KJ Day

date: Dec 27th

drink: Red Truck Wine - some blend, i think... and some unknown cabernet

what: private holidays and reality checks


So, J - the focus of so many of these blogs - is jewish. Whereas i'm more of the christmas-celebrating persuasion... therefore once we decided that we'd be exchanging december holiday presents, the next step was to pick a day to do it. sure the december holidays coinsided this year, but seriously, i think i kinda had to spend my christmas with the family i've known for 33+ years rather than the boyfriend i've not even known 3 months... so we settled on Sat, Dec 27th. which, according to my card and J's iphone, is now forever known as KJ day and will remain our own private holiday.... so yeah, presents were exchanged and we both did pretty freaking awesome, if i do say so myself...


i'll excuse you while you vomit. but bring the bucket back with you...



after that it was a trip downtown to Risotteria - a place i'd been by numerous times but never managed to think of at the right times until saturday...

before i get into that, its worth noting that in addition to all the eating and gossip girling, Friday night ended up being the night of what will forever now be known as 'the couch conversation' - some serious conversation about where we both are in the relationship (pretty far in for something so new) and where we thought things seemed to be headed...

so, anyway, post-holiday saturday night began with me having a panic attack - something that hasnt happened to that degree in a really long time... (and is only now occuring to me probably has a lot to do with the seriousness/scariness of all the talking on friday...) which was handled 100% right by J - walking and talking and just general distraction...

luckily the end of my thinking i was going to die right there on bleeker street coincided with our table being ready at the restaurant... and from there, we accidentally (?) moved onto reality... the reality of what the couch conversation really meant... bottom lines. non-negotiables. the things you forgot to consider when you were planning the future the night prior.


once dinner was over, we moved on to Four Faced Liar for a continuation of all that talking... more drinks were consumed but the conversation quickly left reality and returned to hearts and flowers and rainbows and sunshine and puppy dogs... (this is why i drink. life is much sunnier and less-serious after multiple glasses of wine) and anyone paying attention (luckily no one) would have guessed that we were on like, a 2nd date or so - what with all the giddiness and kissing...

glad you kept the puke bucket nearby, huh?

just like the west coast...

date: Dec 26th


drink: Hoegaarten


what: the low key night that wasnt...



J and i werent even sure that we were going to go out - contemplated just ordering in & watching a movie or something but then decided to head out locally for dinner, just to get out of the house... and then he got some texts - a friend from CA was in for the evening and he and another guy wanted us to go out after dinner... so quick change into presentable clothes and makeup (yes, it actually WAS quick, thankyouverymuch!) and first headed to Westside Brewing Company, which seems to be fast becoming our place - this is the 3rd time in less than 2 months that we've been there) and then down to Galway Hooker - weird, as thats a big happy hour bar among my co-workers (and therefore not where i tend to spend my weekends) - but since CA guy needed to be back at penn station, it seemed fair enough...

Meeting another friend of J's is always fun, but even more fun? bonding with his friend R - someone who i dont think liked me so much last time (he was the one person i couldnt crack that first meet-the-friends night) - over our mutual love of all things Gossip Girl... R promises to catch up on his GG DVR viewing this week so that we can fully discuss it at length on NYE.

and the horror on J's face as two of his friends and his girlfriend bonded over blair and serena? pretty much the cherry on top of an already entertaining night...

dear santa claus...

date: Dec 25

drink: mimosas and red wine

what: Christmas with the fam...

So, by some turn of events, i host BOTH major holidays at my little apartment. thanksgiving with friends and xmas with the parents (although this is the final year for that due to that nephew who should be kinda fun on xmas next year)... we keep christmas fairly low key - wake up late, webcam it with my sister/BIL to open presents 'together', drink some mimosas, eat some breakfast, eat some apps, nap, eat some dinner, go to rock center and see the tree, bake some cookies, eat some cookies and finally go back to sleep...

notice all the food in there - not an accident... but also not so friendly to the skinny jeans...

Christmas Eve

date: Dec 24

drink: 120 Shiraz

what: Christmas eve at Grandma's

Because my grandmother has never been run over by a reindeer we try to see her for christmas. however, because family holidays had gotten out of control (and by that i mean fairly painful to attend because no one really liked anyone else) we do it on xmas eve instead of xmas day to avoid the drama...

my parents were due to land at 11:04 AM, at which point i was to meet them at the airport, get to my dad's car and hightail it to south jersey, theoretically by around 2pm. we'd have eaten, hung out with grandma and then made it home in plenty of time for me to do all my prep work for tomorrow...

of course, thats not at all what happened... the parents started calling me early this morning, first to say that the flight was delayed about 40 minutes. then that they had been unloaded from the plane, so who knew when they'd be on, then that they were getting back on, then that they'd be landing at 1:15, but i should check the internet, just to be sure... by the time their plane landed and we got to the train/car/etc, it was nearly 4pm... awesome. put us in south jersey at 6pm. we gorged ourselves on grandmas cooking (particularly the amazing stuffed peppers that she had never made for me before - in 33 years - which are totally my new favorite thing like, EVER), exchanged presents, and then hightailed it back to manhattan only to arrive after 11PM.

which is why i just finished my xmas prep at 340 in the morning...

the holidays come early and often

date: Dec 22

drink: Brooklyn Lager

what: Making J's mom's latkes, simply recipe's apple sauce and eating J's sisters xmas cookies...

So i belong to a CSA, which, for the wintertime, mostly consists of root vegetables... one of those things was 3lbs of potatoes (for this month - its monthly in the winter) - an amount that prompted me to send J an email saying 'what the hell am i going to do with this???'

of course, when you have a new jewish boyfriend and its late december, there really is only one answer - potato latkes...

having grown up in a very jewish neighborhood (marlboro, NJ circa 1985) i was QUITE familiar and only too happy to comply with his request... plus, lets not forget that he was going to have to ask his mom for the recipe - earning me brownie points before i even meet her ;)

we tag-teamed the cooking and mock-argued over who was better at grating potatoes (i am) and generally had a good time. he got to be a good jew and celebrate hanukkah, and i got to revisit my childhood, not to mention make more blog fodder

the sap could kill you

date: Dec 20

drink: Pinot Nero at Bread and then Syrah at Cafe Select

what: the first, dare i say it, romantic date with J...

we'd just spent an inordinate amount of time with eachother in less than stellar conditions (trapesing around manhattan in the snow while i xmas shopped) but when we broke, it was only to return to our respective abodes, make ourselves presentable, and get our asses back out for a little less snow and a little more date... i was happy to find that Bread was a little on the quiet-er more candle-lit side, as i was feeling slightly (ok, disgustingly) sappy and just kinda wanted to sit back and enjoy new-boyfriend-land over some good food and good wine... after that, it was in search of a quiet bar to continue our night, but there wasnt one to be found. we landed at Cafe Select which while very cute and definitely a place to remember, not quite the perfect little quiet bar that we were looking for... but thats ok - its still in that phase where we can ignore everyone around us.

god, even my retelling of the evening is sickeningly sweet and gross.

priorities

date: Dec 19

drink: Brooklyn Lager

what: was supposed to be snowy night spent in making chili, watching dvds and drinking beer

this shouldnt even count. I didnt want to post it. but J says that i should. because here's how the night went down:
stop at the store and load up on supplies for the evening.
get back to the apartment, throw some beer in the freezer to quick-chill it.
crack open the cheese and baguette that we had bought to tide ourselves over while the chili cooked.
snack on some cheese and bread and then open up those beers.

drink two sips and declare that i need at nap. at 8pm. J didnt think that it was likey that i'd just be napping at 8pm on a friday night, but i swore that i would... even woke up a few times and tried to rally.

but basically slept right through til 11am the next day...

yeah, i know. just try and keep up with this rockstar lifestyle...

aced it - part 2

date: Dec 18

drink: Hoegaarten

what: this time, its J's turn to meet the family...

and just like me before, he aced it. like a rockstar. not only did we have a great time out at dinner, but apparently the sis/BIL went home and raved about him to the family... and, as weird as it sounds, BIL has become my last word on boys i date because he was the one who saw right thru the last one - from the start...

of course, doing this meant being the people in the bar with a baby at midnight on a thursday night... manhattan is all smoke-free, we were in the restaurant part and he was asleep the whole time so i dont really think its bad, right? i know i'll never judge it the same way again ;)

my baby comes to visit

date: Dec 17

drink: Faiveley Pinot Noir

what: Sister, BIL and most favoritest baby nephew in the world (despite the whole spit-up thing) came to visit me!

Ok, to be fair, they mostly came up (from NC) so my sister could go to an appointment, they could introduce the baby to the inspiration for his middle name and then they could take the baby to my grandmothers so that she could finally meet him. However, i'd like to say it was to see me - and they DID drive the rest of the way into the city rather than stay in NJ last night, so i win.

Of course, i'm told that the way my BIL was convinced to not just stop at my dad's apartment in jersey was the promise that i would have alcohol in my apartment...

birds of a feather and all ;)

diversity

date: Dec 16

drink: Amstel Light

what: mexican food with j followed by beer at the neighborhood gay bar

J and i hit our first 'bump' in the road on Sunday night... and it took me a couple of days to put into words what the issue was (for me) and what i wanted to say... so we agreed - mexican food and a conversation... unfortunately, the restaurant (if you call it that) was busier than i've ever seen it before, so it wasnt the best place to have a Serious Conversation... so after a slightly tense dinner, we headed out to find a bar where we could tuck ourselves into a corner and talk...
Enter Candle Bar. I'd only first gone into this place a month or so ago - not even being 100% sure that it was a gay bar before i walked inside (i thought it was, but just wasnt sure...)

and while its kinda a random place and they probably dont have any interest in seeing me in there, i kinda like it... not even sure why, but i do... and they have these weird benches in the back which proved perfect for a private conversation...

beers in hand, we did it. we had a slightly uncomfortable, but necessary, conversation. and wouldnt you know - now everything is good. back to normal - if you can classify anything as normal when its still this new... but either way, back to good.

which is good, given the fact that this one seems to be a keeper - first Crumbs cupcakes on Sunday and tonight - chocolate covered marshmallows from Dylan's Candy Bar...

the way sunday nights should go...

date: Dec 14

drink: Cabernet Sauvignon & Pinot Noir

what: movies with J, followed by wine at Vai and The West Branch - not to mention cupcakes from Crumbs...

you know what's nice? when your new boyfriend shows up at your door with cupcakes.
you know what else is nice? when you and said new boyfriend agree on a movie (your first together) and then both feel like going out for wine afterwards. and then agree that one glass of wine wasnt enough, therefore, need to find another place thats open so that you can have another glass...

new relationships - the part where you are still finding the common ground and discovering all the things you can do together - are so fun... it almost makes all the bullshit dating that comes before it worth it...

aced it

date: Dec 13

drink: Yuengling, a few hefeweizen and a hoegaarten

what: V's birthday - V being one of J's friends, which meant meeting j's friends and sister for the first time at the marshall stack, some other bar on Rivington and then on to Becky's

so, incase anyone is keeping score, i met 2 of J's closest friends, his sister/BIL, and other assorted friends... and by the way, thats a LOT for one night. i wont lie - i was a little deer-in-headlights for the first hour or so but once i got the feel for the group, i was good.

In fact, in the end, i was SO good at meeting the friends/sister/etc (well, no etc, just friends & sister), that i'm due to send out a blog link to one friend, slated to get a box of christmas cookies from the sister (ok, they're for her brother, but they are coming to my apartment - thats something, right?) and, solidifying my awesomeness - J got high-fived for having snagged me ;)

However, moving on from my narcissim... one of the best parts of the night had to be when the Santa-Conners made it to the bar... partially cause its always good fun to see some santa-conners without the rest of the group (just making them people running around in santa suits if you dont know of santa-con which means its fun to watch other people react to them) and partially because these people have been drinking ALL DAY. and you havent. and there's nothing more fun than watching drunks make fools of themselves...

Case in point:

These two - they walk out of the bar and then proceed to lean right up against it and go at it... and of course, because we're all mature adults, the entirety of the bar forms a semicircle around them (from inside), watching, cheering and taking pictures... they finally noticed the flashes and the crowd that had formed and you'd think that maybe they'd move on? or realize that they were being out of control? oh no. instead, they just moved down past the windows, found themselves a nice spot on the LES sidewalks and sat down and continued (and probably progressed - i tried to not look too closely).

I believe that we all applauded when they finally returned to the bar an hour or so later...

cocktails instead of layoffs

date: Dec 12

drink: many, many Absolut Vanilla and Diet Coke + 1 Lemon Drop shot

what: the infamous company christmas party

Our company christmas party almost didnt happen cause Plaxico had to go and shoot himself in the leg at LQ - the site of our party - and darling mr bloomberg wanted to pull the club's liquor license... thankfully, he lost that argument because who wants to go to a dry holiday party??? certainly not me...

i know a lot of companies cancelled holiday parties this year due to the economy, however, i'm thinking that companies could save LOTS of cash if they just got the employees drunk, let them embarrass themselves, and then waited to see how many people quit over the shame... because i know our party was rife with ill-advised hookups, people being thrown out of the bar and general 'oh my god, i'm so embarrassed...'s. and we're a company of accountants - could you imagine what happens when non-dorks have parties??? there was a twist on ours this year - a guy in the company is in a band and they came and played a set... and it was kinda awesome, as i'm not all about the club music that generally gets played but i do really really like a good rock cover band... I'd link to the band if i knew their name... alas...

i do have one regret from the night (and no, its not leaving the party to go talk on the phone for a half hour and now wondering who heard me and what they heard me say) which is that i didnt think to ask any of the bar staff where the bullet hole was...

deja vu

date: Dec 9

drink: Red Belly Black Shiraz

what: Dinner and wine with E at The Grey Dog followed by a visit to Rice to Riches...

Was finally going to go to EVI's bar trivia with E... I made no plans, she cancelled hers, R changed hers around...
Somewhere around lunchtime, E emails to see if we are still in. Shortly thereafter, she emails to say that EVI is sick and trivia is cancelled - do we want to go somewhere else. I immediately agree to that plan but R bails... E and i debate but eventually end up at The Grey Dog... Ate some kickass veggie burger reubens and fries and drank that wine... which they were pushing. and based on the slight rumbling in my tummy, i'm starting to suspect that perhaps they were pushing it because its going bad... but it tasted good and thats what really matters...
Anyway, as is usual, we discussed boys, friends, and life in general. sadly, not all as happy, cheery and generally fluffy as it often is as there are people going through THINGS right now around us... argh.
Despite having some Gossip Girl on DVR, i decided that i NEEDED rice to riches, so we trekked over and of course, both ordered up some big ones... not the Solo size - the epic. One for each. mine honey graham and cheesecake flavors, hers being pumpkin and rocky road... (and i dont like rice pudding in its normal life - only at R2R)

then finally a jaunt home. through the freakishly warm 57 degree December night...

inappropriate conversation

date: Dec 6

drink: in a word - beer... hoegaarten, dogfishhead punk'n ale, blue point, stella, michelob ultra

what: date #6 with J

went to Resevoir, Teddy's, Barcade and then a houseparty...

met up and had a drink at resevoir, ate amazing pumpkin tortellini at teddy's, played way too many video games at barcade (and had pumpkin ale! go delaware brewery!!!) missed the snow cause we were inside :(.
Houseparty was interesting... in a basement railroad style apartment but omg this place kicked so much ass that if it wasnt a basement, i'd want to steal it from them and move in! of course, on the way to the party, J informed me that the host of the party may have a little crush on him... which made me laugh because i immediately knew i would be hated... and turns out, he's right. every time i walked away, she went back to hang out with him. he apparently caught her talking about me - and not in a way that appeared to be friendly and flattering - when my back was turned... it was awesome. i'm glad i have the confidence to not feel threatened by things like that.

making time for friends

date: Dec 5

drink: red wine - it was a blend and it had a fancy name, but i dont remember it.

what: dinner with S and a couple of her friends...

Went to accademia di vino, celebrated an early-stages pregnancy and ate some of the best food that i've ever had! Makes me want to go to Cesca, cause i think they are sister restaurants??? gotta find a boy to take me there...

batting around the cat toy

date: Dec 4

drink: Stoli-o and Sprite & Stoli Vanil & Sprite

what: Met up with E, et al at Agave for post-happy hour, pre-show drinks... high-tailed it to Two Boots for some Mel Cooley slices, which were eaten while on our way to the L train so that we could take our asses to williamsburg to go to Public Assembly to see Low Water and Breaking Laces, slated to go on at 10 and 11, respectively. (Getting off at Bedford reminded me so much of a guy i used to date - i almost hoped to run into him...)

Show up only to find that the show has been pushed back an hour, so instead we are treated to Rich Girls - and when i say treated, i mean tortured by - followed by some modern/interpretive dance and then into the Low Water set. It was their CD release party so they were going to play the whole disc through.
During the Low Water set, i was hit on by an older gentleman who couldnt have been more than 5'4" and informed me that he had a glasses fetish and asked me to make his night by telling him that i was either a librarian or a teacher. interestingly enough, being a trainer/adjunct faculty is awfully close to teacher and since they are both new to me - and therefore novelty - i indulged his fetish and informed him that yes, i kind of was...
when midnight hit and low water was still less than halfway thru their set (by my estimation) i thought about it... reminded myself that the cat toy has a girlfriend these days anyway, plus he's not quite as bat-around-able with his new shorter haircut. (dont get me wrong, i'd still do him though...) so i got myself the hell out of williamsburg and proceeded to nap my way home on the subway...

taking it up a notch

date: Nov 30

drink: cabernet sauvignon

what: watching wall-e while hanging out on the couch with J.

I dont even know if this should count as a post because i drank so little wine due to a raging headache but dammit, i wanted to post about the fact that i've progressed to home-dating with someone. thats a big step, dudes.

date night

date: 11/29

drink: pumpkin ale, amstel light, hoegaarten

what: date #4 with J. without going into details, i have to say, that was the first time, in my bar-slutty life, that i've EVER been scolded for making out in a dark corner... and i've made out in LOTS of corners of LOTS of bars... it used to be my trademark - "where's X?" "oh, probably off making out with someone in a corner..."

Honestly, i'm glad i dont have that bartenders job because she kind of seemed a bit like a douche when she scolded us...

turkey day

date: Nov 27

drink: what didnt we drink... started with peppermint schnapps, moved onto the bottle of Le Grande Dame that i've had for AGES, moved on to red wine, then white from a box... no, i dont have the names - we were drinking from 8am on - do you think i had the capability to write down names at that point in time???

what: Thanksgiving at my house - officially a tradition now that its been 2 years in a row... First there was the parade with our spiked mochas... yeah, it took KT and S 40 minutes to get back from starbucks but whatever. then we returned to the apartment and busted out the apps and finally broke into that champagne... Thank you asshole client (who sent me the champagne like, 4 years ago, to celebrate getting him off on his tax audit... i really did not like that guy and would have rather seen him get in trouble than get a $150 bottle of bubbly, but whatever...) sadly, i really liked it. This is sad because historically, i dont like the good stuff. this liking the good stuff could be expensive... eh, at least i now know what to drink at my wedding one day. and the bottle makes an awesome centerpiece with the cool candelabra that i got at childress vineyards last month...
Once that was gone, we opened up a bottle of red and then the box of white. because really, what else would one drink after $150 champagne but pinot from a box???
More apps with E and C and S included this time and then finally, put dinner in around 6... ate around 7. drank more wine. got so full that we didnt even eat dessert until Friday. yes, FRIDAY.
i love my thanksgiving. it's probably my favorite holiday - all about food, friends and fun. what could be better?