"...There Was a Time, Not Long Ago..."

Ok, so maybe it's time for a little breather from the round-the-clock festivity of the holiday season, right? I don't know what it was this year, but the circuit in town these weeks since Thanksgiving was extra active...and you know me, I am right there, debating whether to spend all my hard-earned cash on the kids' Christmas gifts or babysitters so that I can partake in the maddness. And ok, after a while I saw some of my friends' outfits two, three and four times...and my velvet tuxedo pants and spiked Tory Burch-es certainly got a workout...but how could our wardrobes be expected to keep up with the frenetic pace? And it didn't end until '09 had already made its appearance...of course we could not say goodbye to the scene before Wendy (of the sand-pit, tiki-torch, Flying Muller Brothers band, teen-dream summer party a few posts back) could pull out all the stops with her WinterFest '09 this past Saturday night. And again, she and Roger outdid themselves....150 guests, tented yard, Broadway pianist providing the tunes, full, top-shelf bar flowing all night, sushi chefs deftly constructing the fresh spicy tuna rolls, roving photographers, late night sliders with fries and the most motley yet dead-on mix of neighbors and friends. As I worked the room with Suse...sharing tidbits and giggles with Mary, Kathy (ugh, that tragic card....), Gwen (rocking her hot stilettos once again...), Dana, Chris, Kim, Pina, Jen...I could go on...and you know, it was a perfect kiss-off to the mixed bag that was '08...everyone laughing and happy...the smile plastered across my face from beginning to end....

But now, I am ready to chill. Just hang in, wear pjs all day long, snuggle all warm with my babies in front of a movie, the three of them passing out with me in my bed. Bliss, right? And I know I am not alone in this desire to sort of rest a little as

 the weather gets darker and colder. My dear old friend, former roommate and bridesmaid, Lisa M., called one night just before the New Year and confessed that instead of going out that night she had hit Dean & DeLuca for a selection of French cheeses, cured olives, a nice baguette and a big bottle Cotes due Rhone...she had put her two kids to bed early, the husband was out gallivanting...and she couldn't be happier. And we laughed, not at her spinster's delight of an evening, but at my complete and utter jealousy...I was on my way to a really fun holiday wine pairing dinner with the Swingers, but I would have stripped off my 4-inch heels in a second to be on Lisa's sofa alongside her, talking and laughing into the wee morning hours. Such a change from what we would have been doing on a Saturday night back when we were roommates...just out of college, first apartment, before we lived in the City and were all paired up with our now husbands...before our careers took off and our children were born. Before we had responsibilities...

We lived across the river still at that time, but Lisa and I spent every weekend on the Upper Westside (which seemed slightly more grown up, not quite so littered with barf bars as was the Upper East Side at the time)...Hey, who didn't love The Bear Bar on Broadway (long gone)....and what about The Dublin House on 79th Street (also the site of my first date with Rob) with the two bartenders who both looked exactly like Phil Collins (were they brothers? There has to be some old Dublin House devotees out there who know the answer to that...). Lisa started dating this Dublin House mainstay, a big, beefy, self-important Fordham Law student...I think his name was Brendan...all I remember is that he smoked cigars that made us sick so we poured a beer on it one night when he wasn't looking and he almost lost his sh*t...hahahaha...what a complete jacka**! And every single time I hear the Spin Doctors ("If you want to call me baby, just go ahead now... "), I am immediately transported back inside that smoky crowded bar, Phil Collins 1 and 2 serving up Amstel Lights, Lisa and I both rocking those cowboy boot shoe things we girls all loved so much...ugh...what a horrific fashion trend...but so very '93, no?

The Dublin House is still there, by the way....I haven't hung out on the Upper Westside since those days with Lisa -- I quickly became a downtown girl upon moving to our tiny studio on West 10th Street after a brief stint on Columbus Avenue in '94. Anyway, I was so surprised that 

Dublin House was still there, though I am not quite sure why that was so shocking, really...other than the fact that I guess sometimes you assume, if you are no longer a part of something, then it no longer exists....And isn't that so true? I mean, I cannot be the only one who convinces myself that time stands still when we make an exit in life...like everyone that was there with you is in suspended animation, just waiting upon your return. In my mind, everyone I have left behind is living in some alternate universe, tapping their feet, wondering what is taking me so damn long...

So anyway, after I spoke with Lisa the other day, I so longed to penetrate that alternate universe, or at least relive the memories. So I pulled out the old mixed tapes and '90's playlists...and forget the Spin Doctors...the true icon of that era, for Lisa and I at least, was the goddess of glum, Aimee Mann. The former lead singer of early '80's one-hit-wonder, 'Til Tuesday, Aimee Mann, is of course the poet laureate and patron saint of wallowing, upper-middleclass, gullible, post-collegiate English majors. Lisa and I fit squarely within her target demo, and as such, it was our calling in life to overplay her discs until everyone in the room either writhed in the pain of lost love or wanted to commit suicide. Some of our favorite tracks on her solo debut, Whatever (even the name "Whatever" denotes Aimee's depressed genius...love her...), were entitled: "Stupid Thing," "I've Had It," and "I Know There's a Word for This." I mean, can't you just feel it??? Yes, Aimee, we hear you...men are cruel b*stards! every last one of them! Oh, and I would be remiss not to mention that we also had 'Til Tuesday's great disc, Everything's Different Now, on heavy 

rotation and we would play "Lucky" ("I wish you believed in life, believed in fate, believed you were lucky and worth the wait, cause life could be lovely, oh life could be f**king great....") over and over. Yeah...so you can see where we were coming from...And listening to Whatever brought it all back in a flood, like the soundtrack to a great old movie, scenes playing over and over in my brain...and I kind of felt as though I was secretly peering into that alternate universe -- or as Aimee might say, the other end of the telescope -- watching my 23 year-old self figure it all out.

So eventually Lisa and I grew out of the post-collegiate pixie stage and both moved in

to the City, met the guys who would become our husbands and set upon our professional lives, building our futures. Lisa went on to a truly illustrious career as the Director of Design with AOL, and now is a partner in her own design firm based in DC. We both have kids and chat only fleetingly these days...and every time we do, we talk about getting together for more grown up pursuits...spa visits, girls' weekends, Oscars viewing parties, martinis and bellinis at The W Union Square. And you all know what I went on to do...ups and downs, career changes and professional hijinks and chef crushes and kids and friends and shoes and gourmet cooking nights and secrets and lies and boy bands...and that I eventually ended up here...writing this blog that I named, "Thus It Continues." ....And you know, my dear Lisa is the only one out there who ever figured out that the blog's title is inspired by a favorite line written by our favorite poet, Aimee Mann, from a favorite song, "J for Jules," on an old favorite disc, Whatever...

So maybe a small part of me hasn't quite completely moved beyond those days...and that's ok, right? I hope so, because all this Upper Westside flashbacking and Spin Doctors talk has me jonesing for a smoky, crowded, loud Dublin House run...Did I say I wanted to chill out for a few weeks? Forget that!...Come on...who's with me?!

Photo 1: Me and Suse...quite a self-portrait we attempted there...says it all as the season comes to a close....

Photo 2: Some of the neighborhood posse staking out the slider and fries delivery well past midnight...

Photo 3: Now that right there is hot sex on a plate, no???

Photo 4: The Lady Swingers cozying up to our true loves...about 800 bottles of wine...

Photo 5: BFFs Allison, me and Lisa preparing to hit the Upper Westside, Summer '93...our glamorous apartment had no hot water, but dammit, we had a stairmaster!

Photo 6: Big sis, Cathleen, with Lisa at another great old bar, The Ginger Man...Cath taking part in some cigar smoking (how '95 of her...)...I don't believe this ever really happened though because I was obviously absent...

Photo 7: Lisa's BFF, Mikki, me and Lisa...on the way to Dublin House...I remember I was wearing Tevas that night (swear to G*d!)...

Photo 8: All hail...the great Dublin House...

Photo 9: Goddess...author of the words: "...like most amazing things, it's easy to miss and easy to mistake...for when things are really great, it just means everything's in its place..."

Photo 10: Goddess now so damn depressed she can't even lift her head for the cover shot...Whatever...

Photo 11: Allison, Lisa, Heidi and Liesl, now grown ups...no more Dublin House...The Hunt instead!

Photos 12 & 13: Some of my naughty partners in crime...Suse, Lisa and Latzy...odds are one of them is on way over as I write, ready to head to The Dublin House...