Too late to post this, oh well.

Saturday I got to head back to Brooklyn, my favorite neighborhood in the city, for the Fort Greene Flea Market. It was incredibly hot, crowded and kind of smelly. But none of that mattered because: there were the most floral dresses in one place that I’ve ever seen, doilies and vintage jewelry were everywhere I turned, there were about 15 food booths all selling delicious and unique options, there were really weird, funny things like giant toothbrushes and knife holders shaped like people to gawk at. I somehow restrained myself and did not blow all of my money on floral dresses (probably because I had already blown all of my money on floral dresses elsewhere), and only walked out with a tie-dye doily and gold bracelet. I also somehow managed to choose a fresh mozzarella salad to eat, which was a great decision.

Vanessa and I got Chinese and Pinkberry for dinner by 116^th, and my semi severe sunburn convinced me to call it an early night.

Sunday was one of my favorite days of the entire trip. Having no group activities let us spend the day as we pleased. Cara’s boyfriend Geoff was in town visiting, and she wanted to show him Koreatown. Caitlin and I made it a double date, and we ate at the food court that we’d visited last time we were in the neighborhood. I had the most delicious kimchi (pickled cabbage) and pork stew, that pretty much took all the hair off my face, it was so spicy. I’m definitely going to try and find this soup next time I’m sick, because I think it will be an instant cure. SO GOOD.

After Koreatown, we headed to Greenwich Village, because I hadn’t been yet and really wanted to see it. We got there and walked through Washinton Square, which was really cool, with a huge fountain and even huger archway. We spotted a couple of topless women in the fountain, which confused us until we realized the Pride Parade was happening just a block away. As gay marriage had just been made legal in the state of New York days before the annual parade, everyone was going insane. Though I can’t say I’ve been to the pride parade in New York City before, it was evident that this year was a little different, with many parade walkers holding victorious signs like “Thank you Cuomo” and “Promise Kept” and songs like “Freedom” and “Born this Way” by Lady Gaga blaring from floats.

The happiness in the air was so palpable that I actually found myself smiling and dancing without intending to. I felt like I had just been freed from oppression, like I had more civil liberties, like I was finally being accepted. Except for I’m straight, so I can’t even imagine what the gay parade walkers were feeling. All in all, it was an incredible couple of hours that we watched the parade, and we basically skipped back up the glitter and confetti covered sidewalk (a full block away from the parade. Yes, the pride was far reaching) to the subway.

Our one main goal of the day was to secure a waffle for Caitlin from the Wafle and Dinges food truck that she’d been stalking for the entire trip. We met Vanessa on the edge of Central Park and set out on our quest in the vast, largely unmarked, not easily navigated green space. Amazingly, we found the truck within a half hour, and waited, salivating, for our turn in line. Most of us ordered “da bom” which is a freshly made Belgian waffle with praline ice cream melting on top. It is maybe literally the most decadent thing I’ve ever eaten.

After the deliciousness, Caitlin and I watched turtles in the turtle pond for way too long, and then had a late sushi dinner (and the worst wine ever, ever, ever produced) back in Morningside Heights with Vanessa.

Monday, I was extremely excitable all day in anticipation of turning 21 at midnight. We went as a group to Bedford St Martin’s press, one of the leading textbook publishers in the nation, where we were given free lunch and divided into small groups for question and answer sessions with most of the departments. Though I’m not really too interested in the publishing industry, it was still really insightful to hear about each employee’s duties and day-to-day activities, and learn what their backgrounds were. The most encouraging piece of information I learned was that the production manager, who produces much of the artwork, design and layout for the textbooks, actually didn’t have a background in art, he was just interested in it personally and had the skills to do it, so it worked out.

Next, we were led across town to St. Martin’s main offices, in the historic Flatiron Building. St. Martin’s is one of the “big six” publishers of fiction and non-fiction in the nation. We met the publisher, who reminded me of Meryl Streep in “The Devil Wears Prada” except nicer. Her favorite phrase quickly revealed itself to be “thanks a million” with a quick flip of her gray bob, which both thanked the current speaker and told them to move their ass out of their seat and go back to work at the same time. She was awesome. We learned so much about the processes a book goes through, from acquisitions, to editing, to cover art, publicity and marketing. It was so fascinating. Kind of like peeling back an invisible layer of magic to one of my favorite things in the world – books.

The coolest part of the trip to the Flatiron building was visitng the art department, where all of the book covers are designed. We got to see how many variations each title goes through before the final one is selected, hear about how the designers make font choices and medium decisions, and how much say the author has in the final cover decision. We learned that people truly do judge books by their covers.

After our tour was over, Brooklyn, Caitlin and I caught the train to Brooklyn to visit the Etsy headquarters. I was completely geeking out – I LOVE Etsy. So much. I was kind of disappointed about the fact that the craft night was going to be origami, but Caitlin was excited about it, and I was just excited to be in the building. It was very cool, and we even got to take a series of photos in their free photobooth.

After our full day, it was finally time to get to celebrating my birthday. I had chosen the restaurant Boca Chica in the East Village for dinner, and then bar hopped in the East Village for the rest of the night. I won’t be able to capture just how exciting and fun it was in words.

The next day, I woke up around 3. Yes, you read that right. 3:00 p.m. Oops! I got some much needed greasy food and caffeine, and then went to The Moth’s Big Night in Central Park with Olivia, Vanessa and Jazmin. It was very cool, but not quite as hilarious as the night in SoHo.

We ran through the park at sunset to get to the final farewell dinner with the entire group. It was at Dizzy’s Jazz Club in the Time Warner Building and was very fancy. It was a great way to end my birthday, as well as the trip. Danielle had bought me some of the cutest little birthday cupcakes, and I got to share them with the group. I was clued into Olivia’s hilarious grand scheme of trying to figure out my favorite cupcake over the last week or so, and got to order my first legal glass of wine with dinner.

Then it was time to clack (clean and pack) up my tiny room and prepare to leave it the next day. I realized just how much I’ve acquired over the last month, and thanked the heavens I don’t have to take the train home.

TV Magic and a Mustachioed Man

Thursday came into the week with rain, and I pulled out the umbrella I would have forgotten to pack if my dad hadn't given it to me to take the subway downtown to the CBS building. Danielle had arranged a special tour for us that was much more "insider" than "tourist" with one of the CBS set directors. He was a fantastic host, letting us take pictures everywhere and sneak into places that he maybe shouldn't be bringing 17 unauthorized kids.

Here's our group on the set of Sunday Morning, which our tour guide designed. They turned on the stage lighting so we could get a better picture!


Here's our tour guide in front of the original CBS News globe that Walter Cronkite sat in front of.

And a few of us behind the CBS news desk.


This room is where all of the 60 minute interviews are taped (so cool, right Dad!?)
After the fantastic tour, Olivia and I headed to SoHo for The Moth, a sort of open mic for storytellers. It was held in a really cool bookstore with old pillars and hard wood everywhere. The stories were hilarious and all centered around the theme of "confusion". We finished the night with fried pickles, and headed home, only to return to the very same street the next morning for drawing class at Spring Studio.

The only picture I snapped of the day is of the door leading down into the basement studio.

Once downstairs, we were immediately thrown into drawing a nude man, which I was not good at. At all. Some of my classmates were really talented though, and I enjoyed watching them and the other real artists in the room.

After the class, we wandered around SoHo and NoLita, which were beyond awesome. Ate a savory crepe, watched Caitlin buy a panda dress from a store with a carousal unicorn in the middle of it, got scared by a raver/raper store, bought a gor.geo.us. vintage floral jacket for $30. And. This guy:

Had dinner at Pisticci's again (delicious), and walked across the street to my bed.

More tours, more food.

Tuesday, we headed downtown to the New York Public Library, which is a regal, beautiful building right behind Bryant Park (which is much tinier than I had pictured it being). I snapped a couple of group shots on the steps while we waited for the library to open:


Once inside, we were led around by a spry older lady who loved, loved, loved the library. The place is huge inside, and houses some incredible artifacts, like one of the few remaining Gutenberg Bibles, Malcom X's journal from his pilgrimage to Mecca, and the original Winnie the Pooh characters which were given to Christopher Robin by his father after being purchased at Harrods in London (photo below).


After the library, we got lunch at Le Pain Quotidien, where I ate a delicious egg salad and drank a nice cool mint tea.

A tour of the United Nations was up next, and I realized I had actually known very little about the UN. We actually got to walk across the top of the General Assembly room while they were in session! Very cool.
Following our morning of touring very distinguished institutions, we indulged our inner children with a trip to Dylan's Candy Bar, which is owned by Ralph Lauren's daughter, Dylan. It was sort of disgusting how expensive the candy was here, but Danielle picked up my and Alexa's tabs for being the designated trip group photographers. We also had ice cream in a giant cupcake! I had pancake and syrup ice cream, which is one of the best ideas ever thought of.


I then proceeded to gorge myself on expensive candy for the rest of the day, which resulted in unpleasantness.

Wednesday we visited the American Museum of Natural History, the place where the movie "Night at the Museum" takes place. There were dinosaurs galore, and really interesting exhibits on the history of African and Asian peoples and mammals. We saw a cheesed out Imax movie about dinosaurs of the sea (which I didn't even know existed!) and felt like kids running around the museum, oohing and ahhing.

Olivia knew of a great restaurant nearby, and so we trooped over to Peace Food Cafe. Oh. My. God. This is in the running for best meal of the trip. They are a vegan restaurant where they serve as much fresh, natural food as possible. The decor was lovely and inviting, and the overhead speakers played Kate Bush as we chowed down.


I had the most incredible broccoli mushroom puree, which I added siracha and balsamic to, and split veggie dumplings with Olivia. I could have licked my plate it was so good.

After walking up Amsterdam for a while, which is full of amazing looking restaurants, we headed back to I-house to get ready for Cinderella at the Lincoln Center.

Everyone headed to the ballet looking snazzy in dresses and heels (except the boys, obvi), and I was in awe of the theater, which had gorgeous, modern sunburst-esque chandeliers, red velvet carpet and gold accents. The ballet itself was a modern interpretation of the classic story, and I plan to write a full review of it because I have a lot to say. It really made me miss dancing, and I was frustrated when I realized I couldn't name off all of the steps in my head (what the hell is a pa-de-shaw!? I can't remember!)

Pictures of us in all our finery will follow!

We headed back to the Upper West for drinks and a light meal after the show, and then I slept like a baby, listening to the rain pitter patter outside my window.

I'm running out of creative titles.

Sunday started with a Chelsea morning. We walked the High Line and visited the Chelsea Market. The High Line was not at all a traditional sort of park. It actually used to be an elevated railway for freight trains, but stopped being used in 1980. The railway has been turned into an elevated park/walkway on the west side of Manhattan.

Really unusual flowers growing on the High Line.

A billboard showing what the High Line used to look like.

After walking the length of the High Line, we all descended to the Chelsea Market. It was smaller than I expected, but jam packed with amazing food stores and restaurants. A group of us ate at The Green Table, which I had of course researched and had read that they had one of the greatest grilled cheese's in the city. I couldn't resist.

Raw milk white cheddar and fig preserves sandwiched between thick slices of white bread.

I also had a basil infused limeade, which is probably the most interesting thing I've ever drank (besides straight Southern Comfort in Sara's basement when we were 16 and didn't know about chasers yet).

After the feast, we got popsicles from People's Pops. I had a sour cherry and plum pop. So good!

Then we hunted vintage for a while, but got let down by high prices. Not everywhere is Lansing, MI's thrift avenue.

Monday was yet another full day, starting out at the Moma, or Museum of Modern Art, where we received the best curator-led tour of the trip yet, saw the original Starry Night, as well as Matisse's, Picasso's and Warhol's. I was completely geeking out. We didn't have nearly enough time here, so I am going to go back with my Mom next week when she comes to get me!

We walked a few blocks down from the Moma to the Conde Nast building to meet with two MSU PW alums who work there now. I don't know why I was expecting older people, but when Jena and Marissa greeted us, they said they had graduated MSU in 2008 and 2009 - making them just a few years older than us. Despite being young, both women are amazingly accomplished and high up in their respective divisions of Conde Nast. It was so cool to see real live graduates with my degree (or at least half of my degree) successful and happy. But their descriptions of the cut-throat publishing culture made me very glad I've chosen to work in the non-profit world.

After our meeting with the PW alums, we all gathered for free pizza and Ghostbusters back at I-house. I had never seen it before and was highly entertained. Then I hit the books for a little while before retiring relatively early.

More art, more food

Friday the group set off for the Guggenheim. I was really excited to go because it's the host for the Huge Boss Prize, an art competition I researched extensively last summer when I worked for ArtPrize. I didn't know anything about the museum before arriving, so I was pretty taken aback when the building looked like this:


The beehive appearance is a result of a spiral ramp inside that architect Frank Lloyd Wright intended patrons of the museum to walk down (by taking the elevator to the top, first) and around, viewing exhibits in a continuous motion downwards, guided by gravity. It revolutionized the way museums displayed art and how audiences viewed it. Here's a picture of the ramp.

We learned a lot about the building and concepts behind this method of interacting with art from a tour guide, who then took us to view some works by Kandinsky, which was exciting. Next up, we were instructed to sketch some ideas about the building. I snapped this picture of the group from below:


The ramp and idea behind it were really cool, but honestly, I felt queasy the entire time we were up on the ramp. You can never quite tell what is level ground, and seeing the spiral at varying angles was really disorienting for me. Eh. After escaping the white vortex, we got to do a workshop with one of the Guggenheim's curators focusing on form and function. My group ended up with this beautiful piece of art:

Yes, that's a giant toilet on the far right side. We're mature.

When we left the museum the sky was down pouring torrential rain. We watched the rain turn to marble sized hail while we ran for our lives to the most miserable bus ride of any of our lives. I honestly thought I wouldn't make it off alive. Some of us stuffed our faces at the Mexican restaurant by I-house, and then I passed out until 7 when we met downstairs to head to another night on Broadway.

We say "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" with Daniel Radcliff. It was truly entertaining, and the dance numbers were so impressive! Who knew Harry Potter could sing? Not me.

Saturday I woke up and was so excited to spend the day with my Aunt Pat and Uncle Alan who were driving up (or is it down?) from Rhode Island just to see me! They took me to Zabars, which was an awesome market of gourmet foods I drooled over but couldn't bring home due to not having a fridge (foreshadowing! foreshadowing!). Then we went to the Hells Kitchen flea market, which was super exciting for me (racks and racks of cheap vintage, tables of weird junk like ceramic heads and mismatched dishes, tons of lace, lots of dogs), but also very hot. I found the most gorgeous 40's print gossamer dress of my life, but it was $80 so I walked away (still kind of teary about it).


And then! They took me on a gourmet food tour. Oh my wow. It was done by this woman who calls herself the Enthusiastic Gourmet, which was an understatement. Lady was super excited about everything. I'm planning on writing a full review of the experience for one of my class assignments, so be on the lookout for that.

After getting dropped off by Aunt Pat and Uncle Alan, I passed out for a few (hours), and then met my friends on the rooftop to polish off a nice $10 bottle jug o' wine. We eventually realized we were starving and went to the Italian restaurant down the street for pizza (and more wine). The evening ended with receiving plastic cups from a pimp, stealing a fridge, and taking shots of Vanessa's tequila. So fun.

I can't believe I only have a week and a half left in this crazy, magical, electric place. I honestly wasn't expecting to like the city this much - I was pretty ambivalent about it. But now it feels almost homey, and returning to Lansing is fading in attractiveness by the day.

Dancin'

Wednesday I woke up with a full body of sickness. I'll spare you the details. But I did end up missing the walking tour of Harlem that the group got to take. I didn't want to miss out on Ametuer Night at the Apollo that evening, so I rallied and went with the group to the Apollo Theatre in Harlem. The streets around the Apollo were alive and shimmering. Boomboxes blared Top 40 songs, a million street vendors sold their wares, and for some reason there was a plethora of dancing children, who, if you know me at all you know I can't resist.

We got into the theater, and the party did not stop. In fact, I think it got louder. There was a DJ on stage warming the crowd up, and people standing up from their seats dancin'. And the reason I say it like that is because there was no halfhearted clapping to the beat or stepping side to side, these people were dancin'.

After the DJ warm-up, there was a live band warm-up, and then the show finally started. But not before a special kids competition, where four kids ages 5 - 13 performed a song each. They were incredible! I can't believe each of them isn't already famous. The five year old came out in a little red gown and tiara and sang a song with as much power as an adult woman. I almost cried!

Then, finally, the real show started. Amatuer singers, dancers and instrumentalists braved the stage with the very real possibility of getting booed off stage (its encouraged at the Apollo!). It almost happened a few times, and I always felt sad for them. They would start hearing boos and immediately try harder, sing louder, or get a wild look of desperation in their eyes. I felt pity for them, but I'm a wuss. Many in our group enjoyed a few boos.

After a violin and guitar duo claimed the top prize of $10,000, we called it a night.

Thursday ended up being a free day of sorts, so a few Harry Potter geeks, myself included, traveled down to Times Square to visit the exhibit there. I realized I know way too much about Harry Potter.

Then it was off to re-explore the East Village! Caracas, the arepas bar I've been wanting to eat at for the entire trip, had an hour wait, so we stopped to read the menu at the next place we saw. To my friend Cara's delight, it was a Filipino restaurant, and so we all agreed to try it at her excitement. I think that's what I love most about this city so far. Oh, so the Venezuelan restaurant you've been meaning to try is too busy? No problem, the next random restaurant you see will have delicious Filipino food that will blow your mind. Love it.

We all tried each other's food, and so I ended up eating: pork in adobo, asian shrimp, egg noodle with shrimp, coconut chicken and beef tongue in wine and mushroom sauce. So. Good.

After the meal (and okay, a few drinks) we were ready to keep exploring the Village. We found a bar named the Thirsty Scholar, which seemed appropriate (even though we haven't done much in the way of scholastics this trip so far) and the bartender finally enlightened me as to why I don't get hit on in bars (I look too much like I have my shit together, apparently). After observing a backpacked couple take it to the bathroom, we decided our time was up, and headed out. We lost a couple companions to their beds on the way to the next bar, and I was tempted, but kept on going. So glad I did.

The next place, Mike had found online as being a great place for dancing. Feeling the few cocktails in me, I knew I was ready to get down. And then we got to the club. Not only were we the only white people, we were the only people under 40. We soon figured out that we had inadvertently crashed a retirement party, but watching old people dance to house music was way too entertaining to ditch our drinks for. And then, the celebrity sighting! This fly lady in the tightest white dress possible sauntered into the club behind a video camera with a spotlight on her. The camera captured her ordering her drink, turning slowly to the dance floor, and then casually walking through it to the secret back room like she owned the place. It was hilarious. When we finally got to ask what the hell was up with that, the only response we got was "she's singing tonight", like that explained everything. When the camera guy started shooting the dance floor, we all got up and danced, hoping to someday catch a glimpse of our white limbs on some random reality show. Although the editing people will probably notice my blatant white girl moves, and cut us out of the shot. Oh well.

Mike told us about yet another spot of supposed good dancing, so we headed there. I was intrigued by its description of all vintage, thrift store decor. We got to where it supposedly was, and got cat called in, escorted by an extremely attractive bouncer. Turns out we were the first females to get there, despite it being 1 in the morning. It was extremely eclectic, with a hipster bartender pouring our drinks wearing an "I heart magical realism" tshirt and reading a novel by the cash register between customers and about 10 hip hop guys spinning top 40 hits. A freestyle rapper grabbed the mic, and the bouncer tried to convince me that I should go up next. After telling him I had no rhymes, and would probably end up talking about unicorns, we made up a short rap about them, luckily, in the safety of my group. We got to see Mike's impressive Detroit dance moves, and danced in a group of rotating men for about an hour before setting out on a rain soaked journey home.

Another great, if random, night in the city.

Thanks for reading!

I don't hate it

I've been neglecting you, oh sweet little blog. And I'm sorry.

Here goes!

Monday:

We had class at 10 with an incredibly enthusiastic historian who gave us the low down on NYC from it's founding to about 1900. I had no idea it had switched hands so many times from the Dutch to the English and back and forth until the Revolution. Really interesting stuff. Especially coming from someone who Really. LOVES. History.

Next we traveled to lower Manhattan to visit the Tenement Museum, basically the antithesis of the Merchant House that we visited last week. The Tenement Museum, predictably, focused on the dismal living conditions of immigrants in the early 1900s. It was probably the most interesting and interactive museum I've ever been to, because instead of walking around in a single file line, making forced "ohhh" and "hmmm" noises to uninteresting facts spit routinely from a bored volunteer's mouth, we got to role play with an actor portraying an immigrant girl from 1916. We were led by a museum employee up to a second floor apartment that was decorated just as it would have been if a Jewish family of 10 had lived there in 1916, and told to assume the identity of a large Italian family, fresh off the boat to America. An actress playing the role of the Jewish family's 14 year old daughter greeted us and invited us into her home. Here, the museum employee left us, and our entire group squeezed into one of three rooms of the apartment to talk freely with the immigrant girl and ask her anything we wished. It was so cool, and I learned so much more than I think I would have in a traditional museum set-up.

After the museum, the group walked to Babycakes, where Danielle treated us all to cupcakes. Cupcakes, I've noticed, are to NYC what corndogs (or anything deep fried) are to the Midwest. All the rage. We walked our cupcakes off on our trek across the Manhattan Bridge to Brooklyn. It's not as fun as it probably sounds to you. But I'm being negative. It's cool to be able to say I've done it. There. Positivity!


Once in Brooklyn, we got pizza at Front Street Pizza, and then took the subway (thank god!) back home.


Tuesday:

Was our day at the Met! As mentioned before, the places is MASSIVE.



We got a guided "fashion" tour from the classiest old lady I've ever met (see picture and video below), before being convinced by the amassing crowds that we should get the hell outta there. Vanessa and I found a nice and affordable cafe on Madison Ave to have lunch at (how very SATC of us!) and then caught the bus home with Olivia.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=NcC8VqxKUyU



Tuesday night brought the most delicious and memorable meal of my life when Cara invited Caitlin, Vanessa and I to partake in an incredibly generous offer from her Uncle John - a dinner on him at Ninja New York, where the waiters are dressed as ninjas, and scare you throughout the entire meal with swords and ninja stars. Awesome. (Photos c/o Vanessa)

I couldn't resist the soup, being a little sick and seeing the chance that I might find a prize inside of it. Plus, truffle oil - nuff said. Here she is, a thing of beauty:
And guess what? I did find the prize! A "poison" carrot, which earned me a $20 gift card next time I go to Ninja New York (you ready, Mom?). I also had the buffalo monk fish, because you all know I can't resist something soaked in hot sauce. Ahhhh so good.

This place was so much fun. I can't count the number of times we screamed and were scared by our ninjas. Almost all of the dishes were lit on fire or had dry ice in them, so they were extra exciting. It may not have been the most authentic Japanese dining experience, but I have a hard time believing it isn't the most fun in the city.
And oh yeah, check out this video of Cara headbutting her meal open:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDxbrRq1YWc



Sorry for the delay, my people! Tonight I'll try to post Wednesday/Thursday.

Full of Life

Okay, this is going to be a ridiculously long post. You've been forewarned. Friday dawned not quite as unbearably hot as the previous two days, and so I looked forward to a day spent on Governor's Island instead of dreaded it. We were all headed to Figment, an art festival covering the island with unique pieces, often of a collaborative and interactive nature. Some of my favorite pieces are below.

Decorated footsteps.

Plastic bag crochet tree.

Yellow doily in nature (my favorite, obviously).

The only disappointing aspect of Figment was how spread out everything was. I stepped off the ferry expecting an explosion of color and art, but ended up walking 2 - 5 minutes between each installation. And in 80 degree sunshine, that shit gets old fast.

After departing Governor's Island, Olivia and I led a group to the Art Write Now exhibit in the World Financial Center that we'd stumbled upon earlier that week. It was by far my favorite museum stop in the trip this far. The talent of kids all under 18 was completely overwhelming and inspiring.

Following a delicious dinner at the Amish Market (where absolutely no one was Amish), Olivia, Caitlin, Cara and I took the subway to Brooklyn to see Andrew Bird for free. A friendly homeless man directed us to Prospect Park without us having to ask him (apparently we look like park lovers?) and soon we approached what we thought at the time was a huge line. Little did we know we'd actually be part of the 10% of concert goers to snag an actual seat. There were hundreds and hundreds of people standing behind us, and even behind the park fence, watching Andrew for his two hour set.

It was incredible.

As I sat and listened to Andrew's trademark whistle and felt the cool Brooklyn breeze through my fuzzy hair, I felt so full. I didn't want to be anywhere other than where I was, with twinkle lights swaying above my head illuminating the hipsters and babies and couples around me who were all entranced by the same song.

Saturday I woke up as if I hadn't slept a lick all night. My allergies were killing me (and my Kleenex supply), and I burned my neck with my curling iron pretty brutally. Despite rain and a grumpy attitude, I traveled with the group to the Merchant's House Museum, where I only snagged one photo:

Servant girls' room at the Merchant House. Creepy and dusty and hot.

I almost fainted a few times in the museum, and by the time we left, I was feeling miserable. Danielle treated a group of us to lunch at Crif Dogs, where I managed to eat some cheese fries. We decided to wander around East Village for a while while we were in the neighborhood, and I definitely want to return when the weather and I are both nicer.

Decorated street sign in East Village.

I then snagged a train ride home, and passed out for 13 hours. I woke still feeling stuffy and stiff, but much happier. Olivia invited me to a craft fair, and I almost peed my pants when I realized it was Renegade. I've been obsessed with this fair for the last two or three years, and have strongly considered driving to the Chicago one a couple of times. How it slipped my awareness of being in NYC while I am is beyond me. But anyways, Olivia and I headed to Brooklyn once again to immerse ourselves in the greatest craft show in the country. My expectations were completely blown. It was: huge, overwhelming, incredibly inspiring, wallet draining, continually self-topping and exceptionally fun. Olivia and I made the perfect fair match with a good pace and pretty similar tastes. We happened upon an artist making 60 second watercolor portraits for 50 cents, and we each got one. Here's mine:

My watercolor twin.

I also picked up two posters - one a beautiful graphic illustration of a Joanna Newsom concert poster (eeee!) and the other a stately hand-drawn portrait of a fox in a green business suit. I love him. I also found the long-lost cousin of my dearly loved right-hand ring, and now she sits on my left middle finger. And also! Olivia and I devoured the most incredible lunch of queso arepas with arugula, truffle oil and avocado.

Oh my god, so good.

Walking back to the subway, we admired how amazingly cool Brooklyn is. We were in a completely different area than the night of the Andrew Bird concert, and tiny cafes and shops lined the multi-color facade-d street (I don't think facade-d is a word, but you get my point).

Olivia and I, apparently masters of direction today, caught the subway back to Manhattan and into the heart of Korea town to meet up with the others for dinner. I don't remember the name of our restaurant, but I shared the Korean barbecue with Vanessa, Caitlin and Cara, and it was incredibly delicious (and fun!).

Raw meat was delivered to the table, and we cooked it ourselves. Then we combined it with a huge assortment of Korean condiments and pigged out.

They even brought us dessert!

Delicious raspberry sorbet.

Not wanting to send myself back into a tailspin of sickness, I headed home after dinner instead of going out for the possibility of Korean karaoke. Next time!

Thanks for reading, everyone!

High and Low

Wednesday was full of highs and lows of all sorts. The temperature reached a high of 96 degrees. My wallet reached a cash low. My heels were incredibly high. We found ridiculously low cost drink specials.

We also experienced high and low brow art - starting our day at the Whitney Museum of Art (passing by all the designer boutiques on Madison Avenue that you see in the movies), and closing the day/starting the night by seeing Avenue Q on Broadway. At the Whitney, we were led around by an impossibly cute and articulate curator who, to me, epitomized the definition of "young professional" in New York. She offered so much insight to pieces in the permanent collection that I would not have picked out on my own. We saw incredible pieces from when Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney first started her collection of avant-garde American artworks in the 1920s.

After changing into my previously described 90's bridesmaid dress from the flea market, and my new black heels (baaaad choice, Kendra), we headed to Havana Central for dinner before the theater. Amazingly delicious things were eaten, including lobster stuffed avocado, fried pork belly, calamari with sweet tomato salsa and melted latin cheese and chorizo (and a few margaritas may have been polished off, too). Holy good.

Next up was the Avenue Q show, which was hilarious and incredibly relevant to me as a near college graduate, unsure of my purpose or place in the world. The main characters of the play are actually puppets, and it added a really interesting level to the show, watching the puppets interact with the actors onstage.

After the show, we were ready to hit the bars. A group of seven of us headed back to a part of town we'd passed earlier on the bus but had yet to explore by foot, along Broadway between 110th and 116th - the land of Columbia. The area definitely had a college-town vibe to it, which was a great medium between the hustle and bustle of downtown and the more quiet neighborhood where I-house is located. We found a bar advertising $4 for a beer and shot (giving Rudy's a run for their money in the cheap drinks department!), and couldn't pass it up. The place turned out to be really cool, and we cheers'ed the night away, trying to ignore the fact that we had to be in class the next morning at 9 am.

9 am came WAY too early. Luckily, class was held in an air conditioned room with comfy chairs and couches, and the majority of class was spent watching Bravo's Work of Art: The Next Great Artisist. After class ended, we headed to Grand Central Station to gather inspiration for our own mini Work of Art-style competition.

The Grand Central Clock and turquoise ceiling.

Grand Central was beautiful and huge. The juxtapositions of order and chaos, historic and modern, rich and poor, beautiful and ugly were incredibly inspiring. I took a break from it all long enough to try a cupcake from Magnolia Bakery, which a co-worker at the Arts Council recommended as the best cupcake in the city. Delicious doesn't do it justice.

Just look at it! Beauty.

And then we hopped on a Lady Gaga themed subway train back to Morningside Heights. Danielle gave us each $10 to take to the 99 cent store on 125th to buy supplies for our works of art inspired by Grand Central. We only had 10 minutes, which was challenging, but I was glad because it felt like a microwave in there, and there was a weird guy holding a Cockatoo and talking to it in line behind me. Really.

By this time, I could have almost passed out from the heat (97 degrees!), so returning to our air conditioned classroom to work on my piece of art was so welcome.

Cara, Vanessa and I grabbed some nearby Chinese food for dinner before we all showed our art pieces and talked about our inspirations (may I take a moment here to exclaim again about how ridiculously cool and fun the classwork is!? I got to glue glitter to posterboard today.)

I love being a part of a creative group, and I really feel like our class of 16 is becoming comfortable with each other, which always leads to more interesting conversations and interactions, and for me, better work.

We hit up the I-house ice cream social before playing word games outside the caf for a couple hours. It was a much needed sober evening. We almost all broke ribs laughing a several points in the evening.

Being anti-social at the social.

Now it's to bed, with dreams of a cooler tomorrow.

"You can lead a horticulture, but you can't make her think" - Dorothy Parker

Monday I woke up early, with the energy of a thousand suns running through my veins. I took a lovely stroll up Broadway to a deli where I was given a free banana with my sandwich and the promise of free pasta salad next time I come back. I've been consistently surprised by New Yorker's kindness this last week, as I had been expecting the iconic harsh attitudes and constant rush that the rest of the world has projected onto them. But getting directions with smiles, witnessing kindness to homeless people on several occasions, and receiving free fruit has altered my preconceived notions about New Yorkers in a large way.

I met with the group to venture to lower Manhattan to see sites affected by 9/11. The new World Financial Center, though not yet finished, is massive and beautiful. St. Peter's and St. Paul's churches were ornate yet still personal, and the 9/11 memorial museum brought the entire experience to a real, emotional place.

Archways and chandeliers at St. Paul's.

Beauty and death in the St. Paul cemetery.

Ornateness at St. Peter's.

And yet more ornateness at St. Peter's.

After our scheduled activities were finished, we wandered around Tribeca, and Olivia and I grabbed some food (a bag of sweet cherries from a street fruit vendor for me) and kid-watched in the public park nearby, picking out which adorable children we'd most like to kidnap as our own (kidding, Robert, don't panic). During this time I missed a call from Sara, which resulted in me stomping around in a circle, cursing at myself. She left a 5 minute voicemail that I can't make out a single word of, but I heard her laughing a lot, and that made me feel a little better. God, I miss that woman.

After being stuck in rush hour traffic on the 1 for about an hour and a half, we rushed to the class movie night in the pub downstairs at I-house. We watched Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, and I devoured two huge slices of pizza. The movie was truly great, and had me almost wishing I could have lived in the 20's and been a tortured writer, just like Dorothy Parker. Though the whole hacking wrists and getting abortions thing doesn't sound too appealing. The film follows the high rolling times of a group of friends who were all hugely influential writers and artists in New York City during the 1920's. They ate regularly at the Algonquin Hotel, swapping ideas and jokes.

After the film, Vanessa, Cara, Caitlin and I bought a huge bottle of wine and took it down to the pier. The others joined us in a bit, and it was another great night with some incredible people that I lucked into sharing this experience with.

This morning, in direct opposition to yesterday, felt like I woke up with concrete bricks strapped to my feet. We were rising early to make our reservation at the Algonquin for breakfast and discuss the film from the night before in the place where the events actually took place. Once the coffee (drunk from an incredibly classy white china cup that forced you to hold your pinky out at that odd angle you see rich people achieving in movies) hit my system, I was much more pleasant. The conversation at our table was appropriately enterprising, creative and witty, and I devoured a disappointingly mediocre $24 omelet. But! We did manage to find the elusive hotel cat, who was enjoying an incredibly cute nap.

Aw.

From the Algonquin, we walked past Rockefeller Plaza, where I gawked at 30 Rock, Radio City Music Hall and the Ed Sullivan Theater, where some of us would return later for a taping of the Letterman Show. We split from there, and I went with the group with gelato in their future. Right decision. We chose Grom, and I chose raspberry sorbet with milk and mint gelato. Holy. Sheet. It was too good.

If I could eat this for every meal, I would.

We sought shelter from the glaring sun at this point, as temperatures in the city rose to the mid 90's. Browsed through books and beauties at Borders and Anthropologie, and then headed back to the Ed Sullivan to claim our Letterman tickets. The show was funnier live, though this could be due both to dehydrated delirium and the firm directions we were given to laugh at every. single. joke. whether it was funny or not. Laughing always makes you feel like what you're laughing at is funny.

Tomorrow begins the onslaught of visits to art museums, and I couldn't be more excited.

Till then,

Kendra