Pretty exciting times going on in NYC during our absence and while we missed the BLIZZARD that happened around the Christmas Holiday, we certainly didn't miss out on being two of the THOUSANDS of East Coasters stranded on the West Coast. We were scheduled to leave on Tuesday the 28th but didn't make it out of San Francisco til late afternoon on Saturday, January 1st--arriving back in NYC in the wee early hours of January 2nd. Driving through Times Square was weirdly quiet at 2:30am. What a way to close out one year and start the next. We were greeted at our apartment building curb by garbage piles 6 feet high, no kidding, no exaggeration. A bad byproduct of the weather and New Year's Eve partying. Guess we will have to witness the biggest (1,000,000 attendees) public New Year's Eve party next year. Our time in California was a very good time spent with both our families. The delay/diversion of an extra four days in San Fransisco turned out to be a very good thing (as Martha might say). Luckily we could afford it and make it fun, many others stranded were not so fortunate. We wound up checking into the Westin St. Francis hotel on Union Square. It's so weird how things turn out. When I was a college student at UC Berkeley in the late 70's, friends and I would go into SF and always thought the St. Francis was one of the most beautiful hotels. I had always wanted to stay there but never did given the student budget I was living on then. Now here it is almost 33 years later and the dream has come true. I told Bob he makes my dreams come true. While it didn't exactly match up to my college fantasy, it was a very nice hotel and we enjoyed our stay in SF. Though again our newly cultivated NYC snobbery kicked in pretty fast and we started to immediately find SF a rather small town--can you believe that?? We've only been New Yorkers for a few months....I now SO BETTER UNDERSTAND New Yorkers and how ATTITUDE just happens. The location was really the best part of staying there. We poked around in pretty much every store on Union Square looking for a satchel for Bob--didn't find one in our price range but knew we wouldn't given the luxury brand stores we were looking in. We had a wonderful foodie day on Thursday there. It's started with a standard diner breakfast because it would have taken too long to get into the place we wanted to go but then went to exponential heights after that. As were making our way to the Mission District, we got a mocha and latte at Blue Bottle, an uber hip place to get coffee (recommended by my nephew-in-law). They subscribe that 90 seconds is the maximum time to let any ground coffee sit before brewing it, otherwise it's past its peak. They have a siphoning method for making coffee that looks very futuristic. For all the uberness, the coffee was really great. It's not just hype. Even after a full meal, it had an amazing kick of caffeine (practically made my knees buckle and my head was swooning). It was so smooth with absolutely no bitterness. There is a Blue Bottle in Brooklyn but not Manhattan (bummer for me). Then after walking thru the BEAUTIFUL Civic Center Plaza and wading thru all the homeless people (some absolutely blotted out of their minds crawling on the sidewalk--so many many street people in SF--lots with obvious addictions) we made our way thru Hayes Valley (we could definitely live there) and then to the Mission District. Bob had some rather negative impression of it from past visits and I hadn't explored it much when living in the Bay Area but wanted to this time and we were both very thankful we did. Eighteenth Street between Dolores and Valencia is so great. We picked up fabulous baked goods at Tartine Bakery, marveled and craved everything at the Bi-Rite Grocery store (specializing in organic, local farm fare), and had a really great Italian dinner at Delfina. We also did some tasting at the Bi-Rite Creamery across the street. We could definitely live on 18th Street. Saturday morning before leaving SF we checked out the Ferry Building at the end of Market Street. It was on a recommendation of my niece and her husband. Great recommendation, while most of the shops and restaurants were closed, enough were open to give us a really good sense of how much fun it would be to eat our way through that place. Organic and gourmet sets the tone there. (Sidenote: On this excursion, Bob and I more and more came to terms with the FACT that we are YUPPIES--others probably have known this about us for a long time but we held our NERD selves more closely, I suppose we are YUPPIE NERDS). One thing we noticed most when in SF is just how incredibly easy it is to find really great organic and vegetarian food while it still is a bit of search for us in NYC, at least in Mid-town. I do believe it is easier the more downtown you go in NYC. Lest one think all we did was eat and shop while in SF, we did also visit with my two nieces (so nice to have a bit more quiet focused time with both of them), toured the St. Dolores mission, walked a lot, saw a couple of movies, and had a really wonderful and spiritually fulfilling New Year's Eve Satsang celebration at Amma's San Ramon Ashram. It was such a lovely gathering, a perfect combination of meditative and festive. We so enjoyed it that it is likely we will try to arrange our travel schedule in future years to accommodate attendance to this gathering.
Side note--Can not believe the SF area subway system (BART) has ulpholstered seats and carpet, that wouldn't last long in NYC just because so many more people use the subway system here than there.
Once back we had a great time opening all the Christmas cards and accompanying pictures that had accumulated during our absence. That's one advantage to living away now, we get more Christmas cards and pictures! I have great admiration for people who send out Christmas cards. We love getting them. I need to get better at doing that...I am still hoping to get a letter out to friends and family. (My apologies to those who read this blog and will get a letter as there will likely be major overlap). Of course I also now have a major stack of newspapers and magazines staring me down again. We had tickets for the Broadway play, A Little Night Music on Sunday so felt like we were immediately reimmersed into NYC living. Bernadette Peters is the main headliner now for that play (but leaving soon in a week or two). It was Catherine Zeta Jones previously--she won a Tony for her performance. BP was fabulous and overall I would say the play was really an excellent whole, despite some unevenness here and there. We both really enjoyed it. Shortly thereafter, Bob noticed that an additional show for Prince at Madison Square Garden had been added for January 18th. He was performing in the NYC area (MSG and the IZOD center in New Jersey) before Christmas and the dates just didn't work for us to see him plus ticket prices were astronomical. But with the new added date, we got tickets---all seats that were left were in the nosebleed section but at least we are not paying an unconscionable price for them. We will take binoculars and soak up the energy. Should be pretty fun. Every account I've ever read or heard says he puts on a great show. He truely is a musical genius and I am willing to pay some homage to his talent.
I start a very part time job this month that will go on for the next 2 to 3 years. I will be interviewing teens and parents as part of a research study. Luckily I don't have to be licensed to do these interviews. My licensing situation is really a mess and I will likely need to take THREE graduate level classes to meet the requirements. So frustrating and humbling (who cares if you are an Assc Prof at a nationally recognized university, former Clinical Director of two speciality programs, an Attending Psychologist, or blah blah blah..... you need to take these classes or forget it). Could be a quite a while to finally get licensed here. At least with this position I will be working with some very excellent people and making some most needed professional contacts such that when I finally do get my license they will be very good contacts to have. I wonder if I will get invited to any Frat parties when I return to school?? Could be a whole new world of friendship opportunities is on the horizon!!!
In closing this post, I hope that 2011 is a most excellent year for everyone and the start of a much better decade than the last one.
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