A Long Honeymoon!

Hi folks! Will here. This title explains the fun, travel and adjustments my Alan and I had over the first year or two of being together.

Since the two of us have similar humor, we spent a lot of time laughing and poking fun at life in general. Alan has a great smile. So, it was always on my to-do list to make him laugh and smile. He always obliged!

I think one of the things that helped in our relationship then and now was our diverse working schedules. When I met him he was working at two very successful restaurants and making a bundle from both! Fujiyama Mama's, on Columbus between 82nd and 83rd Streets, was the first of his work locations that I visited. It was pleasantly wild and avant-garde. Great food, cocktails and ambiance were always "on tap." Add to that a very theatrical waitstaff and you have more than an ordinary late 1990s night out.

The other restaurant to which Alan added his charm was Good Enough to Eat, also located on Manhattan's Upper West Side. At the core of the success of this restaurant was its wonderful home-cooked comfort foods and its family-like atmosphere. Again, as mixologist and server, Alan made a very comfy income. Here, one could very well be rubbing elbows with a lot of New York's elite who were dressed down and surprisingly inconspicuous. I remember him coming home many times telling me who he met while working. He was most impressed with JFK Jr.!

He was also a very talented florist. He had two friends in the business that loved his work when he was available. When his stint at Fujiyama Mama's suddenly ended, one of his friends with a flower shop in Manhattan and a second one in South Beach gladly scooped him up and put his talents to work! This would lead to a couple of extended stays in Florida. I was not a fan of that. As the old saying goes, "absence makes the heart grow fonder." But, it also gave me the excuse to go down on weekends and visit him in South Beach—still one of my favorite getaways! At that time (the late 90s), Pan Am was a major player in the New York-to-Florida flights, and their fares were great! One memorable client of the South Beach flower shop was Oprah Winfrey. She didn't make appearances at the shop. To brighten up the place, she would have Alan or the shop owner come to her condo on the all-too-exclusive Fisher Island of greater Miami Beach! 

Another of his talents was as a stylist—setting up scenes with photographers at various shoots around town and ultimately Florida. If you are getting the impression that Alan is a workaholic—you're absolutely right. So, while in Florida it wasn't uncommon for him to be off on shoots with photographers there and all over the Caribbean when not at the flower shop.

When I "Pan Am-ed" my way down on the weekends, I did command a personal audience with Alan! We partied a lot at local clubs, restaurants and, of course, the beach. It was an exciting and growing chapter in our relationship. It was at the beach where we first met our wonderful friend Patricia. She was in and out of Miami frequently as a flight attendant for a German carrier. IMHO, this all happened during the pinnacle of South Beach's "Gay Revival" history. Like in San Francisco, gay pioneers went into run-down neighborhoods and gentrified them. But also like in San Francisco, more hip straight society was right on their heels and more or less took over. Regardless, who could resist all that Art Deco architecture and the fabulous beaches?

Of course, time marches on and things change. The South Beach flower shop was sold, taking away half of Alan's income. So, his return to the Big Apple was imminent. This was supplemented by more stylist shoots and a foray into a new SoHo flower shop. Needless to say, I was happy to have him home again, even though I had to share him with his work and our growing bird family!

Meanwhile, I had gone through a few changes (workwise) myself. All that glitters is not gold. And the short-lived glitter of Bloomingdale's came to an end after just six months. My initial impression of my co-worker situation was spot on. Between the back biting of the assistant manager of the department and the cattiness of the other sales people, it was at the end of my probationary period that they sacked me. It was (almost) comical at my exit interview. I have never heard the phrase "below standards" used to describe my work. It didn't bother me—I knew it wasn't true—I considered the source. My sales were good and I had a lot of complimentary letters from clients. But, I did leave with at least one golden memory. It was spotting Catherine Deneuve on the main floor and locking gazes with her. After a second or two, she actually smiled back at me. I'll never forget how beautiful she was!

It was the beginning of the summer. I decided to take my time and not rush into another "seemingly perfect" job. Oh, and did I mention that Sandy Hook and the Jersey Shore were just an hour away? I made good use of that proximity and had a great time until once again gainfully employed in the fall. You see, things just have a way of working themselves out. More on this enchanted journey coming up. Stay tuned!