Bring on the Sun!

Some people gaff at the way I think. I like to think they're just ignorant, but sometimes — just sometimes — they may have a point.
 
Take today, for example. Today I woke up and decided it should be nice out, all warm and sunny and summery. So, I wore flip flops and a tank top to work. I figure: Maybe if I dress for summer, it will be summer?
 
However, while walking the half-mile from the train station to work on this clear sunny but nearly freezing day, I realized my wardrobe alone couldn't turn the seasons.
 
Everyone else would have to wear flip-flops too.

Alvin Ailey

Sure, my birthday isn’t for another two months. But it’s a big birthday, and we might as well start celebrating sooner rather than later… as in now.

I met my mother – whose birthday is two days before mine – across the street from South Station. With four-inch heels, hardly any sleep, and a good ten-hour day, I was not exactly oozing energy. She was. And rather than pay $5 for cab or $1.50 for the T, my mother decided we’d walk on the rough cobblestone sidewalk to get where we were going. (As my arches seared with pain, I couldn’t help but to think of a comment by the Wonkette blogger, who noted that a woman wearing heels was like an animal’s “learned hindrance” used to attract a mate.)

On the walk to Boston’s Chinatown, the weather picked up. Rain, grimy streets, wind… and my mother wears contacts. She hid behind me and started walking slower than my limp, which is when I knew something was really the matter. Being the loving daughter I am, I stopped to shield her from the passing crowd of Asians and soot-carrying wind. “What’s the matter?”

She rubbed her eyes. Through the bustle of Boston streets and the mumbles of her voice, I heard: “Nothing, sorry, I’m looking ridiculous…dirt in my contacts…hurts.” She picked her head up, looked at me through blurry eyes and – loudly and clearly – continued, “I look stupid walking around with all slanty-eyes.”

Not exactly what you want to say in Chinatown.

But, city-slick girls we are (not!), we emerged unnoticed. My Aunt Carol – the orchestrater and gift giver of the evening - was waiting for my mother and I at some mildly famous restaurant decorated in a tropical, festive, tikki theme. The menu was more Asian than Chinese, including everything from Tai to Korean and beyond. But the real party didn’t start until after dinner, when we ventured to the old Wang Theatre – where I once dreamed of performing the Nutcracker – to see Alvin Ailey.

Shit. Those guys are good. The girls are beautiful, fun, graceful. The men – God, I have never seen such bodies… and despite their dance skills and homosexual mannerisms, their athleticism and energy were seducing. And there’s just something so amazing about a woman who looks that beautiful with a shaved head.

Seriously, watching these people dance to their heritage – from old African tribal songs to Ella Fitzgerald to good old gospel – and look so beautiful and have such a good time… well, it made me want to be black. Even the “fat girl” looked phenomenal. And damn, those girls can dance.

But nope… I’m just a lil white girl, a thoroughbred country bumpkin pretending to belong in the city.

The Alchemist

Some words of wisdom from my all-time favorite and inspirational book, The Alchemist:

* To realize one's destiny is a person's only obligation
* No matter what he does, every person on earth plays a central role in the history of the word. And normally he doesn't know it.
* When you are loved, you can do anything in creation
* The world we live in will be either better or worse, depending on whether we become better or worse
* When we love, we always strive to become better than we are
* Most people see the world as a threatening place, and, because they do, the world turns out, indeed, to be a threatening place.
* People are afraid to pursue their most important dreams, because they feel that they don't deserve them, or that they'll be unable to achieve them
* The fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself
* Everyone on earth has a treasure that awaits him
* When you are in love, things make even more sense
* Making a decision is only the beginning of things.
* If you can concentrate always on the present... Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we're living right now.
* It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting
* The world was huge and inexhaustible
* It's the simple things in life that are the most extraordinary
* Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.
* It's this: that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what's happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That's the world's greatest lie.
* When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it
* I'm like everyone else - I see the world in terms of what I would like to see happen, not what actually does...
* This isn't a strange place; it is a new one.
* He was learning a lot of new things. Some of them were things that he had already experienced, and weren't really new, but that he had never perceived before.
* I'm afraid that if my dream is realized, I'll have no reason to go on living.
* Every blessing ignored becomes a curse
* It's easy to understand that someone in the world awaits you, whether it's in the middle of the desert or in some great city. And when two such people encounter each other, and their eyes meet, the past and the future become unimportant. There is only that moment
* He tried to deal with the concept of love as distinct from possession, and couldn't separate them
* When a person really desires something, all the universe conspires to help that person to realize his dream
* It's no what enters men's mouths that's evil. It's what comes out of their mouths that is.
* Love never keeps a man from pursuing his dreams
* One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving.
* Men dream more about coming home than about leaving
* There is only one way to learn. It's through action
* It is said that "the darkest hour of the night comes just before the dawn."
* When you possess great treasures within you, and try to tell others of them, seldom are you believed
* "Everything that happens once can never happen again. But everything that happens twice will surely happen a third time."

Apartment Hunting

Now THAT was a cool place.

I’m determined to live in the city for the summer. There is nothing like Boston in the warmer months, when people spend all day reading in the Park, watching Shakespeare in the Commons, strolling down Newbury, or eating outside at one of the many downtown restaurants. It’s no Camarat… but it’s a hell of a lot better than Mendon, where our summer highlight is the opening of the zoo. They have llamas, you know.

Tonight, I dragged my darling brother to see a beautiful apartment in Harvard Square. Right on Mass Ave., it’s surrounded by the amenities needed for city living: bars, outdoor cafes, grocery store, laundry-mat, you name it. The best part? It’s a corner building, one side facing the bustling main street, and the other opening up to a neighborhood full of green grass, cherry blossoms, and quiet streets. And, since the place is pet friendly, that’s where I’ll be running Tequila.

I can’t wait. I am already dreaming about evenings after work when I can come home to that screened in porch and sip some nice red wine. Two big bedrooms, an enormous living space, all hardwood floors. The current tenants, a beautiful and witty Harvard Law student and her friend Chistoph from Minneapolis, keep the place sparklingly clean and will leave everything – furniture, glasses, pots and pans, towels, etc – for us to use this summer.

That’s where things get tricky – who’s the us? I do need a roommate… but hell, that’ll come later. Right now – bring on the fun!

Pride & Prejudice

I’m sonot into girly movies. Seriously – chic flicks, especially romantic comedies, are just not of interest to me. Sappy love stories I can usually tolerate (I liked Shakespeare in Love!), but I’m not going to go out of my way to see them.

However, seeing as Mom and I were the only ones home on this Monday holiday (Patriot's Day, aka Marathon Monday), it only seemed fitting that I netflix something appropriate for the occasion. Thus, we found ourselves watching the new Pride and Prejudice, with beautiful Keira Knightly.

She was definitely good. She is beautiful, and she is fun – hell, she played a main role in the funnest movie EVER (which is, of course, Pirates of the Caribbean – can you wait for July?! I can’t!). The movie itself was interesting, gripping, moving, etc… or some combination that made the lengthy flick pass quickly. Or, at least, a hell of a lot faster than the novel. And let me tell you – it certainly made you want to fall in love with that Mr. Darcy.

Anyways, that’s my brief movie review for the moment. I’m off to dream about falling in love with some romantic man who will sweep me off my feet…

Of course, I have to write this entry with a disclaimer. For all the romanticizing and dreaming about true love that – did, she never found it herself – she never got married. Ever. Talk about irony. Depressing, isn’t it?

Polish Easter

Some people say Christmas is all about family. It is, I suppose. But in our house, if you show up to our door on Easter morning, you are family.


Of course, it's not something I'd advertise - for your sake. We are crazy. The polish family lives for Easter, and we live it up. We spend days - literally DAYS - cooking the food for the feast. This year, it was a three-day affair… slightly shorter than the time we used to allot for preparation before we discovered the polish deli who'd hand-make some of the tasty treats for us.

And when we do holidays at Chez Michel, they're always done right. Damn straight. Our table(s) - we had to make an awkward combination of three in order to seat all of our guests - were dressed in pastel clothes: pale green, chic yellow, soft white. We dressed it with our baby blue runner, found some colorful candles, laid the china out, and even dared to use my mother's beloved antique pink cherry blossom depression glass. We live for having parties.

So the table was set, the food prepared, the family - and then some - poised for the feast. Between girlfriends of cousins (I only have one girl cousin), family friends, and Jon Dias… well, it was crazy. We were actually screaming down the table to have conversations with those at the other end. Think of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” - but make it Polish.

However, the conversation decreased in correlation with the food. As we emptied the platters of food - enough to feed 60 - we could do naught but hold our bellies and sigh… and prepare for the next meal.

I think now is a good time to talk about what we eat. Get ready.

We wake up in the morning, (theoretically) go to church, and by 10:00 we're at the table for breakfast. It's called Barscht. Basically, it's soup… kind of. The table is lined with plate upon plate of meat: smoked shoulder, veal, bacon, smoke kielbasa, plane kielbasa, Easter kielbasa, you name it. We fill our bowls with huge chunks of meat, throw in some red and white horse radish (which my uncle continuously tries to get people to eat place, calling it “Polish ice cream”), pour in the “broth” (and I won't tell you how that's made… it's just nasty), and add a hardboiled egg.

But, being Polish, and to keep up with traditions, we can't just crack open a hardboiled egg and dump it in. Oh no. Instead, we have egg fights. Seriously. We parade around the table with these hard boiled eggs securely fastened in our fists, and challenge a relative to a duel. First, the challenger takes a crack - no pun intended - at the other person's egg. Then, the eggs are flipped and he-who-was-challenged then uses his egg to try and crack the challengers. Whosever egg doesn't crack, wins… Of course, that means they got to keep fighting until they find someone who beats them at egg cracking.

There are, of course, neat little trick and strategies to ensure that you are the winner - or that you are the loser in the case that you're desperate to eat. My brother and father have mastered the tactics necessary to cheat to win. Ah, competitive men…

I remember as a kid, all I wanted to do was have egg fights. Forget the food - I'd just run around the table with egg after egg trying to beat every member of my family. It hardly ever worked. And today, watching my cousin's darling kids - Michael and Abby - run around and do the same… well, it was sweet. Really sweet.

Afterwards, we had to get my cousin drunk for her 30th birthday. It's only right. Me, for one, was ready for a trip to Foxwoods… but for some odd reason everyone else thought drinking AND gambling on Easter was just sacrilegious. So to the bars we went.

We ended up at my cousin's - the birthday girl's brother's - for some beers. Joe married a fantastic woman, Kathleen, who is really just an amazing and fun person to hang out with. Their kids, Michael and Abby, are so bright and polite. And they have a turtle. Which is awesome.

And Tania - after several drinks erased her fear of ending her twenties - was a blast. I love hanging out with the family. We have fun.

So that's that. Tomorrow I get another morning to sleep in… while the boys have to go to work. Sucks for them. That's what they get for taking a week off to go golfing in Florida!

Best Friends

A friend is one who knows us, but loves us anyway.

-- Fr. Jerome Cummings

I am a lucky girl. I may not have a boyfriend, I may not be overwhelmed with social plans like I used to be, but I do have three amazing people in my life who I regularly call my best friends. Chrissy has been my girl since kindergarten, Shannon was my roommate in college and remains my best friend, and Jon has been there through high school and beyond. They have all seen me through so many rough times, and we share so many fantastic memories. All three of them are truly amazing - the three nicest, kindest, most generous, loving and caring people in this world. And they are brilliant; absurdly adept at saying and doing exactly the right things to comfort pain, reassure insecurities, and put life's most complex dilemmas into simple, manageable perspectives. How I ended up blessed enough to know all of them is beyond me.

And how, after so many years, the three of them continue to put up with me is almost baffling. I am a reckless, irresponsible ball of spontaneous fun - a whirlwind bringing both hilarity and disorder to their lives. I couldn't live without them. But I think they like me ok too.


So thanks guys, for being the wonderful people you are, and for being my best friends.

And thanks for the hilarious bar-hopping last night.
But that's a whole other story.



Alright, I can't have an entry about "best friends" without including my baby, my best friend:



And of course, where would I be without my family? They too are my best friends.

Sorry
So
Sappy

Wow.

This, my friends, is the future.

"You Call This April?" - headline from the New York Times

However emotionally gloomy the weekend may have been, the weather would say otherwise. It was one of those times when sunny days seemed endless; day after day the air was comfortable warm, the sun shining bright and high in a crystal-clear aquamarine sky. It was gorgeous spring weather so warm a long-sleeved shirt seemed unbearable. If I still had my beloved convertible, it would have been top-down curly hair flowing in the breeze type weather for sure.

But I don't have my convertible anymore - good thing too, because Tuesday was burdonned with terrential downpours that would have flooded my leaky car for sure. And today... well, today I woke up to snow.

(Wendy Maeda/Globe Staff)

Welcome to April in New England.

So, arriving home early tonight, I was shocked to see not only daylight as I walked the path to my front door, but an odd sight of green plants and bursting buds coated with a fresh inch or two of sparkling white snow.

It's like winter mocks us here in the northeast.


Sometime soon I'm moving somewhere where it doesn't snow. Mark my words.