Catching Up...

I have been so busy the past couple of weeks. I am excited for the next few nights and this weekend when I have very little planned!

Last Monday was my birthday! The day was fairly normal as I worked all day long. My two closest co-workers, Tamara and Iona were so sweet to bring gifts. Tamara gave me a small box of Godiva chocolates and Iona gave me a little box of mini cookies. Let me tell you, I got WAY too much food on this birthday.

This year, I decided I would get a group of girls together to go out for dinner. I was really excited to feel like I have friends in NYC to celebrate my birthday with this year. I definitely did not feel that way the past 2 years. I have never liked planning my own birthday parties, so I was especially uncomfortable to do that with people I didn’t know well! This year, I felt like I needed to do it because I am working hard to establish closer relationships and this was just another opportunity to do that. Also, I felt like I actually had friends to invite! I invited about 12 girls, I think, and had 10 come! I was very excited/pleased!

New York Restaurant Week, which is normally 2 weeks long, was extended through August, so I decided that picking another one of those restaurants would be good for my birthday dinner. We went to Tribeca Grill. Tribeca is definitely an area of this city that I need to make an effort to explore more thoroughly. Tribeca Grill is owned by Robert DeNiro, who is often credited for revitalizing the neighborhood and starting the well-known Tribeca Film Festival. I had heard mixed reviews about the restaurant and have mixed feelings myself. We started out with drinks/cheese at the bar, which was really good and fun. Then we moved on to dinner - the food was okay, but not excellent. The girls were extremely sweet – a few even brought me gifts, which I did not intend for at all! Contessa brought me a really nice summer scarf, Rosella brought a gift card to Barnes & Noble – perfect for buying my next Book Club book, and Jess brought me some really cute cupcakes! Joy paid for my drink/appetizers and then they all chipped in for my meal, which I tried to fight – it was too much! Robyn was really sweet and had the restaurant people write “Happy Birthday Susan” on my dessert plate and include a candle. All in all it was a fun evening. I shouldn’t complain, but I do have to admit that even though I was elated to have friends to celebrate with, I still felt like I was not with my closest of friends. There was definitely a moment at dinner where I felt outright lonely. (Isn’t that just pitiful of me)? I remember before I moved up here, a girl who I met when I came for my interview at The Journey, told me she often felt very lonely in this city, even when she was surrounded by people. She was a very cute, outgoing, friendly girl, so I suppose maybe it isn’t just me and maybe it is the city.

Rosella, Christina, Joy, and I

Susan, Sarah, Robyn

Jess, Contessa, Erin, Kristen

Everyone!

Birthday Dessert

Tuesday night, I had plans to go with some girls to the Broadway play, Three Changes, starring Dylan McDermott. Unfortunately, it was cancelled at the last minute due to one of the actors being sick. Hopefully, we will get to go later this month before the play closes. Instead of the play, Christina, Rosella, and I decided to take advantage of one more Restaurant Week locale. We went to Beacon in mid-town and it was quite good. I had a lot of fun with those girls that night – we seem to have a lot of common interests, plus they are newer to the city like me so they still like to explore.

Wednesday night was my night to “babysit” the auditors. I was at work until 10 ‘til 1:00am. Not kidding. On top of that, I still had to go home and pack for my weekend trip to Boston! Let’s just say that the night was short and I was exhausted the next 2 days!