Birthday Adventures!

So...I decided that since I was turning the BIG "FOUR OH" that I was going to do it right. I took off from work both Friday and Monday, invited friends from in and outta the city, and we painted the town!

For those interested in my adventures...here it is...in as short a form as I could think to put it in... :)

Friday
*Trip to doctor for an "under the knee-cap" injection. Ouch.
*Best Friend Arrives from DC (Angie & I have been friends for 20 years!).
*Nice dinner at an AMAZING Indian Place on 72nd Street.
*Took a rickshaw with Angie thru Central Park to the place inside it where Alvin Ailey is performing (Couldn't get in. Free show "sold" out.).
*Decided to walk through Central Park downtown.
*Thunderstorm from hell hits. Guess its doesn't matter we didn't get into the dance show. Heavy Rain + Lightning = No dancers on stage!
*Walking through CP looking for a way out of it in rainstorm.
*Two girls. One small Totes umbrella. SOAKED! SOAKED! SOAKED. And funny. :)
*We find an exit, its 90th Street. Oops! Thought we'd been walking DOWNtown. Oh well. We end up huddling in a Church doorway, using my tiny umbrella to sheild us, until storm subsided.
*We start to walk "downtown" to catch the C train. To then realize...uh...we had somehow ended up on the EAST side of the island. Well damn.
*We got "lucky" and on 97 Street there is a crosstown bus.
*We decide to forgo dancing with my Boston pal Matt who's just hit town cause we're soaked. We head home. (an A/C bus to an A/C train to another very cold train...while soaked...brrrrr!).
*In bed by midnight.

Saturday
*97 degrees & muggy in NYC (my dog is doing the impersonation of a rug).
*Head to Jackie Robinson Park to see my friend's band, Coyote Love, perform!
*Lunch at a great little Jazz place in West Village (with gift cert! Woot!).
*Shopping time! Introduced Angie to Fit-Flops. She bought 2 pair...and me a new pair as my Bday gift; black with tiny sequins on them. They're really cute!
*Home to "prep" for a night out!
*Dinner at Bangkok House with Ceddy, Matt and Angie. AWESOME TIME! Great drinks, food and people! I received one of my favorite Bday gifts while there...my "pillow pet"! (www.mypillowpets.com) A BIG fluffy lion who, as the name hints to, unfolds to be a pillow as well as a stuffed animal! Thank you Ceddy! I named him Aslan. :)
*Taxi to Playwright Tavern to see MANY friends and party! Free drinks for me! Woot!
*Taxi to club; Don Hill's. Was the 3 year anniversary of Salvation (the title of a specific Goth/Industrial night that goes on every other weekend)...there was CAKE!
*Home by 4am!

You'd think that means we'd sleep in and lay about on Sunday right? HAHAHAHAHA!!!

Sunday
*Up by 9am!
*Went to water aerobics class. Took Angie. She did well!
*Did lunch at this great Irish Pub.
*Walked about the city...and...wait for it........got caught in the rain again. :(
*Headed down to Century 21 to shop (Angie's fave spot) but alas, there's nothing like the MTA to ruin your plans. All yellow trains (N,R,Q) are going over Manhattan Bridge so NO service to lower Manhattan w/o going to Brooklyn first. FU MTA.
*Due to time restraints Angie continues on whilst I go get our stuff out of the gym locker before they close.
*Freshen up at the gym and head to Josh & Sara's going away party at, you guessed it, The Playwright Tavern (yes, same one as the night before). Card games and Beer Pong and Alcohol, oh my! FUN NIGHT!
*Left early so Angie could get some dinner (I ate at the bar w/o thinking she'd not want to). We ended up at some Brazilian place. Food not great, per Angie. I had tea.
*We decide to take it easy & rent a movie and go home. By the by...just 'cause Gerard Butler is in it (and he's super hot and sexy and talented) does not a good movie make. That's all I'm gonna say.

Monday (my ACTUAL birthday day)
*Up at 8am
*Out of the house at 9:15am
*Enjoy a nice big breakfast at Tick-Tock Diner (which I love btw)
*Race to get Angie on her bus to DC
*Once she leaves I head into the movie theater where I procede to stay all day. 11am to 6pm! LOL!
*Watched "Salt", "The Sorcerer's Apprentice", and "Inception". Reviews at bottom.
*Wandered up 8th Ave whilst chatting to a fellow Bday pal, Melissa was 26 on Saturday, and stopped at Blockbuster on the way. Bought 5 videos for $20! Woot!
*Walked around CP. More specifically, I decided to wander the area I write about in the Prologue of my new story. I even took some photos so I could re-write the fight section with the correct landscape notes. I'm picky like that. :)
*Home to curl up with dog on my bed and watch TV (caught up on "Glades" episodes)
*Fell asleep watching TV on my "pillow pet" Aslan.

Yeah, I know, I should be EXHAUSTED huh? LOL! I kinda am. Yesterday's "low-key" day was perfect for me due to all I'd done for three days previous. Quick thoughts on the 3 movies I saw;

SALT - Fucking Awesome! It's not your typical spy movie! You are expecting one thing and then its another thing all together and then..BAM! It's another thing...and another! It holds some GREAT twists and turns you're not expecting. It's a thrill ride full of amazing acting and phenominal fighting...and good writing, which is suprising in a movie like this, no? Jolie, Schreiber, and Ejiofor are Fanfuckingtastic!!! I want to say no more so as to give nothing away. I give it 5 out of 5 stars! GO SEE IT! Don't wait for DVD!

THE SORCERER'S APPRENTICE - It's Disney. Now you know exactly how this movie rolls. It's got its young "I am an ugly duckling who has no self confidence" character that learns to, well, be confident (and get the girl); played by Jay Baruchel. It's got a cheesy older leading man (thank you Nicholas Cage) and its overdone super psycho evil woman (Morgan played by Alice Krige) and the man who works for her, Maxim Horvath. And HERE is where you get a gift. Maxim is played by Alfred Molina! As always, he's fantastic! LOVED HIM! He's definitely the highlight of the movie. Its totally campy but fun. I'd say you can wait for DVD but, you don't have to. 3 stars outta 5.

INCEPTION - Wow! Now here's a movie you need your thinking cap for. You need to be prepared to pay attention right off the bat. There is no, "sit back and relax" time in this film. The stakes are always high, the acting is always superb, the concept is always fascinating, and you are constantly engaged in the piece. The good news is once you understand the concept in the begining you then are able to understand when it gets more difficult. Once you get past understanding how it works and the mission they are going to do...you're home free. THEN you can sit back and watch the "action" take place. Hence why I said you'de not be "relaxing". Cause once your brain can relax your body can't. It's a thrill ride for both your brain and your body (adrenaline kicking you over and over again that is). The cast is quite talented, standing out was DiCaprio himself, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Tom Hardy.

I wasn't totally fond of the way they end it...to be honest. It's sorta open, for you to decide what is real, and what is a dream. I sorta would've liked them to make it clear. But they didn't. Not sure if they did that to be "artsy" or to "make a statement" of some kind. Either way, it gets 5 out of 5 stars though the ending makes me tempted to say 4.5 instead. So, go to the theater and see it...and then judge for yourself.

If you HAVE seen it and wanna tell me what YOU thought of the ending DO comment please!!!!

That's all I got for now folks! Have a great week!

Love, Tamsin :)