Isn’t She Lovely?

I want to welcome N (my mom) as my very first  blueberrydumpling editor.

I wish I could record all the thoughts in my head as they come up. Sometimes I think of things to write about, but if I wait too long to jot them down, they lose momentum after the thought has left the moment.

It has been one week and three days of being unemployed.

Here are some highlights:

Daily, I continue to lose track of the day of the week.

My friend J and I went to see Bride Wars last Friday (opening day). I recommend it if you want to escape for two hours to laugh (and cry). We walked down Court Street and went into Rapisarda, a hypnotic shop full of wonderful handbags, wallets, jewelry and other fun items. I, being a bag/wallet-aholic, actually contemplated some wallets that cost $180. Then I remembered two important words, UNEMPLOYED and BUDGET. We had the best chat with the owner, who is from Brazil. J was very happy to find a large assortment of resin jewelry by R. Sobral. Then we went to Marquet Patisserie, which sits in the same space Roberto Cappucino used to be. I was sad to see they recently painted over the odd faced cherubs on the bathroom walls.

Our cat Meca was spayed last week and has had a slow recovery with numerous trips back to the vet. Spending a lot of time at home, I have gotten to know her and Bella’s, our spirited tabby, daily routines. I offered to be in charge of their datebooks but they declined.

Target had leftover Christmas items disorderly placed in two aisles in the back of the store, marked down 90%. I scored a shortbread cookie in the shape of Santa with his portrait on top. 19 cents. Worked great with my new budget.

M and I went to the Outsider Art Fair. Amazing and inspiring art- I want it all to hang on my walls. On the way an erratic and angry man approached us as we were standing on the platform at Franklin Ave. I automatically said “sorry” because I assumed he was going to ask for money. He jumped back and screamed, “Sorry? Sorry for what, why you sayin you sorry? You are a racist. I just got out of jail and on and on and on.” I thought of two things, why did I say I was sorry, what did I have to be sorry about? And the Law and Order I had watched the night before where a mentally ill man, just released from Rikers (without any medication) killed a woman on the subway platform. Yikes. M not being engaged said something about him being a man approaching two women and yelling at them. The man straightened up and it was as if the sun rose across his face. His peacock feathers puffed out and he said, “Thank you, I am a MAN.” M had diffused the whole thing by appealing to his ego, indirectly, before I became a L&O episode. I offered him the cahnge in my pocket, he refused but ended up taking it and busted out singing, “Isn’t She Lovely?”

One very positive bit of news, part of budgeting has meant refraining from the numerous bottles of wine we consume each week. But thanks to Trader Joe’s and their $2.99 bottles of wine (love the merlot) we do not need to deprive ourselves.

Yesterday ended on a happy note, my February issue of Domino magazine was in my mailbox.