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February 1, 1999

Life is Beautiful Good

Here I am posing with my newfound project! Mike and I had a night on the town today. I thoroughly enjoyed myself! It was a good thing, especially since this past weekend, I stayed home and cleaned my room and worked on my website. We needed time together and, although Mike didn't seem up to it at first, that all slowly changed throughout the evening and it turned out all grrrreat in the end. My day was pretty uneventful. I was finishing up the project that I've been working on for nearly the past year. It was refreshing to see all the work I've put into the project come near completion. "Is that all that it's been? One little year?" (Antonia in I, Claudius). Mike's contract work for this week brings him to New York City (he works in the upper east side.. somewhere in the 80s) so he picked me up from work. On impulse I turned to him. "Hey, do you want to have dinner in the city?" He looked very weary. I thought he was going to protest, but perhaps I gave him a look saying that I wanted to really do this... so he paused before he replied back, "Sure." "Ok." I started flipping through my copy of Time Out New York that I found on my desk while I was cleaning it on break this morning. I found Osteria al Doge, an Italian restaurant close to 44th and 6th avenue. I looked at the clock and considered walking time. I decided to schedule reservations for 6:45pm and quickly called them up. We had an hour to get there. We started our trek. Mike looked completely exhausted and when we started walking I kept thinking that it was a bad idea. I tried being extremely cheery and happy and excited at everything. I encouraged him to window shop. I decided that we should go to the Japanese book store by Rockerfeller Center (49th street and 5th Avenue) before going to the restaurant. We were about 2/3 of the way there when Mike started complaining about his feet. He walked about half the distance from his work (80th) to mine (45th). This was a bad idea, but we had a great deal of time (half an hour) before we had to be at the restaurant. So, I think that is why Mike agreed to go. We got there and we quickly lost each other. Wow, things were expensive there but many things were yummy and beautiful. I was very close to purchasing a video of Kiki's Delivery Service, a Hayao Miyazaki's anime (if you have never seen a Hayao Miyazaki movie, I suggest that you go out and rent Tonari No Totoro (My Neighbor Totoro) right now. Do not walk, run to your videostore. This is a gem of a movie that is great for not just children but adults). I also saw a beautiful book of geisha photographs (I've been influenced by Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha and I see the imagery of these beautiful creatures everywhere). But, in the end, I opted to buy a Japanese paper box kit. That's what I am posing with in the photograph of me. I'm looking forward to putting it together and I'll take tons of photographs of its construction so you can feel like you're putting it together with me, Constant Reader. We then made our way to the restaurant, almost next door to our favorite BBQ place in the city, Virgils. It was definitely upscale and fancy. You can tell that of places that request $20 minimum per person. I ordered the entry of the day which was a beautiful braised lamb with broccoli rabe and the most delicious roasted potatoes I have ever had. They were aromatic. Of rosemary. With the skin on. Yum. Mike said that next time we come here (you know a place is good when we have plans of returning) we have to get a dish with potatoes. Mike had a risotto with chicken and peppers. It was good but not what he expected. For dessert I had tirimasu (which was very creamy and the lady fingers were very soaked in espresso) and Mike had a berry tart that the emphasis was definitely on the tart. I took a bite and was turned off on how sour it was. Mike noted that I had been eating very sweet tirimasu and that the tart would grow on me if I was the one eating it. Hmm... We then made our way home, wearily and very full. It was great. We were happy. All is calm. All is bright. I took this photograph of Mike at the station (and Mike took the picture of me above). He seemed slightly irritated about taking his photograph. "Aren't your readers going to get bored with nothing but pictures of me?" I protested. I told him that he should write an entry someday. "Maybe," he said. We held hands on the way home. It was wonderful. We chatted. I insisted on chatting on the bus. Primarily to take my mind of the fact that I really needed to go to the bathroom. Badly. The chatting was pretty good. Plus, I got to snuggle. It was a great ending to an enjoyable evening. Mike's company is wonderful. I love the fact that I could experience all of this with him. I love sharing time with him. Life is Good.

© Copyright 1999, Eileene Coscolluela
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