Well, before an annoying countdown I guess I could recount the past week. Wednesday and Thursday were just your regular days slaving away at the office (HA), but I saw Promises Promises on Wednesday and American Idiot for the second time on Thursday. I thought Promises' book and music were dated and flimsy, but no one is better at physical comedy and just comedic timing in general than Sean Hayes. His voice is palatable at best, but he had me laughing out loud several times, so I will give him his kudos. Kristin Chenoweth...where do I begin? I was so pumped to see her live, and honestly I felt let down by her performance. She is totally miscast in this role.. I mean Kristin is 20? A doe eyed waitress who has no clue about her surroundings? She sings "Say A Little Prayer For You?" It just didn't fit for me, plus she cracked up at Sean during one scene and couldn't get it together enough to finish an acoustic song. I mean, I know shes Kristin Chenoweth and she could probably walk on stage in her PJs and give the audience the middle finger and they would go crazy, but come on. People paid damn good money for tickets to the show and the least she could do is be professional enough to finish her songs. Anywho, American Idiot was just as fabulous the second time around (Stark Sands, dump your fiance and marry me?) and I cannot for the life of me get the music out of my head.
After a long week and a weird insomnia attack on Thursday, I was just not feeling work on Friday so I played hooky for some desperately needed me time. It is a weird feeling to never be alone, and I am a person who seriously enjoys their personal time. So, I slept late, caught up on my shows, got food and eventually went to see Inception (WTF happened?). One thing I like about New York is that women have this fierce, independent attitude. I truly did not feel weird going to a movie solo here, and I know I wasn't the only stag female in the theater. I like that women here are like what? You think we need a man to go to our favorite restaurant? No sir, party of one please. New York women do not go to the bathroom in groups. They are busy running companies and families and when they get time to themselves, they do what they want when they want and I admire that. Gerri finally arrived after a series of delays around 12:30 and we went to bed in preparation for her 2 day NYC intensive.
Saturday was about as much New York as you could possibly fit into one day. We woke up early, had breakfast at the local diner and found our way via subway (which Gerri actually thought was exciting) to the TKTS booth at South Street Seaport. Now, word on the street is that the line there is way shorter than the one in Times Square, and while it was shortER, short is not the word I would use to describe the line. It was easily 95 degrees and the line took about an hour, but we were going to get discounted theater tickets if it gave us heat stroke, dammit (it almost did). Finally we got our American Idiot tickets (don't judge me, it was her choice!) and shopped around a little before heading to SoHo. We had a great time traipsing around SoHo, Chinatown and Little Italy. We found an adorable lamp for our apartment and both indulged in a little retail therapy. After a long and sweaty morning/early afternoon, we went back to my apartment to shower and change for dinner and the show. We ate at this adorable Japanese restaurant called Haru, and me and Ger had a lovely romantic date amongst the tree branches drenched in twinkling white Christmas lights. After dinner we got to the theater, found out our seats were all the way to the right in the front mezzanine, and then scooted all the way to the center when 5 minutes into the performance, our row was still nearly empty. Another great performance by the cast (and I think I can now do most of the choreography) and it was great taking Ger to her first Broadway and original cast experience. Once the show was over, there was one thing left to do...go to Max Brenner, obviously. We had an enormous peanut butter, chocolate and banana sundae and topped off our first real night in NYC the right way.
Today we let ourselves sleep in a little and then decided to venture uptown to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We got off the subway and were accosted by an H&M, so after a brief shopping stint we made our way to the museum. I have never been to the museum before and I was expecting it to be boring and stuffy, but it was really breathtakingly beautiful. It is also huge, so we wandered around and saw some Picassos and other art that Gerri knows much more about than me, and then finally reached the fashion exhibit we had come to see. It's called American Woman and is all about the evolution of style and the way style expresses the political tones of the time. There were stunning original pieces from the late 1800s up until the 1940s. The clothes were fantastic, and in the last room there was a video display of influential style icons from the 1800s until Gaga. It was an amazing exhibit and if you are going to be in NYC before August 15th, it is definitely something worth seeing. After the museum we headed to Rockefeller Center and I decided Gerri had to experience Saks 5th Avenue for herself. We had fun sifting through the racks, but both came out empty handed (my wallet breathed a sigh of relief). We browsed around 5th Avenue for a little longer and then came back to my neighborhood to get pedicures since our feet were filthy and aching from a long weekend of walking. Ger's flight was at 8, so I took her to a goodbye dinner at my absolute favorite restaurant I've been to in New York, Trattoria Belvedere. She experienced the pure joy that is this outrageously good italian restaurant, and then it was time to say goodbye. It was so much fun having her in the city this weekend- there is a reason we have been best friends for almost ten years now. I also surprised myself with how well I can navigate the city after being here only about a month- no accidental trips to other boroughs for us!
So tomorrow it is back to work for what is most likely my last week. I can't really say I am sad to go... I mean I won't repeat my previous posts and say how much I am looking forward to home and Gainesville. Instead, I have a little digression about fulfillment. These are just my personal musings, so feel free to stop reading here. I always thought that I am the type of person who will find total fulfillment in a career. I have always been type A, the leader of every group project and in my mind this equated to being a rockstar in the boardroom. I think this is just me being bitter about my internship not turning out quite as I hoped, but at this moment in time I am really questioning my idea of fulfillment. Will going into an office everyday, slaving way on the bottom rungs of the communications corporate ladder for years until someone finally notices me fulfill me? It's entirely possible, but my mind has just been running with all of these other ideas that I never seriously considered before. Maybe being an entrepreneur would be more fulfilling? Or maybe a family is all the fulfillment I'll need? I truly don't know what will make me happy in the long run, and it is a scary to not have a clear plan. Especially because I really like plans. It is just hard to think you know exactly what you want to do, and then be confronted with the fact that maybe what you want to do kind of sucks. While it is unnerving to be so unsure about the future, I feel like after this summer I am a lot more open to what I can be. Maybe just because I enjoy writing and media and consider myself a people person doesn't mean my calling is strictly to work in a PR firm. Maybe these skills will serve me in a way I have no idea about yet. Sorry to get bogged down in the philosophical, but maybe someone who reads this has insight about this whole mess?
Thanks for bearing with me.
Countdown: 14 days
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