My day in NYC

Yesterday I took the train into New York city. The first thing I did when I got there was go to Border's in Penn Plaza and buy a book. Then I took a walk until I found the perfect place to eat- La Bella's. I ordered a glass of wine and eggplant parm, sat by a window, and read my book. I felt so worldly! Just like I had lived in the city my whole life and regularly spent Saturdays lunching with Greg and Liz (the authors of He's Just Not That Into You). After my meal, I bought a Starbuck's vanilla latte and took a walk down 5th Avenue. Indeed, it was another moment of- "is this actually my life?" I was convinced that anybody seeing me would think I was a native, dressed in my boots, sunglasses, and stylish toggle coat, trying as hard as I could to channel every stereotype of a fabulous New Yorker.

I walked and walked. My original plan was to spend some time exploring the Met, but the weather was too perfect not to be outside. I ended up in Central Park, taking pictures of ducks, climbing on rocks, and replaying the movie Home Alone 2: Lost In New York in my head. There was a birthday party going on at the skating rink and of course I stood on the bridge and craned my neck to see if there were any celebrities there! I thought I saw Donald Trump, but I also thought I saw Meg Ryan, Rosario Dawson, and the lady from the Active-on commercial throughout the day. I guess either there are a lot of look a likes, or my eyes see what my brain wants them to see sometimes.

I went to Rockafeller Center next. I acted like a huge tourist, taking pictures of myself with the building behind me. I was in good company with about 1,000 Asian tourists though, so I didn't stand out. I had the idea to have my ears pierced since they grew in, but after some searching, I couldn't find anywhere that looked clean enough to do the job. I ended up going to a couple stores until it started to get dark. I went to a vigil Mass at St. Francis of Assisi monastary, a cute little church right in front of Penn Station.

Then I had a text from a girl I had met here in New Jersey. She gave me the address of a bar and said it was the birthday party of her brother's friend. Her timing was perfect. I was just about to buy a train ticket home and suddenly, I had an invitation to an exclusive party!

I hailed a cab and asked if he could take me to the village for some shopping. I found a cute purple dress at Urban Outfitters and some great Steve Madden boots ON SALE. I changed my clothes in a random bathroom, then sat in Pinkberry drinking a strawberry smoothie and absorbing the no excuses truth to understanding guys (from my book).

At around 9:00, I walked down to The Country Club, met up with Jillian, her brother Ozzie, and sister-in-law Sandy. The next couple hours were spent having drinks, meeting people, laughing, and dancing the night away! It was so much fun and really random. The best quote of the night "Wow, Laura, that's why you don't know anything about anything" said by Oz when he found out it was my first time in the city. Haha. I really need to learn how to say no when guys ask for my number...enough said.

We came back to Jersey at 5am. I slept a little in the car, but it felt so great to come back to my room and sleep! What a long, great, spontaneous day in the city ;) I'm a huge dork for being so excited about this, but I'm not so sure I'll ever get used to this.