hurricane love

Isn't this the WORST picture ever?

HI friends!

The internets are back!

First things first, while most of Manhattan is now blessed with power, hot water, streaming Netflix and Pandora, there are many, many parts of our fine city that are still without any of these necessities (yes, streaming Downton Abbey is a necessity). If you'd like to donate money or your time, please check out InterOccupy, which has a fair amount of information on how to volunteer or drop off much-needed supplies.

So. The hurricane. I think it's safe to say at this point that this big ol' smelly bitch Sandy was slightly more aggressive than last year's pal Irene. When Irene hit last year, my friends and I had a hurricane party, replete with customized shirts, beer koozies, and many, many light sticks. Then we went and danced in the rain. Sometimes, that is how we roll.

This year, ahem, Mike and I found ourselves in the dark, whilst eating ice cream and attempting to learn how to do a two-part harmony by moonlight. One of these things went very well, the other, less so.

Living in Manhattan, it never crossed my mind that our power might go out. People have lived here for decades without ever losing power during a storm. But, being the dutiful housewife-to-be that I am, I did stock up on essentials in case we were trapped indoors for a day or two. My list included but was not limited to: dried truffle sausage, artisanal gelato, that Anna Paquin movie I've been wanting to see for a year. My list did not include: bottled water, batteries, flashlights, shelf-stable food (minus a jar of organic tomato paste), anything that might be useful during a storm. I was what you might call "NYC-prepared."

Once the ghoulish winds roared in and we were actually forced to stay inside (the afternoon was spent making about a trip an hour to get more "essentials": farmhouse cheddar, hard cider, Lululemon hurricane gear), however, we did start to go stir-crazy pretty quickly. I love Too Cute! Kittens, but even Norwegian Forest Cats start to lose their luster after about eight hours.

And then, unceremoniously, we lost power. I'm pretty sure you could hear my howls all the way to Maryland. I sat in silence for about 30 seconds before proclaiming to the world ( a.k.a. Mike): I'm bored! Now I'm really bored! Mike, meanwhile, silently cursed the fact that he had not invented his time machine yet. But upon more reflection, I had an epiphany. I'm marrying Mike. We are committing to spend the rest of our time on Earth together. If we can't make it through a powerless night, what does that mean for the next 1000 years? (I'm a vampire? I don't know why I said 1000.)

The good news, blessedly, is that we didn't kill each other without technology to fall back on [Side note: we also were extremely lucky to have family on the Upper East Side who let us ride out the rest of the blackout with them. Thank you Schwartzes!]. Even better, we had no choice but to keep each other happy and entertained. And no, this post is not going where you think it is. Between sharing our flashlight to read New Yorkers, attempting to learn the lyrics to various Stone Temple Pilot songs or simply just making each other laugh, the night didn't turn out to be as horrid as I thought it would be. Mike was, is and continues to be excellent company. That is one of many reasons why I'm ecstatic to be marrying him. I am truly a lucky gal. So, lesson: When you're with your best friend, power or no power, it's really not so bad.

But Sandy, you are certainly not invited to our wedding.