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7.22.18. I made the trek out to the Brooklyn Heights promenade to meet LP and M, who has gotten blonder and cuter and more humanoid since last seen. We keep talking about starting this women's dinner group but we can't get our momentum going. I hope we actually get it up and going by the end of the year.

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7.21.18. My ride or die boys! We took an evening on an extravagant and gorgeous rooftop (NOMO Soho) to celebrate D getting engaged. We stood in the rain, drank beers, and embarrassed ourselves. I love these humans.

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7.20.18. To celebrate her birthday, M purchased INSANELY close tickets to the Taylor Swift concert. We took the bus from Port Authority, M lost her s$@t at TicketMaster, we ate 1M chicken fingers, and I discovered the song Delicate. 

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7.19.18. A nighttime marathon training run on my favorite running path in the city.

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7.18.18. I caught up with J, who I haven't seen in at least 3 years, over dinner at La Loteria. We texted R, talked about the possibility of engagement, jobs, and the old days at Kiehl's. 

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7.17.18. J learned how to write! He writes his name a lot now, plus horrifying sketches of his mom and the not nice armies of North Korea.

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7.16.18. I made my way back to New York just in time for dinner with N and her friend P at the Happiest Hour. Everything is better with a second side of fries, mac and cheese balls, and a salad to feel healthy and then ignore. Restaurant #33: The Happiest Hour.

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7.15.18. I visited an adorably pregnant G and watched the World Cup final with her over some pralines soup and sammies. I also got to see her new house, which turned out to have belonged to a St. Albans guy and where I went to a random party one Thanksgiving years ago. They also only live a few doors down from Mom's old Brookmont apartment, which is next door to G's hubby's mom's house. Smallest world.

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7.14.18. I made my way to DC during the summer hours and surprised the kids at the Columbia pool. We had dinner, crushed peppermint ice cream, and had deep pensive thoughts about the universe and volcanos on the golf course.

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7.13.18. A picture from last night! D's team at her summer soiree. Meanwhile, Winks got a tooth extracted and was drunk all day.

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7.12.18. After months of planning, a few hours of not believing we could do it, a lot of sweating and sample making, we set the Guinness World Record for most foundation shade matches in a day. Then we went to Brooklyn for Bro-cella at D's!  

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7.11.18. L left her monkey at the Coral Beach Club, and they proceeded to send her pictures of him on a beach vacation, then mailed him back to her with empty peanut shells and a note that said they had sent him home with snacks.

191

7.10.18. V's nuglet is walking!! Get after it, W. 

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7.9.18. After my 4th (ish?) ukulele lesson, J, J, and I headed to Brooklyn Steel for the Phoenix concert. With electronic cigarettes as the new thing, people can smoke weed with no smoke or smell. Suddenly everyone else smoking weed from paper and leaves seems like a barbarian. 

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7.8.18. V and I booked a sailboat from the marina next to the WTC and took a long, captained sail around the Hudson. We talked about her recent boy drama and determined the POA - a hard pass. Meanwhile in DC, Jack learned to write and crushed his first "Grandma", "Pop Pop", and "Lava is Hot".

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7.7.18. I am so blessed to have such a smart, talented, eccentric, stubborn, insane, weird, fun, loving family.

187

7.6.18. Our last night at the resort. I went for an 8 mile run on the old railroad tracks, we beached and pooled, L watched lots of her shows, and we ended with sunset on the beach. Perfect!

186

7.5.18. We made our way to the other side of the island to the King's Wharf. We had lunch at the Frog and Onion, explored abandoned buildings, bought rum cake, got ice cream, and almost melted in the heat. In the afternoon, I discovered that my old friend JR was at the same beach (next door resort), and we briefly caught up. He gave me great advice about why someone would do startups / small business vs. corporate jobs. Both have their pluses and minuses, but in a startup you sacrifice security for freedom, and in corporate jobs you gain security but have to deal with politics. 

185

7.4.18. We celebrated the 4th with a trip to the Bermuda aquarium, where L made a friend with a puffer fish. We had a pub lunch in Hamilton at the Pickled Onion, shopped, and napped before BBQ dinner at the Coral Beach Club. There was live music, Gombey dancing, and a piano player singing "What a Wonderful World" that made both mom and me cry.

184

7.3.18. I'm slowly falling into the slapstick humor of a crazy aunt. I mean, who doesn't like a good chewbacca impression? Other than another lovely day on the beach, Dad and I discovered enormous rainbow parrot fish feeding along the beach. 

183

7.2.18. On day 2, we spent the day alternating from the pool to the beach and back again. J and I invented a volcano game in which we would first pick our volcano, decide if it was active or dormant, and then erupt whenever a wave hit us. It turns out I can name <10 100="" a="" alfonso="" and="" at="" attention="" bird="" boy="" burd="" but="" can="" ello="" enters="" he="" how="" i="" in="" is="" j="" kept="" l="" like="" lobby="" loved="" m="" me="" mom.="" my="" name="" nbsp="" not="" obsessed="" ocean.="" one="" p="" picture.="" point="" s="" said="" say="" she="" shouting="" split="" sure="" the="" their="" these="" to="" turned="" two="" up="" volcanos="" warming="" when="" whenever="" will="" with="" would="" yucy="">

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7.1.18. Day 1 of Bermuda. I got in midday and took a cab down to the Coral Beach Club. We had dinner at the clubhouse, which Anna vowed we would not repeat for the rest of the trip. Lucy watched shows the whole time and there was nothing for the two nuggets to eat. However, I did get to watch Dad and J interact. They have become obsessed with each other. J can sit in my dad's lap for an hour, talking about volcanos and airplanes and science. It is so sweet. 

181

6.30.18. I met A and W at Grand Banks for a sunset drink. We had a few margaritas and caught up on W's summer and job search. They are both staying to take care of Jenny next week while I'm in Bermuda, and I am still so happy that it's such a mutually beneficial situation. A talked a bit about how he just wants to work in different places all over the country/world every few months instead of his original plan of a sabbatical every 5 years. If he figures it out, I might be following suit. 

180

6.29.18. D, T, and I enjoyed an evening of sunset, drinks, and snacks the size of dinner on the Archives roof. I heard all about their engagement in California, the bench, the field, the champagne. D nailed it!

179

6.28.18. The first project I worked on when arriving at L is finally coming to life. Holiday 2018, we're coming at you! 

178

6.27.18. The marketing team spent a day brainstorming on the future of beauty marketing, followed by an evening of shared italian food plates at Da Umberto. Restaurant #32: Da Umberto.

177

6.26.18. Jenny and I did an early morning run. It is rare that I find the ability to wake up before 7:30am to get a run in. I also had a date with one of my matchmaker's choices after work. He was really nice and clearly a smart guy. Not too bad!

176

6.25.18. My ukulele class with M and B continues to be both hilarious and enlightening. I'm actually getting the hang of it! I decided to have a glass of wine afterwards on my roof deck to enjoy the last lights from the weekend's pride parade celebration. 

175

6.24.18. We finished the Seattle visitor weekend with a walk around the West Village and dinner at L'Artusi, my favorite NYC restaurant before Momofuku Ko. Winston is in terrible shape, so he barely made it. 

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6.23.18. In a very me type of move, I over-scheduled my Saturday. G was getting married in DC, so I took an 8am train down for her noon wedding, stayed for the reception, took a 5pm train back, and was in line at Sleep No More for the 9pm show. Maybe it's the fact that it was my third or fourth time going, but I felt the show had gone down in quality / surprise. At least we didn't end up at scores after this one.

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6.22.18. Our capstone dinner: Per Se. After a day that consisted of Soul Cycle, me and S showing up predictably late for lunch at Eataly, and a guitar/ukulele session at my apartment, we made our way back to the Mandarin Oriental for the third time in as many days. We did a tasting menu, upgraded ourselves on almost every option (minus the caviar... we opted for Oysters and Pearls, a Per Se staple that lived up to the buzz). The Wagyu didn't disappoint, nor did the fois gras, nor did the 1985 bottle of some wine I barely remember beyond the fact that it was 33 years old. I left feeling overstuffed and overly happy to have found a group in Seattle in such a short time that will stay with me for a much longer time to come. Restaurant #31: Per Se.

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6.21.18. In our night #2 of Seattle visitors weekend, we went to the Aviary in the Mandarin Oriental. The focus of the tasting menu was on drinks, but the food was also excellent. My favorite drink was a stack of Mai Tai mugs with various smokey and cinnamony tequila drinks. The wagyu beef was also great - buttery and peppery. Megan said she was taking it easy and then easily crushed all 8 courses/drinks. Restaurant #30: The Aviary.

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6.20.18. The first attendee of Seattle weekend arrived!! We had dinner at Momofuku Ko, which was one of the best meals of my life. The restaurant is hidden in a small back alley. They served a range of non-wine liquors to pair with each course. There wasn't a particular dish that blew my mind, but the whole experience was spectacular. Afterwards, I took S to McSorley's for a "dark beer", cash only. Two quintessential NYC experiences on opposite ends of the spectrum. We talked about life, love, where we live, and where we're headed. A+ New York night, and only the beginning of a fab weekend of sport eating. Restaurant #29: Momofuku Ko.

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6.19.18. Another episode of Taco Tuesday with K and special guest E. Tacombi has officially become my bucket list restaurant where they know who I am. Once again, more than any city I've lived in, New York can combine anonymity with the smallest town feel depending on your mood.

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6.18.18. Winston-nugget has come to stay for a week. He is cranky and acts like a 65 year old man. He and Jenny sit on opposite sides of the room, softly growling at each other, while holding stuffed animals. They're a match made in heaven.

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6.17.18. We woke up bright and early for a walk around Montclair before I drove the DeM's to the path and myself back to the city. M can never remember my name but it doesn't seem to keep her from thinking I'm a super cool aunt-like homey.

167

6.16.18. In celebration of summer, M and I brought our families and dogs out to E's house in Montclair. Jenny was on cloud 9 because she spent the afternoon chasing children, we grilled out and walked and ate ice cream and drank wine. Suburb day = huge success.