Thursday, July 08, 2010

Birthday Week Bonanzas!

Me and Denyse.
Photo by Patty Allen
For my birthday a group of friends took me to Arriba Arriba for dinner and drinks and while watching the couple behind us make out was enjoyable the most fun was had with the mondo-sized margaritas (although we being the delicate few we are chose to go with the El Papá (12oz.) as opposed to the La Mama (27oz.).

But getting there was the bigger adventure. The temperature in midtown his 103 on Wednesday (thanks for the heatwave birthday gods) and the thought of a) walking the fifteen blocks or b) climbing underground to the even hotter hell-of-a-subway was horrifying. So we decided to grab a cab.

Easier said than done at 6pm in Midtown Manhattan.

After about eight minutes the birthday gods shined on us and a taxi-van pulled up to the curb. (Did I mention it was 103 degrees outside and we were standing on black asphalt between buildings made of brick and glass?)

Patty ducked her head in the cab, "51st and 9th?" ;The driver shook his head, mumbled unintelligibly something about four people versus five and shooed us away. Damn. We'd been smote.

Another ten minutes or so another tax-van rolled up... FIVE SEATS! Woohoo!

After a disastrous ride up town (the driver managed to pass the restaurant, cross the street and block traffic) we sat down at the restaurant and began to dish and dine, sharing in the kind of gossip that only friends can. In the end it was a fantastic night out and, even though I managed to sweat off my buzz before getting home, it was a good way to welcome the big 3-5.

Cut to today which was slightly less scalding and slightly more drizzly (little pockets of rain have teased the city all day long) but just as much of a good time. Mike took me out for post-birthday lunch and catch-up. We dropped into Burgers and Cupcakes on 9th for and enjoyed both items from the diner's name. It was insanely noisy inside but we managed to catch up on what each other have been up to since his return from tour.

P.S. If you don't read Mike's blog you should start now! It's hilarious and I don't mean that in the cliched, hyperbolic sense. It really is. Go, now... I'll wait.

Yay birthday!!

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