Ella Lounge

Comedy clubs have always made me nervous.

I always fear that somehow I'm going to be singled out from the crowd and made fun of, or worse be pulled onto the stage!

But I was going through a bit of a tough time and so when my friend CP, who I hadn't seen in a while, invited me to a comedy show at Ella Lounge, I decided to ignore my fears and just go.

Ella is actually your run-of-the-mill lounge in the East Village but on Tuesday nights, Seth Herzog (who is currently the warm-up act on the Jimmy Fallon show) hosts his own comedy night in the dimly lit basement, which sits probably no more than 20 people although that night a good 60 of us crammed into the small space.

While Seth is the main act (and regularly brings his mum on stage for added comedy value), he also invites a great mix of established and new comedians to perform. And, as CP had told me, sometimes brings one of his celebrity friends as MCs.

I must admit that when Justin Long turned out to be the MC that night, I was more than a little excited. The club is so small that he was just a few feet away from us and he was just as charming, down to earth and damn right adorable as his on-screen persona.

With a cover charge of just $5, celebrity MC or not, it is more than worth it and a great way to spend a winter's Tuesday night!

Thank You

RIP Steve Jobs.

My Macbook, iPod, iPhone and iPad have all made my life easier and dare I say, better.

Thank you.

Flower district

To say that one can never fully know all of what New York has to offer is an understatement.

Just when I felt I had almost gotten there, it managed to surprise me and bring me back to reality - there are still so many things I have yet to experience here. And long may it be this way!

My sister and I stumbled upon the Flower District in Chelsea on our way to brunch with friends. It is located on just one block of 28th Street, between 6th & 7th. But in that small stretch of pavement, you feel transported to another universe - one filled with flowers, shrubs and even palm trees as all the flower shops display their wares right there on the street.

I have no idea why they are all concentrated on this particular block - some of them have clearly been there for a long time. Laurie & I loved the feeling of being in a open-air greenhouse, almost forgetting the noise and bustle of the City, while we strolled in a forest of green.

US Open

Going to the US Open has long been on my list of things to do in New York.

With the Boy being borderline obsessed with the sport (and practicing it himself), I finally got to tick it off the bucket list.

We took a day off to see some of the pre-tournament qualifying games and also got some tickets to the men's quarter finals which we took my sister to.

Going to Flushing Meadows is a bit of a trek (for a Manhattanite at least) but well worth it. If you don't mind huge crowds, the atmosphere is electric and for me, catching a glimpse of the glittering Empire State Building in the distance while in the Arthur Ashe stadium, made it an unmissable New York experience.

Montreal

My sister is visiting me for a couple of weeks again - an annual tradition that I hope never dies.

In between making the most out of New York and enjoying a few new experiences (more on that in later posts), we escaped for a few days to Montreal.

I fell in love with the place. It's the perfect mix of small town atmosphere - easily negotiable on foot or bike, with small cobbled streets and tiny cafes - but with big city amenities such as wonderful restaurants and world class museums. It also manages to strike an intriguing balance between European and American sensibilities - one that actually works.

In fact, I loved that people there switched mid-sentence from French to English and back again, without an ounce of self-consciousness. Very much like me when I talk to my sister (who speaks both languages too) and so I finally felt like I wasn't such an oddity after all!

As a quick jaunt from New York (less than 2 hours by plane), I can't recommend it highly enough.

Irene

I didn't take the threats of Hurricane Irene seriously at all until Saturday morning. The Boy had stayed over and it was my turn to go and get us coffee from Starbucks. 

I walked to my local one to find that it was closed. Undeterred, I walked to the next one to find it shut too. As far as I am concerned, no Starbucks means "the end of the world as I know it" ... hence when I started to panic.

I went home, empty handed, to find the Boy ready to leave my place as the MTA was about to shut down all public transport and his brother had to be evacuated from Long Island and stay with him in the Bronx.

We both set off on our own grocery missions. Me to Gristedes for ham, bread, cans of tuna and inexplicably (although it seemed like a good idea at the time) a jar of artichoke hearts. Him to Fairway for his favorite roast chicken and a baguette (who's the French one in this relationship?!). I also made a pit stop at the liquor store which had the longest queue of all. I felt an extra pang of love for my fellow New Yorkers then - we may have been facing an indefinite blackout but none of us were prepared to do it sober and conscious :)

After the Boy left, I met with a bunch of my friends for a boozy brunch that lasted until the evening, while the rain poured outside. CS and I had already agreed that she would stay with me for the weekend so we went home and pooled our "groceries" together which by this point included what I had bought earlier and her snazzy selection of cheese and biscuits, as well as no less than six bottles of wine between the two of us.

We woke up the next day hungover but surprised to find a clear sky and a gentle breeze sweeping the Upper West Side. We managed to find the only bar/restaurant open that day in our neighborhood and met some more friends for yet another long brunch with bottomless Mimosas.

Many areas of New York State were badly affected by the storm and I hope that everything will be repaired soon. But I can't help but being amused by the reaction of people in the City. I have since read that during this whole experience, Whole Foods had sold out of organic hummus first or other "luxury" products, before any of the other life saving things people might need.  Manhattanites (me included) can be so out of touch with reality sometimes!

The Boy

By now, you must have noticed how much I have mentioned the Boy in my posts as we have been spending so much time together.

While I initially called this whole thing "The Great Dating Experiment", I no longer feel (and have not for a while now) that it is an experiment at all. It did start out as a concerted effort to let someone in, even just a little bit. It was about me trying to trust a man for a change after being hurt so badly a couple of years ago. It was about giving a chance to someone lovely, very interesting, available and who seemed to want to get to know me. And I guess it was also about giving myself a chance to be happy.

But we are past that point. The Boy simply has never let me down, a fact that continues to surprise and amaze me. Of course, we have only been together for three months, it is still very early days and neither of us knows where it's heading but we are enjoying the present. But it feels real.

After 5 years of being "technically" single but tangled up in dysfunctional trysts, I didn't think I was actually capable of being in a normal, straight forward relationship again. With all the good things and not so good things that come with it.

I promise that I will never become a smug "coupled up" person. I have too much life experience to ever take it for granted or expect that it will last forever. I also would never jeopardize the wonderful friendships I have here. My priority is to ensure that I spend as much time as I always have done with my adopted family, the dear friends who are the bedrock of my life, while still nurturing my burgeoning relationship with the Boy. Of course something had to give and so between my friends, the Boy and the gym, I'm afraid the gym had to go! Tough choice but someone had to make it ;-)

Right now I just feel incredibly lucky that I am able to balance everything and get the best of both worlds. To have met someone who likes adventures (cultural, intellectual, physical) as much as I do, someone who is not threatened by my ambition or thirst for life, who does not want to change my life but adds to it, is a wonderful icing on top of what was a pretty tasty cake in the first place!

But (and there is always a "but" in this crazy City) nothing is ever as straight forward as it seems. I remember writing a while ago that everyone here is slightly damaged and it remains a true statement - between his emotional baggage and mine, things are not always easy. But it's worth it. And regardless of what happens, I hope I will never regret trying.