Inebriated. I-N-E-B-R-I-A-T-E-D. Inebriated.

Last night, I dragged Barbara to the NYC Spelling Bee at Housing Works in Soho. I promised her booze, hipsters, and spelling. When I got there, Barbara was waiting… and there maybe 10 other people there.

Here’s Barbara saying “What did you drag me to?”

Here’s how crowded it was:

Barbara scolds me. Hey, Barbara, care to explain why your finger is so abnormally large?

Our provisions for the evening… cheap Sauvignon Blanc, unlimited popcorn and this amazing cookie called the “Kitchen Sink” that included dark chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, butterscotch, coconut, raisins, oatmeal, and pecans. When I went back for a second they’d sold out. Sad!

Barbara, seriously, I’m so so so sorry!

Round one had just started and each person had to answer a personal question before they spelled their word. One guy said that if he could be any literary figure, he’d be Piggy from “Lord of the Flies” because Piggy was so wise. Ummm… masochist much? I think we’d all agree that there are lots of wise literary figures who don’t get beaten to death.

Barbara “copes” with the pain…

Karen tries to drink it better too… just remember, Barbara and Karen have different tolerance levels.

Here’s round two in progress. The woman in the purple dress and man in red pants were the hosts (actually very amusing and kind-spirited despite the intensely competitive nature of the evening). Barbara and I left at the end of round two… which was bad news for the hosts because we were the only ones laughing at every joke.

Action shot! Karen eats some popcorn!

So this dude in the red shirt was there with his fiancee, but spent the entire night staring at me and Barbara. Fortunately, Barbara caught him mid-stare so we have proof.

We left. And I was… ummm… very not sober. It was Maria’s birthday so I called her and wished her a happy 26th.

We were waiting for a table at Cafe Habana… but the wait was way too long. I wanted a cuban sandwich so I told Barbara I’d wait with my imaginary date. Who… judging from this picture was the trash can.

Then we called Bootsy. Bootsy said something that made me roar like a lion:

So we went to Odeon for dinner… and somehow ended up surrounded by odd people. Our waiter, Nick, took this super cute pic of me and Barbara. And some rando 50-year old at one of the tables near us asked if he could take pictures of us too… but not with our camera, with his. Not sure what they’re being used for, but we looked cute!

Also, there was a table of Guido club owners next to us who wanted us to come to their club, but we were kind of done for the night (hipster spelling bees wear a girl out!) In an effort to get them to agree to sponsor my birthday party for free, some how things spiraled out of control and the restaurant got the idea that last night was my birthday.

Since it was Maria’s birthday and my 11-month birthday, I didn’t feel too bad about celebrating. Here’s my “birthday” bread pudding:

At this point, I’ve been rather annoying all night, so I apologize to Barbara… AGAIN:

We thought Nick, our waiter, was adorable. But in the light of day he looks like a really skinny Teddy Ruxpin. Then again, nerdy/scrawny white guys are Barbara’s favorites.

This is my favorite pick of Barbara ever taken. This probably came right after one of the Guido club owners started texting me and signing everything J$$$.

After our night, Barbara needed another drink.

Oh, and then we chatted with the women next to us who felt bad about the Guidos being so annoying. Turns out this lady lives a few blocks from Barbara in Astoria so they exchanged restaurant tips and contact info.


At the end of the night, we befriended strangers, watched part of an adult spelling bee, gave money to Housing Works, had some entertaining drunk dials, and… ummm… ate good dinner.

So that’s my Saturday wrap-up!

Good news for everyone getting sick of my Barbara-only adventures: Ellie’s moving to NYC for the month of July this week. Get ready for fun red head getting added to the mix!