whirlwind ending

so right now i'm in my hotel room at the courtyard marriott in grand rapids, michigan, and i already miss the view of central park and the easy walk to the subway to go anywhere you want in the city and the constant entertainment, and even the dunkin donuts down the street....and down every street, next to the starbucks down every half block. haha. so yes, i left new york! i'm missing it already.

as malia said, i think i did new york right- if you don't come home exhausted, you didn't do it right, just like vegas. i caught some kind of viral upper respiratory airway shit because i have major rhinorrhea and sinus headache. at least the malaise has passed and the sore throat has mostly passed. i think i just have to hydrate like hell and sleep well tonight. so yes! that being said, i did new york right!

my last few days of new york were a blast, a whirlwind, ups and downs, comforting and crazy, you'll see why in a bit.

i left my empty apartment on 5th ave in the upper east side two days before i actually left new york, packed up my stuff- all 100 lbs of it- and took a cab over the pulaski bridge to brooklyn, to stay with wendy. wendy is fabulous! her apartment is cute as ever, clean, coordinated and one of the ones you see out of a movie or magazine and you strive to make it that way, but somehow it never really works out. it's like how you always want to eat someone elses food before yours. we chatted over cheese and yummy salami and bread, curled up under big blankets, drank tea and watched sex and the city, season 5, disc 1. and of course i fall asleep for alot of it. haha. this was exactly what i needed, after the last few days of going going crazy going. i was feeling stuffy then too, so the ginger green tea was great. we got up again to eat thanksgiving leftovers, mmmm...i didn't actually have turkey on thanksgiving so this was great. stuffing, cranberry sauce, gravy. so so yummy.....

i fell asleep and felt like i was at home- just what i needed. thank you wendy;)

we woke up the next morning, and while she got ready to go to work, i got ready to spend my last full day in nyc. i had one thing planned and was going to squeeze stuff in around it- an 11 am sex and the city tour! hell yeah. i did the commute w/ wendy which was really nice, a 6 block walk to the L train, then 4 or 5 stops later, we were at union square. very easy...i cruised around union square, dropped some stuff in the mail - now i'm down to 98 lbs of stuff- browsed through the famous bookstore- the strand- then caught the subway to 5th ave, at the plaza hotel, between 58th and 59th street, where the tour was going to start at 11. i was half an hour early, so walked down 5th ave and gawked at the high fashion (aka high priced) stores- louis vitton, armani, etc. i walked by a couple of really nice hotels with really dressed up doormen- just out of the movies!. then made my way back to the fountain in front of the plaza hotel and notice the 'paris' theater- i had JUST seen that episdoe of sex and the city the night before!!! crazy.

the tour was FABULOUS. basically it was a tourbus load- a really nice tourbus- of 20-50something yr old women and the few reluctant brave men, and one or two eager gay or metro or openminded men. hehe. our tourguide was really funny, cute, a standup comedian/actress. she had us say 'fuck' all together and then warned us how much profanity would be used in the tour- much like the show. very funny. the tour consisted of her pointing out spots from the show and the movie, then playing the clips on a tv, w/ three stops- at the pleasure chest, a sex shop; at magnolia bakery in the village; and at onieals, which is actually aden's bar scout for a cosmopolatin. we'd have 20 or so minutes at each spot, and time to cruise the area- i loooove the village! 'fresh', the makeup store who does all the makeup for SATC was there, as was bleeker park- a park for kids, where miranda runs into steve with his new girlfriend and we see a flash of her granny panties. i was one of the few women doing the tour solo, but i met this woman from montreal, and she sat next to me and we took each other's pictures and stuff. i ate a yummy ass cupcake at magnolia- mmmm!! i saw so much of the city!! the new york public libary, where carrie get's left at the altar in the movie- i actually went back after the tour to cruise, the sushi place where samantah says 'dirty martini, dirty bastard' to the guy who she caught eating someone else's 'sushi', big and carrie's apartment from the movie, ...i can't even explain how awesome it all was! there were >40 spots that they showed us! i highly recommend it to anyone who goes to NYC.


the tour ended at 2:30 pm, and i went back to urban outfitters ( i love that store), and browsed the sale section- the only part i can afford. haha....there was a subway hold up on the red line - the 1,2, and 3, so it took a while to get anywhere. i had been in touch with chan to meet up around 4 pm, so i started to make my way to meet him at penn station, and after discovering the train hold up, i decided to walk on braodway from 42nd to 34th....this was the worst walk of my life, the most stressful, the most agonzing, the most frustrating...because at one point i texted someone, reached down to put my phone in my coat pocket....and unbeknownst, i missed my pocket, and my phone fell to the ground. i didn't discover this until 1 minute later when i reached down to grab the honey cashews in my pocket, and this was 1 minute too late...i walked back, freaked out, and my phone was no where to be seen. oh my fucking god i lost my shit. i didn't know where anything was, i was supposed to meet chan in 15 minutes, knew no one. ohmygod. i went back to the vietnamese woman who sold me my cashews and she knew no english but could read my frantic face as i asked her to use her phone. i called my phone a million times and there was no ring or vibration in my coat, or bag. fuck. fuck fuck. i had just gotten my blackberry before my trip. i got it because it was my safety harness. i got it to keep in touch. it had everything in there. maps, phone numbers. these connectoins were even more important in these huge ass city. anyway. i stopped, and breathed like 10 deep breaths.....and remembered there was an AT&T nearby. i had seen it a few days ago. i walked in there...and got a new phone. i had insurance, but to use the insurance, you had to call a number and they'd mail you a phone. at this point, i had no home base, as i was flying to michigan the next day. i had no choice but to buy the phone, which i can return in 30 days, and will call AT&T and explain the situation to them. And pray they can help me. so...i have a phone now. i had synced my phone to my computer before my trrip, so i had all my numbers except the ones acquired on the trip. i have no way of getting in touch with my scrub tech friend ryan, i realized, but luckily had email access to all other friends made along the way...i am so so lucky. it wasn't my wallet at least, right?! so that was that...

i met up with chan who helped to calm me down, as we grabbed some food and drinks at a nearby pub. except i was kinda sick so alcohol sounded gross to me..the food and company was all i needed. we walked through mini korea on 32nd and 7th (i think). ....

wendy had texted me right before the fiasco about meeting her and sean at momofuku this premier noodle bar in the east village, so i hugged chan a huge hug good bye and took a cab to meet wendy and sean. so so fabulous!! wendy and i had ginger scallion ramen, we had chicken buns, and sean had kim chee stew. very yummy:) we then walked around the corner after our feast to veniero's, an italian bakery...mmm...

anyway, i can't write much more now- i gotta get ready for this dinner tonight with the michigan state residents, iron my shirt,and all that, maybe get a work out in at the gym in this phatty hotel. will write more later!!