I tossed and turned all night, even though the bed was super-comfy and I had my own pillow. I got up at 7:30am, took a shower, and went down to the continental breakfast with Eric. No one showed up but April, and I think she only came because she knew they had asked us to come and she felt bad!
Eric ate a little and went back to the room to go back to sleep, but she and I talked for about ½ hour. I had a slice of toast, some orange juice and a piece of some kind of breakfast cake. It wasn’t much of a breakfast, but – hey – it was free! Then we each went back to our rooms to rest and relax before checking out.
We all checked out at 11:00am and I even got to see the bride and groom again before they headed to Puerta Vallarta!
I noticed a sign that said 70% off designer handbags – Prada, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, etc., so Eric and I went downstairs to one of the meeting rooms, thinking maybe I’d find something for my birthday, but the prices were out of this world.
I saw a magnificent little velvet Chanel purse – just big enough for a wedding or other affair – and it was $2,500. Yes, you read right -- $2,500. And that’s supposed to be 70% off? I looked at lots of other bags by big designers – Ballenciaga, Chanel, Gucci, Prada – and most of them were over $1,000 and some were over $2,000. I think that is insane. I can’t imagine how much these bags cost at retail – if this is supposed to be a big discount – but I just could NEVER spend that much on a purse, unless my last name was Trump or Hilton!
We got back to the apartment and relaxed for a while before we headed out to run some errands. We were hoping to look at an apartment this afternoon, but Eric’s sister wasn’t able to arrange it, so we’ll probably go one night this week.
At around 3:00pm we stopped at the BLUE BAY DINER (our old stomping ground) and had lunch. I had a grilled cheese (what else?) and Eric had a BLT (again – what else?). If nothing else, our lunch choices are very predictable!
Then, we went back to the apartment and got all the laundry together. Eric dropped me off at the nearest Laundromat (which is about 4 blocks from our old house!) and I did all his work clothes and all my dirty clothes. I watched KING OF QUEENS on TV, read the DAILY NEWS and made a few phone calls. When it was all dry and folded I called Eric and he came to pick me up.
He had showered while I was at the Laundromat and now I showered and we got dressed and headed to Sea Cliff to have dinner with Geri and Larry who had missed our dinner party last Saturday because they were both sick.
Geri and Larry were celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary and we were so happy to be here together so we could celebrate with them!
We went to their beautiful house, which is always a thrill, because it’s filled with beautiful works of art and is decorated so beautifully. Geri is the official “Queen of Boop” because she now has more than most everyone I know – except for Sergio in New Orleans!!!!
She recently purchased a large doll dressed as a cowgirl. Besides Boop, another passion of Geri’s are cowgirls and she loves cowboy boots and vests and leather and all cowgirl accessories. This doll fit her to a tee!
She also got a Pirate Boop doll, with Pudgy dressed as her buccaneer, and another where Betty is dressed as Billie Holiday, complete with the white flower in her hair, holding microphone in a gorgeous red gown, sitting on a stool with a leopard seat!
There was one of Betty on Valentine’s day in a gorgeous dress opening a bouquet of roses in a white box, and several others. Her collection is so magnificent and is displayed so beautifully. Of course, I left my camera in the suitcase at Eric’s apartment, so again I could not document all the great things we saw!
Geri and Larry took us to a sushi place they go to regularly called SHIKI JAPANESE RESTAURANT on Glen Street in Glen Cove, NY. They said their food was really great and that they were very friendly with the chefs. They usually sit at the sushi bar when they eat there, so you really get to know the chefs well and they will create dishes just for you!
Larry did all the ordering, since they have a lot of favorite dishes. We started with Miso Soup, Shumai, and a dish called Dynamite, which was very spicy! Then we got a lot of rolls – a Snow White roll, a Royal Dragon roll (which they created and named!), a Wasabi Lobster roll, and a Shiki roll. I can’t tell you what was in all of them, but I CAN tell you that they were all fabulous!
I don’t know if they always serve this elaborately, or if they just went all out because they knew it was Geri and Larry’s anniversary, but they served some of the rolls on top of giant sculptures made of crushed ice, with lights inside that glowed on and off! They carved butterflies out of carrots and the numbers “30” for their anniversary!
They brought us a dish they created especially for us, and served it “on the house” to wish Geri and Larry a happy anniversary! It was such a special night filled with delicious food, great conversation, and wonderful stories.
It has been a year since we saw Geri and Larry, when they met up with us in Vegas last October, but it seemed like we saw them only last week. It’s been that way with a lot of friends. Since we email all the time, talk on the phone frequently, and they keep totally caught up with my blog, it’s as if we are totally connected and it doesn’t seem like there’s any lost time between us. It’s a good feeling.
After dinner, we went back to their house and they had the table set for dessert. Larry is an unbelievable chef and baker and he made one of his specialty desserts – a pumpkin cake with crushed pineapple. It is to die for. He made a big one for us to enjoy at their house, and a small one for us to take home! He’s the best, our Larry!
Geri used her Betty Boop plates, and had the forks and spoons in little red and white mittens. In the center of the table was Betty wearing a sexy Christmas outfit holding a stick with mistletoe over her head. It was so cute and festive and perfect for the holiday season!
We really ate and ran, because Eric wanted to get home at a decent time to get everything ready for a bike ride tomorrow. He hasn’t had a chance to ride at all since I got here last Saturday and was hoping to get a ride in tomorrow before it rained.
When we got home at around 10:30pm, he immediately started working on his bike and getting everything ready and I started to blog. I needed to complete yesterday and today, so I really had my work cut out for me! I wanted to download all the pictures I took at Thanksgiving, but it’s 1:20am and I’m just finishing, so it will have to wait!