SPRING BREAK, WAHOO! Okay, so maybe it was not spring break, but this past weekend I did feel and act like an undergraduate college student again. I have the sore shoulders, still lingering hangover to prove it and gaps in memory to prove it.
Under the guise of a massive birthday party (April 21st Evil Twin #2; April 23rd Manolo; April 26th Kentak3), we had a Columbia reunion in New York City. It had been almost 3 years since we had last all seen each other at B and S's wedding and the next person to get married may take a while. W flew in with a toddler in tow from San Antonio, Texas. Manolo with a girl in tow flew in from Miami. And B and S with me and Ch in tow drove in from Boston.
The weekend started weeks ago. ET#2 served as cruise director, organizing places for people to go, choosing restaurants and party locales, coordinating schedules, and hosting us in her new apartment. Flurries of mass emails, flurries of phone calls, flurries of flurries. I managed to attach myself as birthday girl on the Evite even though my birthday was much earlier in the month. I abstained from partying because I knew this would be a weekend for the ages.
Friday morning, B, S and C picked me up from school. There is no better way to start off a weekend then with a road trip. The afternoon was filled with traffic and junk food. By the time we got to the city, it was already time for dinner, drinks, and Manolo. Manolo and his friend were in Time Square. Getting off the subway during rush hour traffic, walking on one of NYC's busiest streets, getting bumped by the crowds, and feeling the energy of the city reminded us we definitely had left Boston.
The 6 of us headed down to the West Village for food and margaritas. Delicious. ET#2 met us there in her work clothes. Snazzy. In my sport-centric, cheap ass student, dirty jean wearing ways, I had forgotten the life of a New Yorker. That the people both men and women (even students) dressed well and did not wear baseball caps all the time. Variety of restaurants and bars were enormous and the food was good. We went to another bar and then for a late night snack of pizza at 12am.
The next morning my friend W and the baby, came to ET#2's apt.. Weird that even though I had not seen her in 3 years, and 22 months ago she gave birth to this kid, the first thing that she said to me was "so did you see Heroes last week?" That's what happens with close friends, 3 years melt away in seconds.
We took went for a walk and then to a local playground. It was a Saturday morning. The weather was nice. Spring was in the air. Children seemed to have invaded the City. As we commuted down to our brunch gathering, we noticed strollers and sticky hands everywhere. I am not sure if there had been a sudden baby boom or if this was a product of finally being aware children existed because we were with them.
At brunch, it was interesting how each one of us reacted to the kid. None of us have our own, and it is about time that our biological clocks start ticking. Manolo tickled her, ET#2 made her dance, but B waved to her from across the table. But my favorite moment is when Kentak3 went to say goodbye, he shook her hand and in the sincerest of tones looked the toddler in the eye and said "it was nice to meet you." And she shook his hand right back.
We walked around for the next 2 hours. Once again more food. We brought the baby to her very first bar. Aren't we all such great influences? It was getting late and W and the baby had to head back out of the City.
2 comments:
People often get new puppies in the spring, so it makes sense that they would get babies too.
I believe the proper term for Manolo's guest was "lady friend".
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