Massive Catch Up

Last I wrote, we were packing up to hang out in the Land of Cheese for a few days. Our trip out was pretty nice - the flight took off a few minutes late, but we still landed a few minutes early in Milwaukee. Blondie’s bro MG picked us up, and on our way back to Blondie’s hometown, we stopped for burgers and custard, and just got caught up on everything. The rest of the day was spent hanging out with Blondie’s family and ordering in pizza for a 4th meal for everyone.

Sunday we went over to Blondie’s uncle’s house - he has a massive house out in the middle of nowhere and every year, the extended family meets up before Xmas to celebrate. I got to see the newest niece for the first time, and re-see the nephew for the 2nd time. I got to see Blondie’s other brothers and their wives for the first time in 2 years. We (Blondie’s uncle’s wife, Blondie’s bro-in-law, me) put down an entire bottle of scotch - just an all-around good time.

Monday was spent hanging out at Blondie’s brother’s house for a bit, and then off to church for a mass. We always laugh that it’s amazing we aren’t struck by lightning before we go into the church. After church, that’s when the festivities started - we headed home to start eating and drinking, and then watched the little kids open up their gifts. And start watching A Christmas Story for the first time.

Xmas day was a good one - Blondie asked me to go on a walk, so we crunched out into the snow and ice and traipsed up and down Main St for a bit. We ended up stopping at a gas station and getting massive cups of coffee and just sitting there for an hour talking, hanging out, being together for our own tiny holiday. It was one of my favorite parts of vacation to be honest. Afterwards, back to the house before Blondie’s other brother and his family showed up. Then it was more gift time, and then a nap time, and then we played games into the night.

Wednesday we found out our flight home had been upgraded to first class. All right! That’s a good way to end a vacation! But then we also started watching the weather/winter storm hit NYC - and knew we would be lucky to get home that night. We got to the airport - and all other flights to NYC had flown that day, but of course, ours ended up getting cancelled. They put us on a flight back on Thursday, but to JFK which I hate, but we took it as we didn’t want to get stranded for 2 days.

We got a hotel room on Wednesday night, and just crashed out watching TV for the most part. Thursday it was back to the airport, where we found out we were still in first class, and then it was on home. 3 bourbons on the flight (hey, I rarely fly first class, I’m totally going to take advantage of it when I do), and then we were home to JFK. And then home to see my Tigga and collapse in our own bed. And to make declarations of “never travelling at Xmas time again”.

Friday, Blondie was back to work. I spent the day lazing in bed before meeting up with my bar friend for afternoon snacks and drinks. And then moving back to our normal bar to end the evening. Saturday we did a massive cleaning on our apartment which took all day.

Sunday was a majorly fun day - we had gotten tickets to see “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” on Broadway starring none other than Scarlett Johannson, Blondie’s favorite actress. On our way to the play, we passed a little holiday festival which had a german sausage tent, so we stopped for a quick bite (me - cheddar brat, Blondie - regular brat), which started our afternoon off well. For the play itself, we forked over the cash and sat very close to the stage. When ScarJo first came on stage (about 20 feet from us), Blondie in a reflex move grabbed my knee and just squeezed.

The play was excellent - sadly, I knew nothing about the plot line before I went in having never seen the movie. But I ended up really enjoying it - alcoholism, dysfunctional families, emotional abuse, infidelity... What’s not to like? And ScarJo will totally win a Tony for this - I’ve always thought she was a good actress, but she blew me away in this.

After the play, Blondie and I went for a dinner together - we stopped at a local pub and got chili and salads for dinner. And then headed home to crash out for the night.

Monday it was NYE - and I met my bar friend early morning. We headed up and through Times Square which was pretty dead suprisingly, and did some errands for her, before heading back through Times Square (which was not dead at this time) to do some makeup shopping. We spent 2 hours in Sephora as she helped me totally update my makeup collection. I owe her big time!

After makeup shopping, we did a bunch of grocery shopping as the chef at our local bar where we were headed for the night promised to make us a bunch of “off the menu mexican” if we brought in the goods. So, tortillas, cheese, avo, cilantro, etc, shopping was done. Then it was home to collapse for an hour and order in some food, before heading back over to my bar friend’s apartment. We started in on some champagne, and she spent several hours dolling me up - makeup and hair.

And people, let me tell you - I looked smoking hot. I literally had a hard time getting myself out of her bathroom and away from her mirror. We finished off the champagne, laughed at her farting dog (he kept bombing the bathroom), and then packed up to meet the guys at the bar.

NYE night was a lot of fun - we all got drunk, partied our asses off, and didn’t get our mexican feast for various reasons. Instead we got a bunch of appetizer platters, and stayed out until almost 2 am being idiots.

New Years day was also a lot of fun - I got up again early (ugh) and met my bar friends around 10:30 am. I had to stop at 7-11 and eat a donut, but then felt okay afterwards. It was off to the movies to see Les Mis on the IMAX. Blondie didn’t join as he doesn’t like musicals that much, but I really enjoyed the movie. I don’t think I would see it again, but am happy that I did see it while it was at the theater, and did see it in IMAX. After the movie, my bar friend and I headed out for some drinks at poison bar, while her husband headed home. We got our usual waiter, and before we knew it, massive shots had been consumed. We spent the afternoon being lazy, drinking and eating, and dreading going back to work the next day.

And then it was the next day, and the first day at work in a long time. I spent all day Wednesday frantically trying to get through emails, and was still overwhelmed when it was time to leave. I headed over the UWS, and met up with my bar friends, my trivia friend and a friend of my bar friends for dinner. Our trivia friend lives in UWS area and he had been telling us about this place for awhile - we all had several drinks, and then a hot dog covered in mac-and-cheese and a hot dog covered in sloppy joes.

The night was good but it was memorable because while I was sitting at the restaurant, I realized the back of my wrist itched. And when I went to scratch it, I realized it was covered in little bumps - like a rash. I was so surprised I was all “oh hey! I have a rash!” I got home that night and realized you couldn’t actually see the little bumps, you could only feel them - but covered the area in neosporin and went to bed.

Thursday when I was showering I happened to notice that my legs were all blotchy - and called Blondie in to look. It was really random but I wasn’t too worried at that point. Work that day sucked, and mid afternoon, I realized my legs were super itchy and when I pulled my pant leg up to look, the blotchy had spread big time. I stopped on the way home that night at an UTC but they didn’t take my insurance, so I decided not to worry.

And Thursday night, Blondie’s bro MG landed for a week of tooling around the city (he had never been before). We started that night by going for pizza where you can sit at a counter and watch them cook it in a brick oven. Afterwards, we walked up to Times Square and took in the sites, before hitting up Bryant Park and watching ice skaters. Then we trucked down to Rock Center to look at the big Xmas tree before heading back to our local bar for a drink to end the evening.

Friday I had the day off, so we were on the go all day. We started at the Chinese Embassy as MG’s girlfriend lives in China and he is off in March to visit her. And then it was some Thai food for lunch before catching the subway down to the tip of the island. We took the Staten Island ferry across the bay and got a good look at the Statue of Liberty, before wandering through the Wall St area for awhile - we saw the stock exchange, Trinity Church, the bull with his giant testicles, Zucotti park (where Occupy Wall Street started) and then finally the WTC buildings.

After that, it was back home for an hour - but stopping to get a postcard and some pumpkin bread, before Blondie met up with us for mexican for dinner. And then it was again back to our local bar so that MG could meet all of our friends, before we headed home and crashed out.

Saturday we started our day at 5-Napkin burger, before heading back up to Bryant Park area. We went all through the library - up and down about 50 flights of steps it felt like, before a stop in Grand Central to check out the whisper wall and see the main room. From Grand Central, it was a walk down to Central Park - stopping for coffee along the way. In Central Park, we went all over - we saw the ice skaters, walked down literary walk, saw the Alice in Wonderland statue, and then poked around in the castle in the middle of the park before heading back to our hood. In our hood, we stopped at a bakery (where I pronounced Challah bread like it’s spelled Ch-allah - awesome sauce) and then headed home to order in Peruvian and cheer the Packers onto a win!

Sunday was more low-key - we met up with my bar friend at Pony Bar for a bit, before Blondie and MG headed home to play PS3 games for the rest of the day. I stayed out with my bar friend, but eventually got home and convinced the brothers to watch a movie with me.

Monday was a walking-galore day. Blondie went to work, and then MG and I went nuts. We started with 2 hour workout in the gym, and then went back to the Chinese Embassy to pick up MG’s visa. We then headed several avenues down to the post office, before heading a few blocks in the wrong direction to stop at a bakery. Then it was down to the High Line park to walk all the way down that, before catching a subway to Brooklyn. We walked the Brooklyn Bridge back to Manhattan, and then spent over an hour poking around in Chinatown before walking over to meet Blondie at his office for dinner.

It was a mile back down to Chinatown / Little Italy area for Lombardi’s pizza for dinner, which is crazy good. Afterwards, we walked a mile back to the subway and I stopped for a new loofah because my rash had spread over my entire body and I was wondering if it was the old loofah causing the problems. Then it was home to completely crash out for the night. (The loofah seemed to do the trick as the rash has gone away now - thank god - still have no idea what caused it)

Tuesday we took it easy. MG and I did another 2 hour workout in the morning, but then just headed for ethiopian food for a late lunch. Our legs were fried on Tuesday so we just took it easy that afternoon and watched some movies. We eventually got up and walked a mile up to Broadway area, and met Blondie to see Wicked! The play was really good - it made me laugh my ass off, and Blondie even said it was his favorite musical thus far. After the play, we stopped for a late dinner on our way home.

Wednesday it was back to work for me - the day again was spent trying to get through all my emails, but then my 2 BFFs from work came back to my hood with me - the 5 of us spent the night playing poker at our apartment, and just having a really good time.

Thursday we said goodbye to MG and then it was back to work - I was beyond exhausted at this point; 3 weeks of being on the go had caught up to me but there was no resting that night. Our friend from TX was in town for the night, so we met up with him at our local bar for many drinks to catch up on his life. We finally left the bar at midnight that night. And Friday was more of the same - I was supposed to go to a friend’s birthday party, but it was pouring rain when I left work and freezing cold. So I decided to bail. And then changed my mind again and again. Finally left my apartment around 8:30 pm and trucked it over to the bar to meet up with everyone. I lasted until about 11 pm, before heading home.

Yesterday Blondie and I hit up the gym in the morning, before doing our grocery shopping. Our little grocery store is moving down the street and yesterday was their last open day. Since they didn’t want to store items for a month while they moved, they had a 50% off sale. And we stocked up on a ton of stuff and had to haul it all back to our apartment. The rest of the day was spent being lazy. And cursing the Packers as they let the 49’ers walk all over them last night.

Today I need to get a pedicure, and I’m about to do a yoga workout. And then maybe I’ll just get back in bed. I desperately need a break right now.

Workouts - these are official workouts at the gym, and do not count all the walking and stair climbing I’ve done over the past few weeks:
Monday: 3.1 mile speedwork (37:03) - 2 mins 4.1 mph walking, 2 mins 5.8-6.5 mph running, 5 min cooldown; ton of weights; abs; 1 mile walk up a 6.0 grade hill at 3.8 mph
Tuesday: 3.1 mile running (37:22) - all running but slower than Monday, 5 min cooldown; ton of weights; abs; 10 min walk up 7.5 grade hill at 3.6 mph
Saturday: 30 min hillwork - 2 mins 4.1 mph walking, 2 mins 5.3 mph running on 3.0 grade hill, 5 min cooldown; weights; abs
Sunday: ??? Yoga maybe

Plans coming up - I leave in less than 2 weeks to visit my cray cray aunt and uncle in Washington, before hitting up SF for a week for work. My bar friend’s cabaret/burlesque show is in early February. And Blondie and I are getting Broadway week tickets (2-for-1) to see Nice Work If You Can Get It for early Feb.

--K