July 18, 2007

News

Tonight's breaking New York news: a steam pipe exploded in Midtown Manhattan at 41st and Lex. I'm okay and so is Craig. I hope none of my friends were in Midtown when this happened. From the sounds of things at this hour of the evening, so far no fatalities have been reported, only injuries. I must have just been climbing out of the subway station at 86th when this happened, because aside from stopping at Key Food for fresh fruit, juice and water, I came straight home. I rarely turn on the news immediately after work, too. But for some reason, maybe to sit and feel informed for a few minutes, I turned it on and this story was unfolding. Thousands of pounds of steam blew out of the ruptured pipe, spraying huge rocks of Lex Avenue into the sky, plus mud and whatever else. For those unfamiliar with New York City, Midtown contains some of the busiest most highly-trafficked intersections in Manhattan. Grand Central Station is located at 42nd and Lex, and serves as a central hub for many subway trains as well as the Metro North Railroad. Not to mention the fact that this happened right at the heaviest commuting time of the day next to morning. This happened tonight after an extremely severe thunderstorm this morning which shut down many subway tunnels due to heavy flooding. I'm not a journalist, so I don't want to go on and on with details, but I am definitely amazed at the strength of New York when something like this happens. New Yorkers are resilient and even though this will cause massive interruption in hundreds of thousands of lives tonight through however long it takes Con Edison to research and repair the steam pipe, New Yorkers will find their ways home tonight and will wake up tomorrow to throw themselves back into yet another day. Now they're reporting that microscopic asbestos likely spewed out with the steam. This is all very emotional to me given how much I love my City, and how easily Craig or I or both of us could have been standing at that very intersection at the time of this explosion. I'm going to keep watching the news to see how this might affect us tomorrow morning. Tonight, the 4, 5 and 6 lines are suspended (there's a Yankee game tonight, too! How terrible!) and who knows if they will run tomorrow morning through Grand Central? (insert: my friend Aubree just text-messaged me, "Did you two make it home ok? Crazy day today, what with flooding and exploding streets." While this isn't funny, that comment from her did make me smile.*One time a long time ago, my friend said, "You can't call yourself a New Yorker until you've lived there during something dramatic." I think this counts.*This is the last post for me until post-Paul and Angie, since we're so completely busy these next six days. Speaking of which, I can't imagine what is running through their minds right now as they get ready to head to Sky Harbor to fly out of Phoenix and are possibly catching wind of this breaking news - exploding streets in Manhattan??? Poor those two! And poor City while it launches into immediate recovery from such an incident. I hope no fatalities are uncovered. It would be a minor miracle if that were to be the case, but a good one for the City of New York, indeed.

July 15, 2007

Visitors

Ok. So Craig and I have had another unbelievable weekend in the City, and the above pictured is what we have to show for it. He hates these - these are drink coasters we bought from a vendor in SoHo today. I fell madly in love with how kitschy they are, especially given that we live here - what New Yorker celebrates living in New York while living in New York? (ie., my key chain is the simple I (Heart) NY logo, and once even I asked our New Yorker boss if wearing something that reads "New York" is okay in New York, and he answered quickly, No, it's not okay)...but anyway, I love our new coasters. Who knows - they are heavy pieces of slate or something with silkscreened or etched impressions on them - the Brooklyn Bridge, Times Square, Shea Stadium and the Flatiron Building, starting upper left and moving clockwise, and maybe the first condensation of a drink positioned comfortably on one of these bad boys will blur the ink! But I am happy to have them.*So our weekend has been fantastic, as I said. Friday night we declined an invitation from Jeff and Lauren to a ritzy house party at someone's several million dollar condo here in the City (and when I say several, I mean 15 or 16) where their friend is "house-sitting" and has full permission to throw huge parties (what kind of life is that???) Basically, because of our visitors who are scheduled to arrive this coming Thursday, I informed Craig that we really didn't need to go to a huge party and stay all into the night. He agreed. Instead, we came home and I made my now-famous roasted red pepper chicken and creamy parm orzo, with asparagus, of course, and then we worked on the apartment for a while. We went to bed early for an early Saturday morning rise. Saturday was weird. I felt totally unmotivated yet I got a lot done - doing the math, that doesn't add up. But I seriously went to town on the apartment, as did Craig - we accomplished mass cleaning of all of the floors, the dusting, the scrubbing of the bathroom top to bottom, and so forth. And Saturday night we went on a date to Don Pedro's, a Latin-Cuban-Caribbean restaurant at 96th and 2nd, which Laura and Brian (friends) raved, raved and raved about when they were here last weekend. We were a little hesitant to believe a restaurant in the upper part of the UES, particularly one so unassuming, could be that great, but we were sorely mistaken: Don Pedro's is amazing. We ordered Mojitos (yum) and Craig ordered us some Empanadas to start. Then we ordered our entrees: I selected a pork tenderloin served on black beans and rice, and Craig picked the skirt steak served on greens. The food was perfect, the Mojitos (rounds 1 and 2) were perfect. The atmosphere there is great, too - the place was packed, literally spilling over with patrons, so the air was one of busy.*Following Don Pedro's, we returned home for a little while and then went to Biddy's at 91st and 2nd, our favorite watering hole. Our Scottish bartender was there (or is he Irish?) and a new bartender who is super young but was very conscientious of our presence at the bar. Craig played a hundred songs on the jukebox and we sang together and had some cocktails and really just had an amazing time, just me and Craig. My friends Roger and Mary were in town for some Harry Potter IMAX experience, but we never had a chance to meet up with them. No problem - we're traveling to DC in September to stay with them. Anyway, needless to say, this morning was a whirlwind of Advil and lots of water. We woke up pretty early, though, and I made Craig a quick breakfast of scrambled egg (substitute), peppers, scallions, green salsa and cheese, and fresh fruit (pineapple, honeydew, grapes), and then he showered and went to his hair salon for a cut. After that, he came home and we left for SoHo. We had decided to go shopping this afternoon, and while it took huge bites out of our wallets (I bought too many things to mention without being embarrassed for how much I spent) we had a totally amazing time. The stores in SoHo are completely off the hook, and some of the spaces are even just ridiculous in size, much less in merchandise. We loved wandering in and out of shops today, loved the beauty of the sun, loved the lunch we had at Jerry's (I ate tuna on mixed greens with olives, capers and red onions with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc and Craig ate a grilled chicken sandwich with roasted red peppers and fresh mozz on Focaccia), loved the Lucky Brand Jeans Store (where Craig bought a fab pair of jeans and I heard some great 60's or 70's song that I can't for the life of me recall or figure out - lame), loved the spreads we witnessed at SoHo's Crate and Barrel (giant store, for SoHo), and really just loved New York. There isn't really much not to love here. This is a human Utopia - heaven couldn't produce a better City if it tried.*And now, I'm off to bed to sleep off a perfect weekend and to get ready for our visitors to arrive Thursday. On the bill: Wednesday night: Lauren playing her music at Don't Tell Mama's, Thursday: Paul and Angie arrive, we see Xanadu on Broadway followed by dinner at Becco, Friday: day off work, sight-seeing, Yankees game (thrillingly amazing seats behind home plate), Saturday we leave for Boston (I already have my Bo-Sox shirt) to see the White Sox-Red Sox game, Sunday we drive back to New York from Boston, maybe sight-see a little, Monday is also a vacation day for us, so we will do more New York stuff, Tuesday we go to work but Tuesday night we see the White Stripes at Madison Square Garden (with Paul, Angie, Lauren and Jeff), Wednesday we work again but we go to the Mets game that night, and Thursday Paul and Angie fly back to Arizona. Thursday they fly back to Arizona (I repeat). Friday we fly to Chicago to meet Brady at Craig's parents' place. Sunday we fly back, and that Monday night I host Book Club. Wednesday night we have Yankees-White Sox tickets. Three nights later we host a 40-y.o.'s birthday party in Manhattan. Is our summer seeming busy? Fairly so.*So to bed.

July 12, 2007

Regrets

I suppose it's fair to say that I really don't have any. Rather, it's fairer to say that I don't have any large ones, any large regrets sinking in my heart. There has been a lot of debating out of me more recently about following paths and doing what you want and this and so forth, but really, in all actuality, despite the things I might have access to right now if life were different, I really don't regret one thing about yesterday, today or tomorrow.*Yesterday Craig and I left work early to meet Lauren and Jeff at Nina's. For Lauren's birthday back in May, I bought her a gift certificate (which, at a New York City restaurant constitutes a business card with the amount scrawled on the back plus the signature of the owner) to Nina's, because one time last year she refused to go there with me because she had told Jeff they would go there together sometime. Well, so a few months after I gave her the birthday treat, they allotted a day to meet us there (yesterday). Inadvertently we selected the day that New York City would be dumped on by rain, torrents of it, sheets and sheets of heavy rain, right around the 5 o'clock rush hour. When it rains in New York City and you are a commuter that travels by foot and train and bus and cab only, expect the whole of your pants to be drenched, from seat to ankle - that's just life here. Umbrellas don't do much when it rains like it did yesterday. So anyway, Lauren came to our apartment for a little bit first, then we met Jeff at Nina's. We had such a nice time, such a really great time. Those two are just cut from perfect cloth. Jeff was tired from a wild night the previous night, so we didn't spend hours out or anything, but we did certainly love our dinner, beginning with four diet-conscious people trying to glean healthy things from a posh pasta-laden menu, all the way to the complimentary two plates of flan they brought to us, which was on the house because the owners see Craig and I on regular bases (plural) and they love us and we love them. Thanks, truly, for the flan, I wanted to say, which was accompanied by their homemade caramely-delicious sauce and a dollop of thick, creamy whip cream (yum) but when complimentary plates of flan are set down in front of a group of dieters, there is the initial hesitation followed by the "we have to eat it" shrug, followed by the pain of having cheated so horribly on the diets! But oh, their flan is good. I cheated and I don't care - I also ate organic dark chocolate yesterday and I'm also suffering from a watering mouth over the Nathan's hot dogs I will consume when Craig's cousin is here late next week!!! Dieting is easy: you do it, then you cheat, then your stomach REGRETS it, then you revert back to the new healthy lifestyle: that's what bad food is there for: to remind you why it isn't right to eat it! Right?*Anyway, I absolutely refuse to experience any kind of overload of emotion having to do with being 30 right now. I'm so happy. My boyfriend sits around appreciating everything I do, our families are happy and healthy, our jobs are good (we got raise notification yesterday - always good information for middle of the year), we love New York and today a corporate guy was in our office kind of by chance of a canceled flight out of LaGuardia last night and I was able to meet with him and speak to him for a while - I slid the bug in his ear that several of us are so happy in New York that we never want to leave - please acquire more work, sir!! Anyway, he was so nice and asked me a hundred questions that I actually had answers to, so I felt good in that.*I have amazing friends, I have a hundred opportunities around every corner, and I basically can't complain about a thing - and yet, sometimes things are still just hard - but this isn't the place for that. This is the place where I celebrate just how unbelievable it is to be alive, how many things there are to look forward to doing, and how completely naive I am to so much - or, how many things I have left to learn. So here goes. Congrats to me on a few private successes (I'm high-fiving myself right now) and congrats to me on not looking back. Looking forward is what keeps the globe in motion.*

July 09, 2007

Comforts

Today was okay at work. All things considered, today was okay at work. I'm a little confused about a couple of things I've been assigned, but working through them might yield learning. Plus, today was Monday and again, all things considered, it was an okay day.*Now I'm home, having just cleaned the kitchen after a really successful round of spinach manicotti (I'm getting better all the time at seasoning things on my own, ignoring instructions and using instinct) and some finely steamed asparagus spears with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, garlic powder, seasoned pepper and seasoned sea salt (the latter compliments of my wonderful friend Bonnie who gave me the Penzeys sea salt back in St. Louis, and I've used it sparingly since, so as not to run out of it!) I'm not sure how much I detailed our 4th of July in Spanish Harlem, but Craig and I spent the Fourth this year with Lauren, Jeff, Amanda and many other friends, grilling on the rooftop, indulging in Craig's family recipe cheeseburger (which anyone who has had it so far in New York claims is the best burger they've ever, ever had - rings true) and otherwise satisfying our stomachs with the Lauren-seasoned asparagus as grilled by Craig on the roof. As if I didn't get enough pleasure out of the half (thanks, Lauren!) of Craig-Burger I ate (she and I split one), the asparagus stalks I ate numbered plenty. They were coated in Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and perfectly seasoned by Lauren, then perfectly grilled by Craig - party attendees were ecstatic with the result of what Lauren and Craig produced! It was so great! Then of course there were all of the other delights of a good Fourth party, including strawberries, blueberries, Trader Joe salsa-flavored whole grain chips, a flag-shaped sugar cookie designed by Lauren, drinks, vanilla cigars compliments of Jeff, lemon-dill hummus that I made which the vegetarians loved, and all the good conversationing that takes place at any one of Lauren and Jeff and Amanda's hearty parties.*The main reason I traveled down such a digression was to mention Lauren's asparagus, which I tried to recreate tonight, with somewhat success, although I must say, nothing beats a grilled asparagus stalk.*We were going to watch Little Children tonight but the Homerun Derby is on (San Francisco) and Craig had a really exhausting day at work so I think we're going to take it easy, go to bed early. I came home from work and worked out for about 45 minutes, which is as much as this crabby old body can take right now, as out of shape as I am. Then I made the manicotti, we ate, I cleaned up, and I decided to stop in to blog to mention once again just how at home I feel here in New York. The above photograph was shot from the Empire State Building in April when I turned 30 and my parents were here. Craig and I went up in the Empire State Building when we first visited New York together, circa 2002. It was, in fact, the very first thing we did. The low corner of the picture contains the Flat Iron Building, a longtime favorite of Craig's. We have since changed our preferential highrise view to Top of Rockefeller Center, from which we can see the Empire State Building but not the Flat Iron Building, but the view above will always, always comfort my heart. I will never forget any of the initial New York weekends Craig and I would spend here - the quick thump of my heart as I watched New Yorkers hurry past with someplace to be, with other tourists looking as worried as us, the heavy longing with which I stared at anyone who lived here, and now, here I am living in the very City I always imagined to be the most central pulse of the universe - and it is. It never fails to be just that.*So what, then, if some days life seems to be filled with trivial details of trivial people with trivial desires - so what does any of that matter, then, if a person can live in a place that so much feels like home. Feeling like you're home should be the most important thing. And here I am, experiencing just that.*

July 08, 2007

Stages

Tonight's dinner was by no means the most beautiful thing I've thrown together. In fact, really not many of my meals have the "presentation" aspect that so many budding chefs can pull off in their studies of and preparations of food. But I figured that because I've seen it done on other blog pages, and because I've got a handful of things to say that relate to preparing dinner, that I might just include a few pictures of my preparation process tonight.*To begin with, our weekend was nothing short of fabulous. My dear, talented, sweet, amazing and beautiful (additionally insert every other positive adjective that might describe one human and then some) friend Lauren has composed the music for yet another show for Waterwell. Well, she is their music, and as far as I am concerned, and always has been. No other composers compare. Nevertheless, we had tickets for Friday's performance of The King/Operetta, which was a musical arranged around the last year of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life. First of all, the theater is located in a rather posh corner of New York City. We took a cab to Bleecker and 7th and hopped out and right at Barrow Street's corner, which juts off of Bleecker, is the theater. We wandered into the place to retrieve our tickets at Will Call and the kids running the place were positively mad with frenzy (is that redundant?) because another show was to begin at 7.30 and they were trying to make sure people were seated for it. Our show wouldn't start until 9.30. Once we got our tickets, we wandered into a bar and had a beer, then went to another place down the street where we met Alison and Scott for appetizers. Then we all went collectively to the show. It was fantastic - we showed our tickets at the door, and the usher led us right to the front row, stage left, where we had what I would term VIP seats (thanks, Laurenina, a million!!!) And the show was really just fabulous. Lauren is brimming with talent, as is her cast. Without going into a lengthy summary of the show itself, seeing as I'm the World's Worst Critic because I basically love everything I see, smell, hear and touch, and think, and do, etc., I will just say, if you are a New Yorker and you have one free night in the next month and a half, GO SEE IT.*
The above photograph marks stage two, the addition of diced tomatoes to the mushrooms, green pepper, onion, garlic and chicken. This piece of work is titled (based on someone else's recipe) Chicken Cacciatore. I've had plenty of types of Chicken Cacciatore in my days, but never one doused in curry powder, as this one was, which added a different twist to the whole thing. Interesting.*So Saturday we traveled to work and met up with some friends of mine from book club, Laura and Brian, who are extremely into the project Craig and I are working on (again, I don't talk work here) and so we took them on a tour of what we're up to. Also along for the adventure: Ken, another fan, and Daniel, also a fan. The tour went well - we had run of the place because no one was working this weekend, so that was nice. I think everyone involved really enjoyed themselves, so Craig was the Grade A Tour Guide, which made me proud. After the tour, we headed back in the direction of Astoria and hit the Bohemian Beer Hall, or the Astoria Beer Garden, as we call it. We've been there a couple of times and it is such outrageous fun - for New York, the amount of real estate that the owners have is quite amazing (most bars and restaurants in New York are slim and maybe seat roughly 50-100 people, at best, and this beer garden sits well over that). Anyway, Laura and Brian are a couple that is completely compatible with us. I've really only been with them twice, for two book club meetings, but spending time with them away from book talk and with Craig was just incredible. They are just a bit younger than us, in their late 20's, and both so intelligent and clever and fun and interesting that we really spent a great portion of the day getting to know them and their stories. Craig and Brian were basically made for each other, as guy friendships go, which was sealed shut by the fact that they both like Pearl Jam and have played some weird war game in their childhoods called Catfighting and Catapults, or Crossfire and Catapults (I know I am not spelling Catapults correctly, but I wouldn't know the first thing about how to spell it, or even look it up!) or Crossbows. Something. It took them huge descriptive narratives to explain it to Laura and I, and we still never quite caught up. But after that revelation between the two of them, it was like they were cut from the same cloth regarding everything.*We left Astoria around 9 and we had invited them to our place for a while. They were sincerely willing to come by (any old excuse would have worked on us, if they didn't want to come over) so we headed back to the UES and stopped for beer. Laura and Brian are likely the most suited couple for us that we've met since moving here. They're just so likable, and so easy-going, and smart. Those are good traits to find in friends. So we loved having them over. We loved hanging out with them, in general.*Today we ran errands. I'm in the habit, now, of writing a grocery list early Sunday mornings, going to the store, getting all of what's on the list, and then I don't have to return to the store the rest of the week. After that we went to Bed, Bath and Beyond and spent a gross amount of money on things we supposed we kind of needed, such as the CuisinArt food processor that is such an exciting toy for me, and the new bath towels, and the new pillows, ice cube trays, drapes for the bedroom, this, this, and that. It really is a good thing we don't have kids right now, and aren't even planning on any anytime soon. We're just kind of lazy with throwing money around. This lifestyle definitely won't last forever.*
So, here is the finished product (yes, it's wheat pasta) and I guess it was alright. The curry seemed to lessen the spice factor versus what it claims it might do (increase amount of spice), but the dish overall was fine. Craig and I both love anything ontop of pasta (we're even growing accustomed to wheat now).*There are just a few things I want my eventual kids to understand. First of all, time management is the key to all of life. I've spent my Sunday mostly doing things I wanted but there were other things I wanted to get done that have been shoved aside because of errands and dinner-making and what not. Next: really, really have a dream. Have one early, so that you have plenty of time to pursue it. My friend Lauren has been the most successful pursuit of a dream that I've ever personally met, because this has been a lifetime achievement situation for her. She is booming here in New York, in music, in theater. She didn't come by it easily - it takes work. It has taken her longer hours of work than I've ever been committed enough to devote to something, which is why she has achieved what she has always wanted. And I am so proud of her, constantly.*Don't accrue debt. Just don't.*And here is my biggest problem: my thoughts are like blueprints for a building, spread across my mind, constantly being re-designed and re-organized. But the building never gets built. I never have had the chance to peer up at the spire ontop of my building. There aren't the opportunities for me to gaze out windows I made happen. To my eventual children, have the chance to gaze out of your own windows. Be smart early. Don't let opportunities sail past because other circumstances seem to conquer you. Be smart. Be certain.*

July 01, 2007

Storms

Above pictured is the sky over Shea Stadium Wednesday night around 8.30. I love a good sky - I always have - but this was particularly interesting because weather rather disrupted our week which thereby affected our ability to see much baseball. I had extremely incredible free tickets for two nights of Mets~Cardinals this past week, and while we did manage to see five innings Wednesday, just Craig and I, Thursday's game was called due to storms before they even set a first pitch time. Oh, here I must insert a little hello to my long lost friend Stacia who recently touched base with me - it was so nice to hear from her and to hear about her two beautiful children and her recent move to North Carolina - anyway, she was Indiana's number 1 softball pitcher back in our teenage days and her jaw is probably still dropped to the floor at the prospect of me engaging in so much sports-watching. That was never, ever me back then! Anyway, Thursday we had invited our friend Scott out to Shea, because he is die hard Cardinals, so that was slightly disappointing that it was canceled. I did only eat a Nathan's hot dog one of the two nights, and lucky for me it didn't show up on my waistband the next day as I anticipated. That isn't to say I've by any means reached my goal weight - I still have 10 lbs. to lose - but things are constantly looking up. I'm making some amazing dishes each night and tomorrow for lunch I whipped up a tuna salad with fat-free mayo, diced dill pickles, diced radishes and freshly ground seasoned pepper. I'm trying to make things more interesting than the typical Healthy Choice chicken breast and fat-free slice of Swiss cheese. Borrrrring.*But I digress. Friday we did not go to Lauren's play; instead, we cleaned the apartment fairly thoroughly for Saturday's visit with Dustin and Fiona. Dustin and Fi landed in New York from Chicago alright Friday night, and we touched base with them the next morning after 10. It took them a while to get moving - they were staying with their Brit friends Becky and Steve who film documentaries for Animal Planet (how cool is that) so they didn't arrive until a little after noon. We hung out here for a little bit, then headed to Yura (now curiously called The Corner Cafe, did I mention that?) for brunch. I sat across from Becky and immediately took a fast liking to her. She is maybe early 40's (we're guessing based on Fi's age) and is quite the British firecracker. She and her boyfriend (do they call it that in England? All she kept calling him was a "bloke"!) met here in New York working for Animal Planet, and they've traveled a ton here in the States - all over, really, doing pet abuse documentaries and subsequent re-adoption processes. It sounds rather low stress but then what job really is low stress - they don't come that way naturally by virtue of the fact it's work. At breakfast we talked a lot about books, but she kept dropping these subtle funny comments about everything. In fact, I'd safely say that everything that came out of Becky's mouth the entire day should have been jotted down someplace for how clever it was. And compound that with the fact that she's got a British accent and there you have it, a terribly incredible Brit chick. Steve is quite the comedian himself - I can see how they get along so well. So, after brunch we split with Becky and Steve who had driven to the Upper East Side from their place in the East Village. Dustin, Fi, Craig and I walked to Central Park. The day was illuminated by gorgeous sun and sky, and the temperature was just perfect. We walked for quite some time and Fi gave me the low down on their "detox" program they had just finished up. For a month, probably near the first month Fi moved to Chicago from Norwich, England, she suffered some fairly intense relocation health issues ranging from back problems to stomach problems and so forth. She was intensely homesick at first, to boot, so she decided to launch a detox plan for the two of them - sounds like she bought a book on it, or something - which prohibited meat, dairy, wheat and alcohol for one month. They lived on vegetables, various varieties of beans, and water and maybe the occasional dose of tofu. They both look fantastic, and Fiona is now wholly absorbed with health and maintenance thereof, for which I absolutely applaud her. However, their New York trip was to serve as a treat, and a break from health worries, so after the Park we headed to the Meatpacking District to have some cocktails. Becky and Steve had landed at Vento, which is precisely where Craig and I wanted to go!, and we met them there and had some drinks inside. Then we moved outdoors and all switched to either vodka tonics or Becky switched to gin and tonic and we ordered olives and picked absently at the sinful zucchini bread they courteously tempted us with. This was definitely where Becky's outgoing life-of-the-party nature shone the brightest, and it remained bright through the afternoon. She is just endlessly cleverly phrasing things, and again, I'm a glutton for the English accent so lay it on me, sister, is what I felt!! After Vento we moved to a place that begins with an "M" in the same handful of blocks and we all switched to wine, except Craig who stuck to vodka tonic. We sat outside and observed an intriguing bride and groom who were having their photographs shot all about - on the streets, inside the restaurant where we sat outside, and so forth. There are some delicious intersections right there but they were standing in all the wrong
places to have their wedding memories captured. We all thought so, anyway. So, upon their departure from our lines of vision, we talked and talked, conversations about language, this, that and the other, then Charlotte, another friend of Fiona's met us. She was just adorable, too, and very kind and sweet-natured. She's an actress here in New York but is also British and misses home. It sounds like she has acted with quite a few famous individuals. She was in The Importance of Being Earnest a little while back in Brooklyn with a couple of famous names. She brought Fiona and Dustin a couple of gifts, one being a thermos and Steve cracked some joke about thermoses, something about putting ice cream and coffee into a thermos and both things got f%cked (wouldn't go about telling the whole joke here) and then he followed that with an accented, "Well that would be my only joke about thermoses," and Becky quipped, "Well I had no idea you had any bloody thermos jokes to begin with." I reminded Craig of this exchange again this morning and we had a good laugh over it. Anyway, the day was fantastic - we also took them, at my urging, to the British market at Horatio and Hudson where Becky swooned over the baked beans and promptly bought two cans to make for Dustin and Fi this morning. They've stayed in New York before for Animal Planet shootings so it isn't like they've never found a British market before, but they had never been to this one. Baked beans, if I never mentioned it in any of my London posts, are not nearly as sweet and disgusting there as they are here. And the Brits eat them for breakfast regularly. I have a funny photo of Becky smiling
with the beans (beanz) where we termed her the Orbitz gum commercial girl. Totally fitting for her astonishingly quirky personality.*We met Alison and Scott and their friends very late for Mexican food in Union Square, but by that point the rest of us were drunk or tired and so I suppose we weren't that lively. Alison and Scott and company had seen an off-Broadway show, which is why they met us so late. It was nice to see them, nice to be with such a large group, but it was just such a long day for everyone!*Yesterday Craig dangled a carrot in my face about some total surprise thing he had planned for me and him. He told the whole group, and I begged, Tell me, tell me! and of course, Craig is a vault with secret information so he wouldn't budge. But this afternoon, right as I finished sauteeing our Chicken for wraps with Yogurt-Dill sauce, tomatoes, romaine, onions and seasoning, he emerged from the computer room carrying a page of The Surprise. The Surprise is that he is taking me to see The Cure at Madison Square Garden in September!!!!! I've loved them my entire life, since before I could talk, practically (exaggeration) and I never, ever saw them live. His adorable presentation of his surprise was perfect, and I am still in shock, even now! For those who don't know my history as well, I once painted a portrait of Robert Smith in high school and to this day it remains with me as one of the things I will never throw away. Even though my good friend Jeff (of Jeff and Lauren) replied, when I e-mailed him that Craig had gotten us tickets, "What year is this, 1985???" I don't care...yes, it might be like we're a couple of oldies heading out to see classic rock, but The Cure probably to this day puts on a spellbinding show. I have no idea how old Robert Smith could be at this time - maybe in his 50's? 60's? but to me, he's ageless - an immortal alternative rock king. I am so stunned and happy that Craig did this for me. He's the best, ever.***One last thing. I know I've written the World's Longest Post. Kara (Craig's sister) had a very big scare with baby Brady this weekend. It really worried us, really scared us for Kara and Ben, and I just want to say that after this scare, now that he is back home from the hospital safely, that Kara's family is in our hearts and we are eternally relieved that everyone is okay. Brady's a tough guy. Everything will be alright.