Sweet Home Alabama (in San Francisco): April 2007

We went to NY, obviously, to show off the baby.

Evan couldn't come, so my sister, Julia, came, so I wouldn't lose my mind. It was such a good time. My only complaint is that I totally didn't take pictures of a lot of really important people, and then I took like fifty-bazillion of my friend, Jennifer. So, if you aren't her, don't be cross with me.

One of the best things that happened on my trip is that I found out I have a fan! This former colleague of mine reads the blog, even though we are just friendly acquaintances! So, a shout-out to Kerry! You rule!

Everett wore his "Born to Fly" pajamas for the flight out.

Some flight attendants absconded with him and let him chill in the jump seat.

I thought it was so funny how this Australian dude was sleeping, and I turned off the flash and pretended to be taking a picture of Julia, but unfortunately, my camera also has a Mission Impossible-style red beam, and I got totally busted because the beam went right on the guy's head. And also I was cracking up.

We took the Air Train, natch.

The first thing we did when we got to NYC was run over to Union Square to meet up with Evan's parents, Papa and Nana, who flew in for about 18 hours, just to see the baby, who they think is, obviously, epic. EC was a little tired out from all his flying and socializing, and he was a little weepy, but they got some non-crying time with him the next day.

So then I went to my old school, City & Country School, and I saw all these people that I used to work with, and of course I didn't take pictures of my old boss holding him, which was really cute, sorry Kate.

Everett was all clawing at Linda's blouse, and you know what he was thinking: lunch.

This is Millie and above her head are the special wooden animals and people for use with the famous Unit Blocks, doncha know.

One of a bazillion shots of the ever-photogenic Jennifer Marck. While we're at it, here's a few more.

This is her lovely family: husband, Scott, and daughter, Hazel. Hazel, it seems has some temperament similarities to EC, and when we were going through the all-crying/no-sleeping time, Jen was my mostly mainstay.

Here we are, enjoying some public parallel breastfeeding. And below is one that emphasizes her piercing blue eyes.

Hats off to ya, Jenny.

This is my friend, Amy, and it was super-exciting to see her because she has a brand-new-baby-boy, Sebastian,and he is just delicious.

So, this one day I did a bunch of shopping for heavy things, like bottles of wine and stuff, and also I had the baby in a sling, and I was totally about to lose it, but then, randomly, my sister was across the street with her cute friend, Rob, and they helped me out. Thank God.

One of the things I bought, which was actually not that heavy, was this little egg-maraca, which EC really likes a lot.

I attended an event at Two Boots, which is famous for allowing large, unruly groups of children to eat at their establishment. Did you know they went vegan? Weird. Anyhoo, I met my Very Important Pal, Grant, there, along with some other Seattle types and all their children.

It was Grant's son's (Toby's) birthday party! He's seven! And you know I was present at his birth, so it was extra exciting. I gave Toby nine sets of fake teeth and a little plastic man who pees on people and as you might imagine, hilarity ensued.

It was a fun time, and also, Evan's Very Important Pal, Anthony, came by to view the child, who was, unfortunately, asleep for the veiwing.

Later, me and Julia saw a funny seating area outside of a store in the East Village. I didn't understand it. Look closely, and you'll see that some chairs are for Gays only, some are for Jews Only, some are for Coloreds only, and some are for Colored Jews (Sammy Davis Jr.!) only. I know for sure there's something ironic going on, only I just don't know what.

Also Dojo is closed now. Weird. I always said that if it came down to me watiressing there, shoot me, so I guess I'm safe now.

This is who we stayed with: The Coley/Vanden Heuvel clan. They live in the fabu West Village.

Note that I craftily erased their street address for no-stalking purposes--you can't be too careful nowadays! They are so nice and they let us stay in their guest room. Supposedly, the building they live in is the one that the guy who wrote the novella on which Rear Window was based lived in, that's what Brad says, although Wendy says she doesn't know a thing about that. Their back yard is all connected to everybody else's, and you can see into other people's apartments, just like in the movie, so I'm believing it. It's funner that way!

I didn't get any pix of Brad (sorry) but I got some of Wendy and Lila (who was in my class last year) and their excellent dog, Chester.

So then Shane came and got us in the bright yellow car and whisked us away to Broke-land, and we had a big dinner at Kali and Shane's house.

What do you think of this Art Shot of EC in the Plush Red Carseat?

My peeps were there, including one of the most radical cats ever, Peanut.

This Very Special Evening was yet another time when I failed, photo-wise. No pictures of Dan and Solu, no pictures of Anna, and no pictures of Kali or her babe, Mahalia, so I refer you to her blog for actual documentation. Kali, Shane, Michele and Beth made this awesome dinner from the salty, balding lady-chef we all love to fear, Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and it was freaking delicious.

We hung out and looked at baby-name books, and I was all, "Hey! We're supposed to be partying!" And Shane said, "This is how we party now." Which made me sad, because it's true.

Michele is a dancer, and here she does some interpretive moves with EC.

Beth is the knitter of EC's Most Important Hat.

Here is Soo, checking out the boy as he does some crucial work in Mahlia's office. Soo and I were bartenders together, in a Galaxy Far, Far Away. (This is little in-joke, since Soo never saw any of the Star Wars movies until 1998, when I took her to all three at the Ziegfeld.) Soo says I was a real lazy bartender, and that she had to do all the work, which I say is patently untrue, or at least partially untrue.

This is Shane, doing what he does best, obviously, being super-mellow.

In the morning, there was this huge Noreaster, and we almost didn't leave at all. I was conflicted about this, because I really wanted to stay at Shane and Kali's and eat more pasta and watch shows about 300-pound tumors and stuff, but I was also really ready to go home.