Day 5 - From Chinatown to Sevilla

Thursday was a rainy day and we were tired. We decided, as it hadn't started to rain hard yet, to see Chinatown and Little Italy. We grabbed breakfast at 'J Bakery' called just 'J' because there is no way I could ever attempt to pronounce or spell the Polish name. I got an amazing chocolate-filled croissant (surprised?) and Alex got a donut.  Again we took the subway into the City and using my handy map, navigated our way to Chinatown. That's when it started to rain for real. So we walked quickly, ducking into those notorious shops of faux designer sunglasses, purses, scarves and jewelry. It didn't take long until we thought we were going in circles as all the shops sold the same things over and over. Then we got onto the streets with interesting restaurants and meat stores. We stopped in a gummy store so Alex could get his fill of everything gummy: fish, snowmen, flowers, alphabets, sharks, fried eggs...

We passed a McDonald's but hardly recognized anything on the menu. When it really started to pour we found a grocery store with more coconut products than you can imagine. Coconut jam? Yeah, me neither. While inside we hear a cover of John Denver's "Country Roads". And once outside again we saw a huge billboard of The Beatles, advertising their music now available on iTunes. This town was ridiculous.

We headed north trying to find Little Italy for lunch. I think we missed it just by a few blocks but instead found some cute clothing stores that I could never afford. Then by luck we found an awesome little Brazillian cafe/bar and stopped to eat; by now it was nearly 3. The food was just what we needed: a bowl a fruit, sausage sandwiches, salad. And I had the best cup of coffee I'd had all week.

Since the rain wasn't letting up, I thought it would be a good chance to see the Public Library.  We found a subway close by. We had to run through some puddles but the library was warm and dry. We snooped around for a bit. I was in awe over the books; Alex a little less so. I probably spent more time in the gift shop too than he would have liked, but he was great and let me have my fun.

Alex had arranged to meet his cousin who lived in the city for dinner. We still had some time so we walked through some stores before taking the subway back to the West Village. Sevilla was a Spanish restaurant in a more residential part of town. We got there a bit early and as we were in our jeans and sweatshirts, the manager kept an eye on us while we waited to for John.

He arrived and as he knew far more about Spanish food than we did, we let him take care of ordering. We got two dishes but I couldn't give you the names. Each had rice and a variety of seafood including lobster, muscles, clams, scallops and shrimp, in different sauces.  I haven't had a lot of experience with seafood, but I was willing to try.  I'm glad I did, though I probably won't go out of my way to eat it anytime soon. Alex so kindly offered me some of his "lobster face" but I had had my fill. I wish we had been old enough to try the Sangria too....

After a filling and adventurous meal we headed back out into the rain to Brooklyn. On the way home Alex decided he NEEDED ice cream. Of course, when it's pouring down rain, after 9pm and we have about a mile to walk after the subway before the apartment he just HAS to stop for some ice cream. So we found a small convenience store and bought a pint of raspberry sorbet and were back out in the cold rain. I was wearing the wrong shoes for this. We were just about running and jumping over puddles by this point. I wasn't so good at the jumping as the puddles were much wider than my leg span and I landed in a few, getting an uncomfortable amount of water in the shoes.

Not soon enough, we were back at the apartment and were able to change completely out of our wet clothes and enjoy our sorbet.  The rest of the night, our last night in NYC, we took it easy. Bob made us a night cap called a Gin Fizz. At first he promised to keep the ingredients a secret, but after we tried it, he gave in. I don't remember it all but there were egg whites, cream, soda water, lemon juice and of course gin....

Day 4 - Regis and Kelly!

In spite of the Tylenol PM I took before going to bed, I hardly slept. And when the alarm went of at 5:30am, I didn't want to move. I woke up Alex and asked why were we doing this, it was nuts. He mumbles "be on TV." So we did it. We got up and dressed and left by 5:50 and made our way into the cold morning. I had mapped out our subway route the night before (by this time, I was a pro) and we were at our designated spot in front of Lincoln Square 7 just minutes before 7am. (The Starbucks across the street did not go unnoticed by me). There was a very small line out front so our odds looked good. Just in case, we planned out three other shows we could try to get into later that day.

It seemed to get colder as we stood there. The wind was whooshing past and we hadn't eaten breakfast. A couple in front of us, probably about our age, asked a security guard who had just walked outside, what time we could expect to get our standby tickets. He said "after 7." I had just looked at my watch and it was 7:15. He could have said "mushrooms" as helpful as he was.

The line next to us, the ones who had tickets beforehand, started to grow and then shrink as they let people inside.  Then when it looked like we might gain access, more people would show up in that line. We got colder and less hopeful but shortly before 8, literally 7:56, a woman came out and handed us each a piece of paper with a number on it. We were numbers 23 and 24. The woman told us to come back at 8:30 and they'd see how many seats they had available. They kept assuring us that nothing was guaranteed.  So we headed across the street to the packed Starbucks along with everyone else. My legs were so cold and so used to standing still they forgot how to walk. Once inside, we ordered hot chocolate and breakfast and snagged the last table, almost shoving a woman out of her seat as she put on her coat

Alex called his mom to let her know our progress and at 8:30 we went back outside. (Had it gotten still colder?) They wouldn't let us in the building still but slowly allowed a few people at a time. Eight people were ushered in at a time, and they still reminded us that we were not guaranteed to be on the show.  Fifteen minutes before nine and we were in the door going through a metal-detector. Twelve minutes to go and we were lining up in order of our tickets. We kept moving from line to line, back and forth in the foyer and then just minutes before we were ushered down the hall getting closer and closer to the studio.  We were inside, but it seemed almost full. Just a few seats here and there left vacant. We were handed little pink pieces of paper, numbers 151 and 152...of 163! We made it! We ran to the top to the only seats we saw open and sat down. I couldn't stop looking around at all the signs and lights and people. I was really there!! 

Gilman came out and told us to be excited and clap a lot and laugh when things were funny. He gave us the whole schpeal on how we are the life the show and we bring excitement to it. Um, I was excited enough for everyone!

Then it started! Regis and Kelly came out and did their usually entertaining opening. But it was hard to remember to stay smiling and pretty when I was staring in awe! But after the first commercial, the disappointment came. IT'S NOT ALL LIVE! They prerecorded the interview with Amanda Seyfriend (the person I'd actually heard of as opposed to Donny Wahlberg). And after the end of this show, they had us stay to record some bits for a show in two weeks! Ugh, what a lie!

Anyways, by the end of that, our exhaustion was coming through. A few people we had waited in line with grabbed tickets for The View and headed off towards that but we wanted a nap! We decided to head back to Brooklyn and nap before our evening plans. We got pizza right off the subway and ate it back at Bob and Kim's. (Alex made a mess.) Then it was naptime! Alex wanted to explore Brooklyn before we headed back into Manhattan to meet Kim for her friend's art show but I slept longer than anticipated and we only had times for showers before we left.

We took the subway to near Central Park. The show was at the Arsenal Building just on the perimeter of the park. It was so much fun! It was small but very chic. They served lots of cheese and wine. We perused the unique art and then got up the nerve to ask for a glass of wine. Kim said it wouldn't matter that we're a few months too young. Alex very casually asked for two glasses of red wine. After we finished those, Alex had more cheese and we met the artist, we went to meet Bob at his office before dinner.

He worked on the 18th floor of a building way across town. His office was at the top and their lease included the roof access! So we had to peak. It was even colder and windier! We didn't stay long but I got some great pictures. We could ALMOST see the Statue of Liberty, but not really. We walked around a bit trying to get onto the Highline but it was closed already as they have winter hours. So then it was time to head into Brookly for dinner at The Diner, a favorite of Bob and Kim. 

And I can see why. It was a small, run-down roadside dinner on the outside, but inside there was a bar and a very fancy restaurant. They didn't even have menus! The waitress just came and told us what was available that night. The portions were perfect, as I went on about all night, and Kim ordered wine for the table. (Illegal drinking in public #2). The food was AMAZING! I had pasta as did Alex. We got hors d'oeuvres to share which included raw crab. I tried some of Kim's squid too...not as bad as it sounds. Then we had some amazing desserts, chocolate cake (made from Mast Brothers Chocolate made in Brooklyn) and some lemon too. Between this and our first NYC art opening, it was a very 'sophisticated' day for us.