(No, that is not a typo and yes, someone did ask me once if I was from Canadia. Sigh.)
My cousin, Krishan, married beautiful Lana this past weekend in Vancouver and so I popped over to the west coast of Canadia to participate in the festivities. Because I don’t see my extended family on a really frequent basis, I forget what a bunch of social butterflies we all are. The weekend basically consisted of us moving around Vancouver, en masse, from party to party. I felt a little like Jay Gatsby. (I also got to enjoy the ferry ride from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay (and back) to go see the gang on Vancouver Island.)
Everything was going great until I tried to “pop” back to New York yesterday. Although I should know better, I booked my return flight connecting through Chicago. (Such a rookie mistake, I know.) Due to severe thunderstorms in the Chicago area, when we landed, we were just added to the dozens of already landed planes on the tarmac who were all waiting for gates. (Ground personnel is not allowed to work outside during electrical storms.) The tarmac full of planes looked like one of those awkward cocktail parties where everyone is just standing around, shifting from foot to foot, trying (but not very hard) to make small talk. Eventually the storm passed enough that we could get into a gate and deplane, but then most flights were late or cancelled. I finally got back to New York at about 3:30 this morning. I am dragging my proverbial you-know-what today.
But big virtual hug to Chrissy who saved the day with a sugar rush in the form of a delivery of cupcakes from Burgers & Cupcakes (hard to tell what they serve, isn’t it?) as a belated birthday treat and many, many virtual kisses (poor substitute for the real thing obviously) to Special K who sent the crispest, reddest group of 11 roses with a lone orange one for good measure. Happy sigh.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
My Face on a Cake - What More Could You Ask For?
Nick’s face, of course!! Nick and I are both Leos. And narcissists that we are, we are big fans of this sort of shameless self-promotion.
It all started innocently enough with cakes featuring our web sites for a party we threw in June and now look what it's devolved into.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Here is a sampling of some of the random things that I have encountered on my way back and forth to work in the last few weeks:
- I have been nearly run over by a taxi (twice) and other regular passenger vehicles (too many times to count).
- Saw a very proper woman, seated primly with erect posture on a scooter buzzing up Broadway – not so unusual except she was wearing a fairly formal gown. And an equestrian hat as a helmet.
- P Diddy (just once) and P Diddy’s Maybach (at least once every two weeks or so).
- Dead cockroaches on the street (better than live ones, I guess).
- Many rats roaming around, especially in the construction zone in front of my building (and they are FAR from dead).
- Saw Rupert from the Hello Deli.
- A guy unzipping to pee against a building in broad daylight. Buddy, you are NOT a Golden Retriever out for a walk.
- And some poor deluded soul actually asked me for my autograph one morning.
- I have been nearly run over by a taxi (twice) and other regular passenger vehicles (too many times to count).
- Saw a very proper woman, seated primly with erect posture on a scooter buzzing up Broadway – not so unusual except she was wearing a fairly formal gown. And an equestrian hat as a helmet.
- P Diddy (just once) and P Diddy’s Maybach (at least once every two weeks or so).
- Dead cockroaches on the street (better than live ones, I guess).
- Many rats roaming around, especially in the construction zone in front of my building (and they are FAR from dead).
- Saw Rupert from the Hello Deli.
- A guy unzipping to pee against a building in broad daylight. Buddy, you are NOT a Golden Retriever out for a walk.
- And some poor deluded soul actually asked me for my autograph one morning.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Turning Japonais, I Really Think So
I admit it, I'm feeling a little fuzzy today. I really didn't have that much to drink last night, but I didn't arrive back at my apartment until about 4:30 am, and then for some unfathomable reason, I woke up at precisely 7:30 am. Ugh. Are you KIDDING me? I did manage to fall back to sleep for another hour and a half or so, but I mean, come on -- just over four hours of sleep doesn't cut it.
Yesterday was a sort of fun serendipitous kind of day. It turned out that both PJ and friends Josh and Robin were going to be in New York (from SoCal) on the same weekend. PJ was here to meet a friend for a Rage Against the Machine concert tonight and Josh and Robin were each here for separate business trips and decided to extend those commitments into a bit of a vacation.
After PJ and I visited Niketown to buy him some new runners and grabbed a drink and a snack at favourite Irish pub, McGee's, we all met up for dinner at Japonais, down in Gramercy. Japonais has a very cool, urban vibe and was jammed full of NY hipsters -- and for good reason... aside from the great ambiance, the foold was incredible. We ordered "the Rock", an appetizer where you cook your own thinly sliced pieces of beef on a scalding rock (there's a really similar dish at Megu), and an array of rolls, sushi and sashimi. My roll (the "Tuna Tuna Salmon roll") was so good on its own that I barely even needed soy sauce.
After dinner, Robin hooked us up with bottle service at Duvet. If any of you remember an episode from "Sex & the City" where the fabulous four go out to a club called "Bed", then you know exactly what Duvet looks like because apparently that's where that particular episode of "Sex" was filmed.
There are literally beds arranged around the dance floor, complete with crisp white sheets, tons of comfy pillows and the suggestion of curtains at each corner as if it were a showroom of four post canopy beds. Apparently bottle service for a bed starts at $1200. Yikes.
We danced a little, but mostly we got such a kick out of watching the goings-on. Groups of (generally) girls who were in full-on party mode at 1:00 am, were dropping like flies by the time 3:00 and 3:30 rolled around. It was interesting to watch the progression as fatigue set in and effects of alcohol (and goodness knows what else) wore off. One girl popped right out of her dress on the dance floor -- too bad she had her back to her dance partner at the time, he missed the whole thing! (I'm sure he got to see MUCH more than that, however, as the night evolved!)
The craziest thing about Duvet though was the bathrooms. There's a single unisex bathroom. Think "Ally McBeal", but with bass-heavy custom-spun DJ tunes pumping through the vents, a large black bouncer-looking man handing out paper towels after you wash your hands and a giant circular stainless steel sink in the middle of the room with mutiple faucets and soap dispensers. (Sort of a combination of that one bathroom in the Harry Potter movies and a barnyard trough. Seriously, I kinda felt like a cow, mosying up to the farm water trough.)
But the most disconcerting thing about the bathrooms was that the doors of the stalls were made with one-way glass, so even though you know no one can see in (after all, you couldn't see in when you were outside waiting your turn), once you're in a stall, you can't help but feel like everyone at the giant sink is watching you do what comes naturally. Maybe the more you drink, the less you care?
Yesterday was a sort of fun serendipitous kind of day. It turned out that both PJ and friends Josh and Robin were going to be in New York (from SoCal) on the same weekend. PJ was here to meet a friend for a Rage Against the Machine concert tonight and Josh and Robin were each here for separate business trips and decided to extend those commitments into a bit of a vacation.
After PJ and I visited Niketown to buy him some new runners and grabbed a drink and a snack at favourite Irish pub, McGee's, we all met up for dinner at Japonais, down in Gramercy. Japonais has a very cool, urban vibe and was jammed full of NY hipsters -- and for good reason... aside from the great ambiance, the foold was incredible. We ordered "the Rock", an appetizer where you cook your own thinly sliced pieces of beef on a scalding rock (there's a really similar dish at Megu), and an array of rolls, sushi and sashimi. My roll (the "Tuna Tuna Salmon roll") was so good on its own that I barely even needed soy sauce.
After dinner, Robin hooked us up with bottle service at Duvet. If any of you remember an episode from "Sex & the City" where the fabulous four go out to a club called "Bed", then you know exactly what Duvet looks like because apparently that's where that particular episode of "Sex" was filmed.
There are literally beds arranged around the dance floor, complete with crisp white sheets, tons of comfy pillows and the suggestion of curtains at each corner as if it were a showroom of four post canopy beds. Apparently bottle service for a bed starts at $1200. Yikes.
We danced a little, but mostly we got such a kick out of watching the goings-on. Groups of (generally) girls who were in full-on party mode at 1:00 am, were dropping like flies by the time 3:00 and 3:30 rolled around. It was interesting to watch the progression as fatigue set in and effects of alcohol (and goodness knows what else) wore off. One girl popped right out of her dress on the dance floor -- too bad she had her back to her dance partner at the time, he missed the whole thing! (I'm sure he got to see MUCH more than that, however, as the night evolved!)
The craziest thing about Duvet though was the bathrooms. There's a single unisex bathroom. Think "Ally McBeal", but with bass-heavy custom-spun DJ tunes pumping through the vents, a large black bouncer-looking man handing out paper towels after you wash your hands and a giant circular stainless steel sink in the middle of the room with mutiple faucets and soap dispensers. (Sort of a combination of that one bathroom in the Harry Potter movies and a barnyard trough. Seriously, I kinda felt like a cow, mosying up to the farm water trough.)
But the most disconcerting thing about the bathrooms was that the doors of the stalls were made with one-way glass, so even though you know no one can see in (after all, you couldn't see in when you were outside waiting your turn), once you're in a stall, you can't help but feel like everyone at the giant sink is watching you do what comes naturally. Maybe the more you drink, the less you care?
A Little to the Left, Please
Before last week, here's something I'd never done at work before: get a massage.
Well, on Friday, I was able to check that off the list. Our building has a gorgeous, state-of-the-art fitness center (with views of Central Park, thank you very much) and they also offer massage services.
I woke up last Sunday morning with something pinched in my upper back and as the week wore on, it was not working itself out. Oda reminded me that the gym offers massage services and so I successfully managed to get an appointment at lunchtime on Friday.
Can I just say that we should all get massages EVERY day at work??
Betsy, my massage therapist, listened intently as I described the pain in my back and then immediately said, "You work on a computer all day, you're right-handed, you cradle the phone between your ear and your shoulder when you talk and you carry your [too heavy] handbag on your right side." Wow, impressive.
Betsy set to work on my back, neck and shoulders and by the end of my 50-minute session, I felt amazing. I have a feeling Betsy may be seeing a lot more of me.
Well, on Friday, I was able to check that off the list. Our building has a gorgeous, state-of-the-art fitness center (with views of Central Park, thank you very much) and they also offer massage services.
I woke up last Sunday morning with something pinched in my upper back and as the week wore on, it was not working itself out. Oda reminded me that the gym offers massage services and so I successfully managed to get an appointment at lunchtime on Friday.
Can I just say that we should all get massages EVERY day at work??
Betsy, my massage therapist, listened intently as I described the pain in my back and then immediately said, "You work on a computer all day, you're right-handed, you cradle the phone between your ear and your shoulder when you talk and you carry your [too heavy] handbag on your right side." Wow, impressive.
Betsy set to work on my back, neck and shoulders and by the end of my 50-minute session, I felt amazing. I have a feeling Betsy may be seeing a lot more of me.
Oh Those Summer Nights
New York is hopping all summer long. There are all the regular things you can do all year round (like the theatre, concerts etc), but summer brings with it a whole layer of free (and usually outdoor) cultural events that are just there for the taking... and enjoying.
There are concerts on various stages in Central Park, free movies in Bryant Park and at a couple of piers along the Hudson, the Good Morning America concert series, the Lincoln Center Out of Doors Festival... the list goes on and on.
Nick, Reny, Cassandra and I planned to meet up last Wednesday night in Central Park at the Naumburg Bandshell. This is the 102nd anniversary season of free Naumburg Orchestral Concerts and on Wednesday night, they were featuring the Brooklyn Philharmonic.
Unfortunately, we misjudged our timing and by the time we all converged on the Bandshell and found each other, the concert was practically over. It's a beautiful venue for an outdoor concert, however, and we're definitely planning on returning (earlier next time!).
To make the most of the evening that was left, we wandered over to the Sheep Meadow Cafe and wiled away a couple of hours with to-die-for desserts, great conversation and laughs, and a satisfying sense of having successfully stolen some precious peaceful moments in the park on a perfectly still summer night, with the city's constant buzz seeming miles and miles away.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Good for the Soul, Hard on the Soles
No doubt about it, New York is hard on shoes.
I walk back and forth to work most days and I also put on a bunch of miles on the weekends, cruising around the city by foot.
The results (so far):
-- three pairs of worn out soles (including the cute little ballet flats I just bought at the beginning of summer)
-- two broken heels (and counting, I'm sure)
-- a few blisters on various toes
-- scuffed toes and heels from broken concrete and pavement on the sidewalks and streets
-- salt stains from slogging through snow drifts in the winter
I can't believe I'm about to say this, but it hardly seems worth it to invest in shoes in this city because they get trashed so easily.
(Don't worry -- I'm sure I will have recovered to my full shoe-shopping self by the time the weekend rolls around.)
I walk back and forth to work most days and I also put on a bunch of miles on the weekends, cruising around the city by foot.
The results (so far):
-- three pairs of worn out soles (including the cute little ballet flats I just bought at the beginning of summer)
-- two broken heels (and counting, I'm sure)
-- a few blisters on various toes
-- scuffed toes and heels from broken concrete and pavement on the sidewalks and streets
-- salt stains from slogging through snow drifts in the winter
I can't believe I'm about to say this, but it hardly seems worth it to invest in shoes in this city because they get trashed so easily.
(Don't worry -- I'm sure I will have recovered to my full shoe-shopping self by the time the weekend rolls around.)
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