So back in October me and two friends decided to go to New York for New Year's and spend 5 days. We lucked out big time when we got a free place to stay (friend of one of the friends) by agreeing to cat sit for the first 3 nights and then we checked into a hotel the last night. The free apartment was in the upper east side and the hotel was in Midtown. nice.
New York is amazing! We had plans to see a Broadway show, run in Central Park, go to the MOMA, maybe the Met. We did none of that. The first night we stocked up on groceries and some alcohol for the apartment.
The apartment. I'm guessing it was 1,000 sq ft, 2 bedrooms, 1 bath. There was a queen in one bedroom and bunks in the other. I took the bottom bunk. I had bunk beds when I was a kid, but haven't slept in one since.
The cats. Gus was the sweetest thing! He was a grey tabby and you could tell he was the runt. He would kneed on us and his claws would get stuck in our clothes. Bori was a tuxedo cat who hid most of the time.
So the first night we went to a bar called Tonic. It was down from Rodeo, which is where we wanted to go, but it was too packed. Tonic on Tuesday nights has $3 draft including Guinness. Yum. I think that's the least I've paid for a Guinness. We then went to a really cool bar called Puck Fair. It was Irish, I think. Awesome. Great people, great food, great time.
The next day was New Year's Eve. It was in the 30s I think and there were snow flurries. It was beautiful. We walked through Central Park to 5th avenue, where we took pictures o all the buildings decorated for Christmas and shopped. And shopped and shopped...There were people waiting in line to get into shops. Crazy. Charlotte has most of the stores along 5th, so we skipped most of them. I bought a shirt in Zara for my sister's birthday, but other than that I was able to pass up the bargains. It's funny the difference in clothing needs in NYC vs Clt. In NYC, you need a very warm coat, hat, gloves, and scarf, but under that you need thin shirts and sweaters. Because while it's 20s-40s outside the buildings it's 75-80 inside the buildings. In Charlotte, you need a light jacket, occasionally a hat, gloves and scarf, but you need heavier sweaters underneath. Because it's 40s-60s outside the buildings and 50s-60s inside the buildings. That's why I like working from home.
We did go into Bergdorf's which was having a 60% off shoe sale. What is 60% off of a $2,955.00 pair of boots? Ans. Still too freakin much. But there were people in their trying them on like they were free. Please. If I'm going to pay that much, they better be motorized.
That evening we went to Bryant Park Bar & Grill. We didn't upgrade to VIP. Not a huge deal, but it was mostly kids. I felt like I was chaperoning prom. There were people older than us, but not many of them. But it was open bar. I decided to stick to Cranberry and Vodkas all night. Fattening yes, but it's New Year's and I didn't feel like thinking about other drinks. We got there after 10 so midnight hit fast. We were in the area that was under a tent with a clear ceiling and was a lot less crowded when we toasted New Years. The cool part was that the confetti from Time's Square managed to float around the tall buildings between Bryant and Times and landed on our tent ceiling. It was a really, really cool site. The most interesting part to me was that they did stop the music and do a countdown, but they didn't have tvs all over the place showing the ball drop. I guess they figure if you want to see it, you can just walk over and see it.
After midnight we made our way back to the dance floor and found a spot. We met quite a few people, but I don't remember any names at this point. There was a guy from Australia who told me he loved 'your country' and a girl who had moved to NYC from NC.
After about 2:30, the very drunk crowd got very interesting. Of course all the guys who hadn't secured a hookup yet were on the prowl. Puh-lease! At this point you see a lot of drunken staring and a lot of 'desparate coupling.' But that's their problem. We took off and grabbed a cab (it was -10 with windchill so the subway was out) back to the apt around 3:30. I had a great time!
The next day started late and slowly...Oddly, I couldn't sleep. I think I was out of bed by 9, but the day was far from started. It was a clear day, but the high was only 26. At some point, me and one friend went and got pizza and gatorade. YUMMY pizza! Lots of toppings, just like I like it. But they could have heated it a little longer. The gatorade brought me back to life and the day was fully started. We walked through Central Park, but not far. It wasn't only cold, it was windy and cold. It was interesting seeing the few dedicated runners out. One girl was even doing repeats on what passes for a hill in NYC.
That evening we went in search of the traditional New Year's day meal of black-eyed peas and corn bread. We agreed to meet a friend by Columbia at a soul food restaurant. When we got there, they were out of food. So no black-eyed peas to start the year. We ended up at a French restaurant around the corner, Le Monde, I think. Yummy food. Early night as we had all had our fill.
The next day was the perfect day to get in our run at Central Park. But we had to pack and leave the apartment and check in at the hotel. Not sure why this took all day. Time stands still in Mexico, but it flies in New York. The hotel was the Affinia Gardens and I highly recommend it. The room was huge and layed out very well. After checking in we went to SoHo to walk around and see NYU. Beautiful. What a great area! I'm pretty sure we went to a bar in this area, too, but I don't remember it. I do know we spent some time at the Soho Grand which is very chic. And then we walked through some packed bar (looked and smelled like a frat party) and then back to Midtown for eats. Good eats at 2am. Where else can you find that?
It was an awesome trip and I've never been sadder to leave a place.
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