Paul, Cathy, D, and Melissa. Although we knew that nothing would
compare to <a
href="http://flashbank.blogspot.com/2007/02/anti-valentines-day-carneval-and.html">last year's event</a>, we figured we'd try to create a new story for our memoirs. We started off by having a meze-style dinner at Turkish Kitchen with a plethora of Mediterranean appetizers due fully ordered up by Paul, who utilized his experience of living for six months in Cyprus and ordering many-a-meze. The food was okay, nothing out of this world though. And the service was very strange with stiff, rather unfriendly hosts, random waiters stopping by and asking D if she needed something, when ordering a drink being asked how many we wanted (uhh, just one???), and a waiter who kept trying to steal our food and drink
menus.
Following the Turkish Kitchen, we wandered around Murray Hill looking
for somewhere to have dessert and we stumbled across Penelope, a place
that looked like a midwestern shack, but in a trendy kind of way. For
some reason, cupcakes are all the rage in New York these days, and
this place was no exception. Cathy and I opted for the couple's
cupcake & two rose wine option as well as a peanut butter blondie
dessert to share with all the other desserts we ordered. The wine was
freakishly BAD but the desserts were pretty good. We'll add that to
the list of places to try for brunch though.
The last couple of weeks have been really busy. First we had the Super
Bowl two weeks back which was a pretty crazy game here in the city. I
went with my Euro friends and one's Dominican girlfriend (yes, I can
claim "matchmaker" status now!) to a sports bar in town and ate way
too much fried food and drank too many Coronas to be healthy. The next
day my gut was just rotten and acid from all the fried food. I can't
be doing this stuff anymore!
Last weekend I went out to see Andrea and Alan and their new baby - in
Jersey! While the trip out there wasn't bad (a meager 2 hours or so
from the Bronx), the trip home was horrible! I left late that night
and was going straight to SOB's (Brazilian disco) to meet up with more
Dominicans and my Euro friends, but public transit and the weather
didn't cooperate so it was pouring rain outside when I arrived in the
city dazed and bewildered with all the drunk Jersey bridge-and-tunnel
crowd. As if I'm not one of them now!! But it was fun to see Alan and
Andrea's new baby, who looks completely Asian and not much like Andrea
at all! They are very excited to have their first child and it was fun
hanging out with them.
During the week, I've been focused on learning my Spanish and trying
to go to the gym several times per week for spin classes and doing
some upper body work - although that's pretty limited now that I'm in
the spin routine. My Spanish has improved immensely and I'm looking
forward to putting it to good use next week, when I head to Peru for
two weeks! While there, I am going to be attending the annual Salazar
family reunion/drink-a-thon, which I completely expect to be
outrageous and fun, despite being in an area of Lima described by
Erika as "a little dangerous" :-| . Being a relative term, and
referring to to Lima, I don't plan on going outside the building for
much "fresh air". The interesting part will be my endurance, since it
will go on all night until the next day and that will be the day I
arrive in Peru, fresh from a direct, overnight seven-hour flight from
NYC. I think that I'm going to be totally dead by the time Sunday
comes around and I probably won't do much other than sleep-for two days.
J. Riley, tomorrow I go take capoeira lessons with a bunch of kids!
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