Another Birthday and an Unexpected Restaurant Selection

I got up this morning and ran three miles in 24 minutes. I haven't run that fast in a year. Sure it was flurrying, but with my new running tights (don't make fun, bitches! They're warm!) and coat, plus my favorite Saucony running shoes, I was good to go. The main problem with running when I visit my parents is that it's not runner/biker friendly like back home. There are no sidewalks or paths for me to stay on  directly outside of the complex they live in, so my best bet is to run through the townhouse community and around each of its courtyards two times. Ordinarily, this takes me about thirty minutes-a nice leisurely run, but today, I ran my pants off (alright, so it's a hyperbole! I was still wearing 'em when I got home, but not for long!). I was so pleased with myself when I climbed the stairs to my parents' townhouse until I felt like I very well might throw up the two cups of coffee I downed before leaving the house. Luckily, both of my parents were on different phones when I felt my stomach turning and my father shoved the third into my hand so I would answer it leaving no time to succumb to my  stomach's unhappiness.

But, enough of that. Who's up for a recap of the last few days?

We've been getting slammed with snow on and off, but Monday we were snow-free and I headed to White Plains to catch up with Carrie, one of my bridesmaids, to check out bridesmaid dresses and to hang out. It was a day nothing short of wonderful. We walked, took the train, chatted and found two dresses that we both loved for her bridesmaid attire. When we left the fabulous loft-like bridal store, we headed back to the train, but got distracted by a carousel which we couldn't pass up. Since Carrie hasn't posted any approved photogs yet, this is going to have to do. I think she looks glamorous...sort of like a celeb turning the tables on the paparazzi, don't you agree?

I suddenly recall having posted about this day already. Woops! Sorry all...let's just call it an excuse to post a pic of Carrie and the carousel :) We had a blast!

Tuesday, we were iced in. Literally. The weather was nothing short of a nightmare and my dad's poetic description serves best to describe it: It looks like glass. So we all bummed around, read, watched CSI and SVU and Law and Order (you were totally hoping for another abbreviation on the last one after those first two, right? Sorry to disappoint!). I don't know what will become of me now that I'm so used to cable! This holiday has spoiled me. Not to mention both D and I have learned just how much we both love the show House! What will we do without him in our lives??? 

Wednesday we were stuck inside again-more crystal weather. We ordered pizza and didn't shower all day.

Alas, today was clear and it was my Aunt Barb's 46th birthday. After running, showering and finally figuring out how to use a flat iron for curling my hair (pics to come), we took off for the restaurant. Little did I know we were headed to the exact restaurant I worked at on and off through college and for, at least, eight months between college and moving to Pittsburgh for my masters. 

Cosimo's is closest to my heart of all the places I worked. Whenever I left for a new endeavor, that inevitably fell through, they always had a place for me when I came back, even if they didn't need more staff at the time. I was lucky to have them and I learned a lot in the clips of time I worked there and gathered a tremendous amount of writing material, as well. Some of my favorite stories stem from my days at Cosimo's-meeting the Young Republican Group's president whose face I laughed in and turned away from when he tried to kiss me and instead got my ear, the Secret Admirer flowers and stuffed monkey I got on Valentine's day-left in my car only moments after I arrived at work (freaked me out-like someone was watching and waiting for me to pull in and park), all the stories and people I met while bartending, the Christmas parties we had when the kitchen staff would get so drunk they'd almost fling their dancing partners (usually us wait staff) into the buffet table...and the list goes on. Good stuff. Mostly, though, they were family. The same familiar faces greeted me tonight that I knew over six years ago now ('could it really be that long?' we asked ourselves as we embraced, reminisced and said our "hellos"). In a way, it was sad that some of them "never got out," but, still, I was glad for their sincerity, their genuine care, and, most of all, their consistency-proving that 'home' is a place you can always go back to.

So we got our own special table in the banquet room of the restaurant and top notch treatment. The room was private and isn't ordinarily opened unless there's a private party or a holiday going on. My Aunt Barb is the one to the back right in the pink sweater. Beside her is my UJ, Mom, U. Teddy, Papa, me, Cousin Jamey and Aunta Rah (Aunt Ronnie). 

(Fun fact: Aunt Barb shares her birthday with her father, my grandfather-Rocco (Robert, but Rocco was his legit birth certificate name). 

We started out with a toast to the birthdays and a nonstop eating fest. While Cosimo's hasn't really changed, the menu (at least the dessert menu) has...and it was fabulous.

We bombarded Aunt Barb with cards, tequila shots (it's her drink of choice, just like my brother Amit) and food. I had some calamari and focaccia (they all had antipasti and bruschetta, too, but both had balsamic-which I can't have for allergy reasons), the grilled chicken pesto penne for dinner, a dessert they called the "Vesuvius" (think thin chocolate ganache bottom, tiny drizzled layer of caramel on it, cheesecake, layer of chocolate mousse and more chocolate ganache on the edge...ouch! It was sooooo good I thought I'd go into cardiac arrest from all the sugar right then and there), a dirty martini (which in Cosimo land  is served in a full martini glass with an extra two drinks in a glass of ice with a strainer) and an "Irresistible Kiss" coffee with two kinds of digestifs...one was Bailey's, but by then I was a bit too tipsy to remember the other. And of course, they all came and sang and she made a great, big, top secret wish that I hope will come true. Aunt Barb was still fairly young when we were kids. For a while, during my childhood, she and my Grandma lived with us on the top floor of our old Victorian house (it was originally the attic, but was redone into an apartment when they decided to move out of Queens). I still can't see her any older than the 22 year-old she was when first moving into our house. I suppose part of me never will.

Then, we packed up all the leftover food, handed it Jamey's way (there was so much food and no way I needed to pack in more carbs tomorrow after the Carb-fest we had tonight...I have a
wedding gown to squeeze into...remember??? You all know I'm not usually THIS obsessive about nutrition and fitness) and posed for a few pics before heading home. The one here on the right is of me and Mario-who used to be my manager and still is the manager at Cosimo's. We are standing in front of the brick oven where they make pizzas and just at Mario's shoulder, that small visible rectangle, is a memorial to Cosimo DiBrizzi who owned and created all the Cosimo's. He was a partial owner of my Cosimo's (the one we're standing in), but passed away the year after I moved on and seeing the photo and plaque dedicated to him was the first I knew of his death. Of course it surprised and saddened me, but he'd be proud to know how spirited the place still is. As for me and Mario, I'm ducking down because he's rather short and asked me to duck so he didn't feel "like such a shrimp." :) How could I say no? This guy has cleaned and bandaged my bloodied, cut finger before (bread station-sharp knives...I was in a hurry. We cleaned the whole thing out, though, and they bought a metal glove so it wouldn't happen again!)From left to right, again: Aunt Barb (the birthday girl), Jamey, Mom, UJ, Me, A. Ron, U. Ted, Papa. I think we were mostly laughing in this pic (cus most of us were drunk...only my dad and Aunt Ron drove so the rest of us could rest on our way home and relax, knowing we were in sober, safe hands).

My mom's side of the family is mostly Italian, so you can imagine what our feasts and holidays are like (if you're a regular reader, you saw the NYE dinner pics!). Here's a small taste of our good-byes. 

Don't look at drunk me being a cheeseball if that's at all possible...check out the endless hugging in the background and my U. Teddy waiting his turn while UJ waits for U. Ted to pay attention and give him a hug! It's, essentially, an endless cycle of hugging and good-bye-ing. This may be the last time I see my A.Ron, U.Ted, A. Barb and cousin Jamey until my wedding! Though I will see UJ and A. Patti (who couldn't come tonight, sadly enough) on Saturday when Mom and I go back into the city to look at gowns for her. I am enjoying all this family time! Can you tell?

And in Wedding News...D found an awesome videographer named Cathy Evangelista. I figured out what gift I think I'm going to give D before our wedding ceremony (you know, during when we don't get to see each other. I hope you weren't being perverted when you first read the "gift" part! This is a PG-13 (at worst) blog!). I ordered part of the BM's gifts, mostly picked linens with Connie, checked out more flower options, saw many of the dresses my ladies will be wearing...and there's more, but I'm so tired now I can't remember. And, trust me, it's been nonstop wedding for the last couple of "iced in" days, too!

That's all for now! Tomorrow: maybe more running and wedding stuff . Saturday-Mother of the Bride gown shopping. Sunday-Missouri-bound. Hope you're all well and have settled back into work smoothly (if you're back to work!).

xoxoxo

Neesha

PS-D, if you're reading this: what do you think of this shirt on Jamey? My cousin wants to know. He and I had a good ten minute discussion on it. I think you'd dig it because it reminds me of one you have only in a different color. Love you and miss you and see you Sunday!!!

Turkey Day is Upon Us!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Here's a pic of my tiny Mom holding up a bottle of Riesling she purchased while we were in Sam's Club yesterday. Of course, she's serving this at dinner tonight, she doesn't ordinarily buy bottles of Riesling the size of her torso (though they're not far off-as you can see, she's tiny but you can't win em all!).

Yesterday, Connie (Mom) and I did the shopping and I felt fairly ill, really, so I went to bed early. While the rest of the fam had Chinese food for dinner, I had a tasty sandwich, some mixed Indian veggies and water before hitting the sack. I didn't know if my brother Amit was really interested in doing this morning's Turkey Trot 5k with me or whether he'd just said that to be nice two weeks ago on the phone when we talked about it. When he didn't mention it after he arrived yesterday, I was pretty sure he'd, perhaps, changed his mind. So before I went to bed last night, I casually mentioned I'd be getting up rather early for coffee and oatmeal before heading over to the race.

Immediately, Mom and Amit said they wanted to come and expressed surprise that I was still planning to run it for two reasons 1-I'm kind of sick and 2-I haven't really run much since I injured my knee in the Xtreme Run nearly two weeks ago. I knew I wanted to do it no matter what. I didn't expect to run well or even close to my best time so my expectations were realistic and I figured I'd take it easy on the knee and stop if I needed to walk...etc. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I was deadset on making this Thanksgiving something other than sad recollection of family members who have passed on this year. The week has already been riddled with tears on my mom's part. I imagine if my mother had passed away just a few months ago, I, too, would feel fairly heart stricken. Especially since Grandma always spent the holidays with us.

I wouldn't have been surprised if my mom wanted to stay in bed and if Amit decided he didn't feel up to it-after all, I don't know how he's not sick when his entire strand of the family is! But, this morning, he and I rose at 5:30am. I made coffee for us, had a bowl of high fiber cinnamon swirl oatmeal, changed and we headed out to the race.

Amit and I before the race

This was the first race Amit's ever run outside of high school track and warm-ups for other sports he played all those years ago. He's six-years older than me and hurt both of his knees sometime in his 16-year-old timeframe. So badly, in fact, he had reconstructive surgery...etc...many times. Since then, clearly, he's been careful and never overdone it and only does what he feels confident he can accomplish with no qualms about walking if he feels it's necessary. Today was no exception.

When we arrived, we got our registration packets, numbers and shoelace chips (he was excited about the long sleeved t-shirt-but aren't we all excited about the t-shirts we get??? I still get excited about them!). I strung his time chip onto his shoe for him since he really had no idea what the hell it was for while he pinned on his number. When we started out, we ran together, but he made it very clear he wanted me to go on ahead so he could take his time and not feel like he was holding me back (I did this, although ordinarily I stay back with Fi when he asks me to do it, only because I was afraid Amit would push himself beyond what he should do because I was right there with him-it's a family trait. We'll overexert even if we know better sometimes and I did not want this to be one of those times considering it was his first).

The problem with this race was-I had to keep my car keys on me since they didn't have a place to store our bags. This, ordinarily, wouldn't be a problem except that I stuck them in a pouch in the front of my running shirt (like a hoodie pocket) and every time it slapped against my bladder it weakened it just THAT much more. Before I was even an entire mile into the race I had to pee like I'd never gone before. Unfortunately, when I ran off course to a little building beside the golf course that ran parallel to our course, the door was locked and I was S.O.L. I ran the rest of the race having to pee so badly I nearly considered just going in my pants. When I finally hit the one mile marker I couldn't have been happier.

Mom was supposed to be at the finish line (she wanted to come later than we were getting there and I don't blame her), but I had my doubts as I sped up the last half mile. I took the last turn and got on my horse for the finish line when I heard mom yelling and saw her right next to the clock taking pictures. It was awesome! Mom has never seen me run anywhere since high school, either, so it was pretty great to get her out there and have her waiting for us at the end.

We waited a bit for Amit and when she got a little nervous as nearly ten minutes had gone by since I crossed, (remember, he has bad knees!), I jogged back and found him-a little limpy on the right knee, but still on track. He had paused just a moment before I got to him to walk a few feet. When he saw me coming back, he said, immediately, "I want to run the rest of the way" so I jumped in alongside him, assured him the finish line was near and we rounded the final turn together with him ahead of me and me shouting to my mom and pointing at him so she could get a pic. Needless to say, that elicited some laughter from the crowd, but Mom said she couldn't have been prouder of us both-especially Amit.

It was a big deal to have my brother run with me and, later, he told me he was really proud of himself. He'd never pushed himself to do a 5k race before and didn't even know if he could do it, but was so proud of himself for being able to run nearly the whole way in around 40 minutes. I have to say, I was incredibly proud of him, too. Mom was touched he wanted so badly to do the run with me and, honestly, I felt that, as well. I asked my whole family if they wanted to come and do it or the Fun Walk and none of them did. When Amit said he would, I was surprised, but didn't want to get too excited for fear he might change his mind.

But, he didn't change his mind and he completed the whole race. At the same time, he understood why I love running races like this so much now (thanks to Fi for showing me how great they are, especially with someone you love!) and felt a whole new sense of pride and accomplishment for himself. I was glad to be a part of that and am thankful, this morning/afternoon, for my brother who came to run with me and my Mom who came to cheer!

And, I'm thankful, all the people I love around the world are safe from harm and, relatively, happy and healthy!

More later
xoxo
N