YA!

after ushering in the year of 2012, i found myself in the predicament of needing to shop for a new planner. but not just any planner.  yes, i'm an attorney, and yes, i have an Outlook calendar packed with court appearances, deposition dates, and filing deadlines. but my own personal planner is decidedly less... serious. after making a few alternate stops, i found myself at Kinokuniya Book Store near Bryant Park.  going to their downstairs/basement, i found myself in Japanese stationery heaven surrounded by colored pens and Hello Kitty planners. and that's how i ended up with this. say hello to 2012!

after making my purchase, i hunkered down (or up) at Cafe Zaiya located on the 2nd floor of Kinokuniya with my laptop to do some much needed work (yes, on a Saturday. not fun, but very necessary). sitting at the countertop, i got to enjoy a great view of Bryant Park while i summarized depositions.

however, my single cup of coffee was not doing a good job of curbing my hunger. and sitting there in Cafe Zaiya with all the delicious looking bento boxes and sandwiches was not making it any easier. but i had plans that night for dinner and didn't want to go ruining my appetite. if i had thought it out better i would have eaten something that morning/lunch. but at this point, it was rounding out to 4:00 pm and i had dinner plans at 7:00 pm. argh that middle hunger point!

somehow, i managed to wait it out and met ArrangedMarriage for dinner at Curry-Ya.  i was in a japanese-curry-kind-of-mood and had heard good things about it.  the place is tiny but the curry and variations are fantastic. and quick.  AM ordered the Hamburg Stew ($12) while i ordered the Berkshire Pork Cutlet Curry ($13). sitting at the counter facing the kitchen, we watched as they fried my tonkatsu and cooked his hamburg and heated our curries in small cast iron pots on the stove. quicker than you can say, "mmm, that looks good," our food was placed in front of us with a plate of white rice. and even quicker is how fast you can eat all that piping hot, delicious food. within 20 mins (in which we spoke very few words), we had eaten our plates clean.

sated by the japanese curry, we moved on to Village Yokocho for drinks and bar snacks. since we were simply looking for a good place to hunker down for drinks, i almost suggested Angel's Share, but one look at the wait time made me forego that option and since Village Yokocho had no wait, it just seemed easier. we stayed for a couple of hours, in which i was once again tested to the full extent of my conversational arsenal while i tried to avoid the awkward silences that AM is so adept at.

once we got the check, i got ready to call it a night, except AM suggested grabbing another drink at Bar Veloce.  it was still relatively early and Bar Veloce was practically across the street from our location, so i felt obliged to continue on.  really, i should have known better.

up until this moment, it had been an "ok" evening and AM was less awkward than he usually is. however, upon arriving at Bar Veloce, which was pretty crowded for a wine bar, things took an eventual downturn as AM got quieter and quieter and i had completely exhausted my conversational skills/topics. however, it was at this moment that AM thought it would be the right time to ask if "we should start dating, you know, officially."

my response? "....................................................................."

i don't mind going out together, or even going on dates, but i don't like to use the word "dating" unless i am ready for someone to be my boyfriend/exclusive. which is exactly what i told AM. now, AM's a good guy, a little awkward socially, but he has a respectable job and is an all-around nice guy. maybe not sweep-you-off-your-feet, but nothing horrible either. however, there is 1 key hurdle that stands in the way of me dating AM. and perhaps i shouldn't have said it, but i was  starting to get a little frustrated with the extensive silent treatment i'd gotten during our 30+ mins at Bar Veloce, so i told AM the truth:

"i just can't imagine sleeping with you. and that's pretty important."

was that too harsh?

you're so cute!

who knew dates still exist, and even more so, that i could possibly go on one? i mean, who would be that bold to risk going on a date w/moi? everyone who knows me knows that 1-on-1 things aren't usually my forte. i think i'm pretty proficient at hanging out w/friends but as soon as it's labelled a "date", i'm much less able to function normally. i get all caught up on thoughts like "what are we gonna talk about", "how much am i gonna eat", "do i have food in my teeth", etc.

this one seemed to go better than usual, maybe b/c it came completely out of the blue. Chop and i have been hanging out on the weekends and on friday i called him to see what his plans were and he surprised me by asking if i wanted to go watch Get Smart w/him. the movie's pretty cute and funny; very family-fare stuff. after the movie we ended up catching dinner around St. Marks area at Village Yokocho. i'd never been there before that night but i've always heard really good things. however, it's a little pricier than my usual spots of Kenka and Yakitori Taisho but the menu's more extensive (it's on par w/the options at Kenka) particularly w/asian-style soups and rices. i think i'll give this place another shot in the winter-i'm sure i'll like it more than this time. it was kind of adorable to see Chop try to figure out the crazy asian menu but he was open-minded and not scared at all in trying new foods.

afterwards, we headed back to Brooklyn Heights and headed over to Brazen Head for drinks where Chop ended up getting very tipsy. i've never seen Chop drunk so this was a new sight and super endearing. Chop's usually very composed and shy but when he gets tipsy he's more open and affectionate. apparently, i am a very "awesome" girl (but this may only be when you've had a few drinks).

on saturday i attended a dinner for my aunt and uncle who just had an adorable baby girl, my new baby cousin. it's so weird to see them as parents b/c they're not that much older than me. this is the same uncle who taught me what "dookie" meant and practiced WWF wrestling moves on me. so weird that he's now a dad. the dinner was in Rego Park and the train ride took forever but seeing the new baby was worth it. there were a ton of little kids at the dinner (i guess that age group is really starting to pop them out) and it totally made me feel my maternal instinct kick in and want a baby. i can't wait to have 1 of my own (although i'm not looking forward to the birthing part).

after dinner i got back to Brooklyn and had every intention of just spending the night in, but then i got a call from Pal who was having a housewarming for their new apartment on St. Marks. i haven't seen Pal since her engagement about a year ago. however, i was still going to skip out on the party except she texted me that DougLife was also there. i haven't seen DougLife since i moved out of Hoboken in 2006. after i heard that, i had to go and see them.

i've never seen an apartment on St. Marks. her place is on my favorite block between 3rd and 2nd Ave. it's kind of small and it's definitely ironic that only after she's become engaged is when she and her fiance get a roommate to live w/. however, while she's definitely changed and grown since the last time i saw her, there are some things that never change. she made me the most delicious drink called Orange Crush (1/2 a fresh squeezed orange, triple sec and rum, but otherwise i'm not sure what else is in there) and got very wasted herself. that's more like the Pal i know. an interesting part of the night was when we were all on the rooftop. i was talking to DougLife when he proceeded to inform me that there was a man in the building next door who was walking around his apartment in speedo underwear. of course i immediately turned around to see. the guy was pretty physically fit but the black teeny-eeny-bikini underwear he had on, along w/his curly longish hair made him look like eurotrash gigolos. it also didn't help that he had a zebra-print rug on the floor of his apartment. since DougLife and i were so interested in the scene, soon the whole party had moved over to look into the guy's window. and the 1 of the very gay members of the party started to cat-call and soon we all were. o well, that's what you get for walking around you apartment in just your underwear and the window shades up.

once the party dwindled DougLife and i went to Bull McCabe's to have a few more drinks and do some more catching up. he's really moving forward in his life, but still the same old hilarious teddy bear he always was. seeing him and Pal really brought me back to those Pressler & Pressler and Hoboken days. we even called Bligh that night out of nostalgia.

sometimes, i really miss those days.