Friendsies Post

So I like my friends.  They're great. 

Like my friend Melanie.  She moved here a year ago, and we became friends pretty quickly.  She's funny, kind, loves food, and would do anything for anyone.  I'm glad to have her here.  For her 1 year anniversary in the city, she decided to to a 10K.  But not a race.  A 10K of her favorite places to eat in NYC.  So we met at Prosperity Dumpling in Chinatown and worked our way through the city, eating at 6 different places; one for every mile of a 10K.  It was so fun, and hysterical.  I did a pretty good job of pacing myself.  I also started out STARVING so I had a head start, I would say.  But it was a great way to celebrate Melanie.

Prosperity Dumpling with Jon, Ros, Mel, and Dallin

This picture just needed to happen.

Rice to Riches

Their signage is pretty great...

The group.

Artichoke Pizza with Mike, Deb, and Brendan

Then there is my friend Carolyn.  Her birthday is a few days before mine, and we surprised her at her apartment with Koronets pizza and ice cream, and a Levain cookie.  Well, I showed up later after a class, but you know.  I was there in spirit.  Carolyn is someone that I love.  She is so genuine and darling, and GOOD.  She helps me keep perspective on things that are important.  And she makes me laugh.  

I like them.  I think I will keep them.

Living In A Destination City Is Fun.

First night in town Schmackery run?  Check.

Because sometimes people come visit, like MY BROTHER!  Yes, Gary, Melissa, and entourage came to spend their spring break in the big city.  I mean, who wouldn't want to come to NYC when it is still freezing outside, with no sign of spring in sight?  But, come they did, and though I didn't get to spend the whole time with them, I saw them a ton and loved every minute.  I got to tag along on a lot of their adventures, playing a tourist for things I wouldn't necessarily do myself, like the Statue of Liberty and Empire State Building.

These crazies...

And these...

Favorite quote from Chris: "Is that the Olympic Torch?"

It may not be the mountains, but seriously...

Gary having an experience at Levain

I also introduced them or steered them to some of my favorites food places, like Shake Shack, Schmackery, Levain Bakery, and Cosi.  After Gary's first Levain cookie back in October, he was determined to make it back, and I fully supported that notion.   Gary took us to an authentic Korean restaurant in the Korean district, called K Town.  He spoke legit Korean; it was amazing.  And Chris further solidified his place as the family clean up guy.  We took a walk through Central Park and down Fifth Avenue, including a stop at FAO Schwartz.  They got to come to church with me, where they charmed my ward thoroughly.  We then went to hear Vespers and an organ recital at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church and reconvened at my place for Sunday dinner.

Don't be jealous of my fancy apartment.

I like this girl.  A little bit.

A little bit of rainy day reading at Barnes and Noble

This cute picture...

Is actually this. Sorry Gary...

And this is just the things we did together!  They did all kind of stuff other than that, like going to see some of Gary's old areas from his mission.  I think they were pretty tired and happy by the end of the week.  It was so great to have them here; it made me so happy.  It meant a lot to me to have family come, and to be able to show them my city.  And they even got to see NYC gems like this.  If you come to visit me, maybe you too can see a backpack in the form or a stuffed tiger in Korea Town.  If you're lucky.  But I will definitely buy you a cookie.

My birthday!

My birthday this year was legitimately awesome.  I had the best day, flavored with great friends, tributes from my family, a dance concert, and of course, great food.  Of course.  And the weather was amazing! (Tender mercies.  Truly).  Here are the highlights:

Brunch with my dear friend Jeff at Jacob's Pickles on the Upper West Side.  He is some of the best company I can think of, and the food was so, so good.  I am still thinking about it in fact....

Then I made my way down to Bouchon Bakery at Columbus Circle because March 20th just happened to be NYC Free Macaron Day.  For those who don't know what these things are, just see the picture below:   They are so good, and I thought, why not get a free treat on my birthday?  So I did.


I decided to walk over to the east side where I was babysitting for a few hours, and stopped at Sprinkles Cupcakes on my way.  I have a gift card, so I used that to get myself another treat, a banana cupcake with dark chocolate frosting.  Heaven. 

Throughout the day, my family sent virtual "around the table" tributes, inspired by Carolynn, and that was fabulous.  I heart my family.  They are so great. Mom and Dad sent me lovely cards and letters and a little bit of cash for a treat or lunch with a friend.  I love those little tokens.  They, of course, do much more for me than that on a regular basis, but the little things are so fun and not so little.

Babysitting, uneventful.  Just paying the bills, ya'll.  But the kids were good for me, so that is always nice. :-)  That night some friends and I went to watch the Paul Taylor Dance Company at the Lincoln Center.  The concert was fantastic, and we all had a great time.

Finished the day by eating a late dinner at Westside Diner on the Upper West Side, and I called it a day.  I was truly happy all day, and loved that I had great people around me who helped make that day happen.

And...on the other side of the country, this girl was celebrating as well!  Rachel turned 8!  Our birthdays are only one or two days apart, and it was fun to see this one celebrating.  I like her and think I will keep her.

Ah, Winter. I Can't Quit You. But I Want To.

At least the snow is beautiful.  For like, a day.  Then it's gross.  No pictures necessary.

Harlem

Harlem, with some cool filter.

Harlem

Columbus Circle

Columbus Circle

Central Park

Central Park

I just keep telling myself that because of all this snow, I get to have a green summer.  Right?  RIGHT??

Laundry Is The Worst.

Let it be known that laundromat living is totally for the birds.  It is definitely one of the worst aspects about living in New York, if you don't have laundry in your apartment or building.  Those places are always more expensive, so it is to the laundromat I go.  I take my huge bag of clothes in my arms, with my detergent and bag of quarters (ughhhh....) and walk down from my fifth floor apartment (that's four flights of stairs), trek one avenue block (those suckers are really long, fyi) and enter a laundromat that has signs like this: 

This.  This is living.

Sometimes I wait there, and sometimes, if I am trying to really multi-task, I go back and forth to my apartment.  Then the whole journey reverses itself.  Huge bag, one odyssey-length avenue block, up the stairs to my fifth floor apartment.  Is it any wonder that I have enough pairs of underthings to last me a few weeks? And that I hoard quarters like I need to be on that gross TV show?


And, is it any wonder that I then have to entertain myself by taking lame selfies and pretending I am practicing head shot poses?  No. No wonder at all.  And honestly, I was laughing really hard.  Sometimes I'm really funny.

So I Worked For The NFL For A Hot Second.

Sometimes the jobs I get through my temp agency are really unique and kind of interesting.  Like when I worked for the NFL for the week leading up to the Super Bowl.  Oh wait, that just happened.  Yeah.  I worked for the NFL.  It was kinda cool, if you are into that sort of thing.  Me?  I was just there for the paycheck and the food.  Kidding.  Only kind of.



New York and New Jersey were the hosts of the Super Bowl this year, and so New York City went crazy. Times Square was renamed Super Bowl Boulevard, with all kinds of paraphernalia, including a huge toboggan run and the Lombardi Trophy on display in the middle of the street.  (I literally just had to Google the official name of said trophy.  That's how little I know/care about the Super Bowl).  There were a million other publicity festivities up and around Times Square that I didn't even get to see, because I was in the NFL House the whole time.

Sometimes you need a little Starbucks to get through training.

What's the NFL House?  I'll tell you.  It's a VIP hospitality event that starts a few days before the game and provides a place to relax, eat, hold meetings (for sponsor corporations) and hob nob with really important people involved with NFL. It was held at the Marriott Marquis hotel in Times Square.  Everything down to the tiniest detail was seen to.  I was literally fluffing pillows in the main room, and the huge seating area at the bottom of the picture is of the Roman Numerals for forty-eight.  I hope people were suitably impressed, those ingrates! 

The full view of the main room.

Tickets to the event are by invitation only, and are insanely expensive.  But the food is free flowing, there are amenities to be had (spin classes, chair massage, manicures, hair, shoe shine, etc.), tons of alcohol (if you are in to that sort of thing) and just a fancy feel of excess to all of it.  And, charming, attractive people like me to tell you, "the bathroom is down the hall to your right."

But seriously, this was a pretty exclusive event.  Not even NFL players had a free pass in, and our security was really tight.  We turned them down by the droves.  (Sorry 'bout it).  This was for certain players, owners, sponsors, and other what-have-you various and sundry fancy people.  I did see a few notables, and was pointed out to a few more that I had not recognized.  I am sure I saw more than I would know.  It was fun to be surrounded by all of it, and it was fascinating to see this part of life and society.  I'm not saying I don't care AT ALL about the Super Bowl.  I can get into it when I want to.  But I have tons of sports geek friends who would have been freaking out to be there.  Maybe that's part of why it was fun for me; I know so many people who would have loved to have been there, and that made me appreciate it more.  But it was genuinely fun for me too. I just would have geeked out more if I was working at a Tony Awards event.

And yes, the food was incredible.  We did get to eat.  And thank goodness.  The event staff were very kind to us and treated us well.  So that's always really nice.  And as we parted, we all got this box of Super Bowl Swag (a technical term).  Bonus!


So basically, ask me if I watched the actual Super Bowl.  Go ahead.  (Answer: nope.  Nope, I didn't.  But I heard it was a catastrophe anyway, so...)

Beautiful Moments in the NYC

Tonight I was on the bus.  As we stopped at 116th Street, I looked out my window to notice a woman completely freaking out on the bus stop pole (see the above image as Exhibit A).  She was shaking it with all of her might, and that might was considerable.  She was shaking it so hard it seemed as if she were trying to uproot it from the sidewalk.  I looked over at the two girls who were sitting across from me; they were transfixed, just like me.

After a few minutes I saw her change her position and start shaking the pole from another angle.  I looked up as I heard the BUS DRIVER CACKLING.  Then the woman started to smack, open-palmed, the pole with all of her strength, all the while keeping up a steady barrage of who-knows-what coming out of her mouth.  Just screaming and smacking a pole.  It's fine.

Then, as we started to pull away at the green light, she backed away from the pole into the middle of the sidewalk, all the while waving her arms every which way and shouting, twisting this way and that, and basically throwing a huge tantrum.  At which point the man behind me on the bus said, "What is she on and where did she get it?!"

We all continued to watch as we pulled further down the street, all four of us that were on the bus.  As we got far enough away that I was about to turn around, I saw her get down on the ground, in the snow, and start rolling around in the snow, almost as if her clothes were on fire.  Maybe she thought they were; who knows?

Whether this happening was drug-induced or just a general anger-management issue, it is part of why I love this city.  The Crazies are always out.  And there is nothing like a Crazy to bond strangers on a bus together.  It was horrifying and amazing at the same time.

It was beautiful.  (Throwback to the title.  See what I did there?  You're welcome).