42

I woke up in Chicago, and will fall asleep in NYC today.  And a bunch of funny stuff happened in between.

Today is my 42nd birthday.  I met a friend / colleague for breakfast this morning, and was surprised with birthday doughnuts.

Not much happened as we drove to the airport.  We hit some traffic, and our driver had really, super, inappropriately long nails.

Long nails gross me out to no end.

I like my nails nice and short.  Especially on men.  An our driver was a man.

We flew threw the airport - did some work as we waited to board the plane, and all my good Karma was paid back with a bump up into first class.

And the seat next to me was empty.

So for two hours I got to hammer out some work in peace.

A quick cab ride and we landed in Niketown New York.  Half way through the store walk through someone pointed out that Spike Lee was standing across from me.

As a lot of you know, Doug grew up with Spike in Fort Green Brooklyn.  His dad gave Spike a ticket to Game 7 of the Knicks vs I don't remember who.  I have met Spike a few times, all with Doug, so I was confident if I approached him he would have zero idea who I was.

But I was also confident, that upon hearing Eikenberry, he wouldn't think I was a total crazy person.

Our interaction went something like this.

Me:  "Hi Spike, I wanted to introduce myself, I am Dawnn Eikenberry - my husband Doug grew up with you".

Spike:  "WHAT!  Doug got married!"

Me:  "Ha ha, yes."

Spike.  "Did you know that his father gave me tickets to game 7?  Is Pete still alive?  I will never forget that he did that for me, do they still live in Brooklyn..."

And then he reached out, and I swear to you he kissed me right on the mouth.

Which cracked me up, since Doug kisses all my friends that way too.

Oh and Spike is about 5 feet tall...maybe.

Must be a Brooklyn thing.

Anyway - Spike and I exchanged a few pleasantries and went on our separate ways.

Next up, on this birthday day, was a cab ride to our hotel.

We jumped into the cab, told the cabbie the name of the hotel, the general location, and then the cabbie told us he had no idea where that was.

I said, "the east village"

Cabbie, "I don't know where that is"

I fell into full New Yorker mode, saying, "it is your job to know where that is."

And then, to my total surprise, he kicked us out of his cab.

No really he did.

During rush hour.

Took my bag out of the trunk, placed it on the street corner, and kicked us to the curb.

We eventually made it to the hotel, where the woman at the front desk promptly wished me happy birthday, and sent me up to an amazing room with views of the Empire State and Chrysler Buildings.

Off to dinner we walked, up to a great dinner thanks to the good company of co-workers, and the bad humor and service of our waiter.

The walk back to the hotel was made even more enjoyable with a scoop of salted Carmel Gelatto.

Only one thing would have made this day better.

A kiss from my husband instead of a kiss from Spike Lee.