Happy Birthday!

It is my gay husband Andrew's birthday today. Since I seem to be in a list-writing mood as of late, here are some reasons why Andrew is utterly fabulous in every way:

*Andrew had an Airstream Trailer on which he worked tirelessly to restore. He ultimately ended up selling it when he moved to New York, but he did amazing things to it before he did.

*Andrew drinks Manhattans and sidecars. I think this is awesome.

*There are nights when Andrew and I have been obliterated and just up to no good (even once culminating with me making Andrew vomit red wine on the lawn of a church....yes, I made him, though accidentally...and I ended up vomiting red wine in the middle of my bed later that night....), and there are nights when I've curled up on his bed, reading parts of a book out loud while he works on his laptop and reads bits of his writing to me.

*He knows that I get car sick on long road trips. As a result, he always drives slowly over winding roads, checking in frequently to make sure that I'm not about to hurl all over his dash.

*The pendulum of our conversations can swing from the stock market and current events to heat chakras and astrology. While we no longer are able to talk several times a day like we used to (what with me living across the world), when we DO talk our phone conversations last for hours and hours.

*He is on my "in case of emergency" list, 'cause I know he'd be right here if anything ever happened to me.

*He once went through a phase where he was obsessed with Andy Warhol and dyed his hair white. Seeing as how he's Mr. Corporate nowadays (I'm sorry, my darling, but you've come a long way from your Andy Warhol days!), it's hard to picture him like this. But I'm sure he was equally as fabulous.

*He always takes my side.

*The man can cook like a fiend. Not only does he churn out all kinds of yummy delicacies, but he enjoys the art and process of it all. For some reason, it always surprises me when he tells me about the things that he is capable of making.

*I think this just pretty much sums it up. Plus, this is how The Wine Night Crew came to be, which makes it all EXTRA awesome (though our wine nights later devolved into beer and hard liquor nights....)

The first night I met Andrew, I could definitely tell that a friendship with him would be an Experience. He was exciting and eccentric and smart, and I told him, as we stood in the kitchen of his fabulous condo and I took a swig of vanilla tequila that had been sitting in a flask for who knows how long (BLECH), that I felt like I was losing my "Andrew virginity" that night (meaning: it was my first time partaking in the Experience That Is Andrew). He thought that sounded lovely and tried to write a letter V on my forehead with a Sharpie; however, I was able to convince him to write it on my hand instead. This is a very good thing, as that V stayed on my hand for about a week, and that would've been a tough one to explain to my first graders. But....it was certainly a night that I would never forget. It's funny to think about it now, as we've both changed a lot since that night (and much of Andrew's transformation, I'd have to say, can be attributed to the three years he spent with Max). We're both a little quieter, a little more adult, we both relish our alone time and our personal space and true love (or its pursuit) and the joy of not being hungover. But I STILL see my friendship with him as something extraordinary. Something that is an Experience.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the best friend a girl could ever ask for!