Hot Commodity - NYC Day 1

HOT COMMODITY! aka a seat in a coffee shop is almost as valuable as a Tiffany diamond ring

My plane landed 45 minutes before the originally scheduled time - very New York… fast, fast, fast! Because we were so early however, we sat on the tarmac for about an hour and I had a matchmaking session with the most adorable woman sitting next to me who said I would be “so good for her nice Jewish son in LA” (highly considering it!) When we finally pulled up to the gate, the classic de-planing ritual of *everyone rush into the aisle at once* began. As I left the plane, my Californian skin was hit with the coldest burst of wind and my first thought was, “What the HECK am I doing here? I’m going to be a human icicle!” But as I made my way through the airport, looking as confident as possible, I remembered the reason why I came… it’s freaking NEW YORK CITY and I LOVE it here!

I conquered that subway system like a boss (not to toot my own horn… but, I did!) Two girls from Idaho even asked me for directions and I was able to tell exactly where to go and used all the right New-Yorker lingo :) (one of my biggest moments of pride!!)… I took the air train and transferred over to the E and went the right direction (yay!) Then I got on the 6 and took it to 86th St. I walked a few blocks in the rain (lovely) and then rolled up at Claudia’s apartment (note: Claudia is Izzy’s sister and now I guess my sister because we are exactly the same person. She is also SOOOO generously hosting us in her apartment this week and is spoiling us way more than we deserve. Major shoutout to Claudia)

Ok enough of my transportation methods, that’s not why you all are here. A lot of people have asked me why I am going to New York and quite honestly I never really had a solid answer; I mean what am I going to say, “I really need to get the heck out of Santa Barbara... California… the west coast!” Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love it there. California has my heart - always! The weather? Can’t beat it! The mountains AND ocean? Yes, please! California is my home. I know the freeways like the back of my hands. I have my favorite coffee shops and my favorite seats inside of those coffee shops. I know the traffic patterns (of which there are a ton) and the best places to get a burger or açai bowl. It’s my home and I love it. But New York… it’s like a mistress. So enticing, beautiful, inviting (ehh kinda). It has so much mystery and it kind of just wraps you up and absorbs your entire being. When I’m in New York, heck, when I think about New York, I feel a rush of excitement that California doesn’t really give me anymore. New York is New York you know? There’s no where else like it; the skyscrapers, complete disregard for crossing signals, and everyone cramming together in a subway… mmm camaraderie.

When I landed in New York I knew I had arrived due to 3 main things.

The captain announced it. It was really, really cold. We got to the baggage claim and when it took more than 30 seconds for the luggage to come out, people started to lose it. A guy next to me was pacing, another guy angrily canceled his Lyft order, and a woman just laid down… in the middle of the airport. Ah, NYC!

The first thing I did when I got here was take a nap. Shocking, because if you know me, you know that I don’t take naps. But it was much needed before Izzy and I began our long adventure through the city. We’re staying on the Upper East Side so we started our trek towards Central Park/Guggenheim area to find a coffee shop. Ok, a seat in a coffee shop is hot commodity here everyone. As the title of this entry denotes, it is almost as valuable as a Tiffany diamond. People will fight over this stuff! We walked into a coffee shop (the 1,077th of the day) and there was a man getting up from a seat and this woman in front of us, who was in the MIDDLE OF HER ORDER, straight up jumped out of line, elbowed me in the chest, and threw her lululemon bag down onto the seat. Honestly, she did it with such confidence and power that I wasn’t even mad about it! We settled for Starbucks but even they were completely packed. So, we kept walking, filling defeated and needing coffee. Then, like an oasis in the desert, we came upon Ateaze Coffee and looked in the window. TWO. OPEN. SEATS!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m pretty sure we set the world record for sprinting the 100m and then hurdled over the entire store to 2 open seats. If you’ve ever seen Broad City (highly recommend you all watch), there’s a scene in Central Park where Abbi and Ilana are trying to find a seat. Spoiler alert, there aren’t any. In a ruthless battle they finally do get a seat, but dang, who would’ve thought a place to put your ass would be so valuable!! (Here’s the link to the video: http://www.cc.com/video-clips/pxzm4u/broad-city-the-go-to-lie) We’re heading off to Claudia’s for dinner in a little bit. So far, I am loving New York. It’s just *heart eyes*

Here is Izzy’s verbatim summary of our time thus far, “je suis fatiguée, i am very thankful for my sister and all she’s been doing so far for us. eccentric but low-key scary - imma get robbed or shae is going to get us run over by a car. why does food cost so much money? overall great experience!”