Everyone says that Christmas in the city is a beautiful thing. I agree. A girlfriend and I were running down 5th Avenue last weekend (literally running). We were late to the Alvin Ailey show, but I couldn't help but be completely shocked by the amount of Christmas lights! It was absolutely gorgeous! I am not surprised. Its New York City people, lights are their thing. Have you not been to Times Square?
Today I experienced Christmas in a little more non-traditional way. We got off the train and walked past 4 young (and skinny) men. They were dressed in Santa outfits, with their beards pulled down, smoking cigarettes. Not very Santa like! We arrived at Joffrey to find that other people have had bizarre Santa encounters this morning as well. A friend saw fifteen Santas waiting in line to get Metro Cards for the Subway? Ummm....Santa? What happened to your sleigh? We finally found that "Santa CON" is taking place in the city. It is a bar crawl throughout the city. All you need to participate is a Santa costume, resulting in a overwhelming amount of drunken Mr. and Mrs. Claus throughout the city. Very entertaining, but if I was a parent, I would have kept my kid INSIDE today.
In the most important news, today I experienced a Christmas miracle. See, Wednesday night I was on my Mac Book ordering my dad a Christmas present. That is when my clumsy elbows knocked over my glass of water that was conveniently located right next to the computer. Water filled my keyboard. After I soaked up as much water as I could, I called my best friend. She had a similar disaster with Won Ton soup. She told me NOT to turn it on. Apparently trying to turn it on is what ruins your hard drive, not the water. Then I called Miguel, who was amazing already at the Apple store in Kansas City asking about what to do about my soggy laptop. (Yes, he is that awesome.) For the remainder of the evening I sat on my bathroom floor with my blow dryer on the low-cool setting trying to dry out the insides of my computer. The next step is to wait a few days just to ensure that everything is dried out.
For the past two days I have been staring at my poor computer on my desk, but today was the third day. I woke up bright and early. I was sweating because I was so nervous to try to turn it on. I have almost 4,000 songs and hundreds of photos on my computer. Hundreds of dollars worth of music for auditions and choreography. My professional head shots and dance pictures. Are they gone forever? Should I call my mom and dad to tell them to return my Christmas gifts? No, I should wait to make sure its really gone... Ok here it goes.
I plugged it in and pressed the button. DINGGGG The apple ding sounded. It was turning on! Then the apple appeared! Then the wheel-of-death...watched it spin for a few seconds (holding my breath) and there it was, my desktop. It is my very own Christmas miracle! Just like Jesus, after three days, it resurrected.
Thank you Jesus for resurrecting my computer. You are awesome, I promise to spend less time on Facebook. I promise!
A week from today I fly home for the holidays, but this last week is going to be a rough one. Tomorrow morning I have to a photo shoot for our program. Apparently we are going to have our hair powdered white. I'm sure that will result in an interesting blog. To be continued?
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Lighting the Tree, with ALL of New York
I love Christmas. I really really love Christmas. Except last night, I hated Christmas.
You see, we made plans to go to the Rockefeller Christmas Tree Lighting months ago. So Tuesday after class we dragged our super sore post-Thanksgiving break bodies to Rockefeller for some good ole fashioned Christmas spirit, NYC style. We left right after class, because like everything in New York, you must arrive 3 hours early. for. everything.
5:30 We walk out of the train station to find (of course) hundreds of people. Who can give up their entire Tuesday just to sit in the rain at Rockefeller Center???
5:45 We were shuffled into an area that resembled somewhat of a holding pen, now that I think about it. We had our bags checked and were sent right on in. It wasn't until after we got settled that we realized that we couldn't even see the Christmas tree. We could see a TV screen with the live feed of the concert though! It read: ristmas at ockefeller enter. I guess 3/4 of a TV isn't bad.
6:45 Just as we began to get tired of waiting, we were distracted by a commotion in the holding pen next to us. A fight! Two guys with NYPD Counter Terrorism on their jackets came running. They attempted to jump into the crowd, but clearly there was no room. (What do you think the fight was about?) They had to unhook the holding pen gate, to reach to two guys fighting. They pulled two men out of the crowd and began to handcuff them. One guy was apologizing to his girlfriend and the other just looked embarrassed. They didn't look like terrorists, but thank you NYPD Counter Terrorism Squad for keeping us safe and completely ruining that guy's date.
7:00 Once the show started I actually enjoyed myself. Sure it was a cramped holding pen, but I was with my girls. The performers were great. Boys to Men performed and it made my life. There was a 10 year old girl who absolutely stole the show.
8:00 A group of people from the front decided they had enough and left. In response to their exit, the entire group decided to over compensate for their empty space. Then it all went down hill. The girls got pushed forward. I was pushed to the side, over the side of the pen. Ouch, but maybe everyone will get settled and I can get comfortable again
8:05 Momentary distraction by Mariah Carey singing on stage with little kids dressed as cheerleaders?
8:10 I realized that this is our new permanent spot for the remainder of the evening. I can't even talk to my friends about the awkward Mariah Carey performance.
8:15 Cramping begins and I start to devise an exit plan. I look behind me at the hundreds standing between me and the exit
8:20 Accept defeat.
9:00 Tree is lit, I can see it through the Lego store' s window.
On our way home I finally was able to see the tree. It was beautiful.
moral of the story:
Lighting a Christmas Tree is a family event that should take place in your home, with plenty of elbow room.
You see, we made plans to go to the Rockefeller Christmas Tree Lighting months ago. So Tuesday after class we dragged our super sore post-Thanksgiving break bodies to Rockefeller for some good ole fashioned Christmas spirit, NYC style. We left right after class, because like everything in New York, you must arrive 3 hours early. for. everything.
5:30 We walk out of the train station to find (of course) hundreds of people. Who can give up their entire Tuesday just to sit in the rain at Rockefeller Center???
5:45 We were shuffled into an area that resembled somewhat of a holding pen, now that I think about it. We had our bags checked and were sent right on in. It wasn't until after we got settled that we realized that we couldn't even see the Christmas tree. We could see a TV screen with the live feed of the concert though! It read: ristmas at ockefeller enter. I guess 3/4 of a TV isn't bad.
6:45 Just as we began to get tired of waiting, we were distracted by a commotion in the holding pen next to us. A fight! Two guys with NYPD Counter Terrorism on their jackets came running. They attempted to jump into the crowd, but clearly there was no room. (What do you think the fight was about?) They had to unhook the holding pen gate, to reach to two guys fighting. They pulled two men out of the crowd and began to handcuff them. One guy was apologizing to his girlfriend and the other just looked embarrassed. They didn't look like terrorists, but thank you NYPD Counter Terrorism Squad for keeping us safe and completely ruining that guy's date.
7:00 Once the show started I actually enjoyed myself. Sure it was a cramped holding pen, but I was with my girls. The performers were great. Boys to Men performed and it made my life. There was a 10 year old girl who absolutely stole the show.
8:00 A group of people from the front decided they had enough and left. In response to their exit, the entire group decided to over compensate for their empty space. Then it all went down hill. The girls got pushed forward. I was pushed to the side, over the side of the pen. Ouch, but maybe everyone will get settled and I can get comfortable again
8:05 Momentary distraction by Mariah Carey singing on stage with little kids dressed as cheerleaders?
8:10 I realized that this is our new permanent spot for the remainder of the evening. I can't even talk to my friends about the awkward Mariah Carey performance.
8:15 Cramping begins and I start to devise an exit plan. I look behind me at the hundreds standing between me and the exit
8:20 Accept defeat.
9:00 Tree is lit, I can see it through the Lego store' s window.
On our way home I finally was able to see the tree. It was beautiful.
moral of the story:
Lighting a Christmas Tree is a family event that should take place in your home, with plenty of elbow room.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
A New Yorker's Thanksgiving
I have always been really lucky growing up. I have gone 20 years without every having to miss a Thanksgiving. I went to college two hours away from home, so to miss out on deep fried turkey, football, and free laundry would just be silly. As you know, I am a little more than 2 hours away, more like 24, so I had to miss the Odom family Thanksgiving this year. I spent my Thanksgiving in the Big Apple.
My week started off pretty rough. I got sick Monday after class. I knew something was wrong when I passed up the free Thanksgiving meal in the Residence Hall I live in. I don't remember much about Tuesday and Wednesday. It involved a lot of sleeping, medicine, and Grey's Anatomy. After not leaving my room for almost 3 days, I started to get a little crazy. I also couldn't help but pout about the fact that I was not in Missouri with my fiance and family.
I was determined to leave my room on Thursday. I would not spend my Thanksgiving in solitary confinement! I set my alarm for 5:45 AM and I met my crew on 6th Ave. for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I watched it every Thanksgiving since... forever so I felt obligated to see it in person on my first Thanksgiving in the city. We were standing in a space by 7 am, just in time to... wait. Finally at about 9:47 the Macy's balloons passed. I felt like I was in Disneyland for the next couple hours. We saw everything from Kanye West to the US Pizza team to ICarly. In true holiday spirit, moments after Santa's sleigh glided past, it started to snow. Now we haven't had snow at all this season, and it wasn't in the forecast to snow. I am convinced Macy's paid for the 5 minutes of snow, but I have to say, it was magical.
After the parade, a girlfriend invited us out to her home in New Jersey to have Thanksgiving dinner with her family. I had never been to New Jersey, but off to New Jersey we went. We went through Penn Station, where half of America happened to be traveling (in case we had not seen enough people on 6th Ave). Once we made it through the mayhem, we were on a train to Jersey. They lived in a cute little home, with a cute dog, and best of all: IT WAS QUIET. We had the traditional Thanksgiving meal. I even was able to see a little but of the Dallas Cowboys game (although this would have been the year to miss that tradition).
I did learn a few things in Jersey, like the difference between yams and sweet potatoes. I have never even heard of yams until I was in the north. They taste like sweet potatoes, look like sweet potatoes, they must be sweet potatoes. I figured the people up here just call it something funny. Not the case. They are actually an entirely different vegetable, that just happens to taste just like sweet potatoes. Go figure. I also learned that it was common for many New Yorkers to cater their Thanksgiving meals, because their kitchens are so flippin small, they cannot cook in them. If there is no space to cook Thanksgiving dinner, then you know there is no space to deep fry a turkey. New York, let me tell you, you are missing out.
Overall, I survived my first Thanksgiving. I was so thankful to have a home to visit (even if it wasn't mine) and an chance to get out of the busy city, but I could help but miss the old Thanksgiving. 20 years of my family Thanksgiving, I can't just give it up, cold turkey! he he he
Happy Thanksgiving Everybody
My week started off pretty rough. I got sick Monday after class. I knew something was wrong when I passed up the free Thanksgiving meal in the Residence Hall I live in. I don't remember much about Tuesday and Wednesday. It involved a lot of sleeping, medicine, and Grey's Anatomy. After not leaving my room for almost 3 days, I started to get a little crazy. I also couldn't help but pout about the fact that I was not in Missouri with my fiance and family.
I was determined to leave my room on Thursday. I would not spend my Thanksgiving in solitary confinement! I set my alarm for 5:45 AM and I met my crew on 6th Ave. for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I watched it every Thanksgiving since... forever so I felt obligated to see it in person on my first Thanksgiving in the city. We were standing in a space by 7 am, just in time to... wait. Finally at about 9:47 the Macy's balloons passed. I felt like I was in Disneyland for the next couple hours. We saw everything from Kanye West to the US Pizza team to ICarly. In true holiday spirit, moments after Santa's sleigh glided past, it started to snow. Now we haven't had snow at all this season, and it wasn't in the forecast to snow. I am convinced Macy's paid for the 5 minutes of snow, but I have to say, it was magical.
After the parade, a girlfriend invited us out to her home in New Jersey to have Thanksgiving dinner with her family. I had never been to New Jersey, but off to New Jersey we went. We went through Penn Station, where half of America happened to be traveling (in case we had not seen enough people on 6th Ave). Once we made it through the mayhem, we were on a train to Jersey. They lived in a cute little home, with a cute dog, and best of all: IT WAS QUIET. We had the traditional Thanksgiving meal. I even was able to see a little but of the Dallas Cowboys game (although this would have been the year to miss that tradition).
I did learn a few things in Jersey, like the difference between yams and sweet potatoes. I have never even heard of yams until I was in the north. They taste like sweet potatoes, look like sweet potatoes, they must be sweet potatoes. I figured the people up here just call it something funny. Not the case. They are actually an entirely different vegetable, that just happens to taste just like sweet potatoes. Go figure. I also learned that it was common for many New Yorkers to cater their Thanksgiving meals, because their kitchens are so flippin small, they cannot cook in them. If there is no space to cook Thanksgiving dinner, then you know there is no space to deep fry a turkey. New York, let me tell you, you are missing out.
Overall, I survived my first Thanksgiving. I was so thankful to have a home to visit (even if it wasn't mine) and an chance to get out of the busy city, but I could help but miss the old Thanksgiving. 20 years of my family Thanksgiving, I can't just give it up, cold turkey! he he he
Happy Thanksgiving Everybody
Sunday, November 21, 2010
So You Think.
I recently embarked on quite the adventure.
I auditioned for So You Think You Can Dance.
I can't say I was prepared. I printed off the regulations and semi-choreographed a solo in my room the night before. My girlfriend and I left the next morning at 6 am. We walked up to the performance hall to see sleeping bags at the front of the line. I didn't think that people actually camped out!? We were in line by 6:30 and the waiting marathon began! We became good friends with the people in line with us, who little did we know would be our new family for the next few days. Camera men walked around to get their "waiting in line footage". After the kick-line, pirouettes, and multiple enthusiastic screams, the cameras shifted their focus from the dancers to Cat Deeley who was mingling with the line. (Yes she is as tall and gorgeous in real life as she is on TV.)
Now the night before, I was Skyping with my sister, and she made a comment like, "If you run into Cat tomorrow, have her give me a call." So I came up with a brilliant idea. As Cat walked past us, I simply asked if she would call my sister. And she did. Left her a voice mail. Simple as that. Yep, I am the greatest sister of all time. By 8 am, the experience was already worth the effort. We could have gone home right then and I would have been completely happy.
We all were brought into the theater and the producer sat us all down for a chat. He brought in some famous "So You Think" has-beens. They explained what all the audition would entail and attempted to be motivational, but I am pretty sure it just made everyone nervous.
I finally left the audition at 11:30 pm. With a handful of papers, saying I had to be back at 7 am the next day, wearing the same thing I a wore for 17 hours today. gross...I also ended up signing my life away in confidentiality agreements. Ok so maybe not MY LIFE away, but enough to prohibit me from telling you the details of the audition process. I was kinda pissed because I had plans of putting my blog on the map with an awesome "Tell All" of SYTYCD. So I guess my baby blog will remain a baby blog.
After getting a whole 3 hours of sleep, I headed back. Dejavu all over again. Same people. Same time. Same story. Back in a line, but this time not with strangers. We are all family now. We survived the world's longest day and are about to embark on another one. Here is a link to a Brooklyn local website I was photographed for that morning, too bad my photo didn't make the cut, but my family did! http://fort-greene.thelocal.nytimes.com/2010/11/17/so-you-think-you-can-dance-auditions-at-bam/
It was an insane two days in Brooklyn. I met some incredible people, saw some incredible dance, and learned so so much. By far one of the most incredible experiences in NYC to date.
I auditioned for So You Think You Can Dance.
I can't say I was prepared. I printed off the regulations and semi-choreographed a solo in my room the night before. My girlfriend and I left the next morning at 6 am. We walked up to the performance hall to see sleeping bags at the front of the line. I didn't think that people actually camped out!? We were in line by 6:30 and the waiting marathon began! We became good friends with the people in line with us, who little did we know would be our new family for the next few days. Camera men walked around to get their "waiting in line footage". After the kick-line, pirouettes, and multiple enthusiastic screams, the cameras shifted their focus from the dancers to Cat Deeley who was mingling with the line. (Yes she is as tall and gorgeous in real life as she is on TV.)
Now the night before, I was Skyping with my sister, and she made a comment like, "If you run into Cat tomorrow, have her give me a call." So I came up with a brilliant idea. As Cat walked past us, I simply asked if she would call my sister. And she did. Left her a voice mail. Simple as that. Yep, I am the greatest sister of all time. By 8 am, the experience was already worth the effort. We could have gone home right then and I would have been completely happy.
We all were brought into the theater and the producer sat us all down for a chat. He brought in some famous "So You Think" has-beens. They explained what all the audition would entail and attempted to be motivational, but I am pretty sure it just made everyone nervous.
I finally left the audition at 11:30 pm. With a handful of papers, saying I had to be back at 7 am the next day, wearing the same thing I a wore for 17 hours today. gross...I also ended up signing my life away in confidentiality agreements. Ok so maybe not MY LIFE away, but enough to prohibit me from telling you the details of the audition process. I was kinda pissed because I had plans of putting my blog on the map with an awesome "Tell All" of SYTYCD. So I guess my baby blog will remain a baby blog.
After getting a whole 3 hours of sleep, I headed back. Dejavu all over again. Same people. Same time. Same story. Back in a line, but this time not with strangers. We are all family now. We survived the world's longest day and are about to embark on another one. Here is a link to a Brooklyn local website I was photographed for that morning, too bad my photo didn't make the cut, but my family did! http://fort-greene.thelocal.nytimes.com/2010/11/17/so-you-think-you-can-dance-auditions-at-bam/
It was an insane two days in Brooklyn. I met some incredible people, saw some incredible dance, and learned so so much. By far one of the most incredible experiences in NYC to date.
Monday, November 8, 2010
The Weekend I lived at the CIty Center
Lets just start this blog with this statement:
I spent 2 of the last 3 evenings at the New York City Center.
The amount of incredible dance I watched this weekend should be illegal, especially when you add the fact that I spent 25 dollars on tickets.
Lets start with Saturday. I have been planning on seeing Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake since I saw this fierce advertisement on the subway the first weekend in NYC.
Like true starving artists, the girls and I purchased our nosebleed seat tickets for 25 dollars. This was the only stop of the Swan Lake tour that was even in America, we HAD to go. For those who aren't familiar with Mr. Bourne, he is one of those groundbreaking, line pushing choreographers who will be in the dance history books someday. For example, his swan lake has an male cast of swans, and his black swan wears leather pants in the second act... just saying.
The show made me want to be a male swan. No joke. The men would breathe in unison on stage (as if the choreography wasn't hard enough on its own). It was so loud that we heard them from the rear rear rear rear rear mezzanine. I was so enthralled that I forgot entirely about my crappy seat. Here are some photos, so hopefully you can get a jist of how INSANE these men were.
Tonight I was lucky enough to return to the City Center. A company called Career Transitions for Dancers was hosting their 25th anniversary gala tonight. They work with Joffrey so they gifted the school with a small amount of tickets for the trainees. We lucked out, scored the tickets. Ran out of the school today like we had won the lottery, because we kinda had.. just wait. We get to the City Center to be brushing shoulders with women in gowns and men in tuxes. We quickly ran back up to our rear rear rear mezzanine seats that we are used too. Then sat down for an experience of a lifetime. Here is why:
*The cast of 42nd street performing the audition scene
*Alvin Ailey Dance Theater performing "Sinner Man" from Revelations. -In a nutshell, Revelations is Ailey's most loved piece. Its an honor and a rare opportunity to just see it, and not read about it in a history book.
*THE Joffrey Ballet performing the Pas de Deux (Duet) from Light Rain. -This was cool because its the first time I have seen Joffrey perform since I joined the school. Loved it, makes me feel like a part of history.
*American Ballet Theatre performed the Act 3 Pas de Deux from Don Quixote -American legends, no explanation needed as to why they were awesome. I did find the need to give the ballerina a cheeseburger.... or two.
*All That Jazz by the cast of Chicago.
* And finally my favorite piece right now. "Caught" by David Parsons. I saw it performed in Bryant Park early in the fall and blog about it. It was performed by Miguel Quinones, who I am currently obsessed with. I fell in love with it the first time, so I was thrilled to see it again. It is the most innovative, athletic piece I have ever seen. The dancer performs on a dark stage, dancing in and out of simple pools of light. Near the end, the stage is dark and the dancer has a strobe light controller in his hand. As he dances, he clicks the strobe on to create the illusion of him floating across the stage, when in actuality he is doing multiple jumps and clicking the strobe at the peak of each jump. I put a link to the dance. WATCH IT. and it you are super impatient, just watch the last minute of it.
This version is performed by David Parsons himself, you should feel honored. Watching this Youtube video will make you a better person. enjoy :)
I spent 2 of the last 3 evenings at the New York City Center.
The amount of incredible dance I watched this weekend should be illegal, especially when you add the fact that I spent 25 dollars on tickets.
Lets start with Saturday. I have been planning on seeing Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake since I saw this fierce advertisement on the subway the first weekend in NYC.
The show made me want to be a male swan. No joke. The men would breathe in unison on stage (as if the choreography wasn't hard enough on its own). It was so loud that we heard them from the rear rear rear rear rear mezzanine. I was so enthralled that I forgot entirely about my crappy seat. Here are some photos, so hopefully you can get a jist of how INSANE these men were.
Tonight I was lucky enough to return to the City Center. A company called Career Transitions for Dancers was hosting their 25th anniversary gala tonight. They work with Joffrey so they gifted the school with a small amount of tickets for the trainees. We lucked out, scored the tickets. Ran out of the school today like we had won the lottery, because we kinda had.. just wait. We get to the City Center to be brushing shoulders with women in gowns and men in tuxes. We quickly ran back up to our rear rear rear mezzanine seats that we are used too. Then sat down for an experience of a lifetime. Here is why:
*The cast of 42nd street performing the audition scene
*Alvin Ailey Dance Theater performing "Sinner Man" from Revelations. -In a nutshell, Revelations is Ailey's most loved piece. Its an honor and a rare opportunity to just see it, and not read about it in a history book.
*THE Joffrey Ballet performing the Pas de Deux (Duet) from Light Rain. -This was cool because its the first time I have seen Joffrey perform since I joined the school. Loved it, makes me feel like a part of history.
*American Ballet Theatre performed the Act 3 Pas de Deux from Don Quixote -American legends, no explanation needed as to why they were awesome. I did find the need to give the ballerina a cheeseburger.... or two.
*All That Jazz by the cast of Chicago.
* And finally my favorite piece right now. "Caught" by David Parsons. I saw it performed in Bryant Park early in the fall and blog about it. It was performed by Miguel Quinones, who I am currently obsessed with. I fell in love with it the first time, so I was thrilled to see it again. It is the most innovative, athletic piece I have ever seen. The dancer performs on a dark stage, dancing in and out of simple pools of light. Near the end, the stage is dark and the dancer has a strobe light controller in his hand. As he dances, he clicks the strobe on to create the illusion of him floating across the stage, when in actuality he is doing multiple jumps and clicking the strobe at the peak of each jump. I put a link to the dance. WATCH IT. and it you are super impatient, just watch the last minute of it.
This version is performed by David Parsons himself, you should feel honored. Watching this Youtube video will make you a better person. enjoy :)
Sunday, November 7, 2010
The Rules to Fighting
On November 14, Miguel and I will celebrate three years of dating, and by "celebrate" I mean we will probably Skype instead of our usual phone conversation. No worried, we have never been in the same city for any of our anniversaries. We don't really know how to even "do" anniversaries. We have been doing the "long distance thing" for a little over a year and a half now. Its never, ever been easy, but I will say, it gives you incredible communication skills.
Now with three years of togetherness, we have argued a few times. Ok, we have argued a lot. You think getting into a fight with your loved one sucks? Try getting into the same fight a thousand miles away from each other. Really NOT fun. Last night, we laughed when we came to the realization that over the years, we had developed a "fighting code". Unspoken and unwritten rules (until now) that we both follow, so I thought I would share the rules and regulations of our arguments with you today. enjoy :)
The Rules of Fighting:
1. No name calling. Focus on the situation at hand. No one thinks clearly in a fight, so don't say something you will regret later, because you will.
2. Try to not cuss. Sure it happens, but you run the risk of violating rule number 1. I understand you are heated but, tread carefully friend.
3. Under no circumstances do you hang up (or walk out of the room). If you violate rule number 3 then you forfeit the game, and lets face it, the kid that has to forfeit gets made fun of. If your going to play the game, stay in it. Don't be THAT guy.
-On a side note, timeouts are completely acceptable. Embrace the awkward silence mid-fight. They typically allow you to think clearer.
4. An "I love you" must always, and I mean ALWAYS be returned with an "I love you too". Stupid rule huh? You know they love you and they know you love them too. Not a stupid rule. Withholding an "I love you too" can be used as a weapon and is a clear violation to a fair fight. No weapons, fight clean.
5. Don't bring up already resolved, past issues. This is also another weapon and a clear violation. Bringing up past issues will guarantee that the fight goes into overtime. Why? Because now you have to re-fight about the past issue and still finish the current one. Know your stamina.
**6. Finally the most important rule. Know that there is no winner. There is no loser. Don't try to win. You are actually both on the same team. It would be kind of silly to try to defeat your teammate. Keep your head on straight. Don't be dramatic (ehhemm ladies). This isn't the fight of all fights. It too will be resolved. Tomorrow will come. He will text you to remind you to bring your sweater because he checked the weather where you are, and you will love him even more.
Now with three years of togetherness, we have argued a few times. Ok, we have argued a lot. You think getting into a fight with your loved one sucks? Try getting into the same fight a thousand miles away from each other. Really NOT fun. Last night, we laughed when we came to the realization that over the years, we had developed a "fighting code". Unspoken and unwritten rules (until now) that we both follow, so I thought I would share the rules and regulations of our arguments with you today. enjoy :)
The Rules of Fighting:
1. No name calling. Focus on the situation at hand. No one thinks clearly in a fight, so don't say something you will regret later, because you will.
2. Try to not cuss. Sure it happens, but you run the risk of violating rule number 1. I understand you are heated but, tread carefully friend.
3. Under no circumstances do you hang up (or walk out of the room). If you violate rule number 3 then you forfeit the game, and lets face it, the kid that has to forfeit gets made fun of. If your going to play the game, stay in it. Don't be THAT guy.
-On a side note, timeouts are completely acceptable. Embrace the awkward silence mid-fight. They typically allow you to think clearer.
4. An "I love you" must always, and I mean ALWAYS be returned with an "I love you too". Stupid rule huh? You know they love you and they know you love them too. Not a stupid rule. Withholding an "I love you too" can be used as a weapon and is a clear violation to a fair fight. No weapons, fight clean.
5. Don't bring up already resolved, past issues. This is also another weapon and a clear violation. Bringing up past issues will guarantee that the fight goes into overtime. Why? Because now you have to re-fight about the past issue and still finish the current one. Know your stamina.
**6. Finally the most important rule. Know that there is no winner. There is no loser. Don't try to win. You are actually both on the same team. It would be kind of silly to try to defeat your teammate. Keep your head on straight. Don't be dramatic (ehhemm ladies). This isn't the fight of all fights. It too will be resolved. Tomorrow will come. He will text you to remind you to bring your sweater because he checked the weather where you are, and you will love him even more.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Village Halloween Parade
I have never really been a big "Halloween person". Mostly because of the insane schedule I always seem to have. I usually work or sleep. My favorite Halloween to date, was last year. My roommate, Shanna, and I were exhausted from the dance department and Halloween happened to be the first night off we had in weeks. Celebrate? Not exactly. We waited in line at Chipotle dressed in foil (because that is what you have to do to get a free burrito on Halloween). We happily brought our free burrito bowls back to our apartment where we dusted off our never watched television and watched 20/20. It was simply an awesome night.
Well this weekend, some of our girlfriends in the program were hosting a Halloween party for the other dancers. We haven't had a chance to hang out, outside the dance studio so I was really excited. We also had plans to go to the 38th annual Village Halloween Parade. My roomie read somewhere that this parade was on some list of "100 things to do before you die". Ironically the parade was the wost part of the evening.
We arrived an hour early, which apparently is too late to get a spot to see... anything. We did see these cool skeletons, but unfortunately that's about it. This photograph is literally all I saw of the parade.
Others were more determined to actually see what was going on. Like this man.
Just wait, it gets worse. Now obviously this parade is crowded. Very crowded. We are in a group of about 9-12 so being super crowded wasn't too uncomfortable, at least we weren't hugging strangers. At one point in our huddle, a mini parade of small children tried to cut through to reach the street. Since they were small children, we all shuffled and rearranged for our friends passing through. I ended up on the outside of the huddle, pinned very closely to a man behind me. I didn't think much of it. I got distracted by the kid dressed as Michael Jackson. Then I noticed it. The guy behind me was rocking? What the heck? Then I felt it. His (ehhemm) friend? Needless to say, I freaked out. Thank goodness my friend Jon was stand right next to me. I grabbed his arm with a death grip and demanded to trade places. The mysterious humping man realized he was busted and disappeared into the crowd.
I'm emotionally scarred. I had plans to go to the Thanksgiving parade, but I want to avoid parades for a while.
This weekend didn't quite top my Chipotle Halloween, but it was an adventure for sure. Also made for some hilarious photographs.
Happy Halloween Everyone
Well this weekend, some of our girlfriends in the program were hosting a Halloween party for the other dancers. We haven't had a chance to hang out, outside the dance studio so I was really excited. We also had plans to go to the 38th annual Village Halloween Parade. My roomie read somewhere that this parade was on some list of "100 things to do before you die". Ironically the parade was the wost part of the evening.
We arrived an hour early, which apparently is too late to get a spot to see... anything. We did see these cool skeletons, but unfortunately that's about it. This photograph is literally all I saw of the parade.
I'm emotionally scarred. I had plans to go to the Thanksgiving parade, but I want to avoid parades for a while.
This weekend didn't quite top my Chipotle Halloween, but it was an adventure for sure. Also made for some hilarious photographs.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Lost Girls of China
So... I thought I would take my blog in a new direction tonight. I titled it dance, love, and NYC with the intention of writing about all three, since all three are incredibly prominent in my life. I know what you are thinking, NO I did not try to steal the Joe's Crab Shack catch phrase for the sake of a witty blog title. (Although that is something I would do.) Honestly I don't blame you for thinking this, I have done my fair share of blogging about the city and dancing in the city, but have yet to blog about love.
Its a Saturday night on Halloween Weekend, and I decided to stay in and watch a documentary. Lame, I know, but I love documentaries. I also think that Halloween is one of those holidays that doesn't need to be stretched into an entire weekend. One day is plenty. Anyways, I decided on a Nat Geo Documentary titled "The Lost Girls of China".
The documentary was about the effort in China to control the population and the law prohibiting families to have more than one child. This law, in combination with their cultural standard of male supremacy is leading to thousands of little girls being abandoned or even killed. My heart broke for the wives threatened to be divorced if they do not have a boy, and even more for the mother's who were forced to abandon their baby girls because of a cultural standard. I started crying about five minutes into the film and kept crying the remainder of the show. My tears shifted from heartbroken tears to tears of joy when they interviewed a woman who courageously paid thousands in fines and faced discrimination in her neighborhood in order to keep her baby girl as a second child. Then they followed American couples to China, as they went to adopt these baby girls after years of waiting and anticipation. The look in the parent's eyes as they first see their child is incredible. The grown men were crying and the women were trembling. I felt as though I got a glimpse into a sacred moment. A joy that great shouldn't be shared with just anyone. It is too special. I felt honored.
I couldn't help but think that my emotional out pour is God preparing my heart to adopt a little girl from China one day. I sent my fiance a text message during the movie that said, "I want to adopt a little girl from China." He responded, "OK. Two?" (Yes, ladies, I have a keeper.) Sure, it may sound as though I just got caught up in my emotions, but I know I wasn't. God has big things planned for Miguel and myself. I can't wait.
Its a Saturday night on Halloween Weekend, and I decided to stay in and watch a documentary. Lame, I know, but I love documentaries. I also think that Halloween is one of those holidays that doesn't need to be stretched into an entire weekend. One day is plenty. Anyways, I decided on a Nat Geo Documentary titled "The Lost Girls of China".
The documentary was about the effort in China to control the population and the law prohibiting families to have more than one child. This law, in combination with their cultural standard of male supremacy is leading to thousands of little girls being abandoned or even killed. My heart broke for the wives threatened to be divorced if they do not have a boy, and even more for the mother's who were forced to abandon their baby girls because of a cultural standard. I started crying about five minutes into the film and kept crying the remainder of the show. My tears shifted from heartbroken tears to tears of joy when they interviewed a woman who courageously paid thousands in fines and faced discrimination in her neighborhood in order to keep her baby girl as a second child. Then they followed American couples to China, as they went to adopt these baby girls after years of waiting and anticipation. The look in the parent's eyes as they first see their child is incredible. The grown men were crying and the women were trembling. I felt as though I got a glimpse into a sacred moment. A joy that great shouldn't be shared with just anyone. It is too special. I felt honored.
I couldn't help but think that my emotional out pour is God preparing my heart to adopt a little girl from China one day. I sent my fiance a text message during the movie that said, "I want to adopt a little girl from China." He responded, "OK. Two?" (Yes, ladies, I have a keeper.) Sure, it may sound as though I just got caught up in my emotions, but I know I wasn't. God has big things planned for Miguel and myself. I can't wait.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
I couldn't make this up.
My life never fails to amaze me. You can never tell what is going to happen when you wake up. This Friday was filled with particularly crazy events. Here is a play by play. Once again, I couldn't make this stuff up.
- On our commute to class, we walk out of W 4th Street stop. A man starts asking us if we would like to donate to someone.. it was to early to comprehend. Then he asked for a group hug. I'm not sure if we were still sleep walking, or if he was incredibly persuasive, but our Friday began in a 7 person group hug on 6th Ave. Then he asked my friend Alyssa out on a date.
- Our ballet teacher decided it would be beneficial for us to skip with a partner, hand in hand, for our grand allegro. Screw technique we all needed a good laugh on a Friday
- We left early from school to go to a Modern dance company audition. On our way our we talked two more girls to come with us. The 7 of us headed out. We arrive at the audition to fill out paperwork. The first question on the list "have you ever belly danced before?" At the same time the choreographer pulls out heels and a belly dancing skirt from her bag. WHAT?? WE ARE AT THE WRONG AUDITION. The 7 of us panic silently. Stay or go? Stay or go? The only experience I have belly dancing is from the Fit TV shows, that I did once, as a joke. We all collectively decided to stick it out, have fun with it. I mean we skipped school for it, why not?
- Myself and 4 others were hired that Friday as professional belly dancers.
- On the way back to school, I managed to walk directly into a support beam on the subway platform. Face First.
- I went home to watch the Rangers beat the Yankees. The Rangers, who have sucked since I was alive, are now going to the World Series.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
P.Diddy must have needed an adjustment
Hi friends,Wednesday is over! Wednesday is by far our hardest day of the week, and we made it through! Smooth sailing from here on out for the week! Classes this week have been good, except for the fact that my body is rebelling against me.
For some reason, this week feels like the first week of classes. Sore, all the time! On top of that issue, I am in desperate need of some chiropractic help. Yeah, that is one of the fun parts to doing this whole "dancer" thing. You get to join the senior citizens at the chiropractor's office. I just happen to be super picky when it comes to chiropractors, so yesterday I went on an online hunt for a legit guy. I ran across someone's website with a quote from P. Diddy, "I would have never been able to run the NYC Marathon without your help". Hmmmm, if he is good enough for P.Diddy, he is good enough for me.
I called yesterday to see if my insurance is covered. She said she would call me back today. Its almost 6 o'clock, and my phone has yet to ring. Did I mention I can't rotate my back to the right? and my left big toe has been numb for weeks? ok, yeah.. no big deal... maybe they got busy... P.Diddy must have needed an adjustment.
Ashley
Sunday, October 17, 2010
budget cuts and french fries
Ahhh, Happy Sunday everyone!
This has been quite the week of ups and downs.
Last Saturday we began rehearsals for a new piece that will eventually be added to the rep of the new company. The movement is incredible, and our director, Dorrell, is a joy and a half to work with. He is so invested in the piece (in the entire program really), which makes all the dancers willing to invest themselves at the same level. We became open to repeat things over an over again, or throw our bodies against the floor repeatedly til everything is just right. Its a combination that will create something beautiful, and I can't wait to continue.
Wednesday, Dorrell informed us that there is a financial issue in the upper levels of the school. It will result in a cut of our weekly classes. We are a brand new program that has existed for an entire 5 weeks. We all were a little put off that past budgeting issues would impact our new program. Our director was put off, we were put off, so we decided our plan of action would be to email the man responsible our concerns. Now, I promise this will not be a blog of moaning and complaints so I will get to the point. Our emails failed miserably, and it became very clear that the only people really invested in us, was Dorrell. Our classes this Saturday were immediately cut and we had a meeting to decided which classes were less beneficial.
At the end of the week, I guess you could say that our first big battle as a program failed. On the flip side, I am actually grateful we experienced this drama. At the end of the day we all came together to fight for something we all believed in. It brought us all together as a group, maybe it feels more like a family now.
Friday night, I met up with an old friend for a drink in the Theater District. She has been living and dancing in the city for about a year now, and its been just about that long since I have seen her. It was so wonderful to see her and catch up. On my way home that night I realized how blessed I was to have a friend who was a few years ahead of me in the city.
Saturday night, I met up with a girlfriend of mine from Kansas City. She was working a dance camp at Columbia University, to my benefit. Some of the girls told her about a french fry place in west village, so we decided that sounds like a wonderful place for dinner. It is on 2nd Ave, right off of St. Marks. Its a hole in the wall, and all they serve are fries... and 30 different dipping sauces. Go big or go home right? We got the large sized fries and 3 different dipping sauces (and ketchup just in case they all sucked).
They didn't suck, it was greatness. After eating an entire meal of french fries, we decided to finish our night up with Pinkberry and Magnolia Bakery. It was like a carbohydrate tour of Manhattan, and it was fabulous.
I love New York City. the end.
This has been quite the week of ups and downs.
Last Saturday we began rehearsals for a new piece that will eventually be added to the rep of the new company. The movement is incredible, and our director, Dorrell, is a joy and a half to work with. He is so invested in the piece (in the entire program really), which makes all the dancers willing to invest themselves at the same level. We became open to repeat things over an over again, or throw our bodies against the floor repeatedly til everything is just right. Its a combination that will create something beautiful, and I can't wait to continue.
Wednesday, Dorrell informed us that there is a financial issue in the upper levels of the school. It will result in a cut of our weekly classes. We are a brand new program that has existed for an entire 5 weeks. We all were a little put off that past budgeting issues would impact our new program. Our director was put off, we were put off, so we decided our plan of action would be to email the man responsible our concerns. Now, I promise this will not be a blog of moaning and complaints so I will get to the point. Our emails failed miserably, and it became very clear that the only people really invested in us, was Dorrell. Our classes this Saturday were immediately cut and we had a meeting to decided which classes were less beneficial.
At the end of the week, I guess you could say that our first big battle as a program failed. On the flip side, I am actually grateful we experienced this drama. At the end of the day we all came together to fight for something we all believed in. It brought us all together as a group, maybe it feels more like a family now.
Friday night, I met up with an old friend for a drink in the Theater District. She has been living and dancing in the city for about a year now, and its been just about that long since I have seen her. It was so wonderful to see her and catch up. On my way home that night I realized how blessed I was to have a friend who was a few years ahead of me in the city.
Saturday night, I met up with a girlfriend of mine from Kansas City. She was working a dance camp at Columbia University, to my benefit. Some of the girls told her about a french fry place in west village, so we decided that sounds like a wonderful place for dinner. It is on 2nd Ave, right off of St. Marks. Its a hole in the wall, and all they serve are fries... and 30 different dipping sauces. Go big or go home right? We got the large sized fries and 3 different dipping sauces (and ketchup just in case they all sucked).
I love New York City. the end.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Carnival Fail
I am blogging overtime this weekend because I need to get caught up on my life AND I conveniently have tomorrow off of school for Columbus Day. Which completely boggles my mind. I have never in my life been off on this day, and I don't really see the need to make a holiday to celebrate "Christopher Mass-Murderer Columbus" anyways.. I digress
This week started off pretty rough due to my post-wedding depression, kind of like the first day of school after break. You just want time to move backwards, but onwards I went. Thursday, me and the girls decided to go audition for Carnival Cruise Line. They were holding a free audition, so we were all over it. Now after going on a Carnival Cruise this summer, I have seen their shows AND their dancers. My sister and I spent hours making fun of a dance number including a very white man rapping robed in tradition Indian costuming, covered in rhinestones. Sooo, I knew going into the audition that this would not be a job for me, but I am infamously bad at auditioning. Nerves get the best of me. Unfortunately, auditions are how you get a job (so you can see the urgency for me to get better at this process).
Thursday morning, I actually put make up on, braided my hair, threw on a bright teal leotard and off I went. The four of us walk into the the holding studio into a cloud of smoke.. no not smoke.. hairspray. I had never been to a real commercial, showy audition before, only subdued serious, hair in a bun auditions. I immediately regretted not on putting on my dance team big shiny earrings and had an overwhelming desire to tease my hair.
The choreography began. The lyrics to the chorus of the song were "Gimme that Soul! (Soul) With a Capital S! (With a Capital S)".. Yep, it was bad. Then the choreographer showed us a combo containing an ungodly amount of jazz hands and pelvic thrusts. Just by looking around I knew I was technically much more trained than the other girls, but they all had really good jazz hands and pelvic thrusts too. Sadly the only chance to stand out and show off my technique were a few double turns. Now for you non-dance people, most high school dance teams require you to have mastered double turns, so I was pretty disappointed I couldn't show off more.
Then the auditions came around. The adrenaline came on strong. I'm nervous. I don't know why, I am one of the best trained dancers in the room. Why on earth would I get nervous? I didn't even plan on taking the job!? Then he calls my group out. I don't even remember what happened, but within 30 seconds our group was finished and he only asked one girl to stay. Just like that, I was cut from the Carnival Cruise audition. fail.
Sure it was disappointing, but I wasn't really invested to begin with. It was a great learning experience, moral of the story: Sure you can have great technique and training, but sometimes your have to depend on your jazz hands and cheesy grin to get you the job.
This week started off pretty rough due to my post-wedding depression, kind of like the first day of school after break. You just want time to move backwards, but onwards I went. Thursday, me and the girls decided to go audition for Carnival Cruise Line. They were holding a free audition, so we were all over it. Now after going on a Carnival Cruise this summer, I have seen their shows AND their dancers. My sister and I spent hours making fun of a dance number including a very white man rapping robed in tradition Indian costuming, covered in rhinestones. Sooo, I knew going into the audition that this would not be a job for me, but I am infamously bad at auditioning. Nerves get the best of me. Unfortunately, auditions are how you get a job (so you can see the urgency for me to get better at this process).
Thursday morning, I actually put make up on, braided my hair, threw on a bright teal leotard and off I went. The four of us walk into the the holding studio into a cloud of smoke.. no not smoke.. hairspray. I had never been to a real commercial, showy audition before, only subdued serious, hair in a bun auditions. I immediately regretted not on putting on my dance team big shiny earrings and had an overwhelming desire to tease my hair.
The choreography began. The lyrics to the chorus of the song were "Gimme that Soul! (Soul) With a Capital S! (With a Capital S)".. Yep, it was bad. Then the choreographer showed us a combo containing an ungodly amount of jazz hands and pelvic thrusts. Just by looking around I knew I was technically much more trained than the other girls, but they all had really good jazz hands and pelvic thrusts too. Sadly the only chance to stand out and show off my technique were a few double turns. Now for you non-dance people, most high school dance teams require you to have mastered double turns, so I was pretty disappointed I couldn't show off more.
Then the auditions came around. The adrenaline came on strong. I'm nervous. I don't know why, I am one of the best trained dancers in the room. Why on earth would I get nervous? I didn't even plan on taking the job!? Then he calls my group out. I don't even remember what happened, but within 30 seconds our group was finished and he only asked one girl to stay. Just like that, I was cut from the Carnival Cruise audition. fail.
Sure it was disappointing, but I wasn't really invested to begin with. It was a great learning experience, moral of the story: Sure you can have great technique and training, but sometimes your have to depend on your jazz hands and cheesy grin to get you the job.
An Epic Girl's Night Out
Part 3:
So while we were at the reception for the Today Show wedding, we became good friends with the bartenders and owner of Hudson Terrace. According to them, the Terrace transforms into a totally different place on a Friday night than what we saw with the Today Show set up. It just happened that my friend Amie and Anna's last night in the city was Friday, convenient Huh? Well, long story short... we ended up with a dinner reservation for the three of us at the owner's tapas bar in the Flatiron District. We had our evening planned out for us, compliments of the owner of Hudson Terrace, Michael, starting at the tapas bar and ending at Hudson Terrace.
As we got ready, we came to the conclusion that tonight could be turn into one of two things: 1. a tragic disaster, and we would likely be the next Dateline story: Dumb Midwestern girls trust a stranger with their evening plans in NYC or.... 2. the best night of our lives
After we got all dolled up, I packed my police strength mace in my clutch and we were off to our dinner reservations... hopefully. Sure enough we walk into the front door of the tapas bar, greeted by name and ushered to our table. (sweet!) Then the manager brings by glasses of wine, on the house. (super sweet!) We ordered our wonderful meal and began to enjoy ourselves. After being waited on hand and foot, we politely asked for our bill to be informed that "we don't need to worry about it, its been taken care of" (SERIOUSLY??) Then we were handed drink tickets ( which I gathered were kind of like food stamps for alcoholic beverages) for the bar next door (also owned by our new generous friend.) Let the party continue
Before we headed next door, in walks the owner. We all head next door together. We walked in, and to my right is a sign on a table saying "Reserved for Amie" .. yeah, we are "Amie" .. that's us. Anna and I secretly just wanted to sit at our super cool reserved table, but we were too cool for even that. We were all hanging out in the back part of the bar.
A little while later, I was then tapped on the shoulder. I turn around and there are 2 Australian men staring at me. One man finally speaks, in his accent, "Don't you know who my friend is? Don't you recognize him?" ummm... "No, Should I?" Apparently my response was offensive to both, but neither would reveal there apparent celebrity status names to me. Maybe I met an Australian celeb that night, but odds are, most likely not.
Before we could head to Hudson Terrace, we had to make two more stops to two more bars that he owned and wanted to show us. (Great....more water please??) Both places were pretty cool, and we were treated like celebrities everywhere we went. Amie even had a security guard walk her to the bathroom. That just doesn't happen everyday.
Finally we made it to Hudson Terrace. The quiet street we were on the day before was now lined with people waiting to get in. We (of course) walked right up were let in.... Ok, so maybe Michael walked us up and let us in.. minor detail. We all got in the elevator to see the cute elevator man, who worked the wedding, recognized us and greeted us like old friends. The door opens and MAYHEM. The bartenders were not kidding. This place was crazy. We followed Michael to his corner and at the table were bottles of champagne and Vision Vodka. THIS ladies and gentlemen is how you do a night out in New York City. I think the phrase "Is this really happening?" came up multiple times in the evening. Anna and I worked our way to the other side of the club to use the restroom and saw our bartender friends from the Today show wedding. When they saw us they flipped out. "I can't believe you came back" "OMG how are you?" like we had been long lost friends... Nope, I uh met you yesterday, but sweet. The night continued to just be incredible, at one point in time we were all three behind the bar with the bartenders, just hanging out because we were such great friends.. ha ha ha. and I don't really think that the 36 people wanting drinks from them appreciated it. When we decided that we were done for the night, we had our body guards take us out the VIP exit, hail us a cab and the night was over.
"Did that really happen?" was repeated about 57 times the next morning and the answer was yes.. yes it did.. and all we paid for was a taxi.
And that ladies and gentlemen was the most incredible week of my NYC adventures to date. I couldn't make this stuff up, I sware.
So while we were at the reception for the Today Show wedding, we became good friends with the bartenders and owner of Hudson Terrace. According to them, the Terrace transforms into a totally different place on a Friday night than what we saw with the Today Show set up. It just happened that my friend Amie and Anna's last night in the city was Friday, convenient Huh? Well, long story short... we ended up with a dinner reservation for the three of us at the owner's tapas bar in the Flatiron District. We had our evening planned out for us, compliments of the owner of Hudson Terrace, Michael, starting at the tapas bar and ending at Hudson Terrace.
As we got ready, we came to the conclusion that tonight could be turn into one of two things: 1. a tragic disaster, and we would likely be the next Dateline story: Dumb Midwestern girls trust a stranger with their evening plans in NYC or.... 2. the best night of our lives
After we got all dolled up, I packed my police strength mace in my clutch and we were off to our dinner reservations... hopefully. Sure enough we walk into the front door of the tapas bar, greeted by name and ushered to our table. (sweet!) Then the manager brings by glasses of wine, on the house. (super sweet!) We ordered our wonderful meal and began to enjoy ourselves. After being waited on hand and foot, we politely asked for our bill to be informed that "we don't need to worry about it, its been taken care of" (SERIOUSLY??) Then we were handed drink tickets ( which I gathered were kind of like food stamps for alcoholic beverages) for the bar next door (also owned by our new generous friend.) Let the party continue
Before we headed next door, in walks the owner. We all head next door together. We walked in, and to my right is a sign on a table saying "Reserved for Amie" .. yeah, we are "Amie" .. that's us. Anna and I secretly just wanted to sit at our super cool reserved table, but we were too cool for even that. We were all hanging out in the back part of the bar.
A little while later, I was then tapped on the shoulder. I turn around and there are 2 Australian men staring at me. One man finally speaks, in his accent, "Don't you know who my friend is? Don't you recognize him?" ummm... "No, Should I?" Apparently my response was offensive to both, but neither would reveal there apparent celebrity status names to me. Maybe I met an Australian celeb that night, but odds are, most likely not.
Before we could head to Hudson Terrace, we had to make two more stops to two more bars that he owned and wanted to show us. (Great....more water please??) Both places were pretty cool, and we were treated like celebrities everywhere we went. Amie even had a security guard walk her to the bathroom. That just doesn't happen everyday.
Finally we made it to Hudson Terrace. The quiet street we were on the day before was now lined with people waiting to get in. We (of course) walked right up were let in.... Ok, so maybe Michael walked us up and let us in.. minor detail. We all got in the elevator to see the cute elevator man, who worked the wedding, recognized us and greeted us like old friends. The door opens and MAYHEM. The bartenders were not kidding. This place was crazy. We followed Michael to his corner and at the table were bottles of champagne and Vision Vodka. THIS ladies and gentlemen is how you do a night out in New York City. I think the phrase "Is this really happening?" came up multiple times in the evening. Anna and I worked our way to the other side of the club to use the restroom and saw our bartender friends from the Today show wedding. When they saw us they flipped out. "I can't believe you came back" "OMG how are you?" like we had been long lost friends... Nope, I uh met you yesterday, but sweet. The night continued to just be incredible, at one point in time we were all three behind the bar with the bartenders, just hanging out because we were such great friends.. ha ha ha. and I don't really think that the 36 people wanting drinks from them appreciated it. When we decided that we were done for the night, we had our body guards take us out the VIP exit, hail us a cab and the night was over.
"Did that really happen?" was repeated about 57 times the next morning and the answer was yes.. yes it did.. and all we paid for was a taxi.
And that ladies and gentlemen was the most incredible week of my NYC adventures to date. I couldn't make this stuff up, I sware.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
The Today Show Wedding
Alright guys. Congrats. We have all made it to the wedding day! enjoy.
The guests were to arrive at Rockefeller Plaza at 6:30 that morning. We woke up at the tender hour of 4:30 to pouring down rain. No, not rain, a monsoon. We turn on the local news and all there is to talk about is the storm of the century currently taking place. If looking good for national television at 4:30 in the morning isn't challenging enough, try adding rain to the mix. Greatness. Needless to say we assembled in the lobby all dolled up to head over to the ceremony.
We were ushered past all the typical Today Show spectators with their "hi mom" signs and into the building for breakfast. While we were lingering around our donuts, a Today show producer approached us. She commented on how lively we were for the morning and asked us if we could sing around a piano for the TV cut-ins. Our response. Heck Yes. Its Game Time. We walked into the ceremony site and all huddled around Jerry, the pianist, and his white baby grand piano. Our first cut-in was us singing to "Sweet Caroline". It was super cheesy, but its national TV baby. Who would have thought that years and years of dance training and my national TV debut is me singing. Go figure?
The ceremony was absolutely incredible. I cried like a little baby. Melissa looked incredible. (By the way, good job America for voting in the best looking couple. I'm sure it made better TV. I mean what dress wouldn't look good on Melissa?!) I actually forgot about the TV cameras for a brief second. That is until I looked to the right and saw a guy soaking wet holding a sign that read, "We woke up at 4 am for this." Us too buddy, Us too.
Onto the reception! It was held at the Hudson Terrace. We grabbed out name cards and headed up the elevator. (I may have debated whether to steal Al Roker's name card for a keepsake.) We walked into the first room and there he was. Joshua Radin. He's my favorite singer/songwriter of all time. No big deal. Unfortunately this is when the Today Show was too much to handle. The guests and the Today Show Crew and their huge cameras simply did not fit in the room, and they were doing their segments about the food and cocktails. Finally I got some chocolate mouse, champagne, and settled into a spot with a view of Joshua (and the couple). This ladies and gentlemen is heaven. The first dance was gorgeous, but they ushered us up to the rooftop for the meal. But I didn't get to met Joshua!!!
I was quickly distracted by about 3 different cocktails shoved in my face and the digital camera left in my seat as a wedding favor. Did I mention it was 9 am on a Thursday!? This simply does not happen. The rest of the reception was incredible. It was so much fun, and even more fun after the Today Show left! After the food we headed back downstairs for some quality dancing. We were kicked out finally at 1:30.
Oh yeah, we are supposed to check out of our rooms by 2. We hobbled down the street with our sore feet shoved into our heels and cocktail dresses to hail a cab. Thank goodness our cab driver was baller. He floored it to the Palace Hotel (as best he could in NYC). While stuck in traffic in Times Square, we even had a heart to heart about his frustrations of being a cab driver. Apparently he likes to drive fast or "fly" as he kept repeating but people here always get in the way. That may or may not have been a confession to hitting a pedestrian, but who cares, we have 10 minutes!!!
I can only imagine what the people in the lobby thought. 2 o clock on the Thursday and 5 slightly intoxicated females in dresses come running through the lobby. We successfully crammed all of our stuff in bags and left the Palace. Sadly I only had time to put on flip flops, so I was forced to take the train back to Brooklyn in my dress with random things hanging out of my bag. I guess I have seen worse.
Yes, there is still another installment to this wedding. The photo below was taken with the owner of the reception venue. We all became dear friends at the reception. He offered to take us back out on Friday, which was my friend Amie and Anna's last night in the city. We took him up on that offer...
(yet again) To Be Continued.....
The guests were to arrive at Rockefeller Plaza at 6:30 that morning. We woke up at the tender hour of 4:30 to pouring down rain. No, not rain, a monsoon. We turn on the local news and all there is to talk about is the storm of the century currently taking place. If looking good for national television at 4:30 in the morning isn't challenging enough, try adding rain to the mix. Greatness. Needless to say we assembled in the lobby all dolled up to head over to the ceremony.We were ushered past all the typical Today Show spectators with their "hi mom" signs and into the building for breakfast. While we were lingering around our donuts, a Today show producer approached us. She commented on how lively we were for the morning and asked us if we could sing around a piano for the TV cut-ins. Our response. Heck Yes. Its Game Time. We walked into the ceremony site and all huddled around Jerry, the pianist, and his white baby grand piano. Our first cut-in was us singing to "Sweet Caroline". It was super cheesy, but its national TV baby. Who would have thought that years and years of dance training and my national TV debut is me singing. Go figure?
Onto the reception! It was held at the Hudson Terrace. We grabbed out name cards and headed up the elevator. (I may have debated whether to steal Al Roker's name card for a keepsake.) We walked into the first room and there he was. Joshua Radin. He's my favorite singer/songwriter of all time. No big deal. Unfortunately this is when the Today Show was too much to handle. The guests and the Today Show Crew and their huge cameras simply did not fit in the room, and they were doing their segments about the food and cocktails. Finally I got some chocolate mouse, champagne, and settled into a spot with a view of Joshua (and the couple). This ladies and gentlemen is heaven. The first dance was gorgeous, but they ushered us up to the rooftop for the meal. But I didn't get to met Joshua!!!
I was quickly distracted by about 3 different cocktails shoved in my face and the digital camera left in my seat as a wedding favor. Did I mention it was 9 am on a Thursday!? This simply does not happen. The rest of the reception was incredible. It was so much fun, and even more fun after the Today Show left! After the food we headed back downstairs for some quality dancing. We were kicked out finally at 1:30.
Oh yeah, we are supposed to check out of our rooms by 2. We hobbled down the street with our sore feet shoved into our heels and cocktail dresses to hail a cab. Thank goodness our cab driver was baller. He floored it to the Palace Hotel (as best he could in NYC). While stuck in traffic in Times Square, we even had a heart to heart about his frustrations of being a cab driver. Apparently he likes to drive fast or "fly" as he kept repeating but people here always get in the way. That may or may not have been a confession to hitting a pedestrian, but who cares, we have 10 minutes!!!I can only imagine what the people in the lobby thought. 2 o clock on the Thursday and 5 slightly intoxicated females in dresses come running through the lobby. We successfully crammed all of our stuff in bags and left the Palace. Sadly I only had time to put on flip flops, so I was forced to take the train back to Brooklyn in my dress with random things hanging out of my bag. I guess I have seen worse.
Yes, there is still another installment to this wedding. The photo below was taken with the owner of the reception venue. We all became dear friends at the reception. He offered to take us back out on Friday, which was my friend Amie and Anna's last night in the city. We took him up on that offer...
(yet again) To Be Continued.....
Monday, October 4, 2010
The Today (pre)Show Wedding.
This past week was so surreal that:
One of my best friends, Caitlin, was a bridesmaid, and flew in Tuesday night. I of course packed up my bags in Brooklyn and shamelessly hopped on the train to Manhattan to play pretend and take advantage of the free hotel room. There I was with the address, backpack, and sneakers walking past St. Patrick's. As I turned the corner, I saw a gorgeous building with twinkle lights in the trees. Yes, this is the Palace Hotel. My new residence for the next few days. Dang, I should have rethought my shoe selection.
I may have screamed like a school girl when I got to the room, and may have jumped on the bed. Maybe.
Wednesday morning I had to go to school, but this commute was so much more fun with all the men in suits and suitcases! After class, the rest of my girlfriends arrived. I met up with them at Crumbs. The four of us each picked out a cupcake, each a different flavor. We sat down had two bites of our cupcakes and then passed our cupcake to the girl on the right. We repeated this process until we were completely grossed out by our disregard of any kind of personal health code, but they all tasted so good! Totally worth it.
We then met up with the wedding party at Serendipity! First time at Serendipity, so I was particularly excited. My friend Tova is completely obsessed with the frozen hot chocolate, so we all got some to experience first hand how legit her obsession is.
Final stop of the night. Back at the hotel... ehhemmm I mean the Palace. We all went down to the bar to sip some fancy cocktails and soak in the fabulous-ness surrounding us. We walk into the bar and are immediately surrounded by a sea of older "corporate looking" men. Even worse, no room for the fabulous wanna-be's. Then things took a turn for the better. A server pulled us over to a very public table that had previously had a "RESERVED" sign on it. Yessssssss. Sure we knew that the only reason we were sitting at this table was due to the overwhelming male to female ratio in the bar that night, but who cares. We had a blast sipping our cocktails, then soon realized that being fabulous was very very expensive (20 bucks a drink expensive) we decided to call it a night. . . Tomorrow is the wedding day and we have to be up in 4 hours. greatness.
To be Continued
- It is impossible to put my experiences into one post. Thus it will be brought to you in installments. I know. lame. But all great literary works are written in long installments, so you are going to have to deal with it.
- You aren't going to believe a single thing that I write, which is fine. I don't really believe it happened either.
One of my best friends, Caitlin, was a bridesmaid, and flew in Tuesday night. I of course packed up my bags in Brooklyn and shamelessly hopped on the train to Manhattan to play pretend and take advantage of the free hotel room. There I was with the address, backpack, and sneakers walking past St. Patrick's. As I turned the corner, I saw a gorgeous building with twinkle lights in the trees. Yes, this is the Palace Hotel. My new residence for the next few days. Dang, I should have rethought my shoe selection.
Wednesday morning I had to go to school, but this commute was so much more fun with all the men in suits and suitcases! After class, the rest of my girlfriends arrived. I met up with them at Crumbs. The four of us each picked out a cupcake, each a different flavor. We sat down had two bites of our cupcakes and then passed our cupcake to the girl on the right. We repeated this process until we were completely grossed out by our disregard of any kind of personal health code, but they all tasted so good! Totally worth it.
We then met up with the wedding party at Serendipity! First time at Serendipity, so I was particularly excited. My friend Tova is completely obsessed with the frozen hot chocolate, so we all got some to experience first hand how legit her obsession is.
Final stop of the night. Back at the hotel... ehhemmm I mean the Palace. We all went down to the bar to sip some fancy cocktails and soak in the fabulous-ness surrounding us. We walk into the bar and are immediately surrounded by a sea of older "corporate looking" men. Even worse, no room for the fabulous wanna-be's. Then things took a turn for the better. A server pulled us over to a very public table that had previously had a "RESERVED" sign on it. Yessssssss. Sure we knew that the only reason we were sitting at this table was due to the overwhelming male to female ratio in the bar that night, but who cares. We had a blast sipping our cocktails, then soon realized that being fabulous was very very expensive (20 bucks a drink expensive) we decided to call it a night. . . Tomorrow is the wedding day and we have to be up in 4 hours. greatness.
To be Continued
Monday, September 27, 2010
Kathy gets her groove on.
So its been absolutely dreadful weather for a Monday, but I have grown to really love this neglected day of the week. After classes on Mondays we have been hanging out in the city a little longer, instead of rushing back off the Brooklyn.
Today, my friend Mary Kate and I went to our favorite deli in Bryant Park for dinner. Don't be fooled, its our favorite for a reason, like a deli on steroids really. For example, did you know they have the best baklava in NYC? They do, as well as an amazing hot and cold salad bar. Did I mention the sushi? It never fails that Mary Kate drops at least 20 bucks. Money well spent.
We took our dinner to the park where numerous bizarre events took place this evening.
Long day. Good Day. Night.
Today, my friend Mary Kate and I went to our favorite deli in Bryant Park for dinner. Don't be fooled, its our favorite for a reason, like a deli on steroids really. For example, did you know they have the best baklava in NYC? They do, as well as an amazing hot and cold salad bar. Did I mention the sushi? It never fails that Mary Kate drops at least 20 bucks. Money well spent.
We took our dinner to the park where numerous bizarre events took place this evening.
- I had a pigeon take the pita bread out of my bare hands. Ballsy little creatures they are. I wasn't even finished with it. If you know me... Ashley does not let any carbohydrate go uneaten.
- In an unexpected monsoon, we were forced to huddle under our Bryant Park umbrella for dear life. Kept my eye out for tornadoes. Hey, they have those here now, but maybe only in Brooklyn
- We sat and listened to a drunk homeless man try to convince us to give him money so he can go buy socks and toenail clippers tomorrow. It took him a solid 5 minutes because he would start his story over every time he hiccuped, which was a lot.
Long day. Good Day. Night.
Friday, September 24, 2010
All before the first plie.
Happy Friday everyone! I want to make this very clear. I am loving, loving, loving New York City. I am trying to embrace every aspect of this experience, but I have come to this conclusion. I am not cut out for NYC mornings. I hereby dedicate this post to our daily commute into the city each and every day.
Its starts just like every other morning of my life. Freakishly waking up before my alarm goes off and obsessively compulsively checking the time to make sure I don't sleep in. (Blame this on my obsession with being on time... its like dancer discipline to the extreme.) Do the hair, put on the dreaded pink tights, pack the spandex so I am not doomed to the pink tights for the rest of the day, and out the door.
There are five of us who tackle the subway together. Sometimes its better to have a support system, emotionally and to ensure you don't doze off and miss your stop.
The F train arrives at exactly 7:59 every day. We have timed this perfectly so we can swipe the cards and walk on. Of course its 8 am on a weekday so half of Brooklyn is trying to get to Manhattan, so we all huddle around a single pole.
As more and more Brooklyn residents join us, the train gets very complicated, very quickly. It involves shuffling and maneuvering so everyone can fit, but be careful if you shuffle in the wrong direction and get too close. You may get a few choice words thrown in your face. I have only seen it once, but believe me, one F bomb on an early morning train is all it takes to make the entire commute a huge awkward silence.
14 stops later. Congratulations! You made it. Too bad the 4th Avenue F train stop is 3 levels underground. 6 flights of stairs later, you reach daylight. Relief! Then a firetruck zooms by you, a woman stops in the middle of the sidewalk to pick up her dog's poop, and that homeless guy is asking you for money again. Must keep going. Oh and don't get hit by that Taxi. They all honk, how are you supposed to know they are honking at you?
Finally Joffrey Ballet School! Like a beacon of hope is Hispanic Elvis. Yes, I said Hispanic Elvis. From what I can tell, he is in no way related to the school, but each and everyday he stands by the front door with his slicked back hair and awesome shades. Like a true gentleman, opens the door for every student. Its usually paired with some comment about how we are beautiful like the sunshine. Some think he's a creep, but I think he's awesome.
Grand Finale, 5 flights of stairs. If your feeling lazy, you can take the elevator, but it only goes up to the 3rd floor so be prepared to walk up stairs anyways.
yep. I'm exhausted too.
Its starts just like every other morning of my life. Freakishly waking up before my alarm goes off and obsessively compulsively checking the time to make sure I don't sleep in. (Blame this on my obsession with being on time... its like dancer discipline to the extreme.) Do the hair, put on the dreaded pink tights, pack the spandex so I am not doomed to the pink tights for the rest of the day, and out the door.
There are five of us who tackle the subway together. Sometimes its better to have a support system, emotionally and to ensure you don't doze off and miss your stop.
The F train arrives at exactly 7:59 every day. We have timed this perfectly so we can swipe the cards and walk on. Of course its 8 am on a weekday so half of Brooklyn is trying to get to Manhattan, so we all huddle around a single pole.
As more and more Brooklyn residents join us, the train gets very complicated, very quickly. It involves shuffling and maneuvering so everyone can fit, but be careful if you shuffle in the wrong direction and get too close. You may get a few choice words thrown in your face. I have only seen it once, but believe me, one F bomb on an early morning train is all it takes to make the entire commute a huge awkward silence.
14 stops later. Congratulations! You made it. Too bad the 4th Avenue F train stop is 3 levels underground. 6 flights of stairs later, you reach daylight. Relief! Then a firetruck zooms by you, a woman stops in the middle of the sidewalk to pick up her dog's poop, and that homeless guy is asking you for money again. Must keep going. Oh and don't get hit by that Taxi. They all honk, how are you supposed to know they are honking at you?
Finally Joffrey Ballet School! Like a beacon of hope is Hispanic Elvis. Yes, I said Hispanic Elvis. From what I can tell, he is in no way related to the school, but each and everyday he stands by the front door with his slicked back hair and awesome shades. Like a true gentleman, opens the door for every student. Its usually paired with some comment about how we are beautiful like the sunshine. Some think he's a creep, but I think he's awesome.
Grand Finale, 5 flights of stairs. If your feeling lazy, you can take the elevator, but it only goes up to the 3rd floor so be prepared to walk up stairs anyways.
yep. I'm exhausted too.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Typical Weekend?
As soon as classes ended on Friday, I was curious to see how our first free weekend would pan out. Our Saturday classes were canceled because of the holiday, so this meant that my first weekend in NYC was completely free!
We didn't hesitate to kick off the weekend, with a trip to the 99 cent pizza place and Starbucks immediately after our last class on Friday. We took our "end of the week treats" to Washington Park were we quickly were hypnotized by this average looking dude tapping his life away. We lingered just long enough to look like "groupies"... but who cares. He was awesome.
Saturday, a friend took me to Steps on Broadway for the first time. I know what you are thinking ... "Taking class on your day off?" Well, I understand that I am crazy and I simply don't care. We took Milton Meyer's Horton modern class. He is a legend thus his class was a huge treat. I got all giddy inside when he complimented my side falls.. yesssssssssssss! But of course it's NYC.. got to play it cool. So yeah, his class was whatever.
Today we ventured passed the F train stop in Brooklyn. Something we have yet to do. We went to Prospect Park, and enjoyed the 80 degree weather. It was comforting to know there is a quiet, beautiful place only two stops away from our place. I may be using this park as a refuge when the city gets to be too much, which it usually is.. all the time.
Now for the best part. I know this is a long post but you must keep reading! Bank of America was hosting a festival at Bryant Park. Tonight's Performance: Parsons Dance. Needless to say. We were all over this. Did I mention it was free? The first piece was "Remember Me". It was one hour and ten minute long piece. It felt about 20 to be honest. The story line, live singers, incredible dancers and Parson's sheer brilliant choreography had me teary eyed during the bows. It was one of those ballets you could bring Joe Schmo who knows nothing about dance and even he would love it. Completely transcends all walks of life and is just powerful.
After that I didn't think they could top it. Well they announced that my favorite dancer from the previous piece is going to be performing "Caught" in three minutes. They pulled down the black curtains to cover the booms and side lights. We were left with this beast of a dancer, standing in the middle of the dark stage with a simple spotlight. I have no idea how he survived his 5 minute solo. There was a section with a strobe light where every time the light was on, he was in the air, mid-leap. To the audience, he never touched the ground, for five minutes. Did I mention he just danced a 70 minute ballet? Ok, just checking.
After the concert, Bank of America handed our surveys. One of the questions was: Does this concert change your opinion of BOFA? - My answer was an emphatic YES. I will allow your unreasonable overdraft fees slide as long as you bribe me with concerts like that.
To round out our evening we went and had a final weekend treat at Magnolia Bakery. I know all weekends can't be like this.. but this one was incredible.
Tomorrow is back to class. Newly inspired. Thank you NYC.
We didn't hesitate to kick off the weekend, with a trip to the 99 cent pizza place and Starbucks immediately after our last class on Friday. We took our "end of the week treats" to Washington Park were we quickly were hypnotized by this average looking dude tapping his life away. We lingered just long enough to look like "groupies"... but who cares. He was awesome.
Saturday, a friend took me to Steps on Broadway for the first time. I know what you are thinking ... "Taking class on your day off?" Well, I understand that I am crazy and I simply don't care. We took Milton Meyer's Horton modern class. He is a legend thus his class was a huge treat. I got all giddy inside when he complimented my side falls.. yesssssssssssss! But of course it's NYC.. got to play it cool. So yeah, his class was whatever.
Today we ventured passed the F train stop in Brooklyn. Something we have yet to do. We went to Prospect Park, and enjoyed the 80 degree weather. It was comforting to know there is a quiet, beautiful place only two stops away from our place. I may be using this park as a refuge when the city gets to be too much, which it usually is.. all the time.
Now for the best part. I know this is a long post but you must keep reading! Bank of America was hosting a festival at Bryant Park. Tonight's Performance: Parsons Dance. Needless to say. We were all over this. Did I mention it was free? The first piece was "Remember Me". It was one hour and ten minute long piece. It felt about 20 to be honest. The story line, live singers, incredible dancers and Parson's sheer brilliant choreography had me teary eyed during the bows. It was one of those ballets you could bring Joe Schmo who knows nothing about dance and even he would love it. Completely transcends all walks of life and is just powerful.
After that I didn't think they could top it. Well they announced that my favorite dancer from the previous piece is going to be performing "Caught" in three minutes. They pulled down the black curtains to cover the booms and side lights. We were left with this beast of a dancer, standing in the middle of the dark stage with a simple spotlight. I have no idea how he survived his 5 minute solo. There was a section with a strobe light where every time the light was on, he was in the air, mid-leap. To the audience, he never touched the ground, for five minutes. Did I mention he just danced a 70 minute ballet? Ok, just checking.
After the concert, Bank of America handed our surveys. One of the questions was: Does this concert change your opinion of BOFA? - My answer was an emphatic YES. I will allow your unreasonable overdraft fees slide as long as you bribe me with concerts like that.
To round out our evening we went and had a final weekend treat at Magnolia Bakery. I know all weekends can't be like this.. but this one was incredible.
Tomorrow is back to class. Newly inspired. Thank you NYC.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Diving In
Well I officially survived my first week in the city. Tuesday morning we made the commute into Greenwich Village for orientation. We quickly realized that "Rush Hour Traffic" translates in New York into squeezing an ungodly number of people into a car as possibe.
(Scratch that idea I had about putting my hair up for ballet on the train)
Day One was not one of those "ease into it days". We had our full schedule of classes, but in the closet sized studio with no air. Did I mention that are 35 in our program? Ick... On the train back, I joined the European Tourist Body Odor Club. shamefully.
The rest of the weeks classes were a beautiful reminder of how much I love to dance, and how much of myself is invested in this. It was a huge sigh of relief to just get my body moving again, Ashley's back everybody. get ready.
Too bad my body wasn't quite ready to dive into 5 classes a day... My greatest challenge this week was the 6 flights of stairs I have to defeat to get to class everyday.
On a random note, the So You Think You Can Dance auditions were announced, November 15th in Brooklyn. A group of us are going to shamelessly skip classes and audition. When in Rome right?
(Scratch that idea I had about putting my hair up for ballet on the train)
Day One was not one of those "ease into it days". We had our full schedule of classes, but in the closet sized studio with no air. Did I mention that are 35 in our program? Ick... On the train back, I joined the European Tourist Body Odor Club. shamefully.
The rest of the weeks classes were a beautiful reminder of how much I love to dance, and how much of myself is invested in this. It was a huge sigh of relief to just get my body moving again, Ashley's back everybody. get ready.
Too bad my body wasn't quite ready to dive into 5 classes a day... My greatest challenge this week was the 6 flights of stairs I have to defeat to get to class everyday.
On a random note, the So You Think You Can Dance auditions were announced, November 15th in Brooklyn. A group of us are going to shamelessly skip classes and audition. When in Rome right?
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
First Impressions
I guess moving to a new city is kind of like meeting a stranger. You may have heard about this person beforehand, but you never know until you actually sit down and spend some time with them. This weekend, I met New York City.
Back in Missouri, everyone has some word of advice when it comes to tackling a city like the Big Apple. Everything from "walk on the left, stand to the right" to "don't go to the movie theater... they have bed bugs". I, on the other hand, have absolutely zero NYC experience. But for my first post, I thought it would be fun to list my first impressions of my new friend NYC. Well, at least I hope its my new friend. I still need to get to know her a little better.
Back in Missouri, everyone has some word of advice when it comes to tackling a city like the Big Apple. Everything from "walk on the left, stand to the right" to "don't go to the movie theater... they have bed bugs". I, on the other hand, have absolutely zero NYC experience. But for my first post, I thought it would be fun to list my first impressions of my new friend NYC. Well, at least I hope its my new friend. I still need to get to know her a little better.
- Buying a fake handbag has to be as close to a drug deal I will ever experience
- The subway system is the mecca of people watching locations
- If you are a fashionable New Yorker, you must wear your shades on the train
- If everyone in Manhattan had a car, I am convinced they would not all fit
- The only quiet places in Manhattan are St. Patrick's Cathedral and the Top of the Rock
- Times Square= Sensory Overload
- The best tour guide for the Statue of Liberty is a three year old who will tell anyone about the "Statude of Lizerdy" on the Staten Island Ferry
- The residents of Brooklyn deserve every ounce of "street cred" they are given
- European tourists usually have the worst body odor, so sitting near by to listen to their accents is generally not a good idea
- Just like the South has their hospitality and the Midwest their work ethic, New Yorker are just rude. Its not personal, its just their thing.
- Visiting the ground zero memorial on the evening of 9/11 will prove to anyone how united this cultural melting pot really is
- Things in this city are older than America.. think about it.. You don't find things that old in the Midwest
- And finally, there are people everywhere, all the time, always.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)