New York State of Mind

My sister, Emma, came to visit me this past weekend for some sisterly bonding, some New York adventures, and a little vacation from West Hartford before she began rehearsals for our town's impending production of Hairspray (if you're in WeHa you need to be there July 26-28).

Now out of my immediate family, I never considered my sister a city person. I live here and love it. My brother thrives when he’s here and plans to move immediately after graduation. My mom used to work here, commuting from Jersey. My dad’s office is here when he’s not working remotely, plus he’s just a foodie and all-out culture junkie. But my sister…I never pictured her enjoying the bombardment of stimuli synonymous with NYC. As is her way, my sister surprised me during her visit, “The idea of living in New York is growing on me,” she said. I looked at her as if she just declared she was moving to a nudist colony. “I mean, if you have this much fun all the time, it could be awesome.”

Well, folks. As you’ve noticed from my blog, I aim to keep things interesting. I do try to have fun all the time. I’m constantly out and about, running from shows to jazz concerts to food tastings to yoga class to street fairs to whatever the hell else I could possibly find to keep myself busy. The truth is, sometimes I’m exhausted from it. I’m absolutely having a blast. But does enjoying New York mean hopping from activity to activity every day?

Like many things in life, the answer lies in the balance.

It’s best to balance those things which are quintessential New York with “regular” life.

Sometimes I think about what I would be doing, and how my life would be, and what my personal calendar would look like if I still lived in West Hartford, CT. Chances are, I’d come home most nights and watch a movie, or read a book, or go for a walk before going to bed. Doing this every night sounds incredibly boring to me, which is perhaps why I live in a place with so many after-work options. That’s certainly how some people live—even if they’re apartment is in New York—but not for me.

This past week, I put a New York twist on “regular” life and also managed some quintessential New York fun for a balance I aim to achieve more often.

So much of New York’s culture relies on our restaurant scene. As of 2010, there were over 23,000 restaurants in the five boroughs. New Yorkers are famous for using their ovens as extra drawers. But on Wednesday night, instead of going out to dinner, my friend hosted an Italian dinner party.

Salad with roasted vegetables and olives, broccoli rabe, vegetable lasagna, whole blue bass and red snapper with Italian cheesecake for dessert. Thank goodness he put in all the effort, because all I had to do was show up and enjoy the food and the company of his guests. A dinner party. Something different. Something you could do in any city in the world. Something mellow. Something "regular."

When my sister came into town, she of course wanted to do New York things. So we went to eat at one of my favorite restaurants, Becco, before going to see Newsies!!! There is a New York Moment attached to this story. Newsies offers $30 tickets through their ticket lottery (see: New York on a Dime). My sister and I showed up dressed for the theater and entered our names. We stood shaking as names were called. It seemed as if they called every name but ours. Just before the last name, my sister and I held hands and closed our eyes hoping that we would win the last pair to see the 8pm show. “I’m channeling Mary Murphy,” my sister said—she’s a judge on So You Think You Can Dance with SO much energy it just feels like she can make magic happen. The last name was not ours.

Totally bummed.

I run up to the front to ask if Newsies has Sunday performances so we could try again. But then Emma yells my name. So I run back to her.

Turns out: The last name called was an Andy Something-or-other. Andy came with his wife and two friends. Andy’s friend, Ryan, had already won a pair of tickets for Andy earlier in the lottery. Andy’s wife saw us holding hands and told Andy to accept the extra pair of tickets FOR US! Wait. It gets better.

“Wait, you look really familiar,” Emma says to Andy’s second friend. “Were you on So You Think You Can Dance?” BAM! YES! It was Evan Kasprzak from SYTYCD Season 5! Evan is IN Newsies and wanted his friends to see the show. So Evan’s brother Ryan, also a contestant on SYTYCD, Andy and Andy’s wife (still no name) all entered hoping that they would win a pair to see Evan in the show. We stood talking to Evan about SYTYCD, Newsies, the other SYTYCDers in Newsies, dance, theater, Kat Deeley, and the woman who’s channeling made it all happen: Mary Murphy. Surreal. Competely surreal.

Evan definitely thought I was a crazy person because I was talking so loud and so fast. I could not comprehend that I was going to see the show that night. And that we didn’t win the lottery, yet those people were just so sweet. And that we met him just chillin outside the theater. CRAZY.

As a side note, the show is INCREDIBLE. I am completely obsessed. Get your ass to that theater. NOW.

Sunday Emma and I slept in before grabbing brunch at Good Enough to Eat—rumored to have a great brunch. It was tasty, for sure. We waited in line for 40 minutes to get in, but we were in no rush. Not rushing felt great. So unlike New York….

We wandered around the Upper West Side a bit. We stopped in to my apartment for an afternoon snack. Having nothing really to do, we decided to go all tourist-y and take a rowboat ride in Central Park. So fun!! I should also mention, the rowboat ride in Central Park seems like one of those things that would be outrageously expensive just because it’s New York. Newsflash, it’s $12 for an hour on the lake. It was nice just to relax in the shadow of the sun as it set, tucked behind the trees of Central Park away from the cement and honking.

To top off our weekend we went to the movies to see Brave. Nothing terribly special. Nothing notably New York, yet completely enjoyable.

The thing is, New York gives you the option. Take advantage of unique New York attractions or just go about your day--that’s the big advantage of living here. Balance. Choice. So yes, Emma, if you live it the way we lived it, New York is always that much fun.