I've been living in the city this week with my hubby (sans our super pup Remy) due to an unpredictable work schedule of mine. I was set to have night edits starting at 6pm and ending...whenever they ended which left me a tad worried. The last train to Maplewood leaves NYC around 1am and I was scared that I may not make it in time. Missing the train would be horrifying; inevitably leaving me abandoned, homeless, with nowhere to lay my little head but Penn Station's urine soaked linoleum. HOWEVER, as bleak as that sounds, I was even more scared TO make the train home and endure the 8 minute walk to my front door (train station parking is impossible) all by my lonesome to possibly endure a mugging or worse...a deer mauling. Needless to say, (my imagination needs saving) staying in NYC was my only real choice.
With two of my best friends off for a whirlwind vaca/business trip to Belgium and Paris leaving their Hells Kitchen apartment wide open AND my parents willing to adopt Remy for the week, The hubs and I were sold. It was back to the place we met. Our old stomping grounds. NYC, baby!
We've been here for 3 days now and let me tell you...in the 1.5 years that I have not lived here, nothing has changed.
Immediately after setting my stuff down, I scoured my new territory for a cafe from which to work and landed on Cafe Europa across from the Letterman building. Inside, I grabbed my Hazelnut coffee and went-a-lookin for a seat. What do you know? None of their 65 tables were free. Of course not! It WAS 3:15 on a Wednesday, after all! Prime lunch/dinner/whothehellknows time for everyone. I resigned to taking my coffee outside and people-watching from a little cement planter. Work shmerk.
Next up, I met with my friend to grab a second lunch. Do I normally eat two lunches, you may ask. The answer is, "only in New York." The second lunch was an old reminder that "if a friend is in your neighborhood, do ANYTHING to keep them there." They're hungry, but you already ate? Who cares! Once they leave the confines of your 'hood, they're gone. And let's be honest, you don't feel like riding out to Brooklyn to visit them, either. In the city with the best mass transportation system, a subway ride can be as daunting as a plane ride.
After the second lunch on Wednesday, everything fell into place. The 5 story walk up. The crowds at 10pm on a Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. The take out menus. The happy hour specials that end at 11pm. The huge dogs peeing all over the defenseless plastic newspaper holders. The entire block that smells like throw up. The feeling that you can't get where you're going fast enough. And just everything. New York was the first place that I ever really fell in love with because it evokes an actual feeling from me. I may not miss living there every day...but I couldn't live without it.
