Later that night, Meredith came over with good news and bad news. The good news was she was finally ready to get back together. The bad news was that she wanted me to read the book Men Are Mars, Women Are from Venus. (Which, and I never thought in a million years that I'd actually say this, I learned a lot from and actually totally changed our relationship for the better!)
On Friday night Meredith and I went to Niagara to meet up with Emilie E. who was in town visiting from LA! Here's Mona and Meredith dishing some boobie-cupping lovin'.
She was dressed up as "Girl Who Got Stood Up By Her Prom Date." Hahaha. I convinced her to get a drink with me and tried to convince her to give me a second chance.
On my way out for the night I stopped by Number One Chinese to say hi to Meredith. We were still broken up at this point, but we were back on speaking terms. Here's Mer feeding the fish.
Niki, Meredith and Kim tearing into brunch. (Man, if I walked into a diner to have brunch and saw myself dining with these three, I would fucking hate me.)
The next morning a whole buncha us went to brunch (again!) this time at Clinton Street Bakery. Here's Meredith with Niki looking thrilled about the obligatory "stand around on the street for an entire hour" wait before being seated.
On Saturday morning, we all got up bright and early and hit the Odessa Dinner for some brunch. Clockwise from left: Tom and David from Apartment, Kim, Meredith, Niki and the Fatty. (By the way, check out the brains on the Fatty reading Richard Dawkins a full two years before he became a household name!).
After a long day of the beach and then cooking in the kitchen, Mer passed out early! I woke her up from her little nappity nap, and then she and I took the train back up to NYC so that I could head to...
Later that night Mer and I went to the grocery store to do some shopping because Meredith offered to cook my parent's dinner to celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary!
Friday night, Meredith and I headed down to the Jersey shore to hang out with my parent's at their little shore house down there. Reststop Pizza Hut on the way down. Greasetastic!
After we left the beach, we took the train up to Chelsea and hit Bed, Bath and Beyond to get some pillows and sheets for my new apartment. Meredith kept trying to convince me I needed this sweet-ass Bon Jovi pillow. Hahaha.
On Saturday morning Mer and I got up bright and early and took the A train out to Rockaway Beach! Fuck the Broadchannel shuttle transfer to the 118th St. Beach! We stayed on the A all the way out to 60th Street and go to the (sorta sketchy, but always totally empty) beach out there in the middle of nowhere.
Here's Meredith giving a look to the camera that says "I like you enough to buy you a belated b-day cake, but I'm still not quite sure if you're boyfriend material, Disappearo!"
Later that night, Grant, Amanda and I headed over to Fatty's apartment to enjoy the dinner that he and Meredith had whipped up! First a little tomato, basil and mozzarella salad...
Later on, I got everybody to get up and do a jump take for my camera. They got it perfect on the first try. Every time I'm having a crappy day, I can look at this pick and it will instantly make me laugh my ass off. Everybody is pulling great faces too (click here for hi-rez version). But the very best thing about this photo is...
Meredith and I met up with Sean and Leigh at a bodega in the West Village over by the ACE subway line. We quickly stocked up on sorts of drinks and beach treats...
I woke up early on Saturday morning and went over to Meredith's to wake her up to go to the beach...but not before I snapped a few pics of her sleeping with her one leg up in the air. Hahaha. Then we met up with the Fatty and hopped the subway on out to...
Meredith, Seva, Karen and ROB HITT (who laughs at me for knowing all the words to every Lifetime song ever). After everyone had filled their gullet, it was time to head up to the building's sick-ass roof deck to...
Sunday Morning Brunch Club at Kate's Joint! Holy shit, remember when we used to do this pretty much EVERY SUNDAY? Clockwise from Left: Sarah, Meredith, Elhaam, Rob Hitt, Brandon, Josh, Ellen, Karen and Leigh!
Before leaving, I left a surprise in the bathroom (er, one that's better than the surprises I usually leave in there!). Meredith was cast as in a model for one of the Apple catalogs and they ended up hanging a huge banner of her up in the Apple store in SoHo. Our friend Lauren worked there at the time and I asked her to save it for me when they took it down (because Meredith's mom was so proud she wanted it. Hahahah).
I got home late to find my lovely lady sleeping in her favorite position (feet up in the air crossed at the ankles) and snuck into bed with her, happy to be home. As difficult as my trip was, it was also one of the most rewarding experiences I've ever had - so if you have any interest at all, I highly recommend it. (Although, I found it very hard to keep up the expected practice once I returned to my normal life. According to the Vispassana way, you're supposed to meditate for at least two hours every day, and you're also supposed to abstain from all intoxicants. I managed to stick with the regiment for about 4 months before I stopped daily practice (and started boozing it up again).
On Monday, Una, Meredith's friend, and my little brother (who lives in DC but was working in NYC for a couple of months) came down to Meredith's to hang.
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