Saturday Night Dinner Party

My beau Tom informed me that his friend Bill from California was in town and he’d like me to meet him on Saturday night. Tom also wanted to invite his friend Mary, along with a co-worker and her husband Karen and Howard. Can you say Paaaatay?

Ok, sounds like a plan — or a mini-bash. Where too? The North End — one of Tom’s favorite haunts! Sounds like a plan — except I know my boyfriend — this street party will set him back several ben franklins and it’s supposed to pour cats and dogs on Saturday night. Let’s face, I don’t want to be traipsing around Bean Town in heels and bad hair. So, what do I suggest?

A nice dinner party at my place!

On Friday, I sent Diana (my au pair) out to Costco for the best beef tenderloin on the market, along with a medley of fruit items, etc. On Saturday, after having the hair lazered off my face (don’t ask — when you get to be my age, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about), I ran to Trade Joe’s and Verrill Farm near my house to pick up — appetizers and a variety of other necessary items. Ok I took the easy way out and bought the olive something or other that I thought would be a great bruschetta, along with tortilla chips, corn chile, black bean dip and salsa. The main meal consisted of grilled steak and chicken, red bliss baby potato salad thanks to chopped celery stalk, scallions, and a tub of Tzaikki and some plain yogurt thrown in. I also made my famous Quinoa, red kidney bean, black bean, and white baby corn (complements of Trader Joes — frozen food section), and a huge platter of hot house tomatoes with fresh basil and bought a tub of marinated mozzarella balls thrown in. Remember, Karen is a vegetarian — don’t you know. Finally, I whipped up three bags of spinach, with two cans of artichoke hearts (halved) and sauteed in olive oil with a 1/2 teaspoon of crushed garlic.

Naturally, I made Tom who suffers from indigestion and heart burn the artichoke and spinach, along with the potato salad with no garlic or onions respectively. Are you feeling the love, cause I’m not sure Tommy boy is? Verrill Farms has the most amazing strawberry rhubarb pie on the planet and I topped off with vanilla ice cream — it was a synch! At least that’s what Tom thought. Are Tom’s friends happy — think so given the response and the e-mail thank yous. Am I out a few Ben Franklins and need of an extra few hours of sleep — oh yah baby, oh yah!

“Am I Bitter?”

I got a call from my boyfriend Tom last night after he left his therapy session. With not so much as a hello, he posed the question after I answered the phone with, “Do you think I’m bitter?”

Then, he explained that after sharing his opinion of one of his closest friends break up and subsequent affair with a woman nearly half his age to his therapist — that his therapist thought he might be “bitter.”

Tom’s opinion was that when his friend suggested that this beautiful young woman would never again find the intimacy and connection with anyone else that she experienced with Tom’s friend — Tom’s reply was, “of course she will John, we all think that, and then they all move on — we’re all replaceable.”

Tom’s therapist found this to be a bit bitter and encouraged Tom to dig deeper into his negativity! Luckily Tom’s therapist doesn’t have to date Tom. I say this is the case only 50% of the time — when Tom discusses his desire to NOT get married again constantly as if trying to drill his point home, ruminates over ghosts of girlfriends past, and plays devils advocate in situations related to self-improvement, relationships and other related topics — I would say that Tom is in fact, a bit bitter? Yes indeedy, I would. Now mind you, the confusion comes in because the other 50% of the time, Tom is fun, up for anything, light heart-ed, very social and overall has a good time and is a good sport about most things — including my friend’s six-year-old niece vomiting all over the interior of my car.

Fortunately for Tom, he’s dating someone who doesn’t want to get married (alimony was negotiated until death do us part), doesn’t mention past loves and is generally agreeable and crazy about this man! Oh, she’s also 14 years his junior — which I’m assuming doesn’t stink (suck) when you’re 60!

Needless to say, he was probably a bit bitter that he even called to pose the question, when I gave it to him straight up!

I just saved my BF 3K on his AmEx bill!

Ok, just saying, I get no respect — as Rodney Dangerfield would say.  My BF — as in boyfriend, Tom was delighted to share the good news with me that he came WAY under his allotted $7500 AmEx allowance he gives himself for entertainment this month — by about $3K.