The 6 Hours of Magical Thinking

Still chilly out. Spring teases and retreats. Went to midtown to meet Ron and Stephanie for drinks and dinner. I will not get into all the details, but Ron and I have been friends for exactly as long as Stephanie has been married which is around 15 years. We met at her wedding at a gorgeous estate in Fremont, CA where we were both put at Table #7 - the table at every wedding where odds and ends of your past go since there are not enough of one "theme" in attendance to warrant a whole table. Ron was from Stephanie's college days at Haverford and subsequently waiter days in New York and I was the date of my roommate Lisa who grew up with Stephanie in Green Bay, WI. That was the random connection and Ron and I are going on a friendship 15 years strong. I love life partially because of the randomness of how we meet each other.

Tonight we went to the top of the Dream Hotel on Broadway. It is a funky redux of an 1895 Beaux-Arts hotel in midtown. The waitress begrudgingly seated us in a reserved area after I insisted. I had a vision and what better place than the Dream to have one.

Afterwards it was off the the West Village to dine at The Little Owl. Ron and Stephanie had worked as waiters in this very space in Greenwich Village when it was called Bistro K. People, we had such a glorious time here. The wait was long, but Chris the host sent us out for a drink at a wine bar, and called me on my mobile with a 10 minute "dessert is being consumed, table almost ready" advanced warning. It was well worth the wait. The food was great. I had the salad with the beets and sunflower seeds and little weeds that I cannot recall the name of followed by a mile high pork chop cooked to perfection. Perfection, people. My beloved mum used to cook them to shoe leather and I always thought applesauce was traditionally served just to masticate. I would never have thought to order shoes in a restaurant. This was something very different. We split the raspberry beignets with Nutella for dessert. Lovely.

If I ever get a job and if I ever date. (Oops, self-talk, PEOPLE --- ) "WHEN I get a job and WHEN I date I will come here. It is that wonderful. The waitstaff were friendly and Chris is the man to see. Excellent night.

It was a thrill to spend a 6 hour evening with Ron and Stephanie. I so enjoyed myself and felt so blessed to be there. Some nights you never project anything on and they turn out to be magical. This was one of them.