Happy 2014 for real, guys! I had THE BEST time in New York City, it was exactly what I needed before heading back to Fargo. My buses were remarkably prompt, and I didn't have any trouble figuring out the subway, so I ended up getting to Niko's apartment around 6 on New Year's Eve, earlier than I had expected. There was a lot of hugging and yelling when we first saw each other, but I was too tired from walking up the five flights of stairs to her apartment to cry (I'm lazy, you guys). We got into our party dresses, ate some Chinese food, and hung out with Niko's boyfriend Brian, who is the sweetest guy but bought beer that no one liked. Because we were all very excited to go to the fancy party, did not know how long it would take to get there, and are frankly not the coolest people in the world, we ended up at the event in Brooklyn about 45 minutes before everyone else. I know this shouldn't have surprised me because we were in Brooklyn, but I had never seen so many hipsters in one place at the same time. There was a lot of ironic facial hair, and I was pretty sure about six different people were Daniel Radcliffe. An Israeli brass band came out to play, and all the hipsters were really excited about the tuba. We danced a lot, and took a lot of pictures, and about fifteen minutes after midnight we decided we were Too Old for This Shit, and went home.
I don't remember if we started early that morning or the next day, but for much of the rest of my stay in New York, Niko and I spent our time watching "Dawson's Creek," which was obviously a great decision. Given how awful it is, I can't understand why anyone watched this show, but we had a great time with it for the same reason. We finished the first season at 2 am the night before I left, so we didn't cover a ton of ground, but I think our favorite scene so far is after Dawson's dad finds out his wife has cheated on him, and they're in the car and he says something like, "Twenty years ago, I chose to love you, and that love has lasted. But now... I choose to hate you." Niko and I said that to each other a lot afterward.
In addition to watching "Dawson's Creek," we did a few other things. Niko and I went to brunch at Le Pain Quotidien, which was a very happy moment for me because that restaurant is one of the things I miss most about DC. That afternoon, we met up with Brian and walked to the movie theater, where we saw Saving Mr. Banks and I cried my eyes out like a small child. Then we went out to a great dinner, and once again I missed being in a big city. The next day Niko had to work, but I took myself out to breakfast and to the Met. I had started reading The Agony and the Ecstasy a few days before, so it was a lot of fun to see art that had been inspired by, or created concurrently with, Michelangelo, even though I didn't see any of his work there. I wandered around a bit for a few hours, and then met up with Becky at Barney's, who was in town for an informational interview. We tried on ridiculous hats and sunglasses, and then Niko came over and we all went out to dinner.
All in all, it was a great trip. I usually feel overwhelmed by New York, but it was really nice to be somewhere so dense with so much culture and food and people. I even had a fleeting moment where I thought I might like to live in New York. Before the movie, we were waiting in line with basically a lot of old Jewish New Yorkers, and this guy who was ahead of us turns toward his wife and goes, "Marsha!" and then sighs in the most exasperated way, and I swear it could have been my father. All of a sudden I realized I was with my people -- here were all the neurotic people my dad was raised with who I had missed out on, and I felt amazingly at home. I also, remarkably, had moments where I missed Fargo -- you just can't beat the coffee at Atomic or the lights on Broadway or the friendly people in the NRA t-shirts -- but I do think I'll be happy to move back to a major city one of these days.
Anyhow, I'm back in Wellesley for a few more days, and heading back to Fargo on Saturday. There are things I'm looking forward to and things I'm not looking forward to, but I feel better having been home, and I'm ready to take on the next semester, or at least, more ready.
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