a few months ago, i mentioned that one of our close friends had recently started dating someone, and although we've hung out a couple times now in larger group settings, we finally pinned out an evening to go out, just the four of us.
we had a 7pm reservation at takashi, a japanese yakiniku restaurant which is special to us since we went on our first date here back in the summer of 2011. let it be known that it was also one block away from kevin's apartment - hmm ... anyways, armed with beers, umeshu, and cocktails, we enjoyed plate after plate of beef shank buns, grilled shio-tan, kalbi, harami, and rice-bombs (thanks hubby for always doing an amazing job of ordering for us!) as we got to know jay's girlfriend, kathy.
they sat very close throughout dinner, each putting food on the other's plate throughout the night, and holding hands the entire time! during dinner, jay said yes to pretty much anything that kathy suggested regardless of his aversion for activities other than broadway shows, golf, and tennis, so we knew THIS WAS SERIOUS. i think he even offered to go cycling with us and bought *gasp* running shoes. all jokes aside, they did seem to have a lot in common, especially their love of broadway shows.
for dessert, we had the vanilla soft-serve with the works, which includes shiratama mochi balls, azuki, black sesame powder, and green tea syrup! although i had been feeling under the weather during the day, it was a wonderful way to spend the evening and exciting to see a young couple start their journey together ...
best: a pop of color from my ikat purple patagonia troposphere jacket amongst a sea of blacks and grey coats during our morning commute.
worst: on-and-off mind numbing headaches for the past two weeks. sometimes even the advil and tylenol doesn't help, but hopefully we're both getting better soon.
smile: impromptu chai tea latte break with daisy on a wintry afternoon.
it started to drizzle after lawrence and catherine left, and we were both a bit sore from saturday's workout, so kevin and i lounged around the apartment all afternoon on the MLK holiday. i occupied the chaise with my travel & leisure, real simple, and american sniper on kindle, while kevin programmed at the island.
haha. just kidding, kev. he always corrects me when i comment on his "programming". well, to the amateur, when someone opens up the black msdos prompt window and starts typing in commands to navigate a linux or windows machine, it looks, smells, feels, and is programming! haha ... but just kidding :)
at some point, we joined forces and posted a couple things under kevin's account on ebay. after unpacking his boxes of jackets and being forced to admit that he has uhm +15 patagonia/mountainhardware/northface/arcteryx rain/soft/midweight/hard-shell jackets, kevin's successfully posted and sold two pre-owned jackets on ebay! i decided to give it a whirl with my similarly fabulous collection of dresses compulsively acquired mostly through gilt and ruelala from 2009-2012 (some still with tags on!).
i realized that, however, without the professional photo of the dress on a model, regardless of the lighting, clothing on a hanger is not very appealing to consumers. i wouldn't buy it! oh wells - good thing goodwill is one block away!
for dinner, we met with some friends in the neighborhood for chips & guac, ceviche, and soft tacos at cafe el presidente. although we've only hung out a couple times since meeting through rose & dustin, i think the experiences that we share through our respective loft remodels have forged a bond between us, kris & jessica. for example, we are all in cook-at-home mode after our savings accounts have been pillaged through the confusing, yet extensive manhattan design and construction process. haha.
we dropped by their new pad after dinner and saw the beauty. i think i may have surprised everyone with my smiles and excitement. the place was a wreck. the previous owner had taken liberties that no one should ever have. she had handfuls of cables and commercial-size outlets running throughout the loft, extra cabinets haphazardly installed above original kitchen cabinetry, and a surprise with every closet opened. it was a sheer wreck, but the bones WERE SO GOOD.
even the littlest amount of work would yield vast improvements and increase the market value of this unit. they have hired an architect and both have a background in design/art, i think, so i am excited to see the transformation of their space! really glad to have new friends in the neighborhood :)
and when the place is done, i might even get to run my fingers across their steinway & sons ivories OMG!!
jeans friday has transformed into r1 fleece friday :)
woke up to light streaming in our shadeless north facing bedroom windows and kevin to my right. big smile on my face. friday was finally here! it was a busy day at the office, but imagine a helium-filled balloon - nothing was holding me down (for long)!
today i wore my patagonia r1 fleece with jeans and birkenstocks to work. this is one of my FAVORITE tops because you can comfortable wear it through the fall and winter, and its design allows it to adjust to your body temperatures so you're never too warm or too cool. i think if you had seen me strolling around the city on friday, you'd thought i worked at a tech company or something. haha ...
walked to diginn with daisy to pick up lunch, a weekly tradition we've had going for about a year now? it is the highlight of my work day. we treated ourselves to spicy meatballs, a loop around bryant park, and warm cinnamon sugar donuts from carpe donuts nyc, one of the donut shops mentioned in the nytimes article i read about a couple days ago. i brought back three for the guys on the desk and they were perfectly amazing. truth be told, they tasted a lot like churros! i can't wait to go back and try them with kevin and pair it with their hot apple cider!
we ended the work week with a quite dinner at ootoya times sq, which to my delight is literally next door to my office and makes it convenient when trying to scoop a table for two without reservations. we shared the usual suspects - tofu salad (sooo tasty), tsukune, and pork belly wrapped tomatoes, and kevin had the oyakadon and i had the soborodon. seated and finished in under 45 minutes!
the rest of the night was filled with unpacking, taping down furniture piece ideas, vaccuming, swiffering, and laundry. it was nice to be back together and putting together our new home together.
best: taking the time to step off and unwindulax with daisy picking up lunch and donuts. work and life can be so stressful, we all need to learn to give ourselves a break.
worst: too much square footage to vaccum - it's never ending! i am definitely on the market for a roomba starting NOW.
smile: kevin still gets my coat and holds it out for me to put on when we go out. sometimes it's easy to lose track of what's important, and to me, it's the little things :) the romance never ends.
