Here's where we left off! Meredith in a cab smiling about picking up our two pet rats that Mandy was nice enough to look after for us while we took a month-long trip to the United Arab Emirates and then Thailand!

We spent Saturday afternoon getting settled back into our apartment. Meredith was jet-lagged and called it a night... ˆ meredith ˆ rats ˆ taxi ˆ

...but I hit the streets a little after midnight! First stop: The Annex to catch up with this little smidge! ˆ me ˆ sarah ˆ annex ˆ

Mandy and Andrew were there. ˆ mandy ˆ annex ˆ

Brother Lawrence was there playing tunes. BTW, what's he doing in this photo? Writing in his Emo Diary? Signing autographs? Getting mad digits? Careful ladies, Lawrence is like a male-version of the character portrayed in Hall & Oates' incredible funk-synth-ballad, Maneater. ˆ brother lawrence ˆ dj ˆ

Afterwards, Sarah and I went to MisShapes to meet up with this little niblet! ˆ leigh ˆ me ˆ misshapes ˆ tongue ˆ

Grant! I know you still read this site! What do you think - is that guy with the braids in the yellow shirt THE smelly braids guy that almost handed you a beat down after he almost caught you SNIFFING HIS HAIR waaaay back in the day???. EPIC LOL.

Anyway, the crowd was a little strange (in that it wasn't that strange)... ˆ crowd ˆ misshapes ˆ smelly braids ˆ

...so we went downstairs to the "photo room" to hide out and see what Scott was doing! ˆ leigh ˆ scott ˆ lick ˆ misshapes ˆ tongue ˆ

Turns out he was taking photos. "Photos of everyone. Yes, even the ugly people." ˆ leigh ˆ me ˆ scott m ˆ misshapes ˆ

Now with teeth! ˆ leigh ˆ me ˆ scott m ˆ misshapes ˆ

Ha ha! Everyone at MisShapes has pointy lil' black shoes! ˆ misshapes ˆ shoes ˆ

Early morning cab eastward with these two (Nice "drink for the road" you got yerself there, Tinz!)... ˆ leigh ˆ scott m ˆ taxi ˆ

...and this one! So glad to be back in NYC! ˆ sarah ˆ taxi ˆ

On Sunday I went out to my Aunt & Uncle's house in NJ to see my Aunt Sue and my Uncle Nalin (pictured here with Gma & Gpa) who were up from North Carolina! ˆ aunt sue ˆ grandma ˆ grandpa ˆ uncle nalin ˆ

Here's my mom with two of her three sisters and their parents! ˆ aunt elaine ˆ aunt sue ˆ grandma ˆ grandpa ˆ mom ˆ

Now with husbands, son (and a dog!) added! ˆ aunt elaine ˆ aunt sue ˆ dad ˆ grandma ˆ grandpa ˆ me ˆ mom ˆ uncle wayne ˆ

On Monday night I came home to discover that Meredith baked me a belated birthday cake (to make up for the fact that my official birthday cake got eaten by ANTS and I only got to taste a teeny tiny bit of it!). Thanks, Weenis! ˆ birthday ˆ cake ˆ

NOM NOM NOM. ˆ meredith ˆ birthday ˆ bite ˆ cake ˆ

Oh, and later that evening Murdo came by and dropped off Hector so that we could dogsit him for a few days! Yay! ˆ hector ˆ dog smile ˆ dogs ˆ happy ˆ smile ˆ

On Friday I brought Meredith flowers! She is pretty. I am lucky. ˆ meredith ˆ 239 e 7th ˆ best ˆ flower ˆ pretty ˆ roses ˆ

On Sunday Fatty came over for a hang. And to cuddle Hector like he's a little hairy fox-baby (Which he is). ˆ fatty ˆ hector ˆ 239 e 7th ˆ dogs ˆ

On Tuesday night, Meredith and I were coming home from dinner in Nolita and we passed David's apartment. We called for Lord Alred and he ran to the window to greet us. A couple of minutes later... ˆ lord alfred ˆ meredith ˆ dogs ˆ window ˆ

...his owner came out to greet us! And to show us the awesome motorcyle he'd recently purchased. ˆ david kreitman ˆ motorcycle ˆ

Take a good hard look, Ladies. Not only does he have a sexy beard and awesome motorcyle, he will also make you female-ejaculate like a goddamn fire hose! ˆ david kreitman ˆ motorcycle ˆ

We came home and Hector was angry with us for having caught him pretending he's being delivered by a stork. ˆ hector ˆ bed ˆ dogs ˆ

The anger quickly disappeared and was replaced by shame and embarrassment. So busted. ˆ hector ˆ bed ˆ best ˆ dogs ˆ sleepy ˆ

On Friday afternoon, we had our monthly party where you celebrate eveyone who had a birthday and who had an anniversary in the past month. There's always a full-spread of food too! ˆ karl ˆ shawn smith ˆ cci ˆ

Co-workers enjoying food and getting ready to watch... ˆ ralph ˆ cci ˆ

...some HOT PIÑATA action! I don't really remember why we had piñatas that day, but it was awesome. Here's Karl getting all blindfolded up! ˆ ebby ˆ karl ˆ cci ˆ pinata ˆ

After being spun around ten times, here's Karl trying to get his bearings to start swinging! ˆ ebby ˆ karl ˆ cci ˆ pinata ˆ

Boo-yah! I totally captured the exact second it exploded! If there were porn movies about piñatas, this would be like the most famous money-shot of all time. ˆ ebby ˆ karl ˆ cci ˆ pinata ˆ

Yeah, that's right. Clean that mess up, bitch. ˆ candy ˆ pinata ˆ

My co-worker Ralph is handsome and looks like he could be the cousin of Bret from Flight of the Conchords. He even has a beard that is good. ˆ ralph ˆ teeth ˆ

(Your beard is good) ˆ video ˆ

Wait, what's this? Another piñata? I can't believe that I forgot that this was a two-piñata party! Incredible! Here's Ian wildly swinging and whiffing big time! ˆ ian ˆ cci ˆ pinata ˆ

Not even close! ˆ ian ˆ cci ˆ pinata ˆ

Uh oh! Uh oh! He's winding up! I'm sorry Tiny Easter Donkey. It looks like you're about to... ˆ ian ˆ cci ˆ pinata ˆ

...loose your entire body. Now you're Tiny Easter Donkey Head! ˆ head ˆ pinata ˆ

I came home that night and found Hector on the couch working on his impression of the Firefox Logo. ˆ hector ˆ cute ˆ dogs ˆ firefox ˆ

Keep at it, Ol' Boy! It's really coming along! ˆ hector ˆ cute ˆ dogs ˆ firefox ˆ

Animal FunTime Party House got even better when Leigh came by and dropped off Edie off with us! Look how excited Meredith is to have two little lap-weasels! ˆ edie ˆ hector ˆ meredith ˆ best ˆ dogs ˆ pretty ˆ

Watch out! They'll lick the shit outta your face! ˆ edie ˆ hector ˆ meredith ˆ dogs ˆ laugh ˆ

The rats came out to see what all the commotion was about! ˆ ratso ˆ roxy ˆ cage ˆ rats ˆ

Ratso was getting jealous about us fawning over two dogs so I had to take her over to the couch for a solo pet-down! She liked to rest her chin on your hand while your scratched her back! Rats really are like the world's tiniest dogs. It's a shame that they have such a bad rap - if more people got to see how good they are with people, maybe they wouldn't find them so creepy. (PS - Look, I'm wearing my glasses! I never wear them because my optometrist thought she was doing me a favor by polarizing my glasses for me for free! On the upside, it helps protect my photosensitive eyes from UV rays when I wear them in and/or near sunlight. On the downside, it makes me look like Larry David.) ˆ me ˆ

Monday Night at 2am = KARAOKE KILLED THE CAT. Here's Chris and Lord Easy kicking it. ˆ goldteeth ˆ lord easy ˆ karaoke ˆ

Me and Amander. ˆ amanda ˆ me ˆ

They're weren't too many people there on this particular night, but every single person that was there totally gave crazy, over the top performances. ˆ karaoke ˆ pretty ˆ strangers ˆ

This guy! (Btw, what in the world is he even singing into? Did he bring a homemade Burryberry-fabric cozy for the mic? Did that actually happen?) ˆ karaoke ˆ strangers ˆ yell ˆ

Amanda getting sultry. ˆ amanda ˆ karaoke ˆ

The guy started out doing a sexy duet with the blond lady, but about halfway through the song, it turned into... ˆ karaoke ˆ strangers ˆ

...a sexy solo serenade to a stranger in the crowd. E-P-I-C. ˆ karaoke ˆ strangers ˆ

On Tuesday night I went to Greenwich Village to see Em & Lo knocked up at the same time! Check out the dual-preggo action! These two do everything together. So awesome! With proud fathers-to-be Rob and Joey, respectively. Congrats, you guys! ˆ emma ˆ joey ˆ lorelei ˆ rob tourtelot ˆ preggo ˆ

There's a baby in there! Babies grow in ladies! ˆ lorelei ˆ me ˆ best ˆ excited ˆ preggo ˆ

Saturday = NEW SNEAKS. Hey, say what you will - but at least I'll never get hit by a car while wearing them. ˆ shoes ˆ

Later that night, a buncha people came over to our apartment to play CRANIUM! ˆ fatty ˆ matt ˆ meredith ˆ 239 e 7th ˆ

Team #1: Karen, The Fatty, Joobz and Meredith. ˆ fatty ˆ karen ˆ matt ˆ meredith ˆ cranium ˆ

Team #2: Amanda's friend whose name I forgot (sorry!), Amanda and LionMane (keeping things real in his Beetlejuice pants!). Oh, and Ellen also joined this team but I don't think she'd shown up yet! ˆ amanda ˆ david lionmane ˆ cranium ˆ

Team #3: Me, and the newly-engaged Matt & Amy! ˆ amy a ˆ matt j ˆ me ˆ

Oh, and Edie was there and rocking the school bus outfit that Meredith hand-made for her for halloween. Hahaha. Who's a cute little WienerBus? ˆ edie ˆ bus ˆ cute ˆ dogs ˆ dressed up ˆ

Amanda, LionMane and their friend trying to figure out a puzzle before time runs out! ˆ amanda ˆ david lionmane ˆ meredith ˆ cranium ˆ

The tension in the room was unbelievable. (PS - If, perchance, you ever find yourself anywhere in the vicinity of Fatty, and you also, perchance, decide to take out your camera and take a picture and Fatty is not in the frame, there's is a 100% chance that he will lean into the frame at the last second and make an awesome face.) ˆ fatty ˆ karen ˆ cranium ˆ

Matt using Amy like a puppet! ˆ amy a ˆ matt j ˆ 239 e 7th ˆ cranium ˆ puppet ˆ

Then Dave stuffed dollar bills into Matt's jeans. ˆ ellen ˆ fatty ˆ matt ˆ 239 e 7th ˆ cranium ˆ

Meredith got squeezed. ˆ david lionmane ˆ karen ˆ matty ˆ meredith ˆ 239 e 7th ˆ cranium ˆ puppet ˆ

And Karen correctly guessed what all the squeezing was about. Victory! ˆ david lionmane ˆ karen ˆ matt ˆ meredith ˆ cranium ˆ

Lions and Weasels can be friends! Sexy friends. Right after I took this picture, I was suddenly struck by overwhelming nostalgia for my teen years in the late 80s. At first I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out what had triggered my sudden nostalgia. ˆ david lionmane ˆ edie ˆ

But then I realized it was because LionMane is a like the twink-version of... ˆ david lionmane ˆ kip winger ˆ doppleganger ˆ

...Kip Winger! Hahahahahaha. Holy fucking shit. If we got David some AquaNet and teased his shit out a bit, you probably would think that these were photographs of the same guy! The same guy showing off just a couple of shirts from his extensive "skimpy shirts" collection. (PS - if you say "skimpy shirts" out loud repeatedly, you will eventually say "shrimpy skirts" by accident.) ˆ david lionmane ˆ kip winger ˆ doppleganger ˆ

On Sunday afternoon, Meredith and I met up with her parents in the West Village to see The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters. This movie is amazing. If you haven't seen it, see it soon. There is no way you will not love it. ˆ movie ˆ poster ˆ

Afterwards we partied on the WienerBus express! ˆ edie ˆ meredith ˆ bus ˆ

On Wednesday night I went out to meet up with Sarah who was in town visiting from San Diego! ˆ me ˆ sarah d ˆ

I also go to see Jack and Patrick! ˆ jack d ˆ patrick ˆ

On Saturday, a whole bunch of us went to Brooklyn to help Siege and Katie move! ˆ siege ˆ moving ˆ truck ˆ

Loading up the truck! ˆ mirror ˆ moving ˆ

Siege presents a near-empty apartment! Woooo! ˆ siege ˆ moving ˆ

Siege and I drove over to their new apartment in the moving truck. When we arrived, we found a whole bunch of new people who had showed up to help unpack! ˆ amanda ˆ fatty ˆ grant ˆ marissa ˆ meredith ˆ garage ˆ moving ˆ

Siege turned the person-sized door... ˆ fatty ˆ meredith ˆ door ˆ garage ˆ

...into a truck-sized door! We backed the truck up into the garage. And the garage opens up into... ˆ garage ˆ moving ˆ truck ˆ

...one of the coolest NYC apartments I've ever been in. First you walk into this huge room that has a loft over the door and the far wall is made of glass and opens into...

...a private outdoor garden with a single tree! The glass blocks that you see behind the tree make up the wall of another room in the apartment that looks out onto the garden.

You walk down a long hallway to the right of the garden and you come into another huge room.

That also has another room upstairs...

...and a door out to a private rooftop garden! WTF!

Meredith's face pretty much sums up our collective reaction. ˆ meredith ˆ stairs ˆ

Cat and Grant marveling over the awesome red-tiled bathroom complete with a shower that has a meat-freezer-doorway shower curtain! ˆ catrinel ˆ grant ˆ shower ˆ

Back in the room that goes out into the garage, the gang was busy discovering all kinds of hidden features. ˆ fatty ˆ murphy bed ˆ

Like a secret Murphy that folds down! Are you kidding me? ˆ katie ˆ murphy bed ˆ

And a wetbar in a closet next to the bed. Siege, who are you renting this place from, Austin Powers? ˆ meredith ˆ sink ˆ sink ˆ

After discovering the hide-a-way bed, Marissa (who is like the Marco Polo of new apartments) disappeared around a corner into a nook no one had explored yet! After she didn't re-emerge after a couple of seconds, I started wondering if she'd found a secret room or something! I rounded the corner to chase after her and almost ran right into her! ˆ marissa ˆ

Sitting on a toilet! The new "room" around the corner turned out to be a door-less bathroom! Hahahaha. (PS - Marissa, you look really pretty on the toilet!) ˆ marissa ˆ pee ˆ

After we were finished exploring, it was time to unload the truck. Here's happy Katie! ˆ katie ˆ

Here's the same room about 45 minutes later! Chock full O' stuff! ˆ moving ˆ

Still! More! Unloading! To! Do! < / shatner > ˆ siege ˆ moving ˆ

All done! Congrats on your new place, you two! ˆ katie ˆ siege ˆ moving ˆ

After, Kate and Siege took us all out for pizza and beers for helping with the schlepping. Mmmmmm, pizza. Mmmmmm, beer. ˆ amanda ˆ catrinel ˆ fatty ˆ grant ˆ katie ˆ meredith ˆ siege ˆ best ˆ food ˆ pizza ˆ

The month ended with another explosive discovery: Meredith's secret recipe for PINEAPPLE CASSEROLE! Happy, September! ˆ recipe ˆ