So Here I Sit in My Big Ass Apartment-To-Be.....

I'm glad we started renting this place in March and OCCASIONALLY sleep here on a weekend night because otherwise I would be in friggin culture and sensory shock when the full move happened.

I am sitting in my bedroom-to-be with three large windows open and it is perfectly quiet except for the cars passing by periodically. My husband and son are playing guitar in the living room-to-be. I can't see them and I hear them...at a distance.

This is so odd and scary. To call their names and to not be heard immediately.

Toto -- we're not in the East Village anymore. At least not tonight. My bedroom has a bathroom attached to it. What am I doing with two bathrooms? Maybe I should sublet one.

My dog Saki is staying close by me and wondering where the hell we are too.

My bedroom window faces the side of a beautiful stone church. Who in this town is a friggin Baptist? I can assure you, I'll be doing some research into that question as soon as I'm settled in during the Fall.

Please God -- let me know that we're doing the right thing living here for three years....not that I'm already counting.

Times Square Dress Rehearsal

Last night I went to see the Broadway play Impressionism starring Jeremy Irons and Joan Allen.
Many critics had mixed reviews but I loved it. My friend Mike G. joined me for what turned out to be a perfect evening. Mike G. and I have known each other since I returned to New York many moons ago. We met at work and became fast friends.

He lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn and he spends a lot of time telling me that it is only a 30 minute trip from my place to his place. I enjoy laughing robustly at this tall tale. People in Brooklyn love to tell you that it only takes 15/20/25/30 (FILL IN) minutes to get to the East Village.

And it is always a fantasy.

Other than that, Mike G. is pretty much a perfectly fabulous and loving friend. He teaches seventh grade at a tough Brooklyn middle school and enriches a lot of lives every day with his creativity and humor. He is cute, smart and dives into all New York City has to offer. Of course, I will not rest until he finds a wonderful guy and I dance at his wedding.

Both of us have crazy schedules but we try to carve out time every couple of months to get together. We decided a while ago that we are committed to signing up at the same assisted living facility and enjoy rehearsing the things that we'll be doing when we are 85 and the mini bus drops us off in the City to have a few hours of fun.

Before the play, we decided to go to the MOST RIDICULOUS BAR/LOUNGE WE COULD THINK OF AND AGREED ON A CAMPY SPOT PLANTED RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF TIMES SQUARE.

Yes, it was a risk. But when you are rehearsing your life as an assisted living day tripper, you laugh in the face of risk.

The campy crazy bar/lounge was GREAT. We laughed and had a ball, lingering far too long over our drinks. Mike G. made me swear I would keep the location a secret or it would get overrun with even MORE tourists and freaky locals (like us). Luckily, we slipped into the theater a few precious minutes before the curtain went up.

Afterwards, the clock struck 10 and being the nice Catholic boy that he is, Mike G. escorted me to the subway since EVI was pooped after a long work day. Not so for my beloved Mike G. - the night was still young with lots of the Big Apple left to bite.