i was in new york for the weekend of the 18th of october for piglet's birthday. this is my fine fine story, written up a little late.

friday morning, alarms started going off at our house at about 5am. nathan leapt merrily out of bed and then cajoled me out of bed and into the shower. (the dog was emitting sleepyons. pesky dog.) then we sped off to the airport, and i ran frantically (okay, hobbled frantically; next time my flight is on c concourse i'm getting a damn ride) for the gate. i got there just in time (did you know they'll still let you on the plane after the final and immediate boarding call?) and found out that my seat had been changed so that i was sitting in an exit row. ooooh, nooo! extra leg room!

i napped on the plane, trying to make up the sleep that i had missed. partially successful.

once at jfk, i found the taxi stand and got to skip in line ahead of a family of fortyseven and get into a cab. off to piglet's house! zoom! the driver zipped off, and i stared big eyed out the window. we didn't hit too much traffic until we got close to the tunnel. there was much manuevering on little tiny streets with too many cars on them. eeep. the cab driver dropped me off on a street that was obviously mostly commercial with a little industrial mixed in, and i had some uncertainty about where piglet was keeping her house. but i found the door with the right number, and then hiked up three flights of stairs. the second floor is an employment agency, which was interesting in an "i wonder if we have these in minneapolis" sort of way. (i bet we do, but none of my friends here live immediately above them.) up another set of stairs, and then i knocked on the door (which said the name of the company that piglet's boy is, so i felt confident at this point) and was greeted by a squeaky piglet.

i was introduced to simon, charlotte, and acey, and sat down and caught my breath from all that stair climbing. whew! simon was a fabulous host, and stuck my bags in a corner and brought me a glass of water. then piglet, charlotte, acey and i headed out into the big city to buy party presents. (it was a hobbit birthday, you see!) we went to the lighting store downstairs, we went to the sanrio store, we went to the sanrio store, we went to sephora, we stopped at a few street vendors, we stopped at ray's pizza for lunch. yum.

then, back to piglet's house for piglet and myself, and charlotte and acey went off and adventured some more.

jennie d-o'c got there, and so did matthew, and there were many many dinner preparations. i put my shoes back on, nervously looked at my map, and then scooted out into the big wide world to go meet xat and nick at a nearby bookstore, there to walk with them to dinner at sushi samba.

xat had been laid off that day, so she had started the carousing immediately after work without bothering to wait for the rest of us. i think she was entitled, however. we walked over to the place, and it was teensy weensy. in minnesota, the fire marshals wouldn't let that many people fit into a room, i tell you. the food, however, was really quite nice. i had chicken teriyaki, weirdo brazillian style (um, i mean that in a good way), other people had other things that i'm forgetting, and it was all yummy. expensive, but you know, it was new york.

then xat and nick and i walked back to piglet's place and i introduced them to people including the dog. there was nearly a short veer into politics, via property taxes, but we were all good and immediately found something else to talk about.

xat and nick headed for the 11pm train back to new jersey, and shortly after that, holly and peaches (who were friends of charlotte's) showed up. almost immediately afterwards, there was the falling over, at least on my part. oh! also, we caught up on angel.

in the morning, various people stumbled out of bed at various times. i stumbled out of bed, into the living room, veered slightly so as to incoherently hug miz lisa, and then i performed my morning ablutions and we were off to dim sum. (note for minnesotans: i like minnesota dim sum better. email me and i'll give you the name of my favorite place.) dim sum was good, and chinatown was fascinating. very crowded, lots of people, tall buildings very close together-- it was much more like what new york looked like in my head. the one downside to dim sum is that we managed to get not one but twooooo orders of chicken feet, one fried, one boiled. um, eeeew.

then back to the house for many of us (charlotte and a handful of people were once again off into the fray), where there was some cleaning and some grocery shopping.

even if you're not a foodie, if you're ever in new york, go to the garden of eden grocery store. oh. my. god. they sell cheese bits. i mean, the little leftover bits from big blocks of cheese. altogether in a small tub. mmmmmmmmmmm. also, good chocolate. and teeny tiny brussels sprouts. and mini pineapples. and the best olive bar i have ever seen. (i wanted to buy a spoon and then just stay there.)

anyhow. then back to the house and lisa and jennie and simon cooked up a storm. whoosh! at 5pm, people started arriving, some of whom i knew from online, many of whom i didn't. but it was fun, anyhow. got to talk to redbirdvicki, and to eleanor and to maracobrawoman and julian and elissa and um some other people.

i eventually toodled off to bed before everyone left, and managed to embarass someone i don't know at all when they were wandering back to the office to use a computer while i was changing into my jammies. sorry, whoever you were!

i had conferred with jennie earlier, after verifying that she was the only morning person in the apartment, and she promised to come throw something at me at 9am if i was not yet vertical. and she did! yay, jennie! i was conscious, and in the process of talking myself out of bed, but the whole reminder thing was very useful. so i got up, took my meds, threw my jammies into my bag, hugged a bleary eyed piglet goodbye, and then off to la guardia! yes, i flew out of a different airport than i flew into. no, it wasn't my idea. pesky northwest.

i caught a cab, and the cabbie asked me which route i'd like to take to the airport. i gaped at him in an astonished fashion for a second, and then said that whatever he thought was best was fine. my "out of towner" forehead tattoo must have been not working very well there for a minute. so, off we went, and it was an uneventful cabride and an uneventful flight home, and then nathan, my light, my love, met me at the airport with flowers. awww.

soon there will be pictures. people have emailed them to me, since my camera has eaten that roll of film, but i need to get off my rear and organize them. i do. but soon i will post them.