Viva Hawaii!

I have finally reached the point of excitement. Frankly, I was getting a little worried. Being so busy has sadly robbed me of my ability to be anxious about my impending vacation to Hawaii.

However, my mom came up from the Valley yesterday and after a dinner of carmelized chicken wings, beef pho, salad rolls and ahi tuna she got me all revved up and happy. While we enjoyed ginger martini's and white guava margaritas, she pumped me up and reminded me that this is bascially my first vacation in over a year and I really need to use this time to decompress, take some "me" time and DO NOTHING. I loved it. (In a way it was comical, my mother, the Queen of Staying Busy, giving me advice on how to slow down, relax and rest. I'm pretty sure she's never done any of the forementioned 3 anytime in her life . . . ever. Yes, I'm serious. She's that driven and perhaps has a fear of slowing for reasons unknown.)

So after our gluttonous meal at Silk, what did we engage in? A walk around the Pearl of course! And were did we end up? At a sinful gelato shop, Via Delizia- duh! So we had to each invest in a couple of scoops ("I'll take the piccolo size," Ash Unabashed says sweetly, relishing the fact that although she ordered two scoops, the actual definition of "piccolo" in Italian is "small." Brilliant.) of their dreamy gelato. I ordered the Chocolate Peanut Butter and Panna Cotta and Momrey got the Hazelnut. Mmmmm. We sat in their darling shop and proceeded to chat more about the benefits of this vacation. By the last bite we had a new motto: VIVA HAWAII!

Presently I'm in vacation mode, but now (and doesn't this just frost your cupcakes!) I'm still two days away from actually leaving. But at least Momrey gave me a good kick in the you-know-what to jump-start my anticipation. Thank goodness for Momrey's! (Even when you soemtimes get annoyed because she was supposed to meet you for at your apt. at 4:30pm and she shows up at 4pm and calls you on your cell phone and tells you she's there, but you're standing at the bus stop trying to get home and then she says, "No worries," because she'll just let herself in because she knows the code . . . . and then once you do arrive 20 minutes later you find your dishes rearranged, laundry in the washing machine, garbage recepticals strategically moved to different locations, and coffee table magazines conveniently re-organized.)
Then again, THANK GOD FOR MOMREY'S! I do adore mine!

VIVA HAWAII! The countdown continues . . . .

TV sucks . . .

. . . you in so much you lose track of time and end up sitting on the couch watching some show on FOX about two, has-been TV anchors (one male, one female) in Pittsburgh that had sex one night 10 years earlier and produced a daughter. Except the dude had no idea that for the last 10 years he had a daughter because he's a womanizing asshole and when the lady tried to call him after their tryst he was too busy packing up boxes and moving to LA to do the news there to return her calls. Plus he thought she was in love with him and didn't want to deal with her "drama." Puh-lease.
Unfortunately, I am now addicted.

Another mindless, senseless and "I'm-embarrassed-to-admit-this" show that SUCKed me in last night was Gossip Girl. Now I will admit that I've read the books and they're great fun. They will not win a Pulitzer Prize, nor will illustrious writers ever invite the author to join the Algonquin Round Table, however, they are what they are: Fute. Fun & Cute (Thank me and my sister for that one). The TV Show, Gossip Girl, is a whole other literary disappointment. Most people would argue that everytime a book is turned into any other media medium (i.e. movie, tv show, play, etc.) it always lacks character development, a soft plot line and is basically, lame. But the Gossip Girl TV series really ices the cupcake. In the book the characters are mainly teenagers from the upper-eschulon of the Upper East Side in Manhattan. However, there's Dan, a homely fellow prone to cigarettes and long afflictions of self-doubt, loathing and angst. And Vanessa, a rebellious, chubby punk girl who shaves her head, wears steel-toed boots but finds sensitivity in poetry and visual art. I digress- meaning, Hollywood has taken this friendly, bubble-gum book series and turned it into a blubbering mess of no-name, beautiful skinny girls and insanely attractive, buff dudes. To put it nicely, this show is completely un-fucking-believable. It pissed me off that people who might channel surf through this show will not be able to understand the viability of the otherwise, young-adult fluff that fills the book series. People, seriously, this collection is like cotton candy. Light, airy, sweet and probably pink. What's not to like?

A night filled with RhiinPink, 2 David's (one Hill, one Bliss), Fez, Kari, and one, ever evovling, Josh Leake.

It is now Friday and I can't believe I went out everyday this week. Tonight I might have to abandon my plans to stay in and recover! Last night might have been my favorite night out.

I met Rhi (check out her infamous blog at Rhinpink.com) for a bottle of wine (David Hill Pinot Noir-yum!) and crostini and sirloin pizza at Vino Pardiso around 5:30pm and we were off . . . . talking a million miles a minute and promising not to ever go so long without getting drunk and smoking menthols together. Let's just clarify this point: it had been TWO MONTHS! Btw- VP has a killer happy hour. 1/2 off a bottle of vino with the purchase of a snack. We found out what "speck" was. My vote was for a raisin and Rhi was like, "Huh?" It turned out to be a thin slice of meat, kind of akin to prosciutto. We ate out speck and drank our bottle and then headed out the door for some meet and greets for the Pearl District! (Yes, I am that unprofessional.)
Our first stop was Fez Studio. As were were walking over, with the obligatory Camel menthol hanging out of our lower lip (with fresh lipgloss of course!) we spied a dark figure in the shadow . . . and sure enough it was David! (David Bliss this time, co-owner of Fez Studio!) I pounced on him like a cat and the look on his face was priceless- he had been caught- SMOKING! :) Like we cared, we were too! I introduced Rhi and we all headed inside for champagne and pampering. Fez saw me and was like, "Your hair is soooo straight- it looks amazing." This is what I love about Fez, he is actually THAT sincere. And he notices all the little things that none of the shit-heads I hang around with ever notice! He is such a doll. I adore him. I wish I could wrap him up and take him with me everywhere. He's the biggest confidence booster in the world.

We ooohed and ahhed and then had to depart for Circle Studio. They are a new member and I had never met Kari before, so let me gush for a minute. SHE IS DARLING! So sweet and full of excitement. She has this beautiful new studio and if you meet her you know she's going to make it because of all her enthusiasm and personality. What a gem. She even told me nearby neighbors have come out to sign up for classes. (This please me immensely because this is the whole mission of the PDBA.) We took out shoes off, looked around, networked and then were offered a to-go plate of Saint Cupcake dot cupcakes and were off.

The last and final journey of the night was Leonardo's on Lovejoy. We met up with Josh and he bought us cannoli, more crostini, Basil Mojitos, Limencello Cosmo's and he offered me a ride home. (Ummm, actually I had to ask, but it wasn't like I had to "twist off" his arm. He'll get it.)

We dropped Rhi at her car and rode the Land Rover off into the land of happily ever after. Actually we just drove over the Broadway Bridge and into Irvington where I live. After I got home, I scarfed some of my delish cupcakes and took my drunk ass to bed. (Unfortunately after a few drunken-dial texts to unmentionable boys. Dumb me.)

I'm on my way back to Fez's right now for a "Sultry, smokey-eye make-over." Yay! I'm sure that will help reel them in tonight. Wish me luck!