peach beer

M and i thought we'd make a trip in spite of the horrendous weather... the cherry orchard started slowly but found a rather impressive voice somewhere in the middle.

we had front and center seats in the intimate theater so it was quite a treat. M and i played young and walked to petite abeille where we had beer. let it be known that i do not drink beer.. but peach beer, that's another story entirely.

one of these days my post is going to be bigger than 8 lines... i am just too pooped to write anymore. why have i got a blog???

retourner

if i were to think about it, nothing really has changed except for the dailies... i wouldn't call it evolving but definitely different... and sometimes i miss the before.

to be clear, missing the 'before' is not because i don't want the dailies of now, but i do want some references and some reminders. i want it all overlapping, i want it in-bred and weird if that makes any sense.

i met my college professor/mentor T over brunch. it was probably the snowy-est day we've had so far but i think it was all very much worth it.

T shared his stories, his lady love, his son's successes and i shared mine. we joked about the film festivals, erotic art and mostly just walked down memory lane at the lovely mancora restaurant in the east village.

i walked away from the restaurant later, wondering if this is how i thought it would be when i was younger... does this whole age thing bother anyone as much as it bothers me. i'm sure it does, but it definitely feels a lot more 'special' because it's big... birthdays are exciting, but god, it's another year. and lifetimes... lifetime in the singular, doesn't seem very long.

retail therapy

i find that buying things fills a void in my soul and off late buying home improvement goods well... creates a void in my pocketbook.. however that fulfilling feeling after you've dropped shit loads of dough on something you've wanted forever... well, let's just say, nothing compares!

on the home front however, M and i cannot agree on this couch expedition. in my previous, less boho, very frou-frou chelsea apartment, i gave in to a chesterfield couch. but here, i don't want price tags and magazines to define our living space... who am i kidding, i just don't think i have the energy to commit to a big investment like that - and certainly not leather.

i might have settled for something like this from restoration or this from westelm but common sense tells me i don't want to spend 8k on a couch in an apartment in brooklyn when we're moving soon enough. also i inherently disagree with westelm and their ikea replacing concepts.

anyway, the couch we have agreed on is non leather, non suede yet suede-ish microfiber, from an independent seller, local new yorker and completely un-real... it's relatively economical, fits in our apartment, gets delivered, within 24 hours, and.... here's the fun thing, actually doesn't look half bad in our living room... un-believable! i expect the couch to now save the world's children... one country at a time.

that picture is just not the right one but it's the only one i have from right now - i cannot wait to throw an adult party with lots of wine and cheese... naturally, M and i have stopped hissing at each other - she loves being able to behave like civilized people again. hurrah!

hallmark holiday

valentine's day is a tough holiday for me... in 2007 V sent a horse carriage ride to my apartment with an elaborate dinner, flowers and chocolate planned and i was knocked out. and by knocked out i mean, i was sleeping... passed out even, from an exhausting day at work. i never thought there would be a valentine's day celebration... it seemed so un-religious and therefore un-important in the schema of holidays.

needless to write here but i suppose i should anyway, V spent the better part of the year recounting my various "unromantic" gestures... his ace card was V-day 2007. since then, i believe i have made a glorious effort at shaking my unromantic self in to buying in to the hype. the good news about V-day is that the roles are pretty much set. if you're the girl, you get the dinner, chocolates, wine, cheese, gifts and in exchange for all things beautiful you put out in lingerie... hell some guys will fathom just putting out is good enough.

things get a little tricky when it comes to lesbians. who buys what for whom is just the beginning...

M pulled out the stops for the hallmark holiday assuming that i like it, which i don't, but i love gifts so i guess it turns out i actually do like the holiday.

we have a getaway planned to hudson county - which by the way is all the rage because they allow your puppy in places the city would never dream off .. a.k.a. restaurants and they have a special doggie bed next to yours so you can enjoy the awesomeness together.

anyway, so we went to this art gallery in chelsea / midtown that was masquerading as a pre-valentine chocolate/wine/cheese/bread and oil tasting... let me tell you, it was anything but. it has been a crazy time with everyone i know (and sometime's their mother) over all the time that even this get away was nice. we spent some time laughing and being together. all ten minutes of it.

J broke it up with R this last weekend and it has been tough for her to deal... relationships are weird, all of them, even the ones that seemingly work.

the best i guess i can do, is not take things too seriously.

keeping it in the family

we moved here at 17, A and i, and we made a little world of people we called our family... we fell in love, we cried and spent countless nights among friends who were sometimes our choosing but mostly, just people who flocked together for any number of reasons. and then in the mix was the support of parents.. extended family, cousins.. and i have had the good fortune to be close to everyone. never too close but close enough.

early 2009, my cousin N got married to P... i introduced the two lovebirds, over drinks by my old apartment in hoboken... it was awkward and bizarre.. i left my phone in the apartment, he had only my number and i lost my keys... we were climbing up the fire escape in our dresses, two hours and counting.. he waited at the bar. he drank coke, N got wasted. i pretended to hang out on the other side very interested in my own drink and trying to be incognito. it's a story we'll tell their children, hell it's a story i'll tell anyone's children.

this time around it was Ak's turn. Ak has gone ahead and fallen for my best friend from college, B. she is perfect - and i love her! their little swan dance has spanned 4 years and relationships they've had with other people. naturally, the family.. specifically my uncle staged a rather bollywood-isq rendezvous to meet with B so that he could size up who his son is dating.

so in light of general enjoyment of drama, i was stuck in the middle of telling B that my uncle wants to meet her versus telling my cousin that his dad wanted to meet B and ignoring N (cousin sister) because she might think i am twatty to not tell her... it was very confusing and extremely scripted! i loved it.

anyway, M and i spent the better part of the day prepping B to meet her prospective future father in law, then discussing, rehashing and weighing in all the possibilities. the uncle was a class act though... totally stumped us all by being tres cool very much the perfect undercover host with a secret.

so how does this work - the brother and the best friend. how does this play out in the future years... hmmm. fodder for thought for now.

monthly's february

in an effort to contain my friendships and not let it bleed in to what could be a horrid mess of work, priorities and social life - A and i have chosen to do what we call a "monthly." in january we did dinner at bohemian, the very chic and awesome japanese restaurant that is invite only. we were invited.

for february A and i decided on dinner at gascogne and tennesse william's clothes for a summer hotel. it was a bad idea to do a dinner and a show because naturally we lost track of time and ended up an hour late for the show.

[although we expected the actors and ushers to be considerate and turn a blind eye to our blatant artiste insulting behavior, it became increasingly obvious that our good manners and charm just wasn't working at the table.]

so no williams for us tonight. bad girls, very very bad girls.

gascogne, the french restaurant we went to however was a different story. a perfect get-away in the middle of chelsea with amazing food and scrumptious wait staff. both A and i spent the evening ogling, in turns obviously at the man who spoke french and got us food.

i have reached the grand conclusion that boundaries are an amazing thing. it allows you to explore, within the confines of what must be considered polite, the length and breadth of your relationship. for me, it gives me the time and space to let loose... without letting loose forever. the night ends and another month begins.