This Looked Familiar

Back from Vermont, and a day to digest. The weather was quite warm, and me in my monkey suit. We arrived early enough to wander the Main Street and live vicariously thru those who have real bakeries, chocolate shops and book stores instead of crap Mexican, eight Chinese takeouts and a shop called Condoms Galore.

As you can imagine the extreme spectrum of emotion occurred within a 4 hour period, wherewe partied like it was 1999, shutting down a bar and an after hours gathering on the street for no reason in particular, just because it felt like the natural thing to do.

Yuula clung onto the Gorman girls, an obvious choice as they are the most akin to her needs, and that is not meant to be a disparaging comment, at all.  

She may have even got an actual diamond bracelet out of the deal, but Renee has bling to spare.

And because we weren't nearly done went the town shut down, we gathered in a corner room at the Hampton to push thru the night, only giving in when someone peeled open a curtain to see the sun rising on 6am, and an hour or twos sleep sounded right.

Some real strange and lovely moments to think about, but the painfully underlying and unspoken theme was still "why has it taken this to get us all in the same room again?". But none while none of us were perhaps brave enough to vocalize vows to remedy, I think we may be witnessing a sea change...

On And Off And Tom Again

Best laid plans. Last made plans. It doesn't matter. Tom rendezvoused with Laura in Budd Lake and dinner was waiting for them when they got here. It was already dark but no one seemed to notice. A cutting board with spoons and bananas sat next to an empty bottle of wine within the hour, and that wasn't the best part.

excited to be found

Yuula took to Tom faster than anyone she's ever met, including her mother and me. She must know. And Tom took to her dance floor before the beat could even think about dropping. This went on well into the night. It was too surreal to capture any good photo.

The next morning we took to the yard, spoke in reminiscence and plant species, and got our feet wet with dew.

Decision was made to show Tom (who apparently enjoys antiquing just as much if not more and better than we do) our favorite joints and maybe grab some lunch. Olde Engine, and that expensive mess on 611 and we were ready to dine. Where else but Tandoori Palace, the Indian Express train with stellar butter naan and the perfect tikka masala sauce. Yuula ate a ton of tandoori chicken, mostly because she was being rewarded with mango lassi. Who wouldn't?

Peddler's Village was next but it's hard to seek out treasure with bellies full of basmati. Let's just say we tested out every chair in the place and a few crusade helmets as well.

Coffee and Main Street was next. We may have won the award for most time spent in Stroudsburg Square for any human being. Yuula smelled the flowers by color and found monsters down the cannon barrels.

Tom wanted to pick up some records to bring home. I helped him decide which Stones album would be optimal and seeked out some transitional material with little success. But I did find Paul Simon's Graceland for a fiver!

Then off to see Laura and say goodbyes. Yuula takes over that place whenever she visits. Pretty sure this girl was not hired to be baby chauffeur.

Strange to see Tom. Strange only because it's been seven years since I last saw him, albeit extremely briefly (7 minutes), and 13 years since we last hung out.

This was us in December of 1999.

This was us yesterday.

We switched sides.

And after all this time, the only thing that changed is our wastebands, in opposite directions. He's still the best friend I ever had.

Reception Highs And Tireds

Then there was the reception, of which neither of us remember much due to a doubled cocktail hour where the alcohol flowed heavy and Laura discovered ginger & rye. Oh boy. We ate delicious foods and danced to delicious tunes (Mike has flawless taste in tunes) and overall had a blast.




Most of our entertainment was watching Yuula take over the dance floor. She wasn't out there for long when she found a little "dance" partner.








The evening spilled out onto the patio where we caught up with old friends and met some new ones.





The dance floor started to fill up again when the live band started to play and Mike's father joined in on some Van Morrison jams.







Yuula had long been past her witching hour and Laura and I were approaching ours. To end the night we took turns holding the little sleeper in the hall while the other got in a little more party.





Great parties go too fast. I barely remember this one. Good thing we took at least a few photos.

All Vampires And Bananas

Like a whirlwind, visits sweet and short. It was nice to see Christian and great to finally spend some time getting to know Katrina. The girls seem to be doing quite well for themselves and hair aficionados, working in the glamorous field of film and television, stage and screen. I can't divulge their clientele for fear of painful death but I can give you a clue: Vampires. And before you guess incorrectly let me just tell you that you probably can't guess incorrectly. Anyone want some autographs?

The day started off at the Gap bus depot. From there we were all in need of a brunch. A new place, for us, was chosen, Sarah's Corner Cafe. Looked sweet and Southern and quiet. Perfect. During breakfast we learned that Christian cannot do math, Katrina is adept at breaking & entering and we let Yuula order for us all.



Knowing the girls' penchant for period piece headgear we dropped by the Olde Engine Antiques on the way home to see if they could find any hidden treasures. Turns out they could. And turns out Yuula and I are natural head models.





I think they picked up 5 or six articles, which is good for them, but not for me who was not consulted on the decision for us all to then wear said headgear for the remainder of the evening. At least I got a pretty one.



We made them one of our favorites, Swedish beef curry, which worked Laura up into a tizzy in the kitchen, something she loves doing when it's not 9pm after a long day's work. She was even convinced to whip up a rhubarb pie when she heard that neither of our guests had ever ventured to try the stuff.

The rest of the evening went by too quickly but I remember it involved sewing machines, Green Man, a cabana, Bordeaux and a group effort in making a bed. Look here at these confusing photos.







Double Exposure! This is the beginning.

Laura & The Wigmakers

Christian and Katrina are in town visiting after their hairdressers union meeting in NYC this weekend. The girls are antique store hopping buying up every vintage hat and little girl spring dress they can find. I got good music in my head so I'm good. Looking forward to dinner tonight.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

He's The Mary, I'm The Rhoda

We made a promise to Eric we'd see him perform again this year. It may be his last. It may not. I am not brave enough to bet real money. We showed up late, we watched as little as possible and had a fine evening. Eric spun a gun and was darn tootin'. It was Yuula's first exposure to the activity that at one time dominated my life. To say the least, she was highly intrigued.



She met some old friends from another life. People who can't believe I'm a daddy. I don't blame them. It's not the norm in this arena. It's always nice to see ancient figures, ever more now, being so far removed already. I imagine with time, it will be ever nicer. It's my form of high school reunion. I don't know that I'll ever go to my actual one. This is my substitute. And Eric got to sign the front page of my yearbook.