no place like home: a recap

Here I still in the hospital cafeteria of Sutter Santa Rosa awaiting a delegate. The good news is that there is a free, all-you-can-eat popcorn cart. If I am going to be a professional doctor stalker with prolonged periods of wait time I might as well enjoy the sodium bloat.

New York was fantastic: I forgot what it was like to have a zillion friends and eat delicious food. my flight arrived late on Friday evening (grr sf fog!! you little spoiler!!). I quick quick took the train to BK - if quick quick is at all possible taking the 1 to the A to the C - and met Sarah and Yasmin for a quasiAfrican dinner at Dakaar in Clinton Hill. We headed over to Heather's holiday party on Gates which ended up being a reunion for people we didn't know BUT Ms. Talia Reyes was there! Sasha and Lauren came so we took advantage of the free booze which may or may not have belonged to Heather's room mate. Sarah got a cab and Tal, Yaz, Tran, Lauren and I went to Sputnik - just a short few blocks away from my old cozy home - in bed stuy. I would usually stereotype this joint as a Pratt bar (imagine!) but for better it was Christmas break! so the crowd was more local. Everyone there def. came out for biggie's funeral rip. We caught the black moon show. A big thank you to Sasha who took one for the team and scored an l from the yo boy in the wu-wear skull cap. We all peaced around two when I returned to heather's for a late night chow-down which included the obligatory brooding over Local 6. I also forgot what it is like to stumble home late and feel unsafe!! I slept-in bigtime (west coast time zone!) and met Heather the next day at her movie shoot in Ft. Green. The classy Vassar broads of Indecent Exposure that brought you the heart-warming film "Chords" are back on the set again making their new piece entitled "An Awkward Porn." I am Catholic so I can't describe the details of the shoot but I will add that my presence on the set did not add to its cinematic merits - if anything, I detracted. I basically stood there and ate the "Chinese food" that Heather later told me was actually a tray of leftovers from the public school in Poughkeepsie where one of the crew members works. Yum! After viewing a couple of takes from the indeed awkward porn, I left to meet Masha and Leah for brunch at Barn in Park Slope/PPH. We have a delicious feast and boy (girl!) was it great to see them. I hauled ass back into Manhattan, changed, and met Lauren and Julia for some vino y queso at Regional. I then went with my sister to see Wicked, where I can proudly report that I only fell asleep for 20 min. I caught Lauren and Sasha and we sampled a smattering of the East Village/les/Chinatown circuit, ordering drinks made only of vodka (well!) and pineapple juice. Going out in the city near Christmas - esp. on a Saturday - is truly a pleasurable and unique experience: all the creeps that usually pack the bars yearlong are finally back home with their evil little families, leaving the rest of us with ample room to booze and boogie! My boss tells me a similar phenomenon happens in SF each year during Burning Man season. All in all a good night. The highs: the cracked out dudes in holiday costumes at Maxfish (see photo), tricking people into thinking Sasha's boa was real (see photo). The lows: multiple ATM withdrawals (see WaMu accounts), throwing a Blue Hawaiian on a wreck less taxi (see pint glass in trash can).

the freaks come out at night @ Maxfish; getting a taste of my own medicine @ Walkers

On Sunday I ran some errands with my mom and then attended the TENTH ANNUAL WALKER'S CHRISTMAS LUNCHEON in Tribeca with Lauren, Allegra, and Claire. Overall delicious 4-hour feast of chicken and gifts. Much attention devoted to the uncovery of Lina Marin's whereabouts. ALSO, after ten years of telling the waiter that it is someone's birthday (a rotation of Allegra, Lauren, Claire) the masses revolted and punked ME with a happy birthday cake in the face. Daaaaaang. After a little bub at the bar we headed for the obligatory photo pose with the MJsanta, only this year santy clause was replaced by a short man in a soldier hat and an unenthusiastic princess. Fun. Feeling tuckered out Allergra, Lauren and I headed for a minute to Sasha's for the Umpteenth Annual Dizard Xmas Tree Blaze (certainly not as memorable or monumental as Walker's, but worth a mention). Lauren made art-school crescent buns and then we had cheesy pizza. I went to bed with indigestion and woke-up the next day: ta-day! Christmas Eve! This day was spent mostly watching HBO documentaries and helping my mom cook aka watching my mom cook. We went to a family friends house for a SIX HOUR long cocktail party/cena de pesce, culminating in a feast of lobster. The best material part of the event was that I scored a $50 gift card to itunes yes!! Christmas day with the family and a delicious prime rib feast. We went to a cocktail party with family friends in Chelsea and then I met Lauren for a sentimental pint at Tappy. Wednesday was mostly hanging out with my mom and packing and then, tut-tut, off to the airport. And that is where we last left off.