snow & a weekend recap

~Central Park snow

Today, instead of being trapped behind a big, boring desk at the Day Job, I write to you from a big, comfy sofa in Dan's living room. There is snow falling lightly outside the large windows that face Columbus Avenue, and HGTV's 'Color Splash' is on in the background as I contemplate what bit of news to share with you today.

My bosses were gracious enough to let me stay home on this very snowy, blustery day since they would not be making it into the office themselves. And so I declared that today would be my writing/practicing music/getting stuff DONE day. So far, however, all I've managed is a nap, a walk through the snow with Dan for some lunch (he works from home, lucky duck) and several half-finished blog entries...just can't seem to get inspired.

Maybe I'll tell you about the weekend, which was one of those perfect mixes of relaxation, productivity, fun and randomness.

Okay, yes, let's do that.

Friday night Dan took me to a great southwestern restaurant in the Village called Agave, which made us feel like we were back in Santa Fe again (sigh). There were high hopes of a real, Village kind of night, with live jazz or something "cool" following dinner, but due to low energy and drizzly, cold weather, all we managed beyond dinner was a trip to the supermarket for some Ben & Jerry's before heading back to the UWS and crashing on the couch with our ice cream and TBS re-runs of Sex and the City.

Saturday it was decided that we would allow ourselves a morning/early afternoon of "fun" but then each devote the remainder of the day to catching up on work (him) and practicing music for upcoming gigs (me). So after a neighborhood walk-about and some brunch, we hunkered down in different parts of the apartment to accomplish our tasks at hand. That night, however, it was back to more fun as we headed to the Lincoln Center Barnes & Noble for a few hours of browsing (one of my favorite things in the world to do), then headed home again for some Netflix-ing and take-out (specifically, Thai food -- mmm -- and Munich -- maybe the longest, most stressful movie in the world).

Sunday morning was just perfect. Sleeping in, freshly brewed coffee and bowls of cereal, a bit of reading and chatting, then an hour or so of sitting side by side on the couch with dueling lap-tops as we worked on various wedding projects (like the 'Save The Date' announcements and our website). The rest of the day was a whirlwind of activity and culture as we hit nearly every neighborhood in the city and had some of those unique "only in New York" moments. First we headed to midtown to my voice teacher's studio for an intimate theater showcase entitled "The Russians are Coming!" -- a collection of Russian monologues and a staged reading of an original one-woman show. Then there was church back on the UES, followed by a trip down to Greenwich Village's Cornelia Street Cafe with friends for an evening of music entitled "Tagore Songs and the Celtic Harp" -- which was a kind of fusion-music that combined "Indian classical and folk melodies, with Irish and British tunes" ... yes, quite interesting. Sitting there in that cave-like setting, though, with candles flickering on each table and this incredibly unique music swelling around us, I definitely had one of those "Ah, yes, I am in New York. THIS is New York!" kind of moments that I know I will never forget. It was the perfect ending to a full and lovely weekend.