west meets east

(above: me, lindsay)

(above: me, marko)

this past week i had two friends from LA staying with me. we dined at some of my favorite casual west village spots; the spotted pig, benny's, agave and had a wonderful final night drink at corner bistro. i really should start going there more often, it actually gathers a decent number of young, straight guys for a village bar.  

it's always interesting having guests. for a number of reasons, but especially because it makes you release how set in your ways you can be. 

i've got to go above 14th more besides, of course, my weekly 72nd street pilgrimage to therapy ;)

...but, really, this little neighborhood makes it so easy not to. 

goodness gracious

earlier this week the nicest thing happened. i work as a hostess at a popular west village restaurant, where reservations are hard to come by. late sunday afternoon a woman called about changing her early evening res to a later time that night. the middle evening seating is incredibly packed but the woman seemed nice and i  was feeling generous. 

i knew she was appreciative but never imagined to what extent. around midnight some friends and i passed by the restaurant on the way to a bar, the hostess' waved me inside and handed me a gift (chocolate truffles) and a hand written thank you note from the woman i had spoken to. 

that's just the nicest thing imaginable. for all the bullshit and bullshit people you put up with in the city, it's so nice to see genuinely good people on occasion. 

the vivian girls visit new york

the folk art museum has an exhibit right now that i'm dying to see. up close: henry darger will be open until september 2009 (so there's plenty of time). darger (1892-1973) worked as a  janitor for most of his anonymous life - it wasn't until after his death that volumes of his were found tucked away containing 15 unique 145 page installments to his whimsically dark manuscript "the story of the vivian girls, in what is known as the realms of the unreal, of the glendeco-angelinnnian war storm, caused by the child slave rebellion".  along with the paintings, several hundred unique watercolor paintings illustrating his epic saga were also found. darger's delicate and feminine pieces have a dark psychological twist which i'm really captured by. the costumes of the vivian girls of been inspirational in the fashion world and darger's life, work and pathos have been studied heavily post-humus. inspiration for my gallatin concentration if ever i saw it...

a sigh of relief

-from the newsfeed of gothamist.

... suffice it to see we can once again dash out to the spotted pig for a midnight cocktail and bar app without clutching our swiss army knives for dear life. hurray!

you can say "goodbye" to bathtub gin

today is one of those days when i feel extremely fortunate to live in a city where public transportation is at my constant disposal, no need for a designated driver here, my friends.

 that's right, it's national repeal day!

today, dec 5th, marks the 75th anniversary of america's repeal of prohibition. 

let's celebrate here, as a solute to the evolution of the american cocktail. 

cheers.

something new

i could live right here for a million years and find a new favorite place day after day.

west village wine bar, turks and frogs, is adorable and it's been just a block away this whole time. who knew?!