Roommates

I used to be intimidated by New York City. It's big, I'm small. It's fast, I'm slow. It's aggressive, I'm timid. Over the years, I've gotten much more comfortable with it and actually kind of like the place a little now. It has a lot of the positive qualities I look for in a city: good food, green space, public transportation, and it's walkable. Jenn never had a problem with it. As the cliche goes, she loves New York.

We were able to find the time on our trip back to the US to spend a few days there and see our friends and their children. Jeff, my college roommate, and his wife, Michelle, recently welcomed their daughter, Lauren, into the world. Jenn's college roommate, Katy, also lives in New York with her husband, Darryl, and their two children, Audrey and Logan. Katy was pregnant with Audrey at our wedding.

It was really great getting to see our friends and spend quality time with them. It was also fun to be with Jenn's parents, who came up to meet us at the end of the week.

WIA: We had a nice dinner date at Market Table in the Village. It's a small, comfortable place that feels like New York. Jenn enjoyed the scallops and I had the braised beef short rib. It was good, but I'm finding that it's now a bit lazy and uncreative for any restaurant to have it on the menu and even lazier for me to order it. We also shared a delicious large bowl of french fries. I drank a Bengali Tiger Sixpoint IPA out of Brooklyn, that probably was just fine since I can't remember it being bad or good. We then walked all the way back to Midtown and took in the city at night.

On Friday, we ate lunch at Mario Batali's Eataly, which is a huge Italian food market with a couple of restaurants, a sandwich counter, a gelato place, and probably a few other things that I didn't notice. That evening, we had a pre-theater dinner with Allan, Sooze, and Katy at Daniel Boulud's DB Bistro Moderne in midtown. Everything we had was pretty good, but all I really remember from the evening is that I was upset because Jenn shared her burger with Katy. Usually, Jenn and I share dishes, but now that she had Katy around, I was out of the picture. It felt like college all over again.

We finished off the weekend with brunch at Blue Water Grill in Union Square. We ended up there because they were able to accommodate a big party. We met Katy, Darryl, and their kids, along with Jeff, Michelle, and Lauren. It's weird being with your college friends and feeling like you're now at different stages of life. I will always remember Jeff and Katy as they were in college and though I've been with them over the years and seen them mature (just slightly in both cases), it still all seems a little strange and out of place. The beauty of old friends is that it doesn't necessarily matter. You always have the times you shared together in the past that you'll never forget and can reminisce on together. When you're in the moment, sometimes it feels like no time has gone by at all, and other times when you see them as role models and parents, it's clear how times have changed.
We made a couple of stops during the trip at Magnolia Bakery for cupcakes and as much as I wanted to hate them because it's so overhyped, they were really moist and delicious. The banana pudding was also really good.

WID: We purposely didn't do much. We wanted to spend time with friends since we don't always get that opportunity when we come back to the United States. We went out to Long Island one night to visit with the Yanovers and then went out the next day to Chappaqua to hang with Katy and the kids. I was most impressed when at Katy's house, both of her kids ate brussel sprouts at lunch. Maybe they are as scared of  her as I am and do whatever she says or they are good kids and eat their vegetables. The jury is still out. Otherwise, we pretty much just walked around, shopped, and ate.
On Friday, we went with Allan and Sooze (Jenn's parents) to the 9/11 Memorial, which we all thought was really well done. It's understated, two big fountains where the buildings stood, but still makes an impact. I had never been to the World Trade Center before when the buildings were standing, but I've certainly seen enough images from television to appreciate the impact of what is no longer there and what you see now.

We went to the theater on Friday night to see The Book of Mormon, which was every bit as good as its reputation. It's definitely not for everyone. I was worried about Jenn's parents, and Sooze even said after the show that most of it was over her head, which I don't doubt. I thought it was hilarious and extremely clever. I will say I think they crossed the line in a few cases, but not as much on the Mormonism side, but more on some of the stuff with Uganda, where the show is set. It's interesting how Trey Parker and Matt Stone are basically untouchable in that they simply can say, "we're the Southpark guys" and people just accept however offensive and insulting they can be. I admire that. They are what they are and do not apologize for it. What I appreciated about the show is that even though they specifically focused on Mormons, it very easily could have been any religion. In this respect, I didn't find it to be mean spirited. We got to go backstage after the show since one of Jenn's family friends plays music for the show, which was cool.

WIS: We stayed in a tiny room that fit our bed and not much more at the Club Quarters in midtown. It was small, simple, and clean, which is all I need out of a hotel. The location was perfect. We were walking distance from everything.

WAM: On Saturday, before we left, I met my friend, Missy, from high school and we walked through the park. I mentioned this above about old friends, but I want to stress again that I love how even if you don't see each other much or talk all that often, you can always just pick up where you left off. It was great seeing her and catching up.

WTF: It was right after Christmas, so a busy time for shopping, but I found it incredibly strange that people were waiting in long lines that wrapped around the block for stores like Abercrombie and Fitch and Hollister. I found it even more incredible that I waited in one of those lines with Jenn and her mom to get into the Ugg store.