Up In The Clouds

Part of the fun of holiday weekends is celebrating doing nothing; the other part is celebrating not having to do anything.

Thursday came and went. Kaia arrived early and settled into her "okay" suite at the W New York, and I got back to my apartment a bit early from downtown. So by the time I managed to pack up the last-minute stuff, get myself showered and ready to walk out the door, it was about 7:30. I managed to grab a cab and get to her room by 8ish, and from there we've been floating along happily. We spent about an hour relaxing and laughing and cavorting on her "so-so" terrace. I had no idea she had gotten a terraced room; in fact, it's not so much a terrace but a patio that could easily hold 30 people.

Later that evening (emphasis on the "later"), we had friends over to hang out for a little while -- just to have some wine and kick back, really -- and then they split around 1-ish and we fell asleep, exhausted and spent from our first day together in awhile.

Friday was a work day for both of us, unfortunately; she had deals that needed to be handled ASAP (read: by the end of business) and I had a few things to handle downtown, so I reluctantly left her in the room to handle her work while I headed downtown to pick up some papers, speak to a few city people, and resolve a couple issues. Concurrently, my grandmother -- who lives in Buffalo -- was having a procedure so my parents and my uncle flew there the day before to be with her and make sure she was okay throughout the entire process. Around 1ish I called my dad, who advised me that she came through beautifully and was doing well, so I breathed a huge sigh of relief and finished up my stuff. By three I was on my way back uptown to 49th & Lex and went from there.

Kaia and I had dinner with friends who were in town for the weekend (and who have a train back to Maryland in less than five hours from this particular moment); since they were staying in this particular hotel, we all went down to the hotel restaurant (Blue Fin, I think), hung out in their lounge, had some tasty eats, chilled out and just relaxed for awhile. Since they have a little one, we sent him upstairs to put the little one to bed and the three of us hung out for another hour or so. Then after we bid goodnight to her, we went out for a little walk around the neighborhood -- midtown east isn't really a neighborhood, but you get the point -- and then we headed up to sleep.

Saturday was a blur; we wound up frolicking for a while (no one uses the word frolicking anymore, and I think that's a shame) and spent some time in the sun on the terrace. Thereafter, we made our way down to Soho to check out a few apartment buildings -- one of which hasn't been completed and required us to wear hardhats in our on-site viewing thereof -- and then we taxied back uptown to prepare for a night at Lincoln Center. We decided to skip pre-concert dinner because we had grabbed a late-ish lunch at Mercer Kitchen, so after the concert -- which was absolutely incredible -- we hopped across the street to Fiorello's and had a smattering of tasty eats. A little shrimp, scallop, asparagus, artichoke and mushroom combo to start, followed by the special of the day, soft-shell crabs, and a filet mignon of tuna (with a balsamic glaze) and we were filled. Dessert will have to wait for another day (or night).

Today's check-out day, and we are heading to my place to drop our stuff, make a hasty exit and then head back down to Soho. We're also going to make it our business to grab something at the Yankee Clubhouse Store for Kaia's father, who gave Kaia one of his baseball cards from Yankee Fantasy Camp to give to me. I'm going to scan it in and put it on a Yankee background so he can use it for wallpaper on his computer. He might not, but I think it will be a trip. Either way, he and I have been going back and forth, and he even had recommended she and I go to Yankee Stadium to see the Yankees yesterday (the day they eventually lost to the -- blech -- Red Sox 17-1). But in making the suggestion -- and clarifying that he wasn't trying to meddle but merely give his opinion -- I was pretty relieved. I've been in relationships where the parents did everything but wipe their daughter's ass, so when he made mention of the game, at first I was a bit on guard; but he specifically went out of his way to let me know he wasn't meddling, and the fact that he knew enough to do so assured me that I've got nothing to worry about.

That, and the bet between he & I looks more and more like one I shall win. It should be very interesting when he and I finally meet; I'll have to feel him out as to when I can start teasing him about his betting acumen; in all fairness, however, I've already started doing so via e-mail, so I doubt we'll have much in the way of difficulty in that department. More importantly, he knows I love his daughter and that it's reciprocated; he knows we make each other very, very happy; he knows (from her friends that have met me and reported -- to a degree -- back to her sister) that I'm relatively normal. And he knows that she and I have so much fun that all we do, for the most part, is laugh.

Ah...look at the time. I need to be out of here, in the shower and downtown with my other half toot sweet...we'll do more checking in later, time permitting.

Enjoy Memorial Day or whatever it is you're celebrating!

-B-