Waaaaaaaaaaaall-eeeeeeee

Friday I worked in the morning, and it was a crazy shift. Almost every table wanted crazy special orders, and I just couldn't get in the flow. Oh well. Finished up and took myself out for coffee to read and relax a bit, then talked to Mom on my way to meet up with Matt and some folks from his office for dinner. We ended up at a nice Thai place, then walked down to the movie theater in Times Square to see "Wall-E." Everyone who reads this blog, no matter who you are: Go See This Movie. Right Now. It's the best movie I've seen in ages. Hilarious and touching and awesome in every way. And the short they play beforehand caught me so off guard I couldn't stop laughing. Seriously, I don't care what your plans are, drop them and see "Wall-E." So good. Went home and packed for our weekend away.

Week in review

Monday the 23rd I worked during the day, which means I probably made dinner with Matt at night, but I honestly can't remember.

Tuesday I worked in the evening, and I can't remember much about that either.

Wednesday I worked in the morning, had sushi at Whole Foods, then met Matt and went to the Botanic Gardens. You normally aren't allowed to picnic there, but they have Members Only Picnic Nights in the summer, and this one was "Bring a Friend," so I took Matt. We had a lovely picnic in the gardens, watching 10 million kids run around. Walked home and met with Ethan to work on our show.

Thursday I worked during the day, and then I went to pick up my CSA share for the week. This week, I got:
-lettuce
-turnips
-eggs
-strawberies
-more garlic scapes
-two little bok choys
-Swiss chard
-scallions
-parsley
-flowers

Now that I had scapes from last week and this week, I decided to put them to good use. Went over to Matt's and we made garlic scape pesto, which we then fed to ourselves and Ben out on the patio. A lovely dinner was had by all.

Working Weekend

Saturday I worked in the morning, and it's kind of sad to have Saturday be your Monday. Oh well. Matt and I took it easy that evening, and we made potato pizzas and watched "Lars and the Real Girl," which was a weird and good movie.

Sunday I worked in the morning again, but Sunday mornings go by nice and fast. Due to a scheduling snafu, I was the only opening server. Oooooops. Everything worked out ok in the end. Met up after work with Hannah and Kristel, who is back in between going to Guatemala and teaching at a summer camp. We went to the Westway Diner and caught up, then I went home and Matt and I made CSA Kale and Potato soup for dinner, which was mega good. Then I made homemade strawberry shortcake with CSA strawberries, which was also mega good. Hooray for the CSA!

Cooking and Opera

Friday I spent the morning planning things to make with my CSA share. Around 1:30 I went to Chavella's to have lunch with Ethan in order to discuss us putting together a show. We got some good ideas and have given ourselves homework, and it feels good to be working on something. Took my grocery lists and headed to the store, then came home and made pasta salad and green salads to take on our picnic to go hear the Metropolitan Opera in Prospect Park. Matt came over with the cooler, which we packed and then walked to meet Atsuko, Ben, and friends in the Long Meadow. They'd gotten a great spot, where we could still sort of see the stage but had a great view of the Jumbotron TV projection. It was a beautiful night, and it's one of those only in New York things, getting to see stars from the Met perform in your neighborhood park for free with 50,000 other people.

Veggie Time!

Wednesday I went running in the morning, then did things around the house until it was time to go to work. Worked the evening.

Thursday was exciting. I had the day off, so I went running after I got up, then went on an adventure to check out the new Ikea in Red Hook, Brooklyn. It just opened Wednesday, so it was super new. They have a shuttle service from a subway stop near me, so I hopped the bus to Ikea Adventure. Walked around and looked at everything, and managed to get away only buying a new set of measuring spoons, a salad spinner, and a glass jar for storing pesto. Also, Mom, turns out most Ikeas sell that sparkling peach juice you like. The bus system has some kinks to work out, but it was fine. Came hom, then turned around to pick up my first CSA share! I got:
-a bouquet of snap dragons
-a head of lettuce
-a head of bok choy
-kale
-radishes
-garlic scapes
-salad mix-
-a little basil plant
-a pound of strawberries
-6 eggs

Cool! Brought them home, repackaged them for better storage, then went into the city to meet Matt for dinner. Then we went to see "Gypsy," where all three leads had just won Tonys. It was such a privilege to see Patti LuPone play Mama Rose, she's just the best of the best in her field. We both had a great time.

One week behind...

Sunday the 15th was two important days: Father's Day and Tony Day! Worked the AM, called Dad, got groceries, and made asparagus and goat cheese quiche for a Tony party I had for Matt and family. I had fun watching the show, and I was excited for "In the Heights." Matt's job had several winners, which is great for them.

Monday I worked a double, and I had the craziest series of VIPs. First, Randy and Libby sat in my section. Then, Nancy, Dave, Ben, and Atsuko came and sat in my section. Just as they were leaving, the wives of our C.O.O. and the head chef at Per Se sat down at one of my tables, and the parents of our head pastry chef sat down at another. AHH! I finally went on my break, came back half an hour later, and who should appear but Pat Haswell, her sister, and Grandma Ruth! What a surprise, since I didn't even know they were in NY. It was great to see them, and a hilarious cap to a surprising shift. Went to Matt's for amazing Dave Healy Strawberry Rubarb Pie, then said goodbye to Nancy and Dave, since they left the next morning.

Tuesday I worked in the morning, then raced home to try and catch the last attempted delivery of my mysterious UPS package. By some miracle I got home in time, and it turned out to be my replacement Minnesota 150 yr anniversary sweatshirt, which is a much better size. Thanks, Mom and Dad! Wore it over to Matt's house, where we had a quiet night in.

Lots of Guests

I'm going to try and summarize, because a lot has happened in the last week.

Wednesday I went to work, went to yoga, and did laundry.

Thursday I worked during the day, then met up with Matt, Ben, Atsuko, Dave, and Nancy. We left Ben at rehearsal and wandered around Times Square. Eventually met up with him again at Zen Palate for a vegetarian dinner.

Friday I met the Healys for brunch at Tom's, then walked to the library to return a book and get a new one. Went to the Lincoln Center library to return a CD, then went to work.

Saturday Randy, Libby (his sister, who is also visiting), and I went to the Greenmarket, where we ran into...the Healys. Parted ways, then met up with them again at Ben and Atsuko's for a mini piano recital. Matt's been taking lessons from Ben, so he played a Bach piece and a piece he wrote himself. He and all the 10-year-olds did a great job :) They had a BBQ for all the students and families afterwards, which was fun but tiring. Went home to rest, then went to Amorina with Libby for dinner.

Why didn't you just ask for trees?

Monday morning I went to a dance call for the Wizard of Oz tour. Turns out they were only really looking for tall skinny girls, which I discovered when we went to do our combo and they said, "Be sexy trees." Great. I was a fabulous tree, but apparently they think all trees are tall and thin. Oooooh well. Went home and got some stuff done, then went to work. It was still incredibly hot, so I was glad to be in the A.C.

Tuesday I had planned to run in the morning, but the heat made that pretty impossible. Did some stuff around home instead, started watching a movie (about Enron, and I know that makes me a giant nerd), then went in to work to do a two-hour catering event. It ended up being crazy because they didn't get enough food, and then when they saw how much they'd under estimated, they wanted us to magically produce more for them. Sigh. Anyway, it was only two hours, and then I met Matt for dinner to officially celebrate my promotion. We went to Resto, which is a somewhat Belgian place I'd been wanting to try. Had a nice dinner, and when we left we were pleased to find that a rain storm had FINALLY cooled it off to a manageable temperature. Hooray!

Heat wave!

Saturday was the beginning of a heat wave in New York. Luckily for me, I spent most of Saturday in the air conditioned Time Warner Center, working. The shift was fine, as far as I can recall. Had lunch with Kim in the circle, stopped at home, then went to Matt's to BBQ with him and Ben. We had a good time, but all of a sudden two early and long days caught up with me and I had to go to bed.

Sunday we decided to take advantage of the weather and make our first trip to the beach for this summer. We got picnic supplies to put in our new cooler, collected Ben, and headed to Coney Island. Spent the afternoon on the beach, including a couple minutes in the still VERY COLD ocean. Ben went home, and Matt and I spent a while walking through the amusement parks. Got ice cream, then headed home. Got Chinese take-out and bummed around, trying to stay cool.

Lots of work

Thursday I went running in the morning and worked in the evening, and I don't remember much else about it.

Friday I got up at 5:30 because I had to be at work early for a catering event. The event was boring, but I get paid a lot to do it, so it's fine. Took a 15 minute break, then worked the morning shift. No matter how much I tell myself it'll be different, doing this always makes me crabby, and I was sure ready for it to be 4:00pm. Got myself a big Pinkberry yogurt as a reward, then met Matt at a bar in midtown for a going away party for one of his coworkers. He and I left and went to dinner at Le Gamin, then met Mike at the 4th Ave. Pub to catch up after not seeing each other for months.

Taking it slow

Wednesday I didn't get up until late, but then I took care of some stuff I had to do, like scheduling my work shifts for my CSA. Went to work, which started slowly but picked up quite a bit around 6. Hopefully that means we made at least a little money.

My coworkers are bad influences

Tuesday I got up and went to an audition for a show my friend Haley is doing. Unfortunately, it did noooooooot go well. The accompanist was, as far as I could figure out, playing another song entirely, and there was really nothing I could do to save it. Oooooh dear. Went to lunch at Grey Dog Coffee to console myself and saw my friends Dorian and Tristan. Went up to Central Park and read my magazine, then went to work. Work was extremely slow, but people did a good job of not getting lazy. After work I was planning to go home, but I got roped into going to Coliseum instead, and Randy and I didn't get home until pretty late. We had a good time, though. I'm always so glad I have fun, inclusive coworkers.

New laundromat = amazing

Monday I had the day off, so it was time to do some serious laundry. Went for a run first, which was pretty toasty, since it's been warming up here a lot. Then, I headed over to try out the new laundromat, which is just a block from my house. It's amazing! All new machines, lots of them, clean space. Plus, it's so close to my house that once I got my wash started, I went back home and ate my lunch and made a grocery list before going back to switch to the dryer, which I didn't even have to pay for because DRYING IS FREE!!! I'm convinced this is some sort of hoax, but I'm going to take advantage of it because it makes doing laundry so much better. Got groceries while drying my clothes, then got home and did some prep for the chicken and wild rice I was making in the crock pot for dinner. Headed into the city to run some errands and do some shopping, then came home and read the Sunday Times I stole from work until Matt came over. We ate dinner, read some more, and watched more SNL dvds until Randy came home from his weekend in Vermont with Oliver from work. Got caught up, then went to bed.

The summer's first outdoor brunch

Sunday morning Matt and I met Diana and Shira, two friends of his from Madison, for brunch at a place called Cheryl's. I'd been meaning to go there ever since I moved to this neighborhood, and now I wish I'd discovered it sooner. The food was awesome, and we ate in the backyard garden area, which was soooo nice. Definitely a good addition to our brunch list. Went to Shira's apartment just to see it (it's very nice, and I'm very jealous), then ran home before running back out the door to go to work. It was very slow, which was probably good, since it was my first day supervising and we had a couple people call out sick. Anyway, things went pretty smoothly, although I still need a couple things, like a key to the office and an email address. Went to Matt's and was offered a choice of four different desserts that either he or Anja were trying to foist on other people. Decided to go with the peanut butter pie, mmm.

Accidental party guests

Saturday I worked in the morning, then went home and chilled a bit. Went to Matt's to make tacos, and Hannah joined us once she got done at work. The plan was for the two of us Bouchoners to go to a surprise going away party that Sage's roommates were planning for her. Around 10 we were ready to go, so we called her roommate...no answer. Called Sage...no answer. Oh well, we figured, we'll just head down there. Hopped the R train to Sunset Park, got to their place, and although we could see lights on in their apartment, no one answered the doorbell, so we just started shouting Sage's name. She peered out of the window and said, very confusedly, "You're...here?" "Surprise?" we said, just as confused. We got upstairs and Melissa, Sage's roommate, says, "Hannah, didn't you get my phone call?" Hannah had left her phone at home all day. Turns out they had called her to cancel the party because no one could make it and weren't expecting us. In fact, we were the only guests. Surprise! They were happy to see us, though, and we ended up having a makeshift party and playing Apples to Apples. What hijinx we get into here.

Impromptu dinner party

Friday I worked in the morning, then was looking for something fun to do for the evening, so I decided to have a dinner party. It ended up being just four of us: me, Matt, Kim, and Kristel, but boy did we eat. We had cheese and crackers, Caesar salad, homemade pesto, and a pizza with potatoes and rosemary. And THEN, Kim brought raspberries and sponge cake and whipped cream for dessert. We were all so full we couldn't move. Pretty good for a party planned at 5pm!