My Real Life

We try to get together every few months, which isn’t often easy as Kim travels a lot with her business, Erin works on the weekends, Michaela is working hard on her business, and Erin and I need to make sure our husbands will be around to watch our kids.  However, every now and then, the stars align and we get to hang out.

So, this past weekend, Erin drove up to her parents house, here in town, and I picked her up early Saturday morning and we caught the train into the city.  Once there, we headed to Bloomingdale’s.  As I told you in my last post, Erin works at Bloomie’s on the weekends, and this particular weekend was Employee Weekend, where she would get a bigger, better discount than usual.  So, she figured that the NYC Lexington Avenue Bloomingdale’s may have a better selection than the one in her town.  Off we went.  While she was trying on jeans, I sat in a chair next to the register and let me tell you…there is absolutely no evidence of a recession at Bloomingdale’s.  Women were piling up $100 jeans on the counter and paying in cash.  I saw people buy 5 pairs of $300 shoes.  Men were following their women carrying multiple shopping bags.  The amount of money that was spent in Bloomingdale’s, just while I was sitting, waiting for Erin to try on jeans was staggering.

After Erin found the perfect jeans, we met up with Kim and Michaela for a little lunch.  Then, we headed to the Wintergarden Theater to see Mamma Mia.  Fabulous show.  It was SO entertaining.  I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a musical to see.  Musicals are always a little tricky for me.  See, I’m supposed to be a Broadway star.  It just hasn’t worked out yet.  Could be that I’ve never actually tried out.  However, I go to a musical and I sob.  Happy tears and regretful tears.  Happy tears because music moves me like nothing else.  When I hear beautiful voices, raised together in song, I get weepy.  Can’t help it.  With Broadway, when someone sings one of those power notes, (you know the ones), I lose it.  Big time.  It’s the most amazing gift you could offer your ears.  Then, I cry because I think, “I should be up there.  I should have tried.”  Ah, the road not traveled.

After the show, Erin and I walked to the Magnolia Bakery to get some cupcakes for our families.  The Magnolia Bakery is the world’s best bakery.  They are famous for their cupcakes.  They became so famous by being featured on Sex and the City.  The girls introduced me to Magnolia two city trips ago, and since then, I’m totally hooked.  They just opened a new store next to Radio City Music Hall, so we were nice and close.

You walk into the bakery and are overcome by the smell.  I think if I took out my glucometer at the bakery, just the sugar in the air would make the reading go off the charts.  I bought 6 cupcakes, 3 for each kid, and then one for myself for right then, because I couldn’t wait.

In this picture, I am saying “Diabetes, schmiametes.”

After cupcakes, we went to “dinner” at this bar called ‘disiac.  We had chips and salsa and hummus and tahini.  Okay, let me clarify.  I had chips and salsa.  The girls had hummus and tahini.  I’m not really a tryer when it comes to food.  When the waiter came to take our drink orders, Kim ordered a Rose Kennedy.

Now, for those of you saying, “Seriously?  They named a drink after Rose Kennedy?” let me explain.  Kim’s drink of choice is Kettle One Vodka, club soda and the tiniest splash of cranberry juice for color.  There is no name for this drink, so one night when she was out with Michaela and Michaela’s husband, Michael, she ordered this and Michael said, “You should call it the ‘Rose Kennedy.”  So, now when she is out, she says to the waiter or bartender, “I’d like the Rose Kennedy,” as if he should know what it is.  Then, when they ask, she tells them, and continues to order it by name for the rest of the night.  She does this at every restaurant and every bar that she goes to.  She is hoping that it will catch on and that eventually, she’ll walk into a bar and it will be on the drink menu.  Her ultimate goal, however, is that when Sex and the City II comes out, Carrie will be drinking a Rose Kennedy.  Then, she will know she has made it.

During dinner, Kim was talking about the fact that she was playing house with her boyfriend for the next 10 days as he is in town and staying with her.  So, she was hoping that we could share some dinner recipes with her so they didn’t have to order out every night.  So, we spent the next thirty minutes discussing meals and crock pots.  As I eased out of the conversation, I was suddenly struck by the surreal nature of sitting with these women, talking about recipes.  These are the girls with whom I experiemented with makeup, sang into our hairbrushes at the top of our lungs, fell in love with Jon Bon Jovi…and here we were discussing slow cooker recipes.  When did this happen?

As dinner concluded, Kim and Michaela got secret smiles and said “We have a surprise for you two.”  Erin and I were intrigued.  We caught a cab, Kim gave directions and off we went.  They took us to Koreatown, to a Karaoke bar.  There was a regular karaoke bar downstairs, but upstairs were private karaoke rooms.  The four of us had a room that was soundproof, with a big screen television and a fat book of songs.  We danced and sang and lost our minds for two hours.  I cannot remember the last time I had so much fun and just let loose.  I had no voice by the end of the night, but it was SO well worth it.

This is me, getting my Karaoke game face on:

I can’t even describe the whole experience, but here are some pictures that may help tell  the story.  However, before the pictures, you may remember that in my description of the drive to North Carolina, I explained that I had held some misconceptions regarding the lyrics of certain songs.  Let me say that there is nothing like karaoke to help clear up those misconceptions.  Manic Monday by the Bangles is a completely different song than I thought it was. 

 Anyway, from Aretha Franklin to 50 Cent, here are some of the highlights of our evening.

I think I may have monopolized the microphone.  This is not a surprise.