MAKE A WISH

Sometimes Adrian will wipe an eyelash off my face and let me blow it off his finger and make a wish. Yesterday, on my first wish, it didn't move off his finger. He told me to try it again, so I did - with the same wish. It still didn't move. When Adrian found out I had made the same exact wish, he told me I couldn't do that. I needed to make a new wish. So I did, and the thing still didn't move. Now I was getting a little upset because my two wishes were important to me, and that insubordinate eyelash didn't want to go anywhere. Finally, Adrian moved the eyelash so it was barely hanging on to his finger, and told me to make one last wish. So I wished that all my wishes would come true. I was trying to cover all my bases - and that eyelash knew it. It sat there, staring at me. I gave up - I wanted to continue my grocery shopping (oh yes, this all happened in the Safeway ice cream aisle). Adrian thought it was funny. He said I couldn't wish all my wishes would come true. That that was too broad, or selfish, or something. I say, the next time you wipe an eyelash off my face, make sure it's not weighed down by sleep.

I AM A HYPOCRITE

I recently told Katie that she couldn't wear jeans to a bridal shower, because it's an occasion that warrants something a little classier. She completely disagreed with me, and yet, when my thinking was backed by our friend Emilee, she succumbed and wore an outfit that she wasn't totally comfortable in because of me. Imagine her indignation when a majority of the women at the shower were in jeans. It's not like either of us were overdressed at all. It was just that I had been proved wrong by this particular shower. Then later that night, I realized I hadn't worn jeans to a bridal shower since my bridal shower. Yes, I couldn't believe it. I wore jeans to my own bridal shower. It hit me hard, the hypocrisy of it all. What I should have said was that you can't wear jeans to a bridal shower after 30. There you go.

AMSTERDAM

As you may or may not know, Adrian and I are moving to Amsterdam for the months of May and June, followed by a week in Jamaica, and then back to a different European destination for July and August. It's quite exciting, but at the same time overwhelming. Or, it just feels that way to me since I am the most Type A personality I know. I've made a list of all the things that need to be done and I'm slowly checking things off. I've already started purging and packing - though making my house cluttered with boxes is hard for me. Everything just looks so messy. This will be my life until April 8 when Steven comes to help us move all of it into storage.

THE ONLY TIME IT'S OKAY TO GAIN 5 POUNDS

Katie and I were in Chicago this past weekend visiting our friend Emilee. Now, we love Em, don't get us wrong, but two of the biggest reasons we visit Chicago is to eat at two of the best restaurants on earth: Rose Angelis and The Bongo Room. Rose Angelis serves huge portions of some of the best Italian food ever. And everyone in Chicago knows it. We got there at 7:45pm on Saturday night and were quoted a wait time of 2 hours - completely expected. We were lucky though - we actually snagged a table in their bar area (sans smoke, thank god) and started on wine and a pizza appetizer. If you don't get a table there, you can wait at the neighborhood bar down the street and they'll call you there when your table is ready, but smoking is still allowed in bars in Chicago, so Katie and I were happy with our luck. Once seated in the dining room, just an hour and forty-five minutes later, we feasted on a shared meal of salad, entrees, and their famous bread pudding in caramel sauce for dessert. We even had them take the bread pudding in the middle of dessert to add more sauce. The next morning, I kid you not, we had breakfast at The Bongo Room. You'd think we wouldn't have needed to eat for two days, but how do you resist raspberry-cheescake pancakes in vanilla custard sauce, chocolate french toast covered in bananas and caramel sauce, feta cheese and red pepper eggs benedict, and a sweet potato black bean burrito? You just can't do it. It's impossible. These are the types of meals you dream about...until the next time you're in Chicago.

EXEMPLARY SERVICE

Last night, Katie and I met her friend Nhu for dinner in Union Square. Nhu was in town from Portland and wanted to have a nice dinner on her company's dime. I chose Postrio because Adrian and I had been there once before and we had had an excellent meal, as well as a terrific server. Postrio is an upscale (Wolfgang Puck) restaurant and usually I would have dressed up for the occasion, but since Katie and I spent the afternoon shopping, we were dressed down. No matter, as Adrian would say, girls can get away with wearing jeans to fancy places as long as the rest of us looks nice. We were seated in a small alcove off the main dining room (was it the jeans?), but once seated, with the jeans hidden, we were treated to another outstanding meal with an excellent server. Our server helped Nhu pick a wine, she helped Katie find vegetarian options on the menu, she recommended desserts, she held our leftovers until the end of dinner - she was great. A different server walked me to the restroom when I stopped him to ask where it was. And a completely different guy in a suit, perhaps a manager, teased Katie by saying, "I think she is" over her shoulder when she was looking at an Us Weekly article about Britney Spears' possible pregnancy. (Don't even go there - we're three girls...there's bound to be a trashy magazine around no matter where we may be.) I could not recommend this place enough - it is everything a nice restaurant should be and more. And when our server asked if we had checked our coats or valeted our car and Nhu jokingly told her we were in the brand new Mercedes, she didn't miss a beat and responded she "would get our minks as well."

NAPA DELAYED

We were supposed to be in Napa today. Adrian just got a new macro lens for his camera and he wanted to go somewhere where there would be lots of opportunities for close-up photos. However, we didn't plan to wake up so late. Adrian hasn't been feeling well and that makes for lots of tossing and turning in bed, which keeps me up as well. We've postponed the trip until tomorrow, and anyone who wants to come can. Wine tasting and outlet shopping. It will be a good day.

THE IN-LAWS HAVE LEFT THE BUILDING

Did I really tell Adrian just a week ago that I was looking forward to visiting with his parents because I missed them? Missed them! It couldn't be. Seven long days later and I wept from happiness to see them off to Pasadena. Good luck Melissa and Kelvin, it's your turn.

"NO SLEEP, CUT DEEP"

Our first book club was a success. We delved into the psyche, answered important questions, and ate dinner. Then we laughed, a lot. Katie came over. We played Trivial Pursuit and she won. This was after she said that she would be horrible at the game because she didn't know anything. Well, she knew who Richard Simmons was and that was all she needed to know. I am in love with shadow boxes. I finished my book earlier this evening and I am so relieved. It helped that I read for two solid hours at 4am this morning when I couldn't sleep. It's so cold. I don't know how I'm going to handle Chicago in a few weeks.