We're back!!! We had an amazing time, truly amazing. We arrived Thursday afternoon and opened with a Nathan's Famous hot dog with kraut, right there at the airport. After cleaning various mustard mishaps off of our hands and clothes, we excitedly cabbed it to Dot and John's beautiful apartment, where they generously let us stay for the weekend. After dropping our luggage, and chatting with Dottie, Tom gave us a quick end-of-day tour of his and Valerie's soon-to-be-finished apartment - it's absolutely gorgeous, very exciting. Quick hop back to the apartment, change of clothes, and we were off for a delicious front-table dinner at Elio's with Dot and John. I love eating out with Dot and John - amazing food and wine with lots of great conversation and laughing. The best. After fried zucchini, linguini with white clam sauce, and veal scallopini topped with chopped tomatoes and herbs, we walked home and snuggled down into our comfy beds. Prrr...

Friday morning, after Kim's crack-of-dawn run in Central Park, and major consultations with Dottie on our various plans, Dot and John took off for EH and Kim, Suz, and I made our way over to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. After heading up to the roof garden for pics of Central Park (and ourselves!), we wound our way through the Modern Art exhibit, and of course Medieval Art for Suz (so metal!). A toasty stroll down 5th Avenue, with brief interludes in the park to catch a breeze and cool off, ended at the sleek cafe in Bergdorf Goodman's men's store. Fortified by John's recommendation of a scrumptious chopped Gotham Salad (I will crave that salad and most definitely have it next time I'm in NYC - perfection) and a glass of sauv blanc...

... we made our way across the street to Madam Bergdorf, sniffing (and buying) Annik Goutal fragrances, "playing" with one of the jewelry sales clerks (she invited us to try on whatever we wanted, it was fab), then strutted back toward the apartment. Suz rested her back (which threatened to seize up on her all weekend, she was such a trooper!) while Kim and I headed over to Sable's to stock up on lobster salad, bagels, cream cheese, and smoked Nova Scotia salmon for Saturday's breakfast (and perhaps a few snackies, heh, heh, heh... There's no staying away from that lob sal...brekkie, lunch, mid-day, nightcap - it's all good...). A few errands later, we were resting our tired, hot, sore tootsies, gratefully sipping a glass of cool white wine, and making plans for our order-in Chinese from Pig Heaven.

Pig-out Heaven is more like it, delivered smokin' hot less than 15 minutes after we ordered it. Orange chicken, beef with broccoli, shrimp with snow peas, cold sesame noodles, and crispy spring rolls. We ate in complete silence, it was that good. Nothin', and I mean nothin', can shut up Suz, Kim, and me, but there we were, hushed and in awe. When we finished we recorded an episode of Feminine Hijinx, talking Upper East Side food and fun the whole time... NICE! A few episodes of Sex and the City (on demand) later and we were toast. Bed.

Yesterday, a relaxing morning with said bagels et al. Out the door and off to Dylan's Candy Bar for treats for our kiddies. Serious window shopping along Madison Avenue as we made our way to La Maison du Chocolat for Father's Day truffles for John. Cooled our heels at the apartment, dropped off our purchases, polished off the Pig Heaven leftovers, and back out the door to the E.A.T gift shop for more trinkets. Another rest at the apartment (it was hot outside! Not humid, or hellish, but definitely hot...) A (very necessary) change of clothes and we were off for our last lovely meal in the city - a spot-on dinner at Il Riccio. More fried zucchini (compliments of the restaurant), sauteed artichokes with taleggio cheese, veal piccata (I was having a veal craving, clearly), lovely wine courtesy of John (he set out four bottles for us before he and Dot left on Friday - we happily consumed three of them over the weekend, all delicious). A digestif walk into the park and back, and we were home, packing, cleaning up, and preparing to be up at 5:30 (!) this a.m. to head out the door at 7:00. A (very) quiet cab ride to LaGuardia, smooth flight back here to the Minneapple, and here I am, home safe and sound. And TIRED. Whew. It was a busy yet relaxing weekend, fun beyond description with my girls. My girls! We talked and laughed all weekend (check out Suz and Kim, above, casually strolling together hand-on-butt; now that's love; and hilarious, too, I could hardly snap the pic for my shaking, plus we giggled about it all over again on the plane. DORKS!). A beautiful experience in the most beautiful of cities with my beautiful, lovely, hilarious, kind, and loving friends. Thanks, ladies, for such a memorable weekend! And thanks Dot and John for your home and advice and generosity! Incredible.

Happy Almost-40th Birthdays to Us!!!