Careful What You Wish For

"Do you want anything from New York?" a friend emailed yesterday morning. I’ve had a hankering for Tazo Green Ginger tea. Haven’t been able to find it here in London, and it’s one of the few things I’ve been missing. So I placed an order.

Later that afternoon, Edward and I had begun an Easter holiday mid-week, mid-afternoon cocktail festival after admiring the casts at the V&A.

“So do you miss New York yet?’ he asked me.

I truthfully answered that I really don’t. I miss some of the convenience, and I miss the breadth of friends that I don’t see/talk to that much anymore. While I’m making good friends here, I miss the network of people that evolved over the dozen years we spent there.

When we’d have parties in NY, there would be 20-30 people in our place, from all different circles that we’d run with … shows I’d been in, people Larry knew when he lived there pre-Chicago, people from my work, people from his, not to mention the bloggers. They were always amazing nights, and I miss having all those people weaving in and out the fabric of my day-to-day.

Later in the afternoon, Ed takes me to an Italian coffee shop in Soho for a much needed caffeine break. Behind the parma ham and egg cream tarts, there was a box of Green Ginger tea bags. I ordered a couple to go. I’m having a cup now. It’s delicious. It reminds me of Ptown – the first place I’d found my little sachets of pear-infused green tea bliss.

When I got home last night, after several more drinks and some dinner with Ed and his ding-dong-adorable History Boys, there was an email from Steven (aka Connie). He’s one of the boys I miss most. We share a Midwest → New Orleans → New York connection. We’ve bonded with each others siblings. We’ve both done our own riff on the performer turned corporate drone motif. Oh, and he’s the one who named me “Bea Movie” and got me to do drag for a fundraiser way back when.

He’s one of the rare friends that has become family, and his mail reads ...

Big news: 
I'm in Brussels.

Bigger news: 
I spent the last two weeks traveling europe

Biggest news: 
I'm moving to Brussels to oversee design for the [fancy hotel chain] Europe, Africa and Middle Eastern division.

While Belgium isn’t just next door, it’s a lot closer than Manhattan.

Green Ginger in Soho and Connie in Belgium. Wheeeee.

Bea happy.