boring home, chicago and my empire state of mind

chicago was fine. christmas was as per usual. my grandmother makes me nuts and is the most passive aggressive woman i've ever known. kate was on "low activity" which is one step up from bed rest so we rarely left the house. kate kept making cute comments about how i'm blogging whenever i'd pick up my laptop. but in order to have something to blog about i'd have to be doing something worth writing down. sitting on the couch watching sports and bad television is, to put it mildly, not blog-worthy. they have their life there and have little real interest in mine, otherwise maybe they'd read said blog. or ask to see pictures from kenya. neither of which was on their list of things to do. on the other hand, they have a quintessential suburban life and i have little desire for that either. actually, no desire whatsoever, for that. i did, however, get several quality scrabble games in with peter. and chatted a bit with colin so the downtime wasn't all for naught. 

trained it into the city to meet cadiz, jon and cousin for dinner at an old standby: chicago pizza and oven grinder. that place is a time capsule. absolutely nothing has changed in the 5 years since i'd been back. same host. same bartenders. but it's funny to talk to people who i rarely see (or who i'd even never met) who know more about me than my childhood best friend. blogging is funny like that. 

thankfully back in nyc for new years where we're having an intimate house party, exactly the type of thing i wanted (and pretty much the only activity i can handle on new years...i am getting old). 

someone found this place by googling: "response to friends don't let friends drink white zin". hey, you in south carolina, there IS no response. stop drinking it. it's gross. try a fruity riesling. pretend for a hot second that you're not tasteless. 

i have 4 blissful days all to myself in the city. i have no idea what i'm going to do with them. maybe breakfast at balthazar. carbonara at maialino. walnut martinis at pravda. truffled egg toast at inoteca. a pedicure. a perusal of the saks shoe dept. some tocai at esca. some ricotta at locanda verde. the egg sandwich and brussels sprouts at joseph leonard. some compost cookies from momofuku milk bar...