First Day of the Rest of My Life

I had an amazing jam packed first day off from work. The universe blessed me with a sparkling, clear blue warm day. I dillydallied for 4 hours - up at 6 and out the door at 10. It is a luxury to wear jeans on a weekday.

I had thought that I had done my fair share of things in NY but remembered there was a little street that had been on my list to visit. The idea was to go and find M a wedding outfit at Loehmann's before lunch.

Well...I did make it to Chelsea but I was hungry. I crossed 7th Ave a couple of times. It was between Le Pain Quotidien and Cafeteria. The deciding factor? Bacon. And Le Pain Quotidien was chock full of forbidden dairy treats.

G has taught me the joy of sitting at the counter. For one thing, you have a captive server on the other side. This is very good for high maintenance folks such as myself. Plus, I get to make a new friend. L was really cool. She's a singer for 2 bands, a songwriter, got an amazing new tattoo on her inner left wrist, is half Asian and Scottish, and has a boyfriend who is touring with Pink. And breakfast was SO yummy. I got a side order of pancakes (which I think they gave me the silver dollar, Chantilly cinnamon cream, fresh berries plate) and a side of smoked bacon.

From there, I hit Housing Works which is a thrift shop that raises money to fight homelessness and AIDS. I found a gorgeous mahogany dresser and matching nightstands for $165 and $55 respectively. But, lordy, it will cost tons to move it from NYC to MD. I hit 2 more tempting furniture stores, Angel Street Thrift Shop, a vintage jewelry store and then the Rubin Museum of Art. I love Asian art and have been dying to go to this little jewel. I just had enough time to go through the museum store - it's my favorite part anyway. I'd love to come back with M someday.
From Chelsea, headed to the office to meet S for lunch. She is a phenomenal woman and I've learned so much from her in just the 2 lunch meetings that we've had. She also always looks fabulous. We talked a bit about how I won't let anyone help me move or go with me to the doctor's office and that it was a very Asian thing to do. I remembered back to when I was taking Japanese at Wellesley and we learned that we had to say no 2 times before we could say yes. She convinced me to ask D to go with me to my doctor's appointment on Tuesday and I'm really thankful for that and many other things.

N then met me at Grand Central. I am really going to miss seeing her and catching up with her everyday. I think it will take some time for me to stop looking behind for her. She gave me a gift and 2 cards - so sweet. It was a jacket made out of recycled bottles which is so funny because at work I am an eco-nazi about never taking bottled water and always filling my Brunton with the water in the pantry instead.
I took the 3:07 train to Springdale CT to see my Wellesley little sister O and her new baby A. They met me at the train station because it coincided with their daily walk. He is precious. I'm so glad I got a chance to meet him and hang out with her before I left for DC.

Then, train, train, subway, and bus back home.