Happy Birthday to Me

Oh, what a weekend! My birthday was a vacation right here in the city I love to live in with the boy I love to love...

It was laughter and reverence with Miranda, David, and Becky.

It was waking up to a capuccino and big bag of chocolate.

It was one new gym bag and some theatre tix (yipee!)

It was unwrapping a future heirloom and a couple of books from my family (thank you, thank you!)

It was tickling the ivories on a piano card from faraway friends right before peeling the paper off of a mysterious moustache from H.

It was lolling about in my pajamas before receiving that lonely subway ride I've been wanting for months.

It was pink champagne, baked eggs on polenta, and mousse au chocolat in my favorite faux Paris.

It was tripping through Chelsea (Galleries, why are you always closed??), dodging sweaty tourists uptown, and buying some shower gel just because we had a discount.

It was fingering clothes we can't afford, taking a cab instead of a train, and ducking into the cinema to beat the heat. It was there that we nuzzled into the mezzanine, giggled at the Coen Brothers, and felt as if we'd gone back in time. Je T'aime!

Oh, and it was also a little light Japanese magazine browsing...

A side of spicy prawn curry...

And a martini spiked with sweet "S'Wonderful", my favorite song (thank you, Mr. Gillespie).

It was a birthday to remember on a steamy Memorial Day weekend that saw most New Yorkers running for the other islands. It was an escape to the familiar and all that I adore about this magical city that I get to call home. It was waking up after it was all over knowing there was still a whole day left..no work, no anxiety, and no alarm. It was returning to the home I've made without ever having left it, dozing without regret, and feeling safe in our li'l urban treehouse.

As the sun went down yesterday, we shuffled hand-in-hand into our local watering hole. There on the couches was our merry Band of Brooklyn (and Washington Heights!) Brothers already sipping cold ones and slouching in the heat. The music was Built to Spill, Johnny Cash, and The Clash, and we munched on gummy bears until dinner. Then it was over Mexican beer, too much chili con queso, and that always present laughter that I finally said good bye to another number and hello to another year. There in the light of the fireflies I'm convinced flew up from Texas.

HAPPY SUMMER EVERYONE and THANK YOU THANK YOU, LOVED ONES!