So, as usual, its extremely late and I have yet to go to bed. I have barely scratched the surface of my homework for the week, still have tons of regular work to do, and realize that I have not even touched my blog in days, despite all that has happened. Here goes:
Surprise Party #1: Last Thursday…(yes, the day that I was sick as a dog at work) Jen calls and asks if I can meet her over her house around 8:30 when she is due home from some “work event”; the plan is that we will cook some dinner and chill out. About 8:00, she calls and says she is running late and asks if I can come around 8:45, and asks if I can bring my guitar. Ok…stopping for a second, we can see a pattern of suspicious behavior arising. What Jen did not know was that I knew something was up. How, you ask? Well, for starters, she seemed extremely interested in Lynsey’s email address when I mentioned she was no longer working with us. Second, Chris wished me a Happy Birthday that morning, even though my real birthday was not until the 15th and he and I had not even discussed it. Next, two people, Jerry and Dave, both asked me what my plans were that night….something Dave never does during the week and Jerry never does at all. Complete surprise or not…..the night was amazing, and I had no idea what was instore for me. In attendance were just about all of my DC chums, including Chris, Ritu, Megan, Linora, Lynsey, Nate, Marita, Lloyd, Mircalla and my beautiful girlfriend Jen. Many bottles of wine were also in attendance. Jen had all of my favorite foods accounted for, including marinated-grilled eggplant, a greek orzo salad, olive-currant tapenade with goat cheese, mixed grilled veggies, and the meanest baked rigatoni with home-made vodka sauce and sausage meatballs this side of the atlantic. Dessert was a “My Downfall” cake by none other than the soon-to-be-world-famous, Cakelove. Can you say “Vanilla Schnapps Buttercream”? Got some cool gifts, including a Dark Crystal/Labrynth DVD from Lynsey, BB King Blues Festival tickets from Nate, and a ton of vino from the rest of the crew. I serenaded my lovely guests for the first time that evening, and as some of you can figure…..definitely not the last.
Surprise Party #2: So, Friday morning was not so good. My cold had come back tenfold. Fever kicking, coughing and sneezing, I call out of work and pass out for several hours. Jen and I decide to hit the road in the early afternoon to get back to NJ to relax. Dave calls and mentions that he would like to meet up for drinks and dinner at the Madison in Hoboken that night. Despite my better judgement, I agree to this madness and Jen and I (arriving at my NJ apartment at 7:30 pm) get ready and head into Hoboken for the 8:30 meeting time. As our favorite cab driver Dizzy (or Izzy as Jen likes to call him)_was nearing the bar, Jen jumps out and says that she would like to put our name in for a table. Very subtle. 🙂 As I enter the bar to see only Jen and Dave, I am led to the dining room where several of my friends were waiting for me. Great stuff! Schwartz, Slerm and Kris, Jeff, Jen and Jay were all there. We proceeded to enjoy several Sapphire Tonics, Filet Mignon Madison Style, an Irish Car Bomb, and a new shot called the “Mongolita” (don’t ask). I managed to scoop a couple new DVD’s up as part of my haul, not to mention a picture of Slerm from his better days. We even had a surprise Grynny showing and a late-night appearance by Michelle. All in all, a pretty awesome birthday party. Good job Jen and Dave.
Yakitori: So much of Saturday was spent recovering from the night before….relaxation and a late brunch were followed by a Tux fitting for Mr. Geller’s wedding, some miscellaneous spending at the mall, and finally getting ready to meet Mr. and soon-to-be-Mrs. Geller for a venture in to the city to dine at the fine St. Mark’s establishment of Yakitori. Best Japanese Ever. Let me say that again. Best Japanese Ever. Even though we waited an hour to sit down, this whole place was well worth it: Yaki Soba, Rice Balls with Spicy Fish Roe, Edamame, Dumplings, and Skewers-out-the-ass. Crazy Stuff. Afterwards, a nice stroll around the village and an early bedtime did us very nicely.
McCloone’s in Sea Bright: Jen and I rolled back to Old Bridge on Sunday to see mom, dad and Gabe. We continued the weekend of gluttony by rolling down to what was formerly McCloone’s RumRunner in Sea Bright (it still is, they just slightly modified their name to something I cannot remember). In case you don’t know, this is one of my favorite restaurants to eat at during the summer because of the view you have of the Navesink river in the dining room, with the sun glistening on the water and all of the beautiful old colonial homes on the ridge. The food rocks too. Fruiti Di Mar, anyone? Followed by Tollhouse Pie a la Mode? Horrible. Don’t ever eat there.
Jen Gets Sick: Yeah. You guessed it. I am feeling better and Jen is now in the throws of this awful flu or whatever it was that I just had. I am doing my boyfriendly duties to make sure she is feeling as comfortable as possible though.
The Grind: I am back in it this week, that’s for sure. Actually got to class this week and now have tons of reading to do. Also, the real job has kicked into overdrive, and I can probably expect to be spending some late nights there during the next month. All I know is that Josh Rouse is playing at the Black Cat tomorrow night, and that is only a couple blocks from Jen’s house (woo-hoo!), and I have a digital camera coming my way soon…You know what that means? Pics on a somewhat regular basis. I’m excited. Don’t know about you. Goodnight.