A New York Minute

Some stuff (the non-new york minute kind) has been going down. Some of it is good and some of it is bad but it is in general overwhelming. I have not been here at 'She Sure is' in weeks. I am beginning to get phone calls and emails and twitter PMs and facebook messages and concerns. So I say 'Thanks, friends'. You remind me to get it in gear. Today I am in Hawaii (WHAT?? WHAT!?), but here is what I've been up to for the last whiles-- prior to my exodus, as always, in bullets.

• I had a moment that left me completely out of my element walking terrified through a windy Union Square in search of something that I nearly always have with me. Think Sex and the City and then feel sorry for me.
• Then this happened....................................maybe this picture and the previous experience are related and maybe they are not...
  
• I stayed out 'til 3am on a Monday night
• I ate out curbside under an umbrella in the pitch dark, with the beautiful and talented Ashley Bryant until the wee hours.
• People thought we were drunk. We were sober. Giggles and belly laughs and hand clapping were involved.
• I get incredibly clairvoyant during those kind of evenings that take you from one place and leave you some place else entirely
• I listened to a hell of a lot of Black Tambourine
  
• I supported a close friend through an evening of Golden Girl's Trivia (of which I watched one episode in 2003) It was very dramatic evening and emotions rode high.
  
  
• I became all kinds of obsessed with this unique and intricate but simple vintage earring
  
  
  as sported by the very awesome Cami Bird who I am friends with IRL and on Pinterest -- which I wish were real life.
• I partied at a friend's baby's birthday - the big 2.0 (It shocks and awes me that I'm at an age where baby birthday parties are my MO). Incidentally, this birthday marked my first time at their newly bought home. I took a few pictures of el bebe' (who is just as beautiful as can be) but my focus was on the view...
  
•  I rode the new East River Ferry - soon to be a normal part of my every day, from Williamsburg to DUMBO from which I can walk home. $4 people, $4!
  
  
• I had friends over for a rousing game of draw/write/squeal with laughter. I'll detail it when I get back to Brooklyn town, as I am currently in Hawaii -- I wasn't sure if I mentioned that part before....
  
• I went to a BBQ with a bunch of boys on 4th avenue. It was kind of like a frat party. In the beginning it was nice and calm. Then it got crazy. There was a fun time to be had on a couch with a new friend. It was our job to run commentary on everyone coming through the front door. This is mainly a photo of Tim, who does an exceptional job of letting me be 'one of the guys'.
  
• There was an interesting circle story that came in to a round. It goes like this -- I met a boy at a friend's gig last year. I had a crush on him. He had a crush on me -- i thought. Then I went to a New Year's eve party and saw him there. He was kind of a douche. He got drunk as a skunk while I realized my crush was ill-fated. He was none of the cute that I had previously found alluring. He didn't acknowledge that he had previously met me or that he had once rearranged his journey home to ride the train with me to Carroll. He acted as if he'd never tried to peek down my shirt with that sidelong 'I just want to sit next to you' move or that he'd focused a large amount of energy on flirting with me. I was mildly offended, but mostly upset that I had misunderstood his crush. I was also put-out and overwhelmed as I spent the New Year dodging a ridiculously drunk girl who had decided we should make-out. I did that "if i never see that guy again..." thing. I then saw him at several parties. I cut a wide path at each, doing my best to ignore-slash-avoid him. 
  
  Then.... I saw him at this frat boy party on 4th ave. He was overly flirty. I raised an eyebrow. He asked my name. I said, "I've met you before." I was fine leaving it at that. I went to get a drink. He cut a direct line to me and said, "Wait, i know where I've met you! I met you at a bar in Manhattan last year! On Avenue A?? At a gig?? Do you remember me? We rode the train home together!" He then recounted the evening to me, called me 'adorable' multiple times and spent a large part of the party tattooed to my hip. VINDICATED - disinterested, but VINDICATED. I didn't have the heart or humility to inform him that we'd met since -- but that he had been a drunken jerk-chicken.
• I had a marvelous walk home at 3am right as the Summer turned in to Fall. I love when just walking in NYC can give you goosebumps.
• I attended a Fall Dream Music recital where the lovely Miss Rachel showcased her now mad-piano-playing skills. I floated away on a classical cloud. There was even an accordion duet.
  

•  As a result I got to be totally inspired by a friend who three years ago decided to try something completely new. She now has a major talent and a gift to share just resting at her fingertips. It made me wonder how I could be growing? It was a fantastic thing to be a part of.  I feel incredibly lucky to have scored an invite to such a select listening party.
• I invented Fall Booze Cake
  It is mainly rum cake -- but with cardamom and cinnamon and pumpkin too. Apparently it has way too much rum in it to be an acceptable addition to a tea party with Mormon friends...
• I attended a tea party with Mormon friends...
• I went to a silent art auction where my friend Ultra Violet had a her pieces honoring 9/11 featured
  
• I finally bought my beloved cintiq I've been saving for since the dawn of time.
  
• I made a plate to match my couch, because that's how I roll.
• I hosted a photo shoot and when it got rained out I hosted another.
• I opened an ETSY shop for my gramma, showcasing her totally rad Glitter Glittens -- the reason for said photoshoot.
  
•  I stopped the world and developed some illustrations for a card game bid.
   
• As a result I reread The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
• I drew the hell out of some Dorothy concepts:

  

  This one was my favorite, but let's face it -- there were lots that were almost my favorite.

• I had the time of my life, truly in awe -- you know that way you rarely are after age eight -- at the DUMBO Arts festival. They lit up the Brooklyn Bridge the way it should be every friggin' night of my life, and as it will be every single night in my dreams... 
  
  
  

• I dropped every single piece of clothing I own at the cleaners.
• I stayed crazy-late at job-job, almost forgetting that if I didn't pick up my laundry I'd have nothing to pack  for a 5am plane ride on my way to a two week vacation.
• I ran home and grabbed said laundry at 9:02PM - barely the nick of time.
• I crossed the street to my apartment, eager to leave for my vacation but meloncholy to leave Brooklyn, trudging along under the weight of 25 pounds of fresh clean clothing.
• I turned the corner, only to find....
• Jenpal! -- wearing a sweater I'd left at her house during our last play date -- eager to return to my belonging. It was the luckiest.
• We jumped and frolicked on the corner.
• I marveled at how friends can truly make everything a hundred times better.
• I packed my bags, trying to keep to my packing list: 2 dresses, 4 T-shirts, 2 pairs of jeans, 2 beach cover ups, 4 swim suits and 2 sweatshirts and not much else....
• I got on a plane
• I made my way to Seattle (a dream)
• I stayed for days of fun in Washington
• I got on another plane 
• I had a Diet Coke spilled all over me.
• I arrived in Hawaii for a week of tanning and swimming and sand in the suit (a more familiar but just as wonderful dream)

So that's the ever after you've been missing, more or much less. I am so happy to be blogging to you now, from where I sit, nestled under a sprawling Hawiian quilt, overlooking the ocean as obscured by palm tree silhouettes. I'm fresh from a game of Bananagrams. Mission Impossible III blasts from the TV while the Duchess (who I have missed sorely) attends to her nightly beauty ritual. I am thus left to blog and chill under a kitchy ceiling fan (one of the things I miss most about island life, I assure you). After a day of swimming and sunning and pie, I simply must retire, but only for a bit. My sabatical is over - well as far as She Sure is Sketchy is concerned. I hope this time has found you as good as ever and happier too.