The one day of the year when everyone is IRISH!!! Lucky for me, my name (ERIN) is Gaelic for Ireland, so I'm extra special. All the folks I served just loved that! Yes, I spent the entire day in a restaurant/bar... but I was working. The morning at Bourbon Street, which is a New Orleans themed place but owned by 4 Irishmen, therefore we decked out the place in Irish decor for the special holiday. Shockingly we weren't that busy. MAYBE ITS BECAUSE WE'RE NOT AN IRISH BAR! Hmmm... puzzling.
Anyway, the second half of my day was spent at job #2, O'Flaherty's Irish Pub. Yes, I am experiencing NY exhaustion on a whole new level since taking on this second job, but I can't complain when unemployment is on the rise everywhere else in the country. In Erin's world there is no recession... or sleep. Back to St. Patty's, O'Flats was much busier. By 5 p.m. we were so full I could not walk through the place without contorting my body in a million different ways just to get around people to deliver drinks and food. My cohorts from Bourbon came down after getting off. I even had a drink with a leprechaun (one of the owner of Bourbon is a short little Irishman who probably wouldn't appreciate me calling him a leprechaun, hehe). The night lasted longer than I thought possible and I was never happier to call it a day and fall into bed!
As a Texan, St. Patrick's Day has never been anything more than a reason to pinch someone for not wearing green. But in New York, I experience holidays on a whole new level!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Sunday, March 1, 2009
The Best Ever!
Please keep in mind that this was the day after Mardi Gras...
The adventure began on a surprisingly gorgeous, sunny afternoon, where else but Times Square at the TKTS booth. The finale of the Texan and Kiwi. Two souls brought together in the melting pot of the world on Restaurant Row, each forever changed by the other. I, of course, am talking about myself and my closest friend Avi, a traveling, wine-loving, surfing, artistic, law school grad leaving March 1st to continue his journey. Ok, the scene is set, the players introduced, and so begins the best day in NYC...
Our mutual friend attends the King's College, which holds class in the Empire State Building. Upon our request, she drags herself from a mid-afternoon slumber to help us bypass the lines and receive a discount to the top! We had tickets to Billy Elliot at 2 p.m. and we didn't arrive to the top until 1:40 p.m. We gave ourselves 10 minutes to look out in each direction over the endless buildings of NYC. Despite the haze, its incredibly freeing to breathe above it all. The City is massive, but manageable up there. With little time to ponder much more, we raced thru the maze of commercialized merchandise one must walk thru when leaving the observation deck. We hit the street at 1:55 and hopped into a cab, b/c we had no other choice. The driver was informed if he could get us there in time for the curtain, there would be an extra tip in it for him. Yikes! Careful when you say that. I feared for the pedestrians. Avi and I were dropped at 45th and Broadway and ran down the street. Some of you may be thinking, "there is no way you'll make it. What's the point?" Well, a little insight for you ill-informed, all Broadway curtains are held until 8 minutes past the hour. However, despite this cushion we came in at the very end of the opening number. Billy Elliot made me cry. The first act final dance sequence blew me away. We loved it!
Next we ventured over for a drink and apps b/c we decided we'd try for the lottery drawing for West Side Story. Not a lot of people have the stamina or interest for two Broadway musicals in one day, which is why Avi is amazing! Ha! We dottle a bit too long at the restaurant and arrived to the theatre as they were closing the entries. I begged the guy to let us enter and amazingly relented. Three names in I heard my name called. Can I just say, if you ever enter a lottery drawing for tickets, please be enthusiastic when you win. So many people are just too casual about it. You get to see a Broadway show, on the front row for less than $30, is a little jumping and screaming too much to ask? That is precisely what I did. What is funny is as we waited inside to buy our tickets, we heard them call Avi's name too! We were just meant to see West Side Story that night!
With two hours to kill, we ventured to the Lower East Side to a bar we'd heard gives free pizza with each drink purchased, even during Happy Hour! How have I not visited this place before? We had our little personal pizza and drink and headed back to midtown arriving at the theatre with plenty of time to spare!
West Side Story has only just begun previews, opening in March. This particular production has Spanish mixed in and I LOVED it! Maybe its b/c I come from a land full of Spanish, but I thought it added something very interesting to the show. Another great performance that added to the magic of our day!
Eager to get out of midtown, we descended to the Village. At this point Avi pretty much took over with directions cause lower Manhattan confuses me. We stumbled upon a cute little Italian place and talked over a bottle of Cabernet. One of my favorite parts of the night. A good bottle of wine, lovely environment, great company and a conversation ended only by the empty bottle and closing restaurant.
We continued the night strolling the lively streets of Greenwich Village. We were invited in to catch the end of a free stand-up show, which I'm often leery of but we decided to check it out. We laughed but doubtful we saw the next Seinfeld. In the bar above, a live bluegrass band was playing. I haven't heard live music in forever, we were all about it. A little dancing, but mostly just listening.
Feeling a bit fatigued, we agreed to leave but we had one more stop before calling it a night. Av wanted to walk the Brooklyn Bridge at night. Now anyone concerned with my personal safety (parents) stop reading now. We hopped into our second cab of the day, which I never take cabs, but we didn't know the nearest subway and were too tired to look for it. We asked him to drop us at the bridge. He told us not to walk the bridge alone at this time of night. Isn't that great?! The cab driver was looking out for us. Of course, we did not heed his advice but thanked him anyway. As unsafe as this may have been, I'll never regret making such a poor decision. We were the only people on the entire bridge all the way across! We sang and danced our favorite songs at the top of our lungs. Incredible!
Falling asleep on the subway, I rehearsed my Shakespeare sonnet to Avi as he dozed. I am extremely grateful for everything that fell into place for this day to happen. A blessing!
The adventure began on a surprisingly gorgeous, sunny afternoon, where else but Times Square at the TKTS booth. The finale of the Texan and Kiwi. Two souls brought together in the melting pot of the world on Restaurant Row, each forever changed by the other. I, of course, am talking about myself and my closest friend Avi, a traveling, wine-loving, surfing, artistic, law school grad leaving March 1st to continue his journey. Ok, the scene is set, the players introduced, and so begins the best day in NYC...
Our mutual friend attends the King's College, which holds class in the Empire State Building. Upon our request, she drags herself from a mid-afternoon slumber to help us bypass the lines and receive a discount to the top! We had tickets to Billy Elliot at 2 p.m. and we didn't arrive to the top until 1:40 p.m. We gave ourselves 10 minutes to look out in each direction over the endless buildings of NYC. Despite the haze, its incredibly freeing to breathe above it all. The City is massive, but manageable up there. With little time to ponder much more, we raced thru the maze of commercialized merchandise one must walk thru when leaving the observation deck. We hit the street at 1:55 and hopped into a cab, b/c we had no other choice. The driver was informed if he could get us there in time for the curtain, there would be an extra tip in it for him. Yikes! Careful when you say that. I feared for the pedestrians. Avi and I were dropped at 45th and Broadway and ran down the street. Some of you may be thinking, "there is no way you'll make it. What's the point?" Well, a little insight for you ill-informed, all Broadway curtains are held until 8 minutes past the hour. However, despite this cushion we came in at the very end of the opening number. Billy Elliot made me cry. The first act final dance sequence blew me away. We loved it!
Next we ventured over for a drink and apps b/c we decided we'd try for the lottery drawing for West Side Story. Not a lot of people have the stamina or interest for two Broadway musicals in one day, which is why Avi is amazing! Ha! We dottle a bit too long at the restaurant and arrived to the theatre as they were closing the entries. I begged the guy to let us enter and amazingly relented. Three names in I heard my name called. Can I just say, if you ever enter a lottery drawing for tickets, please be enthusiastic when you win. So many people are just too casual about it. You get to see a Broadway show, on the front row for less than $30, is a little jumping and screaming too much to ask? That is precisely what I did. What is funny is as we waited inside to buy our tickets, we heard them call Avi's name too! We were just meant to see West Side Story that night!
With two hours to kill, we ventured to the Lower East Side to a bar we'd heard gives free pizza with each drink purchased, even during Happy Hour! How have I not visited this place before? We had our little personal pizza and drink and headed back to midtown arriving at the theatre with plenty of time to spare!
West Side Story has only just begun previews, opening in March. This particular production has Spanish mixed in and I LOVED it! Maybe its b/c I come from a land full of Spanish, but I thought it added something very interesting to the show. Another great performance that added to the magic of our day!
Eager to get out of midtown, we descended to the Village. At this point Avi pretty much took over with directions cause lower Manhattan confuses me. We stumbled upon a cute little Italian place and talked over a bottle of Cabernet. One of my favorite parts of the night. A good bottle of wine, lovely environment, great company and a conversation ended only by the empty bottle and closing restaurant.
We continued the night strolling the lively streets of Greenwich Village. We were invited in to catch the end of a free stand-up show, which I'm often leery of but we decided to check it out. We laughed but doubtful we saw the next Seinfeld. In the bar above, a live bluegrass band was playing. I haven't heard live music in forever, we were all about it. A little dancing, but mostly just listening.
Feeling a bit fatigued, we agreed to leave but we had one more stop before calling it a night. Av wanted to walk the Brooklyn Bridge at night. Now anyone concerned with my personal safety (parents) stop reading now. We hopped into our second cab of the day, which I never take cabs, but we didn't know the nearest subway and were too tired to look for it. We asked him to drop us at the bridge. He told us not to walk the bridge alone at this time of night. Isn't that great?! The cab driver was looking out for us. Of course, we did not heed his advice but thanked him anyway. As unsafe as this may have been, I'll never regret making such a poor decision. We were the only people on the entire bridge all the way across! We sang and danced our favorite songs at the top of our lungs. Incredible!
Falling asleep on the subway, I rehearsed my Shakespeare sonnet to Avi as he dozed. I am extremely grateful for everything that fell into place for this day to happen. A blessing!
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