My special night out in NYC, AKA the date that never was

Most of you who’ve been with me for awhile know that Doug forgot my anniversary yet again this July. He did last year too. It isn’t that he doesn’t love me; he does. Doug’s just a typical male. Now you with factory issued tallywhackers wait just a minute before you bloody your fingertips by pounding out a nasty comment in defense of all men, please let me explain.

Years ago I heard somewhere that men are like rifles. I wrote about this about a year ago. This year, Doug was just crazy at the time being one of the big giant heads for the census; and I got forgotten- again.

Anyway, last year, I got pissed then cried. I was hurt. This year I was pissed, but then I got smart. I bought an entire new wardrobe of clothes for the upcoming trip to make myself feel better.

Luckily for Doug something in his brain told him “Don’t complain about all the money she’s spending.” Lucky for him, he listened.

So for the two weeks after our missed anniversary I shopped. My favorite purchase was a black and purple cocktail dress — my first. I bought cute black pumps that hurt my feet to go with it. I was ready. We were going to go out in NYC one night, someplace really nice- very hoity toity- maybe even go dancing. Doug even took a suit. Houston just really doesn’t have places like that.

That was the plan anyway. Did it work out that way? Not so much.

A few days before we left, Doug told me that he’d invited Brett along for the trip. I love our son more than anything. But I knew that our room in Manhattan was small and with us on the bed and Evelyn on the couch, having Brett there too would make things really cramped. “Don’t worry. He’ll be staying with friends. We’ll just see him during the day probably.”

Did it work out that way? Not so much.

Because Brett came along on the trip, the trip morphed from a kinda-sorta second honeymoon (amazing since we never had one to begin with), to a business trip. Brett’s been wanting to start a food venture out of trailer in Austin. Food trailers are HUGE in Austin now.

So no romantic walks through Central Park for me. Walks where Doug might actually slow his pace to match mine while he holds my hand. Instead we were back to normal. Doug walks fast. Combine that with his almost freakishly long legs and I always feel like I should be walking around under a burqua; since I’m always 5′ behind. I really hate that.

I wonder if he turned around and saw me wearing one some day if he’d get the message then. Telling him for 28 yrs. sure hasn’t worked.

Before the trip I had a list of places that I wanted to go- the Central Park Zoo, the Top of the Rock, etc. I know, real corny, touristy stuff. But if you’re raised in Houston, you’ve seen this stuff in movies all your life. It always looks so romantic. I wanted to see it, experience it in person. Remember the end of Sleepless in Seattle?

Did it work out that way? Not so much. But did I get to see a bunch of restaurants that Doug wanted to check out.

We went to Lombardi’s in Little Italy to have the “best” pizza in NYC. Was it the best? I don’t think so. It was like a wet washcloth with toppings on it. The crust was way underdone. Not to mention that Doug ordered 2 lg. pizzas- for the four of us.  The 6 folks at the table next to us literally turned to watch and see if all that pizza on our table was actually going to be consumed. I felt like one of the Coneheads. We had a pizza box with us the rest of the day.

We went to Serendipity 3- the home of frozen hot chocolate- one of Oprah’s favorite things. It looks mighty impressive on TV and when it’s set in front of you too. But we waited 90 minutes to get in. Was it worth it? I think not. They sell the mix- just mail order it then make it at home and serve it in a soup tureen. Please be sure to add sweetened whipped cream on top. They had plain; and I think it suffered because of it. Besides, $8.75 for each person? For that price, I’d better need a cigarette when I’m finished with a dessert. Sadly, I did not. Although I did feel somewhat violated, but not in a good way.

We lost 2 days and nights of our trip going to see chuckles in CT. I’d thought Doug and Brett were going to CT when Evelyn and I were at BlogHer. Just didn’t work out that way. So there went my special night out.

My beautiful dress hangs still unworn in my closet, my pretty pumps undanced in. On the plus side though I did leave CT with a lovely peach cardigan looking thing made of sweatshirt material. How did she know I’d been longing for one so so many years? I’ve worn it many times since we’ve returned. In fact I had it on today- I think with the heat index it’s only 110 outside.

So the closest thing I had to a “nice” night out was the night we ate in Hell’s Kitchen, only a few blocks from where we were staying. The food was great. I’d Spanxed myself, put on a strapless bra and slipped into a cute summer sundress with spaghetti straps. The skirt swirled when I turned around. I love it. I wore some pretty summer sandals with 3″ heels. I looked good. We met my friend, Track, after dinner then we all went out for some drinks.

Track was doing shots with a beer. I had a couple of really good mixed drinks and by the time we got back to the room was feeling pretty good. I’d forgotten we were not going to be alone in bed. So no bowling or anything else that night. But the next morning we had Evelyn convinced that she’d been sleeping on the same bed, just a few inches from one of the wildest nights of slap ‘n tickle known to mankind. It was great. She was mortified. We let her think that for most of the day. We didn’t actually tell her that anything had gone on. We just didn’t tell her it didn’t.

So my dress is still waiting for it’s big debut. I’m thinking a cruise might be on our horizon, down the road a bit when all our dog drama subsides.

Now you have it. Inquiring minds wanted to know more details of our trip; and now you do.

BTW- I still consider the trip a big success. Although most of it didn’t go exactly as planned, I still had a great time with Doug, Brett and the Megalodon.

other blog entries from »