Time is of the essence, my bloggin' peeps! It's time to catch up on weeks 3 & 4! I'd like to title these past couple weeks "spending time with strangers" or - if I wasn't an adult already - "the weeks I actually became an adult."
So to begin...let's go back to those time warner cable trips. But don't click out of this window! This is actually a light-hearted story! About friends! During that first trip of mine, I was literally about #137 in line...not a joke. So I turned to the girls next to me & asked where they got the starbucks they were holding. Then we struck up a conversation & turns out, they were awesome! (If Chelsea & Cameron are reading this, then hey ;) They're twins from Rhode Island, & we had all just moved in that weekend so we bonded over 5th floor walk-ups. By the end of the conversation, we were both kinda looking for a way to ask each other's numbers, but how do you do that?! ... It's like friend-dating! But then we all just kind of blurted it out & I was so relieved. So the next week, my roomies came along & we all went on our first "date" if you will ;) We got thai at our favorite place Yum Yum Too (& by favorite place, I just mean it's all we know) & had such a blast! Then last week, we went over to their place in the UES [Upper East Side] & what did they cook for us? Thai stir fry!
They had an awesome "railroad style" apartment which means you walk thru the kitchen to get to the bedrooms & you walk thru the bedrooms to get to the living room. Crazy layout but tons of space & so nice! Anyway, we had the best time. Hadn't laughed that hard in awhile & are so excited to have made some of our first "real NYC" friends. :)
But they're not the only new peeps we met these past couple weeks! (Also, you better hang on cuz I'm saving the best story for last...totally strategic;) So luckily for me, I chose the world's most in-the-know roommate. Literally, I never know about anything. Ever. And Alekza ALWAYS KNOWS. Because of this, I've gotten to go to a few cool par-tays these past couple weeks. Quick recap:
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| Das one of our new friends - Chelsea! |
Bday Party Numero Uno - We were Alekza's +3's at a birthday party for 2 girls from Apostles - Anisha & Pekky - at a place in Union Square called "Headless Horseman." Super cool place - one of the only stone storefronts in new york - felt like we were in England! Alekza was convinced that this chillax place was about to turn into a dance floor, and I wasn't buying it. But it totally did! Everyone there was so fun, & we had a blast. (Besides the 20+ minutes it took to catch Chelsea a cab. TWENTY.)
Okay, then the next day was DOUG'S BDAY ----
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| This was the best I could do to capture the view! |
Didn't even meet Doug until his actual bday party, but so appreciated the open invitation. Doug was turning 30, and he dun good in planning his party. He goes to Alekza's church as well (Apostles), and his party was literally on-a-ROOFTOP. This night - I will admit - was a pretty cool thing we got to do. Probably one of the coolest nights we've had since we moved here. (Wish Rachel could've gone!!) We danced the night away, and almost didn't even care that we had to stand outside in the rain after midnight trying to catch a cab. In the cold, cold rain. Cuz it was worth it!
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| Gals from Apostles...sweetest sweetest! |
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| cutie ;) |
Also went to the broadway flea market with Rachel, and it. was. awesome. Only wish we had gone earlier! By the time we got there, all the Broadway celebs had long-since cleared out...but it wasn't all bad - people were literally throwing vintage playbills at us! They were trying to raise money for Broadway Cares, so Rachel & I were getting all sorts of amazing playbills for under $1. At one point, a woman literally slid me a stack of playbills and said, "I'll give you all these for a dollar." To which I responded, "I accept." To name a few of our snags: the original cast of Bells Are Ringing, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, War Horse, & a playbill that literally just had Danny Kaye on the front. (I am a Danny Kaye fanatic. Popo the puppet, anyone? A Martin family favorite ;) I even got a copy of You've Got Mail for $1! What? Random? But I didn't argue!
So anyway, after that we visited HillsongNYC with one of my best friends from junior high - Rachel Hull-Ryde! So crazy that we both live in the city now, but SO good to see her. We had a blast with Rachel & her roommate (she met her on "gypsy housing" - a NYC theatre Facebook page - and they just so happened to be completely normal & awesome...PTL, am I right? And her roomie was in the same theatre program as my previously mentioned friend Owen. Small world!)
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| Here's a pic of my cute roomies to break up some of the words-ey-ness. ;) |
Also, here's a pic from the night that we all woke up - like clockwork - at 6am in the morning bc we were absolutely sweating. Sweating! Our A/C unit is only in our living room & doesn't circulate much fresh air to our bedrooms. How we went 2 whole weeks without bedroom fans is beyond me, but needless to say, there wasn't much sleeping going on. And then right when we bought fans, BAM! It turned into fall & we didn't much need them anymore! But hey, who's complaining? ;)
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| We ain't complainin! (That's Alekza on our rooftop:) |
Okay, so for the grand "first date" finale:
Something kinda weird happened my second week in NYC. Hahahaha...ah, just thinking about it... So the day I got hired (I promise, I'll get to that eventually!) I wanted to celebrate, but Rachel had class & Alekza had Young Life... so I ventured out on my own. I only got as far as Bryant Park, but that ain't a terrible place to end up. :) So I was scanning my phone for nearby food joints when an Argentinian man in his 30's who is dressed to the absolute nines - suit, tie, & all - walks up to me & asks for directions. (I PROMISE this story is better when you can get the full effect of his accent. Trust me, I must've told it about 374 times by now.) He asks me where "Broadway Dance Space" is. And I, being the seasoned NY actress I am (ha!;) realize he's talking about "Broadway Dance Center" - and I actually know where that is! So I begin giving him directions as he tells me that he's stressed to be running late because he's actually teaching a salsa class that night. But he must not have been too stressed... bc he began to do like a 50 questions situation. Like, "Do you leev around here? Ah, you do?! I love dis area! What do you do? Oh, an actrees?! You do not SAY!" Anyway, when he found out I was an actress, he insisted that I come to this tango class he teaches for free every Friday, especially since they're "going to need extras for a tango movie soon!" ;) Well, those first couple weeks (& even still) I was trying to train myself to have a "just say yes" mentality, so I was like HECK, WHY NOT? I like tango...right? So anyway, he gave me his email address, & I knew he was harmless because...come on...he had on a pant suit & a skinny tie. Oh & also, he mentioned he's in NYC because he's working as a designer for Carolina Herrera. (Like what?! Who are you?) I might not be the most brand-label-savvy girl, but I KNOW that name. So then I looked at my watch & he asked if I had somewhere to be, & I said, "no, you do - a dance class!" So he did his whole European "kiss kiss" thing & was on his way. But then...
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| I couldn't get a pic that night of Martín, so I got a pic of the site of the crime -- Bryant Park (it's so beautiful!) |
Skip ahead a couple emails later, & I officially make plans to meet Martín at his office that Friday. So after asking Rachel to say a few prayers, I show up to his office & thank the LORD, it's legit. Like, garment district & all. So he greets me & tells me we're heading to a dance studio first "to practice before class." Okay... Well, we show up to a pub. So I said, "Martín...you told me we were going to a dance studio." And he reassured me that he just liked loosening up before dancing. And he did. For the next hour, I listened to Martín tell tons of crazy - albeit incredibly interesting - stories about his time in NYC, time in Argentina, and dating life in those countries & several more. Those are stories that I would NOT trade hearing for anything, ha! Well, eventually I ask if he's still seeing any of these girls, and he says "No, no, no...I'm seeing new people. You know, like I'm seeing you now..."
oh...thanks for telling me.
So this was kind of a confusing & yet enlightening moment. So apparently this was a date. I was on a date with Martín. So anyway, beginning to feel a little uncomfortable, I reminded Martín about the dance class. And he said, "oh, oh, yes, we're going to Union Square." So we hop on the subway together, and - as I told my roommates - I was on that train looking around at all the guys in my age-range thinking, "Why is this not a date with you that I'm on right now?" So about 5 stops & 45 compliments later, we stumbled upon a mexican restaurant. This was the moment when everything made sense. We would not be attending a dance class that day. But, in fact, I would be learning salsa lessons from Martín on the dance floor of a mexicano restaurante. And, oh how we danced. Hahaha... I have to admit, this part wasn't all that bad. It was kind of fun! And in the moment, I just kept thinking, "MAN, this is gonna be a good story someday." So I tried my best to actually enjoy myself, and had this not been recently labeled as a date, I would've truly enjoyed my outing with my pal Martín! He's a nice guy! But lo and behold, around hour 3 of this date (3 hours), I regretfully informed him that I needed to head home. So we hopped back on the train, did the whole cheek "kiss kiss" thing again, and I power-walked home like you've never seen. Mainly because I wanted to tell someone this story, but also a little because I was afraid he would casually bump into me at my doorstep someday if he knew where it was.
So that was my date with Martín the Argentinian.
Designer by day, saucy Latin choreographer by night.
I realize I said I'd tell all about my job in this post, but I just spent 4 hours talking about Martín, so there is no way I'm going to make y'all read any further today!
But I p-r-o-m-i-s-e, next blog post is all about my new job & my newfound adulthood! (Please don't let that drive you away.) Oh and this really cool improv show Victoria took me too! And our first trip to [potentially] the only kolache place in NYC! There truly are some exciting things to come, soooo until next time...
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| I leave you with a pic of my favorite lunch spot... the post office (across from madison square garden!) |
Sincerely, your could-be-a-salsa-teacher-now-if-I-wanted-to,
Kelsey
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