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.