Back to Reality

I have lots to share but not enough time right now. I did want to share this with you all. Do you find it as funny as I do?

This was a cute little shop on the Upper West Side...

(The writing says, "In case it's difficult to read: West Side Cheese Company. Antiques Too)

What on earth does that little sign say? We'll be closed for the 4th of July holiday? We're out to lunch?

A Bite of Irony

I was fortunate enough to meet up with an old friend yesterday. We went to high school together--he moved in our junior year, he reminded me--and even the same community college. We acted in the same shows and worked on the same sets in our theatre department. Yes, I'm a 'theatre' snob. You won't see me spelling it 'theater' unless I'm referring to the movie type.

We grabbed some lunch in Chelsea and then did a little walking around. Okay, I admit it, we were trying to find a cool, and by cool I mean cold!, spot for a nice drink. It was definitely a sweaty day here in the city. In our quest we happened upon a designer dog store. Did you know those existed? Me either. I believe somewhere I have mentioned that I'm a sucker all things small and furry so I couldn't pass up this display of cuteness. In the window were five or so puppies milling about playing with one another; chewing ears, kicking bellies, tail-wagging pounces. When we realized this store was air conditioned we hopped inside. Along the far wall of the building was a line of crates. In those crates were more puppies. And were they ever cute. I really could have rescued them all and taken them home. That is until I overheard the salesman (um, are you really called that when you work in a puppy mill???) tell another customer that the dog he had his eye on was, minus the $300 discount, now at a stunning $12,000 price point!

Bring your jaws back up to closed-mouth position, I have more to say.

All these dogs were miniature versions of their breed. The ones that caught my eye were the Australian Shepherds. And were they ever adorable. Like, stick one in your over-sized purse and run cute.

I will say, I did not take the best photos but I was seriously worried that the salesman was going to thwart me upside my head and confiscate my camera.

Really, did you not just contemplate finding this place and opening your purse and running?

On the way out of the store we looked at the window display pups from the inside. Here's where I think it's funny. There was this miniature dachshund playing with a cardboard/paper tray...you know, the ones you might get food from a ballgame or a fair in? One you might transport french fries, or a burger, or a hot dog?

By the time I fished my camera back out of my bag the little guy had moved a bit. The picture I intended was of the pup completely laying inside the tray. Like, "Order up!".
Clearly though this dog knew what was going on and he was telling the tray we he thought of that idea!

Completely changing gears here, remember me mentioning how my room view was going to change? It certainly did...and I love it. I'm guessing not many people would request a Broadway view with all the sights and sounds of NY...but I love it. My entire life living at my parents' house was street noisy. We lived next to a major interstate, not to mention one that is the main artery between Chicago and Detroit, and the hum of the cars lulls me to sleep at night. Here's the view from where I am now.

Tonight I'm off to dinner with another friend. Maybe when I get back I'll tell you the very small world story about how I know her. Au revoir!

Sunset

Bumpy Ride

I'm on the road again. I'm back in my favorite big city (in the US) and am currently holed up in my room avoiding raindrops.

My first flight this morning was on a teeny tiny airplane that went bumpity-bump-bump all the way across Lake Michigan. Once I arrived in the Windy City I had to hike from the F gates to the B gates. After, what seemed like forever, 45 minutes of waiting for a seat at the gate I finally managed to secure one facing a TV that was reporting about the storm outside Detroit last night. I only caught the tail end of the story when I heard, "...the gate for flight 689 with service to LaGuardia has now changed to gate B10". Which I should have known. The flight to Orlando, that was sharing our gate, had not begun to board because their plane had still not arrived from wherever.

I shuffled myself over to the next gate and sat down to enjoy my coffee and cinnamon scone. Across from me were two ladies enjoying apples and a view of the TV. Now, I'm a scone dipper. I like to break off pieces of my bakery treat and dip them into my hot cuppa joe. I was nearing the end of my breakfast when I happened to look up and realize that one of the ladies was still eating her apple a good five minutes after she started.

As I studied her, while trying not to stare, it looked as though she was just very slow and thorough in her apple eating. She even had a napkin tucked closely to catch any juicy apple drips.

Um, no. Not even close. She was taking a bite at a time, chewing the apple, and spitting back out the skin! I literally almost yacked my scone back up.

And then there was the cast of the traveling Wizard of Oz. How do I know they were the cast? They made sure to let everyone know. One gentleman (oh, excuse me, his sign clearly said he was a munchkin) was sporting a bright pink shirt and a gold lame fanny pack and was rather 'boisterous'.

Guess who sat behind me on the flight?

On this not-so-small plane the ride wasn't any smoother. We went bumpity-bump-bump over Lake Erie and all the way into the Big Apple. And then came the herky-jerky cab ride from LGA to the Upper West Side; I am certainly glad to be in a stationary position now.

In my short while here I've checked into the hotel--and checked out my view:

Which looked like this for about an hour. I could tell a storm was a'brewin' so I went for a quick bite to eat and some groceries (bottled water, grapes, Wasa crackers).

This is a Gray's Papaya...It was tasty...but not tasty enough to try again.

And when I got back my view looked like this:

Tomorrow my view should be completely different. Despite thinking this view is lovely, the size of room I have to endure to enjoy the scenery is not worth it. This girl packed her yoga mat and two workout dvds...I can't even spread the mat out in here. The oh so lovely and sweet ladies at the desk are going to move me into a bigger room tomorrow. Very very kind of them.

Now, what to do this evening...