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.

Escape

Hallie's precious pup Rigby

This past weekend Ash and I went out to Connecticut to visit our friend Hallie. I have never been to CT before, but after this visit, I would love to return.  Hallie lives in Ridgefield, which I have been told is in "horse country." We definitely picked the right weekend to go because we got to escape the 100 degree weather in the city. Connecticut was so green and plush compared to nyc and it was a nice change of pace to drive in a car everywhere instead of taking public transportation. Not to mention, Hallie's house is beautiful and her parents were great hosts! I ate like a king and enjoyed every minute of it.

When we arrived Friday night we went to a restaurant "in town" (I put quotation marks because there really one main street that makes up the town), called the Bissell House. It was an American grill type place and I enjoyed some delicious salmon and crab cakes. Living so close to the coast, I definitely took advantage of the array of fresh seafood available. For dessert I indulged in three mini ice cream sandwiches, made of homemade cookies and filled with chocolate, vanilla, and mint ice cream. Delicious. After dinner, we went back to Hallie's house and sat out on there back porch for a few hours, drinking and enjoying each others company. 

Saturday morning we woke up and went to get our nails done. Nothing is more relaxing than a mani-pedi with a complementary back massage... After being pampered for an hour, Hallie gave us a quick tour of her town--taking us to her favorite cupcake place of course. We bought 6 fancy looking cupcakes and then got in the car to go to Westport for lunch. As we pulled out of the parking lot though, a woman ran up to the side of the car and banged on the window. Shocked, Hallie rolled down her window and the woman reached up and handed us our cupcakes... then we felt a thud. Apparently Hallie had forgotten to actually put the cupcakes INSIDE of the car and just drove off. And when that woman stopped to give us our cupcakes, she forgot to actually park her car and it rolled into the back of Hallie's... I guess it was just one of those days...

Westport Beach

After our cupcake fiasco, Hallie took us to a yacht/golf club and we ate lunch outside overlooking the water. I love the ocean so this was perfect for me. I had a blueberry mojito and calamari salad to start, then ate a juicy burger with fries while watching sailboats go by and people paddle boarding (I really want to try that!) After lunch we got back in the car and drove by the beach. It was a bit cloudy so not a good day to lay out but it was still beautiful none-the-less. We then headed to the famed supermarket, Stew Leonard's. Hallie's parents had raved to us about hos fun it was and so we had to check it out for ourselves. There is essentially one line that snakes through the whole store, taking you by each section of food. My personal favorite was the banana section that had a Chiquita Banana that sang to you when you pushed the button. The rest of the store was filled with such talking animals/objects like butter sticks, cows, and milk. It was hilarious. Even though I looked like a complete tourist with my camera around my neck, I didn't care, this place was a basically like a food ride a Disney World! At the end of the trip, I bough some of their ice cream which was more of a custard. And got it covered in chocolate sprinkles of course. Double delicious. We got back in the car and out of interest, (and since Hallie and Ash were jealous of my ice cream), they opened up to take a peek at our cupcakes. In the heat, the car had turned into a portable oven and the cupcakes were completely melted. The cupcake fiasco continued. Ash and Hallie were happy to report that they still tasted great.

After Stew's, we drove back home to shower and change for dinner. Hallie's parents took us to a little French restaurant (that I can't remember the name of), that apparently Keith Richards frequents. As an avid Rolling Stones fan, this obviously made me instantly love the place. I was very excited about the possibility of dining with the rock star, but alas, he did not show. Regardless, I enjoyed some exotic cocktails, French onion soup, and steak frites. And to top it all off, chocolate mousse.

After dinner we headed to Norwalk, which has some of the only real night life around there. We went to a bar called The Ginger Man which had a very rustic feel--not too crazy but still seemed to have a large crowd there. Ash tried some of the interesting beers on tap and I stuck with Vodka. Hallie was our DD so she just sipped on a beer for a few hours, like a champ. We met an array of gentle men that night, all with interesting back stories, and all in all, it was a lot of fun. A very different scene from the bars in NYC, but I loved it. When we got kicked out of the bar at 2AM (who closes that early?!), we walked back to the car, only to be distracted by a bar fight that had broken out at the end of the street. Cops immediately swarmed the boys and had them on the ground and in handcuffs in a matter of seconds. It was crazy. I am always curious as to why these sorts of things break out...

Polo match

Sunday morning we enjoyed sleeping in until 11 and then were greeted by the scent of freshly baked blueberry scones, courtesy of Hallie's mom (she used to own a bake shop!). They were to die for. We sat on the porch for a while eating and talking and then got ready for the polo match. The match was held in Greenwich, a short 25 min drive away, and it was a perfect day. A bit warm, but the shade and slight breeze made it bearable. In true W&L fashion, we had our own tent set up, crowded with Alumni, snacks, and booze. I have never been to a polo match before and it was a fun game to watch. And I got to wear a big sun hat so I was happy.

After the match we met up with her parents for dinner at an Italian restaurant called Terra Sole. I love Italian food and would eat only Italian if I had the choice. To start I had a platter of brie, complete with toasted bread, cranberries, and jam. My main dish was linguine with lobster and prawns. There was a generous amount of seafood which surprised and delighted me. I LOVE SEAFOOD. And of course, I could not turn down dessert. Three words: chocolate banana beignets. Oh my gawdddd they were amazing. Soft puffy doughnut holes filled with warm banana and topped with chocolate sauce and a scoop of espresso ice cream. Her dad also ordered a round of limoncello for the table, which I tried to sip, but alas, I could not take the extreme tart lemon flavor. Her dad willingly finished off mine, Ashley's and her mothers.

Beignets and limoncello

After a weekend of eating, relaxing, polo matching and chatting, Ash and I headed back to the city and all of this hotness.

Hot and Sweaty

Still can't get over the view from my room

This past week was by far, the hottest yet. The highs were in the 90s every day, and the worst part about the city, is that it just traps the heat. The tall buildings seem force the heat to stay on the streets and the asphalt just magnifies it. You have heat above you and heat below you, making it extremely uncomfortable to be outside for long periods of time.

Degas

I got off of work early on the 3rd since the next day was a holiday, and so Will and I went to the Met for the afternoon. Although I am often overwhelmed by the size of the museum, its size is nice because you can see a new exhibit every time you go. I really wanted to see the Durer exhibit since I had studied some of his works in relation to Leonardo last semester, and Will wanted to check out all of the photography. We saw a quite interesting exhibit on photography and the naked body, which examined how the human form has influenced how we take photos, and what we take photos of in general. It was a very neat exhibit, but when we approached the last image of an African male, a woman behind us made a comment that could not be ignored. She made note of his "endowment," and although Will and I had been very mature throughout all of the images, we lost it when she commented on his "size." We quickly moved towards the exit as we could not contain our laughter at her remarks. As an art history major, I have seen all sorts of nude artwork, and have thus learned how to interpret and appreciate it, but every now and then, I can't help it when my immature-middle-school-I've-never-seen-a-naked-body-laughter comes out.

Will at the Met!

Will and I explored the museum for another hour or so, visiting one of my favorite rooms, the Impressionists, and then left when it closed around 5:30. I could sit and look at a Monet or Derain painting for hours if you let me.

On the 4th, Ashley and I got up early and went to the gym. After our workout, we walked along 5th ave to partake in some of the amazing summer sales. Although I was feeling pretty broke since I hadn't been paid yet, I purchased a great coral colored sun hat from JCrew (for only $12!) for the polo match this weekend.

After some shopping, we went back home to shower and change and stay out of the heat for a while. Later that night, we met up with some friends and had dinner at a restaurant/bar called Traffic in Hells Kitchen. The service was pretty awful but it was nice to hang out with friends and catch up. From there, we walked along the highway and watched the Macy's fireworks. They were pretty awesome, but the crowds plus the heat made the experience a little bit tiring. In the end, I had a nice 4th of July and can now say that I have seen the fireworks in NYC. Next year though, its time for the Hamptons...

TNYA

    I haven't blogged about this for a long time, but I love my swim team here. They are gay, loud, and so much fun. They are easily one of the things I miss most when I leave the city in August.

    When I graduate next year and officially become "retired," I will for sure be joining a gay masters team.

That's all.

*side note, I myself am not gay, but the team welcomes everyone

Photo from 2011 Pride Parade

Weekend Update

I know this is a bit late, but I got slammed with work this week, not to mention, it was our country's birthday.

This past weekend was quite eventful. Friday after work I took advantage of the MoMA's free Friday admittance and walked around my favorite museum. I especially love looking at the extreme abstract art--something about the simplicity of the shapes seems to let my mind release from the past week of work. I couldn't stay long though because it was so crowded that I started to get annoyed by all the tourists and people taking pictures.

I had some friends come over Friday night to get ready to go out and then we headed to the Hudson Terrace for some rooftop dancing. It was a crazy scene: packed with sweaty men and women, dancing, drinking, thumping music, and great views of the water. Oh yeah, and we got sweet glow stick things. The DJ was really good too--DJ PHRESH. (love the spelling). This was my first visit to a rooftop party and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Vodka Sparklers

Saturday morning I woke up early(ish) and headed to Columbia for swim practice--at 9AM it was already hot and humid--not a good omen for the day to come. After swimming I went home, made a gourmet bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich, and then got showered and changed. Ash and I met up with Emma and some of her friends at a place called Pranna. Emma had been here before and was raving about their "Sunday brunch/dance club" and so I had to try it.  Some how, Moe and Emma know this club promoter that gets them into all these trendy places for free. I need to learn how to meet these people. We sat down at a large booth and were immediately greeted with endless mimosas. Then came the food: banana crepes, quiche, salad, french fries, buffalo wings, and more. All free. We ate and chatted for a while and then Ed (club promoter) said we were moving into the next room. This next room was basically a dining room transformed into a afternoon club. There was a DJ playing never-ending pop music and a guy sitting next to him playing a drum? That was strange but also cool I guess. We sat at our new table/booth and were greeted with more mimosas and then waitresses started bringing out bottles of vodka with sparklers. It was like a scene from one of those posh parties that only the super rich go to where they bring out the champagne to you with sparklers. I don't mean to gush or anything, but it was too cool. We danced and drank for the next couple of hours and then all decided to go home and take quick nap.

Dodgeball

We later reconvened for the night at a bar called McFadden's in midtown. One of our friends has a birthday in June, and apparently if you were her friend, you got half priced drinks the whole night. Awesome. It was also "Dodgeball" night at the bar, so all of the bartenders were dressed up as either of the gyms in the movie--the sporadically got on top of the bar to dance to songs and pour shots all around. It was hilarious. The bar played classic songs that everyone could sing along to like Shania Twain, Backstreet Boys, and Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy. Cheesy, but perfect. After a good amount of time there, we headed down to the Meatpacking District and hit up one last bar before calling it a night.

Emma may have spilled her drink...

Sunday was spent mostly indoors since it was oppressively hot. My biggest accomplishment for Sunday was painting my finger and toe nails.