Celebrating 3 Years: Murf and the Bunny

(From our first year together, under the Brooklyn Bridge.)

Today is my third anniversary with The Bunny.
And you know what I love best about it?
That it feels like any other day.
It's not summoning any major reflection.
It's not forcing make-or-break-decisions.
It's just another day of having Bunny be that special guy in my life, and feeling perfectly at ease and so content with it.
This is the kind of love I never expected I would want or need.
When you're younger, it's fun to have complicated relationships, full of drama and the eventual kiss-and-make-up.
But as I've grown older, I crave a relationship that is my happy constant in life, even when jobs and friends and finances and the weather make things bumpy.

Recently at a dinner, someone put me on the spot to defend my beliefs on a number of issues. Bunny was there to add occasional vocal input, but provided emotional support throughout.
He let me fight my own fight, and didn't feel the typical misogynistic urge to rescue me.
And it's BECAUSE of that characteristic that he was still my knight in shining armor.
He is someone who respects my opinions, even when they differ from his, and who respects, nay DEMANDS, my intelligence.

A man like this is such a gift.
I'm endlessly grateful for it.
1,095 days and counting....
Cxx.

A Trip to Rabbit Island

Last weekend the Bunny and I made plans to visit the Central Park Zoo and then sample BBQ vendors from all over the country at the annual Big Apple Barbecue.

Unfortunately, to the former, the annual Puerto Rican Day parade seized Fifth Avenue (making access to the zoo virtually impossible), and, to the latter, the weather was rainy and not ideal for waiting in line...even for delicious, delicious pulled pork.

Being the ever resourceful New Yorker that he is, Bunny suggested on a whim that we travel to the New York Aquarium at Coney Island!

For only $2.25 in Metrocard fare and a pleasant 45 minute subway ride through Brooklyn, we were transported to a different world.
Different, that is, except for the streets bearing the same names:

(In Manhattan I live off of "Bowery")
and...well, another Puerto Rican Day celebration:

Nevertheless, it was clear that we weren't in Manhattan anymore.

I always feel exhilarated by colorful boardwalks and the architecture of amusement parks:




















As I said, it was raining. We brought our umbrella but other visitors made do with items at hand: a pizza box (at left) and a towel (at right):


We wandered in the drizzle down the long boardwalk to the Aquarium:

(I AM the Pout-Pout Fish!)



Swimming in the same tank as these gentle turtles?
This guy:


Those teeth and crazy eyes don't put any stereotypes to rest...


These swirling iridescent fish created a visual worthy of a Little Mermaid "Part of Your World"/"Kiss The Girl" montage:


Seahorse!


I learned something amazing about seahorses:
They hook their tails to plants and to one another to gain leverage in order to search for food. In this instance, two seahorses (one, at left, almost entirely camouflaged with the sand) wrapped their tails to create enough weight to sink to the bottom of the tank and poke around.


Dwarf Caiman! (So still, we were initially concerned that he might be dead):




Anemone:


Honestly, who doesn't love starfish?




I spotted a baby starfish in the anemone tank:


Once we satisfied our thirst for marine education, I forced Bunny into the requisite visit to the Gift Shop, and made him model the fine merchandise:

(Sadly my powers of persuasion were null when it came to purchasing the shark backpack and gator visor.)

Perhaps the best discovery of the day was this kosher vending machine in the cafeteria:

Open "24/6." Bahahahahahaha. GENIUS!


After leaving the Aquarium we returned to Luna Park (where the rides are) and I challenged The Bunny to a rousing game of Whack-A-Mole.


First to 150 points wins!

Sadly, my score is the one at right.
Nevertheless, The Bunny selected for his prize a pink gorilla and GAVE IT TO ME!
My hero!


My Dutch friend, KS, recently taught me how to say "Bunny" in Dutch: Konijn.
It turns out that Coney Island got its name from the old Dutch Conyne Eylandt (modern Konijnen Island) : "Rabbit Island"!
So apropos for me and my Bunny.

If you find yourself in the area with nothing to do, today (June 19th) is Coney Island's annual Mermaid Parade, complete with costumes (and a lot of drag)! Should be fun.

Cxx.

2 Saturdays ago: 25th Birthday Fete!

Fact: Planning a birthday party is always harder than it should be.

NYC Truth: Organizing a party in Manhattan will drive you to madness.
Real Life-ism: Nobody cares about your party [as much as you do].
Conclusion: Calm the eff down, plan something fun for all, and wear a pretty dress and shiny shoes that make you happy.

It's such a blessing to gain WISDOM with age. *Whew.*

Thus:
The fun plan took the form of an improv comedy show at the UPRIGHT CITIZENS BRIGADE, starring actors and writers from "30 Rock," "The Office" and other hilarious shows, followed by dinner at La Bottega, located in the Maritime Hotel.

Pretty dress? Check!


Shiny shoes? Check!

(ELM, SB and The Bunny)


I think my friends are gorgeous.
I've noticed lately that my peers--meaning specifically those people born in 1984 and 1985--are looking ravishingly gorgeous and seriously radiant.
Quite simply, they look the best they've ever looked.
Even on Facebook, when I peruse current photos of people I haven't seen in the flesh since we were 9, it's obvious to me that they've reached a beauty "critical mass."
Mind you, that isn't to say that the best isn't yet to come, because I think it is, but this is a pleasant plateau to reach following the not-yet-distant-enough pains of pre-and-post-adolescence.

I think there will certainly be a time in my life when I'll gaze with jealousy upon the cellulite-free and curve-less figures of teenage girls, and long for that phase in my physical development (which, if I'm honest with myself, never actually existed).

But for now, I think my friends, and even I, look the way we're supposed to--and hopefully feel a little more comfortable in our own skin, too.
That sense of peace is a true birthday gift.

They're such a happy bunch; I'm tremendously and unduly lucky...

(A(K)K, EJS and LAT)


(LAT and BJE)


(DM and CCR)


(MVG, G(A)S, and CLB)


(ELM and SB)


(CJM)


(DM, CCR, ESG and CJM)


(CJM, MVG, G(A)S, and CLB)


(CLB and CJM)


(BJE, CJM and LAT: Even wearing heels it's sort of hopeless with these two...)


(Princeton Girls: LAT, A(K)K, MVG, EJS, and CJM)

I've got a GOOD FEELING about year #25...
In the words of the wrapping paper on one of my gifts, here's hoping that every day grants each of us a...

Cxx.