A Very Important Date

New York is Wonderland and Brooklyn is the Mad Hatter's Tea Party; a little off kilter, quirky and fun! I recently went to Brooklyn to visit my wonderful friend Kim, who you may remember from her July visit to Seattle and the Bazooka BBQ! Instead of focusing on going out to bars and restaurants, we decided to throw caution to the wind and spend our days catching up and meandering, and our evenings drinking wine and cooking. It truly was one of the best vacations I have ever taken.

All Fired Up: Bazooka BBQ 2011

Do you remember how junior high was the most awkward and devastating period of your (my) life? Your elementary school friends dumped you because you were pretty uncool (yeah, I didn't get the memo that high-waisted KMart jeans and men's bowling shirts weren't "in"), you spent most lunch periods in the library reading up on Tarot and practicing ESP on the librarians, and your locker was sandwiched between Mikey, the bully with a Napoleon complex who called you fat to your face, and that girl who kept a bowl of melted M & M's on her top shelf that somehow managed to spill all over your English book.

Ugh. I need a drink just thinking about it. 

Luckily, in 8th grade I met the amazing Kimberly Martin who made the end of my Junior High years much more tolerable....even sort of fun. (And, bear in mind, I did manage to make some awesome friends in 7th grade as well; don't worry, I wasn't a complete outcast).

Kim has been a constant in my life since we were 14; some years more constant than others thanks to college, crazy 2-year relationships (ahem, ME) that somehow manage to isolate you COMPLETELY from your friends and loved ones, and distance. Now she lives in Brooklyn and last week she came for a visit! SO MUCH TO CELEBRATE! Again, this post promises to be picture-heavy and longer than most, but it's definitely worth it!

In keeping with the summer theme, we threw a Bazooka BBQ to honor Kimberly and re-unite the fearsome foursome (high school was so much friendlier than junior high).

Excerpt from a note written by Kimberly to me in high school, circa 1996 (used as the image for the BBQ invite)

THEN (circa 2000 or 2001?) Me, Kim, Jared and Craig

NOW (circa last Wednesday) Kim, Jared, Craig and me

Those outfits were unplanned. I think it's all those years of practicing ESP...we just sort of knew what to wear. I would also like to mention that I am much happier without orange hair.