The Best.Weekend.EVER.

This past weekend (my 6th weekend in New York, can you believe it?) Mary Quinn came up from DC to visit. We decided to "Carpe New York" and cross some things off of my to-do list.

On Friday night we went to a Karaoke bar called Iggy's. After about a half an hour of listening to some wannabe Madonnas, we headed to a bar we like called Dorrian's. The bartender is obsessed with us and acts like we're regulars when we come in. Before this weekend, we've been there once...

Saturday we woke up and went to Dukes, a restaurant my friend JFH works at. It's weird to see that she has a real job up here...You know. One of those permanent kinds.

After a hearty brunch that went into the late-lunch hours, we headed up to Central Park to meet Wynn and Jamie for a picnic. We ate cheese and crackers, had wine and watched all of the dogs run around. I am so pleasantly surprised at how many golden retrievers I see up here. Most times they travel in pairs. I like that-- if you're going to coop a golden up in a small NYC apartment, how very nice of you to give him/her a playmate. That's pretty much an accurate depiction of me and my roommates in our small little dorm. Thank God we have each other or we'd probably go crazy and start gnawing on the furniture.

After our picnic in the park, we went to Times Square in hopes of winning the last-minute Broadway student ticket lottery. After intense research into the lottery protocol of each show, we narrowed it down to The Little Mermaid and 9-to-5. My hours of mapping out the box offices/writing down drawing times seemed somewhat in vain when we simply walked up to The Little Mermaid box office and purchased 4 tickets for $30 bucks each, just like that.

The show was incredible. Our seats were great. Everyone mobilized on stage via "wheelies," (shoes with wheels) fluttering their long protruding tails--it really looked like they were swimming. I got nervous when I remembered Ariel loses her voice 1/3 the way through the show...Thank GOD for introspective solos...Also, Flounder was a little boy with yellow, spiky, blue-polka dotted hair. He was awesome at wheelying--you could tell he's definitely had a lot of practice. After the show we went to Italian/Cuban restaurant on 2nd and 5th for dinner. It was nearly midnight by the time we finished, and what I love about New York, we weren't alone.

If you're going to live in New York, go ahead and dismiss any semblance of meal structure you might have. For me, lunch falls anywhere between 1 and 5. Dinner is usually between 9 and midnight. This is going to come as a shock to my parents because at home, lunch is usually before noon and dinner could come as early as 4:30 some days (I've seen Dad make Rose dinner at 3:30.)

New York has forced me to be flexible and has taught me how to remain positive even in the most annoying of circumstances---caught in the rain without an umbrella, stranded at a Subway station when a train hasn't shown up for an hour (note to followers: there's a good reason why you're standing at a subway station alone: the train isn't coming), or paying $6 for a box of Special K. There are too many people here, doing the same thing that you are, to complain. Plus, no one cares anyways. I definitely don't sweat the small stuff. If it takes an hour to get somewhere, I practice my Spanish by translating the Subway ads.

I've learned how to embrace every nuance of this city and simply say, "Okay New York. You're just as cool as everyone says you are. You go ahead and do whatever you want."

On Sunday, my friends and I went to lunch at a diner on the Upper West Side on Madison Ave. We left the first diner because they charged $16 for a grilled cheese (sometimes I have to draw a line with my "go ahead and do whatever you want" mantra.) After finding another place and eating some delicious chicken salad sandwiches, we went to the Met. DID YOU READ THAT CORRECTLY? The 3rd To-Do of the weekend!

(For you sharp people who have kept count and realize I only really achieved 2 to-dos this weekend, take note that I altered "throw a Frisbee in Central Park" to "have a picnic in Central Park." I looked for a Frisbee to throw...counts?)

Student tickets are only $10. We spent about two and a half hours getting lost in the winding halls of art and history. My favorite exhibit was the European paintings (from the 19th century.) I saw some of my favorite artist's work--Renoir. He was Frenchman, BFF of Monet. He and Monet once painted a scene sitting side-by-side. I want to do that someday. I'm afraid though. My two artsy friends (Caroline and Margaret) are extremely talented...If you've seen my work (a doodle here and there, a 2nd grade portrait of a clown that freaks me out every time I pull into the garage, where it hangs...where it belongs....) you'd agree that I should probably paint alone.

I saw Michelangelo's first painting, The Torment of Saint Anthony. It was a pretty wild little peice--a saintly man levitating in the air with demonic, animalistic creatures attacking him. I think my first picture was an aerial-view map of my house at age 3. I mastered the ceiling fan at a young age.

I also saw Manet, Van Gogh, Seurat, Picasso, and Degas. You know, the boys. They all say hello.

Anyways, the Met was a life highlight, and I'm hoping to go back before I leave (either there or the MOMA.) I didn't do nearly enough art-admiring damage. The visit sparked my interest to someday pay a visit to my favorite Renoir painting. It's called Luncheon of the Boating Party. AND it lives in DC. Shae, I believe a visit will be in order.