Ragtime

It has been raining on and off for the last few weeks!  Last week was pretty typical of that, but we managed to squeeze in a few good outdoor events during a break in the weather.  Last Tuesday was the Summer Carnival on the High Line, which is always a blast.  I think most may be familar with the High Line but for anyone who isn’t, it’s a public park/series of art installations/viewing spaces that was created out of the remnants of the old elevated train tracks that used to run up and down the West Side of Manhattan.  Here’s a cool link to a short history of the High Line on youtube, it includes some great photos at different stages if you are interested.  As a neighbor and a New Yorker, I love that a group of people were able to take something that was unused and considered unattractive and turn it into something wonderful and useful.  I am a huge fan and a big supporter of their ongoing projects. 

The party itself was fantastic, great food, drinks, and scenery.  They close off about a quarter mile of the park and decorate everything like a carnival, with lights and balloons, jugglers, acrobats, contortionists, hula-hoopers, plus all of the staff were dressed like old-timey circus barkers.  So neat.  Great dj and lots of carnival games, including a Strongman "Test Your Strength" game and a Dunk-Tank featuring male models in speedos.  The High Line can be crowded so it was also nice to just kick back on lounge chairs and watch the sun set over the river.  

Great people watching too, lots of fashion people including Joe Zee and Fern Mallis, actresses Katie Holmes, Naomi Watts, Anna Kendrick, a bunch of people from SNL, and a good chunk of the cast from "American Horror Story."  Connie Britton’s gorgeous flowy turquoise dress caught my eye and she was so cute, darting around all excited and taking pictures of the river and crowd from her cell phone.  I love it when people aren’t too cool to get visibly excited about things.  Overall a perfect Manhattan summer evening.

 

On Wednesday I was working from one of our midtown offices and got caught up with something until right before S and I were scheduled to go out, so I met him outside the office and we walked over to the Sud de France headquarters for a wine tasting segment before heading on a bus tour of the city!  This was always something I wanted to do, but never really had the chance.  The closest we ever came was when my friends got married in Peru and they rented out a tour bus to take us on a gastronomic tour of Lima.  

There was a short wine/cheese reception, we were given straw hats and fans (see below, ha)  then we piled onto the bus, accompanied by the Lucky Chops Brass Band.  The weather was perfect and the band was terrific.  We started in midtown, then took the scenic route past St. Patrick’s Cathedral, 30 Rockefeller Center, and the Empire State Building.  Rolling down Fifth Avenue in a huge bus was definitely a unique perspective, and wherever we went, people heard the music, looked up, started grinning, taking pictures, even impromptu dance parties on the sidewalk.  So much fun.

  
 
After midtown we made our way down through Greenwich Village and Soho, then stopping at old school fave frenchy Felix.  Perfect setting for more wine, music, and revelry – the party definitely got into full swing here.  Spent about an hour there, then jumped back on the bus to drive through the Lower East Side and over the Williamsburg Bridge.  Going over the bridge was a raucous party in itself.  We were all out of our seats, wind whipping through everyone’s hair, dancing with wild abandon.

 

The last stop was at Battery & Harris, a charming open-air Williamsburg.  Giant glasses of rose, chilled just right with condensation frosting the outside of our glasses.  Good conversation and more music and dancing before heading back over the bridge and home for late night dinner and debrief.  Definitely one of those classic New York City nights.

The rest of the week was less eventful.  Worked from the other midtown office on Thursday, then a long day followed by a happy hour welcoming our interns on Friday.  Saturday was a lazy day, we went grocery shopping then lay around until dinnertime, when we got dressed up for rooftop dinner at Hotel Chantelle, always a good time.  A low key evening, except somehow we ended up staying up way too late when we got home.  

Sunday was a bust for me, I had some overdue work I couldn’t put off any longer, so S went out around 8:30am to do laundry and I did work.  Ugh.  In the afternoon we watched television and I fell asleep – allergies have been kicking my butt for like two months now, not good.  Did more work at night and missed Mad Men, but looking forward to watching tonight!  Only one more episode this season I think?