AWOL

Sorry about the paucity of posts this month. The combination of teaching/grading/writing/letters of recommendation, a nasty virus and an out of town trip left me exhausted and scraping for time to get even the essential work done. This blog was one casuality. I'm not out of the woods yet but I am taking an hour to clean up and watch a bit of TV so this seemed like a good time to write.

Last weekend, I was in Pittsburgh for a dear friend's wedding to her beautiful girlfriend. If you know me, it's no secret that Pittsburgh is not my favorite place in the world. I lived there for a while and felt suffocated, buried alive, and out of sorts, so I don't go back often. But this visit reminded me that while Pittsburgh and me do not mix (I even felt some of that emotional suffocation as a visitor), the friends I made there were first-rate--which I already knew but it felt good to have it confirmed. The lovely Gina who I actually met in NYC met me at the airport and we spent the remainder of Thursday afternoon and evening together. I stayed with my dear pals, Jane and Kathie, and spent Friday with the girls and their beautiful cats, Nigel and Eloise, and then Saturday was the wedding and time to catch up with the irrepressible John and Patrick who I dearly missed. The ceremony was beautiful--held at the Phipps Conservatory, a glorious collection of indoor and outdoor botanical gardens--and the brides were so beautiful that John and I cried. The reception was amazing with some of the best speeches I've ever heard and so much warmth and love in the air, not to mention incredible food and drink.

I returned to NYC exhausted, pleased to be back and grateful to have such wonderful friends who will always be in my life.