Finding our way back

Last night, Jen Holland had a layover from Detroit to Montreal at LaGuardia from 11:30 pm until 6:30 am. I was supposed to meet her at the airport and camp out overnight, but I was sick with the flu, so she took a cab to my house. Before last night, we hadn't seen each other in seven years.


I designed the tattoo on her arm.


Her visit feels like a feverish dream.


I was much more mellow than usual because of flu exhaustion, but we still managed to have several photo shoots.






















Jen read through some of the letters she's written me in the past seven years. She wanted to understand why I thought she sounded like a self-help book.


We did a compare-and-contrast study of the letters she sent me right after I graduated from college and was living in San Francisco versus her more current letters. Her old letters were much more about day-to-day events. Her newer letters are more focused on self-reflection.


We went up to the roof and had a look around.


And then she was gone.

sugar, sugar

While strolling through the East Village, Riva and I tried out, Butter Lane cupcakes this afternoon.


Though the server was unfriendly, the smell, taste, and ambiance were delicious.


Butter Lane offers two cupcakes: vanilla or chocolate. Then you get to choose frostings from a list of eighteen.


Best friends/cupcakes forever.


We tried chocolate with coffee frosting,


and vanilla with cream cheese frosting.


Both were light, fulfilling, and in the top five of the New York cupcake choices.


Later on, we ran into Babycakes, the vegan bakery in the Lower East Side.


We figured why not make it two for two? We both tried the spelt-flour carrot cupcakes with vanilla frosting.


Pretty yummy for vegan.










It's not obvious from this picture, but Riva was overjoyed to learn that Babycakes serves Stumptown Coffee, a Portland bean, which she cherished back in her West Coast days. She broke her two-month break from coffee to revisit this treasure.

Enter cast of characters

Friday night, I met up with Abbey and her gang for pizza and sangria at Three of Cups.


Riva and Joe joined us, too.


The lighting isn't great for taking pictures, but that didn't stop me from trying. Here are Mike and Heather.


The ghosts of Erica, Nick, and Mike.










After dinner, Joe suggested a sweet stop at 16 Handles. It was almost warm enough to sit outside.

Nerdfest!

One of my favorite graphic novelists, Miss Lasko-Gross (left) turns out to be part of a local group of illustrators, comic artists, and graphic novelists who get together once a month for an evening of drawing and creating comics together. Paige, Joe, and I had a fun time, eating burgers, drinking cider, and drawing pictures.


Not to brag, but Joseph is a creative genius.


The group is super nerdy and really welcoming. I'm definitely going to try to go back next month.


And then, Riva arrived! She's my first out-of-town visitor for the weekend. Fun abounds.

Some kind of friendship

This week is socially packed to the brim. Before I start posting a pictures of all the visitors, I would like to say how annoyed I am that my coworker, Kelly foisted Amish Friendship Bread upon me. I love her, but I don’t have time for a project right now. Another coworker got out of it; she said, “I love you, Kelly, and I want your friendship, but I am planning on throwing out this gift.”

Along with my hectic schedule, the second problem with the Amish Friendship Bread situation is that I have to pass on three bags full of the mixture to three more friends. I hate to put other people out, and most of my friends would throw out the bag anyway. Why did I feel obligated to undertake this project?

I’m currently on Day 7. (Three more days until I bake my portion of the bread and pass on the rest to others.) More Amish Friendship Bread updates to come.

Everyone's cup of tea

Joseph and I went to Glens Falls because I wanted to revisit Cooper's Cave, where they make their own ice cream and their own sodas, creating the best Root Beer Float.


My favorite place in Glens Falls is Magic Forest off of Bloody Pond Road.


The park is closed in the winter.


Joe and I broke in and had a look around.


They still have a diving horse, which doesn't help me with my horse-phobia/hatred.


According to the website: "We recognize that a diving horse might not be everyone's cup of tea, but rest assured, our horse is not abused or forced to do anything he doesn’t want to."






Joe vs. Uncle Sam.










We had a photo adventure in Magic Forest's parking lot. It was a frightening and beautiful night.