off the L: The Bushwick Ladies Club: Trouble with a capital-T

March 5th was Amanda's birthday, and she wanted to celebrate in Chelsea with cocktails at her house followed by a screening of our friend Lacy's music video which several of my friends worked on. For anyone interested, here that is, by the way:

Bridget made a fantastic ice cream cake for the occasion (shaped like a panda because anything that rhymes with the birthday person's name is probably a good idea), and I made a flower birthday crown and decorated a bunch of bananas to look like Amanda. Again, the rhyming thing. Almost.

The trouble started at about 6:00, when we were supposed to be at Amanda's house. I know from experience that it can take a bit more time to wrangle the trio that is our household when it comes to getting anywhere exotic, like Manhattan. So, I was hoping we'd be able to get things moving at around 5:30, but no such luck. It was like time didn't exist and 6:00 was just an abstract figure at which we were still getting dressed and being silly. We then hung around until the other Bushwick girls, Sam and Alyse off of the DeKalb stop, joined us -- but that didn't get our behinds moving right away either. Further complicating our promptness was the fact that the L train was down in sections that weekend and as we ran to the above-ground J/M line instead, we missed a train by the split-end of a hair while the unseasonably warm night started to take its toll on the poor panda cake. By 7:00, we were still waiting for a train to show, and by 7:30, we were smooshed into the sweatiest R train, making every stop. The panda cake began to drip. Children had to be restrained by parents. "Don't touch that!" By 8:00, we emerged from Penn Station and ran the last four blocks to Drew and Amanda's. Two hours late? Just another reason to gorge on panda cake. Happy 24th, Amanda!!!