Usually wine makes me very sleepy. Tonight, wine just made me very very talkative, and now I am wide awake with thoughts racing marathons in my head.
Ryan and I went to Radius tonight, for “Restaurant Week.” When the hostess called to confirm my reservation yesterday, she off-handedly said that they’re only doing lunch for Restaurant Week, and do I still want to keep my dinner reservation. I kept it, thinking “what the hell, why not splurge?” and also knowing that Ryan probably wouldn’t mind. Once we got there tonight, we sorta understood why they don’t do dinner Restaurant Week dinner menus; the average price for entrees was ~$40. We had a fantastic time anyways, not to mention some excellently prepared and presented food. Ryan even picked a nice bottle of wine because apparently he garnered some wine knowledge this summer despite not having taste buds, but I guess a whole summer of eating out on Ropes & Gray’s tab can work wonders.
Surprisingly, we talked a lot about Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink, which I’ve been meaning to read for about 6 months now (it’s just sat on my bookshelf). It made me think of when I bought it for Jason’s birthday right after New Year’s, and the hours and hours and hours we went on talking about anything and EVERYTHING sitting in Atlanta Bread Co that day. I was worried about Jason driving 2 hours home so late at night; I think he was just happy to spend time with an old friend and not have to face his family for a few more hours.
Sometimes I worry about Jason. Other times, I’m glad I don’t have to see him but once or twice a year. I thought that I would be worried about Ryan, too, but I was glad to see him as happy, as talkative, and as opinionated as ever today. It’s so rare to find those people with whom the conversation never gets awkward, and I never ever find myself searching for the next small-talk topic.
Maybe that’s why Ryan & Jason are both such good friends to me. They are like the brothers I never had. I know them so well, but more importantly, they know me so well. (Ryan knew to ask how I wanted to share food before just plopping something down on my plate, and to emphatically say yes without even consulting me when the server asked if we wanted a couple of clean extra plates). I am completely comfortable around them, and I really don’t care what stupid things I say to them, and I tell them the kinds of life details I only reserve for my best girlfriends. Basically, I’m not afraid to talk to them about anything, including conventionally awkward topics, while being completely at ease because I know that they will both still love me for whom I am, along with all the ridiculous things I think and say.
Soulmates are so hard to come by that I really do try to hold on to them whenever I discover one.