Oh, The Places You'll Go...

Last night, Aries and I met our Absolut friend and her friends for dinner at the just opened Mondrian SoHo. I went to their opening bash a few weeks ago, so it was nice to check it out again sans raging crowd. It's a bit Dr. Seuss meets Alice In Wonderland, but I liked the whimsy.


And of course, the food was to DIE. We had a little shrimp cocktail, cauliflower fritters, and the most beautiful seared scallops. Perfect end to a perfect day.

*scorpio*

A Good Day

My friend Laura, super-classy gal that she is, sent me these gorgeous purple roses from Vera Wang to celebrate my acceptance into Columbia grad school!
(I think my office assumes I'm a lesbian now though.)

Absolut Friends

I went out with my Swedish friend last night, who happens to be a rep for Absolut Vodka... which means it's always an insane time. The last time I was out with her, I slept in and was two hours late to work. She's so much fun.

We got to talking about the differences in dating culture between Swedes and Americans. In Sweden, you go home with someone and then decide if you should see each other again. If you go out again, it's assumed you're exclusive. There's never really a discussion about it. There's no dating-multiple-people thing; although I do have some girlfriends that are the same way: one person at a time. I said to my friend, "But then how do you know what type of person he is? Isn't that just setting yourself up to get really hurt?" She looked at me, and laughed. I knew about her last breakup with a high profile club promoter friend of mine (the way she & I became friends). "YES! Of course!"
To each their own.

*scorpio*

My Boo

In the middle of an increasingly awkward night at Rosebar, I met the most fabulous new gay best friend. I took it as a sign that we were both wearing leather leggings and he had a giant white K on his hat (my first initial). He is tall, gorgeous, sweet, and sincere. His social rolodex includes Kayne West, Kim Kardashian, and some fabu boy toy who speaks five languages and treats him like a true sugardaddy should.

We talked all night and have already started planning our Fashion Week escapades. He calls me "boo" and builds me up like only a true gay best friend can. We met again and became the networking duo. We are like Ying & Yang in that we strengthen each other's weaknesses. He could be the best thing to have ever come out of a date.

I luv u too boo!

*Aries*

The Other Half

I recently reconnected with my high school best friend via Facebook. We're the type who will be friends forever, even if we fall out of each other's orbits from time to time. We used to live together in Boston right before I moved to New York and she married her high school sweetheart. For a few years there, we were occasional emailers. I would think of her often but our lives are so different now. She moved to a tiny town in New Mexico to be near the Air Force base where her husband is a fighter pilot. I live in one of the biggest cities in the world and haven't had a significant relationship for a year. I have no idea what it must be like for her to have compromised like that - and she has no idea what it's like to eek by on a fashion salary in a terribly materialistic industry in a terribly expensive city.

We started emailing with more regularity a few months ago. I told her what it was like to have your heart broken (thankfully she never experienced it). She told me what it was like to live in a town where you know no one. And then one day, she wrote me an incredible email full of her deep fears regarding her husband's deployment and their future. I was floored. She was concerned that her husband might not make it back from Afghanistan alive, and that they may not have a chance at a family, and I was concerned about... what? My closet space?

I immediately booked a ticket to come visit her and keep her company during his deployment. She warned me that it was the smallest town ever "They don't even have a Target!" she said. Ahh, suburbia. It was the perfect antidote to my NY cynicism. She has the most incredible house with a full guest room & guest bathroom. They have two cars. There is no wait at the manicure salon (though, it was quite a struggle to get them to make my nails super short and sans acrylic). Margaritas are five dollars. Everyone is really nice. The streets are SO QUIET. It was perfect.

We played with her dog, got a little drunk, and spent a lot of time going through our yearbooks and gossiping. I left feeling more like myself than I had in a long time. Amazing how a place so completely different from your life can make you feel right at home.

*scorpio*