In this quiet little place...: Recollections of an NYC weekend.

Welcome back. To myself. :) It's great to be home, but it was fab-u-lous to be in NYC. Here are some reasons why...

...beginning with the first night, which is the most amusing. Ordinarily I'd leave this till the end, but it explains a bit of the below and needs to go first...

I got in at around 10pm on my birthday, Thursday. Laura, (my old roommate who I still call my roommate because I don't like to admit that she isn't), and I decided to go out for a drink or two at Gin Mill, my previously explained favorite bar. Laura had got me mardi gras beads, a 'birthday girl' pin, and a birthday cake tiara to wear out. When we got there, the bartenders decided to celebrate with us and continuously refill drinks. During this time, we met some crazy, weird guys who kept insisting that I take pictures of them and one of them gave me his email address on a napkin. (This ended up being 'stored' in Laura's trash can as soon as we got home.) I am blaming this on Laura because she is friendly-frienderton girl when she is at the bar- I am that aloof girl who ignores people. :) I don't want to talk to you. Don't talk to me. I don't care. I'm friendly enough outside of bars to make up for it. ANYWAY, when we finally decided to leave, we walked next door to Ray's Pizza to get chicken rolls. The pizza guys saw that it was my birthday and gave us two free pieces of chocolate cake which was very nice. When we got home, we immediately at the pizza roll-ups and then started in on the cake.
Laura: "Um... this tastes freezerburned."
Me: "Ew- You're right. This is too freezerburned to even eat."
And we put them on the nightstands next to us and were down for the count.

The next morning, two things happened.
1) I realized that, because of the celebrations the previous night, I had left my driver's license and debit card in the taxi cab. Thus, I had to have my neighbor, Kevin, overnight me my passport for the low, low price of $40 so that I could get on the plane home. Also, as I had no way to get any money, I had to borrow lots of money from friends all weekend. So when I talk about buying things, I really mean that Beth, Laura, or Josh bought them. That pretty much sucked.
2) Upon cleaning up the cake from the night before, it was discovered that the frostbite was most likely linked to the mold which was growing all over the side of the cake. It was pretty much the grossest thing ever. And I was really glad I only ate one bite. Because mold is even grosser than the taste of frostbite. Eating mold is nast.

And as for the other reasons why NYC is amazing. Besides losing your identity in cabs and eating free, moldy cake, obviously.

-I got to catch up with my deli guy in the South Bronx who makes the absolute, most wonderful sandwiches on the globe. I told him to set up a mail order service. I'm pretty sure I almost convinced him.

-I got to ride on the subway. Other than the occasional nauseating smell of urine, it is very relaxing to ride on the subway. You just sit, listen to your mp3's, and pretend you aren't people watching. Even though everyone does it. Because people are psychotic in NYC- particularly on the subway.

-I restocked on my navy blue eyeliner from H&M. I am breathing much easier now. I was seriously running low.

-I ate a hot dog from a street vendor. At home I always buy those hot dogs that are made out of I'm not sure what, but I don't care because they're fat free. From the NYC street vendors, I could probably eat about 50 and not blink an eye. They are disgustingly good. I always try to eat them slow so the people around me won't think I'm Freakishly-Fast-Hot Dog-Eating-Girl. Some days I succeed better than others.

-I bought coconut smelling shower gel from Sephora. Because I needed it almost as badly as the eyeliner. Not quite, but pretty close.

-I bought a big, pink, chunky ring from the Studio Musem in Harlem and a big, pink, chunky bracelet from H&M because I am addicted to big, pink, chunky jewelry. It makes me incredibly happy.

-I bought a light brown, leather purse. Because it was top on my list of missions to accomplish while there. Well, honestly, it was probably tied with the eyeliner. It's just that good, inexpensive eyeliner that draws well is REALLY hard to find. You understand.

-I restocked on my Nubian soap from 125th in Harlem. This soap is so good for you and smells fantastic. I bought 6 bars and owed the guy $12. I gave him a $20 and he gave me $10 back. I said, "Wait- You said it was $12," thinking that he shorted me. Because I'm an idiot and terrible at math. And the guy says, "You just shorted yourself." (But he says it really nice, like he doesn't want me to know that he's thinking about how my brain is obviously functioning improperly.) So I say, "Riiiight. So do I get something else since I was honest?" And he gives me some sort of incense thing for free and tells me that God's going to bless me for my honesty. We're pretty much best friends now.

-I got a mani/pedi/massage at Dolce, our mani/pedi/massage place. There was a woman in there who had on a coat that made her look exactly like Cruella Deville, which is of no relevance to anything, but weird anyway. Also, there were ads for something called Ear Candling and a picture of smoke going into an ear. Laura and I were too weirded out to ask what the CRAP that is...

-I got to catch up with so many friends! It was fabulous. I miss them a lot. They're pretty much the coolest ever. And I love them.

-I got to go to school to see all my coworkers and kids from last year. It was good to see everyone. I cried in the smoke smelling taxi cab on the way to the airport to go home.

And now for some pictures.