Yesterday:
I took Emily for drinks at The River Cafe and then to a play at St. Ann’s Warehouse. Both are located in DUMBO (Down Under The Manhattan Bridge Overpass 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️).

The River Cafe is about as fancy as things get in Brooklyn. It has one of those Michelin Stars everybody talks about and great views of the city. It also has a dress code. Men must wear jackets. I felt a little like Ferris Bueller trying to pose as Abe Froman, Sausage King of Chicago.

The place was decked out for Christmas and there was a fancy schmancy party going on with Germans in tuxedos. I was half expecting Bruce Willis to show up Die Hard style.

We had drinks at the bar (G&T for Emily and Calvados, Monkey Shoulder Scotch, fig grenadine and lemon for me). And fresh out of the oven bread with butter. And we reminisced about our childhoods as fancy ladies at fancy restaurants. And also talked about going to more fancy places together.

And then we went to the play at St. Ann’s. It’s a gorgeous brick warehouse on the waterfront that has been repourposed into a theater.

The play was great. I really loved it. And it will probably spark some good writing about my last time in a mental hospital, so that’s always a good thing.

Last, we went to Barboncino. The place was packed. People waited an hour for a table. I texted ahead and Mikey saved me some meatballs and tiramisu. It’s not something I wanna take advantage of. I’ve done it two weeks in a row now. But, honestly, I love seeing Mikey and Nikola at work on Fridays (Andrea works on Sundays). And getting spoiled by them. I love them. I feel safe and cared for. And I want the other people in my life to get to know them.

I went out with the kiddos to Bearded Lady afterwards and then walked with Mikey to his place in a salty mist and came home. Hungry because it was now 4 am. So I ate one of Jack’s bananas. He doesn’t mind.

These are the good days. The ones that you look back on wistfully. The ones you hope will come again when the chips are down and you can hardly find the energy to get out of bed. This is why you did it, Vene. To be here. In this now.