There are about 15 posts I have knotted into a big ball of words in my brain from the last two insane weeks of my life. And now that I have the KEYS to MY APARTMENT in the West Village (!!!) I surely will have little to no time to untangle them onto this screen. Because I will be packing my life into little boxes, again. And then I fly to Mexico, because that's just what you do in the summer.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
The keys to my new nest
Posted by A Jew and an Ex-Mo Go To South America at 8:12 PM 4 comments
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Anatomy of a great date.
I'm not a great dater. Yet. I am an attractive, single young woman in Manhattan, but I'm also right in the thick of really learning how to be that. Successfully. I'm used to seeing myself as an unattractive, awkward, quiet, undesirable. And it takes some doing to completely recalibrate. Until you get to that point where you don't have the knee-jerk reactions, the oblivious non-flirty responses to flirtation, the automatic eye-diversion. So, as I think I've said, I'm right in the middle of that learning curve, and that is A-OK.
So I've been dating a bit lately. Quite regularly. And I've experienced the unpleasant, the humorous, the awkward, the embarrassing, the mediocre, and occasionally the great. (One guy's idea of a compliment: to tell me how adorable my 'chubby cheeks' are. I graciously chalked that one up to a cultural/language barrier.)
So. Friday. Post-crisis. I take a shower, wash my eyes with contact solution, put on a pretty dress, and head up-town to the Met. I don't go to the Met nearly enough, so it's just a treat to be there on a summer evening. Add to the equation one of the most stunning exhibitions I've ever seen: Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty. Theatrical, gorgeous, emotional. Whoever created the actual exhibition itself deserves an award, I've never seen anything like it. You should be bummed if you never get to see it, but at least click over to the website and take a look around.
He wanted to see a favorite DJ in the East Village at Home Sweet Home, one that would apparently call for dancing. So, since we were right by my apartment, and my dress wasn't an ideal one for dancing, I suggested I pop upstairs to change (this date even called for a costume change...) Good move, because the DJ, Jonathan Toubin, plays '60's soul music, not a bad song in the mix, and that is absolutely my favorite music to bust a move to. We danced, and danced, and danced, and this man knew how to lead, my friends. I had such a blast.
I got home at 2 or 3 in the morning, curled up in bed for a few hours, before I woke up to a full day of work. But I didn't mind a bit.
Again, I don't know how compatible this suitor and I will end up being, it's only been one date, after all, but I had such a good time, after such a shitty couple of days-- it just felt so good to talk, laugh, eat, and dance with such gusto.
Bon.
Posted by A Jew and an Ex-Mo Go To South America at 9:19 PM 1 comments
S'il vous plait.
Posted by A Jew and an Ex-Mo Go To South America at 7:17 AM 0 comments
Open up your plans and, damn, you're free.
Oh friends, I had a couple of intensely bad days last week. The wonderful thing about having such dark hours, is that those are the times when you recognize what a lucky girl you are for having a few people in your life who just really love you. It's so easy to allow yourself to stop believing you have these stalwart few, these gracefully indefatigable supports. Can I say, especially when you're single? I don't get that daily, physical reminder that another human being loves me. I genuinely think I am a lovely person, and it's still a surprise, a beautiful little discovery, when I witness someone's selfless care for me.
I can only hope I return it in kind.
For the second time, in less than a year, I have been given notice to vacate my little home. There are a few reasons why this lovely surprise brought me crumbling to my knees on Thursday. It's true, there have been things about my little nest in the Village that have been less than satisfactory. But living in this neighborhood is genuinely one of my favorite things about my life right now. (Wise words from la soeur: 'then more things need to change in your life, Laura.') I felt like that big piece of happiness was being robbed from me. Because you know what? You can't find 2-bedroom apartments in Greenwich Village for the rent I pay.
I also have about 2 1/2 weeks to find a new place. A permanent place, because I am not a college kid anymore and I have a real life, with real things. And that feels like an exceptionally tall order when piled upon my demanding job. In addition to, you know, packing and actually moving and then unpacking. Which in itself is exceptionally tiring. Do you know how short 2 1/2 weeks are?
How many times must I gather my life into boxes and carry them across this City?
I also feel like I am currently trying (struggling) to answer some Big Life Questions. I'm trying to allow myself the time to explore them enough to adequately offer myself an answer, and having the stability of a home threatened while I'm trying to explore those Questions is just... a bit overwhelming. And making a big choice about where I'm going to live, for how long, for how much, on or off a lease, when I have not answered those Questions is also just a bit much. I know I'm being vague. I would so prefer not to be, but you know, this is the world wide web, after all. If we went out for coffee I could really unload on you.
Nothing feels right when your home is in flux. Keep your fingers tightly crossed for me. I am trying to take things moment by moment, day by day, and not fall apart. Again.
And as for those Big Life Questions, change is sometimes exciting, and always scary, but nothing is gained when nothing is risked, and what, my friends, is the point of that? I'd be getting nowhere, and pretty damn slowly at that, and that would certainly not make me happy.
Posted by A Jew and an Ex-Mo Go To South America at 7:12 AM 1 comments
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Running on croissants, cappuccinos, and steel-cut oatmeal.
Speaking of falafel, I was at the world-famous (well, NYC-famous?) falafel house on Macdougal, waiting in line like all the other bar-closers, when a brawl breaks out in this TINY falafel house. Macho idiocy at its finest. The rest of us were just like 'Cut it OUT guy, we just want falafel!'
Posted by A Jew and an Ex-Mo Go To South America at 6:55 PM 1 comments
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
I'm planning on doing a whole lot of this this summer.
Hello, polka-dot bikini. (Today is the first time I've ever worn one.)
Posted by A Jew and an Ex-Mo Go To South America at 6:38 PM 0 comments
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Sparkly
I have a problem: my love for carbonated water is battling my habitual reduce/reuse/recycle mode.
Posted by A Jew and an Ex-Mo Go To South America at 7:48 PM 0 comments