Today was one of the best days I've had in a long time. I got up early, I was productive, I got my entire list of things accomplished, had my friends M.G. and S.H. over for dinner, cleaned up and am now blogging. Damn near perfect if you ask me.

I got up early to start dinner. I don't know if I have mentioned it before but I don't cook. I don't know how, I don't enjoy it, therefore I don't do it. So inviting anyone over for dinner is a bit daunting. My usual fix is to just order in. Chinese, Pizza, the diner up the street. But I wanted tonight to be different. There are only a couple of things that I think I cook well and one of them is Spaghetti Pie. I have to confess it's made in a crock pot. I can hear all of you "real" cooks, and queens sticking your noses in the air, but hey don't knock it if you haven't tried it. When finished it's somewhat like lasagna made with spaghetti and cooked in a crock pot instead of the oven.

I have to admit that I was somewhat nervous. For dinner it was going to be S.H., M.G., and C.Z. my roommate. All three full-blooded Italians. In fact C.Z.'s grandparents didn't move hear until they were teens. All four of them. As a side note all four of his grandparents were from the same village in Italy and knew each other as children. They met here, married here, etc. etc. So my pretend Italian had to be more than a little good.

The catch to cooking in a crock pot is the dish cooks all day, so I had to have it started by 11:00 to have dinner ready by 6:00. Everything was going fine until I realized I didn't have any eggs. I threw on shoes and ran across the street to the Pioneer Grocery store to get them. While I was there I also got the produce for the salad. I had meant to get to a store downtown for the produce yesterday but it didn't happen. The store across the street is scary. No one speaks English and the products they sell are questionable to say the least. I have seen customers picking through rotten vegetables to try and find anything usable. I got lucky today. Everything seemed okay. And in a flash I was back finishing up the recipe.

Once my "pie" was cooking. I decided it was nap time. C.Z. had left about an hour earlier and I was on my own. I turned on the TV. Discovered My Fair Lady was on, got comfortable and woke up as the movie was almost over. I should point out that it was well past the half way mark when I started so that you don't think I took a three hour nap. I got up and realized that I should get flowers for the table for dinner. Every corner in midtown and lower Manhattan has a deli with flowers but not in Washington Heights. If I wanted flowers I had to go downtown so I showered and headed downtown.

As I walked to the subway I realized that the day was beautiful and thought that I should incorporate a walk into my day. I haven't mentioned my weight in a while but for the past 7 weeks I have been trying to walk at least two miles a day, and have subsequently lost 19 pounds as of today. My usual walk is from 59th Street/Columbus Circle to 14th Street/Eighth Avenue. It's exactly two miles according to Mapquest, and it puts me in Chelsea/The Village to meet up with friends etc. So today as per my routine I got off the train at 59th Street and started walking south. I was making lists in my head as I walked. Do this, get that, don't forget this before my guests arrived, etc. It suddenly popped into my head that I didn't know where my cloth napkins were from the move. I know I have a couple of sets of them but I had no idea where. I called C.Z. to see if he had seen them or if he had any. He said no to both questions.

There was only one solution...buy more. As I was headed downtown there were a couple of options. Macy's, Bed Bath and Beyond, Williams Sonoma. I got to Macy's first, took a deep breath and plunged in. It was insane. Customers everywhere you looked. "Pretty" people dressed in black drowning in cologne. Strollers. Kids. AAAAAHHHHHH. What was I thinking. However, since I was already inside, I would hurry to the 8th floor to look for napkins. Hurry. Who was I kidding. The elevators were filled to capacity. And the escalators seem to puzzle most people. Each person would have to stop, concentrate and then jump on. At the top, they concentrate, jump off, and stop. It creates quite a traffic problem. The whole process is orchestrated by grumpy employees telling everyone to watch their step, keep the line moving, and have a happy holiday at the top of their lungs.

I get to the 8th Floor, step off the escalator, round the corner to discover I am in kid hell. OH, NO! Santa's on the 8th Floor. I can't move forward. I can't retreat. There are small people everywhere and no one seems to be moving. I finally push my way past a small family blocking the entire aisle and slowly proceed forward into Macy's toy section. The crowd has only gotten worse. Parent's are posing their children in front of things taking their pictures as if they have never been inside a department store before. I hold my breath and keep pushing forward. I am through. I continue moving following the signs for table linens. I walk, and walk, and walk. I don't see any. I turn and go back in the other direction. Still nothing. I turn and head back once again, confirming by the signs that I am going in the right direction. Still nothing. I spot two cashiers checking people out and I push my way up them and ask. "Where are your table linens." "On the six floor." FUCK!

I have to go back through Santa Land and Toy Land to get to the escalator. FUCK! Once again I take a deep breath and plunge in. It's slow going but I get there, go down two flights and still don't see any. I ask more quickly this time and am finally pointed in the right direction. I scout through them trying to decide what I want, what will work, what's not too expensive, and finally I choose. I get to the register where I am asked if I am from some place else. I reply, "Yes, I am from Washington Heights." The cashier laughs. She rings my purchases where I discover that everything I have chosen is on sale for much less. I pay, which is an event because I am at first told that my Bank Card is declined. I gasp. I just checked my balance yesterday and there was more than enough money in the bank. I only have 40 bucks in my pocket and I don't own a credit card. I insist there's a mistake and she runs it again. This time realizing it's a bank card. She make the adjustment, I entered my PIN number and suddenly everything is fine.

Now I have to make my escape, but first I have to pee. I have never seen a line so long for a men's restroom. I have only ever seen lines this long at the women's restrooms at the theatre. It takes almost 20 minutes to get through the line, but in NYC you go where you can go. I make my way back downstairs once again with people new to escalators and being yelled at to enjoy my holidays. Outside I take a deep breath, I am free. Whew.

I continue my walk down 7th Avenue toward 14th Street. I get to my deli and begin my selection of flowers. I had thought I would get red roses but the only ones they had were already arranged with baby's breath and that's not what I really wanted. I ended up going with red and white tulips which in the end I think were a better choice. I also wanted to get a poinsettia for the apartment. I am looking them over when I hear the man behind me ask if the poinsettia will last through the middle of the week. I turn to hear the exchange. The girl being asked the question doesn't understand, so he asks again. She says she doesn't know. At this point I turn and tell him that the poinsettia is a plant and will lasts as long as he cares for it. He doesn't get it. I explain again, it's not a cut flower, it's a plant, in dirt, that will live if cared for, indefinitely. Ahhhhh. Finally he gets it. He's very happy about this. For the next 15 minutes he tells me about his journey with the plants he's been caring for. I smile and give him what little advice I can. I finish paying, wish him a happy holiday and I am moving toward the train.

Finally an hour later than I expected to be, I am home. Luckily, as I was coming into my apartment S.H. called to let me know they were running late. I said no problem, as I had just gotten home, take your time and get here when you can. I set the table, arrange the flowers, make the salad, put the garlic bread in the oven and sit down to have a beer. Finally S.H. calls to say they are on their way. C.Z. and I light the candles, turn on the Christmas music and prepare for our guests.

This story is much longer than I realized it would be.

S.H. and M.G. arrived. They admired our tree, with M.G. inspecting each ornament wanting to know it's story. We chatted over drinks, while the bread finished warming. Finally the moment of truth was here. I served up dinner. We toasted and everyone was eating. They liked it. In fact all three of them admitted their surprise at liking it. They had all had doubts all day about what I was serving and were afraid they would hate it. In fact they all liked it so much everyone had seconds and M.G. had thirds. YAY! My white trash "Spaghetti Pie" was a hit. Over dinner we laughed, made fun of each other, gossipped and had a great time. After dinner we moved to the living room and continued our conversation while M.G. made trifle. He had thought it would be the perfect dessert for my dinner. I have to admit he was right. It was great.

M.G. and S.H. left around 11:00 and C.Z. and I cleaned up. After the dishes were done, we crashed in the living room, turned on Charlie Brown's Christmas and just relaxed. All in all it was a perfect day.