On Friday afternoon I left work early to hang out with my dog before leaving for the weekend. Then my brother-in-law drove me to the airport and I had a nice little flight to JFK. Then I got to NYC and grabbed a $50 cab, drove for about an hour to SoHo and was happily greeted by Eva, Joce, Dan, Eric, Jaime & Flo. Then we headed upstairs for a party in the hot hot heat and broke a bed or two and walked around SoHo.
On Saturday we had lunch at Aroma *my fav* and then walked to Central Park and watched some random performers, of which there was a group dancing to Michael Jackson songs. How fitting. Then we paddled in the lake in Central Park with Joce leading our boat most of the way. Betty and I took turns as well. Afterwards, we met Jaime at the Guggenheim, where we had free admittance to an exhibit on Frank Lloyd Wright's materials. I couldn't believe how detailed all of the designs were and how perfect his lines and writing were. His values behind design for creating spaces for living styles and not adjusting your living to fit a space. Working from within outward.
Then we went shopping on Lexington and attempted to go to the Brooklyn Bridge for sunset but didn't make it...Jaime, Flo and Janelle were all there and their photos were beautiful! We went to Kmart (of all places) to get an inflatable bed for Eva and Flo and then went to Betty's to change and prepare for the night. We ate at a Tapas bar down the street but had a waitress who was full of attitude and treated us like children when she couldn't have been much older than us. The wine I had was super acidic as well. Anyway, after barely eating anything, we headed to Times Square to take photos and then we went to McDonald's to actually eat something and then we jumped in cabs to go to a bar called Madame X. Well, it wasn't what Betty thought it was supposed to be so we went to a different bar which was super fun and we danced all night to stupid songs.
On Sunday I woke up before everyone and went shopping in Soho. There was a little street market so I had a bubble tea and purchased an awesome pair of earrings. I also went to my favorite place in the world, LULULEMON! Then I headed to Gourmet Garage to get some goodies for the plane ride. I met back up with the others and went to Dim Sum in Chinatown, had ice cream from a popular Chinese place, bought a CJ7 toy for Lily and then went to the park and watched the old Chinese men play Chinese Chess. Then we went to the High Line Park which is a park that used to be a railroad overhead. It was so neat! We took some pictures and said our goodbyes, then Dan and I headed back to Betty's to get my things and go to his place in Brooklyn. When we got there we sat on the roof for a little bit and could see the Statue of Liberty from it! Then we headed to the airport and ended up sitting in traffic forever. When we got to the airport, we went to the wrong terminal for me to check in at but they let me check in anyway. Then I jumped on a bus to the right terminal but the bus took forever and even though the plane was waiting for me, I missed it.
I MISSED IT!!!! And then I cried a lot because that's never happened and I was going to miss work and miss Lily and be stuck in NY. So after pleading with ticket agents I got rebooked for the next morning for $50 instead of the $450 they were originally going to charge me. I bought an ipod charger, paid for internet service, and then downloaded podcasts and app games. I played those for a while and then got a massage at a place across the way. The masseuse was Lee, who was from NE China and was SO NICE. He let me sleep in the massage chair until the place closed and then showed me out to the main area where I could lay down. So I ate dinner at midnight, then laid down in the food court in a sleeping bag. Yes...I slept in the food court.
I was so lovely awakened by a family speaking loudly and they were super talkative on top of that. Then I fell back asleep and was awoken by everyone bustling around at 6am. I checked in, had some McDonald's (eck), and then went through security. After sleeping for three hours, my mother picked me up and brought me to pick up my car.
And that is where I am now! Whew.
