Goodbye, New York. Tomorrow I fly back to Wisconsin (Chicago, anyway) with Wenxiao. It's been a short week. Even with all the walking -and the &#%!!ing five-story climb up and down every time we leave the apartment- it's really flown by.

Today I walked down to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Four blocks, I think? Remarkably short walk. Wenxiao had to pick up her boyfriend at the train station so I went by myself (my first solo NYC excursion! A whole four blocks- lol) Did the Egyptian exhibit, the fashion one (so friggin cool. I felt so smart for recognizing stuff in it), part of the American wing, different personal collections... I'm not even sure what I saw. It was ridiculous, WAY too much museum. They need to, like, put hotels in the museum so you can have a nap, or stay for the night, and take another crack in the morning. It's way too much to do in one go. Ahh, I just gave up and came home after three hours (so wimpy, I know)

So tired. We went to a Turkish restaurant on 81st called Beyoglu tonight. We being: Wenxiao, Iggy (her bf), Bailey, Neil (her friend) and, of course, moi. I had zucchini pancakes and dilo (?) rolls filled with feta cheese. Very good. It was a little heavy for me, but that was just a today thing. Wenxiao made me scrambled eggs and toast for lunch, and I couldn't finish that- today has been an off day, food-wise. I had to take some medication during dinner, too, so that isn't helping :/

And tomorrow I leave. Wenxiao and I are getting up at the crack of dawn to go to the airport- no idea if we're cabbing it or not. Once we get through check in, I'll probably go to her gate with her since she flies an hour and a half before I do. On a different airline. Yeah, it's a pain, but $100 price difference is worth it. Then I go to my gate and wait. Once she touches down in Chicago, she'll have to wait for me. Then we're taking a bus back to Wisconsin, and picking up the car at the bus station.

It took me 11 hours last time. I am not looking forward to tomorrow.

But, fingers crossed, we'll get home in time to see my cousin Shawn. He lives down in Alabama so we don't see him very often, but he's coming up to see Shanna (his sister) He leaves Saturday morning, though, so I don't have much of a window. And I have to call Neil. He called me yesterday to see if I wanted to do anything (completely forgetting that I was out-of-town) You remember Neil, Whit. You saw him at Summerfest. I'm pretty sure Deb was in the bathroom, but I remember you saying he was hot ;) He is a sweetheart. And he's in town through the 14th (he lives in Vegas now) so


I like Ashlee Simpson's new song. Ugh. (listen)

Blah New York! I feel like the most boring person here, but if Wenxiao's anything to go by, I'm not as odd as I think. We went shopping today in Soho. I bought some stuff at Uni Glow and a sweater at Zara. There were so many things I liked at Zara (mostly coats- they have very cute, very fun coats here. None of this 'Everything must be black!' mentality that runs rampant in Wisconsin) but I'm on a budget and a coat would eat up pretty much all of it. So instead I have two sweaters, two long sleeve shirts, three cute Japanese t-shirts and a pair of jeans. And ~ $60 left. Tomorrow we're doing vintage!

Around 6pm we met a few of Wenxiao's friends at a resturant called Bar Pitti. Apparently famous people eat there sometimes (not this time) Bailey (girl, not dog) said she'd seen Julianne Moore there, and some actor whose name I can't remember, but definitely recognized. I can see why they do. It's a small, very cozy, Italian resturant and the food is great without being absurdly expensive. We had five people and it averaged out at ~ $22 a person. That's with wine.

So it was Wenxiao and I (obviously), Bailey, girlfriend of Wenxiao's, snarky tiny thing (you guys would like her); and Ty and Brandon, who used to work with Wenxiao. Ty was sweet and sort of spacey. He was on the other end of the table so I didn't talk to him much, but Bailey thought he was kind of random and odd. I liked him. Brandon was hot. And sweet. And artistic. They're both in graphic design- Ty did all the layout and graphic stuff for Urban Outfitters. Brandon does CD covers and posters for bands here in NY. And they also work at FactSet doing really boring, piddly shit, which made me feel better ;)

They were really nice to me, though. I'd been so freaked about the whole thing (I am monumental suck with new people) But they really included me and responded so well to the art thing. Most of the people Wenxiao's worked with/been friends with are in more academic/technical fields, they don't seem appreciate art as a talent or a discipline. It's more that competitive smarty pants things, and let's face it, I'm not going to win that against those people. I feel like a cave man with those people. But yeah.. Ty and Brandon were really cool, and I'm finally comfy around Bailey. Bails is cool, she's just in a rough spot right now (nasty ass, very public break up and oh yeah, works with the ex) so it's touchy there, ya know? That's not the easiest time to play Let's Be Friends!

So tomorrow we're going vintage- that's the plan, anyway. No idea what we're doing Wednesday. Thursday Wenxiao's boyfriend is in town (he lives in Boston) and then we leave early Friday morning. Wow. Hadn't realized it was so close.

Yeah. She's has a great doctor, one of the top in the country for that laser surgery she had. I think it helps her to know that they really are doing everything that they can. Shanna's always been a tough one. If anybody can get through something like this, it's her.

Mitten State? I've never heard that, but we do look like one- Wisconsin and Michigan make a nice pair. We are going to stay here (in our mitten) for Christmas. My grandparents, Mike and Rudy, Shanna and Steve, and the madness that is our Catholic side, all live within an hour of Whitewater. Usually Tom comes home for Christmas, but he's spending this year with my mom's mom down in Charlotte. It's her first Christmas without my grandpa so Tom will be down there along with my cousin Stevie and his wife. Probably my aunt Cheryl too (she's in Georgia)

I'm going to New York this Friday. Wenxiao invited me out to spend a week with her, and then we're going to fly home together for Christmas. The whole thing feels very surreal at this point. I have no idea what we're going to do, but it should be fun :)

Bleh. Nasty, nasty weather here, far too much rain and flooding. Hopefully it's nicer where you guys are, but I have a sinking feeling it's just as bad.

Went to Irish Fest on Friday with Chali (which was blessedly rain-free) It was a lot of fun. We watched the dancers and listened to bits of different bands; visited the dog area (I still desperately want an Irish Wolfhound when I 'grow up'); did some shopping; and sat out on Lake Michigan and watched all the strange things go by. There was a barge that was so big we thought it was a building until it started moving, and a group of 5-6 people riding around on the peninsula on segways. Those things are at least $350 a day to rent, so 5-6 people? Craziness, and all just to ride around a little strip of land.

Oh and there was a fire juggler this year! First he did three pins, holding two and balancing the third on his head. He let that one fall off behind him, kicked it way up into the air, threw the other two up and started juggling. And then he did six! We noticed about halfway through that he was conveniently located right next to the wading pool, you know, just in case ;)

Gaelic Storm was awesome. My throat still hurts from screaming so much, and my hands felt weird for a while from all the clapping, but it was so much fun.

Saturday I had my sword class, which is also in Milwaukee. I'm really starting enjoy it even if I do suck (Jim insists otherwise- Patria even said I was doing really well - but I feel silly most of the time) It was really annoying to do it inside, though. Usually we're outside because all the movements big, extended, stab the guy on horseback kind of things. But it was raining so we were inside and the room just wasn't large enough for it. I kept almost hitting the wall, the ceiling, the Beth- and every time someone actually did hit something, Jim would kind of growl at us. His son Noah had been there earlier, pretending to be a mummy (he's five) tottering around the room making the same noise. I guess it was just easier than saying 'Eyes follow sword!' every time one of us whacked a wall or an air duct (or in my case, the floor)

Sunday, Milwaukee again. By that point I kind of felt silly for driving home. ANYWAY my grandma, my aunt, my mom and I went to my cousin's bridal shower Sunday. She's getting married the 25th (we found out maybe two weeks ago) and expecting twins! I've honestly never seen her this happy. She's usually not my favorite person because frankly, I don't think she likes me at all, so we tend to keep our distance. At holiday things we both hug everyone else, but rarely hug each other. Yesterday, when we were leaving, I went up to her and said 'I'm sorry we won't be able to make it to the wedding. I just want you to know that I am so happy for you.' and we had one of those tight, genuine hugs. Made me so glad I opened my mouth for once.

So that was my weekend. In between there's been a lot of attempts at walking Bailey. We'll get halfway down the block and have to turn around because it's raining too hard. The first time it wasn't that bad when we left the house so we got further away and then once it started pouring, Bailey wouldn't move. I stood over him and blocked the rain while he cowered at my feet. Then we hid under a stand of pine trees and then- we ran home. Not as fast as he might have liked, but the last time I ran full out in the ran with him I almost broke my ankle. Not doing that again.

Oh and Wenxiao's coming home Wednesday!!! I am SO excited to see her!!