Whole Lot Goin' On

It's been almost a week and I've done a lot and seen a lot; so, here goes.

Wednesday: went to NYC with Dana (Bryan's roommate who is leaving in a few days for grad school in Albany) on the Lucky Star (one of the infamous Chinese buses) to see an art exhibit (Modigliani) at a museum (Jewish Museum). When I wasn't being bumped into by a Jewish grandmother-type with a large purse or an even larger grandkid on her hip that she was trying to get to "see the colors", it was quite an amazing exhibit. It was really the only thing that we saw there since the rest of the museum was dedicated to Jewish history or Jewish eating (Kosher cafe on the ground floor). Modigliani was an Italian Jew who only lived to the age of 35. He painted mostly portraits but he also had a really beautiful oevre of female nudes, 4 of which were on display.

After the museum, we ate at a deli (mmmmm...cheesecake), went to the Whitney Museum of American Art and then headed back to Chinatown after strolling down Park Ave. to catch the bus back home. I managed to pick up a mini wooden Buddha for Bryan and a glass turtle for the boys (thought I'd give them a taste of another breed in case they were getting bored just seeing one another in their tank). The bus got us home just a little late and both rides were incident, Chinese-translated movie-free. Excellent.

Thursday: I attended my going-away shindig at Clery's with a few of my present and former MBEL buds. I got some great cards and a Librarian action figure - also drank a few tasty Basses. After 9pm, Bryan, his sister Colleen and her friend Beth, Kate and Jerry and I headed over to a local Northeastern bar, Conor Larkin's, where an enthusiastic (and hopefully wealthy) young man named Krishna bought pitcher after pitcher of Bud Light for the entire establishment. Thanks for the hangover, man.

This weekend: Went to CT for Erin and Manny's wedding. I spent Friday watching Madi with Sheri's mom, Sue, while Sher went on a 'bridal hike' followed by a pedicure. The wedding day dawned hurricanerific. Torrential downpours, huge lightning zags and heavy winds were not what anyone had in mind, but no one postpones weddings because Mother Nature sends down some crap-ass weather. Erin was bummed, but excited to be married and therefore, in the highest spirits possible. By the time the ceremony started at 4:45, the rain had turned to a drizzle and the winds had died down, so the night ended better than the day began. The ceremony was mostly in Greek, so Tom and I hadn't a freaking clue what was going on. And we stood for most of the 70 minute event leading me to lean over periodically and ask, "what are they doing now?" Anyway, the service ended the same way as all the others I've been to - bride and groom married.
The reception was at the Farmington Club, which was really nice. It was a bit chilly, though, so I started with a whiskey on the rocks, then switched to red wine. Needless to say, the train that ran me over sometime during the night kept right on pulling its high-pitched whistle all the way through Sunday. I had a blast drinking and dancing and eating filet mignon. The only thing that was missing to make it a truly wonderful time was my handsome wedding date. But he was off at a family reunion, so I made do dancing my butt off alone and then going home with Sheri & Tom.

Today: My first day of work at Primary Source and it was excellent. People are excited that I am there and they actually want me to do the work of a librarian. I had a few moments of shock today when I realized that if I suggest something or want to implement something, people are going to consider, and even embrace, it. Wow! And at lunch, everyone was talking about a going-away party that they had this past Friday because someone had brought in homemade Sangria and a few of the head honcho people got drunk! Oh my god! I think I had my mouth open for a few seconds because I had to explain that I am coming from a place that won't even use cooking wine in their cafe, they are so opposed to drinking, when asked if that was strange by one of my new co-workers. Whoopie - can't wait for the next event/party!

That's all here - counting the minutes until Weds when my incredible wedding date/baseball-watching partner/exraordinary game competition returns.

Shoutout to Nicole and Brian - congrats on your engagement!