Went | Brooklyn Birthdays Part II

Have I reached the statute of limitations on talking about mine and Cyndi's birthday weekend in Brooklyn? No? Good. I established that the weekend was beautiful. It was mid-September so there was a distinct tug between cool Autumn air and warm end-of-summer heat. We got a slow start on Saturday due to a late night on Friday (bars in Boston close at 2 AM, so we were not accustomed to pacing ourselves for a 4 AM last call...). Zander, the oldest of the bunch, and Matt and Ryan managed to pull themselves together and start their day while Cyndi, Mike, and I took a midmorning nap to allow the bagels to do their magic. Around 2 PM, they had worked wonders and we headed to the Brooklyn Flea for a sample of its food offerings, some overpriced vintage items, and great people-watching. Nabila met up with us and we headed to the Williamsburg Momofuku Milk bar for cereal ice cream, pistachio sticky buns, pork buns, and a stack of cookies to take home. Cyndi and I had been talking about visiting the Milk Bar since our last meet up in New York, and I'm glad we finally made it happen. We headed back to the airbnb to get fancied up for our dinner at a neighborhood restaurant, Marietta, where we ate fried chicken, the best summer corn I've ever had (may or may not have something to do with the cotija cheese in it...), rice pilaf, and fried green tomatoes. It was a sweet nod to our home state, but let's be honest, nobody does southern food like the south. And nobody charges for southern food like the north.

Still a little wiped from Friday, we had a quiet night in on Saturday, drinking wine and listening to the rainstorm outside. Sunday morning was beautiful: sunny and cool and breezy. It was perfect weather for our decision to ride the train into Manhattan so we could walk back across the Brooklyn Bridge to DUMBO to try out Smorgasburg. We sampled too many booths to pick a favorite, but I loved the range of types of foods I saw, including the Lumpia Shack, which featured one of my mom's staple foods growing up (and now!). They were true to the Filipino style of the dish (my mom's is the Chamorro take on it—a little thicker and with more vegetables), and they were delicious. We sprung for the sampler, and my favorite was the pork, although really, they were all amazing. I had two types of ice cream (sandwich and shake) and we called it a day. I'm now deeper in the later half of my twenties, but birthdays like these have kept the anxiety of getting older at bay. Twenty-one was fun and all, but I couldn't afford to head off for a friends weekend in New York back then. Everything in its place and all that.

Went | Brooklyn Birthdays Part I

Yesterday was my birthday. Every year, my birthday turns me into a kid again. The cards in the mail, the cake and ice cream, the giddy expectation of gathering everyone I love into one room for a meal. I grew up with four siblings, each spaced four years apart and then seven between me and my youngest sister. When we were young, my mom used to dress me and my sister Bea—the next oldest from me—like we were twins. Our birthdays are 17 days apart, so we always had joint birthday parties, wearing the same dress in different sizes, our bangs poofed to perfection.

Something about that experience year after year has conditioned me to gravitate towards friends with birthdays near to mine so we can celebrate together. Cyndi and I have managed to get together for our birthdays two years now (we're a year and ten days apart)—last year in Boston and this year in Brooklyn. We rented an airbnb, stayed out until 4 AM, and ate bagels and cereal milk ice cream until we almost burst. It was the first time that we've had Mike and Zander together (spoiler alert: they got along swimmingly, probably talking trash about us), and the first time I'd seen our friend Matt in years. We reverted to our high school selves, teasing Cyndi about her outbursts in public places and her baffling inability to navigate the world around her. In short, it was a perfect start to my birthday week.

Went | New York for the weekend.

On Friday, Nabi and I met up with Cyndi at the Museum of Natural History. Museums aren't always at the top of my list of things to do, but this one is the exception. This place is a mixture of history and art. The installations are thoughtful and interesting. Cyndi's old roommate Ellie took us on a tour of the Mammalogy department where she works, and I had the genius idea to create a Museum Museum. So much goes into the care and creation of every detail, it's a wonder how it ever came to be.

This week has been a quiet one so far. Mike is still on the baseball trip with his dad, and so it's just me at home each evening. I'm enjoying this chance for alone time; taking over the living room to piece together printed t-shirt patterns, spontaneous trips to Target and Trader Joe's (I am fully stocked on wine and beer and toppings for crackers). Usually when he is gone, I make hodge podge meals that aren't very healthy, but this time I've enjoyed singing to Pandora while I cook. Last night I had roasted chicken, mashed cauliflower, and asparagus, and tonight I did a little throwback to NYC with a bagel and lox and salad. I'm impatiently waiting an order of fabric so I can get started on some summer dresses. Each time I make a dress I can feel I'm getting closer to making something I'll feel comfortable wearing in public.

The past two nights, I've had meandering phone calls with a good friend (one of whom I was visiting in New York this weekend). I miss Mike, but I want to take full advantage of the quiet freedom of solitude.

New York kills me dead.

I find New York exhausting in the best possible way. My bus rolled in a typical hour late, and Mike was waiting for me as I stepped off. Mike and his dad are on a weeklong baseball trip, and their first game happened to coincide with my decision to skip town to New York for the weekend. He finally got to meet Nabila over a slice of plasticky New York pizza. It was perfect.

He dropped us off at the train and we rode a good hour out to Queens. My first time in Queens was ushered in by a good ol' meat on a stick. There's a magical Cinderella stand that appears after the sun goes down and it's only a block from Nabila's building. I was disappointed this morning when it was gone. We headed into the city for the Museum of Natural History, which is the most majestic of any museum I've been to. Cyndi's old roommate Ellie works there (coolest job ever) so we got a behind the scenes tour. We petted cheetah and skunk and fox and otter skins! We saw a real, live dumb waiter! We ate at Shake Shack!

That museum can suck a whole day out of you, and by the end my back was killing me, but we persevered. On to Brooklyn and Prospect Park and the free bluegrass concert! We found some familiar faces (everyone lives in Brooklyn apparently) and enjoyed Trampled by Turtles (we debated over the name) until it was time to trek back to Queens. Something about being in New York, where everything is farther away from one another, all of my usual habits go out the window. It's 2:16 AM and I'm writing a blog post. Who am I? We made it back to Queens just in time for tacos then trudged our food coma butts home. I'm sorry to say that two carne asada tacos and half a carnitas taco can deter me from the meat on a stick truck. Tomorrow: Brooklyn Round 2. (Must find Momofuku Milk Bar!)