Life Changing Meet-Ups (Take II)

I had no idea that this trip to NYC would prove to be so unforgettable.

For the first time, I hadn't planned everywhere I wanted to go. I didn't have a list a mile long of stores and museums to visit. I had no agenda.

Unheard of, for me. Especially, in NYC.

I mean, this is a mecca for someone like me! Craft, hobby, art stores, book and magazine shops, museums, libraries, gardens.... I can easily find more to do than I have time for.

But this trip, I saved room for a little "Que Sera Sera".

I traveled with my business partner, to attend a hair show and her sister and her daughter tagged along to see NYC. Sis is in education and was telling us that her school nurse was in NYC for specialized treatment for a rare form of cancer and that she really wanted to visit her, did we want to come along? D and I looked at each other. Well....that could be awkward, but it would be a nice gesture, since she was so far from home.

So we went.

Have you ever met someone for the first time and found that, before you knew it, they had completely captured your heart?

I felt a connection to her right away. As we chatted, I found her so approachable.

We visited a vintage clothing store where we gasped at the price tags and the clothes of yesteryear. We tried on hats and held up ridiculous purple dresses (trimmed in fur!) and mused about their former life.

Later, all of us strolled through Saks and when she spotted a dog (in. the. store.), she walked over to give it a pat while the rest of us were numbing our olfactory organ by sniffing perfume.

We came across St. Patrick's Cathedral and walked in to the breathtaking interior.

Then, I got the best souvenir of the entire trip:

I don't know why it never occurred to me to have a photo of the two of us taken together. Maybe because I didn't feel I had a right. Me, a virtual stranger...

So instead, I sneaked one.

I showed her the photo and told her how special it was to me.

We continued our walk for a bit and then she had to catch the bus back.

It was a tearful "so long" for all of us.

But now, I look forward to the day she's back home, where she belongs.

And until then, I'll be praying.

Serendipity, Soakings and Starbucks

So, it's taken a week to slow down my cosmopolitan lifestyle long enough to stop and blog about it.

At this time last Sunday, I was at the International Beauty Show in New York City on a rainy day that would last The. Entire. Day.

Despite the Day of Deluge, it was the best trip to NYC I think I've ever had.

I love NYC. There's an energy there that you will find no other place on earth. When I arrive, I seem to find a piece of myself there...waiting.

After visiting several times now, I feel pretty comfortable traversing the city and I felt no pressure to "see" everything.

That left plenty of room for serendipity which I enjoyed in full measure. I just never fully grasped how this trip would change my life forever.

My virtual, online life and my "real" life collided.

hippychick_ hippychick

I'm going to NYC next wknd. Any must see suggestions?

23 Feb Unfavorite Reply Delete

in reply to ↑

@TanyaDennisTanya Dennis

@hippychick_ Do I count as a "must-see"? ;) My NYC faves are the MET, people-watching in any park, and, if you see a show: "The Lion King."

24 Feb via web Unfavorite Retweet Reply

...and so it began...

I didn't see the MET, the park OR Lion King, but I DID see this sweet face:

Tanya was/is SUCH a gift. She drove into the city from the 'burbs in the POURING rain, JUST to see ME!

You know how there's that awkward moment when you first meet someone as you wonder where do we go from here?

None of that happened. We hugged as if we'd been reunited instead of meeting for the first time.

We went for a "modestly priced" (the concierge needs to be educated on the meaning of the word "modest"--ACK) Italian dinner around the corner, chosen mostly for it's location because of the rain. Fortunately, it was delicious, and because we both LOVE food, well, that was a WIN.

Discovering we both love coffee, (WIN WIN) we decided it wasn't a big deal to walk in the pouring rain to find a good cup o' joe over which to chat. We figured there would be a Starbucks on a nearby corner and when we saw a man walking down the sidewalk hunched over a Starbucks cup, we simultaneously accosted him.

Poor guy.

After he pointed to the building right in front of us, he scurried off. ( I swear, he looked over his shoulder to make sure we didn't have designs on HIS Starbucks score.)

Although we succeeded in capturing our own cups of coffee, the chat would have to adjourn to the hotel lobby as Starbucks was closing. (RUDE.)

We talked of everything friends talk about. And I'm sure we could have talked all.night.long. because we had only got started it seemed, when she ruefully looked at her watch and had to start home.

Another hug, and she was off.

I went smiling up to my room and looked at my phone when it hit me...

After all that and WE DIDN'T TAKE A SINGLE PHOTO.

(What kind of bloggers meet and don't take photos? The kind who forget their cameras. *sheepish grin*)

So I called her and found she had just arrived at her car. She drove around the block, parked in front of the hotel, jumped out and we shot our pic in 5 seconds flat.

As I've smiled at the memories we made that night, I've marveled that such a feeling of closeness could be cultivated in such a short time.

Like I said,

A gift.

New York and All That Jazz

I"m going to NYC this weekend for a the IBS hairshow.

But let's be real.

We all know that I'm going for the gastronomic delights that NYC has to offer.

So far, on the must eat list:

Norma's for breakfast.

Grand Central Oyster Bar for lunch (?) snack(?) dinner(?)

And quite possibly, The Central Park Boathouse.

The airline will probably charge extra to fly me home.

The Butterfly Project

My husband has a part in a local stage production of "The Diary of Anne Frank". The cast and crew have asked the community to participate in The Butterfly Project. (Click the link and you will find out how you too can participate!)

This was a wonderful (and easy!) opportunity for me to express myself creatively and be a part of a bigger picture.

Here is some information about the project and the two butterflies I am submitting for the exhibit.

Who's Your Grammar?

I posted a status on Facebook today that sparked a record (for me) 18 comments.

What would incite such scintillating conversation?

Grammar.

Oh yeah. I live on the edge.

In the process, I learned of this website. (Herein is the link to the particular issue that plagued me.) If you want to learn some dirty little literary secrets, go take a peek.

Looky What the Dog Dragged In...

To those of you who remember me remotely, I have not, as otherwise suspected, fallen off the face of the earth.

And....good news:

We now have the computer of our (my husband's) dreams. The iMac has come.

*cue the heavenly choir*

But.

He doesn't want it on the internet. That lasted about a day. Or less. As a consolation prize, he purchased an iPad for me. A wi-fi iPad, to boot.

I knooooow!!!!

I don't need his ole stinky computer anyway.

Except to edit photos and stuff.

But that's all.

I promise.

*snort*

Just So You Know I'm Still Here...

Life, since I last posted, has shifted into fast(er) forward.

We are borrowing a laptop, so we still don't have the (end all, be all) Mac yet. It's coming, one day...

In the meantime...

This year we lost all three of the cats we'd had for the last 15 (ish) years. We have CoCo left, whom I rescued out of the middle of the highway a year ago. A week before we left for vacation, we put down our last old cat. We had a week to enjoy the relief of being a one pet family. And we were not even home.

On the last day of va(stay)cation we went to a friend's house to "play" with the puppies her dog had.

You know what's coming don't you...

We now have a 2 pet home. But I swear a dog is like having

6 cats. Except 6 cats would be a WHOLE lot easier! (I've never had to walk a cat.) All I do anymore is, take the dog potty, walk the dog (2x a day!), get the dog out of the trash, tell her to get down, stop biting, etc. I've also never washed a cat.

Dogs, are clearly high maintenance.

But then I see this face.

Exactly.