No More Funk!

For the past few days I've been in a total funk. I was having the BEST day on Thursday only to have my mood squashed later that evening by a reunion for which I wasn't prepared. Then I woke up Friday morning with a horrible headache and (which I learned later at el doctor) a sinus infection And after a VERY long call with my business partner I started freaking out a bit a lot about the upcoming DEMO show. This is a pretty big moment in my career as I'll be presenting with my partner in front of the top dogs from the tech world and I'm so nervous about messing up or tripping coming off stage. On top of the sickness, work stress, and unexpected reunions, my sister had her second brain surgery in a week on Friday and, as of Saturday afternoon, was "not doing so well" and still in ICU.

Saturday night was nice, but I couldn't shake all of the things bouncing around in my head so I could really enjoy it. I made dinner for some of my favorite friends at Mr. Crowley's place. It was awesome because it was the first time I've served dinner in NYC for more than four people where everyone could sit at a table. It would've been a perfect evening if I hadn't been such a grumpy smurf.

But I was awakened this morning by the phone. And it was my sister! And she's out of ICU and doing GREAT! I cried happy tears for about 10 minutes and then reminded myself that life is too short to let yourself wallow in a funk. So I snapped myself out of it and ended up having an amazing day!

Hunt and I headed to Harlem for the African American Celebration Parade and Festival (photos here). At least once a month we try to plan an adventure and this is, by far, our best one. We watched the parade and saw some great step shows and band performances.

My favorite performance (f-forward in about 30 seconds to get the good stuff)...


African American Celebration Parade from Weezie McS on Vimeo.

And we ate some amazing food - including fried shrimp and grits at Fishers of Men.



We chatted with the owners for a bit and it turns out they're from my hometown. They've got a great story - one that I hope to include in my cookbook - about their secret seafood batter and how they turned this one recipe into three restaurants and a catering business.

After the festivities ended we headed back downtown, enjoying a nice ride on the 6 train with a guest entertainer who delivered an excellent a capella version of Whitney Houston's "Greatest Love of All." (sidenote: when laughing about it later we couldn't agree if the entertainer was male or female)

Hunt was in need of some hangover grub. Though I'd already had my fill of fried food for the day, I REALLY wanted some ice cream. So we made a pit-stop at The Shake Shack. The line was long, but pretty interesting as Chelsea Clinton was in front of us. That's no big deal really, but eavesdropping on the two Japanese tourists behind us was pretty funny. Here's a snippet:

Tourist 1: Is that Chelsea Clinton?
Tourist 2: I think so. But she got a nose job.
Tourist 1: I thought she was fat.
Tourist 2: No, just ugly

(By the way - Chelsea looked great)

Anyway, the long wait made us really hungry and my "just an ice cream" plan turned into a burger, cheese fries, and a delicious ice cream concoction called The Concrete Jungle.




It was a good great fantastic day. I'm totally fat and happy and having some much needed alone time while catching up with the Internets.