1213

Jiscilla, Adam, Ty Ty, Me in the light at the party last night

I love Fridays, and yet I am most tired on Fridays. The week always seems to catch up to me. Last night I returned from work and true to my plans, I made a quick dinner and sat down with S. Pee Wee even joined me on the couch and curled up under the book and purred quietly as I turned the pages. Perhaps it was the gentle purring sound that started making my eyes flutter with sleepiness, but it was probably my exhaustion. I woke up what might have been two minutes or a half hour later - I couldn't remember what time I'd started reading.

Putting the book down on the coffee table, Pee Wee and I decided to watch this week's American Horror Story, neither of us caring if we fell asleep again. However, that show is gory and it happened to do the trick to keep me awake. You know, the image of acid-burned eyeballs will do that.

+

Jiscilla texted me just as the episode was ending, to meet up for dinner before Justin's birthday party. We met up at a Mexican place and then proceeded to the party. I knew Justin as an acquaintance before moving to New York, and he approached Erica and I at our first CMJ in 2006 at an RX Bandits show. Coincidentally, he lived only a few blocks away from where we had just moved.

We reminisced last night about these times; about going out nearly every evening and being unemployed and eating exclusively at places that had free pizza when you bought a beer (like Alligator Lounge - here's Justin and I there in one of my first blog posts - via my Sidekick) and then being employed and how we wouldn't take any of that time back ever and that we love New York but man...just, man.

+

Incidentally, some of the friends at the party I hadn't seen in a while and they didn't recognize me with my new 'do and my extra goth-y lipstick last night:

One of them even remarked when he realized it was me: "Did you dye your hair purple?" NO, BUT THANK YOU. Alas, dreams.

+

But Jiscilla and I were so tired, and so we had to leave the party and I came back home and snuggled in bed with my cat and book. It's just what I do on Fridays now.

1205

So this month I am going to post every day. Get ready for a lot of mundane posts, everyone! An exercise in daily life observations, let's say.

+

And how to start writing on November 1st? By discussing the 31st. Or in my case, the 26th.

Last Saturday, Jiscilla and Lea hosted a Halloween party in Brooklyn! You may or may not recognize me as Lydia Deetz from Beetlejuice. I was even carrying around a camera around my neck, but, y'know, that's what was taking all these photos...

The lovely hostesses! 

I ended up coming in 3rd place for my costume! And as you can see, there was a lot of competition! I mean, almost all of the Rockford Peaches were there!

Jesse was the creepy guy in the mask that all video game players ("gamers") know, but he was still scary nonetheless. Perhaps more scary for not knowing what character he was playing...

+

Last night on actual Halloween I walked home from work as the little costumed children scurried around Madison Ave.* And then I esconced myself in my apartment with the cats and watched Scandal.

*WHERE DO THEY THINK THE CANDY IS? BARNEY'S? (Actually...maybe?)

+

Work has been especially busy lately, but today is Friday: my favorite day of the week. I came home to the cats, cooked some steak, and sat down to catch up on my progr'ms. It's quiet around here without Jesse greeting me.

I've got some packing to do tonight, though. Tomorrow I'm heading to a wedding in Carlisle, Pennsylvania -- a place I spent a formative year of my life. I moved to Carlisle in 2000 with my family to spend my senior year of high school. It was a short but profound year of my life, and I'm not exaggerating. I met my best friend and maid of honor that year! And tomorrow we're heading back for her mother's wedding. 

I expect a lot of fun! And a good distraction from Jesse being a few timezones away.

And so it begins!

MOH, Bridesmaid, MOH, BRIDE

My spectacular weekend kicked off with the bridal shower for Erica that co-maid of honor Kells and I had been planning for months! It was deemed 'Nacho Average Bridal Shower' and when you get a group of our friends together, no doubt it will be fun.

The bride herself made the glorious lettering above, and the bridesmaids and I provided the delectables which included a rose sangria I concocted (recipe coming soon) and later margarita cupcakes and pina colada ice cream, handmade by Jiscilla. 

Kells decided that we should make pinatas, and they turned out lovely though it took roughly eight million hours to make. And I really only worked on the G. NEVER MAKE A G PINATA IF YOU WANT YOUR SANITY! Here is the lovely tutorial from Kelly's blog.

We played three games between hanging out eating tacos and playing with the photo background: one in which you had to play 20 questions with the female half of a power couple strung on your back, the Newlyweds Game in which we recorded the groom-to-be answering questions about the Bride the week previous and played his answers to the Bride after she guessed them, and our old favorite Celebrities! Like we said, Nacho Average.

Groom on computer, me, Bride, bridesmaid!

Our old friend/roommate Eko joining in on the festivities.

The best faces during Celebrities

That photo above is one of me in pure ecstasy as I gorge on a margarita cupcake. It's classy, I know. The party was also facilitated by a playlist that mixed some fun dance songs, Bride-centric songs (everybody has their favorites), and Cinco de Mayo-themed songs. We were shaking (is it called twerking now???) along to it throughout the afternoon.

I've also had this neon yellow dress in my closet for years without having a place to wear it because it's just so damn bright. It came QUITE in handy for the bridal shower, plus the drop waist gives it an air of Great Gatsby-ness, right? I mean, that's what I'm going to tell myself. Fashion!

It was so much fun, and I was exhausted that evening as I came home to Jesse. After a night of backgammon, on bright and sunny Sunday we walked around Brooklyn, enjoyed watching the Five Borough Bike Ride for a bit, and then settled in for Iron Man 3, which I loved. My review is on Letterboxd, obviously!

Sunday night was spent on a double date with one of our favorite couples and then all of us coming back to our place for GAME OF THRONES. I mean, another couple you can sit and talk to about the show for an hour afterwards (and before!) is a good couple. Plus, a good show!

I'd say the summer season has begun...even though the weather hasn't reached over 70 degrees in these here parts. We've got a countdown going for our best friend's wedding and the weather is getting warmer and the summer blockbusters are revving up! YES! EXCITEMENT!

(Okay, I'm done now.)

The Oscars are over and I'm tired.

Yesterday I was thoroughly exhausted from the weekend and Sunday night's festivities! No joke, I was too tired to update. I had my annual Oscar Party in which I represent each Best Picture nominee with something edible, entreat my friends to play Oscar-related games for prizes, and generally have lots of fun. I can only imagine that my exhaustion was probably extremely similar to being a nominee myself.

I think this year's preparation took the longest! Nine Best Picture nominees! Here was my spread:

Amour = Champagne [you got two Parisians growing old, one of them slowly dying onscreen - not a lot of representitive food choices! I'm not going to lie though, I entertained the idea of making a dessert in the shape of the dead corpse in the first scene; I think I made the right decision going with champagne, huh?]

Argo = Canada Dry Water [to represent the Canadians of the film harboring the Americans, and, y'know, airline water I guess.]

Beasts of the Southern Wild = Clam Strips from the Bathtub [I searched for hushpuppies in the frozen food aisle without success; making the southern delicacy which is also the main character's name seemed to entail needing a Cornballer, so clam strips it was!]

Django Unchained = Calvin Candie's White Cake [with requisite Tarantino blood splatter! I loved that scene near the end so much, the dessert seemed so crucial to it -- "White cake?" "No, I don't go in for sweets..." - the beginning of a glorious scene.]

Les Miserables = Valjean's Fateful Loaf of Bread [yeah, that stealing bread scene never occurs on screen, but y'know, that's the amount of effort I will put into this movie.]

Life of Pi = Pi(e) [in the film, the character Piscine is named after the word for swimming pool in French, but as a child his peers always refer to him as 'Pissing,' so he tries to become 'Pi' like the mathematical constant. Also, sounds like a FOOD! I am not much of a chef so I went in for an easy lemon merengue pie recipe, and it was a hit. I also used orange sprinkles because, duh, tiger.]

Lincoln = Silhouette Brownie [this was the hardest one to come up with; I just started thinking of Lincoln's famous top hat and beard and decided to make it using brownies because, hey, I didn't have brownies on the menu yet and they are easy to make.]

Silver Linings Playbook = Dolores' Crabby Snacks [minus 'And Homemades' the character always says in conjunction. I found the recipe online - I'm not the only crazy person with their Oscar party - and while it smelled absolutely putrid combining Kraft Old English cheese spread ::gag gag gag:: and canned crab meat, after they came out of the broiler they smelled great and were delectable.]

Zero Dark Thirty = Reward Hummus for the Prisoners [you know, that scene where the guy they've been torturing for days is allowed to sit down with his interrogators and Jason Clarke's character is all, "Have some hummus and this other stuff"? Boom, easy.]

So, I prepared all of that most of the day Saturday and all day Sunday. Also, cats are really into the smell of pre-cooked crabby snacks. Like vultures, they were! Frito the cat had been circling me all day - I needed security detail to make sure the food on the countertop would be safe. Even during the party he eyed the spread from afar, hoping to glean a morsel when nobody was looking. He visibly grimaced as I took this photo (I like to believe) --

ON TO THE SHOW!

My guests arrived not as dressed up as myself (sorry I have no pictures of my black and purple chiffon floor-length attire), but that happens every year. They each recieved an Oscar Ballot and an Oscar Bingo card. High spirits all around as everyone filled out their ballots during the red carpet and we sliced and diced the fashion (more on that later).

I was pretty depressed last year when I found out Seth MacFarlane would be hosting the Oscars; I'm not a fan of his misogynistic humor and feared the worst. And he definitely delivered on the misogyny  but it was somewhat skimmed over during the party because of hostessing duties, judging duties for bingo, and general lack of interest on my part... I will say that MacFarlane has a great retro-sounding singing voice and I enjoyed the bits of dancing with Charlize, Channing, JGL and Harry Potter, but the in-betweens -- the supposed bits that made him the worst host according to Captain Kirk's future were dumb. I understand that the framing of the jokes was supposed to infer it was in bad taste, but y'know... I should have cared more, but when has anybody been like super positive about an Oscar host? Ever? What a thankless job, no wonder Robert Downey Jr declines the offers! (Also, Zan says everything better.) I smiled along placidly, because in the end, all I cared about were the actual awards!

You'll be happy to know (no, nobody really cares!) that I only got three of my guesses wrong on my ballot. I was most happy that the first award out the gate, Best Supporting Actor, went to Christoph Waltz over Tommy Lee Jones (which I had changed on my ballot from my Friday post prediction). Hurrah!

The three I got wrong? Animated Feature - I've seen zero! Original Screenplay - I guessed in my prediction post it might go to Tarantino, but I was hoping Boal would take it! And, happily, Best Director - I thought Spielberg would take it, but my personal favorite Ang Lee did. Not too shabby with my guesses, and I'm quite proud that I got so many of those random (to me) categories correct.

Of course, as the hostess, I don't play my own games. This year Erica took home both prizes for predictions and bingo! I got Oscar nominated movies that featured a nominee from this year:

Overall, I was really happy with this year's nominees! My personal favorites didn't win each category, but that's what votes are about. Not that I had a vote.

ON TO THE FASHION!

When I watch the red carpet, I do that fantasy thing where I imagine I'm a world-class actor and I am wearing one of those dresses. My favorite dresses are the ones that I would kill to wear (or try on, maybe once?). Here are my top three looks:

Jessica Chastain in Armani Prive - unfff. As soon as I saw her on the red carpet I know she was destined to be my best dressed. She was talking about how she loves movies and old Hollywood glamour, and when she tried on the dress she thought it was perfect for how she felt about film. Girl, we already share the same first name, let's be best friends and watch movies together when I get off work and you wrap up your Broadway show. The hair, the red lips - she looked beautiful and wins the evening in my book. (I'm sorry she didn't actually win the Oscar. I love Jennifer, and Imma let her finish, but...)

Naomi Watts in Armani Prive (clearly if I'm ever an international movie star with a red carpet booked, Armani Prive will be the first people I call...) - that neckline! Not something you normally see, and also very hard to pull off. In my head I was like, I would love to wear that, and then I was like, buuuuut my body's not Naomi Watts' body, which is making that thing look chic as hell. I would look like a robot. That's why she gets paid the big bucks...and I'm hanging out in an office.

Halle Berry in Versace - the woman has a body that can pull of anything, and I love the long sleeves and stripes and somewhat 80s throwback feel to it. She looked gorgeous!!

Honorable Mention: Jennifer Lawrence - because she can fall in it and still look beautiful. I think this was the princess dress I would have wanted to wear in younger years. Plus, her accessories and make-up were perfect - I loved the delicate backwards necklace.

I think the worst look was Melissa McCarthy's truly terrifying gray ensemble and tragic hair. I can't even post it here. She's dressed better in the past! And, sadly, Anne Hathaway's Prada was second worst. I love Anne and I think she's a great actress, but the 90s apron prom dress with a poorly chosen necklace was horrible. Her hair still looks adorable, though.

Also, her win solidified the fact that I have spoken on the phone with an Oscar winner! Here's my Anne Hathaway story: back in college one of my friends was in an a capella group that travelled to Vassar for a show. This was the year that Get Real was on television and I had been telling my a capella friend how much I loved it and Hathaway. Get a call late one night from friend who said she was partying at Vassar with Hathaway and I should tell her how much I enjoyed her acting. Which, I did. She was very sweet and appreciative! You know, just being a fangirl from the start! Congrats, Anne!

Oh, and I can't forget the men... LOOKING GOOD, BEARDS:

This post was very long -- TELL ME ABOUT YOUR THOUGHTS! Seth? The dresses? Did you have a party or go to one? What'd you think about the winners?

Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

Fridays are usually my days of rest. I rarely go to one bar, let alone two on a Friday. After a week of work and whatever activities after-work, I love coming home and getting on the couch or going to a neighborhood restaurant for dinner or even just stopping by a nearby bar for a chill evening. However, there were a couple of shows going on, so I prepared for an evening out.

Jesse and I stopped by a bodega on the way to Fette Sau in Williamsburg--I needed a Five Hour Energy to make this work. We met up with Tyler, Diaz, and Meghan at the BBQ joint and waited in line. I was a bit out of my element, as I'm not a big fan of the set-up in the restaurant which is cafeteria style and on a busy Friday night includes waiting around with a tray of meat trying to find a place to sit. Also, they charged me for someone else's side and I didn't realize until I found the receipt later when I was complaining about how expensive my meal was. The pulled pork was good, but I was uncomfortable the entire time eating with a drunk and I think probably drugged young guy next to me. Had to watch my elbows, couldn't hear Jesse across the table, and generally did not like the atmosphere. Most people love that place, so I may just be crotchety. Or just like places that are comfortable to eat.

After dinner we went to the Knitting Factory which is probably my favorite venue because it has a bar that is separated and soundproofed from the stage. You can still see the stage from the bar, but you don't have to hear it. A marvelous concept. They also have a SuperNintendo and N64 hook-up to play in the bar. That night I gave up my plus-one that Jesse had for me to a friend since my heart wasn't into the bands, and I could sit in the bar area with friends. Jiscilla met up at one point and when the Smoking Popes' "Need You Around" started playing in the bar we both sang along in our best bass-y voice and then we discussed how formative the Clueless soundtrack was for each of us.

Diaz & Jesse playing a Street Fighter

Jiscilla

Jesse, Tyler, Lisa and I jumped in a cab and headed up to Greenpoint to check out our friend's band United Nations at the metal bar Saint Vitus. The show was great, but by 1am I was fading fast. I had a very important 10am brunch in the morning as a maid of honor in a wedding, so I needed to sleep.

Tyler & Jesse at Saint Vitus, camera focus not working

Tyler couldn't get it to work for me & Lisa, either

On Saturday, after a delicious "working" brunch with the bride and the other maid of honor, Jesse and I linked up with my friend Jess. We headed to Chelsea to finally see the Haroshi exhibit, which was small but the few pieces were interesting (first picture and below). It was a beautiful day and Jesse and I proceeded to walk around Manhattan running errands and enjoying the weather.

Unfortunately by the evening a terrible headache (and fatigue) took over so I got in bed with Pee Wee and we finished reading Gillian Flynn's Dark Places (review here) and watched Haywire. It was a pretty mediocre story, but I always enjoy Soderbergh's directing.

I woke up on Sunday feeling much better. Jaime called me and we deliberated over where to brunch for five after noon on a Sunday in Brooklyn. It's quite an art to get this right, but we chose correctly for us, Cara, Lisa, and little Lowe. Good food, no wait. We didn't kidnap the kid, though it was fun to have a coloring-on-the-table type brunch.

Cara & Lowe

Lowe is a true artiste

Cara & Lisa

Jaime, Lowe, me (you can see my grays! Eek!)

I arrived home to start getting ready for the football games and the people coming over. I'll just stop talking about my Sunday there, I can't go on about the Patriots right now!

Her cat was clawing the floorboards.

Yesterday the clouds hung low over Manhattan.

My friend Jess and I decided to embark on a New York Saturday on the west side of Manhattan. We took advantage of the cloudy, cool weather conditions and walked the Highline to various galleries in Chelsea. It's a popular destination on clear days and warm days--we rather enjoyed the dead plants and the chilled urban vista.

We stopped by an exhibit entitled 'Suburbia Hamburg 1983' by Nils Karsten, which featured woodcuts of album covers and facts from that old era of punk rock. Then we wandered over to the Jonathan LeVine gallery intending to see Haroshi's repurposed skateboard decks, but it wouldn't open until later that night. We decided to seek out art in other venues of the 529 Arts Building to fill our afternoon.

We climbed back up to the Highline and headed south towards the west village to the IFC Center. We bought tickets to the next showing of the French movie Holy Motors and then looked for an eatery to kill the hour we had before the film. Luckily--another reason to love New York--a nearby restaurant was still serving brunch and limitless mimosas at four in the afternoon.

Why not see a strange, weird, Lynch-ian French film with a couple of mimosas in you?

Jess and I were swept into the world of Monsieur Oscar and his 'appointments.' He dressed in different costumes in the back of a limousine, and proceeded to act as these different characters in different situations--sometimes murdering or kidnapping or consoling his daughter or dying as an old man or simulating for video games, etc. We were never always sure what was really happening during the film, but we talked about it the entire way home on the walk and the subway ride. Was it a treatise on technology? The film business? Reality television? I enjoy films that leave their insinuations to the viewer.

How we perceived reality after Holy Motors:

When I arrived home, I sat on my bed for a few minutes, still thinking about the movie.

Then Jaime texted me and I headed out to Williamsburg to meet up with her, our friend Jenni who was visiting from Boston, Dave, Amber, Mike, and the cantankerous Granville (a profile for another day). It was great fun and ended with attempted dance floor antics. I arrived home only a few minutes past midnight, and fell asleep waiting for Jesse to return home from his own adventurous day in Philadelphia.

I do love New York. I love waking up and not knowing what I'm going to do for that day, but being assured that here, there is always something to do. It's just a matter of seeking it out. And having the right friends around to spend it with always helps.