The fabulous niece and I went down to NYC for my cousin grrlfriday's big 40th birthday bash, dubbed DeannaFest. We took the GoBus down yesterday morning, eventually figured out how to get to Brooklyn on the subway, and met more family at Deanna's place.

The party was at a rooftop garden at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. What a fabulous venue! It's a real working garden, and the views of Manhattan were spectacular (see above pic). Several other cousins, aunts, and uncles came, along with my brother & sis-in-law, and plenty of Deanna's friends. I finally got to meet Jim Hightower (a client of Deanna's), who was wearing a fabulous shiny disco-ball-like shirt along with his trademark cowboy hat. He's a nice guy, and I've always admired his work.

The food & drinks were lovely, and the DJ kept several of us dancing for hours, including my brother, who I don't believe I've ever seen dance before (except in musicals onstage). The ceremony (it was a lot like a wedding; we all said we felt like we had married Deanna) was beautiful, and it was at sunset, with Manhattan shining in the background. I was honored to be a part of it. Deanna is more like a little sister to me than a cousin (my parents are her Godparents).

This morning, I walked over to Green-wood cemetery to stretch out my stiff legs (I'm not used to all that dancing!)



It's only a couple of streets over from Deanna's place. What a lovely old cemetery. If you're ever in Brooklyn, you should definitely check it out.

A bunch of us met for brunch in Park Slope, at a place called Bogota. I had plantain-stuffed French toast and a mango mimosa. Yum! I met a couple of new folks who couldn't make it to the party last night, and I liked them very much. Deanna attracts such a wealth of interesting people! I'm lucky to have gotten in on the ground floor. *g*

Willow and I rode back with some friends of D's who live in this area, which was much better than taking the bus. Yay for new friends! We promised to all go walking in Mount Auburn sometime.

It was a fabulous weekend, and I am exhausted. But I feel energized by all the positive energy created by celebrating one of my favorite people.

The party last night was great fun, full of warmth and cheer and good friends. It was worth the drive, and I even got home before midnight.

( Pictures! )

I managed to remember to bring the apple crisp *and* bring home the dish. :)

It's looking rather grey & ominous out there this morning. Perhaps we will get that snow after all.

Yeah, Mercury is definitely going retrograde today, and with a bang. All the crazies are coming out of the woodwork and doing their best to confound and annoy us, and sometimes even yell at us (I was, fortunately, not on the receiving end of that, *this* time). Oy, and vey.

I can't ever really say TGIF until after I leave work on Fridays, because we just never know how the day is going to go (or when it's going to end). I'm not ever really happy that it's Friday until it's almost over. By then, I'm so exhausted that I can't really enjoy it.

But! Tomorrow is the Barn Party in Hudson, and I will be seeing some of you there, and all will be good with the world. Yay for parties full of honeys. *smile*

Despite the drizzly weather, a fun time was had by all at the umpteenth annual Spring Fling in Maynard yesterday. I got home in the wee hours, tired but happy. There was a ton of food, plenty of home-brewed mead, and the traditional trash-can turkey. Lots of friends from near and far, and even the next generation:



These two were betrothed in the womb. *g*

Several members of the fire tribe from Brushwood were there, so of course we had a huge fire happily crackling away in the back yard. Unfortunately, it was so grey and drizzly that I couldn't get a decent photo of it, but it was nearly as tall as I am (and I am not short).

A cute Irishman named Damien was playing Doors music on the piano and trying to get me to sing; I know a couple of lines of "Light My Fire," but that's it. It was cool to sit on the bench with him while he was playing, though. I could feel the music in my body. Carlos found a guitar and took my seat, jamming with Damien:



I got a lovely (temporary) butterfly tattoo on my wrist, which also is resisting being photographed (my camera is as bleary as I am this morning, apparently). It's all sparkly, and purple & green.

It was lovely to see everyone, especially the ones I don't get to see very often. The party season has begun!

One more "awwwwww" moment: Zack & Zoe, trying to take a nap:

Today is scallop chowder day at Romito's, so we indulged for lunch. OMG, buttery scallopy goodness! Yummmmmmm.

We ended up with a coating of snow, which was very pretty this morning and is mostly gone now. Sheesh! They've gotten more snow in frakking Malibu than we've had in Massachusetts.

There's a birthday party in the art room later, so more fun times (and free food). Yesterday was a farewell party for an employee who is retiring, and they did a brunch for her. We had leftovers for breakfast this morning. The amount of food consumed in this building is tremendous. It's all about the food! If we're not eating it, we're talking about it.