The Rain, The Men & The Boys

Sunday in Soho is a near-tradition for us; since November of 2004, when we began seeing one another, Kaia and I have made heading down to Soho -- whether from my place or from one of the W's littered throughout the City we made our temporary home -- a regular jaunt. Today, despite the ominous weather, was no exception.

We did a little shopping for shoes -- she of the semi-platform, black, strappy number and me of the Tsubo bowling shoe-esque thing. I passed on mine, mostly because I couldn't choose between these and these...but since we also Z Gallerie'd in search of goodies for my mom's birthday tomorrow, I did wind up procuring several other equally groovy items for her as well as for myself. There also were a few goodies I encountered which I will pick up for Kaia once she returns to Cali and bring with me when I head out there for her birthday in July. But in the meantime, I can probably survive without either pair of Tsubo's -- I can handle the unsatisfied longing sensation of being sneaker/shoe-less.

We wound up hitting Mercer Kitchen, as per our usual, but the food -- which as always was memorable and worth a pair of $20 cab rides alone -- was secondary to our concerns over friends of ours out and about. The first was our friend who was meeting his brother in DC to pick up his stuff for the ride back to Georgia. His cell-phone, I believe, uses a Singapore country code, and no matter how often I tried calling him, my US Verizon phone wouldn't let me dial out. I left a message at his parents but nothing yet. Second was a friend of ours whose other half was in Paris on business; Kaia called him several times and sent an e-mail prior to arriving in NYC, but we hadn't heard a thing. Between both of these situations, we are a bit concerned because, while we don't expect a minute-by-minute call-back from either, at some point we are hoping that everything's okay with them both and we'll hear back from them soon.

We managed a threesome of dishes at Mercer: a tuna/wasabi pizza that's always incredible; a shaved fennel salad that was really incredible, despite also being really healthy; and the tuna spring rolls, which are served together with a spicy sesame oil/soy glaze and an avocado/wasabi puree. We both agreed that we could have that same meal daily and would never complain -- ever.

After lunch and a brief walk-through and quick-purchase at Kate's Paperie, we began winding down -- the weather, between the oppressive NYC heat and the darkening skies, have a way of separating the men from the boys when it comes to putzing around Soho, which was fine by us; a few raindrops here and there aside, the heat subsided for most of the afternoon as did the usual throngs of tourists who seem largely unaware that Louis Vuitton actually is sold in stores rather than on tables manned by men of Jamaican or African descent. So we headed back to my place, our various missions accomplished, to relax and to procure some good eats at Eli's before Entourage and Dane Cook's Tourgasm arrive on HBO. With tomorrow night dinner out for my mom and both of us facing lots of work to keep us busy until then, we opted for an early, relaxing night together rather than anything else. We'll figure on hitting The Devil Wears Prada or Superman Returns if we become terminally bored with one another, but since that hasn't happened in the 20 months we've been together, it's likely the only movies we're watching are the ones after hours on my bedroom TV.

In either case, as is typical, we seem to spend a lot of our time laughing and enjoying being together; I'm not sure how easy it will be getting out to San Fran in July, but unless there's a really severe work situation occupying my time, I'm figuring on getting out there at some point around her birthday. Real life, as it stands, can and is something we do between visits; however, until we're spending our daily lives in each other's physical presence, life's little obstacles seem to be a bit daunting but, for the most part, little.

Speaking of which, I can hear her breathing as I conclude this post, so I'll just duck out now and promise to return at some point in the next 24 or so hours. If there's anything good to report, we'll make sure and make mention (and/or include pics) during our next stop.