Monday, December 24, 2007

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!

Hi from the Slacking Blogger! Apologies for not updating more, this season can be so hectic and, as always, my computer picks and chooses the times it wants to work.





Christmas in New York


I can see how it could be depressing....Christmas Eve, alone, big city, little dreamer...but the beauty of being away from everyone that you love is that you find a way to love even smallest scenes in life..



example.... I was sitting at the Christmas Eve and watched two people walk up to the second floor, only they couldn't really walk on their own



They both had walkers and after one person made it up, the other went down to help the other...they both folded their walkers up in time and sat down for their christmas eve meal. I couldn't help but notice how dapper they looked, in their 60's and all, and how much they loved one another.



I saw that they both ordered a glass of wine and told the server it was on me, not because I wanted a thank you but because they made me smile, the way they cared for one another. They later told me it had been 15 years since they last saw eachother and that the woman (did i mention this was a man and a woman) had flown in from Georgia to see her old friend, it all got me to thinking about how important friendships are and where I would be without them.


I recently had a visit from some of those people, some of the friends that have always supported you and love you no matter what. (More about that below)



Christmas Day was a good one, I had dinner with four of my new friends at Jen and Mike Watts apt, you can check out pics of our dinner on their Blogg(which puts mine to shame by the way)

http://www.weisswatts.blogspot.com/ I was in charge of the side so I made the only thing I know I can, cheesy potatoes. We had plenty of wine and champagne it truly felt like a holiday. I wasn't sure it would being away from parents and all, but I got to see them on my first trip home and we celebrated the day complete with Santa Sack and all (for my new friends this is a giant bag that my dad fills for my mom and I every year in addition to our stockings, it is filled with great stuff and a tradition that I hope never goes away) Thanks again mom and dad for a great day!!! I love you.





So as I mentioned above, Beth, Kretch, Shannon and Toddy all came to visit a couple of weeks ago. I cannot tell you how relieved I was to see their smiling faces, I had to sit and take it all in for a minute. It felt good to be around people I could be myself in front of and not worry if they like me the next day.


After a minute it was as if no time had passed.



We went to Greenwich Village to find a place to eat. I have to admit I was a bit surprised where we ended up wich was a "haunted" restaraunt that came complete with talking wall mounts and cheezy servers, but, we will never forget it (did I mention the bathrooms were hidden in a bookshelf?)



After the very interesting meal we headed to meet Gina Samardge, one of the stars of an up and coming clown entertainment group (http://www.thecoolestbandever.com/) and wandered the bars in the village. They recently got back from a tour in China. Somehow (wink wink) we ended up at Hogs and Heffers (the original coyote ugly bar) and I don't think they have forgiven me to this day for that one.


Day two was good times, we started at Times Square at the Rockefeller tree and went on a hunt for a slice of real NY pizza. (This was after Kretchy's hunt for a Salamaria failed, only Kretchy) Then we took a trip to China Town to grab some officially fake designer bags. I have always heard that if you go there for a bag, don't go into the shops but go with a person that approaches you on the street and asks if you want to see a bag and follow them into their lair. This is supposedly where the higher quality knockoffs are(pretty shady stuff) So a woman approached us and we followed her not knowing where the hell she was taking us, then she stopped in front of a minivan which had a person in the back already "shopping", we opted out and grabbed some bags in the shop, I walked out with a high quality black Versace Hit bag (http://www.eluxury.com/estore/browse/product_detail.jsp?program-id=780&ad-id=57&id=11505610) which is now affectionatel called the Ver-sase (piece of shit zipper already broke, maybe I should have gone into the van)



Dinner was awesome, I knew it would be because the Kretch's and the Kralls don't mess around when it comes to food. We went to Del Posto (http://www.delposto.com/) which is Mario Batelli's restaraunt. The wine was perfect as was the food but the company was my favorite part.



On Sunday the Kretches went home and Shannon, Toddy, my friend Helen and I went to the Browns vs Jets game. We met about 100 other browns fans in the parking lot to tailgate and I felt as close to Cleveland as I had in months! It was freaking freezing, I have very little war clothing here yet so I was underdressed for sure. There were five other browns backer groups there, NY, Brooklyn, New England, Phili and Jersey. Did you know that the Browns have the largest backers group in the world? Pretty cool, there is a group in Sri Lanka (http://www.zyworld.com/brownsbackerskc/BrownsBackersofSriLanka.htm)



Shannon and Todd had to take off early for their plane (4p game) so Helen and i stuck it out for as long as we could in the rain. The rain was worth it, we WON!!!





NO PLACE LIKE HOME

I went back to Ohio, but my city was gone......kidding but always wanted to use that phrase

What a trip, my first stop was WEWS, it was awesome to see all of my old work buddies, well, most of them and I couldn't believe how different it all seemed to me. It looked different, felt different and I didn't feel like the weight of the world was on my shoulders when I was there! I was there for a couple of hours with Wendy then off the the Chop House for some apps. After I parked my butt at Bruno's (it was a wednesday afterall) and drank and played until the sun came up. Thanks to everyone who made it there, it meant a lot to me.

On Thursday I went back to Bruno's, I needed lunch you know and then headed to Madtown with to see my parents. It was soo good to be home, I swear I never sleep more, or better than I do at my parent's house, something about the warmth and comfort of it all sets my mind at ease.


Friday I finally got to see THE CHIPPER and the Donkey's and Jamie !!! They came up from columbus. We went to dinner and then to the Put-In-Bay bar which is a bar named after the island where we all met years ago. I couldn't wait for that hug from the Chipper, I needed that hug more than you know. We had a great time and I was sad to see them go. The Kretch's let us crash at their home and I got to sleep in my room again, (oh yeah, I have my own room there and don't think for a minute Im letting someone else have it=)


I left on Sunday and was both tired and sad. It was hard to leave when there were still so many people I wanted to see, Mandy and Tami in particular. I miss you guys soo much, I hope next time we can get together.


So that's about it, I think that brings me up to date, I know it's been a long entry but I had lots to say!!!


I miss everyone very much, please have a great New Year and drink one for me!!!