Memorial Day 2012

Memorial Day.

I've come to dislike this holiday. No offense to what it stands for. But I dislike it. Not only does it set off my birthday, but I don't have any good memories of it. It's always so nonsensical to me because, my birthday shows up so soon after, so do I start off the birthday celebration with Memorial Day or do I savor it and hold out and just kick things off June 1st? Decisions. Decisions. Decisions.

That being said, who owns this year's Memorial Day?

Adorable Awesome and sexually charged Anita.

And in the words of sane, very rarely sober Anita...Let Us Pray. For Both.

Been everywhere

Okay, so the gym addiction slowed down. 

Just long enough for me to take a trip to Vegas (and live a life of complete debauchery) for 6 days, and then, come back, hate myself for a little bit and then, turn around and go to...New York. Epic. I love that city. I love those 2 cities. 

Vegas surprised me, I didn't think I would love it that much but I did. So now I'm home and broke and suffering from intense vacation withdrawal. I woke up yesterday and thought, now it's back to doing what I normally do on Saturdays. Which usually goes like, "Wake up late, do my laundry, laze around the house, go to the gym in the evening and then go out to eat or whatever," and that comprises my oh so fabulous Atlanta Saturday. Lame. It's made me hate Saturdays. 

But the last 2 Saturdays on vacation were:

1. Vegas: Wake up late from hangover. Wear swimsuit, go to the pool, listen as DJ sets up, have beer with spicy chicken tacos while listening to DJ spin the Top 20 hits. Fill up on beer, and then enjoy the rest of my booze by the pool while watching scantily clad women prance (and tan) around the pool. Quite awesome, don't you think?

2. New York: Wake up way early. Rush to airport, pack my car and then, get on plane. Arrive in New York @ 10.30. Take the shuttle into Manhattan, walk through Times Fucking Square at Noon. Check into hotel, have margaritas at closest Mexican restaurant while wishing myself a happy Cinco de Mayo. Then, go shopping on Park Avenue. Can we say, FABULOUS?

3. Cut to Georgia: Wake up late from hangover. Make myself some omelets. They don't taste too good, wish I could have taken myself out to brunch instead, but wallet still bleeding from ALL THE AWESOME ADVENTURES. MUST KEEP TO BUDGET, which means making myself breakfast, even though it's been forever since I cooked for myself. This will have to do. Arrive late to yoga, struggle through my poses and breathing exercises, spend an hour in the sauna trying to detox from my weekends and then, go see the Avengers. 

But in all this, there's a 3rd party that's been quite awesome too. An adorable awesome. Who knew Atlanta had some awesome? 

New York in 48 hours, can you beat that?

My recent trip to New York (for work) for 48 hours was fairly quiet. 

It wasn't as much fun and monumentally adventurous as my tattoo trip from October 2011, maybe because this one had fewer days, but it was memorable all the same. New York is eventful any time of the year. It's like an artists haven. I feel so unleashed artistically every time I visit it. A few events were milestones for me and I thought they were worthy of discussion.

1. I was seated on the bus from the airport with a family visiting America from Switzerland for the first time. The young lady seated with me had arrived with her boyfriend and his parents. She couldn't contain her excitement as we drove into Manhattan from Newark airport. She was just jumping out of the seat, and her boyfriend a couple of seats over was just the same. She was having a mini orgasm. I dropped off at the first stop, Times Square, but I would have killed to see their reaction to the Times Square glitz. Her reaction to the "Welcome to Manhattan" sign was just orgasmic.

I found this memorable based on the fact that Switzerland is my favorite place in Europe even though I've never been. It's just sounds like such an awesome place. The neutrality of it, financial and otherwise, just intrigues me. And here I was sitting in a bus with a woman who calls that home and she thinks that New York, which luckily for me, I can visit for the weekend, is just the most glorious, momentous place. She said, "We see so much of NY in the movies, you know, and now we get to see these places in real life." I just thought, girl, I know the feeling. I don't know if New Yorkers know they have this effect on people who live even in the most awesome of places themselves.

My Hotel Room

My attempt at a selfie that would capture the scenery

NY Landscape

The Cathedral Mass Schedule

Thot this was funny cos of the name "bene"

Fifth Avenue hustle

2. I was able to stay in New York, Times Square actually. At the most fabulous, trendy modern chic hotel in Times Square, actually a few blocks from it - Ameritania at Times Square, at the corner of 54th and 7th. Just around the corner from Studio 54 and The David Letterman (Ed Sullivan Theater) studio. That in and of itself was quite memorable. I have never been able to afford to stay in New York proper, twice I've stayed in Newark and the last time in Jamaica (Long Island Railway was a hassle but okay) so getting to stay in the centre of it all was just amazing. Made me wish I had more time and that the trip wasn't just about work. But as things go in life, there's never enough time for fun.

David. Letterman.

3. One thing that should have made the trip more memorable after these two previous wonderful events, was the cold. It was just so utterly cold that I was pissed. It was 75 degrees on average in Atlanta, so hot that the jeans jacket I had on to the airport had me in beads of sweat. I got to New York and that was just a flimsy cover, even my fingers were cold, and once your fingers get cold, end of story. Plus sweaters were costing the regular price rate not the "end of season" rate so I had to just freeze it out. Get it "freeze-it-out."

4. Then, finally being so close to it, I was able to finally get to Central Park. It was just okay for me. I am not big on nature preserves and such, I would take tall buildings, massive billboards and honking horns any day over the thrills of nature. As soon as I approached it, my sinuses started acting up, and I quickly remembered that the flowers must be shedding their pollen or some sort and that is not a good look for me. So Central Park great, but Park Avenue even better.

This is as close as I got to Central Park

Central Park Attendant took this picture

Columbus circle end of Central Park

5. Then, another downer for me was the crowd. Now I know how natives feel about the surge of tourists. It was just insane. I kept thinking, it's not even really summer yet and we are already dealing with this insane crowd of people in the middle of May, it was bumper to bumper people, human traffic just pushing to get through. I couldn't grasp it. From the wee hours of the morning to late at night, the crowd was just unrelenting. After my work appointment, as I walked back to my hotel, close to noon, I saw a small crowd in front of the Sheraton on 7th Avenue, I thought oh, maybe it's a movie shoot or an A-List movie star. I thought, now I get to see what paparazzi photogs look like. No can do. I asked the first person I could find. A non-English speaking tourist and she summarized - "Mark Zuckerberg from Facebook is going to come out of that hotel." 

Seriously, New York. Seriously. I expected more from you.

Times Square Splendor

6. Then, finally, Cinco de Mayo. In all my excitement and flight arrangements I failed to notice that the day of my arrival coincided with Cinco de Mayo. I thought this would be good, just like arriving to NY on Halloween. There were so many things happening in Atlanta for Cinco that I was just so crushed that I would miss that (along with the great weather) but I was comforted that I was going to an equally awesome vibrant city where I could imbibe and not worry about driving and enjoy my Tequila-fueled Cinco, possibly even better than Atlanta. 

Not so much. I just felt so left out. I was just sitting there at the Mexican bars watching a crowd of friends sip and toast on Margaritas with abandon. This picture may or may not have been the same in Atlanta, but it just felt so non-inclusive, almost lonesome in NY. You know what, now that I think about it, this may have been the same picture in Atlanta. I think it was more disappointing because it was unexpected. I thought NY would be a lot more inviting, a lot less lonely, why, well because of all the people. It was just dry and somber even with the tequila. New Yorkers are known to be unfriendly now so what was I expecting. 

But I can tell you that they did not bat an eyelid every time I asked for a table of one, they treated me just as respectably as the rest so I'd say New York is rather cognizant of the singles. Good points for them. 

In summary, New York if you can afford it, for the breathtaking views, the vibrant energy and the savoir faire of the elite that you can almost taste just a stone throw from you and for that character, that oh so unbeatable dented but perfect character that you cannot match with any other city.

I also didn't mention the shoes. 

Morning in New York

Today was rather interesting and disappointing at the same time. It's my day off. My precious little day off and I am sitting in a bar on West 54th street, across from the David Letterman studio, drinking my sorrows away. Why so? 

I woke up pretty early which one should never do on their day off and I walked to 5th Avenue, Park Avenue, for an appointment. I was hoping that after my appointment I would get to spend time there, go to St. Patricks Cathedral and then, progress from there to have fun on Park Avenue. But that was not the case. I just wanted to get as far away as possible from the scene of my appointment once it was over. On my way there, it was Hoda and Kathie Lee Gifford time on the Today Show so I got to listen in on their show and glance at the few placard holders on the Today Show plaza. On my way back I bumped into a couple of movie productions, and street closures and people watching the hotel entrance as Mark Zuckerberg lazily stepped out of his hotel room onto Broadway (that was pathetic I admit!). But this was all the exciting part of my day. 

The disappointing part started once the appointment was over and I had to make my way to my hotel to rush through the rest of my packing just to make sure that I check out on time. I passed all the lovely restaurants and cafes speeding through to my hotel. The only thing I stopped to do was get a couple of frost-free cupcakes (they call them "classics" over there, how charming) from Magnolia Bakery which I was tempted to enjoy on the grounds of the Time and Life Building. No can do, I'm afraid. I had to keep moving to beat that check out time. And once I did I just realized how stupid it all was. I was inevitably throwing away my last few hours in New York, a chance to take in the breath and grime of the city for one last time until God knows when next, just because I wanted to beat the check out time. From then on, there were even more clocks to beat. I scheduled the shuttle to the airport and then I had to squeeze in some shopping at Macy's Herald Square just in time to meet the airport shuttle at the hotel. Then, when I met that I had to rush to the airport just to meet the flight, which as determined from how shitty the day was, ended up being delayed for over an hour.

So all the rush and panic and missed opportunities was just for nothing.

After my trips to New York and Vegas (both awesome cities in a month) I've decided that I will not schedule any travel on a Monday again. It just cuts into your weekend, you spend the entire Sunday dreading the Monday when you have to leave.

How have I been? I've been everywhere and here, and I am still hanging in there.