Joie de vivre

-

Outside of the wonderful things that happened in 2005, two men made my life hell that year. This is a story about the one whom I have yet to allude to on this blog.

My dear (and gorgeous) friend, Nicole, got married this past weekend in Saint Francis Xavier Church in Philadelphia. The ceremony was amazing, presided over by three priests – one of whom was recently ordained a bishop. The music was stunning and I haven’t been to a wonderful wedding like that since... since... since two weeks prior.

I know Nicole through my former job, and those co-workers from there have been a tight-knit group. Therefore a medley of people who were and are still employed in that office were invited.

The reception was held in the Union League, and after their recent renovations there venue was amazing. Rich, dark cherry colored wood and light cream drapes and linens provided an outstanding backdrop for a great time.

Nicole and I, when we worked together, shared the same boss. He made my last few months at my former job intolerable. Though I was not treated like persona non grata, I felt like an abused child.

I got out, and, as many of you know, I’m in a better situation for me.

I had seen him at the church, and I learned that he would be at the reception. I guardedly enjoyed cocktail hour, mingling with friends. At the end of cocktails, he was talking with Melissa and the maître d’ started to ring the chimes. As event planners, Melissa and I have had to ring chimes at many a dinner. I had to crack a joke about that.

I rushed into the conversation and excused myself. I laughed and said “We should go over to her and let her know how to really ring those chimes.” The entire group laughed. Then I acknowledged my former boss standing there and we shook hands. (No, I didn't spit on anyone!) He then introduced his wife. To which I replied, “Oh yes, we’ve met in Paris.” (We did in 2002.)

Everyone who knows of our falling out has asked me if I interacted with him during the wedding. I relate the story.

One person listened and commented, saying, that I live my life just to be able to say one-liners like that.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The day we lost Pluto

-
or (And your little dog, Goofy, too!) It’s official, the International Astronomical Union (IAU), founded in 1919, has defined (I never had that much time in my life to define something -- most of my identify and define tests were given in the time frame of 40 minutes, slackers.) what a planet is: A planet is a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (c) has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit. According to this definition, Pluto has been demoted from a planet to a dwarf planet. A dwarf planet is a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, (c) has not cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit, and (d) is not a satellite. Pluto is a dwarf planet by the above definition and is ...
Read more

Isaac

-
On "Confessions on a Dance Floor," there's a song Isaac , which I have fallen in love with. There's a great Yemenite chant intermingled in the song, which is translated into "if all of the doors of all of the generous peoples' homes are closed to you, the gates of heaven will always be open." Of course, it's controversial. Some rabbis has called her blasphemous (Madonna blasphemous?) since they believed the song to be about a 15th century Kabbalist, Isaac Lurier. It is forbidden to invoke his name in order to make a profit. Madonna's response is that she named the song after the cantor, Yitzhak (Isaac in English) Sinwani, for lack of a better name. (Seriously, who cares, Madge is R.C. and she's known for blasphemy. Didn't she really give JPII a heartattack that finally did him in in April?) Madonna's lyrics are: Staring up into the heavens In this hell that binds your hands Will you sacrifice your comfort Make your way in a foreign la...
Read more

Braciole

-
While I had time off during the Christmas break, I spent it working on a braciole recipe for the slow cooker.   In Italian American cuisine, braciole (the word is commonly pronounced /ˌbrä-zhəl/ from the Sicilian dialect) is the name given to thin slices of meat, usually beef, that are prepared as a roulade, a meat slice rolled around a filling then browned and braised. When I first had braciole, they were small individual servings, like the German Rouladen.  However in my search for a slow cooker version, I discovered recipes that made a large roulade versus the individual portions.  If Giada can do it, then so can I. The effort that goes into crafting the individual braciole is intense. Therefore, I was excited that most of the recipes called for a big roast sized braciole.  Cutting down the directions to a comfortable level of simplicity makes for a delicious meal without the hours of toil and let's the cook enjoy the food. I played with these two recipes, Bo...
Read more