Boston Creme Pie at the Omni Parker House Hotel

I finally cracked last week. After three months of working full time while juggling all my regular clients, writing my weekly column, going out practically every night, and sleeping 4 — 5 hours most days, 2 hours twice a week, and 8 hours once a week, my body just couldn’t take it anymore. Not only did I catch a nasty cold that shrouded my mind and filled my trash with tissues, but I could barely open my eyes long enough to hit the snooze button each night I was supposed to wake up early to work. I finally felt like I needed a break from New York. It’s a good thing I had a trip planned to see Stefan in Boston during his visit from Germany.

I caught the 6:30am Fung Wah bus from Chinatown on Saturday morning so that I could meet Stefan before lunch. Since he’d never tried clam chowder before we went to a little seafood restaurant by the water and had a bowl before taking the ferry to Spectacle Island. The place was so quiet that it took me by surprise. I don’t think I realized until then how accustomed I’ve become to the constant sounds of New York. It felt eerie and I caught myself checking my hearing at one point during our walk.

We walked all around the little island for a few hours and caught the last ferry back to the city for dinner at Emmet’s Irish Pub. The food wasn’t very good, but our visit to the Omni Parker House Hotel for an original Boston creme pie made up for it! It was delicious.

Roomorama: Guest Room

After dinner I headed off to Quincy where I had booked a room through Roomorama.com. My host had offered to pick me up from the train station before 5pm but we got back to the city pretty late so I took a cab to the house instead. It was a somewhat unnervingly long cab ride and I had to try hard to bite my tongue when the driver went on about how the economy is so bad everywhere and that Australia has a 45 — 50% unemployment rate. Whingers and bad stats are up there on my list of pet peeves. When we finally arrived, my senses were on high alert because the house was dark and sat on a narrow back street in the middle of suburbia. If I had a can of pepper spray you better believe I would’ve had it ready.

When I entered the house though, I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. The house was warm, inviting, and filled with curiosities in every corner. My host, Be, provided an informational sheet that told me which room I was staying in, where I could do my laundry, when breakfast would be ready etc. I went up to my room and ended up falling into 11 hours of the best sleep I’ve had in months. I could’ve slept even longer, but I couldn’t justify spending the entire morning under the covers so I got up and showered using the coolest antique showerhead ever.

Be’s art: Womb-an

Be’s home includes a smorgasbord of unique furniture, art, and knick knacks and she puts thoughful details into every corner of her guest room from an old hardcover book about Boston’s history on a decorative chest, to an umbrella and extra bags, bodywash and towels in the closet, and a box of lovely handsoaps for guest use by the door. I loved that there was always something new and fascinating to look at. Even the sink and toilet were interesting! The bathroom sink is an old copper contraption and the toilet is rectangular!

I had breakfast in the kitchen downstairs where Be had laid out toast, spreads, coffee and tea and chatted with her about her art before heading off to the beach with Stefan. Though Be’s house is a fair commute from Boston (one train and one bus), if you’re taking your car and like the beach it’s a great place to stay because it’s only a few blocks from the water. Stefan and I spent hours walking around the quirky neighbourhood and waterfront before heading back into the city to visit Bunker Hill and taking the Freedom Trail across the bridge back into the heart of the city. We ended up back at the ferry terminal and spent the remainder of the afternoon taking in the sun on a quiet bench. It was a perfect weekend getaway!

This post is sponsored by Roomorama. Check out their site for deals on accommodations!

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My 3 New York Phones: first pay-as-you-go cheapo flip phone (Verizon), work BlackBerry (AT&T), new love of my life decked out in crazy protective gear (T-Mobile)

Would it surprise you to know that up until about a two week agos I never owned a smart phone? Yep. It’s true. The girl who’s been blogging for over four years, is an early adopter of social media platforms, was an organizer for WordCamp: Developers, has a respectable Twitter following, organizes weekly events on Facebook, manages online advertising campaigns for clients, attends Meetups at least a few times a year, and most importantly has the worst direction in the entire world and will take twice as long getting anywhere without a GPS, did not have a smart phone. Why? The short answer is that I didn’t think I needed one.

But circumstances change and you can’t expect people to stay in one place. Now with all of my family and friends scattered in every direction across the globe, it’s become increasingly important to me to find ways to connect with everyone as though we are still in the same city. I need a smart phone.

Not just any smart phone will do though. I wanted to make sure it would be one that could keep up with my life and not leave me frustrated with lag times, poor quality footage, or other annoying quirks. So naturally, I shelled out a good chunk of my paycheque for the Samsung Galaxy SII (I literally went into the store with 15 minutes between work and German class and paid cash for it — once I’ve decided something, it’s done).

I’m already in love! *swoon* The Swype keypad, 4G speeds, amazing photo quality, and the GORGEOUS screen are enough to melt any girl’s heart.

Sidenote, Tun and I got to visit the New York Google office last week for lunch with a friend who works there. I was so jealous that they all got the Galaxy SII last Christmas as presents from the company. The office is massive and the sheer number of cafeterias and cafés boggles the mind! Google certainly feeds its employees well. All meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and drinks are free for employees and guests.

I didn’t get to stay long enough to get a full tour (and I simply must go back just to see the Google Earth room!), but here are a few photos I took while I was there:

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Well, get ready to turn one more shade of green because I have another serendipitous story for you! It’s not quite as crazy as my luckiest story in the world (aka 2 Degrees in Brisbane), but it was just what I needed right now.

We wore masks for Div’s Going Away Party. Left to right: me, Div, Sarah, and Bee who was visiting for the weekend

As you probably could have expected from my past posts and updates, Div’s departure hit me hard. I met him with a group of friends on my second night out in New York and have since spent about five or six days every week with different variations of the same extended group of people — most of which included him. Knowing that my closest friend here would be leaving and that I probably wouldn’t see him for a year while everyone else would be going back to Europe or Australia later this summer was heartbreaking.

Div left for Amsterdam on Thursday and is now in Paris. Eva is meeting him in Paris before she comes back from Germany later this month and Sarah will see him later this summer when she returns to Lyon. Listening to everyone make plans to see one another abroad so soon was starting to make me feel tethered to a city that I knew wouldn’t be the same without the people I’d grown to associate with it. That Thursday morning I was crying so much on the subway that a woman actually walked from the opposite end of the car to give me a paper towel. That’s right, not a tissue, a PAPER TOWEL! LOL I probably looked ridiculous.

Sharing wine and a cheese sandwich at Think Coffee — it’s like I was being prepped for Paris all along! This was taken the same day I met Ryan Gosling (sorry, no picture of that)

Well, that same awful day, I got some really great news. I had received an invitation for a press trip the day before, and I didn’t think that I would be able to go because I’d only been working at the company since February and it’s technically unfeasible to request time off so soon. Well, I already knew that my boss and coworkers are awesome, but this was just additional confirmation to a well-known fact. After hearing about the opportunity, my boss and HR approved of my time off and I was able to RSVP in the affirmative that day for a week long trip to Amsterdam and Paris in June! Yes, of all the cities in the entire world, I will be going on a press trip to AMSTERDAM and PARIS! What are the chances, right?

This will be my first visit to Western Europe, and I couldn’t be more excited! I feel especially lucky and privileged because I am the only blogger that has been invited (the other guests include six journalists). In preparation, I’ve invested in some new equipment (details in my next post) and will be spending the next month trying to catch up on all the posts I’ve been meaning to write before I go.

Stay tuned!

PS More greenery: I met Ryan Gosling! It was April Fools day and I was meeting Div at Panya in the East Village, as we often did on weekends. We both noticed a guy who looked like Ryan Gosling but neither of us thought it was him. Div thought he was too tall to be Ryan, and I just never thought I’d meet a celebrity at Panya. Since it was April Fools, I decided I wanted to take a picture with the guy and send it to Bee as a joke to say “haha Look, I met Ryan Gosling!”

I went up to the guy who was waiting for his order at the back of the bakery and said “Hi, I’m sure you get this a lot but you look a lot like Ryan Gosling. Do you mind if I take a photo with you?” He turned around to face me and quietly tilted his head as he said “I’d rather not.” I thought for a split second that maybe the guy just didn’t like taking pictures with strangers (understandable), but then I thought ‘wait, he *really* looks like Ryan Gosling’ and said “Wait, you’re not *actually* Ryan Gosling are you?” Hahaha

Ryan gave a little nod and asked what my name was. I introduced myself and we shook hands. I asked if he came to Panya often, to which he replied “what?” — so no, I guess he doesn’t. I then said something stupid about how the cooked dishes weren’t as good as the buns at Panya and we exchanged a few lines about being Canadian before I left to go microwave my bun with Div.

Visit www.metropolitanbartending.com for more information

Jen has won Flair Bartending Classes for herself and a friend from Metropolitan Bartending School, valued at $250.

Thank you to everyone who participated in my first contest on www.annychih.com. A special thanks also goes out to Stephanie from Metropolitan Bartending School for making this happen!

For more chances to win bartending classes and learn tricks of the trade, follow @metro_bar on Twitter or friend them on Facebook.

I promise you’ll be glad you did!

Best Valentine’s ever at Eva’s

Things are going to change in two weeks and it’s a scary thought. Div will be leaving for India and the last weekend that I’ll be able to spend with him is also the weekend that Bee and Lisa are coming to visit. This will be the first time my friends from two different lives will meet (Bee didn’t get to meet Simon from Australia when all of us happened to be in Montreal in 2010) and I’m both excited and a smidge nervous about it.

Since the girls are coming to visit soon, I’ve been looking into cheap travel deals and compiling a list of places I want to take them to. Most of the places I plan on taking them to are hangouts that I frequent on a regular basis with my friends here. In the mix are also some restaurants that we found through Dinner Club NYC (which I still need to write about), cool underground bars, and of course the museums and parks in the area.

After work wine at Eataly

Some of the places we’ll go:

1. Eataly for a glass of prosecco
2. La Colombe for a good cappuccino
3. Beauty Bar for the dancing
4. A quick visit to a couple of bars like Blind Barber and Please Don’t Tell just to see the entrances
5. Decibel for plum wine
6. (if we have time) Brighton Beach for a Russian picnic on the boardwalk
7. Dylan’s Candy Shop
8. The Met
9. Caravan of Dreams so Lisa can try really good gluten-free food
10. Tillman’s for the music
11. Spot Dessert for delicious cheesecake that’s so good Sophie called it “sex on a plate”
12. Kate’s Joint for disco fries
13. 5th Avenue rooftop bar and lounge for the views

I’m not sure how we’re going to fit everything into one weekend but I’ll try my best to do it. I’m planning on giving them the real New York experience which includes a lot of walking (be prepared to break a few heels — I’ve already gone through three in two months), and no sleep.

Here’s a small selection of some of my favourite photos from the past month and a half:

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Colin McKay, bartender of 18 years and instructor at Metropolitan Bartending School shows off his moves

Since Metropolitan Bartending School changed hands a few months ago, they’ve really stepped up their game to get noticed on the social media scene. Klout kudos to them!

Through Samba Days, I was able to try out their Bar Chef class earlier this year so they reached out to me to offer my readers something très cool this month: a duo of Flair Bartending classes worth $250!

Since I’m not in Vancouver to test out the class, I sent Bee and Nina in my stead. I loved opening my inbox to find pictures of Bee trying to toss her shaker in class! The two of them had nothing but great things to say about the experience and came back with four hours of bartending practice under their belts and a new found appreciation for the guys and gals behind the counter.

The Flair Bartending class is an awesome way to spend an afternoon with a friend and I hope you’ll get to try it out through my first contest at www.annychih.com!

There are three ways to enter to win a duo of Flair Bartending classes from Metropolitan Bartending School. Each option gives you one entry into the contest (maximum three entries per person) and each entry must be submitted on or before 12:00 AM PST April 1, 2012. You do not need to live in Vancouver to win, but you will need to be in the city to claim your prize.

1. Leave a comment below about your favourite bartender or mixed drink
2. Tweet the following “I just entered to win a duo of Flair Bartending classes at @metro_bar from http://annychih.com! RT to enter #YVR”
3. Write on Metropolitan Bartending School’s Facebook page mentioning your favourite bartender or mixed drink

The winner will be chosen randomly using the List Randomizer on random.org and announced at 12:00 PM PST on April 4, 2012.

We had brunch at my new place and went for a walk with Jackson (my roommate’s dog) when I snapped this shot

I was having dessert with the girls over the weekend remarking on the transient nature of the city, and of this time in our lives.

During my first month in New York, I stayed in a hostel at Brighton Beach and would have my Saturday morning breakfast along the boardwalk to remind myself of home. I’ve since moved to a shared brownstone in Brooklyn, and it was the colour of the kitchen walls that made me want to move in. They are similar in shade to the colour of my bedroom walls in Canada.

There is always a part of me that stays tied to home, but at the same time I’m not sure I could ever go back. A woman I had met on the Staten Island ferry had told me that I should stay in New York because just one year here can change a person. I didn’t need an entire year. But while I’m no longer the same and can’t go back to where I was, I don’t feel like I’m where I want to be just yet. It seems like a gross generalization, but I think it’s safe to say that most people in New York feel the same way because most people here are from somewhere else and are likely to continue moving on.

Almost all of my friends here are from elsewhere in the world. Our group includes an eclectic group of individuals who can share different perspectives on things, which is one of the many reasons I love spending time with them. Although there are many reasons to enjoy the company of international friends, there is one major caveat to it: they will all leave someday.

Some friends will be leaving sooner than others; some in the next week, some in the next month, and some in the next season. I will miss them. But, I know that New York and this period in their lives is only one part of what makes them who they are. They too are in a transient state, and I hope that I’ll be around to see what they become.

]]> http://annychih.com/travel/a-transient-place/feed/ 0 http://annychih.com/new-york/introducing-dinner-club-nyc/ http://annychih.com/new-york/introducing-dinner-club-nyc/#comments Mon, 27 Feb 2012 04:37:44 +0000 Anny Chih http://annychih.com/?p=3220

For the first time since we first created Dinner Club in October 2010, I couldn’t join Phil, Kenny, Ann, Ang and Morten for a Sunday night meal in Vancouver. Of course this makes me sad. This month they went to ChongQing Szechuan in Burnaby and Kenny took on the role of our group’s official blogger; you can read the full review HERE.

Dinner Club NYC

There are a lot of things I miss about home, but I’m lucky that I have a great gang of friends in New York that are always up for a good meal and conversation in the city. When I proposed the idea of starting our own Dinner Club — NYC branch, the whole Sunday brunch group was in! Div chose our first restaurant, Malatesta Trattoria in the West Village, and the following foodies attended: Sarah, Sophie, Elena, Doug, Stefan, Terri, Zoe, Tun, Div, and yours truly.

Since our group is rather large and very social, we had to make two rules right off the bat:

1. No phones on the table.
2. Switch seats every 30 minutes.

With a full table, we were able to order just about everything on the menu.  For starters, we ordered crostini miisti (prosciutto and mozzarella tomato gorgonzola and mushrooms), piadina con proscuitto, and cozze (sauteed mussels with white wine and chopped tomatoes) to share. We also began the night with a bottle of Prosecco (which turned into two) and a bottle of red. For mains, we had multiple orders of Tagliatelle al ragu, ravioli al formaggio, gnocchi di patate, spinach gnocchi, fusilli con calamari, and a couple of other pasta dishes that I can’t find on the menu.

Cozze

The crostini miisti and bruschetta were good, but the cozze was amazing! I’m so glad the mussels were cooked in such a delicious white wine sauce because it was Stefan’s first time trying mussels. Elena and I continued sopping up the sauce with bread long after the mussels were gone.

Soon after we ordered our mains, we switched up the seating arrangements which must’ve been a little annoying for our servers. We were passing so many dishes and cups throughout the night that by the end there were a few orphaned glasses floating around. Since we were having multiple conversations at once and Div likes to collect random things for his walls we also started passing around a piece of paper with the best quotes of the night. The first quote came from Sarah who said “I had a vegan for lunch. I’m starving!”

Sarah with the boys after the first seating switch (left to right): Stefan, Doug, Div and Tun

We all took bites from each others’ plates (Phil, you would’ve hated it! LOL), so we got to try a lot. The gnocchi melts in your mouth and the ragu was classic, but my favourite main was Tun’s calamari pasta because the flavour of the calamari could be tasted in the pasta even without taking a bite of the seafood. I had ordered the ravioli al formaggio, but wasn’t as impressed with this dish because of the cheese in the sauce; it tasted artificial. Div ordered the same and thought the dish would’ve been better if the consistency of the sauce was less dense.

When Terri tried Sarah’s spinach gnocchi she thought it was overly salty, and I thought the same thing about the bread. It wasn’t a good dipping bread because the salt would overpower the flavour of the sauce.

Once we polished off the mains and I managed to spill Prosecco on Sarah and Doug (Sorry!), eight of us ordered a chocolate mousse and tiramisu to share while Terri and Elena were adamant that they have their own desserts. Sophie was in love with the tiramisu and I fawned over the mousse. It was the perfect ending to the first Dinner Club — NYC.

Malatesta Trattoria: 9.5 out of 10

Score for Malatesta Trattoria: 9.5 out of 10

The Good: Order the cozze and make sure you save room for dessert!

The Bad: The bread could use less salt.

The Ugly: My Prosecco spillage and the table at the end of the night, littered with plates, glasses, cutlery and doodles.

Sidenote: I think because this was the first Dinner Club in NYC and the company was amazing (as always), people tended to rate the restaurant a little higher than normal. Oh, and there are 11 hands in the photo because Elena insisted that Italians get to vote twice at an Italian restaurant.

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Russian Vodka Night! Left to right: Tun, Sophie, Sarah, Div and me

It’s never the brightest move to pause a blog for two weeks while exploring life in a new city because so much can happen in such a short amount of time. And indeed, so much has happened in such a short amount of time!

I really should be sleeping right now because I have to get up for work in three and a half hours, but that in itself is something that deserves a blog post of its own. Since I’ve been surviving on an average of five or six hours of sleep every night in New York and I really need to get as much sleep as I can on weekdays, I’m going to have to give you a really quick rundown of what I’ve been up to.

First, I have a job. What? Yep. I have a job. On Day 10 in New York I received a phone call with a full-time job offer at the end of it as a Sales Coordinator for a large company near Times Square that sells media advertisements. I started last Monday.

Trying to move the big black box in the village with Terri

And second, I have awesome New York friends. I don’t know how I got so lucky! My social calendar has never been quite as full as it’s been here in this metropolitan hub, and the coolest part is that almost everyone is from somewhere else. Under the long list of countries covered (and this is just for the people that I’ve hung out with three or more times), we’ve got India, Bangladesh, Burma, France, Germany, Ireland, Guatemala, Ukraine, Italy, and Australia. Most of the time, we meet for dinners, all-day brunches or drinks. Other times, we drive up to Connecticut to get beat up by a tiny hill while snowtubing and take home black and blue souvenirs that seem to last forever, or have a super late Russian vodka night in Brighton Beach. I could write entire books about the fascinating lives every one of these friends has lived, but I would much rather go out with them and listen to more of their stories.

Instead of backtracking and publishing entire posts about specific events, I’m going to pull out a lazy calendar and list whatever I can recall off the top of my head and you can pretend you’re snooping through my agenda. By the way, I’m using a paper agenda again because my Vancouver mobile committed suicide last week.

Schmexy Pat at Dylan’s Candy Bar

Monday (01/30) I was missing my favourite Aussie Sarah, so being the crazy awesome digital whiz kid and international networking genius that she is, she wrote a blog post for me and put me in touch with Pat from Brissie. We met up at Dylan’s Candy Bar for ice cream and chatted about New York, Australia, other parts of the states and other random stuff. It’s a nifty candy store with a bar on the top level that has cute cupcake booths!

Tuesday (01/31) Div and I met for coffee at La Colombe and conversation at Housing Works Bookstore. Housing Works is a not-for-profit mainly volunteer-driven used bookstore that provides funding for homelessness and AIDS programs in New York. I would definitely recommend a visit! When I got back to Brooklyn I found George sitting on the couch so we went out for late night deli sandwiches on the boardwalk.

Sidenote: I know I’m missing explanations of how I met everyone, but it would take me forever and a half to get through everything so I’m just listing some places and events of note for reference.

Wednesday (02/01) The day started with more Russian cuisine (blintzes) which I’ve been eating a lot of, and I spent the day being a tourist. I watched Phantom of the Opera which I’ve been wanting to see since I was a kid, walked around Chinatown, took a ferry to Staten Island and felt a lot better after talking with a stranger from Oklahoma about the idea of moving to New York.

Exploring the streets

Thursday (02/02) I accepted the job offer and spent the day thinking about what this meant. Since it was Thursday (the day my weekly column is due), I also did a lot of writing.

Friday (02/03) The day was spent running around trying to get some paperwork approved, and opening a US bank account. I went out for cake and dinner (in that order) afterwards with two of my new coworkers, and drinks with Terri and Erin at a couple of bars in the East Village. We had gone to Greenwich Village Bistro for dinner and they had a live jazz band playing which was a nice touch.

Saturday (02/04) I sent out my laundry for the first time and had to wait for a Fedex package to arrive in the morning (THANK YOU ANG!!). In the afternoon I almost got hit by a car that ran through the store I was in. And that night, Jetson and I went to Nuela, Tillman’s, and another lounge in the Chelsea area. I loved the food at Nuela and the atmosphere and music at Tillman’s was perfect! The company was pretty good too.

Sunday (02/05) Sunday brunch at Div’s is always awesome. Sarah, Sophie, Tun, Elena, Deepa, and Andrew were all there. And yes, I’m using names now because it’s going to get too confusing if I keep referring to people as generic “friends”. I left before the Superbowl because I had work the next morning.

So attractive right? Sophie me and Sarah at dinner

Monday (02/06) First day of work! Woot woot! Again, I feel super lucky that everyone I work with is amazing! I met up with Div, Sarah and Sophie for dinner at an Italian cafeteria-style place.

Tuesday (02/07) I met up with Jetson for a quick bite and wandered around the village for a bit while chatting with Terri on the phone that night.

Wednesday (02/08) I went straight back after work and spent the evening talking with Borys and Mat (my usual evening activity). Borys has been my roommate since I arrived so we’ve spent a lot of time having philosophical debates just about every other night before bed. He left this weekend though, so I’m missing a piece of my New York puzzle.

Thursday (02/09) Thursdays are writing days and after work I took a long walk around the neighbourhood with a gyro.

Snowtubing in Woodbury CT with Zoe and friends

Friday (02/10) I met with some interesting guys (and gal) who work with digital media, and then met up with Div, Terri, Sophie, Sarah, Andrew, Tun, and Clare for wine at Eataly, falafel at Maoz (yummilicious!), and then set off for an adventure in Brighton Beach! We went to a place called Primorski and had the rudest server ever, but it was still a fun time and we came up with a great drinking game: a topic is chosen and everyone at the table tells a personal story about it; the person that gets the most votes for best story chooses who drinks, and the person with the lamest story also drinks. We polished off a bottle of vodka just in time for closing.

Saturday (02/11) The day seemed wasted with errands, but I got a call from Ang and Morten soon after she found her engagement ring (Morten just bought it)!! I was so happy that I was practically screaming in the store. <3 That night I met up with Terri and Zoe and we drove up to Connecticut to meet Sari, Kent, Deb and Erin for snowtubing in Woodbury. I fell out of the tube more than once, hit my head, and was dragged at one point when we made a caterpillar run, but it was so worth it! We tried all the different tubes and ended the night with dinner in Norfolk where Terri and I pretty much made the restaurant area a personal karaoke / dance bar.

With my philosophical buddy Borys

Sunday (02/12) Brunch at Div’s with a special birthday guest from Holland! Tun brought a cake for Priya, and the usual brunch festivities commenced with the aid of a ghetto blaster. Eva, Sarah, Sophie, Doug, Clare and Nicole were all there too.

Monday (02/13) After work, Doug and I tried to win tickets to The Book of Mormon but discovered that Broadway shows don’t usually play on Mondays. Organizational fail. We skipped plan B (skating in Bryant Park) and went straight for Thai food.

And now you’re finally sort of caught up! As you can see, I haven’t been much of a tourist in New York. I think this is a good thing. There are a few places that I need to check off sometime this year though (ex. MOMA, a bunch of restaurants, etc).

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Only been in NYC for 2 days and already joined a cult! Haha (Rooftop bar at 230 5th Avenue)

New York is a different beast. This much is true.

I’ve started this post and deleted it, only to start again, and delete again. New York is a difficult place to write about because it’s always different. I’ve been here for six days now, and I’ve had incredible highs and crummy lows, captivating conversations with heaps of interesting people, and solitary afternoons spent walking along the boardwalk. I’ve felt like the luckiest person in the entire world looking down on the city from a rooftop bar surrounded by amazing people, and as if I’m too small to matter in the grand scheme of things while talking to a stranger over brunch. The city is made of an eclectic mix of people and you never know if you’re going to be sitting next to an opera singer at a juice bar, or end up dancing next to a rocket engineer from Italy at a cute bar / nail salon, going to a haunted house with a Jersey boy, having lunch with a partner of an asset management firm who just flew back from Bermuda, getting to know a lawyer / UN intern over drinks, or even making random street conversation with a Russian speaking African-American bouncer who is in the midst of writing a book about the city. You can’t even begin to expect any of these things, but I’ve found myself in all of these surprising situations, and more! So where do I begin?

Coney Island boardwalk

I tried recapping just my first three days in my journal and it took me eight pages! I don’t think you want to read all of that, so I’ll give you a quick rundown of the highlights:

Landed on Monday night.

On Tuesday I got a new phone and made new friends by making random conversation during lunch at a deli, in the waiting room before a meeting, and at a mingler event. I also did a bit of walking around Times Square and Central Park, and stayed up until 3am doing some work.

I spent most of Wednesday writing, took a walk along the boardwalk to Coney Island in the afternoon, and went to another event where I met someone in the lineup who introduced me to all of his friends (who are all amazing and loads of fun). After that, we all went to another event at the swankiest bar I’ve ever been to and then had a late night snack at a diner. I think I got back around 3am.

Terri Romeo, Fashion Consultant and Personal Shopper at Macy’s

Thursday was a rainy bum day. After spending the morning writing, I was supposed to tour NYU and then grab a drink with a friend but both were cancelled last minute. I wandered around the city and did some shopping before heading back.

On Friday I met up with Terri, who I met on Tuesday. In case you haven’t noticed, I haven’t mentioned any other names so far because I’ve found that New Yorkers tend to be more private about their personal information (I found this out when I wrote my full name on an event name tag and eventually tore off the last half because everyone was telling me it wasn’t safe). I’ll mention Terri’s name though because she’s a personal shopper at Macy’s and if you ever want to book a free appointment to go shopping (and get a staff discount), she’s the one you want to ask for; Terri Romeo. After shopping, I was supposed to go for coffee with another friend from Tuesday but we ended up ditching that idea for a horror / magic show (Times Scared) and dinner at Carmine’s (HUGE portions!). Fun times!

Saturday’s original plans were cancelled due to the weather (winter fair), but luckily someone I met at Wednesday’s second event was back in town so we went out for lunch at Gravy and he gave me a tour of the surrounding areas. In the evening, I met up with the group of friends from Wednesday and we went dancing at Beauty Bar. Loved the music and the dancing! I didn’t get back until about 4am and pretty much crashed after that.

This morning, Terri and I had brunch at Harefield Road in East Williamsburg and snooped around the area. I spent the rest of the day catching up on errands and recharging my batteries (literally and figuratively — I’ve been running on about 5 hours of sleep each night and my cell phones both had to be recharged).

Looking forward to what this week brings!

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