18 posts tagged “new york life”
There is always a relaxed atmosphere and it is a lot more laid back than most Manhattan salons where you are sized up before you have even taken off your coat. This is probably the last time I'll visit him downtown as he has decided to centralize his base of operations. He has a space in NoHo where he does his wig work, and to make life easier he is having a sink installed so that he can start seeing clients there as well. His location in NoHo is a few blocks away from my office so I am very happy. i am looking forward to being able to pop out on my lunch break and come back with fierce hair.
My normal weekday routine is either study-work-home-study or study-work-yoga-home-study (it's really fun to compare it with my weekend schedule which is study-study-meal-Daily Show-study-study-study-snack-Colbert Report-study-sleep) but I got a text from my cousin (who is vacationing over here with his girlfriend) saying he was in Soho and was I free for a coffee. The answer was of course YES and my plans for the evening morphed from work-yoga-study into work-flee-coffee-East Village-office drinks-lost-cab-PATH station-bump into friend-yoga-home-tea-chocolate almonds-sleep.
Life would have been easier had I not been dead set on getting to yoga but I just had to have a class with the best teacher in the world: Suzanne. She is fantastic, and since she was subbing the 7:30pm class I knew that I really stood a chance of fitting in coffee and office drinks into my crazy schedule. Low and behold I actually managed to do it all with the help of a cab, and a bit of light jogging.
I had a doctor's appointment booked for this lunch time (please note that in NYC you can visit a doctor during this most sacred of time periods), and I decided to make-an-effort*. Because I tend to normally dress in the manor of someone who has fallen out of bed and into clothes I get the impression that I am occasionally mistaken for the tea girl, and since this appointment would finally see me getting my moneys worth from the $25 co-pay because I was actually planning on engaging with the doctor and trying to elicit some information rather than my normal routine** I thought I should attempt to dress in the style of a tax paying, responsible grown-up. Of course what happens is that my appointment is rescheduled for Monday lunchtime, and I am left looking a bit more together than normal but missing my comfy sneakers. Perhaps on Monday I should wear a suit which would have the double effect of making me look like an adult and freak out my co-workers... I think I am up for that!
*For me making-an-effort involves a long skirt, boots and not wearing a t-shirt with something plastered across it like "Everybody Lies" or "I listen to bands that don't even exist yet".
** Trying to pee in a cup and have a blood sample taken in as quick as time as possible without making eye contact, and wishing that there was a machine that could take the samples, analysis them and then give you your results all within a few minutes.
I am so glad that it is a three day weekend... even if Columbus Day is a bit of an iffy holiday to have off. It is giving me a chance to catch up on everything bar the housework. I've listened to The Archers omnibus, indulged in a little Colbert action, slept through two episodes of CSI (season pass very close to being erased), and finally got back into the study zone. I even moved my iMac from its dark corner spot to the dining table near the window in the vain attempt to increase my productivity (like plants I run on photosynthesis). Since I am the sole occupant of the flat it made no sense to keep being cooped up in the back of the living room. My school work currently occupies every surface bar the ones covered with junk mail. I must get around to having a wee tidy up tomorrow so that i start the week on the right foot.
- My allergies kicked in on Monday and I feel like a caricature of myself where my red, puffy eyes are all that anyone can see of me.
- Mum and I have watched so much Flight of the Conchords that my internal monologue has a New Zealand accent. If you have HBO OnDemand watch the whole surreal season and if you are in the UK tune in when the show is shown on BBC4 later this month.
- I am off to Toronto tomorrow for Virgin Festival. I could really do without going as Alex lands on Saturday afternoon and I miss him!!!!!! I miss him even if when listing what he misses most I come last after Mac Pro, HDTV, tennis and gym. Perhaps he is saving the best till last?
As I walked to work this morning across Washington Square Park there was a very wet girl under a bright pink umbrella handing out goodies courtesy of Glamor.
Yes, I am back.
My last exam was on Tuesday, I flew home on Wednesday and started my "new job" on Thursday; there truly is no rest for the wicked. I feel less burnt out than last year. My two week mini-sabbatical was a stroke of genius. It might be tough on the pocket to take unpaid leave but it meant I only had to fly back once and could focus solely on my studies once I got to my mum's pad. Despite spending the majority of my time studying, with a furrowed brow and smoke coming out of my ears, I do actually feel like I have returned quite rested and invigorated about studying again come September. The only blot on the landscape was the final question of my final exam where I specularly lost it . started to doubt my knowledge of Archaic Greek sculpture and descended into panic. I completely fraked it up but I reckon that my answers in the other questions of that exam should carry me through with a pass.
But, I have no time to perform a post exam autopsy as I have to make the most of my summer before the classical madness begins again and I must furnish Alex with enough attend so it takes him through the cold, dark neglectful months of winter (when my studies begin again).
For no discernible reason I am euphoric this evening. Nothing has changed. I haven't quit or finished the two essays that are due on Monday or prepped for the seminar which also starts on Monday or finished packing up the flat. But I am quite literary brimming over with happiness. Go figure.
It just feels really good to start the weekend relaxed.
