Well, June 2nd came & went & I'm still recovering. That's a sure sign you did something right, btw.
The festivities commenced in the evening of that great Thursday, after work (where my lovely friend Kit got my a delish chocolate B-day cake), my new friend Roy (whom I met at Dr Who Convention in LA this past February) flew in from Cudahy, WI to spend the weekend at my place in NOLA!
I got my gal pal Simone to bring me to the airport to pick him up & after some confusion about which exit to take we grabbed him & headed downtown to El Gato Negro, where the Carrot Juice Margaritas will ROCK YOUR WORLD!! Also joining us were my classmate/student/buddy Mad Martha, my ex-co-worker Bourgie Katherine, my fave lesbian couple/swimmin buddies Kris & Jen & (eventually) my lil sweetheart Daniella. As fate would have it, the back patio was completely empty & we had it all to ourselves. FANTASTIC. The service was stupendous as the staff easily kept up with our increasing need for cocktails on a warm Spring evening. We had the free chips & salsa while we nursed round 1 of Carrot Juice (CJ for short) Ritas & ordered their salsa sampler (delish but not for the faint of stomach. I was really glad for how sweet & refreshing my CJ Rita was when I tasted how hot they were). As people filtered in, more drinks were ordered, I promise. I stuck to the Top Shelf CJ Rita while Bourgie Katherine had some kinda Bourgie Pomegranate Mojito (which I sampled--YUM-O, to quote Rachel Ray). I think Simone also tried the Pineapple Cilantro Rita (also inspiring). And like the Large Retarded Women we are, we tucked into a delectable meal. The menu is not so long as to be imposing but it's just so hard to make a choice when everything is so good! I had the Center Cut Pork Chops Al Cazador while Roy had the Chicken Breast con Mole. For those who have not experienced mole: Stop. Get off the computer & find a quality Mexican establishment & eat the HELL out of it.
Okay, now that you're back at your computer, I can honestly tell you I think I remember Martha & Kris having some kinda nachos & well, did I mention by now we were at round 5 of CJ Ritas? Anyway, my so-called wife popped in with a pressie just before we walked Simone back to her car & retrieved Roy's carry-on bag from her car & put it in Bourgie Katherine's lil red Mustang & then headed to 1135 Decatur (the former Rubyfruit/Whirling Dervish/Crystal/Blue Crystal) for my old friend & fellow Gemini, Cameron's free House Music event. Being that it was a Thursday night & most hoes had to work the next day, pretty much every1 else took off besides Katherine & Roy but we were also joined by my Dear Sistery McBride, aka Steven Lemley. After a few drinks and a few mins on the dance floor with the long-lost Rick Glasgow, the four of us folded ourselves up into that lil convertible Mustang & headed over the Jimani, where one of Miss Bourgie's friend's was also having a b-day. After a few more drinks, Miss Bourgie dropped Roy, Sistery & myself off at my place, where we stayed up chatting til about 4am, when Sistery called a cab & I installed Roy on the couch & hit the bed.
We kept the fun going the next day, when Taheeshi Red AKA Matty Whips popped up and the three of us headed to Elizabeth's in the Marigny for a little lunch. It's more fun for brunch on the weekend, but the bright decor is always pleasant, even if the staff is a little subdued toward the end of the shift. I had the roast-beef po-boy (I ordered it with gravy but they don't have gravy evidently) which was tolerable but not stupendous. Matty had the BLT with pork jowls & Spinach (so more of a JST, but there you have it) & I think Roy had a seafood platter. The bloody mary's were just the right touch but lord when we got out in the sun, we pretty much cancelled our movie plans & opted for a day in the Air Conditioned coolness of my apt with my Wonder Woman DVDs. It didn't take us long to come up with WW drinking games (every spin is a drink & any motif of the show becomes a drink--like when Formicida the Ant Lady makes the ants eat a building you take a drink, etc). We completed our lazy day by ordering pizza & I guess we dozed off around 2ish. Possibly later.
We woke up the next morning with Dalida & WW & headed for The Country Club for some sun & swimming & brunch--oh my! Featuring Kris the Mimosa fiend. We had the bottomless mimosas (til 3PM) along with boudin balls as an appetizer (MMMM. Think of a battered, deep-fried ball of rice dressing with a creole mustard dipping sauce) and I think I had the traditional breakfast while Roy had the Portobello sandwich. Kris had a side of mac & cheese with peas (well maybe 2 of these) and something that escapes me, due to the bottomless mimosas. Then we frolicked in the pool til the sun went down!! We encountered a few other gay men (one of whom was drinking "abandoned" cocktails he found poolside & was aptly named--Hoover) but mostly just splashed around, chatting amongst ourselves. Eventually Jen found her way to the pool & we all hung out for a hot minute before the gals took off. I wonder if they ever made it to their next destination, Nonna Mia? Who can say....
So as Roy & I were settling up at the bar we ran into a former classmate of mine & chatted with him & his ex-roomie for awhile b4 calling for a cab to whisk us back into WW DVD land. I believe this is when we watched Amazon Hot Wax, a WW adventure featuring Lynda Carter as Diana Prince going undercover as a singer named Cathy Meadows, featuring 2 songs from her album "Portrait"--Clearly the drinking game continued...I might also mention that the Internet Fairies blessed us with the mid-season Finale of Dr Who!!
Sunday we cabbed over to The Ruby Slipper on S. Cortez in Mid-City where we had a few Bloody Mary's while waiting for a table. The wait was not excessive, and the rainy weather (& umbrellas outside) made it bearable. Roy had the Crab Cake breakfast while I stuck to the traditional but went a lil carb-crazy by having breakfast potatoes & grits (TO DIE FOR). Afterwards, we strolled over to Angelo Brocato's for a lil authentic taste of NOLA ice cream before proceeding back to my house, where Roy packed his bag & we watched one last episode of WW & bid each other "see you again" & that's really what it feels like. On more than one occasion he told me "Grrl, we are gonna know each other for a long time."
So yes, this was the best birthday yet. Friends, new & old, joy, laughter, Wonder Woman, Dr Who...what more could I ask for?
