Then God Made NYC.

Just after I got back from Texas, I was on yet another plane to New York City. It wasn't fun, it was for work. I love New York City, I cannot really explain it, but I have always felt I should be living there. These tiny trips just reinforce it, and it is dangerous, because I don't want to move there. But I do! But I don't. (But I do.)

When you step out into the air of New York, it just feels amazing, you can feel the energy in the air, hear so many different noises, see all the diverse people, smell the smells...it hits me like a ton of bricks, and sucks me in, and makes me never want to leave.

So many cabs, here is the taxi rank outside the door at the airport:



All those cabs are waiting, lined up to get people. I got in a screaming fight with the cab driver I landed, though. I told him I had no cash, at all, so he needed to take credit cards. He said that was fine. Then we got to a bridge and the toll was $5.50. He started screaming at me to fork over $5.50, I had to yell back and tell him, look, I TOLD YOU I didn't have any cash BEFORE I got in this car. You deal with it. He was screaming back, "Just give it to me! It is only $5.50, just give it to me! Come on!" "Did you not hear when I said I have NO money on me? That means NO MONEY. I can't give you something I don't have." Eventually he used his own money and added it to the fare, and I left him a $3 tip on a $50 cab ride. Jerk.

I stayed at a nice hotel in midtown Manhattan.



I slept in this bed:



Super cozy and nice. I didn't want to get up.

Gorgeous bathroom:



Even the toiletries were gorgeous (not very high end, though, kind of cheap):



The drinking glasses were Pyrex beakers:



So cute and thoughtful. I really liked this place. Buuuuut it is NYC, and I am tough, but not New York tough, so I rigged up a great security system. Ironing board under the door handle.



I ate at O'Casey's, because of course if you see a restaurant called O'Casey's, and you're a member of my family, you have to eat there.



Unfortunately the food wasn't good, but they had Leffe Blonde on tap. You can't get Leffe Blonde on tap anywhere in Boston.

These were the tall buildings on my street, I just love looking up in this city. I don't understand the scaffolding, though. Every time I have been there, the buildings are covered in it. Does this ever go away, or is New York just constantly regenerating?



Alas, the wonderfulness had to end, and I had to go home. This was waiting for me by my ZipCar:



I felt like I was back on Swiss Avenue in Dallas. Oh the memories of crack whores and drunken homeless people eating chicken wings on my stoop, and throwing the bones in the grass.

Welcome to Texas!

I went back to Texas for the first time last week. The first place I went, aside from the airport and Nana's house, was Wal-Mart! I was really excited to visit this wonderous place. Yes, Bostonians, there does exist a place where you can buy socks, a comforter, nails, shampoo, and breakfast all in one stop.



However, wonder soon turned to terror while I shopped. Shopping here was miserable, and I have no idea how I did it for so long...tiny kids running everywhere (directly into you, in some cases), parents not in sight, people acting like animals, no fresh produce, no good brands. I would take the Market Basket over Wal-Mart any day, though I did get some really cheap drugstore items to bring back. I spent about an hour trying to find raisins, and having a panic attack.

Most of the time was spent lounging here, next to the diving board, feet dipped into the lovely lagoon. The weather was nice, but very hot. I thought the heat would kill me, but it felt pretty normal, and nice.



This is where I stayed:



Such a lovely guest house! No running water, but hey, who needs it?

It rained a lot, Nana and I were shopping when these dark clouds rolled in. Do you have any idea how nice it was to drive to stores? And not have to pay to park?

My Rite Aid drugstore here in Boston has metered parking. At a drugstore. Please.



Here is the Texas flag that hangs in Nana's backyard. She made it herself. It sort of makes me tear up looking at it.



When I left Boston, it was in the 60s for the highs. In Texas, at 2pm, it was nearly 100. Every day when we woke up, it was well in the high 80s already.



The trip was a success, but made me more homesick. I am getting back in the groove now, back to the daily grind of Bean Town.

Everyone goes NUTS for summer in Boston. It makes sense -- they have 10 months of freezing cold, so they need to soak up the sun during those remaining two months. People are everywhere.

This picture is for Nana:



Remember when we went to the Aquarium and had lunch? And there was no one there? Look at the crowds this summer!

4th of July

The 4th of July is a huge thing in Boston, of course. We had big plans to watch the Boston Pops and Neil Diamond at the Hatch Shell on the 3rd, but rainstorms loomed so we couldn't go. Then we were going to watch them read the Declaration of Independence at the old State House, but the MBTA red line foiled that plan. Soooo....we ended up having a very all-American picnic, then watching the fireworks.

We stood on a bridge to watch, the bridges closer to the esplanade would have been too crowded. These were the cars passing beneath us.



Then the fireworks began:



And went on:



And ended: