Scenes From A Brunch: Ølsen (And Other Miscellany)

On Sunday, Norma and I went to Ølsen in Palermo Hollywood. The grilled veggies were especially tasty, but sadly, the Bloody Mary wasn't quite as good as its counterpart at Home Hotel--I like my breakfast-vodka nice and spicy. The company was excellent, as always.

The brunch soundtrack at Ølsen was Lady Gaga. It may come as a surprise to some of you that until very recently I hadn't listened to any Lady Gaga. I'm not sure why, exactly, considering my musical tastes.*

After all, this: isn't exactly a far cry from these:

Anyway, I'm now planning a Lady Gaga dance party with LFar, natch, in our underwear. And I'm going to teach this boy all the words to "Boys Boys Boys".

In other news, last week we had dinner with some friends and mentioned to them that we'd never tried chocotorta, a kind of ice-box cake that's practically the national dessert of Argentina. A week later one of them made us our very own chocotorta and I have not been able to keep my face out of it since it arrived. It kind of tastes like a McCain chocolate cake (the dessert of my childhood), only better, because it's made with dulce de leche.

Also, there WILL be Deep 'n Delicious at the Lady Gaga Underwear Dance Party.

* At one point not long after Ken and I started dating, I started to apologize for subjecting him to so much white-girl music, then stopped myself, because, hey, I AM a white girl. "It's true," he replied, "it's not false advertising."

P.S. HI LEE AND JEN! If you're not Lee and Jen, allow me to explain: Lee(roy) was my roommate for five gloriously formative months, back when I was oh-so-young and impressionable. He's the coolest, for reals, with the only possible exception being his grrlfriend, Jen. I'd been thinking about these guys a lot lately, and then they leave a comment right here on Ultra Fine Flair! Strange, only not really, because this is how the Universe gets things done.

Christmas Hangover

After many festive Christmas celebrations in Waterloo, we're back in NY just long enough to unpack, catch the Rockettes tomorrow night, then repack for a quick trip to Los Angeles for New Year's. Then we'll start Hotbody January to burn off the Bailey's. It was all worth it, of course.

P.S. Remember Charlie, the young lad for whose birth I undertook the Amazing Race almost two years ago? He's becoming quite a character.

The French Lifter

Tonight as I was making treats for tomorrow's festivities I was reminded of a conversation I had whilst in Waterloo back in April.

I was there for young Charlie's first birthday, and as I had been charged with baking his cake, I brought with me my usual cake-decorating implements, including my offset spatula:As our post-party hangovers were subsiding and I was packing up my belongings, I asked Dr. & Mr. Sirrah! if either of them had seen my offset spatula.

Sirrah!: No, I haven't seen it.

Greg (rooting through the drawers and holding up an offset spatula): Does this look like yours?

Me: I think that's mine, unless you guys have one like that.

Greg: I thought we did. Sirrah, do you know if this is our offset spatula?

Sirrah!: I thought that was a French lifter.

At that point, as it often does, the conversation deteriorated rapidly:

Me: Hey baby, let's try the French Lifter later.

Greg: I think I threw my back out performing the French Lifter last night.

Dog: Ooh, yeah, I love it when she does the French Lifter.

Sirrah! (rolling her eyes): I thought that's what it was called.

Back, then, to tonight, when just as Dog was leaving to meet his brother for a drink, he saw me holding the infamous utensil. "Ooh," he said, "had I known you were going to get out the French Lifter tonight, I wouldn't have made other plans."

Happy Birthday Charlie!

Delish.
Originally uploaded by Kitty LaRoux.

Charlie, the star of many an entry here at UFF, turns one today. We celebrated in Waterloo on the weekend with the birthday boy's friends and family. Somehow we even managed to squeeze in an episode of 90210, which was extra-enjoyable in our collective post-party stupor.

Unemployment!

For no particular reason I haven't blogged about this yet, but today I am enjoying my first of five days of unemployment before I start a Brand New Job on February 4. (My friend Larry suggested that starting a BNJ the day after the Super Bowl probably isn't a great idea, and he's right, but I didn't think of that at the time.) Right now I'm in Canada visiting the folks and Sirrah's family. We've enjoyed two fabulous brunches, at the Black Forest Inn and Langdon Hall (both recommended if you're in the area), and today has mostly involved playing with babies and dogs and trudging around in the snow. I expect tomorrow and Wednesday to be more of the same, and Wednesday evening I have a Very Important Date with not one but two of my absolute favourite people in the WHOLE WORLD. It's going to be good times.

At one point this morning I was surfing the internets and eating BBQ Fritos (I know, not exactly HBJ-friendly) and I thought, this is how unemployment should be. I highly recommend it.

Charlie at 5 Months

Remember The Amazing Race back in April, and the amazingly cute baby who started the whole thing?

He's now 5 months old:

Home Again Home Again

When I walked in the door last night, Memphis was lounging on the couch. She immediately got up, mewed, and ran over onto a chair near where I was standing. When I picked her up, she sniffed my face all over and rubbed her head up against me. It was awesome.

I have to say, though, I miss the night shift and holding the lovely-smelling baby Charlie. And my family in Waterloo. I can't yet articulate what a profound effect the past week had on me. I'll give it a try someday soon. For now, look at this picture and try to get your hands (or at least your nose) on some baby lotion.

Overheard

"Nope, bud, you can't just be on the boob if you're not working."

"Ah, Charlie, how many times have I heard that before."

Charles Franklyn Cummer

Charlie
Originally uploaded by Kitty LaRoux.

The family's home now. Order has been restored: Sara, Charlie & Bartleby are napping and Greg & I are drinking.

More photos will be added frequently in Charlie's Photo Set.

Charlie!

Charlie was born yesterday at 6:38 p.m., weighing in at a rather hefty 8lbs 7oz (I only say hefty because Sirrah! barely looked 8 months pregnant at the very end). The Amazing Race was a huge success - I arrived at the hospital just as Sirrah! was fully dilated and a few minutes before she started to push. She was a total rockstar, managing to not only stay pleasant, but look absolutely beautiful through the whole 16 hrs of labour. Charlie is incredibly sweet, with a mop of dark brown hair not unlike his papa's bedhead. Everyone is super healthy, and the whole family will be home later today.

I paparazzied it up with Greg's camera - pictures later. Right now I need a shower and a nap.

The Amazing Race Is On!

First, apologies to any of you with whom I have commitments (that includes you, work!) over the next 7 days. I'm going to be out of town, because SIRRAH! IS HAVING A BABY!

OK, to recap. I am currently at LaGuardia. DLang insisted on checking flight availabilities before I left for the airport, and advised that I'd have better luck with American than Air Canada. Good call. My all-time favourite car service, Arecibo, didn't answer their phone, so I had to unpack my computer to find other car services. On the way to the airport I phoned everyone I know and Sunny was the only person who answered. Where are you fuckers? My best friend is having a baby! I'll deal with you later. Anyway. I ran up to the AA counter and bought a one-way ticket on the next flight to Toronto, which leaves at 1:40 p.m. and which BETTER BE ON TIME because did I mention that Sirrah! is having a baby?

Sweet Sirrah - her voicemails this morning were so calm and nice and all, "I think I'm having contractions, but don't do anything yet, I'll call you in a bit." Damn! I can't believe I missed those calls. I did speak with Greg's dad, who confirmed that the doctor thinks Charlie's coming this afternoon. He could already be here! I've tried both sets of Charlie's grandparents since I arrived at the airport and there was no answer, so I assume they've all gone to the hospital.

Now I'm sitting at LGA Gate C1 IMPATIENTLY, but still happily noting that the weather's good, the flight's on time, I still have all my luggage with me, and the drive to Waterloo will probably be very pleasant, especially if I can avoid getting a $250 speeding ticket.

I forgot my camera so hopefully my detailed descriptions will suffice.

Car service to LGA: $37
One-way ticket to Toronto: $536
Airport food [Luna Bar, cheese, apple, large coffee]: $6.50
Intarweb access for blogging: $7.95
MY BEST FRIEND IS HAVING A BABY: Priceless, people.

I'm getting all choked up over here.

Within Reason

I'm very excited about impending birth of Sirrah!'s son, Charlie, who is due TODAY. She's going to call me as soon as she has her first contraction, and my plan is to be on the first available flight to Toronto. In fact, if I get there in time, Sirrah! says I can be in the delivery room! (When I told that to her husband Greg, he replied, "Good, you can have my spot." Heh.)

On Saturday we had a conversation about my visit.

"Gillian, I want you to be reasonable about getting here when I go into labour." Read: Don't spend $1,000 on a plane ticket.

"Sare, since when have you known me to be reasonable?"

"I know, but you're working on being reasonable, right?" I hear Greg snicker in the background.

"Well, yeah, I guess. I'll try to be reasonable."

I later relayed the conversation to the very reasonable DLang.

"I promised Sara that I'd try to be reasonable about going to Waterloo when she goes into labour."

"What? G, now is not the time to be reasonable."

"Really?"

"Yeah! Your best friend is going to have her first baby and you can be in the delivery room with her? You should not be reasonable."

"Really? What if it costs $1,000?"

"So what? You can't buy an experience like this."

Really? Did I mention that DLang is generally very reasonable? I'm very excited. This is like my mom saying I could skip school for a day! My new hobby is checking the intarweb to see just how soon I could get to Toronto if Sirrah! called right now. (As of this writing, I could probably be in Waterloo by 1:30 p.m.) And if Charlie can wait just one more day, I might be able to catch a Websaver.

That would be very reasonable.