On the Road: Little Italy, Chinatown, Freshwater Pearls, and a Red Thing
Today was not a work day. I slept late and met Dale at the Noho Star for lunch after which we were going to go to the Brooklyn Museum where I could research magicians, but when we were done eating, we looked at each other and said, “Let’s walk around.” So we walked all over Little Italy and I saw this red thing (blouse? tunic? wrap?) in a boutique window that made me go “whoa,” so even though I knew better, I went in and ended up buying the most expensive piece of clothing of my entire life, and I’m not sorry. If Bob had been with me, I wouldn’t have had time because he has a ten minute rule and it took me more than ten minutes to get past the price tag, but I really love this whatever it is, so thank god I was with Dale who said, “Buy it, buy it.”
Then we wandered all over Chinatown and i bought a scarf and a cap from hole in the wall stores, and then we took the bus north to this great bead place that Dale knew on 37th, and I bought cinnabar and freshwater pearls while she stocked up on jewelry for her niece. Really, everything was a extraordinarily reasonable except for the red thing. And then I hugged Dale good-bye and walked back down to the Village in a beautiful spring twilight, and that would have been a spectacular day all by itself because Dale and I talked and laughed the entire time we walked and shopped, but then wonderful Meg met me at the apartment and we went to dinner in Soho and laughed a lot and then came back and talked so long that she missed the train she was going to take home and then missed the one after that, too. So it was a great day, and the wonderful thing is that, aside from some industry gossip, it was completely a non-working day, and I loved it.
Tomorrow, it’s back to work since I’m doing a publishing panel with the brilliant Jennifer Enderlin, and I think I’m going to wear the red thing I bought if I can figure out how to tie it on (not to be confused with tying one on). And since I’m going to see Jen and also Alisa Kwitney tomorrow–currently Alisa and I are playing phone tag but I’m sure we’ll work something out–even though it’s a business day, there will be more hilarity and good times. Especially if I don’t tie this red thing on right.
Really, I think the secret to getting a life is to just concentrate on enjoying the people in the one you already have. And to stop scheduling every damn minute with research and meetings. Today was completely worthless from a professional standpoint but my mental health is in the stratosphere. Along with my credit card debt. Still, good mental health is priceless, so no regrets.
Unless this red thing falls off tomorrow in the middle of the panel. Stay tuned.
Would love to see a picture of the red thing. Preferably still on you.
Jenny, may you have many healthy, happy years to enjoy your life and the people in it.
Another request for a picture of the red thing. If you loved it that much it must be fabulous.
And to stop scheduling every damn minute
That’s the key to getting a life, for me anyway. That and buying red things. And occasionally blue. I bought four expensive blue things on a whim the other day and it totally made my day.
Quick! Get a picture of it on and off!!
Yes, picture of red thing please. It’s so cool that you saw something in a store window & actually went in & bought it. Like something in a movie.
“I think the secret to getting a life is to just concentrate on enjoying the people in the one you already have.”
This is my quote for the week. I LOVE it.
I agree. I just made it into a nice little sign to hang in my cubicle. I too often do the “I don’t have a life” whine. But in reality, I don’t think I’d be any happier if I was busier. It’s just a stop and smell the roses thing.
Also, yay for expensive little red things. I would also like a picture. It sounds like fun.
I think this is the definition of living in the moment. We spend far too much time wishing our lives away. Enjoy the red thing, and yeah, I want a picture of you in it too.
For me, scheduling is the key to getting a life. If I don’t make an appointment and put it in my calendar, I won’t do it. I’ll go nowhere and see no one, like a hermit. Sometimes it wears me out, looking at all those appointments- pilates class, massage, crit group- but it’s better than sitting on the couch growing roots.
Jenny, how wonderful! Yay you!
Oh yes, don’t even think you can get away without a picture of the red thing.
I love wasted days. I know some people who can’t stand a day of doing nothing productive, but I am not one of them. I think days like that feed our souls. And I know all about meals that drag on because you can’t stop talking. Lunch with CherryBombs can last 6 hours.
It’s uplifting to hear you are happy & surrounded by actual beings with physical entities who love you. As opposed to us, who love you but are made entirely of bytes. Would love to see the red thing. The last time I saw something in a store window and went in and bought it, the thing was green, had four black tires and a white convertible top, and made me very happy for a long, long time. Way past the payment book. That’s what store windows are for. They are omens.
I’m taking a leaf out of your book. Tonight, instead of the usual rushing around. I’m pulling out a deck chair and blowing bubbles in the driveway, because suddenly today I thought how long has it been since you’ve blown bubbles? Plus the two year old nieces will be over so it wont look so silly
Now that James Taylor is just singing ‘Sweet Baby James’ on the radio and I read about you being in NYC, meeting friends and buying beads and red wrap things (I’m sure they have safety pins for sale somewhere to keep you wrapped), I think that life could be worse. Wish I was there too. NYC is one of my favorite places.
Ah…
Ladies in red!
Wonderful!
I saw this great pair of really sexy red high heels in a store last summer when I was looking for shoes for my DH’s cousin’s wedding. I thought ‘They will never fit my giant Hobbit feet’ but my DH encouraged me to try them on anyway. They fit and I felt like a million bucks.
So, here’s to expensive red impulse buys that make us feel fab, great friends and the many charms of NYC.
Ahhh, blowing bubbles. Gosh, I don’t remember the last time I did that. I think I still have the kids bubble wands in my second drawer in the kitchen…must go and look.
Jenny, I’m sure you look darn hot in that red thing. Add my plea for a photo too!
Sounds like you’re having a great time. Hope you managed to keep everything that should be covered, covered. I’m all for impulse buying, when something waves to you from a store window there has to be a reason, right?
Another vote for a pic of you wearing the red thing.
It looks sarong but it feels so right….
No pictures, but it didn’t fall off.
It did tend to move around me independent of my wishes, but I was wearing a black tank top underneath it so nothing horrible happened. I’m still not certain it’s a complete success but it was bright and red and Alisa told me I looked funky so I think that’s good.
And tomorrow I get to go home. NYC has been fab but there’s no place like home (clicking ruby slippers now).
I can provide an eyewitness account that Jenny looked fabulous. I only saw her from the waist up because she was seated behind a table up on a dais, but what I saw looked fab.
Loved the presentation that she and Jennifer Enderlin gave, too. I heard Alisa speak today. Very eloquent!
Come on, we still need a picture. Considering it’s the most expensive piece of clothing you ever ever bought, the mind boggles.
Good for you, supporting the local economy when you travel.
Aren’t we still supposed to have a picture of the shawl Jenny croched/knitted in South Carolina? From the trip where she was swirling on the beach?
Swirling is the same as twirling, by the way.
That shawl went home with Meg. I think she took it to her house on Nantucket, so it probably twirls on the beach there.
And it wasn’t that in your face awesome, it was just a great color in tiny-pleated fabric that had this great collar and then it draped kind of . . . I don’t think I got it right. And there were tiny little triangles embroidered down the back.
And now I’m home. YAY!
And still we want to see a picture of the Red Thing. I’m reasonably confident that we won’t stop badgering you until we get one. FYI.
Great visual, the ‘get-a-life’ cab ride. Most of us don’t need to get a life; we need to get some appreciation for what we already have (yes, I have recently been nagging my family on this very subject–Jenny’s posts are always so timely!).
The red thing needs a cherry pin to keep it from scurrying about. That’ll keep it from appearing blurry in the pictures we know you’ll be taking.
Yes, we need to see this “red thing” you bought.
When you return home from New York you’ll be refreshed at the change of pace and location, along with the memories of the good times you had with your friends.
In the future, never take men shopping with you. They do not understand the mechanics of a woman’s mind where a piece of clothing is concerned. Bob has his “ten minute” rule like a combat schedule. There are emotions involved when a woman purchases clothing, and that includes getting over the sticker shock of the price tag.
Just think, Jenny, you probably have a “one of a kind” item that very few others have. Now I have to see that “red thing” you bought. Please, all your readers would love it. Even Bob.
Jenny, here’s a 1911 amusement park ride for you with video in the comments.
http://www.shorpy.com/node/3092?size=_original
Jenny wrote: “I think the secret to getting a life is to just concentrate on enjoying the people in the one you already have.”
Good advice.
Yes, Jenny, a picture please. And Courtney De is right, we will badger until we get one (a picture, of course).
Jenny, the red thing was gorgeous. I wish I could have gazed upon it longer to notice all that detail!
And your panel with Jen was excellent. As Mary Stella said - very eloquent.
I suggest that until she posts a pic, we all include in our posts P.O.R.T.!!!! (Picture of Red Thing)
P.O.R.T.!!!
Is that like singing “Alice’s Restaurant?”
P.O.R.T.
P.O.R.T., P.O.R.T., P.O.R.T., P.O.R.T.,….
Why do I feel like I’m in a college bar??
P.O.R.T.
Not starboard.
Jenny, I hope the silence means you’re working productively and everything’s going well.
P.O.R.T!
and especially a close up of the detail.
P.O.R.T.
@JulieB- you mentioned we’re neighbors…like you could collect my mail for me neighbors or like we could meet at the Potato Curtain neighbors?
i understand port and starboard so much more than left and right.
although, i don’t think that is what anyone meant. Sigh.
Those are the best days, when you have a great time even if you don’t get a lot accomplished. Reminds me of that Brad Paisley song, Time Well Wasted:
“It was time well wasted
And there’s no way I trade a few more things that I could’ve crossed off my list
For a day I’ll never forget
No, I didn’t get a thing done
But I sure soaked up every minute of the memory we were makin’
And I count it all as time well wasted”
Oh, and P.O.R.T!
Can you hear it from way back Germany:
P.O.R.T.!!
The red things that jump off the shelf and grab me tend to be blue or green and live in bead and yarn shops. I look at my red things for years and don’t do anything with them but they make me happy.
PORT
@ Slavedriver: Hmm. I have to think back on that now; I’ve forgotten where you live. How about the Riverwalk in Naperville — I think that might be halfway for both of us…
@ Slavedriver: But, of course, I’d drive miles to collect your mail if you really needed me to.
@ JulieB- Ah, sorry, I grew up in Des Plaines but live in Utah now (don’t ask) However when I go back to visit family I still hit Portillos, Bob Chin’s Crab House and Hackney’s. Got a bro who lives in Algonquin & one who lives downtown.
GO CUBS!
Oh, yeah, and P.O.R.T!
@ Slavedriver: Ah! you must have been on a visit or something. I am no longer in “Chicagoland” but out in the fields. But, we do have a Portillos in the area. Mmmm.
My dad’s side of the family were south-siders, and my mom’s family was from downstate, but Cub fans. So I grew up going to both ballparks.
@ Jenny: P.O.R.T. please.
@ JulieB Ouch! A foot in both worlds! That’s a painful stretch. It’s like someone asking you which one of your kids is your favorite. My favorite would be the dreamer, the scoundrel magnet with “Sucker” tattooed on their forehead, the kid used to having their heart ripped out every fall with a spork, slammed dunked to the ground and then danced on by Michael Flatley. Why? Because that kid would be a natural born Cubs fan, and thereby tough enough to make it in the big wide world.
P.O.R.T. please. Even if it’s modeled by one of the dog-peeps. We’re easy.
Julie B - how funny that you should suggest the Riverwalk in Naperville: I work in Naperville, walking distance to the Riverwalk.
But, apparently, neither you nor SlaveDriver is that close….
One of my colleagues was wearing all kinds of Cubs gear on Opening Day, and getting lots of flak for it. I’ve had my heart danced on, thanks, so I’m taking only the vaguest interest in sports these days.
@ Diane: I’m only an hour away. Let’s do lunch!
Also, This is the year. They even had a story on NPR about it — they’re bringing back an old cheering sections that was banned in 19 ought 9, so you know it’s gospel now.
@ Slavedriver: All my kids will be torn up by sporks. It tears my heart out. I think I need to bring out the South Side ‘tude on them
Jenny. You can hide, but only for so long. Please, P.O.R.T.
Although I’m a Red Sox fan (and not a newbie, pink-hat, either; my heart’s been danced on a few times, too), Cubs’ sorrow runs in the family too. My mother was from Chicago, and they were definitely all Cubs fans on that side of the family. Her brother, despite decades in St. Paul, MN, is still a Cubs fan.
I’m a Canadian and I’ve been a Cubs fan since I was 12. This year my husband and I will be in Chicago on our anniversary. At a Cubs game. What are the chances they’ll win?
Somebody pass the spork. It’s easier if I do it myself.
Last Fall, when the “unmentionable” happened, I swore off the “C” word. I would use the term “Small Bears” or “Baby Grizzlys” Of course, everyone looked at me like I was an idiot, which, clearly, I am. (see previous post;Re; I am a Cubs fan)
@Diane & JulieB- Da boda yous have a good lunch. Wish I was dare. I catch u sometime I go oot & aboot in WisCANsion,don’t cha know.
And thank goodness Lou Malnattis Pizza is available online!
I wonder if the Red Thing is available online.
P.O.R.T.
P.O.R.T.
Just sayin’
Music to my ears Slavedriver!
P.O.R.T.
JulieB - I think I commented, but it may be awaiting moderation (I put in a link). I’d be happy to have lunch if you’re headed this way - just let me know. If the other post shows up soon - sorry about the duplication!
It’s giving me a headache coming back here every day and seeing P.O.R.T. all over the place. It’s making me kind of crazed. God knows what it’s doing to Jenny. She’s probably glassy eyed and mumbling, “Port…I-must-do-port…”
I will be perfectly content picking out my own red thing and leaving Jenny to hers. My red thing is a pashmina shawl my husband sent me from Afghanistan. I wore it tonight with a starched-to-death white shirt, dark denim blue jeans (dark is in, so I’m told) and I wish I’d had red heels. I need red heels!
@ Diane,
I don’t see a link, but you can private message me on the Cherry Forums.(I’m JulieB there too)
Jenny, didn’t mean to be rude.
JulieB - well, I’ll try again with the link, while I’m awaiting moderation on Cherry Forums. It’s the CherryBomb Bar and Grill where some people from the original He Wrote She Wrote meet for profoundly disorganized chat. You just click on the most recent post title to comment.
I drop in most days, and often several times, depending on whatever else is going on, so if you say you’ve been by, I’ll put up my address shortly (probably).
P.O.R.T.!!!!!!!!! Please and thank you…
ha ha ha sorry I couldn’t resist ;o)
I saw the red thing. The panel was great– smart, wise and thought-provoking — but all I could think about afterward was the red thing. It’s really, really beautiful. It’s the very finest of red things. I wanted that red thing, only in green, maybe, because red doesn’t suit me. But on you it looked fabulous and I will try not to be too envious.