Casey always made sure to make time for all her friends, no matter how busy she was. Casey would dedicate certain nights to be a “date” night for us to hang out together. One night freshmen year, we just stayed in my apartment and made brownies and watched “In Her Shoes” with Cameron Diaz (Casey was excited because the movie took place in Philadelphia and she kept pointing out things she recognized).
I remember another night during junior year, we were supposed to meet up at 6pm or so to go get dinner. I always take naps that turn into long sleeps, so when I woke up at 7:30 I saw Casey called and texted. She came over and was a little upset, telling me she came and knocked and I told her I was just in a deep sleep and that I still wanted to have our date night. I remember her being a little upset that she thought I forgot about us hanging out that night. We finally left at 8pm to get dinner, thankful that restaurants in NY stay open late. I remember walking up and down Columbus Ave, Casey went up and read every menu and, knowing I was a picky eater, asked me if I was okay with each place. After walking forever, we finally settled at Pomodoro, a small Italian restaurant on Columbus Ave. I think this was in October or November, but it was one of those unseasonably warm days. We sat outside of the restaurant in the sidewalk tables, the only people doing that. If I weren’t with Casey, I probably would’ve sat inside, but she always thought “Why not?” and did what seemed fun, no matter if no one else was doing it. I remember us looking and talking to every dog that passed by (something Casey always did) and having a “romantic” New York late dinner at 9pm together.
Our last date night was in April 2009, we wanted to have one more “romantic” date before finals got too hectic. Casey and I went to Blockheads for cheap Mexican food on 50th Street, but it was a 2-hour wait. We walked down 9th and decided on another, slightly more upscale restaurant called Ta Cocina. We each had a margarita and felt all grown-up and like real New Yorkers. We went to a Thai place next door after called Room Service and Casey and I sat near the glass window in the front. Some guy passing by saw us and changed direction and came inside, and tried talking to us. Apparently, he kept whispering to Casey that I was beautiful, but when I asked Casey what he was saying in front of him, Casey told me out loud, “He said he likes your nail polish.” When he went up to the bar, we decided we had to make a run for it– literally. Casey grabbed my arm and we sneaked out around the crowd and RAN for 4 blocks uptown to make sure we “escaped,” and stopped completely out of breath and laughing about the crazy man we just encountered.
After, we went across the street to a bar called Vintage where I was waiting to meet a guy I had been seeing. Casey wanted to stick around so she could meet him. Once he finally arrived, I remember Casey saying “Hi, I’m Casey!” and giving me a nod of approval behind his back and then, within 3 minutes, saying something along the lines of “Well, I have to wake up really early, I really should go…” and she hugged me and ran out of the door. She didn’t really have to wake up early, but she of course whipped out her BlackBerry on her walk home and send me BBM messages about what she thought of him.
In August, I went to New York to see Marie and we went for lunch at Pomodoro. We sat outside, like I did with Casey, and I noticed all the flowers on the tables were pink roses. I like to think that was Casey there, reminding me of our “date nights.”