A West Side Saturday

     At 9:30am Natasha and I met at the park to walk over to Lincoln Center.  Students can get discounted tickets to the ballet and so we purchased two for the show Jewels.  After that time, we decided to just stay on the West Side and explore. Luckily the weather held out until around 3 and so we walked to the park and enjoyed some serious people watching near the boathouse.

     On the way to the park we stopped by a little farmers market and purchased half a dozen  apple cider cinnamon sugar doughnuts. We sat down and quickly devoured them all without blinking an eye. Natasha and I seriously bad for each other's health when we eat together… 

     Once at the park, most entertaining was the sighting of what I will call a "selfie extension arm" which was a long metal pole that at the far end one attaches the camera/phone, and can thus take superb "selflies." (Also its awkward that Blogger keeps trying to autocorrect "selfie" to "selfless"). I had only heard of this mechanism online but seeing it in person was a whole new experience. 

    After people watching and attempting to pet every pet that walked by we grabbed a quick lunch, making sure to eat something light as I had plans for use to visit a famous bakery nearby. We then proceeded to what I had researched as a very highly acclaimed cookie shop called Levain. I always love a good cookie and I am also the kind of person who likes to break off some cookie dough and pop it in the microwave for a few seconds to get that ooey gooey half baked situation. Well, these cookies are pure heaven for anyone who agrees with my last statement. I got the chocolate peanut butter and now I want to go back and try them all. Just a fair warning, do not go on a full stomach; these cookies are large and filling enough to constitute a meal (or at least an in-between meals snack).

    After we enjoyed the pure ecstasy of those cookies, we decided to walk it off a bit by shopping. Some successful purchases were made at both Century 21 and DWS and then the downpour began.  We then made our way back to Lincoln Center and recharged over coffee and tea.

    The ballet was absolutely beautiful. I really enjoyed the gracefulness and athleticism of the ballerinas and especially enjoyed their costumes. There were three segments: emerald, ruby, and diamond. My person favorite was the ruby one because it had more of a modern vibe. After the show we were utterly exhausted; it was 10:30, we had shopped, eaten, and walked all over the west side, and so we just grabbed a cab home and I passed out at 11. 

Close up of the deliciousness 

Cultured

Sunset from rooftop of Hotel Empire

      Last Thursday was a great day. I woke up early to go to the gym and workout before work which always helps me arrive energized (but of course there is the dreaded hour of sleepiness that comes around 10AM). My boss had earlier given me and a few co-workers tickets to attend a preview showing of the new Christian Marclay exhibit at Lincoln Center. The piece is titled The Clock and it is a 24-hour film made up of clips from thousands of movies, each of which coincide exactly to the current time that you watch the piece. For example, I went to the 7-8pm showing, and during that time, hundreds of clips from films (old and new) were pieced together, and each clip had a clock with the exact same time as I was watching or made reference to the time. It was truly impressive and it took the artist years to comb through all these films to find precises moments. I only wish I knew exactly how he did it! (My guess is he had some interns who had to watch hundred of movies for time reference...) The exhibit is now open to the public and its FREE so go and see it! I am going back this week to watch another part. 

      After the showing, we were invited to a rooftop reception at the Hotel Empire where we got to feast on plenty of free food and drinks. It was nice to hang out with some of my fellow employees outside of the office--sometimes its hard to imagine that the people we work with even exist outside of the workplace... After a few hours of wine and conversation, we left the hotel and went our separate ways. To be honest, I was quite tired at that point, by my friend Emma convinced me to go to this posh club with her for a while. The club was called Tenjune (Meatpacking district) and was a crazy cluster of strobe lights, champagne, and dancing. We hung out for a couple of hours but by 2AM I had to call a quits. Not to mention I am pet sitting and had to go let the dog out!

Bubbles!

      Speaking of, the dogs name is Bubbles and she is a 12-year-old Shih Tzu. Bubbles is strange because she does not enjoy being petted, quite the opposite actually because when I pet her she starts to grown and bare her teeth at me... Regardless, it is nice to be around a dog again since I miss my two at home.