I am Back. . .

So I got back last night, a little later than planned but my father picked me up which was nice and it was an easy flight.

I had a really good time with my friends out East. I miss them terribly and now that I am back I am sure this is going to be a tough weekend to get through. Especially if the boy thinks that he is going to go up to the lake and leave me alone for the long weekend. Being with my friends and such out East for a week makes me realize just how lonely I am here without any friends. It also makes me wonder why I have had a tough time making friends here when my friends are SO fabulous out East and want to spend as much time as possible with me when I am there. My phone rang off the hook and the memory on my phone filled to the max on three separate occasions with text messages here. Every time I would see someone they would make the effort to let me know how good it was to see me and how things just were not the same without me around and how much I was missed. This is all really nice to hear, but it still makes me feel even worse about coming back. And even though I was there for over a week, I still did not even get to see everyone. But I got to spend some really good quality time with my girls. Not doing really anything special, but just hanging around, cooking, watching movies and just talking. It is so important to have good friends who are supportive and listen and try to help you grow as a person. I have that in these girls and I love them for it!

My first night in town one of the girls made dinner and we had a few friends over and just hung out in her back yard and listened to the night and talked. It was a wonderful beginning to my trip. I had some things that had come up at work, so I wound up working most of the day Thursday, not a big surprise, but a bummer because as it turned out, that was the only good potential beach day. We got dressed up that night and went out for a ladies night on the town. We figured since it was nice we would start outdoors at The Crab Shell where we would be bound to run into other friends. However this was not the case, we didn't last too long due to the fact that the skies opened up and what was the first, but not to be the last, of the rain poured down on our night.

Luckily we saw the clouds rolling in and we ventured out to Greenwich to a great hotel/restaurant in the harbor called The Delamar. It had poured buckets on our way there, but by the time we had valeted, the skies had started to clear up and we enjoyed a cocktail and a few of the water.

From there we stopped into Macduff's to see a friend. He had bought into this quaint and cozy bar/restaurant a while back. Great place and great atmosphere.

Off we were again to Sundown Saloon on the Avenue. It is a different type of atmosphere, but a lively crowd. The bar area is kind of divided with a younger college crowd on one half and an older professional crowd on the other. We ran into some other friends there and met a few more along the way. It was getting to be a long evening, so we decided to call it a night and of course as we were getting home, one of my oldest friends called who just had to pop by for a visit, so of course we said no problem. . . .turned into a later night than expected! But still SO much fun and so good to catch up with friends.

Friday it was more work, but after that we decided to venture out into the rainy day and grab some lunch, I was dying for some real pizza, so we headed to Michaels's for some good pizza, Italian salad and the best mozz sticks ANYWHERE! Since we now had some energy, we decided to do a bit of antiquing and some shopping which is always fun, but of course the rain on again off again all day, was SUCH a drag. We met up with friends later on who all just seemed to keep multiplying as the day wore on, so of course cocktails were in order. There were a couple of surprise appearances, but all in all a good time, and then of course a late night at Jimmy's Seaside (thank goodness it is within stumbling distance of her house). Jimmy's is always a good place to meet up with a bunch of friends, especially when you basically have the whole back room to yourselves.

The next morning, after about 12 of us were scattered on beds and couches throughout the house, the girls and I headed to Pat's Diner for a good breakfast. Just the thing to cure us. I had the Godfather omelet. They just don't make them like that here, not that it would be recommended on a regular basis anyway, but after a full evening of cocktailing, it should be required. Italian sausage, roasted peppers, tomatoes and provolone and mozzarella, DELISH! It was a terrible yucky, rainy day, so after breakfast, getting cleaned up and then stopping by Whole Foods for provisions, we girls camped out on the couch all afternoon and evening watching movies. We all really liked an unexpected find Imagine Me and You a great movie, I would recommend! I know I go all the way out East to spend some much needed downtime on the beach, and I wind up inside watching movies. . . . .

Sunday I needed some one on one with another good girlfriend, so we grabbed some coffee (hot cocoa for me) in the rain and chatted and got caught up. One of her little sister's just won a Fulbright Scholarship and is headed to Ontario, Canada next week where they train the peacekeepers for the UN. She is truly a wonderful person and I am very inspired and happy for her. Then there is her youngest sister, who while maybe not all there is adorable and has her first job out of college working at MTV, I cannot even imagine. It was just nice to sit and talk to her one on one and get caught up on work, loves and life. Then off to meet up with the girls and the rest of the crew before heading to dinner at one of the girls new restaurants. We are so proud of her and we were all so excited to try it out.

Northstar is located in Scott's Corner in Pound Ridge, NY. It has a beautiful setting, the restaurant is gorgeous and the food grand. She has partnered up with one of the current owners and has a lot of changes planned. I am just glad I got to see the before product as I know that this chickie is a powerhouse when it comes to making changes. Her last venture landed her the Chamber Woman of the Year, Top 40 under 40 Professionals and also earned the restaurant a record number of Fairfield County Weekly Best of Awards, so I cannot wait to see what she is going to do with this place.

So Monday was a bit better weather wise. Still overcast, and REALLY humid, but at least I could get out to all of my favorite haunts and shop. New Canaan, Darien, the Avenue in Greenwich. It was a successful day and then of course we had to grab some Colony pizza, needed that fix. I have not met a person that can resist it! Monday night was the Agassi match and the dedication ceremony for Billy Jean King, so I was there for that. Wonderful match, wonderful ceremony. Plus I was able to meet up with more friends there as well.

Tuesday, guess what, DOWNPOURED! All day. I was SO sick of this rain at this point. We headed to Lucky's Classic Burger & Malt Shoppe for lunch. Great atmosphere and needed more fuel for shopping. The Open was rained out for both the afternoon and evening sessions which was such a bummer. We made a nice dinner and a bunch of friends joined us as we hung out and just enjoyed my rainy last evening.

We were going to try to make it to The Open before heading to the airport, but the lines were over two hours long. So instead, we decided to hit Arthur Avenue in the the Bronx for a nice Italian lunch at Dominicks. We had a really good time and it was a great way to bring my trip to an end. It was still rainy and overcast as well as humid, but we made the most of it. I had the best trip and have the greatest friends anyone could ever ask for!

I will post more details about certain events later (such as shopping finds!), there is some important ground to cover there, things that really opened my eyes for me, but I wondered to capture my trip while it was fresh.

More also to come about the new blog I am starting with two of my girls called The Cupcake, The Tart and The Lady in Red Velvet.

"Dancing is like dreaming with your feet!"
- Constanze