Feel Good
Colette and I have been trying (for literal years) to figure out when we could go somewhere (anywhere) together, and the stars finally aligned where we could both pull off New York.
As I was wondering around, I was flooded with snippets of memories of being in NYC over the years, and I realized just how much I've been able to go. It started young; my mom's parents did a stint in an apartment near the old World Trade Center in the mid-90's, and because we were only about 2.5 hours away in Pennsylvania, it was an easy few-day trip that my mom, Steve and I used to take. I was clearly old enough to internalize it - I remember that apartment, walking under the arches of the WTC buildings and going to the top, a subway ride and visit to a bead store and a kids' art exhibit with my grandmother, seeing the Lion King and Ragtime and a number of other small moments. Once we went with some friends, and the boy - who apparently had a massive crush on me - got me this necklace that he gave to me while climbing the Statue of Liberty (I forgot all about this mortifiying moment until writing this just now).
Once my parents took us for a glamorous weekend to see Les Miserable, and we stayed in the Waldorf and ate dinner at this space-themed restaurant Mars 2112 where two people at a table nearby who sold yo-yos (yo-yos were huge at the time) drew caricatures of us. There was a gap for a few years, and then there were visits with my mom during high school, where we shopped at JCrew and I trekked around with my native-to-the-city roommate. In college, I spent a summer teaching biology in Loudonvile, a tiny, isolated town near Albany, and would take the train down to see friends and my cousin, who were doing internships. Post-college it was for the years I worked with the multi-billionaires, where we dined at upscale steak restaurants and did business in wood-paneled walled conference rooms on Long Island. In adulthood, it was a trip with Taylor, and more trips for work, and some for fun, all marked with miles walked above ground and ridden below, punctuated by catching up with my circle of friends I'd accumulated throughout by life wanderings over the years.
What's always struck me is how different each of these visits were in action, how similar the city was in view, and how my perspective evolved as I saw it through the eras of my life each time. I maintain that I could never live there (I crave green too much), and while San Francisco and Charleston might be more my speed, there's something freeing about being able to hide in the anonymity of city-life or surround myself in community if I wanted.
Do Good
Anyway, I enjoyed myself - it was fun to see Colette, and I once again saw the city through different eyes. We went to an EDM dance rave-esque thing in a huge warehouse on Friday night, where we stayed out till 4am and thanks to a 3:30am wake-up to make my flight the morning before, I pulled a 25-hour awake day (fun fact: I've only ever pulled one all-nighter before, and it was for exactly one May Dip at St Andrews). I'm not sure this will become a regular occurrence... but it was fun to experience and say I did it.
I spent a lot of time (relatively) in Central Park, walking and running through the blooming trees and early inklings of spring.
We had meals with friends and bar-hopped around and ate huge New York bagels, which always remind me that no other bagel will ever match up.
All in all, it was a success? And I left ready to see the kids and revived but also very, very tired.
It's now spring break, and the kids and I are about to head off on another very different adventure to fill the time and continue this little much-needed 10-day work hiatus.
Look Good
This week was warmer in North Carolina, and spring is springing, and I've been continuing to gradually update my summer attire.
I did Nuuly, where you can rent clothes for a month and buy deeply discounted thrift pieces, and I got some fun stuff to borrow and to keep. I particularly love the longer dress and will probably buy it. It's been awhile since I've done it, but it's fun to mix it up and try out things that I normally wouldn't be able to buy.
I'd say and now, I sleep... but alas my sleep debt is so high right now that I fear it'll be years before I catch up.