A whole bunch of us met up at Matt's apartment to sing happy birthday to Ellen and have some cake before heading crosstown to the Upright Citizen's Brigade Theater to see a show. Make a wish Ellen!
OMG. Back in the day, Leigh used to be out late every single weeknight in the Lower East Side - so much so that she became friends with some of the garbage men that had that route and they used to give her and her roommate Jessica rides home to make sure they got home safely. Haha. We got out of Lawrence's party and when a garbage truck passed us, Leigh hailed it like a taxi AND THE GUY STOPPED. Hahaha. Let's hear it for free rides!
I can't really drink until it's dark out (I don't know why!). But luckily, it was already dark outside at 5pm in December, plus The Annex doesn't have any windows (it's like a casino in there) so we all started getting our drinky drink on. Mer and Leigh.
Turns out that these were plates from the buffet at the MSG after party. Jenny had taken a whole bunch of food from the buffet, put it between two glass plates, wrapped it in a napkin and put it in her purse. But the napkin had come undone...
After dinner, we fired up Guitar Hero! Yes! Here's an action shot of Scott tuning up as he prepares to take on little miss Leigh Lezark (bonus points to Max and Meredith who are on opposite extremes of the "excitement spectrum" in this photo). Hahaha.
After dinner, the three us went around the corner to meet up with Leigh and Max! (The next morning I woke up with the flu and was in bed for the rest of Tara's visit! Boooo!) Sorry, I missed you, lady! Come out here again soon!
Mom's home! Leigh came over to pick up Edie and she and Meredith modeled their matching shades. I love how Edie's sunglasses are sitting on her snout and her little doggy legs are just hanging down all slack. Hahaha. Best. Photo. Ever!
Later Sunday night, me, Meredith, John, Ellen and Leigh all shared a cab to go Smith's night. In order to sneak all five of us into the same cab, Leigh had to lay down on everybody's lap and hide from the driver. Here's the sneaky "Look! Four people in the backseat!" photo I took from the front seat. Hahah.
Later on, I got everybody to get up and do a jump take for my camera. They got it perfect on the first try. Every time I'm having a crappy day, I can look at this pick and it will instantly make me laugh my ass off. Everybody is pulling great faces too (click here for hi-rez version). But the very best thing about this photo is...
Meredith and I met up with Sean and Leigh at a bodega in the West Village over by the ACE subway line. We quickly stocked up on sorts of drinks and beach treats...
Sunday Morning Brunch Club at Kate's Joint! Holy shit, remember when we used to do this pretty much EVERY SUNDAY? Clockwise from Left: Sarah, Meredith, Elhaam, Rob Hitt, Brandon, Josh, Ellen, Karen and Leigh!
Awwwww! Thanks so much guys! You are the best friends ever. (Sorry I moved back so soon!). I started to put my gifts away and they were all like "No, no, no. After all the time we spent rounding that stuff up, you're wearing it at the party, CALIFORNIA BOY!"
On the walk home I realized that Meredith and Leigh's yellow and red hoodies made them look like they were playing "Mustard" and "Ketchup" in a 2nd Grade musical about the lunchroom.
When Leigh and I met up with Meredith on the street, she was holding a shopping bag and laughing. Apparently, my birthday present that she'd told me was being "specially made" had finally arrvied and she informed me that she was going to "make me wear it out tonight." Well, Meredith's present turned out to be this uber-classy shirt that says "P is for Pussy" on the front (complete with a picture of the cookie monster doing the internation sign for pussy-eating)...
Later that afternoon the ladies took me to Red Bamboo for some vegetarian soul food. (Most likely, because unbeknownst to me, I was being taken to a steakhouse for my birthday dinner and this gave the two vegetarians a chance to fill up!).
...Chicago's legendary Mr. Whitefolks, who is arguably the world's only famous white pimp best known for his extensive speech on the importance of "beating the shit outta your hos to keep them in line" in HBO's Pimps Up Hos Down documentary. When I showed up, he was actually in the process of trying to convince Leigh and Meredith and that they should "be his bitches." He later informed me that this process is known as "turning bitches out." (Check out both of Leigh and Meredith's absolutely priceless expressions. Hahahah.).
A little past one, Meredith and I went over to Kabin to meet up with Leigh. I went to the bathroom in the back and then ran into someone on the way back and when I got back to the front of the bar I found Leigh and Mer talking to none other than...
The plan was to have Leigh pop her cherryaoke, but instead she ended up being Meredith's shy backup dancer. I was really disappointed in Leigh. Meredith however...