The View from Here
Trap doors & ladders, Mother's Day at my new favorite spot & some (vulnerable!) thoughts on creative work
My very full but really fun and wonderful travel season ended last weekend, and the last two trips were excellent--a weekend at the lake with my best friends from high school and then a weekend in the Florida Keys with another group of beloved friends. Both were such great reminders of how special it is to get away with people you love. I know it’s hard, and yes, it’s possible that the last thing I needed this spring was two more weekends away, but when the girls’ trip makes it out of the group chat, as they say, such special things happen and I came home from those two trips absolutely filled up. Friendship, man—that’s the stuff!
When I got back, I happened into a stretch of nights out that were so fun and special, but also phew!--this old lady could use a couple early nights in a row, please. I wrote all about Tim’s book launch and the next night, my pal & neighbor Erika hosted a salon at the cozy wine bar just around the corner from our apartment. It was a rainy night and I was a little tired, but then there was such a lovely, kind fascinating group of women all packed into this cozy bar and the night flew by full of conversations and stories and connection, and I fairly bounced home.
If you need me this spring and summer, I’ll be at Concrete Shoals—it’s a tiny boathouse bar out on the end of a floating dock in Brooklyn Bridge marina with excellent views of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty. We went on Mother’s Day, even though it was a little rainy, and I loved it so much. It’s owned by the same team as Fini Pizza and Fini Patio Bar, so you can order one of their excellent pizzas to be delivered right to the dock—pizza on the water? Am I dreaming?
I had a tough week—I’ll get to that—and one of the sweetest moments of the week was when Aaron called me from a bike ride. Of course I picked up in a panic, thinking he’d been in an accident. Put your shoes on, he said. I’m in Red Hook looking out at the water, and it’s too beautiful. I’m coming back to get you. And so I put my shoes on and he was 100% right. We rode bikes in the sunshine and stood looking out over the water and it was absolutely medicinal.
Marry someone who makes you take a bike ride when all you want to do is stay home and be sad. Marry someone who knows a view of the water will heal you and changes his plans to get you there. I’ve been a handful this week (more on this below), and Aaron has been the best. No small thing.
Henry comes home from his first year of college this weekend and we’re basically counting the minutes—yay! And Aaron’s sister and her family are coming to town so we’ve got lots of fun family plans—a backyard cookout, a picnic in Fort Greene park, lots of visits to our favorite bookstores and bagel shops. Spring in the city is busy and lovely, and I love being outside at every possible opportunity, especially after such a cold winter.
