only so many days until autumn...

Today was a pretty long day, but it ended with a cookie!

Just got home, and the sprinklers are on in front of the Roman Catholic church I live by. It has these gorgeous red brick Romanesque domes...just lovely! It stands out because a lot of the churches in the area are mostly Gothic-style, and gray marble. When the spotlights meant for the statues on the landscape hit the wedges of sprinkler water, several dancing rainbows appear in front of the bronze, open-hearted Jesus. Until this discovery on the way home, I'd never seen a rainbow at night! Maybe this is a sign?

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Today, I was part of the wedding planning process! It was pretty exciting to meet up with B (the bride,) IV (the designer extraordinaire with the meticulous eye,) and the bride's cousin, G (who incidentally is the model rocking the winning design on this Project Runway episode.) IV, being great, already narrowed the search for a specific pattern of Chantilly lace down to two stores. B found the materials she needed at the first site out of sheer luck! After determining that all the other stores were full of dirty old salesmen, we headed to lunch at Aceluck with a non-demanding morning tied loose in the notches of our belts. After talking shit about life, we went to Sephora, and scurried off to complete all of our individual missions, which means that I was able to partake in my favorite store activity: sniffing scents! I really loved the Masaki Matsushima stuff --- everything's just so light, ad doesn't smell terrible once it hits my skin. I think the one I loved was Mat; it smelled like sno cones. I was gonna get it, but then B convinced me that is was Blah blah blah summer fragrance. Why can't I wear it in winter? Why am I not allowed to smell like sno cones in the winter? Dang. Can I live? After shopping at Herald Square, we all parted ways.

Smelling like 17 different parfums, I went back to B and A's cute apartment in downtown Jersey City. There was something striking about being where my BFF since the age of 15 and her husband will live their new lives. It was very moving, even if all we did together was watch Paula Deen internally struggle on whether to top a chocolate pecan pie with either fresh whipped cream or ice cream (ultimately, she decided to use both!) The time with them made me realize how much I care about B's friendship in my life, and how she's been a great influence on the person I'd become. To see her settle into the next step of her relationship with A, was just moving...

Their new place was in an excellent location, full of the hustle and bustle of new blood (and money) in that neighborhood. So, after Jeopardy and making ourselves look less greasy, we decided to actually hang out in our Jersey City, since the cool night just made it the best time to explore! We tried Bar Majestic for some more girl talk, and the drink specials. It's definitely recommended if you're in the area, as things were tasty! I had the baby spinach and goat cheese (chevre) salad, and B raved about her mojito. Also, the waitstaff is super kind. It's surprising how the gentrification is altering that portion of our humble city. While I really hate how there are so many yuppies and hipsters out and about, at least the restaurants they need to meet their "higher" quality of living have brought about some tastier food venues. B and I rounded out the dinner with some life story, and after A was refreshed from his nap, we rushed into Chinatown to catch TrickBag play a set. They're all such good friends, since B and A's band are in the same big circle of band folks. Because I pass through association (being B's Maid of Honor and all) they were nice enough to extend an invitation to Great Adventure (which will be my 2nd time THAT WEEK this summer!) Yeeeee, how exciting!

It's odd how places remind us of times in our lives. The entire stretch of walking LES to Alphabet City is 2005 for me. When I ended up in that area for C's birthday party earlier at midnight, I saw the exact same corner where I vomited 17 drinks for my 23rd bday covered by the DJ booth. Charming, eh? But that was fine, because C and the other C and I just busted out with the remainder of our energy while the standard 1 am dancehall set played. The crowd dwindled, we left, I bought a bottle of water, and C bought me a black and white cookie.

A good way to end a full night, with the entire weekend to recover.