Having brunch with my Swedish Friend and the Japanese Table - NaBloPoMo Day 27

This morning at 11:30, so still the morning don't give me grief, I went down to Cafe Cluny to meet Anna. I knew I had to get there literally at 11:30 because Swedes are never, ever late. Pro tip - if you're having a party and you tell all the New Yorkers to be there at 6 because you know they'll all show up at 6:30... Tell the Swedes the party starts at 6:30 so you're not still in your underpants when they ring the bell.

Cafe Cluny is kind of lovely
if you can manage to get a table.
The European tourists especially love it there.

I made it down to the restaurant literally at eleven three zero, on the nose. My timing was impeccable although I might have jogged a little bit so as to not miss lights. Waiting on corners would have cost me a tragic minute which would not have gone unnoticed.

We had a delightful brunch and Anna gave me a bag full of Swedish candy. I will admit I broke open the bag of candy on the walk home because who can walk around with Swedish candy and not have at it, for chrissakes it's impossible.

Anyway. Right after brunch, Anna asked me if I wanted to check out her daughter's new apartment. Her daughter goes to college in Manhattan and there was a lot of uniquely NYC real estate goings-on that Tom and I helped out with so the kid could rent a place here. 

I say all this to say, Anna owes me one and I am paid in candy. Only good candy though, no one should try to pawn off shitty candy on me and then ask me for a favor. 

(Is this Day 27 of NaBloPoMo by any chance? I feel like these posts are going down hill.)

So we go over to Anna's daughter's new place and we walk up five flights of stairs (I mention this to further justify digging into the candy on the way home. My glucose was probably super low after hiking up FIVE FLIGHTS OF STAIRS).  

When the daughter opened up the door to greet us, I think she had lost some weight and I can see why.

The daughter gave me a quick hug and then said she had to go because she had a date. So the kid takes off and Anna gives me a quick tour of the place. 

When I say "quick tour" I mean I probably could have stood in the same spot and if doors were opened and closed, seen the entire apartment in about 30 seconds. Greenwich Village, sigh and eye ball roll. I did my requisite oohs and ahs and then Anna said, yeah but you have to check out this new Japanese table. 

Sure, I said and Anna led me into her daughter's bedroom. There, like 4 inches from the floor and jammed at the end of the bed so you had to step over it to get to the closet, was this... Japanese Table. 

It was so short you couldn't even have stuck your legs under it like some kind of lap board or something, it was really really low. There was makeup and hair brushes and a bunch of other stuff on it. Like it was actually being used as a table.

I kind of didn't know what to make of it. My face must have reflected this. Anna said, yeah, her daughter used to have a perfectly functional dresser in that spot, but then decided to go out and buy this kinda pricey new Japanese table and get rid of the dresser.

We both stared for another second at the table. I shrugged my shoulders in a "kids these days" kind of way and we went back into the living room to discuss the Christmas Spectacular and other critical topics.