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 116th, 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.
