southern hospitality

Tonight I had to trek over to the UPS facility on 43rd and 11th Avenue – otherwise known as a godforsaken area of Manhattan that is light years away from civilization – to pick up a package.

Let me just start off by saying: Not having a doorman, or at least a willing bodega next door, to receive deliveries REALLY SUCKS. I am convinced that the UPS delivery person for our street refuses to ring our buzzer, because somehow, every time, I get ONE NOTICE on our front door that is coincidentally the FINAL NOTICE. Thus the hike to no-man’s land to retrieve my packages.

So there I am, trekking back four avenues, in heels no less, to the nearest subway when heavy snow flurries begin to appear. Great, I think to myself. I am disgruntled, probably mumbling under my breath, shivering in a hunch while I wait for the light to change, when a jolly woman to my left leans toward me and says, “It’s snowing!!”

Blank stare.

“I’m sahrry, I’m fruhm South Carolinah, and we just don’t see this very owftuhn!” She does a twirl…an actually twirl!

That southern drawl that now sounds so foreign to me really snapped me out of my grumpus. She was right. Snow is cool! And I remembered how much I loved it those first couple of years in New York.

It’s also amazing to me how people from the South will talk to a flag pole if it’ll listen, and they don’t miss a second to tell you where they’re from. New Yorkers have a lot of pride, but I think Southerners might have more.

So thank you, overly friendly Dixie chick, for reminding me that I actually do love the winter weather here, and how the first snowfall of the season will always remind me of when I first came to this enchanted city.

 

summer music calendar – she & him

The summer music extravaganza is well underway! If you missed it, you can read my review of Bobby Long here.

I hope everyone had a patriotic and not-too-hot-and-sticky Independence Day last weekend. I celebrated in the usual way: food, fireworks, sunblock,…oh, and VIP entrance to She & Him at Governors Island! V-I-P bayybaaaaayyyyyy.

Ahem…right, moving on.

So I’ll be honest — I mentioned previously that I wasn’t a huge fan of She & Him. (I think my exact words were, “That cotton commercial [Zooey Deschanel] sings is like nails on a chalk board to me.”) But, I was thoroughly impressed by them: catchy tunes, energetic stage presence—and I swear, not since I saw Hanson play the Woodlands Pavilion circa 1995 have I heard a crowd sing along with such dedication. Everyone was in a constant state of head-bobbing and hip-bouncing. Quite fun! (Though perhaps the Bushmills Whiskey open bar was helping…ehh.)

M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel

Tasty Bushmills

My only critique would be that neither M. nor Zooey really talked to the audience. Part of the live-show experience is to divuldge all the dirty stories behind the songs. All we got from Zooey was a 10-second request for some sunblock, to which a speedy stagehand promptly brought her a bottle of spray-on Banana Boat. She made one squirt onto her chest, and I thought…girl needs a helluvalot more coverage for that pasty skin! (I say this because I, too, have pasty skin, and therefore I can criticize one’s lack of sunblock.)

The dynamic duo

I will say that we got a real treat towards the end of the show when M. and Zooey sang an acoustic version of “You Really Got A Hold On Me.” I absolutely love this song, from the original version by Smokey Robinson to the ballad version by Cyndi Lauper. S&H’s take was somewhere right in the middle — it had a twangy, swaying beat with a lot of emotion behind it.

To close the show, Zooey and her female band mates sang “My Country ‘Tis Of Thee” in a capella. Naturally, the audience erupted into a sing-along and continued to shout, completely-off-key, our country’s entire repertoire of patriotic anthems.

'Sweet land of liiiibertyyyy'

It was a touching moment as we made our way back to the ferry…celebrating the birth of our country whilst gazing at the Manhattan skyline in a whiskey-induced haze. Yes, that my friends, is true Americana.

Land of the free, home of the brave

taking notice

“The city is full of beautiful architecture. All you have to do is look up.”
- 500 Days of Summer

she’s definitely a morning person

This is a bit outdated, but I couldn’t resist posting what originally inspired me to start this blog.

Mentoria Hutchinson is a New York City traffic cop—with moves! This lady likes to get down as she waves your car through the intersection. Check out the video below. My personal fave happens around the :20 mark in what looks like the third motion from the Hand Jive.

It’s people like this that make me stop for a second to appreciate the city.

madison square park’s newest inhabitants

One of Gormley's human statues atop a 5th Avenue building near 22nd Street.

This weekend, while I was standing in the infamously long line at Shake Shack in Madison Square Park, I was startled to see what looked like a human figure standing high atop the edge of the Credit Suisse building. Just as I was about take off screaming, “Don’t jump!,” I noticed another such figure atop a building across the way. In a matter of seconds, I had spotted four more figures.

Come to find out—thanks to iPhone Google—the figures are part of a public art installation sponsored by the Madison Square Park Conservancy. (Some may remember the mysterious tree houses that appeared in the Park about a year ago–yep, same folks.)

Event Horizon, by British artist Antony Gormley, comprises a total of 31 statues placed around the Flatiron area. Grab some friends and see if you can find them all—it’s a ‘Where’s Waldo’ of the neighborhood if you will.

Event Horizon is “on display” until Aug. 15. More information can be found here.