I had a hell of a time last night with my friend Emily... we've been close since Mr. Partin's sixth grade social studies class at Loveland Middle School. She'd come over after school and we'd make peach oatmeal or order LaRosa's pizza and eat it on my bedroom floor. In college, we both spent the summer of 2007 interning in NYC. Em lived in the NYU dorms above Union Square and I lived in the East Village. We'd walk the 10 or so blocks to each other's places and check out the dive bars in between... and one of the coolest things I did that summer was the Live Earth concert with her at the Giant's stadium - talk about an amazing show - Damien Rice & David Gray, Black Eyed Peas, John Legend, John Mayer, Dave Matthews Band, Beastie Boys, Foo Fighters, Alicia Keys, Roger Waters to name a few. A truly unforgettable day.
After college, Emily moved to Santa Rosa, California to join AmeriCorp - I admired her so much. I dreamed of joining the Peace Corp and scared myself out of it by thinking I'd come home at 26 without a connection to my friends, single forever, jobless and broke. After two years of incredible connections with her students, countless amazing photos of the vineyards and all the beauty the left coast has to offer, she moved to Portland. A year later and she has completed her Masters in education - super proud of her! Emily is a sensational dancer, intuitive photographer, is wonderfully artistic (she made me the painting hanging in my apartment, pictured in the album linked in the Live in Hyde Park! post) a skilled writer and a great friend - I can be more goofy with her than anyone I know. Since college, we have continued hand-written correspondence - letters, postcards, photos, even as we communicate via text, Facebook and email. Her parents still welcome me to dinner at their home and her older brother Clint has become a good buddy to grab a beer with at the local pubs around Hyde Park.
Although I miss having her here, I think our friendship is so special because of how we stay in touch and our visits when she comes home to Cincinnati a few times a year. I can't wait to visit Portland - hopefully this fall.
Last night I took her to OTR to see how our city is transforming and that we may not be Port of Land but we have some cool places popping. First we had a beer at The Lackman then hit Senate for another beer and a bite. Em is now a vegetarian so the hot dog named after my pal Dan Korman was perfect for her - red callini bean & Turkish lentil sausage with sun-dried tomatoes, shaved fennel, arugula and goat cheese was perfect. I loved the Lindsay Loahn (who she happens to be obsessed with, ha) - all beef hot dog with arugula, goat cheese, caramelized onions and balsamic - and truffle fries with aioli, of course!
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| Our outstanding meal at SENATE |
So cheers to Emily - and many more years of friendship and letters and laughs!
xoxo
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| Em & I lunching at the famous former Tavern on the Green in NYC |
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