I seem to know the right people

so the Little One (a.k.a. my sister) came to visit me in the City for New Years. now she is only 19, in college and absolutely loves to party (I am pretty sure she can out drink most boys too). her little 19 year old friends were in town as well and were looking for something to do.

so in swoops the greatest big sister ever and I call this promoter I know to see what was going on that night. after a few texts, I told the girls to get ready because we were going out. we ended up at a place called greenhouse (one of your stereotypical NY clubs that charge a beyond ridiculous cover and the place usually is never worth it). but we got in free and the girls were beyond stoked because The Prince (a.k.a. the promoter) took us up to VIP and we had vodka free-flowing all night. I was slightly impressed as well because it wasn't just seem cheap, no-name brand - it was Absolut (not top of the line, but definitely better than the cheap shit). I have no idea how, but we stayed out until 4 or 5 in the morning and of course stopped at a place on the way to get drunk munchies (the girls had to have the full New York experience).

now according to the Little One, I am not the "coolest" person in the world. but I seem to know the right people. I just hope she doesn't expect this EVERY time she comes to visit the City. guess that means I've got to start meeting more people...

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I'm definitely going to events by myself from now on

as a Christmas/Chanukkah present to myself this year (well technically last year since it's now January) I decided to by myself a ticket to the Cafe Carlyle to see a live performance of a really great singer.
the Cafe Carlyle is in The Carlyle hotel in the UES. it's a fancy-shmancy hotel that I could never afford to stay in (hell, I could barely afford attending the performance), but it has that 1960's high society type vibe. the kind of place you would have gone to all dolled up in your fur coat, while your husband made business deals over scotch-on-the-rocks and you gossiped with the other high society ladies about which "new money" gal was never going to make it.

not sure how many of you know this, but Father of the Bride (both I and II) is my favorite movie. a few of the songs on the soundtrack (Sunny Side of the Street and The Way You Look Tonight are sung by Steve Tyrell. I just absolutely love the sound of his voice. so when I found out he was going to be playing at the Cafe Carlyle, I couldn't pass up the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity (ok, it may not be once in a lifetime that he is singing at the Cafe Carlyle but it's once in a lifetime for me because I don't have $80 extra bucks to spend all the time).
well he was the one performing at the Cafe Carlyle. so I saved up my babysitting money to buy myself the $80 ticket to see him perform (mind you it was $80 just to sit at the bar - if you wanted an actual table...well that would have cost you more).

I got to the Cafe a little early (I wasn't going to risk not getting a seat at the bar). so I settled down with my Egypt book (I'm going on vacation there in June) and made friends with the bartender - Pablo. Pablo even introduced me to a waiter who was from Egypt and taught me a few words in Arabic. after a little while the place started to fill up and a woman sat down next to me. turns out she was Steve Tyrell's manager! I mentioned that I saved up my babysitting money to come see him and she loved it. before Steve took the stage she braught him over so I could meet him!! then I met Steve's doctor as well. along with a gentleman named Tony Desare, who is also a singer and performs at The Carlyle hotel. somehow, and I do not know if it was me or the Manager that told him, he knew as well that I saved up all my babysitting money for this.

the set was amazing. I was enjoying my wine and cheese listening to one of my favorite singers. he first started with Christmas songs and then sang the songs from Father of the Bride. I cannot explain in words how happy I was. I seriously had the biggest grin on my face the entire time. then he sang some other classic (and great) songs.

when it was over the Doctor was gracious enough to pick up my entire tab! $150 he told Pedro to put on his card. I couldn't believe it! but he was so sweet and basically told me that he was at a point in his life where he could afford to do this - so he wanted to. and he also gave me his card and said that if I ever need help in anything in life - just give him a call. how cool is that!?

to top it all off, after everything was paid for and I was getting ready to leave the Doctor walked me over to where Steve was hanging out in the hotel and I got to take a picture with him!! it was, by far, one of the best moments of my life. :)

it's just a little culture

first, I am very late with this post since this event happened in September...but better late than never right? that's what I thought - so here goes!

on a beautiful Monday morning (it was Labor Day, so I had the day off of work - don't want you to think I was skipping or anything), Fabulous and I ventured to Brooklyn for the annual West Indian Day Parade. and let me just say - wow. that is a site to behold. the streets were jam-packed with people. delicious smells of food everywhere. music playing non-stop (great dancing music if I do say so myself). and some of the most brillant costuming I've ever encountered.
Fabulous and I met one of my co-workers there. she was even gracious enough to give me a Ghana flag to wave for the day (even though I clearly was NOT from Ghana - but details right?). initially we ventured from our meeting spot to find a place along the parade route that we could watch. and along the way I decided to pick up a place of jerk chicken (when in Rome...) - which turned out to be amazing!! you know the saying "go big or go home?" well I did just that - not only did I get jerk chicken, but also this sort of fried fish ball things and also some potato stick things (don't ask me the name of them because I couldn't tell you for the life of me). I had the woman put a little bit of sauce on the chicken and only a little bit because I wasn't sure how spicy it was going to be. well after one bite I went right back to her and asked for me - lots more. needless to say, by the time she was done I probably had enough sauce to feed a small village.

we watch the parade for a while - taking in the costumes, atmosphere, and of course dancing to the music. then we decided to join everyone in the parade (you can do this sort of thing at this parade). we just kept walking down the parade route and stopping at various trucks to dance to the music. (side note: there were 18 wheelers carrying nothing but speakers that went down the parade route blasting different music - whether it was for a group or a country, it didn't seem to matter as people were dancing to it all). it was actually a bit scary at one point because there were so many people jam-packed into one area and they were making us all move quickly that we could have almost been trampled. the only thing I was concentrating on that whole time was staying standing upright - figuring out my direction and hanging on to Fabulous and my co-worker were second priority.
but we made it through and continued walking with the parade (in the correct direction this time) and away from the extremely crowded oh-my-god-I-almost-just-died section of the parade. by the end of it, we were so tired from all the dancing that we just hopped on the subway and headed home.
but what a fantastic experience! I will definitely be there next year - maybe I'll even dress up in costume. ;)