I might have hit peak capacity! And the week isn’t close to over yet. Sigh. I’m tired. But instead of rest, I took a surprise bus ride the other night. Somehow the universe is dropping little signals at just the right moments… right when I’m about to give up and head for the subway. I popped a little bubbly because doesn’t everyone do this on Thursday and Friday and Saturday… yes exhausted, and Sunday and Monday, and yes surprisingly again on Tuesday. And, well… shoot Thursday was an event as well. Never dull. When I’m home in New York, as pictured, things are equally lovely. I’m feeling quite fortunate. And rather pleased for the Tuesday reminder- of true love, mutual respect and the most beautiful friendship. As my week ‘home’ progressed, it only got stranger and more awesome. I met up, at my favourite Cafe Pleiades, with a boy I met on a plane several years ago. Before he met his wife, married, had three kids and moved to Arizona! Bizarre, but I must admit that I am rather impressed he even remembered me. Always fun to catch up with great people you’ve not seen in a hundred years. loving you up NYC.
I don’t know what I was thinking booking myself in Puerto Rico after a trip to Saint Barthélemy at a world-renowned property, with a select small group of colleagues. I guess that explains the funny looks each one of them gave me when they learned of my post-St Barths intentions. Heyyyyy, when I was eighteen years old… I remember the charm of Old San Juan fondly! But true to Liz-random-fashion, I bailed that plan last minute just by the mere suggestion from a friend.
“Well if it’s such a shit hole, why don’t you just come home?”
Good idea at 1:00pm on a Monday afternoon! Why don’t I?! I had dinner the night before at the BLT Steak bar at the Ritz, trying not to overhear the random Floridian couple next to me bicker and struggle for some semblance of a peaceful life with one another. After having just left St Barths with a small group of extraordinarily fulfilled lovelies, (both personally and at work) it was just an interesting dynamic. I slept terribly with a long bad dream all night, one of those where you wake up random and go right back into it. For the whole night. It was a bullying dream of sorts.
I woke up to shitty weather, a shitty hotel, an air conditioning unit that maybe did or did not work, 220 squats and a full busy work day. Messaging with my buddy, I realised staying and PAYING was just goofy! Time to turn this frown upside down. I called the airline by 1:30pm and the hotel just after who agreed upon my 4:00pm check out with no penalty to leave early. Like a bat out of the mythological hell, I packed everything up and home to Manhattan I went! I purchased duty free Puerto Rican sweets for my Upper East side Bistro friends, grabbed a grey goose roadie (okay so there’s one good thing about Puerto Rico), secured my upgrade and was suddenly so excited to be home!
Having properly wrapped work up for the night into a nice little bow I was excited to re-watch ‘Grand Budapest Hotel’ on the plane. The d-bag next to me in the window seat would not put his shade down. So I’m blinded in my right eye and practically deaf in my left ear. Being 40 rocks. It ended up being a hilarious flight, and a new flight attendant friend was made. Four hours later when I landed I had somehow collected a little plethora of random plans to meet friends and then head into my local for a nightcap. Hmmm. Nothing like a living each day to it’s fullest! I had this Jersey taxi driver who was either totally fucked up or just really really inept at NYC driving. We were going in circles just outside of Newark… on and off the freeway ausfahrts. Trying to get up to 76th was interesting. He drove 5 mph in the Lincoln Tunnel with no traffic. That should have been my first clue. He stopped in that bendy bit of Park Avenue like down at 40th that goes through Grand Central. Stopped. WTF! He was a mess and I had to go into deal-mode! As in, “are you okay to drive?” I aggravatingly made it home, dropped the luggage and darted off for a little neighbourhood fun. All the while receiving slightly inappropriate What’s App messages. Sigh… but so hilarious
My week home thus far has been unexpectedly full-on but I wouldn’t trade this life for anything… next week I’m off again for so so long. I’ve got like 17 more random scenarios to live out, as I cross the globe. I am definitely not boasting, but overwhelmed by my own brevity at times. Work, friends and even buses constantly remind me without even realising, how fabulous life is. x
I am loving Phase II of waifdom! Like Alabama Shakes say we’re ‘Always Alright’… what a great fucking song.
