Les Jeux Sont Faits

It's Saturday evening. Do you know where the Paulsons are? I do -- and I'm not too happy about it!

They're GONE! The end had to come... 'les jeux sont faits', as the French would say. If the week had to be summed up in a word, it could only be, "BRILLIANT!". It was nothing short of a brilliant week altogether. My most sincere hope is that they had as great of a time as I did having them here. I'm not going to lie, Avid Reader, I'm already sad they're gone. But get to recount the last days' adventures and I'm sure blogging will bring it all back. As Celine Dion would say (though not French, but close enough), "It's all coming back to me now".

I worked Friday morning until about 1PM when I joined the Paulsons after their lunch at Rickshaw Dumpling Bar near Madison Square Park. We met up at the Union Square Market where JP wouldn't answer his phone (I KNOW!) and I got to stalk them for a bit. We cruised down to City Hall Park where we started our Brooklyn Adventure (BA, for those of us who are acronym-friendly). The BA started in the most obstensible way: by crossing the Brooklyn Bridge! Jesse, Steph and I accomplished what Jesse and I could not this past summer; we walked across! It was fun to do something that seemed so "New York" and got a number of great photos:














We wandered for a bit around Brooklyn Heights, but as the weather started to turn sour, we thought it best to trek to Williamsburg for dinner. We went to Fornino, a high-end pizzeria that my friend currently manages and scored a comped dinner (Thanks Clifton!)!

Finally, we arrived at our destination: the Brooklyn Brewery and its 6-11PM Happy Hour with effectively $2.89 eBeers. We bonded with the locals, drunk-dialed friends, frequented the restroom, harrassed Steph, and carded it up as part of the NYC 2006 Barnyard Championship (results to follow). We both opened and closed Happy Hour and had an absolute blast altogether -- yet another 10 of a time at the Brooklyn Brewery. A Brooklyn evening wouldn't be complete, however, without the requisite visit to and shot at MyMoon, my favorite destination in all of New York City. We got the also-requisite photos of the mural in front, and even found a new mural to photograph and with which to fall in love.

Our Saturday morning started a bit slower than we thought it might, but we literally trapsed the entire city in four short hours! It all started with a stroll through Washington Square Park to see the Washington Square Arch, to visit yet another fun dog run and to run into black squirrels. It's always fun -- and a good idea! -- to view NYC wildlife.

We enjoyed brunch at Cowgirl in the West Village, then made our way back through Times Square for more last minute NYC adventures (Christmas shopping) with visits to the CBS Store, M&Ms World, and the NBC Store.

Steph and I both tested which M&M we were. Previously, Jesse was Dark Green ("You have a very good memory") while Steph was Peanut Butter Mix. Today, however, I was Dark Green and Steph was Cream. I'm surprised I actually wasn't red: BEET RED. There were throngs of people on the streets in and around Times Square today as people from all over the world are in town to see NYC at Christmas. And, I have to tell you, it is something altogether!

We (read: I) made a weekend subway error to lose some time, but still managed to hike back to the UES, do some more last-minute Christmas shopping, make it back to my apartment and nearly finish yet another round of Barnyard before the Paulson's car arrived to whisk them to New Jersey. Of couse, this was NOT before we crowned the NYC06-Barnyard champion: Jesse Paulson! Jesse pretty much beat up on Steph and I winning 8 to my 5.16 to Steph's 3 (not that Steph pouted or anything...).

So, that's how things played out over the course of the past couple of days. Here is is 9PM on Saturday evening and I'm BEAT. And CONTENT. And pleased to have had this week. And SO THANKFUL to have the Paulsons -- the wonderful Paulsons -- in my life and as my close friends. What a way to celebrate Christmas in New York and to wrap up what's been an incredible year altogether.