HEY, YOU! WAKE UP WHITE GIRL! Just another one of your usual 20-something year old white girls trying to figure her life out in New York City. Except for I'm actually not that usual. Follow me into my world of antics. I'm fun, I promise.
“A Day Without Sunshine Is Like..You Know…Night,”- Steve Martin
And with that, I head home to Los Angeles for a few days to basque in the glory that is also known as “sunshine.” Because I really need it….I’m not feeling the weather forecast for New York. Maybe by the time I return, this unfortunate cloudy circumstance shall clear itself up. Basically what I am doing here is the same thing I do at a restaurant when I am really hungry: If I’ve been waiting long enough for my food I go to the restroom in hopes that when I return, my food will be pleasantly waiting for me at the table. Here’s to hoping that by the time I come back from a visit to my hometown, the beautiful weather will be there waiting for me in New York City.
Last time my mother was in town, we went for lunch at Sant Ambroeus. Next to us sat such an elegant lady, perhaps aged in her late 60’s or early 70’s. When she spoke to the waiter to order, we noticed she had an accent and my mother, bless her talkative soul, asked this elegant woman where she was from. This is how a lovely little conversation between three generations of ladies began and it was in this lovely little conversation that I was told a story that taught me a lesson I will remember for the rest of my life.
As we got into chatting, the elegant woman began to tell my mother and me the story of how she and her husband had met. Elegant Lady had been living in Los Angeles as a pianist. She would practice her piano for hours everyday, leaving her window open to allow in the fresh warm air, which of course would cause the sound of her piano-playing to carry into the outdoors. A man lived across the street, and he also worked in the music industry. He would play his classical music records and like the lady, would keep his window open to allow in the fresh warm air, which of course would cause the sound of his music to carry into the outdoors.
For a while now, the lady would walk by this man’s home and could hear his records being played. Within this same time, the man would walk by the lady’s home and could hear her playing the piano. Finally, one day, this lady and this man happened to attend the same concert. Here, they introduced themselves and exchanged information. Later, they realized they were neighbors, “You’re the lady who plays the piano across the street? I listen to you play every day. I love to listen to you play,” he said to her. The lady responded, “You’re the man who listens to beautiful classical music…I can hear your music playing from my home…I love to listen.” This lady, the elegant lady at lunch, and this man have now been married for 45 years.
Here we are in a big, busy, fast paced world filled with so many people. We cross paths with people we may never meet again and other times, our paths are meant to cross. Sometimes, we cross paths before we even know we have done so. And then sometimes, our sole mates are closer than we had imagined, maybe even across the street.
In life, it is best that we too, like this lady and this man, leave our “windows” open, leaving ourselves open to give and receive. Only then can those who we cross paths with hear our music. Only then can we be open to hearing theirs.
This is the part of my blog where I don’t talk about anything deeply emotional and I share with you something on my list of favorite things…Just like Oprah, except not, kind of!
After the most delicious brunch at Extra Virgin in the West Village, my friend Ross took me to a store that has now become my new obsession: Glassybaby!
Glassybaby is a unique little place. They sell handblown glasses in the most incredible array of colors that I have ever seen. These glasses can be used as drinking cups or small flower vases, but it seems that their most common use is for votive candles. This may seem silly, but in truth, these small colorful cups are quite special. Because of their unique colors, putting a simple tea light inside of a Glassbaby cup allows for the most beautiful, colorful glow. Again, each glass is handblown, so no two cups are exactly alike…Not to mention, the names given to the colors of each glass are adorable and make for fantastic gifts, you know, the kind of gift where you’d like to include a sweet little message…(For example, there is a beautiful pink colored cup called “Sister,” which is a precious little gift for a sister…Might get a couple for MY sisters!)
The store itself is a charming space with white wood shelving, perfectly worn wood floors and a great brick patio covered with trees in the back. Additionally, the employees of Glassybaby could not possibly be any more lovely, helpful and fun!
Each pretty colored Glassybaby cup retails for $44 each and if you either purchase a Glassbaby from a specific seasonal collection OR choose to rent a bunch of Glassbabies for an event, 10% of your purchase goes to charity…A fun and great way to add a little beauty to your home and give back to the community! DOUBLE YES!
If you’re in New York City, head over to Glassbaby at 555 Hudson Street and explore or you can always shop online/check for other store locations on the Glassbaby website:
10 Little Things I Have Learned So Far About New York While Living In New York
1. There are people you can pay to do your laundry FOR you AND they will ALSO fold it. I can barely wrap my head around that one, it’s just too good!
2. You can buy fresh flowers at every single little market/mart/deli which are conveniently located all over the place and basically on every block. And I love that!
3. Everything is open all of the time. If you’re hungry at 4 a.m. you can order food. I consider Seamless.com to be the ultimate luxury.
4. When it gets hot here, everything smells like fish farts.
5. There are so many dogs around NYC and you can pet them all. Or at least, I do.
6. The pharmacists at CVS in this city are a breed crankier than I have ever known.
7. Hanging out in sweatpants in public is an LA thing. They don’t do that here. But seriously. It simply is not done.
8. Carrie Bradshaw is full of shit. You can’t run around New York City in heels like that…
9. I get the pleasure of watching parking enforcement write parking violations. I call this a pleasure because it’s never me violating any parking laws for the first time in my life since I started driving at 16. You can walk everywhere in this city. You don’t even need a car! Imagine THAT…
10. In moments where you feel surrounded and taken over by large amounts of steel and concrete, you can simply walk through Central Park and get your mind right all over again.
This is a photo of model Doutzen Kroes in a gown by the brilliant Zac Posen that she wore to the Met Gala two years ago. However, I still gasp every time I come across this image. It’s one of the most beautiful pieces I have ever seen. This gown is everything, and so is Doutzen!
To be honest, I don’t just gasp…I cover my mouth, put my other hand over my heart, shut my eyes and melt. Yes that’s right, I melt. I melt like a neglected crayon left behind by a child in a car, parked directly in the sun on a 95-degree-weather-day in a tree-less TJ Max parking lot. I melt. MELT.
Excuse me, I’m gasping and melting. Let’s talk later.
