NYC Adventures with a Baltimore girl

Michele, my college roommate, came for a visit this weekend. We packed in as much as we could in the limited time we had together. Having a guest for the weekend is a great excuse to do fun New York things.

Friday night, we had delicious dinner at Cascabel Taqueria followed by some bar-hopping in my neighborhood.

Saturday we got an early start to the day. We had brunch at Le Pain Quotidien before heading to The High Line. The views were beautiful. There were chaise lounges on the old tracks - we parked there for a bit to relax and take in the view. There were even flowers peeking out from under the brush.



After getting some incredible deals at a sample sale and eating sweet treats at the Chelsea Market, we headed back to my apartment to prepare for the night. A quick nap and some freshening up and we were off to Lincoln Center to walk around with big pretzels before heading to Juilliard for an Admissions work-study student's Master's vocal recital. He sang beautifully. We topped off the day with a sushi dinner complete with a whole bottle of sake before hitting the town.

Sunday we grabbed bagels before I dropped Michele off at the bus stop.

It had been a year and a half since Michele's last visit to New York. Michele noted that that was 2 boyfriends ago in Toni time. It's so important to me that Michele and I have maintained our friendship after college. We've both made a serious resolution to visit each other more regularly. So far in 2011, we've been doing a great job!

You drive me crazy

I went on a first date with a guy last week. I picked the venue - a hip bar on the UES. Although he showed up late, I was in good spirits and decided to be open minded. He forgot my name but recovered gracefully. I ended up having a fun time and I decided to give this guy (who is very attractive, tall, and went to an ivy league school) another shot.

We met up at a bar around the corner. The conversation was going great and he treated me to a few beers. He walked me to my door and we were kissing in front of my building. I invited him up to my apartment since I didn't want to make a spectacle on the street - I made it very very clear that the only thing would be doing was kissing. Like any respectable guy, he told me that he respected that and would not try a thing. I believed him - he was extremely respectful. He came up and we kissed some more.

Then he said he had something to tell me - he has bipolar disorder and he's manic depressive. Not only that but he's never been in a relationship. In fact, he has trouble dating in general because he is so nervous and depressed about dating. After I explained that things would get better and he would be alright, he proceeded to get up, collect his things and leave. He made it clear that he was not interested in another date.

Lesson learned: Don't date a crazy.

The Beat Goes On

Back in December, I played The Nutcracker with the South Shore Symphony. A percussionist from the orchestra and I started chatting during one of the breaks. I had a boyfriend at the time so I didn't think much of it. He sent me an adorable e-mail asking me out a few days later and I followed up with a polite decline as I was spoken for. A few weeks later, Dennis and I broke up. I decided to take a chance and e-mail the percussionist back asking if he would still be interested in taking me out - He was!

We went on one really amazing date in January and 2 weeks later, another very fun date. He was a gentleman in every sense of the word, cute, smart, funny, artsy. I thought we had a lot of potential....until I didn't hear from him for 3 weeks.

Although he has a lot of great qualities, I won't be going out with him again even if he does pop up some time in the future. I can't have a boyfriend that is too flaky to call me. Plus, if he really was interested, he could take 10 seconds out of his day to send me a text letting me know that he is thinking about me. Is it too much to ask for a phone call these days?

I'll be marching to the beat of a different drummer...