croque madames

no calorie counting, no regrets

Last week I had the pleasure of dining with a very dear friend who I've known my entire existence.  You see, Lizzie B and Cathy grew up together with a bunch of other super awesome ladies and have remained dear friends since their teenage days (not that any of them are a day over 25!)  Cathy and her lovely family not-so-recently moved up to the city from the Jerz and I finally made the trip to the UES to have a visit with her.  Since both her girls are grown and out of the house and her hubby was away on business, we had the perfect excuse (not that we needed one,) to embrace our inner-fabulousness and go out as ladies who lunch.  After a few late afternoon hours of playing dress-up (thanks for the new wardrobe!) and getting all misty eyed over the pictures from kid sister's wedding (more on that in an upcoming post,) we headed a little further south to Matisse where we completely disregarded any kind of recommended daily calorie intake and indulged in a couple of croque monsieurs.  Now, most normal people would consider simply ordering and eating a croque monsieur an indulgence.  I mean, for heaven's sake it is fancy French grilled cheese - thick slices of white French bread smeared with loads of bechamel sauce, topped with thickly sliced ham and gooey Swiss cheese all melted together and served open-faced alongside fries and a 'petit' salad.  Not exactly part of a balanced diet but hey, it isn't every day I get to hang out with my longtime gal pal!  And because we were celebrating seeing one another, we may have gone a little overboard and ordered extra bechamel sauce and a side of homemade mayo with our fries.  Whatever, we got plenty of exercise by walking the 11 blocks to get there!  No judgement allowed.

my head looks so big! maybe that's where all the bechamel sauce went

It was an absolutely lovely day and I so enjoyed spending that time with my friend and hearing the funny stories she had about my mom and the gals when they were young.  It's also great just to hang out with another lady who's been through a completely different life than my own and who has the wisdom of a woman my mom's age but provides a different level of comfort... kind of like an aunt who likes to treat me like a fancy lady (I am so fortunate to have a few of those!)  I can't wait to get together again soon because I really do love a good lady lunch date.  Now if only we could get a few more of the original crew together so I could hear ALL the gossip about my wild child mom!  And maybe next time I'll convince Cathy to take a trip over the bridge into my borough... you hear that, Cathy?  Get your butt to Brooklyn!!!