Day 57

I woke up this morning and realized that this is the fourth weekend in a row without writing.  I was out and about earlier than usual (for a Saturday) making deliveries to NY-CLASS volunteers, and I was walking around my neighborhood, thoroughly enjoying the sun and 46 degree weather.  I walked into Starbucks where Adele's "21" album was playing, and it seemed too good to be true.  So, I sat down to write, and here I am now.  It certainly has been an eventful past three weeks, so I'll do my best to recapitulate everything with justice.

So now, we'll head back a few weeks...

Dad and Nancy flew in Friday night and they met me at my apartment on Saturday morning.  Dad had requested that we have brunch at Freemans, so we walked to Penn Station, hopped on the subway, and headed south.  Freemans was as busy and buzzing as usual (yeah, I said 'as usual'...I'm such a regular).  I ordered the first item on the menu: poached eggs over white cheddar grits with a roasted tomato and a toasted, buttered baguette.  Pure insanity, people.  I am constantly surprised by how popular grits are here; they pop up on pretty much every menu.  And mix them with white cheddar cheese?  Yes, please.  Dad chose the skillet eggs that Eliza enjoyed last time, while Nancy ordered the granola bowl, a wonderland of yogurt, granola, apples, bananas and dried fruit.  Our table was tucked into one of the corners and created the perfect environment for people watching.  Combine that with a great cup of coffee, good company, and it was already set to be a great morning.

After breakfast, we caught the subway up to Harlem.  Although I admittedly don't know the area too well, I was able to show them my office (from the street, of course), as well as Jacob's Soul Food Buffet.  To take a break from the wind, we stopped into Red Rooster for drinks.  Following our short visit north, we made our way back to the Times Square area where Dad and Nancy were staying.  I eventually headed back to my apartment for a short nap, with the idea of meeting them back at their hotel before we headed out for the evening.  After sleeping and getting ready for the night, I took the subway up to 50th (yes, it's painful for me to admit that I took the subway such a short distance, but the wind was unbelievable that weekend) and then walked to the Renaissance Hotel where I met Dad and Nancy.  I met up with them in the hotel's lounge, a dimly lit, but sprawling room with an incredible view.  The hotel is located in one of the main towers of Times Square (think below the cup o'noodles), so it looks over the entire area.  The view seemed to be like the living version of every well-known photograph of Times Square, with the hundreds of tourists unapologetically posing in front of anything that said "New York", the enormous, flashy signs advertising Broadway shows, the best vodka, and all that T-mobile has to offer.  As it grew dark, the city grew brighter than ever.  We eventually turned away from the view and focused on the dinner spread that appeared before us: chicken wings with spice rub, tempura fried green beans, enormous cheeseburgers with all the fixings, french fries, flame grilled peppers with lime juice, and red wine.  Quite the feast.

Once we were thoroughly stuffed, we headed out into the wind and off to see "Avenue Q."  The off-Broadway theater was actually quite small, but the perfect size for such an epic show.  We had tickets in the third row, and the theater had at-your-seat cocktail service, so we were pretty well set.  The show, as I had heard, was AMAZING.  I was laughing non-stop while being thoroughly impressed by the performers.  For those of you who are not familiar with the show, the main characters are puppets--but the puppets are controlled by the actors who are standing right next to them and displaying the same actions and facial expressions as the puppets they are controlling.  There is an insane amount of coordination required, on top of being incredible comedy actors and amazing singers (the soundtrack includes songs like "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist" and "The Internet is Great for Porn").

Sunday morning found us on a subway underneath the East River as we sped toward Brooklyn.  On Dad's recommendation, we headed to the River Cafe--a posh restaurant located directly beneath the Brooklyn Bridge, with a view of Manhattan across the water.  And let me just say, it was quite the place.  Walking into the front door, you are suddenly among an indoor garden with peaceful music, and immediately greeted by the hostess.  The hostess directed us to our table, guiding us down a hallway that took us off solid ground and into the main dining room that was built out over the water.  The waitstaff all wore suits, bow-ties and a permanent smile.  We started off with bloody Mary's and mimosas and proceeded into one of the most elaborate meals ever.  The brunch menu offered the combination of one appetizer and one entree per diner.  For his appetizer, Dad ordered the steak tartare, all inclusive with a table-side assembly.  When it arrived at the table, the steak pieces were perfectly formed into a flattened cylinder, topped with a quail egg and garnished with neat little piles of pickle, caper, mustard.  Off to the side was his very own hollowed-out quail egg shell solely to hold the perfect portion of fleur de sel. The waiter then proceeded to mix and mash all the ingredients until it was perfectly combined.  Nancy ordered the roasted pear salad, accompanied with frisee and bacon bits--simple but quite the spectacle, nonetheless.  As for myself, I ordered the chocolate-hazelnut pancakes.  The perfectly prepared pancakes (perfect for those who didn't grow up with the wonders of the Kuhn/Larson family cooking, of course) were served beneath a melted ribbon of milk chocolate sprinkled with roasted, caramel-y hazelnuts.  There are no words.  After such incredible appetizers, it would seem impossible for the meal to get even better--and then came the entrees.  Dad ordered the lobster omelette with a homemade biscuit, while Nancy and I ordered the lobster tail served over Andouille sausage grits (again with the delicious, delicious grits).  It's difficult to do the meal justice with my own words, so I'll leave you to enjoy the meal yourself through the photos below.

It seemed difficult to get up and move around after our River Cafe meal, but somehow we managed.  We spent the rest of the early afternoon wandering through Brooklyn with no destination in mind.  After some time, we tracked down a Starbucks and posted ourselves at their bar for a break from walking.  Even drinking my soy chai seemed to be a feat, but I rarely turn down an opportunity to enjoy Starbucks.  We then tracked down the subway line to take us back across the river to explore the Financial District.  As I recently learned, more than 20% of New York's tax revenues come from the banks on Wall Street and in the general area--essentially, New York would shut down if it weren't for the bankers getting their banking on in the Financial District.  But being in the area on that day, I couldn't help but recollect something I read on the subway--even though all parts of New York are amazing, it's hard to not getting an eerie feeling that something really not right happens all around you in that area.  Of course, maybe that feeling just originated from that dark, cold and windy day in New York--it's hard to say.

As the day continued, we headed back toward the Theater District for our evening outing.  Having purchased tickets to see a comedy show for the night, we wandered the area for somewhere to eat dinner.  As none of us were particularly hungry because of our enormous late-morning feast, we settled on one of the many New York restaurants that boasts the simple delights of Italian food.  I enjoyed a slice of cheese pizza, Nancy ate a slice of pizza margherita, and Dad had their special pasta with mozzarella, tomatoes and sausage.  Dad and I then shared a homemade cupcake made to look like an enormous Hostess treat, complete with the squiggly white ribbon over the top and whipped cream center.  After we finished our little dinner, we headed across the street to the Broadway Comedy Club.  The show ran from 8pm to 11pm, and boasted the talents of ten comedians who all performed 10-15 minute routines.  While a few of the comedians were less than amusing, the large majority provided a night full of enjoyable hilarity.  We were (unfortunately) seated near the front of the venue, and one of the final comedians picked Dad out from the audience to make some inappropriate comment.  Being a comedian himself, Dad threw it right back, making the audience laugh more at the comedian than with him.  Good times.

While that would have normally ended the weekend visit, Monday happened to be President's Day.  In honor of my favorite president, I had the day off from work and thus spent the morning with Dad and Nancy before they had to head off to the airport.  We headed to the West Village for breakfast at Elephant & Castle, meeting up with Dad's friend Curtis Nielsen, who is performing a one-man show based on Greg Mortenson's book "Three Cups of Tea".  The whole breakfast was a great experience.  The restaurant was so packed that my elbows could have hit the diner at the table next to me, but no one seemed to notice.  The food was extravagant with remarkably generous portions, and the conversation with Mr. Nielsen was inspiring.  I was so focused on my own meal--eggs benedict and apples, served over enormous slices of french toast, with an enormous cup of hot chocolate--that I have no idea what anyone else was eating.  My bad.  As we ate, Mr. Nielsen talked about his start in improv classes and, after a discussion about my impromptu speaking from high school and my childhood desire to join the SNL cast, I think he realized my peaked interest.  He mentioned passing along some resources to me through Dad, since New York really is the place to start just about anything.  I certainly hope to hear more from him in the future.  After breakfast, I headed back north with Dad and Nancy, back to their hotel and then off to Penn Station.  I stood on the platform until their train left the station and off toward Newark.

The beginning of my work week continued in the same fashion as my busy weekend, as I ran around the city trying to keep pace with all the other New Yorkers.  Tuesday proved to be a full day at the office, followed by a busy evening.  After leaving work at 6, I ran to the subway station (as in, I was literally running down the streets of Harlem) trying to get back to Midtown as soon as possible for my first NY-CLASS meeting.  Making my way off the subway, then down the busy post-work filled streets, and up to the sixth floor of the New York high-rise for my meeting at the ASPCA headquarters.  The meeting turned out to be really great, and I now hold one of the four lead positions within the volunteers, as the Core Action Team Leader of vegan restaurants.  Essentially, I organize the fifty plus volunteers to distribute materials to all the vegan restaurants around the city (no small feat considering the number of locations).  The volunteers are a great group of dedicated individuals, and our results so far have been very promising.   Several volunteers quickly distributed the pamphlets and ran out before all their assignments were completed, which prompted me to pick up more from the main NY-CLASS office during the following week.  Since the volunteers live all over the city, I have been making deliveries across all the Manhattan neighborhoods and will likely be heading to Brooklyn some time this weekend, as well.  It's a lot of work, especially after my busy days at the office, but I love it.  I'm happiest when I am busiest, always pushing to get more done, more accomplished.

Following my NY-CLASS meeting, I rushed home to change out of my suit and into a more casual outfit.  I then jumped into a cab and headed to NoHo for Dominic Sinesio's CD release party.  Our good friend Dana is the co-producer of the CD, and she had invited me to the event during my first days in the city.  Despite my busy day, I was glad to spend my evening listening to great music among great people.  When I arrived at Joe's Pub at the Public Theater, the venue for the party/performance, I got a table for one and sat facing the stage.  I ordered the truffled chicken salad sandwich on cranberry-walnut bread, with vegetable chips, and dressed greens.  I have to say, holy wow.  It was one of the best sandwiches I have ever had, and I would gladly go back to Joe's Pub just for the food.  As I finished my dinner, Dominic and his band started playing.  He really is as incredible as I had heard.  His music was soulful, yet with a great amount of energy and life.  I had a great time listening to his amazing music while drinking a glass of red wine--seemingly the perfect combination.  At the end of the show, I found Dana, met Dominic, then headed home.

Fast forward a few days to that Saturday night.  In an attempt to see and do all that I can in New York, I bought a ticket to see "American Idiot" on Broadway.  For those of you who don't know about "American Idiot", it is a musical based on the music of Green Day, following American youth growing up in a post-9/11 world.  This particular performance was special because Billie Joe Armstrong, the lead singer of Green Day (who also wrote all the songs), was acting in one of the supporting roles for a limited number of shows.  I recently learned that, after several successful years on Broadway, the show will be ending in April, which made my timing all the more perfect.  The show was highly entertaining (with remarkably mature content).  The curtains rose to show the entire cast frozen in place as 40 television screens (all of varying sizes and built into the set walls) played news and audio clips from the 9/11 era.  Looking all around the set, I noticed on cast member frozen in place hanging upside down, tethered by chains, 40 feet in the air.  Then the music began and the cast exploded into outrageous dance moves and singing.  It was quite a spectacle.  Billie Joe's character doesn't show up until nearly 20 minutes into the show, but when he suddenly appeared in a doorway, the audience erupted in applause and cheering.  Billie Joe is fairly small and his once-short, black, spiked hair has now become much longer, but remains spiked up to five inches above his head.  The whole show was amazingly choreographed as well.  At one point, the lead is standing on the top of scaffolding which is subsequently pulled down by the cast.  As it is falling, the lead doesn't hold on but rather shifts his feet to the side railing and is eventually standing straight up again, facing the audience.  At another point, one of the characters is having an emotional scene sitting in a hospital bed, and suddenly he is hoisted up in the air for a dream sequence, complete with choreographed dancing with another cast member similarly suspended.  I was also amazed that there was no intermission, so the heart-pounding, energetic, 25-song-inclusive performance was a non-stop marathon for the performers.

Despite the entire spectacle, perhaps the coolest part came at the end.  The curtain fell, came up again, the cast bowed, and the curtain once again swept the floor.  But when the curtain came up one last time, the entire cast (think 20 or so people) stood on stage, all holding their own guitars.  As audience members flooded into the aisles and up to the stage, Billie Joe Armstrong led to cast in singing and playing "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)".  "Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road/Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go/So make the best of this test, and don't ask why/It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time...It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right/I hope you had the time of your life."  There was a point during the show where the lead was having an emotional solo performance, as he played the acoustic guitar sitting in the spotlight as other cast members sat at the back of the stage in the shadows, where I noticed Billie Joe watching.  I couldn't help but wonder what was going through his mind at that moment, watching from behind as a young performer plays his music, sings his lyrics, with a sold-out audience hanging on to every word.  Somehow, that almost seems cooler than having been the front man of a world famous band playing concerts across the globe.  And there he was at the end, standing on stage, giving a private performance to the theater.  As they finished playing, one of the cast members broke out in tears, clearly having just finished her final performance with the production.  Her fellow cast members hugged her, then threw their picks out into the audience.  The drummer also threw his drumsticks out into the crowd and, with my now-permanent 5'11" stature, I reached up and knocked one out of the air.  When it fell into my seat, I grabbed it and hung on for dear life.

After work on the following Monday, I joined some friend's at Shake Shack for dinner and then headed to see King's Speech.  As it had just won Best Picture at the Academy Awards the night before, the theater was packed and we all sat separately.  Despite being remarkably tired and finding myself fighting off sleep in the dark theater, I found the film to be very good.  For anyone who hasn't seen it, I highly recommend the film.  Colin Firth's delivery is impressive, and touching, and hilarious all rolled into one.  Go see it.

Tuesday was an interesting day.  I had to good fortune (I'm toning down my excitement and chaos of emotions) to meet President Clinton.  Pretty much everyone who meets him says the same thing about their experience--that when you talk to him, no matter who else is in the room, you feel like the most important person there and you have his undivided attention.  It's so true, and certainly one of the main reasons he is so beloved not only as a former president, but as a current driving force in spreading good throughout the world.  The man just knows how to talk to people, to relate to them, to inspire them.  And he doesn't forget anything.  Anything.  When I had the opportunity to speak with him directly, he cited the things he knew about me: that I was homeschooled, from Montana, that I had attended UC Santa Barbara.  And I was only one of eighty people there that day.  I wish I could share more details, but I'll just say that it was one of the best days of my life.

Following work that evening, I met up with Leah, back in the city for more of her industry-changing work.  After an unfortunate extra trip up to Harlem, Leah, her co-workers and I headed out to dinner in the Meatpacking District.  We settled on Pastis, the well-known French bistro which, even at 11pm, was packed.  We started with oysters, and as the rest of the table feasted on beet salad, I ate a generous portion of French onion soup.  For dinner, Leah and I each had a croque madame--essentially an open-faced ham sandwich, cover in melted cheese and topped with a fried egg.  Oh and french fries. And champagne.  As my adrenaline rush came to an end, and my lack of sleep from the night before caught up with me, I excused myself and made my way home.

After work on Wednesday, I made my way back down to the Meatpacking District as a guest at an exclusive UGG Australia event.  I always feel very privileged to have the opportunity to attend such events, and absolutely love seeing Leah in her element.  My sister is a force to be reckoned with in that industry, and her talent and passion seems to grow with each day.  It was an interesting experience, as well, when one of the event attendees asked me which of us was the older sister.  That was...new.  Following the event, we headed to the Spice Market--a Southeast Asian restaurant with an expansive floor plan and an even larger menu.  We dined on short ribs, salt and pepper skate, spiced chicken, and more delicious dishes than I could remember in my blissful state of delirium.  As dinner ended, I walked with Leah back to her hotel, said goodbye (unti she visits again next month), and headed home.

Saturday night, I headed back to the Theater District to see Jersey Boys, ticket courtesy of Brenna Keegan.  The show was phenomenal.  Since it will still be on Broadway for some time, I'll try not to say much to ruin the experience for anyone who may still see it.  Suffice to say, I highly recommend it.  The lead of the show had such an amazing voice, he could have headlined the Four Seasons just like Frankie Valli.  The three supporting roles were also excellent, and added an amazing amount of talent and comic relief.  The audience was also great, with everyone so enjoying the performance that you could feel the energy and excitement building throughout the theater.  That's all I'll say about it, but definitely a top Broadway performance from all involved.

Fast forwarding again a few days...on Tuesday I left work at 2:30pm and headed out of Harlem and into Midtown.  There, I picked up the aforementioned NY-CLASS materials and continued on my trek down to Union Square.  Once there, I took a short walk to the East and found myself inside Washington Irving High School...and it's job interview time.  Several weeks ago, I applied to a program called NYC Teaching Fellows--an organization that works in conjunction with the city government in order to fill teaching positions in high-needs areas.  Those selected are put through a seven-week intensive training course and then can enter the workforce as a first year teacher while getting their master's degree in night school.  After more than 11,000 applications, they narrowed down the field to several thousand, and began the interview process.  Fast forward again to Amy, sitting in a high school auditorium with a hundred other candidates, waiting for the process to begin.  After being sectioned off into classrooms, it all began.  First, a 30-minute math test to check individuals preparedness for different approaches to grading, student learning, and overall competency.  Then, we split into groups of eight, and had to do a five-minute teaching sample--any grade, any subject matter, but you better make it good and you better make it interested.  Thank you Mrs. Jay for the ever-so-helpful song about how to remember "helping verbs".  After the samples, we were given prompts to discuss as a group, relating to student learning issues and how to handle them.  Then, a fifteen-minute writing prompt on the same subject matter.  And finally, a one-on-one personal interview with a current NYC Teaching Fellow.  The was certainly more entertaining than expected, but exhausting.  Starting at 3:30pm, I found myself making my way beyond the school doors at 8:15pm.  Rushing home, I caught the end of an ever-so heartbreaking episode of Glee, and then it was off to bed.

The work week continued in its usual hectic but awesome manner.  Friday night I found myself asleep by 8pm, only to be awakened by work friends beckoning me to come out.  At 11pm, I arrived in the Upper West Side and met them at an Irish pub for drinks.  We sat and talked for several hours, made our way to another pub, and then went our own ways.  As I was walking to my subway station with one of my friends, we found ourselves talking at the top of the stairs for several minutes.  My friend proposed that we keep wandering, and so we continued to walk along the quieted streets, down to the water and through a park.  Even under the dim rays of the streetlights, I recognized that we were walking through Riverside Park, the site of the famous ending scene from You've Got Mail.  Walking and talking, we made our way back up to the busier streets and then headed separate directions to our subway platforms.  For just walking around the city at 2am, I can't imagine more fun way to spend the evening.  I have met some very remarkable people here, and ones I hope to be friends with for years to come.

And so, there you have it.  My day has been dedicated to you--writing this extensive post and finally getting caught up from the last three weeks.  I am sorry this took so long to get to you, and I'll certainly try to better about it in the future.

Much love.  Peace out.

Freemans breakfast, take two: poached eggs over white cheddar grits, roasted tomato, and a toasted baguette

The view from the Renaissance lounge

Our view from the River Cafe, looking across the East River at Manhattan

Chocolate-hazelnut pancakes at the River Cafe--basically, the fanciest Nutella ever

Nancy's roasted pear and bacon salad at the River Cafe

Dad's steak tartare, post- table-side assembly

Dad's River Cafe breakfast: lobster omelette and a biscuit.  That claw is already out of the shell, in case you couldn't tell. 

My River Cafe breakfast: poached lobster over creamy Andouille sausage grits and topped with taro frites

At the River Cafe coat check...maybe one of the surest signs that New York really is my new home 

My pizza before Avenue Q -- I put my metro card next to it for size comparison.  Deliciousness.

The remaining evidence from a Saturday night snow

My "bowl" of hot chocolate at Elephant & Castle

Eggs benedict, Elephant & Castle style: poached eggs and apples, over bacon and french toast

Truffled chicken sandwich on cranberry walnut bread with mixed greens (in a cucumber "bowl") and vegetable chips

Dominic Sinesio's performing at his CD release party at Joe's Pub

It's like looking down the barrel of a gun.  But way better.

Skylight Diner also makes amazing banana pancakes.  I thought you should know.

This seems pretty self-explanatory.

The day I meet the former leader of the free world and the Empire State Building is lit up with red, white, and blue.  Coincidence?  Yeah...probably...

Sorry, this had to be the last one otherwise you would never finish looking at all the photos.