for hours. I was annoyed at the over-the-top gore and unnecessary sex scenes at first, but it got better as the game went on, and became sort of funny, sitting there watching Adam play video games with my parents. Lots of fun. The kids are enormous, and smart as ever. It’s so odd watching them grow up so fast. Nikki and I got in a lot of baby talk, and while we were at her house she led me into the storage room so I could survey the things that would be mine, i.e. maternity clothes for all seasons, a crib, assorted child rearing equipment, and crates of clothes separated by age. It was amazing and scary seeing all of that and knowing that those things are now tangible for me, are just around the corner in the great scheme of things. Having a sister so much older than I was separated us for most of our lives, we were always close, but we never really were at the same place at the same time. It’s only natural, being nine years apart. But somehow in that moment, when she opened the door and pointed out the baby clothes and we discussed the measurements of the crib and the necessity of interrogating your OBGYN, those nine years seemed finally to melt away and become a thing of the past. A mother is a mother, after all.

While we were there my Dad happened to inquire about all of my old friends, and what they were doing now. This was because my old buddy Nick was coming to visit that evening, who I hadn’t seen in many months. I filled him in on everyone, friends living on all corners of the country, getting PhD’s, working in high places, getting married, all those things. And at the end of it, he said, “Well, it seems that all of them are doing really well, aren’t they?” And I thought about it and well, yeah, they were all doing well. “I had really smart friends,” I said. And I smiled. I had really great friends. It made me feel good to think about them all, like balloons, connected to me by these long, billowy strings that made my heart feel light as air. Buoyant, you know? And there I was, with my family who was connected to me too, with even tighter knots. And when you think of your life that way, with these long strings connecting you to all the people you love who keep you afloat, it’s hard to ever feel alone.

Thanks for another great year of life, everyone. Until next time…

Heavenly Brooklyn Eats.

Adam and I enjoyed a really wonderful weekend, and now I'm back at work looking back on it all. I thought I would get some of this down before the morning really starts. So, Friday after work Adam met me in Greenwich (I drank a very good raspberry stout in a nearby bar while I waited for his arrival) and ate some delicious Greek food. We got home and I sort of crashed because of a killer headache. The next morning we got up and ate a delicious breakfast of two eggs over easy, a chunk of La Vache Qui Rie cheese (otherwise known to Americans as Laughing Cow cheese), and a slice of fresh French bread with proscuttio on it. Mmmm. Then we struck out on a Brooklyn walk suggested by Time Out New York called "The Other 5th Avenue." Basically, you start out near us on Brooklyn's own 5th avenue and walk about 6 miles to the end of it at the southwestern tip of Brooklyn. We didn't quite get that far, (we only walked about 3.5 miles of it) but it was really a GREAT trip.

You start out in prime Park Slope, one of the nicest neighborhoods Brooklyn has to offer. Boutiques, dozens of restaurants and bars line the streets offering basically any food or goods you could ask for. We stopped for brunch at a Peruvian restaurant where, for a mere $9.95, we ate the most amazing food in the universe. (Aside from home-cooked meals, of course.) With this deal, you got bottomless coffee or tea, a cocktail of your choice and a meal. Adam chose tea, a passionfruit and champagne cocktail, and a pita sandwich with turkey and avocado, topped with a fried egg. I chose a mojito, and roasted chicken with saffron rice and black beans, a small salad and fried plantains. Now, it doesn't sound like much, but this food was so delicious that it made me cry. It really, really did. I started getting all choked up eating this wonderous chicken, and began professing my undying love and appreciation to Adam whilst sniffling and chewing in complete ecstacy. I kid you not. It was really good. You can see some pics of it on our photosite.

We walked some more and saw lots of fascinating things, until we reached the Greenwood Cemetery, possibly the largest cemetery in creation. You may thing, ew, why would you want to go to a cemetery? But seriously, this place is amazing. Created in 1838, its rolling hills and wooded glades take up over 470 acres in southern Brooklyn. Its every nook is covered with huge statuary, mausoleums, and other amazing structures that you have to see to believe. Adam and I actually want to go back and explore the place more, its really a wonderful place to get away from the noise of the city and be lost among the trees and winding stone paths. Pictures are also available of this.

We made our way home after that, and took only a quick stop to feed the cats before leaving again for Hell's Kitchen to meet Charles for dinner. We ended up noshing on some Ethiopian fare, which, if you've never had it before, comes in an enormous plate for the entire table, and the bits of food you order are placed on top of a sourdough tasting bread called Injera. You need no utensils, because you use the flat Injera (they give you lots of extra) to scoop up the food and eat it. Very spicy and tasty. After that, we had some cupcakes at Amy's Bakery nearby, where I got a crazy sugar high and started talking about the dangers of being run over by bikers and crushed by elevator doors. Lots of fun. We also visited Charles' apartment, and he took us up on the roof to admire the view of midtown Manhattan.

Sunday was much more laid back, full of running at the gym, food buying and cooking, cleaning house and writing theses. A really, really nice weekend. And next weekend we're getting a visit from none other than The Ben, The Nat and The Dave! Get ready y'all!

Two Etudes

Okay, so as you know I've been practicing cello for about 4 weeks now, with a week skipped for the holidays. My Mom requested a video presentation of how I'm doing so far, so last night I did just that and posted it on YouTube. Now, keep in mind, it is by no means fantastic. It's sorta out of tune and awkward, but I'm damn pleased with being able to play something even resembling a song after only 4 weeks. Check it out!

Meech On Cello.

Hello, 2008.

It is truly amazing and somewhat disturbing how quickly time passes. And how smoothly two people can trade in one life for another, wildly different one without feeling strange and alien in it. On our way to the small New Year's Eve gathering that we attended in the Lower East Side, Adam asked me, "Can you believe that we live here now?"

I looked around me, at the motley crew of people walking along the streets, at the cracked sidewalk, at the spotted bananas being sold out of a cart in front of racks holding Brooklyn t-shirts and Yankee caps, at the green globes in front of us that heralded the entrance to the subway, looked at them with a certain familiar fondness, and said, "Yes. No." I breathed the cold night air. I felt the road under my feet as I walked. "Yes."

It's weird. You change your life in a big way like that, and you end up changing yourself in a big way, too. But you don't really feel it until it's already done. There are things I take as normal now that probably would have made me screw up my face in disgust/horror/confusion/annoyance back then, and things that I have now that make me so happy that I can't really imagine not having it anymore. Perspectives, standards, expectations...sometimes they're as constant as the wind.

The holidays were fun, relaxing, and reflective, in a way. This would be our first year starting out as New Yorkers. Back when we were thinking about moving here, rolling it around experimentally in our mouths to see how it tasted, we figured, well, if it doesn't work out after a year, we can always come back. If you don't like the taste, you can spit it out, no problem, no harm done. At least you gave it a shot. This was our fallback. This made things less scary, less permanent. But now...we got a taste of New York and in a show of complete reckless abandon, we swallowed. We let New York in. And now it's part of us. And that is both totally comforting and scary as hell. We're going to have a home here, give birth here, raise kids here, make memories here, lots of them. How crazy and impossible and wonderful, isn't it? That's New York for you.

So here's the play-by-play of our holiday break, hijinks and all.

Christmas in Pittsburgh
Our flight to PA was shockingly unremarkable (aside from the fact that Adam and I got up at 3:30 in the morning). I expected delays and long lines and was pleasantly surprised by a painless check-in and a prompt and comfortable flight on JetBlue. I was singing their praises by the time we landed. (Tune in for our less fortunate trip back to New York...) Mom and Pop Corpora were waiting for us in the airport and we were whisked back to the house in their environmentally-friendly Prius, where we passed out for a couple hours rest. That night we shared a lovely dinner with Aunt Cheryl and Uncle Denny, as well as Grandma Rihn, Lorraine and Joe. Afterwards, Adam, Grandma, Dad and I drove up to Zelienople to see Aunt Diane and Uncle Bill. While Uncle Bill and Adam discussed mutual funds and stock investments, the rest of us drank white wine and ate crackers and hummus.

Christmas Eve was quite relaxing, and we ended the day by attending mass at North American Martyrs Church. It was a very nice service, and the priest, Father Tom (former trucker and football lover) and his father came to dinner to eat Mom's seven fishes (which were: tuna dip, fried calamari, fried smeltz, shrimp cakes, bakala salad, crab raviolis, and baked salmon). Father Tom greeted me with his usual "Shalom! Mazel tov!" and the night began. Everything was delicious. Mom laughed at me when I started snooping around the gifts.

Perhaps the most memorable part of the day was when I made soup. I decided it would be nice for me to contribute to the food so I thought I would make one of my favorite soups, Spinach Marscapone Soup. It's a mild, delicious and warming soup, and quite green. Easy to make, too. Not too many ingredients. All was going well until the final step...blending. I poured the softened veggie mix into the blender, put my hand on top and switched the knob to ON. Now, usually, switching the machine to ON does not actually cause it to start blending, that happens when you push MIX or STIR and so on. Well, this blender had different ideas.

It exploded, pretty much. I yelped as hot spinach erupted out of the blender onto my hair, face, pajamas, feet, eyeglasses, and, worst of all, all over a large portion of the kitchen. I spluttered and gasped and was positively mortified. Here I was, trying to prove my culinary prowess, and suddenly I am covered in spinach. Mom took it all in stride and helped me mop up the place, and went to give that blender the what-for...after which the blender maliciously exploded all over her, too. And the kitchen. Again.

At this point, I started to giggle. It was sort of funny, after all. What better soup to explode all over the kitchen than a green one? We mopped it up again, tried it again with drastically less soup, and it was fine. It actually turned out to be pretty delicious, after all. Thank goodness. That night, Dad and I built a mighty fire in the fireplace which I happily roasted myself beside. Mmm.

Christmas morning! We all woke up around 9 and waited for Lorraine and Joe to arrive in their pajamas. They came in at 10 on the dot, and we started opening gifts. I got a gorgeous hand-knit neckerchief from South Africa (Dad just went there on business a couple months ago) and stuff to start my first bonsai garden! Two books about raising bonsai, a set of professional Japanese tools, a little ornamental man, and money for my first tree. I read a lot of the books already and am planning to purchase one in spring, to avoid the tricky dormancy season. Adam was led on a clever scavenger hunt around the house until he found his gift, an acoustic guitar! He was thrilled. Now we both have a new instrument to learn.

So, it was great. The family visited throughout the day. The next night we went with Devi and her cousin Narsa (sister and cousin of Adam's old friend and neighbor Jayaram) to Lorraine and Joe's apartment for a little holiday bash. Narsa's awesome Dad gave me a book from Strand, and told us how much he missed living in New York. It turned out to be an incredible book, I'll need to write about it in the book blog. Anyway, Lorraine and Joe's was fun, full of an incredible variety of people. And that was pretty much our trip.

Coming home was quite a hairy process. First of all, our plane was about 30 minutes late. That turned into 45 minutes late. When we boarded the plane, we taxied around a bit until the pilot said, "Bad news everyone, we're not going to take off for another HOUR." Gaahhhh.....happily, it was only actually another 20 minutes before we took off. We got to New York and then circled around it for about 30 minutes, finally landing at 9:30. We managed to get out of the airport with our luggage around 10:00, then took the airtrain to the subway...hoping to be home around 11. Boy, didn't we think ourselves lucky when the subway was making local stops? There we were, standing in front of the doors as the train stopped at our station, having visions of home, and...the doors didn't open. The train left. So did all of my hopes and dreams. Sigh. We ended up walking from the next stop over, about 5 or 6 blocks, until we got home and our arms fell off. They really did. But at least we were home.

Relaxation and New Year's
This is a super-long post. Oh, well. At least I'm thorough. So Adam and I supremely enjoyed the following days, lazing about and doing stuff we liked. I managed to start my thesis (gasp!) and I'm currently at 8 pages, which to me is virtually a miracle. We shopped and ate stuff and started running at the gym. Fantastically wonderful things, all. New Year's was to be spent in the company of Vicki, Gwen and friends on the Lower East Side, starting at an Italian ristorante and then to a British-styled bar called the Telephone Bar. It was a lovely evening. We all wore silly hats and drank a lot of wine. I had a really great Belgian white ale that everyone else hated. We made honky sounds on noisemakers. We counted down to the New Year with a ka-zillion other people. I got a photo of the last second of 2007. Check it, and all the other new photos out on our photosite. Happy New Year everyone.

Everything else has been lovely since then. I made some great food this weekend, including a brilliantly good Indian Carrot Soup. It may be my new favorite. Oh, and I have my very first callous on my finger. I am truly a musician now.

Send some love!

It's the Most Wonderful Time...

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!

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!