Day 321

Winter is kicking my ass.

Day 320

What did people do at work before there was internet?

Day 319

I have home video competition. 

Day 318

As I walked out my door today, I noticed the little market across the street was closed. As I walked closer I could see the shelves were bare and there was a sign in the window. My heart sunk. This little market always came to my rescue when I needed eggs or maple syrup, an olive loaf or a coke. More importantly it was a good, great place and one of the very reasons I wanted to live on this street to begin with. I loved that it was the first thing I saw when I left in the morning. I didn't mind waiting a couple extra minutes to pay for my milk because the cashier was chatting with a regular, instead it made me feel warm inside. And jealous that they didn't know my name yet.

(that's my apartment in the reflection of the goodbye note)

What are the chances this wonderful, intimate little space is NOT going to turn into a bank kiosk?

I wish I could buy it and turn it into something cool. And hang out there all day instead of an over-airconditioned, over-caffinated, understimulated office. 

Think Steph, think!

Day 317

Started reading The Language of Baklava. It's a memoir with recipes about "raising an Arabic dad in America". 

Bud learns English not from books but from soaking in the language of work, of the shops, of the restaurants after arriving in this country. I don't know how he learns to hail strangers but whenever my father needs directions--which is frequently--he flags down men and women alike with the same greeting: "Hey Bud!" I grow up thinking of all Americans as Bud--even though my father's name is Ghassan Saleh Abu-Jaber, he becomes the original bud.

Bud misses the old country so much, it's like an ache in his blood. On his days off he cooks and croons in Arabic about missing the one you love. I ask him whom he misses, and he ponders this and says, "I don't know, I just do."

Day 316

I like lists. I love them. Sometimes I'm physically unable to do something unless I write it down first. And crossing things off feels damn good. Whether my mission is to pick up bananas or take a dip in the Mediterranean, naked...seeing something on paper makes it seem totally doable. Brian makes lists too.

Day 315

A love letter to my ugly friend Brian:

Underground Dining. Tell me what I have to do to help you make this happen and I will do it. Go.

Read this.

And this.

And this. 

And this too.

Why should you do this:

10. Because I told you to.

9. Because you will meet interesting people.

8. Who have interesting jobs.

7. Who could give you interesting ideas.

6. Or opportunities.

5. Plus you can test the recipes going in our book.

4. And make new friends because quite frankly I'm not thrilled with the ones you have. 

3. And because you would luff it. And have fun. And lets face it you'd love all the attention.

2. It will give you street cred when you go to open your own restaurant.

1. And lastly, BECAUSE I WANNA COME OVER FOR DINNER GOSH DARNIT!

Day 314

My best friend Fadi moved to Abu Dhabi about a week ago to design yachts. He is literally living his wildest dream and it would be impossible for me to be more proud of him than I am right now. His fiance will join him in a couple of weeks and they will begin an exciting whirlwind life together in the middle east. I couldn't build a more perfect woman for my Fadi than Kateri. He and I have spent a LOT of time talking about our favorite topic. Love. And his favorite topic. Marriage. I know who he is inside and out and Kat is at once, both everything he's always wanted and everything he's always needed. I've always thought whoever he ended up with would truly be the luckiest girl in the world but in this case, he is just as lucky.

It was hard enough living in a different city as Fadi, now we live in entirely different worlds. So I asked Kat to do me a HUGE favor when they move. Start a blog to record their day to day adventures and shrink the distance between us a bit.

And voila. This is just one of the many reasons that I love her.

Day 313

AM workout. 

9-5. 

8 glasses of water. 

Wine shop. 

Dessert and champagne with my friend Valentina and new friend Ilaria (who is the Italian version of moi). 

Day 312

My google document called MOVIE has officially been shared with my smarter and wiser and careful-er future NYU film school alumni. I will wait to hear from him for next steps. In other news I did NOT go to the gym this morning and I did not go tonight. There's just no leaving my warm apartment once I'm inside. 

Day 311

Uh oh. The day I have not been waiting for has arrived. Got my first tax statement in the mail. I don't remember what I ate for lunch let alone all the places I've worked this year. My taxes are going to be a disaster, which means those mutants at H&R Block are going to charge me a fortune to do them. I don't mind paying taxes, in fact I like taxes. They are responsible for all sorts of fun stuff. I DO hate paying to pay taxes. The whole idea is crazy. Pay money to pay money. How come we haven't found a way to eliminate this greazy middleman who hasn't seen daylight since last April and appears this time each year to charge me $200 for asking 7 yes or no questions and stock up on dungeons and dragons paraphernalia. 

And don't tell me to do it online. Because if you've lived in more than one state, those fancy online programs will try to ruin your life. Why can't the government just take the correct amount of money from my paycheck? 

Day 310

Editing, editing, editing. I'm totally going to be an editor in my next life, HOffesionally. And I'm totally going to have Final Cut on my computer instead of this P.O.S. iMovie.

P.S. EVERYONE needs a Flip camera...

Day 309

Early morning workout. Giant purple snowflakes. Billy Holiday records. Naps. Soup. A google document called MOVIE that got a little fatter. My favorite day off ever. Thank you MLK, and not for my day off. 

We may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Day 308

Another day. Another line at airport security. But only after another loud and crazy and wonderful breakfast with the Chaldeans. I wish I could have my cake and eat it to. I wish I could see them more and still see the world. 

Day 307

I had about 8 glasses of wine today. That's the same as 8 glasses of water, right?

All because two of the best people I know got married. The day was intimate and personal and colorful from beginning to end. And there were a few moments that I want to save here in my blog...since this is where I saved all of my other favorite experiences from this past year. 

Nick might have the best, warmest, cutest stories of anyone I've ever met. To the point where you almost don't believe them. From saving a one-eyed-cat from his sure demise and adopting him, to the story about how his family gives a special toast each Thanksgiving to honor the taxi driver who took his grandfather home with him for Thanksgiving dinner the day he arrived in America from Italy with nothing, not even the location of his relatives. 

After today, he has even more stories to add to the pile. Each member of the wedding party was given a bottle of wine he and his grandfather (who passed away) made 23 years ago for Nick's wedding.

Instead of having the best man and maid-of-honor give a speech, Nick decided to take a nod from an Irish wedding he had attended and he and Nicole gave a speech about their wedding party and explained the reasons why each person was chosen to stand next to them on this day. I don't think there was a dry eye there.

Lastly, his new wife rose a glass to him. And there wasn't just any old wine inside. It was a bottle he showed her on their first date, after he made her dinner, and told her then that they would drink it on their wedding day. 

Day 306

Wedding rehersaling. I still think it's amazing how the love between two people can bring so many other people together. I mean that in the least cheesy and cliche way possible. There's something so cool about  sharing an intimate moment with people you would have never crossed paths with had it not been for the two people getting married. I realized this for the first time at my brother's engagement party and again at my sister's wedding. I remember stepping outside everything for a moment, watching people dance and laugh and embrace people they'd never met before. I remember how drastically my first impression of some had changed by the end of the night, after sharing a meal and a drink and a dance floor. I remember watching my sister's American in-laws pinky to pinky with our family as the DJ played arabi music, thinking that the moment added something to their lives, even taught them something...and witnessing it added something to mine.

For this reason alone, I shouldn't be so hard on weddings and marriage, huh?

Day 305

Wrote character descriptions ALL day. No matter how much I say my job sucks, don't believe me. Because it's awesome. I just need to fly under the radar for another 9-12 months. I wish there was a way to negotiate my hour since I run through all my assignments so quickly. Like work 20 hours a week instead of 40 so I could make time for another "fun" job. But then I run the risk of them putting me on more projects and losing my valuable free time. More work and no play would make Steph MORE bored.

Day 304

Since my internet has been off and on lately, instead of calling the worthless customer service desk at comcast to complain (again), i've been reading more. Finished a book called "Honeymoon With My Brother". And by finish, I meant I skimmed right down to the last page. I love travel memoirs because besides feeling inspired after reading them, I always learn something new about a place. But this one was painful to get through. The author is a right-wing opportunist and as I read about his adventures (a honeymoon around the world with his brother after his fiance called off the wedding), I couldn't help imagining this big, entitled tool galavanting around, trying to get laid in as many time zones as possible. He tries to be clever. He tries to be inspiring. But all I think is TOOL. TOOL. TOOL. Once I finished that, I went back to my book on screenwriting and promised to work on it all day at work today. I can't say I made much progress but I DID create a google document called MOVIE so I can share it with my movie mentor Mr. Carmichael as soon as I finish organizing all the information. 

Day 303

Gig Economy. Everyone's doing it.

Day 302

Sometimes I don't feel like thinking about the future. 

Day 301

Got Cuba on the mind...

Day 300

Go Detroit! Go small businesses! Go young people!

Day 299

A Good, Great Place...

Day 298

During the the 28th year of my life, I resolve to drink 8 glasses of water a day. I think it will solve everything. 

Two more to go!

Day 297

We will look for any excuse to eat cake. Tonight we celebrated the epiphany. And Jesus. And my looming 28th birthday with tons of wine, tons of lasagna and tons of this amazing Jesus Cake. It was super delicious and so was the company. I'm a lucky girl.

 

 

And QUEEN for the night! 

Day 296

My childhood best friend left this morning after our week long reunion. Our friendship is 17 years old. I guess there IS something I can do for a long time after all.  

Day 295

My little Italian friend and fellow roadtrippin fool, Pietro, wrote a bit ago to tell me his friend Valentina was coming to Boston for English classes and asked me to answer some questions she had about the city.

Today I met her face to face, and met another character in my screenplay.

Valentina is a 27 year old girl from Napoli. After a 7 year relationship and an engagement, her fiance called off the wedding. She's never been on a first date. Before Antonio was her boyfriend, he was her best friend. He ended their "story", so she decided to begin a new one. The only place she could imagine this new start was America. She thinks perfecting her English will help her find a job in wedding planning.

When asked why she choose Boston, she said because she loves small cities and it's close to New York. And she's always wanted to have breakfast at Tiffany's, just like Audrey. End scene.

Day 294

What should I do with my life?

Day 293

Last night over dinner, my friend Anya made some remark about how she is a kid at heart. Our new friend Barry agreed he too is a kid at heart. I sat there for a second, thinking about my heart...and whether it was a kid. I'm pretty sure it's not. In fact I'm fairly certain I'm an old lady at heart. So I admitted it to the table. While I love idea of being a kid at heart, I'd be posing if I said I was. Less playful and more serious. BORING. Just as the realization of my old granny heart began to sink in, Anya said something that made me feel so much better (cuz it's so true!).

She said Capricorns get younger as the get older. They start out very serious and responsible as children and as they get older, they get sillier. They loose some of their inhibitions and feel younger with each year.

Day 292

2009 was the best year of my life.  I did things I never thought I'd do. Saw places I've always wanted to see. Met people I've always wanted to meet. Tried things I've always wanted to try. But the more I cross of my list, the longer it gets. 

I can't imagine a better way to end one decade and begin a new one.