Yesterday I packed for the shortest and strangest trip I have ever been on. At 1 p.m. a car service came to pick up me, my bike, my golf clubs, my skis and two suitcases full of things I believe to be both representative of me and perhaps of interest to others. Among these items were my Sonic Scrubber, a box of quinoa, a George W. bobble head pen (actually belongs to my roommate), a paperweight my brother made in glass-blowing class, and a framed print of a Vermeer painting that used to hang in my parents’ bedroom.
The car took me to an industrial area on 26th street between 11th and 12th avenues where I was met by a woman I went to high school with. Together, we carted my belongings into a freight elevator and down long empty corridors into a large white studio. I met a motley crew of artsy types who began to sift through my possessions and lay them out on a sheet of white paper with a camera positioned above it. I was sent to have my hair and makeup done. The makeup artist even airbrushed me with a brand called (I am not making this up): Obssessive Compulsive Cosmetics. Being airbrushed has ruined the experience of looking in the mirror for me; I want to be airbrushed for life.
The airbrushed version of me then dressed in a full cycling kit and posed for a photographer with my bike. Afterwards, photos of me on my bike were juxtaposed with the photos of my stuff. This is the spread that may one day appear in the Marketplace section of Good Magazine, a start-up publication out of Los Angeles. It’s a “good” mag–stunning design, compelling content–and I hope it gains some traction. I welcome any publication that encourages people to think more and celebrates originality. And it has a strong affinity with the Solo concept.
It was a day that could happen only in New York, and may actually surpass some of my other totally random experiences here, such as attending a pork cooking demonstration at the Culinary Instiute of America, meeting a Hong Kong tailor at the midtown Hilton to have a shirt custom made, or having my hair blown dry in exchange for free products at the Bumble&bumble university.
Yesterday morning was spent running more loops through Central Park with my new exercise cohorts. This was the final long run (14 miles) before the big day in two weeks. Apart from being nearly run down by a street sweeper, it was a glorious fall day, followed by a repeat this morning. My roommate and I left Manhattan (gasp) to do a 5K in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. Upon arrival at the playing field, we were in awe of the many sports events taking place. “What an athletic borough!” my roommate exclaimed. The whole event was a bit of a fiasco from the registration to the crazies who turned out, but I believe it was one of those experiences where “you had to be there” to truly appreciate the humor. Suffice it to say that the run took us through a gorgeous wooded area with yellow leaves glowing all around.
The rest of the day was spent on the banalities of life: buying a bike light, visiting the hardware store (again) and going to the laundromat (also again). However, it was a thrill to find that the Korean woman owner now knows me by name. I’ve been searching for a sign that I am no longer a newcomer to New York and I think this is it.
It would be tragic for me to omit some of the other highlights of the past week:
1. My dad came to town on Tuesday night, following a trip to Boston to get final approval on funding for his new venture. He was alive with entrepreneurial spirit and it was a thrill to hear all of the details about how the deal went down. Dad will be working in the big city (San Fran) for the first time in his life, and maybe even taking the train to work. I’m excited that he’s having all these new adventures and I am looking forward to watching his ideas take shape.
2. Wednesday was a joke. After I got home from a run and put my keys on my roommate’s key ring, she left to go have dinner with a friend. I realized this as I was about to walk out the door, headed to Bumble&bumble for the aforementioned blow dry. I was flummoxed about whether to leave the apartment unlocked. After all, I’m not in Montana anymore. I decided to lock the very testy door handle lock and called my roommate to tell her what was up. Turns out her friend had locked herself inside her apartment and my roommate had been standing outside for 40 minutes trying to get her out. When I arrived at B&b they told me I was too late. No free product. I headed over to Abingdon Square to help free the friend from her apartment. Several keys later, we got the door open, and we all needed a drink. I promised Andi I’d pay for a locksmith if we were locked out of our apartment but we got in okay and all was well. Sigh.
3. Thursday night I attended a focus group for this women’s professional organization I just joined called Step Up. Some women from the organization were watching us from behind a reflective window and I felt very self-conscious as I ate the cheese, crackers and veggies they had provided. I imagined them saying, “Look at that one! She just won’t stop eating! And hasn’t she ever heard of napkins?” Despite my paranoia, I met some interesting women and we were thanked with goodie bags. I headed uptown to meet my roommate for a concert at the performing arts organization where she works. First we heard the Bjorkestra, an orchestra that plays arrangements of Bjork’s music. It’s totally worth checking out if you like Bjork or merely find her fascinating in a love-hate sort of way. Next up was the Section Quartet. Listening to them, I fell into a reverie so deep that I forgot where I was and had no sense of time passing. They performed an arrangement of Ok Computer, one of my favorite albums from one of my favorite bands (Radiohead). I highly recommend seeing them live but if the best you can do is a download, you can find their stuff on iTunes.
