Adventures of Mageroni

Maggie, Lillian, Me, Jessica - at Maggie's going away party.


Fondue Dinner

My very good friend Maggie is moving to Utah for work. In many ways I am excited for her to go and experience a new place. She is a little bit hesitant to move - mostly because she will miss her home here in New York, but she is looking forward to skiing, checking out Utah and meeting new people. I'm glad that I have lived there before and can give her some ideas of things to do and see.

So, I made her a scavenger hunt. I compiled a list of about 50 things that are pretty unique to Utah for her to discover in her year there, and I have challenged her to start a blog to keep us all updated on her new adventures. See link on sidebar of my blog...

With all of the things going on in my life right now, I feel like I am also on the cusp of change, like Maggie. I am finally feeling like I am a a point in my life where it is time for me to start looking toward my future. I have had to let a lot of things go in the last couple of years, but am at the point where I am ready to move on. It took me long enough! You know how it is, sometimes you feel like you are just coasting through life and taking things as they come but not really focusing on what you want or how move yourself in the right direction.

As for my dear Maggie May - I will miss her to pieces but am comforted in knowing that we can skype webcam conversations whenever we want, she will be back to visit several times, and will only be gone for a year. I know she will do well in her new position and it will help her to develop both personally and professionally.

The pictures attached are of Maggies last full weekend in NY. We had a going away party for her on Saturday night (which we scheduled for a place in NY, confirmed, and then the place CLOSED!! we found another location on the fly). We also had a small fondue dinner party at my place where I graced all in attendance with my accordion playing abilities. Always a conversation starter. (Hint: It usually only takes me a glass of wine to convince me to break it out. If you want some quality accordion entertainment, just bring a bottle of wine and wait about 30 minutes, then ask). It also works on the saxaphone.


Sophie, Ed, Maggie, Jessica and Me - Fondue Dinner Night

Man - Wow

There are very few times in my life where I can honestly say that a guy has really done something that is unique and spontaneous enough for me to be in awe. I can remember the last time, January 2001. I guess that has been 7 years. This weekend got added to that list though with my Friday night date with Fernando.

If you read my blog, you will remember a few dates back when we went to the Guggenheim. At the end of the date, he gave me a ride home and I showed him around my apartment. I still had my New Year's dress hanging on the outside of my closet door and he saw it and asked me about the dress. I told him that I really liked the dress and hadn't put it away yet, and that I liked to look at it. Fast forward to the last date where he made me food.. I told him that I would need to invite him over for dinner next time since he had made food for me. So, I invited him over on Friday night.

Its about 8pm and I am cooking dinner. He is en route, and I get a text message that says something to the effect of..."No Questions. Put on the New Year's Dress". So, I'm sitting there wondering why - does this guy have some weird fetish about girls in dresses? Should I trust him on this? Hmmm. I decide to do it and go along with the fun. About ten minutes later, he rings my doorbell and I head downstairs to let him in. I open the door and he is wearing a tux - bow tie, cumberbund, jacket, everything. He looked VERY good. Plus, he was holding wine - definite bonus.

So, we go upstairs; dinner has just finished cooking. I'm dying to know what this is all about, so I ask what's going on. He tells me that he was looking in his closet to decide what to wear when he saw the tux and remembered my dress. He said that he thought that I would like to wear my dress again and he wore the tux so that I could.

We lit the candles, drank the wine, and enjoyed dinner all dressed up in my dining room. It was a great evening. I should have taken a picture.

Martin Luther King Weekend

Soo... this year Maggie had another girls weekend in AC - with 9 girls instead of 6. The more, the merrier.

We arrived on Friday night and most of us chilled. Some of the more party animal types went out (you know who you are) and the rest of us chilled with a drink and just hung out together. The next day included a large pancake breakfast, movies, naps, facials, and reading love fortunes from a deck of cards (thanks Gypsy Eleni). See pic for pancake breakfast. Yes, we made more than that, and yes, we ate almost all of them.

We all went to a nice Italian dinner at the same place as last year, then out on the town to a night club called Providence. We danced until our feet hurt, and then danced some more. It was a lot of fun to spend time with the girls!

After getting back into town on Sunday, I had another date with Fernando. It makes me laugh every time I type that fake name. And, not for anything, but I told Fernando that I was writing this with a fake name and he said something to the effect of, "What name did you pick, Fernando??" I thought maybe he had been reading my blog, but he totally came up with it on his own. Ironic freaky little mind reading going on there right? We had a drink at Revival, then went and had seafood in the city.

On Monday we hung out at his place and watched some movies. He was very nice and made me food, which was very cool. I think the last time a guy made me food was a long time ago... maybe 2001? And I remember it specifically... it was a fried peanut butter and jelly sandwich (which was made for me only because I had never had one and just HAD to try it), and a side of bacon (some things never change I guess). So, Fernando made some soup, some pasta, some chicken... yumm. Should have taken a picture of it for the blog. Damn.

Inked Inc.

This weekend I went to a book party in Williamsburg Brooklyn to support one of my friends who was photographed for a tattoo book. The book is a photo collection of tattoed professionals and it was a nice twist to a Saturday night. Maggie and I headed over to Tattoo Culture and met up with Miko (my friend). There were several professionals there - doctors, lawyers, and various MBA types. All of them have several large tattoos over their bodies, but cover them when they go to work. The photos show the people in their work attire, and then photos of them showing their tattoos. I enjoyed meeting the people who were in the book - check it out at www.inkedinc.com. Here is a picture from the evening.

On a totally unrelated topic, I went for date two and three with Fernando. We went to Chelsea piers and hit balls at the driving range then dinner. At the driving range, we ended up on the same level as the people who were taking lessons and the machine kept giving us free golf balls. We hit a zillion balls - got to practice up on my swing. I think if I keep practicing, I might be able to actually know how far I can hit balls with different clubs.

Our next date was on Sunday - we went to lunch, then to the Guggenheim (their exhibit sucked). Every time I have been to the Guggenheim it never meets my expectations in the art department. Then, we went to the Upper East Side to watch the Giants game at this bar called Fetch (I'm not going to lie, I didn't really watch the game, but yapped the entire time). I liked the place - lots of pictures of doggies on the wall. Fernando is a very nice guy and I had fun on our dates. I'm looking forward to going out again soon.

Goodbye 2007

I can't say that I am unhappy for the year 2007 to be gone. The total year wasn't a loss though - I had many happy times. I guess that some of the definining moments of that year though were not the best things that happened in my life. But, as I reflect on the year I want to remember the positives. Here they are:

**I got to spend 2 months of the year living back in Salt Lake City. My job would have paid for me to stay in a hotel, but I opted to stay with my dad and visit him. Even though I worked a lot while I was there, it was still nice to be able to spend some time with him and my old friends there. And thank you to dad for housing my two little doggies for the extended period (and walking them, and feeding them).

**I met and dated a guy who really taught me a lot about how people should treat each other in relationships (in a good way). Not that every previous relationship I ever had was bad, but there were certain fundamental things that were missing. Although it didn't work out in the end, I think he was sent to me to show me many of the attributes of a man that I want to find someday. Thank you Ryan.

**I went to Paris with my friends Soph and Ed and stayed in beautiful, grandiose hotels that I would never be able to afford if they weren't free. It was a short trip but I am grateful I got to know my friends better and also got to share Paris with them. Thanks Soph & Ed

**My friend Maggie moved to my neighborhood and became the little sister I never had. I thank my lucky stars for that girl - she is one of the most wonderful people I have ever met. I have been so blessed to have her here and I love her and will miss her when she moves next month.

**I got to go on a cruise to Canada that I didn't really plan on - and spend my dad's 60th birthday with him and his friends.

**Ringside boxing and the US Open (Golf) for the first time in my life. I have always wanted to see both live.

**Got to spend Christmas with my Mom for the first time in 10 years. We relaxed, ate, shopped. A great time.

So, even though there were some pretty crappy things that happened this past year, they didn't outweigh the good things. You can't make a few days in one year ruin it all.

Here's to the New Year. May it be filled with more joys than sorrows. Enough pain to make us really appreciate the happiness. Enough struggles to make us realize it is all worth it.

Love and Kisses to all of you.