Hello everyone! I’ve been really getting into the swing of things this week–new assignments at work, starting the blogilates September calendar (which is killing me by the way), and getting back into eating clean! Still working on the whole “getting enough sleep” thing. Slowly but surely, I’m growing out of the 11am-4am schedule I had in college. Last weekend was a throwback, as I spent time with my wonderful friends in New York (and ate a lot of things that weren’t quite “clean”).

Even though it’s only been a few months, it feels like college was ages ago. The new freshman are starting classes and campus doesn’t quite feel like home anymore. My friend Hilary (who is getting her Masters at CU) wrote a beautiful poem about that feeling of misplacement. Still, it felt good to be back in New York with old friends, and we quickly slipped into patterns of banter, silliness, and uproarious laughter.

After sitting on the steps at on Columbia’s quad and passing judgement on the new freshmen (a classic pastime), we went to dinner at a southern barbecue restaurant, of all places. After too much pulled pork and some bar hopping, we ended up at this great 1920s themed spot in the Upper West Side called Prohibition. They have good cocktails, a live band, an attentive wait-staff, and most importantly, the kitchen was still open when we arrived after midnight. That’s my kind of bar. But the best part of the night was the people I was with. In the information age, real-life time with your best friends has become all the more precious. 

On Sunday, my friend Keith and I decided to see a play because we were bored. The funny thing about New York is that you have so many options that it can be hard to know what to do. I hadn’t bought tickets in advance, which is unlike me. We went first to two box offices (of brand new “You Can’t Take It With You” and Tony-winner  “A Gentlemen’s Guide to Love and Murder”), but they only had very expensive tickets left for the matinee. The dude a Gentlemen’s guide literally said “I have one single at $299.” Great, very helpful. So we got in line at the tkts booth, which has great last-minute discounts but represents everything terrible about theatre in Times Square. There are a million people, tourists and students, mostly, all trying to get tickets RIGHT NOW. Why everyone else was also trying for the very last minute (literally 15 minutes before curtain call) I don’t know. After going through a few options, we finally found some rear mezzanine tickets at “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” for about 40% off. I’d seen it before, and Neil Patrick Harris has left, but hey, it’s an awfully fun musical. 

It was good, but not nearly as good as when I saw it (for free!) in the spring. Andrew Rannells is a talent in his own right, but no NPH. But how could I leave New York without seeing a play? “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” is this amazing rock musical (by John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask) about a gender-variant rock star named Hedwig. Forced into losing her “man-parts” in an elaborate scheme to escape East Berlin to become a rock star, the show is the story of Hedwig’s struggles, triumphs, and desperate search for identity. It’s heartbreaking, hilarious, and features amazing music and special effects. You can’t talk about this revival without mentioning the beautiful, quietly powerful Lena Hall, who plays Hedwig’s husband Yitzhak, and who took home the Tony for Outstanding Performance by a Featured Actress. Like director Michael Mayer’s shining glory “Spring Awakening,” “Hedwig” strikes the balance between being extremely entertaining and delicately heart-wrenching. Highly recommended. 

The weekend as a whole was filled with food, cocktails, and a lot of catching up. Boy do I miss New York, you guys! Hopefully I’ll make it back sometime in the spring, once the snow has melted. Thanks for reading, and catch you next time!