Moms On The Loose

This year my friends and I all turned the Big 4-0.  I was the first to reach the milestone back in January, and by August, we were once again the same age.  We've been friends for over 25 years, and between Sweet Sixteens, Graduation parties, turning 21, engagement parties, bridal and baby showers, weddings, turning 30, nights in, as well as nights out, we know how to have a great time together.

And it usually involves food, wine, vodka, and coffee. Not necessarily in that order.

It's funny how our conversations flow, we know each other so well that when we're together, we pick up right where we left off.  After we kept circling back to the various ailments we've developed since hitting "old age," pulled muscles, having to squint to read, having heart flutters, and having pain in general, my friend Jennifer said we should use the word "click" as a signal to change the subject, in order to not sound like old biddies.

After my sister picked me up from the airport, I had time to kill before our dinner reservations at Cookshop, so we were able to have a quick drink, which was an unexpected bonus.

We don't look anything alike.

Dinner was fantastic, I had the whole roasted porgy with potatoes and sauteed spinach, which I scarfed down so quickly I forgot to take a photo!  Actually, aside from maybe two pictures, my friend Jennifer took all photographic evidence of the weekend, which she happily sent to me for my blog post : )

I don't go to the gym anymore, once we bought our treadmill I made the basement my gym.  We were all up fairly early Saturday morning, there is a gym in my friend's building, so four of us were able to workout together, which hasn't happened since high school. There was an outdoor track on the tenth floor of the building, and it was neat to run around outside while ten floors up. Since I don't do much weight training, I did a circuit of the machines, and also did the elliptical.

Then it was time for lunch, which meant my favorite, PIZZA.

Then we had to shop, travelling from the East Side, to Bryant Park, to Fifth Avenue, then down to the Village, then back to the East Side.  Just in time to get dolled up, debate the merits of a traditional straight iron versus one that straightens, as well as curls, then head to our friend's apartment for Pear Vodka & Fresca on his terrace.

He lives on the 50th floor, and I stayed faaaaaar away from the railing, but the view was fantastic:

Oh yeah, then we had to eat again, at China Grill!

The night got off to a rockin' start, when the server accidentally dropped three pear sangrias, one Shiraz, one martini and one seltzer all over our table.

But that didn't ruin the fun.  We ordered a bunch of dishes to share, I chose the grilled garlic shrimp, with black fettuccine and red curry coconut sauce. Soooo good.

It had these pieces of what looked like shrimp skin, that was wiggling around on top of the plate, which gave us a start, because it seemed alive.  Which it wasn't.  Which was weird.

Since our spilled drinks ended up not only on the table, but on my friend Adele, the server brought us a special Birthday dessert. I was all over the chocolate layer cake.

I won't show you the after photo.

After an obligatory visit to the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree:

we went on to Culture Club, to dance the night away to tunes from the '80's, including our favorites, Depeche Mode and Duran Duran.  Where we worked off all that food and became a sweaty mess. 

Sunday morning I woke up earlier than I do on a normal weekday, but I couldn't bear to stay in bed, when my time with my BFF's was quickly coming to a close.  So what did we decide to do? Eat breakfast! 

This is my spinach and goat cheese frittata from Le Pain Quotidien, paired with lovely mint tea.

After that my friend Gonca rolled me to the shuttle bus that transported me to JFK for my flight home.  Of course, as usual, I cried when I said good-bye. 

But there is always next time.