A Weekend in NYC

Saturday, I was getting ready to go up until the moment the cab arrived. When I hopped in the cab, it was nearly 70 degrees out. The flight to NYC went smoothly, but traveling from JFK airport to Laura and Ryan’s apartment in Queens took forever. Lugging a large suitcase in and out of trains and up and down flights of stairs? It’s no fun, but on the plus side, at least it gave me bruises. We dropped off my stuff, and Laura and I went for Thai food. I’m a sucker for peanut sauce.

That night, we met up with the girls for drinks. Chatting with them was fun, and we nibbled a little of my homemade fudge. We also took part in a light-beer taste test. We didn’t choose the “right” beer, so we didn’t get any swag. Oh, well.

After that, we went dancing at Branch, which is our new favorite dance club. There’s a rope out front, but the place isn’t snobby. It does have a bathroom attendant, however. I hate that. I feel like I have to tip her for handing me a paper towel even though I don’t need her to hand me a paper towel. Heh. Anyway, we had fun dancing late into the night.

Sunday, I went for brunch with Ryan and Laura. Then Laura and I went shopping. The weather was crappy, but we still had fun.

First we went to Columbus Circle to shop at the holiday market there. That’s where I got some great truffles, Madrid’s Christmas present and my scarf last year. Laura found some pretty jewelry, I got truffles again and we bought cider and a gingerbread girl.

We went into the Time Warner Center to find a warm, dry place to eat. While there, we ran into the elusive Lex! It was at Lex’s birthday party last year that I met Tom. The last time I saw her was at his birthday party last October. We had lost track of each other when her cell phone was destroyed. She didn’t have my number anymore, and I never got her new number. She gave me her new number, although I still don’t think she gave me the right one. Maybe she’s trying to give me the slip. Heh.

The shopping center has cool decorative spire-thingies that hang from the ceiling and change color in time to holiday music. Eventually Laura and I found a cozy spot and sipped our delicious cookie and sipped our cider.

Then we went to the Bryant Park holiday Market, which was a bit schmancier, with plexiglass booths instead of tents. There was a lovely tree, and Laura humored me as I snapped a picture of the lions in front of the New York Public Library. I've always loved them. I don't know why I never took their picture before. As an added bonus, right now they're bedecked with festive holiday wreaths!

Then we were off to Rockefeller Center to see the tree. This year the tree was sort of greener and bluer because they used LED lights which last thousands of hours longer and use a ton less energy. It was sweet of Laura to go with me, because she hates big crowds of tourists. We snapped a few photos before heading back to Queens where Laura made a delicious supper.

The next day, I was up by 5:45 to get around and out of the bathroom before Laura and Ryan needed it to get ready for work. Then we all set for the subway and they were off to the Bronx to teach, while I was off to Newark Airport.

From there I flew to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The runway was covered with snow (see photo at left), so I was sure I’d never make it to Iowa any time soon. I was wrong! I was delayed a little, but before I knew it, I was home sweet home with my family in Iowa. Yay!