a me weekend

since i have discovered that i have at least one reader who is not related to me/a dear friend/in love with me, i will try to be better at updation. (and the rest of you: feel free to pipe up at any time.)

i had a perfectly me new york weekend. if you haven't guessed by now, i am not fancy. we don't go out to the hottest clubs, and i never know about amazing restaurants, and i will probably never go to a premier of anything, try as i might to finagle my way into friendship with a famous person or something. to me, a weekend should be fun, and rejuvenating, and a good way to start a new week. (a weekstart, perhaps? how about it, gregorian calendar, are we due for a change in terminology?) it includes food and drink and laughter and good company. maybe a new sight or spot. so this weekend was just right.

friday my bwf (best work friend) mk and i decided to meet for lunch. she only lives a few blocks away, so we met in the middle at the adorable 12th street bar and grill. it was pouring rain and the lightning made me jump once or twice on the walk over, so we got a cozy little table in the bar area and i watched it rain outside as we ate our delicious food. (sidenote: i love rain in new york. it is one of my most favorite things in the whole world. i love the way it smells when it rains on city sidewalks, i love the swish of tires on rainy streets, i like the way it narrows your neighborhood to the locals venturing out on errands. i love the way it brings people together, crowded under awnings, exchanging those "i can't believe this" looks and smiles. s once downloaded 30 minutes of rain sounds to fall asleep to, and i thought he was totally crazy until i listened to it one night when i was home alone, and i had the best sleep. rain on the roof is the coziest. anyways.) mk and i talked for three hours, about work and careers and boys and friends. it was great; i feel really lucky to have found someone i like so much so quickly, and through this job that i have. it felt so grown up, having lunch and talking forever about work and life. am i too much in awe of being an adult? somehow i feel so lucky to be living this life that while not perfect, is really what i always planned for myself (job, relationship, new york city.) after we realized we had sat there for a little too long, we went and got our nails done. i got scarlett o'hara painted on my toes, and i haven't been able to stop looking at them. i feel like a whole different lady. friday night boyland watched "the departed" in hd. a movie night? i'm in heaven.

saturday brought terrace bagels and project runway and the promise of a day in the city. i wanted a little museum time, but by the time we got moving and into the city (and had completed our errands), it was a little late. we wandered around the village, getting hungrier and hungrier, until s suggested we go out to dinner. i should note that my boy's two favorite foods are bagels and pizza. we picked the right city. we also like to think of ourselves as pizza connoisseurs. (though he wil eat dominos in a pinch, which is pretty much sacrilege.) we picked john's pizzeria, a legendary brick-oven spot (i would link you but their website is temporarily disabled.) i have witnessed people standing outside in freezing temperatures just to get a table, and boy is it worth it. a thin crust, fresh cheese, delicious veggies . . . i tried to take a picture for my blog (i am now one of those people, i am afraid), but it turned out a little dark. (the waiter asked if we wanted our picture taken with the pizza, and i said no. i think he thought we were tourists; i thought it might have been worse to say "i'm no tourist, i'm a blogger!" and refrained.) the place has crazy atmosphere, and little space to move around, but the food is worth it. i loved it; there were families, and hip young things, and slow old things, and it felt like a neighborhood joint that gets known, but still welcomes the whole neighborhood. which i guess is a new york thing.

we finished up the afternoon with gelato (mk said: "it sounds like you went to rome!") which is pictured in glorious technicolor above. mouthwatering andean blackberry, in all its pinky glory. i stayed in last night, as i was fighting a cold, and worked a long-ish day today. and now i am home, am fed and watered, and am looking forward to a little 30 rock on the big screen. it doesn't get much better.