new york city – Page 3 – Funk Meets A Lady

Week 30: Uncompleted Sentences.

Published on December 9, 2014January 24, 2015 by Regina PoLeave a comment

Yes, I know I’ve skipped week 29. I switched my work schedule and went to visit my parents down south. It was time well spent, and seemed entirely too short. This week started off with a 6am flight back to NYC where a lovely Nor’Easter (a new term for me) welcomed me home.

Week 30 = anxiety. Ever heard of it? Well, I’ve been very VERY good at keeping my monster of [anxiety] at bay for quite some time. In fact pretty much my entire stay in NYC (let us not confuse stress with anxiety). This week, however, I failed miserably. Now, normally when I’m stressed or pissed off… or any other emotional state I have more than enough words to fill an entire post. Having my mind fluttering from one end to the other with anxiety has left me incapable of sitting down and composing much of anything. [This paragraph is a freaking miracle.]

With this said, I will post whatever pictures I have from week 29 (visit home) & this past week (December 8th – 14th).

P.S: My anxiety is not necessarily stemmed from bad news… mostly just from a combination of very unpleasant situations, stress, & crazy awesome news. I am taking the next week to calm my monster and will return with what I hope will be a much more interesting read. In the meantime, enjoy some photos.

Week 28: Potatoes for Everyone, Dumplings, & an Egyptian Smoke House.

Published on December 5, 2014January 24, 2015 by Regina PoLeave a comment

[This post is coming a week-too-late. I’m still working on getting posts ready in time. I wrote everything on time, but for some reason posting the pictures got the best of my procrastination.]

It’s getting colder. My mood seems to be plummeting with along with the thermometer. Unhappy Regina means Pho for everyone! I have happily sipped on a giant bowl of Pho 3 times this week. In my ideal world, Pho would replace every meal, every day. Including the Turkey. I’m not a big fan. I’d much rather enjoy a bowl of warm bowl of beef broth than munch on dry meat. Just saying.

I decided I should be more visible online – so I joined the world of Twitter. I’ve only made a few posts while researching how to get the best out of it. Twitter is quite the tool.

This Thursday, as all of my US fellows know, was Thanksgiving. The day in America that precedes the greediest day of the year. It’s quite ironic that Thanksgiving is about giving thanks for everything in one’s life… Clearly, for many Americans, this is just a day full of lying to themselves and their families. If everyone was so thankful, we wouldn’t have masses of people lined up and trampling others to buy a toy. Or a TV. Seriously? We might as well call Thanksgiving the Day We Prepare Ourselves to Buy More Stuff. Not very succinct, but I’ve never been good with titles. Some people have actually started shopping ON Thanksgiving. Let’s be clear. Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays (right next to my birthday & New Years). I try to remind myself to be grateful on a routine daily basis so the whole giving thanks is not the allure. Yes, giving thanks is important, but quite frankly if we had a culture where giving thanks didn’t get squished to ONE DAY of the year perhaps we wouldn’t have people trampling others for a freaking iPhone.

On this magical day, I’m able to eat as much food as I [really] want without anyone being the wiser. I’ve mentioned my disdain for turkey (I eat it anyway, thinking ‘this time I’ll actually love it!’), but the other dishes are worthy of seconds. This year, I wasn’t able to afford a ticket home [traveling around this time costs 3x more] so I joined one of my roommate’s family for the day. She is from Long Island. We took the LIRR (pronounced by saying out each letter L I R R – I naively thought it was pronounced leer) and met the most adorable older lady couple on the way. One had short light hair with green triangle earrings that reminded me of the 80’s and a very spunky outgoing nature. The other, wore a black visor over her short curls and a black long sleeve shirt that read ‘Unarmed Citizen’ with another black shirt underneath that read ‘Greed Kills’. Needless to say these ladies had my heart immediately.

Prior to leaving for Long Island, Mary Alice & I made truffle oil garlic mashed potatoes for a group of 30. It was a lot harder than I thought, but success was inevitable. They were pretty amazing.

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11.30: Today was the perfect example of what I had thought my life would consist of constantly. Of course this couldn’t be farther from the truth, but days like today do take place periodically.

Union Square Holiday Market

* Made a couple dumplings stops in the East Village followed by some bubble tea.

* Smoked hookah at an Egyptian Coffee House. This place screamed authentic with the dark and somewhat smokey interior and a handful of Egyptian men hanging out. A couple of men were playing Chinese checkers (?) while enjoying their hookah while another seemed to be dozing off. This was right off of Steinway in Astoria which is filled to the brim with hookah lounges. If you’ve ever walked this street, you’d know what I’m talking about. This hookah spot looked about as far from the other ‘lounges’ as possible. The other spots looked shiny and dark all at once. This spot didn’t have the fancy lighting or seating (the chairs had holes burnt into them), but it was adorned with a giant replica of an Egyptian Mummie at the entrance. We sat there for quite some time, engaging in conversation. I had failed my coffee consumption ritual that morning so I enjoyed my first Turkish coffee here… needless to say my yawns had said their last goodbyes.

* That evening was chilly so I thawed my fingers while sipping a Cosmo by a small fireplace in the back of a small cafe (Cafe Vivaldi) in the West Village. This place is adorbs… very quaint and lovely indoors with tiny tables assembled in just the right orientation to view the front of the room (they host musicians nightly). One of my brother’s friends performed tonight. A perfect ending to a perfect day.

Week 18: Building a Home & the People’s Climate March.

Published on September 21, 2014January 25, 2015 by Regina PoLeave a comment

My week in a nutshell: Ordering furniture never-ending-hell, IKEA still sucks and I hope it burns in a fiery hell that smells similar to freshly cleaned non-synthetic material, decorating makes my insides sing jolly songs, & the People’s Climate March was epic. I also realized that most of my thinking is done on a train and I’ve mentioned this before, but I’ll mention it again. I LOVE riding the subway.

One evening on my way home from work the train was packed pretty tight… and as the train swayed the passengers [involuntarily] followed. I realized of all the places in this city that I feel like I belong the most to the [sometimes short-fused, mal-showered, and caffeine-addicted] amazing NYC family is on the train.

Ordering furniture sucks. Although the delivery went ok this time, I had loads of fun trying (unsuccessfully) to carry the 100 lb box up 3 flights of stairs. What the hell is an elevator?! I just ended up opening the box downstairs and carrying pieces up in chunks. That, too, was loads of fun (am I using too many commas?).

Putting together a poorly constructed piece of furniture is unbelievably entertaining. Better then playing with legos! With legos everything fits, it’s WAY more fun when the pieces don’t match. So. Much. Fun.

I took these pictures while we were still fresh with optimism. Thankfully Megan was there to help. Otherwise I’d still be dresser-less. I ordered this dresser from Overstock.com after reading reviews that it was well-made. The reviewers must have supplemented their sanity with quite the concoction of alcohol and carelessness. Mimosas were had, but clearly not enough for me to forget the amount of fun this was.

I’d show you the finished product, but 2 screws were missing and now I’m 1 drawer down. I’ll be fixing this issue soon. We also put my wall decal up… with some hardship… it is now in 2 pieces.

I hung my mirror. It’s pretty heavy. I hope it doesn’t fall. I’ve also covered the seating cushion in the living room with a cloth I purchased today… the home is coming together.

Since September began I’ve had not much else on my mind except for moving. Making my new place a home has been overwhelming me and I’ve decided to take a breather. I’ve done little of anything else (except for the lovely evening I had this week at my friend’s new UWS apartment)… so next week I’m definitely going to do some exploring.

Then there was the whole gathering of some 310,000 people from around the world. It was inspiring to see so many people rallying to raise awareness to the importance of action against climate change. History was made. I was able to capture some of the experience in photos, but I also got some neat video which I’ll use in my soon-to-be-edited NYC clip.

Week 17: The Angry Inch & My New Home

Published on September 11, 2014January 25, 2015 by Regina Po2 Comments

Last week (because of a premature post) I didn’t tell you about my first Broadway Show (since moving). My friend Chelsea and I went go to see Hedwig & the Angry Inch with Andrew Rannells. He was amazing. It was amazing. I was super bummed that I didn’t get to see Neil Patrick Harris, but this version was pretty incredible! I’ll definitely have to catch NPH in his next Broadway venture.

9.10. Whoa. This week has been about how far my buttons can be pushed. In all honesty, worse things have happened in the world so I don’t feel I should go on and on about my relatively meager issues… I’m fairly certain it wouldn’t be very entertaining to read through anyway.

All in all, I’ve learned that I never -ever- want to move again. I mean it. Maybe if I have all of my things already in one place and just hire some strong folks to carry all of said things up and down stairs it wouldn’t be such a pain in the ass. In my case, I’ve had to order and re-order and order again only to miss the shipment by being at work. Even ordering things from the internet is harder here. Convenience shot out the door when I moved in the first place.

With that said… I’VE MOVED. Hallelujah!!! I have a home. And it is BEAUTIFUL. Once my roomies and I have somewhat settled we’ll be able to fill the apartment in quite nicely. I love decorating almost as much as I love shoes. [Almost] My bedroom should be fairly finished within 2 weeks or so. I’ll be posting pictures of the homey-er version soon.

I took the following photos at night… before writing this post just to get an idea of the space.

Yes, my room is window-less. The only downfall to this scenario. I’m very creative… I’ll make it work.

My neighborhood is as pleasant as it gets. It’s adorable in just about every sense of the word and I’d like to get my camera out and about sooner than later, but for now this picture will suffice.

On another note, until I go get my Brooklyn Library card [WOOOHOOO] I’ve been borrowing bookings from Chelsea. Most of my reading is done on the train.

I don’t recall ever reading this book in school. I came across it on Chelsea’s shelf and went at it. I can’t believe it’s taken me this long… I’m re-reading it for the 3rd time right now. I keep having this feeling every time I’ve finished it that I missed something important.

I know I’ve been saying this quite a bit lately… but I’m determined to get something quality on here sooner than later. Next weekend (September 21st) is the Climate March here in NYC and I’ll definitely be there. Hope to bring you some photos of the events. I’m also going to stop writing the post in one sitting. I’ve always been a 5 drafts kinda gal.

All this week I’ve been carrying around a bunch of this negative energy… mainly because I was exhausted from jumping hoops and getting physically exhausted (Did I mention moving here is no joke?). I’ve had help. A bunch of help from really great friends that I’m not sure I could have survived the past month or so without.

But almost every single day on my way back from work riding of the Manhattan bridge into Brooklyn I’ve had this overwhelming joy fill me up. Every day the trigger was something different. Monday it was the beautiful brunette sitting next to me chatting away in a language I couldn’t begin to pin down the origin. Another day it was the elderly couple sitting quietly side by side reading the same newspaper. Every single time I could literally feel my spirit lifting.

I feel so lucky.

Week 14: The 13th Week and the Week-end.

Published on August 24, 2014January 25, 2015 by Regina PoLeave a comment

I know I skipped Week 13. I worked through pretty much the entire week and spent my weekend recuperating. I did happen to write for one day.

8.14: After my 7th consecutive work day I was feeling pretty worn out (understatement). My brain felt numb and all I wanted for the past couple of days were some tacos. I went to Tacombi in Nollita (?) for some takeout. I could munch on the freshly made corn tortilla alone and be a happy camper. Those tacos hit the spot justttt right.

A favorite band of mine that I came across a couple months on Youtube called Too Many Zoos were planning to shoot their first music video paired up with Moon Hooch in Washington Square Park tonight. These guys are really groovy. They play in the Union Sq. Subway station and are always drawing a crowd. Here is one of their youtube videos

Tonight’s dance party under the Arch was exactly what I needed. I let go. And even though I enjoyed a lovely coughing fit for about 2 hours following said dance party, it was worth it.

Once they finish the music video I’ll be sure to share :] After the dance party under the arch I realized just how tired I was. I couldn’t do much except for sitting; so I took a breather on the bench. As always, Washington Square didn’t fail to entertain. This is what I saw tonight:

An animal balloon artist who looks more like your typical college frat boy with his flow-y surfer-like hair and basketball jersey showing off his latest trip to the gym; creating your favorite animals with the same enthusiasm a balloon artist ought to possess.

A young [rather scrawny] couple loosing themselves in one another as they dance the dance of what I would guess is their first kiss.

The middle aged gentleman enjoying his book by the shimmering glare from the light post nearby.

The couple of teenage kids skateboarding around the fountain. Their hands on the board, feet in the sky, and their heart in the ride.

The Turkish (?) couple sitting beside me studying their NYC subway map in confusion. [They had it sideways, but perhaps that was on purpose.]

The tourists walking through, most of who will never truly understand what gem they are strolling past simply snapping a few photos and moving onto Time Square. As if a still of this extraordinary land could ever illustrate the magic.

If the perfect evening existed. This was it.

Week 14

My work week has changed so now I have Saturdays & Sundays off [yay!]. Tuesday night I played my first Trivia in the city. We went to Poco for their Orange is the New Black night and we tied for 2nd to last place. I clearly don’t remember much about the show.

8.24: It’s 11.36pm on Sunday and I’ve had a wonderful weekend. Much of which was packed with live music and spending time with friends wondering the beauties of the city. I may potentially have found a new home… more on this once it is official. The lack of entries does not directly correlate with a lack of on-goings. I’m simply so in love with the idea of a weekend that once the time actually rolls around I’m immediately off enjoying the day away.

Today was just like any other Sunday… a trip to Russ & Daughters followed by several hours of classical music in the park. I also walked around a bit outside of my normal bench-in-front-of-piano to seek out other musical on-goings. If I ever figure out how to edit videos, I’ll post one here :]

I’ve mentioned Washington Square park many times and I will continue to do so, simply because it is the gem of all gems. Life is really happening here and I absolutely love watching it all bloom.

Hope your weekend was awesome.

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