TOP 10 MANHATTAN MOMENTS
(As of lately. In no particular order. Locations may vary.)
1. Going to Potomac, Maryland with my roommates. The weekend was packed with 7 of the 8 members of the Odell Family plus one grandmother, a beautiful home, Chick-Fil-A, a Naval Academy football game, a disproportional amount of guys to girls (PTL!), car rides, California weather and one giant St. Bernard.
2. August: Osage County
3. Playing the "Make It To The Next Subway Car" game. You know, when you are on the subway, but your exit is at the opposite end of the train. Each time the subway makes a stop, you jump out and see how far you can run down the platform before the doors shut on you. I think we made it 1 and a half cars in our longest sprint.
4. Visiting Dallas to see the world of Ivy Hopkins. Imagine: 3 girls all under 5'3, one very patient "go-with-the-flow" boyfriend, one Carny infested State Fair and an absurd amount of friend food. Welcome to Texas.
5. Georgia's Bakery before work. Cappuccio please!
6. Buying 5 fake Coach bags from Chinatown for an assortment of aunts and friends of friends. I get a little fired up if I talk two much about these treks to Chinatown, but let me take a minute and talk about some misconceptions one might have. There are 2 big ones that come to mind. First, You don't just "drop" by Canal Street. You plan. You wear appropriate shoes. You avoid carrying a handbag that you purchased on Canal Street. It's like walking around with a sign that says "I WILL BUY YOUR KNOCK OFF. JUST HARASS ME A LITTLE MORE." And you can't forget to bring a massive tote bag so you don't have to carry a ratty black plastic trash bag filled with your scandalous purchases back to your apartment. Second, you can't just swing through Chinatown and "grab a bag." Instead, there is walking, searching, scoping out. When you feel like the time is right, you unleash for magic words, "Have any Coach Bags?" Hopefully those four words are met with a little Asian woman flagging you to the back of her shoe-box of a store. She will then reach for a hidden button. A buzzing noise follows. Before you know it, you are ducking under the pegboard wall of purses into a small hallway, up a staircase and through a few more buzzer triggered doors. Jackpot.
7. Grilled Cheese and La Madeline's Tomato Basil Soup. Lots of friends chatting away. Lots of Fellowship at Apartment 9A.
8. Seeing a man walk down Broadway with a cat balanced on his head. For the second time in two weeks.
9. Going to Princeton for the day with dear family friends. Our day was packed with the Princeton vs. Harvard football game, a tour of campus, a famous Princeton Hoagie for lunch and a lecture in the auditorium where Einstein proved his theory of Relativity. Just another day.
10. Riding the subway with two roommates and a man with a baby stroller. But no baby. The stroller was packed with diaper bags and junk. We were intrigued. Especially when he took the stairs and asked random people to help carry his baby-less stroller up the flight. Twice people stopped to help him. Odd that he kept appearing next to us on the platform. Creeper.
