Tardiness & Indebtedness

Argh, I am late with many posts I owe you, faithful readers. Those are the Botanic Garden updates from March, April and now May (triple argh!) and also some resolution updates. They will happen, honestly. Honestly.

I am so ashamed.

Hubris

I did two things this weekend that guaranteed I would wake up to thunder and pouring rain this morning.

First, I offered our house to host a friend's birthday barbecue. She's just moved, didn't feel ready, we're suckers for this, it's at our house later today.

Second, I decided this weekend it was hot enough that I had to do the annual cold-hot weather clothing switchover. This frees up a lot of space in our closet, and changes the feel of it from dark and gloomy to gloriously sunny and full of colour. There's no space for big, heavy woollen clothing in various shades of navy, grey and black. Oh no. Instead, summer dresses and skirts in a variety of yellows, reds, pinks and light blues emerge. It definitely gets one in the mood for summer.

Until it pours with rain and the rumbling of thunder wakes you up. Bummer.

Blast from the Past

Sadly, since the whole getting married business, TOH and I have not had much time together - he's been gallivanting here there and everywhere for conferences, and I have been working rather a lot. Last night we attempted to remedy that a little. We had another swing dancing lesson (we have FIVE WHOLE MOVES now), and then wandered to the Highline for, shamefully, my first jaunt up there. Although admittedly, we mostly just sat down. That dancing business is tiring.

Then we got to the real business of the evening: Tia Pol, a glorious Spanish restaurant near the Highline, was doing a calçotada. Admittedly, it's a little late in the year, but that's a by-product of the tremendously late spring we have here in New York.* Calçots are big sort of spring onion things that you roast and eat with a thick garlicky tomatoey paste called romesco sauce. Calçot season is usually over by mid-April in Barcelona, so it was an unexpected bonus to be able at the end of May to drink cava, eat calçots dipped in romesco sauce - and then stuff our faces with txipirones (baby squid), jamon serrano, pa amb tomaquet (bread with tomato), pork belly, pimientos de padron (fire-blasted serrano peppers with salt), accompanied by a lovely rosado Txakolina - the slightly effervescent Basque wine with which I am currently obsessed.

Sadly, the iPhone I have cannot possibly do justice to the hilariously bong-like vessel from which we drank our cava, but here are a couple of very dark photos from the evening. I ended up with cava all down me, frankly, but a fun way to attempt to drink, if not desperately efficient.

* If it even deserves the title of "spring" this year. It essentially has been two weeks of vaguely pleasant temperatures, five weeks of torrential rain and cold, and suddenly it's 85 and sweaty. Ah, New York.

Ahem

It's been a couple of weeks since I rapped at ya, but that's because somewhat eventful things have been occurring. As it were. There is mucho to catch up on, dear reader.

But in the meantime, a piece of advice: If you're going to reverse course on something as big as whether to marry someone, at least do it how you bloody well want to. And have fun.

Having someone take as great a photo of you as this is just a phenomenal bonus.