Margaritas, Cupcakes, and Samosas

(transcribed from paper journal)

So lunch with Anne at Cowgirl was really super. We had frozen margaritas (me: blood orange, her: lime), sweet potato fries topped with pecans, a grilled veggie salad, and a grilled veggie wrap. We caught up on our lives, and it was so lovely. It definitely did not feel like it had been years and years since we last got together. Anne is so funny, fun, beautiful, and wise.

We headed out in the rain, Anne eschewing an umbrella completely and me gripping mine for dear life. And it's always exciting for a couple of Annie fans to stumble upon One Fifth Avenue.

We arrived at Crumbs, from where to no one's surprise Kymm requested a plain cupcake (but with coconut frosting!), and Anne got red velvet, I got Reese's (shock), and Shelley ordered a cappuccino cupcake.

We rode the subway up to see Kymm and had a nice talk on the train about the pointlessness of seeking a life-altering event that will suddenly make you happy but rather just trying to be at peace where you are, with who you are.

We went to Kymm's theater, posed with our cupcakes, and had a good visit. I parted ways with Anne (tragedy) and Kymm agreed to meet Shelley and me at the movie later.

I fetched Shelley at her ridiculously, insanely fancy office nearby and got to meet some of her work friends and we took a self-portrait in the bathroom, and we headed down to the Angelika, eating our cupcakes and talking about life and love. Kymm made it just in time and we settled in for The Namesake, which I liked very much, and which Kymm was so attuned to that she would start crying BEFORE anything sad happened. Shelley said that it was very faithful to the book, and I'm excited to read the copy I borrowed from her. I found Jacinda Barrett's wig annoying to distraction and thought that Kal Penn wasn't up to the level of the actors who played his parents, but he seemed to give it his best shot. The parents -- God. The parents were amazing. Every iota of each of their performances was so beautiful, so perfect. I was in love with them both, especially the dad.

After the movie, we headed to Indian Row (theme) and ended up at Taj Mahal on 6th, where luckily the food was very good because the ambiance was fouled by a very loud talker who spoke as if into a megaphone about topics too profane to mention in a family journal. Ugh! We split vegetable kurma, chicken and spinach biryani, samosas, and naan. Super delicious. It was just great, despite the idiot nearby, to sit down and have a nice dinner and some wine together. That sort of thing doesn't happen often enough. Look at my beautiful friend!

In short, it was great to spend the evening with her and to see where she works and also to see Anne and Kymm. Anne and I had lots of quality time and discussed a lot of heavy things that we somehow just understand about each other in a way that was really peaceful and inspirational, and it worked out well that Kymm could come to the movie because there is truly no better person to laugh and cry beside in an audience than the Mighty Kymm Zuckert.