This past weekend was the first time when I really felt like I live here and that I am becoming a "New Yorker." Exploring the city has been my number one priority on the weekends, and here are some of the highlights from my weekend...
1) Friday night going to see The Color Purple, a broadway musical, with Becca. Love love love it! And everyone knows that both she and I are pretty critical. Such a great show, and truly amazing voices. Sitting in the front row wasn't too shabby either. :)
2) Going out for brunch on the upper west side on Sunday and making sure that it was a place in which we could also watch the US Open, because, that's clearly the only thing we wanted to see. It was Agassi's last match (because he lost, and he said before the Open that he would retire after the Open), and a rather emotional one. He received a standing ovation for nearly 8 minutes, and his speech afterwards (only 60 seconds, it's worth listening to) was truly heartfelt. And I may or may not have shed some tears over my eggs, bacon, and pancakes.
3) Running in Central Park for the first time. So, I was on the UWS with Becca and thought it would be a good time to go running. Fortunately she was willing to let me borrow all of her clothing, as I had come from church that morning and clearly had nothing to wear. It was lovely, simply great to just be running in the park. I felt so refreshed and alive after I was finished, even though I was tired and sweaty. And as I was walking the final few blocks back to Becca's place, a doorman at a hotel smiled at me and said, "How was your run?" I looked at him and said, "Great!" And in reply he said, "Good. Welcome home!" And that for me was the moment that I knew that yes, I am home now. It is such a small and probably silly story, but for me, that brief exchange brought a lot of the pieces together that had been floating around in my life. Not entirely, but it's coming.
4) Eating TastiDLite (a total NY ice cream chain) and watching Sex and the City season 2. Enough said. :)
5) Exploring the city on foot. I started at the southern tip of Manhattan at Battery Park and sat reading for awhile, overlooking the water and the Statue of Liberty. Then I headed north along the East River and walked to the South Street Seaport. Continuing on after browsing in the shops, I found my way onto the Brooklyn Bridge. This may have been one of the coolest things I've ever done in NYC. The views of the city were simply amazing, and the bridge itself is just indescribable. If only I had my camera and/or it wasn't currently broken. :) I really want to go back and do it again at night. I bet it would be awesome.
6) Going to church for the second time at The Redeemer. A phenominal church, and I think it will be a good place for me. Solid Biblical teaching, a nice mix of ages/races/professions, and a very welcoming community. This week also I started into a Bible study with other 06 grads who have just moved to the city, which was also pretty sweet. And truly brought me many steps closer to feeling like the pieces of my life that are all floating around may actually come together.
7) Getting a call from Greg to see if I was interested in "doing something entirely random." Well, of course. So I found myself at Coney Island on Labor Day with Greg to ride the Cyclone, a rollercoaster. And not just any rollercoaster, this one dates back to the 20s, and it certainly looks every bit as old. Let me tell you, it was QUITE the experience. I kind of was alternately felt like I was going to die and that it was the coolest thing ever. We're talking, old, ghetto, wooden, with little lap bars, and well, not much else. And no hydraulics or fancy cushiony things to make the twists and turns smoother. You feel every inch of it. It was awesome. In fact, Greg took some pictures on the ride. See below. Interestingly enough, the lap bar did its job a little too well, and my nice Steve Madden sunglasses (which were in my purse, under the lap bar) broke in the process of the first ride. I truly enjoyed these sunglasses, but I think I may have enjoyed taking pictures with them on, broken, in front of the ghetto Cyclone. Thank you Greg.
And that was my weekend, albeit a long one due to the holiday. And to think that it even poured and was miserable for the entirety of Saturday.... who would've thought one could do so much in one weekend? Well, there you have it.
This weekend I'm off to Philly to support Jason in his directing of Closer. Plus I'll get to see some super cool people that I haven't seen in ages. Here's to another adventure. :)
3) Running in Central Park for the first time. So, I was on the UWS with Becca and thought it would be a good time to go running. Fortunately she was willing to let me borrow all of her clothing, as I had come from church that morning and clearly had nothing to wear. It was lovely, simply great to just be running in the park. I felt so refreshed and alive after I was finished, even though I was tired and sweaty. And as I was walking the final few blocks back to Becca's place, a doorman at a hotel smiled at me and said, "How was your run?" I looked at him and said, "Great!" And in reply he said, "Good. Welcome home!" And that for me was the moment that I knew that yes, I am home now. It is such a small and probably silly story, but for me, that brief exchange brought a lot of the pieces together that had been floating around in my life. Not entirely, but it's coming.
4) Eating TastiDLite (a total NY ice cream chain) and watching Sex and the City season 2. Enough said. :)5) Exploring the city on foot. I started at the southern tip of Manhattan at Battery Park and sat reading for awhile, overlooking the water and the Statue of Liberty. Then I headed north along the East River and walked to the South Street Seaport. Continuing on after browsing in the shops, I found my way onto the Brooklyn Bridge. This may have been one of the coolest things I've ever done in NYC. The views of the city were simply amazing, and the bridge itself is just indescribable. If only I had my camera and/or it wasn't currently broken. :) I really want to go back and do it again at night. I bet it would be awesome.
6) Going to church for the second time at The Redeemer. A phenominal church, and I think it will be a good place for me. Solid Biblical teaching, a nice mix of ages/races/professions, and a very welcoming community. This week also I started into a Bible study with other 06 grads who have just moved to the city, which was also pretty sweet. And truly brought me many steps closer to feeling like the pieces of my life that are all floating around may actually come together.
7) Getting a call from Greg to see if I was interested in "doing something entirely random." Well, of course. So I found myself at Coney Island on Labor Day with Greg to ride the Cyclone, a rollercoaster. And not just any rollercoaster, this one dates back to the 20s, and it certainly looks every bit as old. Let me tell you, it was QUITE the experience. I kind of was alternately felt like I was going to die and that it was the coolest thing ever. We're talking, old, ghetto, wooden, with little lap bars, and well, not much else. And no hydraulics or fancy cushiony things to make the twists and turns smoother. You feel every inch of it. It was awesome. In fact, Greg took some pictures on the ride. See below. Interestingly enough, the lap bar did its job a little too well, and my nice Steve Madden sunglasses (which were in my purse, under the lap bar) broke in the process of the first ride. I truly enjoyed these sunglasses, but I think I may have enjoyed taking pictures with them on, broken, in front of the ghetto Cyclone. Thank you Greg.
And that was my weekend, albeit a long one due to the holiday. And to think that it even poured and was miserable for the entirety of Saturday.... who would've thought one could do so much in one weekend? Well, there you have it. This weekend I'm off to Philly to support Jason in his directing of Closer. Plus I'll get to see some super cool people that I haven't seen in ages. Here's to another adventure. :)
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