this is why I love New York

In such a crazy and big city as the Big Apple, it's good to know people who know people. Case in point - last Friday night I went with my fellow law school dropout to a birthday party for her friend. Now this friend of hers is a promoter for certain clubs in the city and as such the party was at a place called Citrine Lounge. There was an open bar from 10:30-11:30 and while I had never been to a club/bar/lounge/whatever that early, I couldn't say no to free drinks! So come 11:30 when the open bar officially ended and I had had one too much vodka cranberries, my little happy drunk self was dancing up a storm. Not only did this place have many cute boys to boot (though it could have been alcohol goggles telling me so), I seriously made a new best friend. We bonded over cheap shopping finds (her: a fun black, cutout shirt bought for $7 on the streets of LA and me: black peep-toe "Christian Louboutin" heels for $12 from Marshalls). [Side note: I say Christian Louboutin's in "" because there is no way I will ever be able to afford real ones.] And we became facebook friends that night (no joke).


After my buzz started to slowly wear off and my friend's feet started to really hurt from her super cute shoes, we decided to call it a night and drag our happy butts home. However, on our walk home we come across this place called Duvet. I proceed to explain to friend that there was an episode of Sex and the City where they go to a place called Bed - which is based off of Duvet. The gentleman outside tries to get us to go in - I told him we would only go if it's free. Next thing I know he hands us 2 tickets, we skip the massive line waiting to get in, go through security (no joke - they had women with metal dectector wands checking everyone that went in), and finally make it inside. It was a cool place and they literally have beds everywhere. Now there was great music playing, so of course I drag friend to the dance floor. She finally cannot stand the pain in her feet anymore, so we leave Minorities R Us (literally, I have never felt like more of a minority. lol) and catch a cab home.

We get in the cab and after telling the driver there would be two stops the conversation went like this:

Him: "Do you like music?"
Me: "Definitely."
Him: "Would you like me to sing to you?"
Me: "Uh, ok."

The cabbie then proceeds to serenade us with Indian music all the way home.



A very interesting night if I do say so myself.

this is why I don't do boroughs...

So Fabulous and I decided to venure out one night to other side of the pond, a.k.a. Brooklyn. Now mind you that I must preface this story with the fact that we had started drinking MANY hours before we even left...

Our adventure began just on our walk to the subway. Fabulous and I were jamming out to her iPod and these little girls stop in the middle of the sidewalk and start breaking it down with us! Literally we were having a dance party on the sidewalk and, I am sad to say, that the 11 and 12 year olds definitely schooled us. Then just a block later a little (well actually I am pretty sure it was GIANT) rat ran across our paths and scared the shit out of us!! Seriously, I don't think I have ever screamed so loud in my life.

Finally we make it to the subway and get on the train to begin our looooooooooooong journey to the borough. We are just sitting there minding our own business, jamming out to tunes when these boys get on with a video camera. They literally videotaped us for half of the trip down the island. I wouldn't be surprised if it showed up on YouTube, though it would be the most boring video ever because literally Fabulous and I did nothing while he was filming.

We finally make it to Brooklyn - somewhere on Smith street. The first bar we went to was a bit boring, making us think we never should have ventured out there. But then we went to this place called Creol (I think that's how it is spelled) that had karaoke. It turned out to be the best time ever!! Fabulous and I were jamming out to people singing (or attempting to sing) for the rest of the night. Then the two best surprises were that at the end of the night. First, one of the bartenders busted out with the song "Suspicious Minds" and I seriously thought he was the actual singer!! He was that good! Second, the VERY cute waiter/barback/whatever, complete with an Irish accent, sang the last song of the night - Ice, Ice Baby. We stayed and danced for a little longer and then started our venture home...


First off, there was definitely a girl fight breaking out right by the subway station. I was expecting to see weaves start flying all over the place. So we make it to the subway platform only to realize that we were on the wrong side as the train was headed to Coney Island (definitely not where we wanted to go at 3 in the morning). We go back outside, walk by the fight again, and down to the other side we were supposed to originally be on. The best part was that Fabulous and I both have unlimited metro cards so we had to wait a certain amount of time before we could swipe them again. And as luck would have the train passed while we were waiting on the outside. boo. Finally, we were able to use our cards again. Made it on to the platform, waited literally about another 10 minutes for the train. Now mind you that we only had to take this train one stop (stupid construction). So we get on the next train, which we though would take us home, only to find out that this train took us all the way over to the west side (we live on the east side). Finally we get out of the subway and just take a taxi the rest of the way home.

Did I mention that this entire time I was sick with a cold?


moral of the story: it's going to be a long while until I venure out to the boroughs again...

Really? Are you serious??

So sometimes I really think the homeless are ungrateful.

Seriously, you are living on the streets, BEGGING for money so you can get something to eat (because let's face it - alcohol will only get you so far for so long).

A few weeks ago I decided to go to Burger King (I know - don't say it - I have already repremanded myself for going) for dinner. I passed this homeless guy standing outside McDonald's begging. He had no coat on (it was December mind you) and was about the size of a toothpick. I had no cash on me (I never carry it because I will only spend it), but I decided to be nice and get an extra 99 cent burger for him. It was only a dollar and I could afford to spend it, so I figured why not (besides Santa still had to come - so I had to be a nice girl). When I walked past him again and handed him the burger he didn't even say thank you!! Seriously?? I just bought you dinner and you can't even afford to thank me?!

Maybe he was upset that I bought him a burger from Burger King rather than from the McDonald's he was standing in front of...

So I think I'm becoming cynical...

So this past Wednesday was one of the first times I was REALLY mad at the tourists here in the city.

Here's the story:

I had to run to the theatre after work to buy Broadway tickets for friends that are coming to visit. After getting the tickets (on 45th street) I decided I would go visit Fabulous at her restaurant, which was just about 10 or so blocks away. Unfortunately I made the mistake of deciding to walk down 6th Avenue - not remembering that that night was the tree lighting ceremony at Rockefeller Center.




Well the crowds of people were UNBEARABLE!! Seriously there were so many goddamn people it was ridiculous. I really wanted to try and convince the cops to just let me go around because I don't give a rats ass about the effing tree! It's just the same thing I have in my living room (only times 12). Needless to say, they didn't go for that.


Then at one point as a crowd of us are crossing the street and we get to the other side, this woman just stops in the middle to answer her cell phone! I was so fed up at that point that I actually yelled at her - legit screamed so that everyone could hear me that she had to keep walking and couldn't just stop in the middle of the effing sidewalk. I know it wasn't the nicest thing to do, but at least her and her husband will have a story to tell people that they met an "angry New Yorker" - I guess there goes the city's reputation of being one of the nicest cities in the nation (no seriously, New York was voted that - Google it).




So when I finally got to Fabulous' restaurant I told her that if we ever do any of these tourist things (i.e. Macy's parade, tree lighting, etc.) it's going to be from the inside of a plush hotel room where we are sipping on the bubbly and making fun of the people crowded down below.

Smoke: A Jazz Club

So last night I went to my very first jazz club. Now I must admit that while I listen to jazz all day at work I really do not know much about it - except that it sounds nice. However, seeing it live is such a different and interesting experience. I now can pick out what kind of instruments are playing what sounds in the song (don't get me wrong - I could pick out a drum and a saxophone before).


This place was rather on the small side - seriouslyyouwerethisclosetothepeoplenexttoyou. But there was not a bad seat in the place, because anywhere you sat you could see the stage - even if you were all the way at the back. There was also a really nice mellow vibe to it (not sure if that's just the nature of jazz clubs in general) and not a lot of loud noise. It was really nice when they started playing because pretty much everyone there just shut up and listened to the music.

All in all, I would definitely recommend going to a jazz club at least once in your life. :)

There's A First Time For Everything

So it's official.

I finally fell asleep on the subway and missed my stop.

The funny part (at least I think so anyway) is that I definitely was not drunk. No, I was on my way to work. All I had to do was go from the 96th Street stop to the 116th Street stop. Only a total of 3 stops.

But next thing I know I am being snapped awake by this bright burst of sun shining on me. It was right then that I realized I missed my stop, because in all my traveling underground on the subway - not once has the sun shone down there. However, the 125th Street stop (which is the one I had to get off at since I missed 116th) is outside - hence the sunshine.

This might have been a funny story if also on my way to work this morning, the bus was not 10 minutes late; I decided to skip getting on the bus in front me to avoid the "crowd" and get on the bus right behind, which that one of course was absolutely packed; then it literally took about 1-2 minutes to actually walk down into the subway station (normally it takes seconds) because there were so many people; miss my subway stop and have to get off at the next one = a longer walk to work in the FREEZING (seriously - it was 26 degrees this morning!) cold weather!

Oh the joys of commuting to work along with a million others and using public transportation.

"The World Fascinates Me"

Andy Warhol definitely said it best - "the world fascinates me." And it truly does. Seriously, I have decided that people will never, ever cease to amazing me because let's face it - we are all crazy somehow, someway.

Of course some people like to display their "quirks" a bit more than the rest of us do.

Take for instance this situation:

So there is always that girl that is just a little bit off and while sometimes she can be really funny, other times you really don't know if you should laugh with her or at her (come on, we all knew someone like this in high school). And not only was it the things she said that we interesting but also some of the "clothing" choices she so confidently decided to wear in public.

Fabulous and I decided one day to go to the AMNH (that's short for American Museum of Natural History - in case you weren't up-to-date on your NYC "lingo"). It was a rainy day so we figured why not - plus it is a really cool museum. Another spur of the moment decision we made was to see the planitarium show while we were there. So we buy our tickets and head for the line. Little did we know what was waiting for us in line... standing right there in front of us was this:

Yes, ladies and gentleman if you look past the two giant yellow balls (which I have yet to figure out what they are supposed to be - any thoughts?) you will see the girl wearing a tail. And not just your run-of-the-mill-cheap-party-store-cat-tail but a full blown, big, furry wolf tail (that's my guess as to what it is). Uhm.....what?!

However, I would like to thank this lady for deciding to pull this out of her closet and wear it for the rest of us to see - I mean how else would we have entertainment?!