Friday night I met up with Kristen and her fashion friends Milan and Andrea for dinner. We ended up heading down to Soho for some delicious food at a cool little place I think was called Soho Park. From there, the other girls headed home and Kristen and I went and grabbed some tea and chatted. I'm definitely thankful Kristen and I are both co-oping here, since we haven't had much quality hanging out and talking time since freshman year. It's been nice.
My usual theater-companions Dan and Emily were out of town Saturday, so in the morning I got up early and tried to get lottery tickets to both Shrek and In the Heights. Unfortunately, I wasn't successful with either, so I ended up getting a student rush ticket to the play Speed-the-Plow, starring William H. Macy, Raul Esparza and Elizabeth Moss.
While waiting in between the lotteries, buying my ticket, and the matinee time, I putzed around midtown some more, including checking out the ice rink at Bryant Park. I don't think I will ever get tired of seeing the beautiful Empire State Building pop up out of nowhere as a kind of north star telling you which direction is which in the city. The afternoon also included grabbing a warm gyro from a street vendor for lunch that hit the spot as I strolled through Central Park killing time before the show. It was delicious.
I ended up having a ticket to the show in the dead center of the front row (student rush is a beautiful thing) so it was pretty cool being just a few feet away from a big time actor like William H. Macy. I really didn't know what the play was about when I bought the ticket, so it was great when it turned out to be about Hollywood and a movie studio executive.
The play was short but very good. William H. Macy was never supposed to play the role he did, but he and Norbert Leo Butz stepped in after original cast member Jeremy Piven had to drop out due to mercury poisoning. This made Macy a little too old for his role. It would've been a little more convincing if someone who was more like 40 years old than 60 had played the part. I actually would've loved to have seen Norbert Leo Butz in the role. I think he would've had some more youth and energy in the role. (For the record, Norbert was the original Fiyero in Wicked and was in Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years opposite Sherie Rene Scott).
That being said, William H. Macy was quite good, and Elizabeth Moss (from Mad Men) was great, but Raul Esparza steals the show. I'm a fan of his from his role as Jonathan in Jonathan Larson's Tick, tick...BOOM, the recording of which I love. Raul goes a mile a minute and hits it hard. Yeah, it was good.
After the show, I walked over to Grand Central Station which I'd never been to, and absolutely loved. It's so weird to walk outside in the city and at times feel congested and surrounded by towering skyscrapers and then walk into a building like Grand Central or St. Patrick's Cathedral and feel so open. Very cool. From there, I took the subway down into the Village and grabbed some hot chocolate at Café Pick Me Up, before heading back home.
I had the apartment to myself, so I hung out and relaxed for the evening. I had picked up the book New Moon at Virgin in the morning, so I read a few chapters, made some dinner, poured a glass of wine and watched the classic New York flick, Breakfast at Tiffany's. Not the most masculine evening, to be sure, but we're all entitled to a sensitive moment now and then, right? I'd also like to think I made up for it Sunday night with beer, pizza and football.
Before football on Sunday, I just felt like I needed to take it easy, so I relaxed, listened to a Mosaic podcast, did some more reading and cleaning, and then headed down to Prospect Park to meet up with my Daap architect friends Joan and Drew. Joan is a big steelers fan, so we went back to their apartment and hung out, ate and watched the game. How unbelievably awesome, the Steelers are going back to the Super Bowl! I am absolutely stoked and cannot wait. I was actually surprised how much black and gold steelers garb I saw around the city this weekend. Good work, New York.
Today, Dan and I got up and went out to the American Museum of Natural History. It was pretty cool, especially the Dinosaur exhibit and the Cosmic Collisions Space Show in the planetarium. A definite highlight was meeting up with my future neighbors in the hall of African Animals. It was kind of an information overload, though, and it was packed with families for the holiday, so Dan and I didn't stay too long.
From there, we walked over to Jerry Seinfeld's actual one-time apartment on W. 81st, then took the Subway up to Tom's Restaurant at the top of the Upper West Side. Tom's is of course known to most of the world as the setting of Monk's on Seinfeld. Dan and I were starving, and the cash-only diner was super authentic. I went with an awesome breakfast special called "The Lumberjack," and Dan opted for a man-sized rueben special that came with a steak knife. I could definitely go back there.
On our way home the snowflakes were some of the biggest I've ever seen. It was amazing. I tell you what, if it wasn't for snow, winter in New York City would be pretty horrible. It would feel very cold and lonely all the time. This place is beautiful in the snow, though, and the brightness of everything at night as light reflects off the white ground is awesome. Every day on the way to and from the subway, I love walking by McGolrick Park, a.k.a. the park from the french song in Flight of the Conchords. It's especially beautiful at night covered in lamplight, but it's pretty great during the day, too.
Tonight I started doing design work for Africa, and I'm actually really excited by what I have so far. It's been a lot of fun. I'll post some designs here in the next few days probably.
I'm getting pretty seriously stoked for tomorrow. It should be an amazing day. I am always proud to be an American, but I'm feeling it much deeper than ever before right now.
With the Steeler game, the day off today, Inauguration tomorrow, LOST on wednesday, and the weekend coming back up soon, this should be a week for the ages.
I still have a lot to figure out here, but I think I'm slowly becoming more connected to the city.
I hope everybody had a great weekend, and I hope the next few days are wonderful.
Yes, America, yes.
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