Saturday, July 13, 2013

Things to Remember

The Wednesday of my trip to New York was one of the better Wednesdays of my life.

Keren had to work at Tulu's that day, a cute little gluten-free bakery in the Village, so I went to the library where I wandered for a couple of hours, just looking through the exhibits and marveling at the beautiful building.

I needed to be Uptown by six for the Tour de Nerdfighting with the lovely Anastasia, but when I left the library I didn't feel like getting on the subway. It was a wonderful, chilly day and I had time, so I just started walking. I turned a corner and found myself in Times Square for the fifth time since I had arrived on Friday and began walking down Broadway.

Times Square is beautiful in an unconventional way. The lights from buildings and giant advertisements and Broadway promotions glare down on the street as people from all over the world bustle around you. It should be completely overwhelming, but it's not.* You just have to keep your head up as you make your way through the crowd, and take it all in.

So that's what I did. I tugged my hat down around my ears, breathed the cold air, and hummed quietly to myself as I made my way up Broadway. I listened to snippets of passing conversations, thrilled at the sight of the Gershwin Theatre, and grinned widely the entire time. My heart felt full. It was one of the few times in my life that I have felt truly content. (But who wouldn't feel content walking the streets of Manhattan?)

At this point in time, I hadn't met any bloggers face-to-face yet, so I was so excited to meet Anastasia. I walked into the theater right before the show started, so we could only say a quick hello and give hugs before they came on. The show was very fun, which was not surprising as John and Hank Green are very fun people. I'm sure I've said this before, but it is great to be surrounded by people who love something just as much, if not more, than you do.

Afterwards, we grabbed pizza at a place called Two Boots, named so for it's Cajun-Italian cuisine, and talked for a couple of hours. We walked to the subway, got hit on by two men, ignored them, and said our goodbyes on the train. It was a dreadfully short visit, but I'm so happy to have met Anastasia. She was so sweet and funny (and also told me which stop to get off at to get back to Tulu's, which was good because otherwise I would have been lost).

The Village was probably my favorite part of New York and during my week there I explored much of it. The walk back to Tulu's was familiar by then, and I had to resist the urge to skip down the empty sidewalks. As I crossed the street to the bakery, I could see Keren cleaning behind the counter and Kim, her best friend, sitting at the bar talking animatedly. I walked inside, bought a few red velvet cupcakes, and the three of us talked until closing time.

-Maggie

* Except for on Saturdays. Never go to Times Square on a Saturday night.

4 comments :

Kaylie said...

MAGGIE YOUR WRITING IS SO BEAUTIFUL.

This post makes my heart feel full just reading it. I've said it before, but you're such a lovely writer.

And yay for meeting blog friends! You've met so many since then, which I think is fantastic. I can't wait to see you SO SOON.

Natalie said...

Please go to visit New York City again, and I will take the train down so we can frolic together. Anastasia and Dillon are invited too.

I, too, adore your writing. And you. GOOD THING I GET TO SEE YOU IN A FEW DAYS.

Anonymous said...

This post makes my heart happy. The way you described New York is beautiful. I'm so happy you and Anastasia met each other. It's so wonderful to me that people in the blogger family have met some of my closest "irl" friends (and family: Dillon) that I've known since elementary school. Hearing about you guys meeting Anastasia, Dillon, and Kayleigh makes my heart happy. It's surreal and so neat.

Violet said...

Hi, Maggie! So, I just recently found your blog, and I like it, so, um, I've nominated you for the Liebster award (for blogs under 200 followers!).

This post explains it a bit more, haha: http://ispyviolet.blogspot.com/2013/07/liebster-award.html

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