Weekend Wrap-Up

So, a few things.

Friday night I got to have early birthday drinks with some girlfriends (and Mike), and had a fabulous time at one of my favorite restaurants. We then hauled our asses to Williamsburg to go to Brooklyn Bowl only to pay a $5 cover and then be told there would be no lanes available for a few hours. Putting our names in for a lane around 8:45, we then went back out in the cold to find someplace to drink. We found a nice little hole with some tasty prosecco, and Wii Bowling! So fun was had but by 11 we knew we were beat and headed back to Manhattan. On the 2 train, we sat across from this guy:

Which kind of made the back and forth subway riding TOTALLY worth it.

And the kicker, of course, is that Brooklyn Bowl finally called my phone at 12:35 to tell me our lane was available. (However, I now have the secret bowling phone number that leads to a human for future use. Yes!)

Saturday night found us at The Highline Ballroom, seated at tables with full dinner menus and fancy overpriced cocktails and bottle service.

We are so. not. bottle. service.

But we enjoyed ourselves and the show put on by Lady Rizo and the Assettes, who went to high school with Mike. (Just Lady Rizo. Mike did not go to a Burlesque Prep High School.) So that meet-and-greet was interesting. And I really did enjoy the show. At least, the parts where I wasn't comparing my own non-burlesque-ready hind quarters to the very impressive ones on stage.

Apparently I am an equine, because I have hind quarters.
Shit.

So Valentine's Day romance was a set of surprise tickets to see the Tim Burton exhibit at MoMA. Cuz Nothin' Says Lovin' Like Tim Burton's artwork.

I feel a bit like this right now, tho not at Mike, and for why, see below...I sincerely hope I do not feel like this by the end of my  night...

But we also wandered around and saw Starry Night and some Cezanne, Monet, Picasso, Pollock, so it was a well-rounded trip. Tho whoever got to put the "empty shoe box" exhibit there, or the one that is an empty room with one clear Dannon yogurt lid in the middle of each of the 4 walls, needs to be killed slowly and painfully. I don't care what argument you make. That Is Not Art!!!

While I should not be blogging right now, and rather should be making a fantastic steak dinner with crispy roasted potatoes for my Valentine, I had to mention one last thing.

You all CLEARLY do not care about me because the previously mentioned snow is arriving, and I shall lose toes (as shall all of you) and more to the point, my mother has cancelled dinner. At least, she has cancelled her own attendance and that of my dad. AND they want to come in and have lunch instead now, which means I cannot sleep in on my birthday, or spend the day shaving legs, painting nails, quaffing my hair, and doing all the girly things I was going to do to make myself look fabulous for my 30th Birthday Party. Instead it will be stressed-out Chessa day.
I know it's not that big a deal, and I should be happy my family wants to be with me (I have given my brother an "out" for lunch obligations) but when you plan a very early dinner so that you can see your family, and then they cancel due to the prediction 2-4" of snow that may or may not start falling around dinner time... it is frustrating to say the least.

Frustration, cancellations, snow, and revised schedule aside - I am still having dinner at Scarpetta. Yes!

And I shall look fabulous doing so. Photos and birthday shenanigans photos to follow.

Birthday Musings

     I am no stranger to inconvenience and cancellations on my birthday. (Insert world's smallest violin here.) Having your birthday fall on a holiday weekend means that when you go to a preppy private school, people take off for Vail, CO for the weekend to ski. Or in public school, you have your February vacation that week, so you have a legitimate chance to go away somewhere warmer and more fun. Also, having your birthday the day after Valentine's Day (not as bad as same-day, but still not fun) means training every man you ever date that they are two separate days, and should be treated with equal respect and importance.
  Relating to my previous Snow Day post, that winter of snow storms also dropped about a foot or more the day of my Sweet Sixteen (yes. I had one.) and it got cancelled and then moved to the next night. This year, they are saying it might start snowing Monday night and into Tuesday. This, of course, is kryptonite to my mother, who has missed funerals and weddings whether it was 3 inches or 3 feet.

     So upon talking to her last night and her voicing her fears, I informed her that she had best not miss my 30th birthday dinner, because we have reservations at Scarpetta and they cannot be changed or moved, and if they don't come I will have 2 very lucky friends joining me for dinner instead because I don't care if it HAILS, I am eating at Scarpetta!

     On a more amusing note, last week I received a text message from my brother that read, "How many brownie points do I get if I DON'T go to Brazil for Carnaval so I can be here for your 30th birthday?" To which I replied, "We will miss you terribly. Mom shall never forgive you. You shall be flogged along 4th Street until we arrive at Aroma where you can make it up to me :-)"
Because really, if someone offers you the chance to go to Brazil (Hi Corrie!!!) even if it means missing your little sister's 30th birthday, you should seriously consider going. If I was offered tickets to Venice for Carnival (yes, it is spelled differently in Italy from Brazil) but would miss my brother's milestone birthday (also born on a holiday weekend, but in May. Fun for the whole family!) I would be seriously torn. Hell you could offer me tickets ANYWHERE in Italy, even in the torridly hot August weather, and I'd probably still want to drop everything and go. But that's me and my love of Italy.

     So, if you live in the NYC area, hope for my sake that the snow stays away until Tuesday. If not for the sake of my parents getting safely in and out of the city, then do it so I can wear my cute heels with my fabulous new party dress without losing toes to snow-induced frostbite!
(And if you think you might be one of the lucky friends invited to dinner in place of absent parents, I understand you rooting for bad weather. But if I lose a toe, know I will have one of yours removed for every one I lose.)