been too long

Ahoy,

Finally! The trip I've been waiting for! Words and exclamation marks cannot describe how excited I've been to return to NYC. This place has everything! We stayed in Flushing this time because we came for a wedding that would be held in Terrace on the Park in Flushing Meadows. I'd been to Flushing Meadows once before with this friend whose wedding I was attending. Chinatown is within walking distance, which was great because we could stop for bao every morning on the way to the subway, and get boba every night coming back. So it turns out Flushing Chinatown stays up later than Manhattan Chinatown.

We redeyed into town Friday morning, drowsy and sleepy - we made it to where we were staying and napped for a bit. Didn't even turn on the tv before he conked out. We left for bao in Flushing, hopped on the train to the East Village for pizza and coffee. Can't forget the coffee, I got to use my free punch on my Joe's card. We stopped at the farmer's market for pretzels on the way to my favorite kitchen store, Fish's Eddy. You don't know it yet, but it's your favorite too. We picked up some breakables, because we are so well aware of what we should and should not carry 3,000 miles across the country back to LA. We stopped to get items we forgot for the wedding like a belt and sweater, even though I never wear sweaters and will never wear it ever again. We got some pub food at Bayard's Ale House with a college friend. We ended the night here because we were going to get doughnuts the next morning.

The famed green tea matcha doughnut may be only famed in my head, but it would be famed in everyone's head if they knew what they were missing. I'd made several trips to the Doughnut Plant when I was living in NY and it remained elusive for a number of reasons until my last week in NY. I've been dreaming of it ever since. Had I discovered it earlier, I might have spent far more money and expanded my waistline far too many inches. We made it this time, and it remains famed in my mind. The RRS purchased a new workbag and desert boots, again, because we have such clear ideas of how much spare luggage space we have, judging by his struggle to close his bag on the way here. We ended the trip for the day with dumplings and duck sandwiches from our favorite hole in the wall Chinatown spot and booked it as fast as weekend subway schedules would take us back to Flushing.

We nearly ran the 2.4 miles to the wedding. because that park is so obnoxiously large. It was beautiful and simple, and my first grown-up wedding. When I was a child, I was allowed to wear Winnie-the-Pooh denim overalls to a wedding (which I probably still fit). But I resisted. Only the RRS can tell you how much agony it was to decide on my outfit. I will not recall it for you, and hopefully it will never happen again when I attend your wedding. There was a continuous flow of food and libation. Everything was perfectly timed, and I was not bored at any moment. Lovely night.

On Sunday, we slept in and I tried for cartoons on the tv. We decided that we hadn't spent enough time eating and shopping. So we went back to Manhattan for a stroll through the Park from the Upper East Side. We stopped on a rock to watch the kids clamber up and their parents freak out. Count the no fun folks and the fun folks. We enjoyed some take-out of char siu and roast pork we picked up before our train ride in Flushing and climbed the rock. And now you think we're bad examples, more like where the fun is, though. We looked for trouble in Midtown and 5th Ave. and continued back to the East Village for dinner at my favorite hole in the wall falafel. People watching in Manhattan is best done at an intersection so you can watch all the people almost get run over. Washington Square Park is good too. We ended our food exploits with Pommes Frites, which I'm sure you've all heard about.

Our last morning, we debated over our departure time, per usual. We picked up bao and banh mi for the trip, some more food - this shouldn't surprise you at this point. The RRS was more than pleased to be back where jackets are optional and we don't have to be tackling ladies and their purses with every step.   NYC is fun to visit, but living there is not for long term. I miss it and then I don't. You should all know our dirty little secret is that we live to eat and shop, obviously.

windingly windy,
jt