New York State of Mind

Tonight, I got back from my weekend trip to NYC. As always, I had a blast but spent way too much money. What's frustrating about NYC is you can't really take a train to and from the airport like here in Chicago so cab fare skyrockets. Anyway, here's a summary of my trip:

Friday my plane was delayed for three hours. For the past three visits to NY, this has happened to me. I don't have any idea why my flight is always delayed. The weather was perfect. Oddly enough, everyone else's flights were delayed, too. Some weird things are going on in American aviation these days. So I sat in Midway for three hours but luckily the airline, ATA, gave us a $10 food voucher and a $50 off our next flight coupons. Sweet. I'd never received any discounts before. So, by the time I finally got to my friends place in Brooklyn, it was after midnight. We all just went to bed. On Saturday, we got up early to do errands. We picked up my friend's wedding dress and went to brunch at this nice joint in the Lower East Side. I had a celebrity sighting: David Cross from "Mr. Show" and "Arrested Development" fame. I was so excited to see him as I'm a huge fan. My friends wouldn't let me take a picture of him, so no documentation. Afterwards, we went to Chuck E. Cheese. Yes, I'm serious. I hadn't been there in years. As a kid, I absolutely loved playing Skee Ball so that's what I did. It was overcrowded, though. It wasn't as fun as I remembered it to be.

Saturday night was my friend's bachelorette party, the main reason why I came to visit. Julie and her fiance Mark (my other friend) are getting married this weekend. I am going to be a groomswoman on his side but have been good friends with both of them for over ten years. Anyway, I was sort of reluctant about the party. I only really knew my friend who is getting married and wasn't too thrilled about spending an evening with ten chicks I hardly knew. We all had a nice dinner at a trendy spot called La Cavernera modeled after a cave. The food wasn't too expensive, but we got appetizers and a couple of bottles of wine, so it came out to more than I really wanted to spend. After a long dinner, we went to a club in Chelsea called Prey. We got bottle service which is a great idea for a large group of people. We got a bottle of vodka and rum, some mixers and just split the cost between all of us. We even had penis straws to drink from. At the club, I began to feel sort of lonely and weird. I don't know why. I kept thinking about my life in Chicago and really started to miss it. It's strange my friends are getting married. I mean, they've been together since I've met them, but I guess I can't relate to married couples. I sort of feel like they look down at singles and think they're inadequate. It's like, "Ha, ha, I found someone to spend my life with and you haven't." Earlier in the day my friends asked me when I was getting married and I shrugged, "Um, never?" I don't think that's the answer they were looking for. I'm simply not ready to settle in any aspect of my life and hate it when people think I should. Yes, I'd like to have a job at Time Out and yes I'd like to not be so poor and not feel so damn guilty for spending every dollar, but I do not want marriage, kids, nor a house in the 'burbs anytime soon. I wish I could somehow convince certain people of this and have them accept me for who I am instead of indirectly putting me down. Oh well. I took comfort there were a couple of other singletons my age at the party. I'm beginning to fear the "Sex and the City" syndrome. If I'm still single at 35, shoot me, okay? There's that quote that goes something like it's easier to get killed by a terrorist than to find a husband after 30 or something like that. Christ.

So, the party was a success after I quit feeling sorry for myself. On the cab ride home, Julie and I launched into British accents for some reason. Interesting. Sunday we slept in and went to a late brunch. Mark had to work part of the weekend but met up with us later. So, Julie and I ended up going to a taping of "Wheel of Fortune." For real. Pat and Vanna were in town for the weekend shooting a bunch of shows for their 25 Anniversary. I'm not a huge fan or anything, but it was cool to do something for free and to be inside Radio City Music Hall. After the taping, we went out for dinner and then saw the new Wes Anderson film, The Darjeeling Limited. I liked it a lot and wouldn't mind seeing it again. I could relate to the characters a little.

Today, both Mark and Julie had to work, so I went down to Wall Street and hung out. Julie works down there, so I walked around for a while then met her for lunch. I wanted to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge but couldn't figure out where the entrance was. One thing Chicago is lacking is street vendors. I realized the sidewalks in Chicago are much smaller than the ones in NY and this could be the reason. In NY, they sell hot dogs, gyros, fruit, and $1 coffee on the street. I really wish Chicago had all these novelties. Chicago also doesn't have mechanical animals to ride. Chicago also needs more benches in the city to sit on.

Overall, my fifth visit to NY was pretty fun. I love NY with all my heart but have come to the conclusion I don't really want to move there anytime soon. I sort of think of NY as lust but Chicago as love. It's taken me 3 years to establish myself in Chi-Town, to finally write for all the publications, to form solid friendships, etc, I just couldn't leave now. I wanted to move to NY in order to escape but that's not a good reason. Starting over at this point would be too difficult and I only know a handful of people in the city and two of them are soon-to-be-marrieds. I'm not ruling out that someday I'll move there, but only if I got an amazing job or had a ton of money. I'm more obsessed with going to Europe and rather save my money for that. My life in Chicago isn't so bad but there are definitely things I'd like to change. I think the main thing is my relationship issues. I don't want to get married anytime soon, but I feel like I should at least try to actually "date" someone instead of having everything be so casual. But yet it's all so complicated. I really want a good job, too. That should be my main concern.

So, I'm back in Chicago until Friday when I'm going to Ohio for the wedding. I'm dreading the wedding because I hate having people stare at me and I have to get all glamed up. Apparently I'm not girly enough. I hate comments like that. This week may be a little rough since I have to work, do a couple of writing assignments, go to a couple of concerts, and drive home, but I know I'll manage. I just want all the wedding festivities to be over so I can go back to my stupid life. At least there's an open bar at the wedding. It's what I'm looking forward to most right about the event right now. Oh, and seeing two of my best buds finally tie the knot. It's not about me. It's about them. But, thank god for the open bar.