Tuesday started out as a beast of a day... woke up to my alarm on my cell going off, but couldn't actually get it to turn off. Turns out my annoying touch-screen phone decided to stop responding to touches. I immediately panicked because I needed to take a cab from my house to the train station and wasn't sure how that was going to happen without a phone. Luckily RedTop Cab has a feature on their website where you can book online. My train was scheduled to leave at 10:25 so I booked the cab for 9:45 (hooray for not having to worry about going through security or checking bags!!). 9:45 arrived... then 9:50... I started panicking a little. I couldn't call to check on the cab since my silly phone was out of service, so I honestly had no idea what to do. I thought about leaving the house and driving to any place that might have a pay phone I could use, but that would mean risking missing the cab if it came while I was gone. At 9:55, I decided to recruit help via gchat. Thank goodness Champagne and Sprinkles was able to call the cab company for me to see what was up!! Turns out that RedTop managed to cancel the cab for some reason (there was confusion about me going to Union Station, although I have no idea why that is confusing). They sent someone out ASAP, and while I did not make my original train, I was able to get on the next one that left at 11:02. That did require me to pay an extra $30 (boooooo), but hey- $30 is cheap in the long run. After all that, I have to say that I'm officially a fan of train travel! The seats are roomier and you have WAY more leg room (something I occasionally struggle with, particularly if I'm in heels, although I was not on Tuesday). The rocking of the train is GREAT if you want to nap, and believe me, I was a napping fool because it was so gross and dreary and rainy outside. The only thing that would have made it better would have been a blanket or pillow, but hey- no complaints from me!
Once I got to Penn Station, things got a little chaotic. I'd mapped out the nearest Sprint store to Penn and knew I needed to book it over there so that I could deal with my phone right away. Thank goodness I remembered to bring an umbrella because wow- it was POURING. I was dressed down for my life for any regular day (jeans, long-sleeve white shirt, brown cowl neck sweatshirt, and... gasp... running shoes), but add in rain and the fact that I was hauling around my suitcase, laptop bag, and a Vera Bradley duffle bag from 1999 (the pattern was French Provincial Blue, in case you're wondering), and I was totally what I can only classify myself as Midwestern Chic. Not a good look. I don't mind using my old VB stuff for personal travel in the car, but I don't want to be seen publicly in a major city with it, particularly if it's outside an airport or train station. Honestly, now that I've done all this, I now think it might be best to just relegate it to the car for future use. Oh well. It still works; it's just very dated now. But let it be known that it is just not a good idea to try and go through retail stores with a carry-on-sized suitcase, a duffle bag, a laptop bag, and large purse. It's really difficult to maneuver. Plus, you look like an idiot and annoy EVERYONE because you take up enough space for 3 normal-sized people. Add in that it's raining and you might as well be on a suicide mission. (In case you're curious, the awesome Sprint guy who helped me figure out in about 15 minute that my phone couldn't be saved and gave me a new phone. Same model as the old one, but a different color and it works infinitely better. Oh and Champagne and Sprinkles, I checked out that Lotus phone... horrendously tacky in person. It has a pattern on it.)
In case you're wondering, it was also INCREDIBLY windy. So windy, in fact, that my umbrella now looks like this:
If you look closely, you can see that the neck (is that what it's called?) is bent. It can't be folded down to the normal stow-away purse size anymore. But luckily the rain has ceased and it's been sunny for the last 2 days, so no problems there.
Tuesday was L's birthday and he requested dinner at one of Bobby Flay's restaurants. He'd been to Mesa Grill in Vegas, so Bar Americain it was for us. In a word, DELICIOUS. Great ambiance and fabulous wait service as well. If you ever go, I highly recommend requesting David F. as your server. Loved him! I forgot to take pics of any of our food (onion soup, granny apple salad, hanger steak, and rib eye) until dessert, but here's a pic of dessert after we'd already both eaten a bite:
To die for. Wedneday was spent working out and then heading off to the Met to see the American Woman exhibit, which showcased the clothing of American women from the late 1800s through the 1940s. Stunning clothes. Some of the ones from the 1890s looked like they'd been made yesterday. No idea how they are still in such fabulous condition. After that I explored several other galleries and walked through the Upper East Side to get a cupcake from Crumbs. It's been 48 hours and I'm still working on consuming it, both because of the sheer size of it (you can't tell in the pic but it's really, really big) and the richness of it. Here's a pic of it before I'd taken a bite:
The flavor is Baba Booey and I picked it because apparently it's the staff favorite. Basically it's chocolate cake with peanut butter and chocolate icings on top, peanut butter chips as the sprinkles, and there's little bit of peanut butter-flavored cream cheese in the center. Definitely rich, which is why I'm still working my way through it. You really don't need more than like one bite at a time. Also, something mean (depending on your outlook) about Crumbs is that they give you the calorie count of each cupcake flavor next to the name and price on the menu AND in the display case. If you're in there getting a cupcake, you're probably aware that it's not going to help you in your quest to lose weight and firm up. But no worries; just more reassurance that it's okay to make it last several days instead of gobbling it up all at once.
Thursday was spent in Short Hills, NJ visiting my aunt. Go ahead and forget the images you may have of dirty Newark, I-95's not-so-scenic images, or any episode of Jersey Shore. Short Hills/Milburn are totally normal and gorgeous. That's why NJ is the garden state. Anyway, it was a fun day just relaxing and hanging out. Also, if you make friends with the guys who take your tickets on the train, they might just come back around and give you this:
Yes, I charmed my way into getting the ticket puncher (I'm sure they have an official title but I have no idea what it is) to make me a smiley face out of one. Try not to be jealous. Also, he scared the $HIT out of me by asking me where I was going (Penn Station) and then telling me that the train I was on didn't go there (he was kidding). Dinner was at a fun little place in Brooklyn called Apartment 138. Freaking LOVED our waiter. Missed his name, though.
And finally, a recap of today, thus far: accidental late wake up, followed by a nice work out (the hotel gym is AWESOME), then some catching up on emails, and lunch with L at some hole-in-the-wall pizza place that doesn't require a review. Now we're heading out to spend the afternoon and happy hour with an old friend of mine. If any of you happen to be in Louisiana, specifically Mandeville, Baton Rouge, or Shreveport, hit up his family's restaurants called Bistro Byronz.
On a COMPLETELY unrelated note, while getting dressed this morning I watched a rerun of Bevery Hills: 90210. It was one of the very first episodes and Donna's parents went out of town, so she decided to have a party and in 1991, a high school party with the parents out of town meant cocktail attire. Obvi. Didn't all high school parties?? (Wait, not so much in Dallas in the late '90s.) Lots of black panty hose, up 'dos, and sheer black sleeves were involved. And while the clothes apparently weren't a red flag for something going on for the Walsh parents, Brenda NEVER would've gotten caught if Cyndi hadn't smelled alcohol on her breath as Brenda kissed her goodnight when she got home. Such gripping screenplay!
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