date night

NYC Outside Date at The Vessel

January 15, 2021 1 Comment

The holiday season is over, but unfortunately the Covid season is not. In fact, it’s worse than ever. You may remember I was crowd-sourcing ideas for social distanced date ideas back in May. I don’t think we had any idea we’d be needing those into 2021, but here we are.

We came back to NYC from Texas back in September, and while I do love the fall and winter here in New York, it makes outdoor dates more complicated. You can’t exactly sit on the ground in a park and have a picnic. I mean you can but it’s not as comfortable and requires many, many layers. Last month, I tasked my fiancé with finding us a date idea. Not only did he come up with one, he came up with two and we did them both!

I hereby give you permission to copy us. When you can.

First, we went to The Vessel in Hudson Yards.

Pros: This is the perfect pandemic date. It’s outside, beautiful, and it’s crowd-controlled because you need a ticket.

Cons: You need to reserve a ticket online and there is a limited amount. Also, in case you don’t know what it is, it’s a spiral staircase. It’s comprised of “154 intricately interconnecting flights of stairs — almost 2,500 individual steps and 80 landings.” This is only a con because I did this after leg day and had already walked 15,000 steps when I was presented with this date night. Thankfully, we paused a LOT to take photos.

Pro: Amazing views of the river and the city. Really, it’s breathtaking. Also, it’s free! You only have to pay if you want a “flex” ticket, meaning you can arrive any time during the day. Otherwise you’re assigned a time slot.

Cons: It’s actually closed at the moment due to some sad events and they are not sure when it will open again.

This was a perfect date in my opinion because it was an “experience” and it was something brand new. I love experiencing things together for the first time. I feel like that’s the most meaningful and fun date, and if you ever go back, you always think about the first time you went.

I had never been to The Vessel before, and I hadn’t even been to Hudson Yards! Hudson Yards is just a very pretty indoor mall. Since we are trying to avoid indoor anything, we didn’t go inside. But it looked beautiful lit up in Christmas lights. I assume the lights were for Christmas but maybe it’s a year-round thing? You’ll have to go and tell me.

For Part 2 of our date night, we walked from Hudson Yards to Bryant Park. This walk in and of itself could have been part of the date night, too. It was a 35-minute walk, and we walked by Macy’s to see it lit up for the holidays. There is something so magical about NYC in December. I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of it.

When we got to Bryant Park, I was on the hunt for ice cream I saw on Instagram. Yes, it was about 30 degrees with 40 mph wind gusts (those were a little scary on the top of the Vessel). But I am a firm believer that there is no such thing as “bad weather for ice cream.” Anyway, there were supposed to be these churro cone ice cream thingies called chimneys or something. We did not find them. But it was still magical. There were people skating on the ice rink, and despite being a little too crowded for my liking, I’m happy to say almost EVERYONE was wearing a mask correctly. Over mouth and nose, y’all. Come on. We’ve been doing this for 9 months now, I know you know.

We didn’t ice skate but we did people-watch.

At the Vessel, people kept taking their masks off to take photos, and there was way less of that at Bryant Park. They did have “igloos” meant for Covid safety, or as Chris called them, Covid Cages. Pretty much virus incubators. People seemed pretty thrilled to get in them, though. Count me out.

After some more walking around, we grabbed an Uber (cracked windows) and headed back home.

10/10 for this date. It was outside, fun, festive, and safe. Or at least, as safe as it gets if you leave the house in a big city. Plus, it was FREE and we were home by 8 pm to cook dinner and drink wine in the living room. Have you guys been to The Vessel? Did you find the mystery churro ice cream cones? Tell me what you thought!

Miscellaneous

Top Golf Social Distance Date

July 27, 2020 2 Comments

I asked you guys for social distance date ideas 2.5 months ago and we finally went on one! Needless to say, my Bullet Journal Goal of one out-of-house date night/month has not been being achieved. Another Covid casualty. We went to Top Golf and had a blast! Hopefully the fun we had will last me another 2.5 months. It met all of our criteria for a date: relatively close-by, open air, masks mandatory, fun, out of the house.

By the way, when I asked for your advice for date ideas, NONE OF YOU COMMENTED. What’s up with that??? Thankfully, I asked my Instagram followers on my private Instagram a week later, and I got a few great ideas. We didn’t do any of these (yet), but I wanted to post them here in case you are looking for things to do. Ya know, since you won’t find any in the comments of my last post.

Puzzle night
Top chef cook off, quarantine style, use only what’s in the kitchen
Hiking
Slip and slide in the backyard. Along with the kiddie pool, add White Claws for a water park day
Bake macarons
DIY Paint and Sip (order canvases on Amazon)
Drive-In movie theater
Bonfires & Boggle

Anyway, we haven’t done those things yet, but we are now golf pros!! JK, we are both AWFUL. We failed in glorious fashion but we didn’t care.

Since we are currently residing in a Covid hot spot, we wanted to go on a date at an off time. We decided on a weeknight at 9 pm. We made a lane reservation earlier in the day, and I even put on makeup for the occasion! I think the only things that mattered were eyebrows and eyelashes because masks, but it still felt good to have a reason to put on a bra. A real one. That I don’t pull over my head (what!?)

Top Golf required masks in all inside areas, which meant you needed one to check in (contactless) and to walk through the lobby to your outside lane. Every person working there was wearing a mask at all times, over mouth AND nose. Yes, I need to specify that here in Texas. I was impressed. The inside bar was closed, and the bathroom doors were propped open and facilities were being obsessively cleaned. Even the clubs were being sanitized between each lane turnover.

The actual golf lane did not require masks, and between each lane they had floor to ceiling clear tarps, sort of like shower curtain liners. It felt very safe. On the actual greens there were no tarps between, and most people were not wearing masks once in their lanes, so I just staggered my putts when someone was on the green in the lane next to ours. In bowling, that’s common courtesy so I didn’t mind. By the way, I’m MUCH better at bowling.

We both ordered drinks and had them at the table – masks off only when we were behind our tarp! It was really nice to have a drink I didn’t make myself. Even if it cost 5x more than the ones I make at home. It was the first time I had a drink outside the house since March 13^th! We decided not to get food, because we were still iffy about the kitchen etc., but it was fabulous to socialize, even to say “thank you” to a waiter (masked, of course).

We took a few photos of each other as well as videos, where I was usually swinging and not even making contact with the ball. Oops. We tried a few selfies. There’s no handing your phone to strangers nowadays, so it’s a good thing I am VERY well-practiced at selfie-taking. I attempted to teach Chris how to smize. He thought it meant opening your eyes as wide as they go. It made for some pretty funny pics.

Chris attempting a “smize,” me laughing at him.

Are you wondering when I’m going to tell you our scores? NEVER! We were so bad that at one point we accidentally golfed for each other, and let me tell you, it did not matter. We will not be competing against Tiger any time soon. It was a fabulous date night for my sanity and mental health, not so much for my confidence. If you have a Top Golf near you, they outline their safety precautions for each location online. Feel free to call ahead to ask questions, as well. I recommend it!

Miscellaneous

Social Distance Date Ideas

May 18, 2020 No Comments

Hey all you cool cats and kittens! Today’s blog is different. Instead of giving you guys ideas, I’m soliciting them from you! Saturday marked 9 weeks that my fianceeeee and I have been here in Texas with his family. That is a full 5 weeks longer than we were engaged and living alone. Needless to say, despite being safe and healthy, there are some downsides to living in a house with 6 other people – namely, the inability to be alone and go anywhere together! Yesterday we took a v romantic 25-minute car ride to Whole Foods to drop off an Amazon return. SEXY. So yeah, we’re looking for ideas.

In 9 weeks, we have had one date night (besides our SUPER romantic nights of watching Ozark while I cover my eyes and sometimes walk away because it’s too scary for me). Our date night, however, was super fun! Chris bought a tarp/picnic blanket from Walmart (contactless pickup), we packed a bottle of wine and picked up some takeout from a restaurant. Then we went to a park at sundown and had a picnic! Bonus, we downloaded the Michelle Obama documentary from Netflix and brought the iPad, although we ended up changing that plan because of cold and bugs at sundown. I highly recommend this date idea. Or if you have an SUV with a back you can sit in, you can park in a parking lot somewhere and do this, no picnic blanket needed! Next time, we may even picnic in the backyard so we can both drink.

Picnic Date Tips:

Bring utensils and napkins, some restaurants don’t provide that.
If bringing wine, don’t forget the corkscrew. Cups optional.
Bring layers of clothing if the sun is going to set.
Related: wear comfortable clothes. You’ll be sitting on the ground.
Remember the ground may be wet! I linked our picnic blanket above, $12!

There. I gave YOU an idea. Now you all owe ME one! I had a friend tell me she did a flapper-style 1920’s theme night with Amazon-purchased accessories. Show me what you got!

Here are the ground rules: must be socially distant or at-home, must be low maintenance (he already planned one EXTRAVAGANT date weekend this year for our engagement, I’m cutting him slack), must be fun, and bonus points for themes. I’m a sucker for them. Write your ideas in the comments below or send ideas directly!

Long Legs and other Personal Problems, Miscellaneous

March 10, 2020 No Comments

It’s TUESDAY!! And that means Date Night. Date Night is something that is sacrosanct in our house. It’s how I have lasted years through CFA studying, and years in a relationship in general with someone who works upwards of 70 hours/week. Every Tuesday, there is a recurring event in my google calendar, (shared with my fiancé), “Chris and Emily Date Night.”

Why Tuesday? To be honest, date night started at the very beginning of our relationship. Girls love to create their own rules to make sure they don’t seem too “available” or “easy.” My self-designated way of doing that? I told him I was only free on Tuesdays! It made me seem unattainable and super busy, it meant no sleepovers (duh I had work the next day), and it was a great way to get through the week. Both of us had busy schedules, I was teaching 3 classes/week at the gym and he was working 90 hours/week at the time. It was important to set aside time to see each other. Slowly, it became a tradition. Nowadays, if I have something else I need to do on a Tuesday, I ask in advance if we can switch date night to another night of the week. I love that it ensures that we see each other or make dedicated time for each other at least once.

When we moved in together, I didn’t think date night would be necessary anymore, but I was wrong. Even if we fall out of the habit for a few weeks because of work travel or other things, we can always feel the distance start to come between us. I guess that’s what living in New York means, everyone is so busy!

I know what you’re thinking… every week??? Don’t you run out of things to do? Isn’t it expensive?? No, and sometimes.

When we first started dating, I used to complain that Chris’s only date ideas were going out to dinner. Not that I don’t like dinner, hello, I LOVE food, but I like doing activities. A long time ago, I sent him a list of possible ideas. Now, I have a running list of date ideas in my Bullet Journal. Some still involve dinner, but at cool spots, like a Liberian restaurant, or a Japanese place that has a prix fixe menu set to old-school vinyl. And some involve actual activities like mini golf, bowling, pottery, and holiday markets.

DANGEROUS Date Night, ax-throwing in Brooklyn.

Some of them are relatively cheap or free, like walking around a new neighborhood, and some of them are pricier, like seeing a Broadway show. And about half the time, they don’t involve going anywhere at all! One of my favorite date nights involves cooking dinner at home, watching Netflix (we STILL haven’t finished The Wire), and maybe walking across the street for ice cream after. The purpose of date night isn’t to spend money or explore new places (although the latter is a cool perk), it’s to spend time with each other and not get lost in the hustle and bustle of New York. It gives us a designated day of the week where I promise not to teach at the gym or go out with friends, and Chris promises to try and get home from work at a normal hour.

Most recently, we went to Dave & Busters. Taking the subway and the getting out at Times Square, especially amidst the Corona situation, is not usually something I would volunteer to do. The food was sub-par and the table was a little dirty when we got there. But the drinks were half off until 7:30 (helloooo $6 watermelon margarita!) and the quality time together was so much fun! We spent an hour after we ate just playing air hockey, ring toss, skeeball, corn hole, and various other games. I think we got a LOT of tickets, but it’s all virtual on the cards now, so I can’t be sure. We had so many credits left on our play cards, that we decided we’d need to go back another time and cash out on our winnings, then.

Air Hockey Champs. By that I mean me. I am the champ (ok, I lost twice).

I always think of myself as a trendsetter, but Date Night has definitely caught on with some of our friends. I recently found out that two close friends of Chris’s have take the idea themselves, and they designated Wednesdays as date night. Having a weekday date night makes it low pressure (no need for an all-night Saturday marathon date) and it’s also easier to make reservations or get tickets to things. I hope to combine some of my “Date Night Ideas” with my “New York Bucket List” items soon, like going to the Guggenheim or seeing Alvin Ailey. Good thing there are 52 Tuesdays per year!

Do you have any awesome date ideas? Leave them below in the comments!

Travel

Mystery Weekend in Hudson, New York

February 14, 2019 No Comments

I love surprises. I don’t understand people who don’t. Why would anyone not like the suspense and excitement behind someone planning something for you!? It’s the best! Thankfully, my mystery (emoji) boyfriend knows this. I mean, he better, it’s been a while, ya know? In honor of Valentine’s Day, here’s a blog about one of the best surprises he’s pulled off.

He has taken me on many mystery date nights before. From random restaurants he has found, to dinner at a restaurant I love but he doesn’t, and even to row 4 tickets of a Broadway show! You may remember that he even took me to a staycation once in a hotel room that overlooked the freedom tower. I know, I know, I bagged a good guy, here. Well, not to gloat, but he outdid himself. This time he planned a whole getaway!

I went to Washington DC for MLK weekend, and since I was going to be away all weekend, he asked me what I was doing the next weekend. I assumed he wanted to Netflix and chill, because we are old and that’s the usual date night for us. But then he asked me what my plans were for all weekend, and I knew he had something up his sleeve! I told him I’d reserve the weekend for him. The next Friday, I packed an overnight bag, and we walked 4 blocks to Avis. He had told me that Amtrak was too expensive (it generally is, if you only book a week in advance), so he rented a car instead. I had no clue which way we were going until we got on the west side highway toward the George Washington Bridge and realized we were going north.

I wish I could tell you I figured it out then, but I didn’t. Plus, with traffic, we were barely out of the Bronx an hour later. And then I had to pee. Word to the wise: don’t drink coffee before a road trip. We had to stop at McDonalds for a pit stop and a few Chicken Selects. Because duh. We finally arrived at our destination at 10:15 pm, thankful for the fast food sustenance along the way.

We were in Hudson, New York! Not Hudson Valley, Hudson Hudson. I knew we were driving for a while, but I didn’t realize how far it was until our Uber driver later told us he lived in Albany. I gasped and said “wow, you must have taken a long trip to get here!” And he told me it was 40 minutes. Woops.

Unfortunately, we arrived so late that only two restaurants in town were open, so we took an uber to one of them, and had drinks and appetizers. The food was good, but we were exhausted. We went back to The Wick, where we were staying, and fell asleep within minutes.

Thank goodness for these drinks after a long drive!

Hudson, New York is home to a very quaint strip of restaurants and stores, and is supposedly a food destination. This is why my emoji man chose it for our getaway. What he didn’t know, is that it is also home to Etsy headquarters. I happen to have a good friend from the gym who works for Etsy, and she spends a good amount of time in Hudson. As soon as she saw I was there (because if you don’t Instagram it, it didn’t happen), she started sending me recommendations. Funnily enough, when she goes to Hudson for work, she stays in the same hotel we were in! She told us the best food and drink spots around town, and we took one of her recommendations, Le Merche, for brunch. She did not lead us astray! This place was fab. I had an egg sandwich on SUPER fresh bread, and my bf had the Croque Madame, which was delicious, fresh, and HUGE. I tried it, of course. And the side of potatoes… let’s just say that the food was so good I barely had time to take a photo of it. And we all know how rare that is.

My delicious breakfast sandwich on freshly baked bread.

The rest of afternoon I spent doing nothing, while my bf worked. I asked him before we left if he was sure he wanted to go away with so much work to do, and he assured me that he did, and a change of scenery would be nice. Meanwhile, I read a book and styled my hair 5 different ways. I need to keep creating content for Braid in Manhattan to keep my followers happy! Also, my bf is becoming quite the insta-husband. He is so great at taking hair photos! I told he better be careful or I’ll make him go full-time.

So many hairstyles.
And even more hair pics.
Spot my gray hairs?
Emoji man loves to take pics when I’m not ready.

After many hours of blissfully doing nothing, we went to dinner at W.M. Farmer & Co., which we heard was the SPOT. In fact, every online article about food in Hudson mentioned this as the best restaurant. We made a reservation. Unfortunately, we are underwhelmed. The food, although farm to table, and not bad, was not overwhelmingly good, and it was very expensive, even for people from Manhattan. The one remarkable part was the cocktails. I would recommend this place to anyone looking for a GREAT drink. We each had two and were very impressed.

Since the only reservation available was at 6:30 pm, we had plenty of time after dinner to mill around. Unfortunately, it was 20 degrees outside, so we speed walked to a bar my friend had recommended. It seemed like a cool vibe, but the inside was very smoky (maybe because they are famous for a mezcal slushy?) and we decided it was too much for us. We went to a bar next door and had a beer. Then, surprisingly, after a day of doing absolutely nothing but eating, we were tired and went back to the hotel. We watched Marvelous Mrs. Maisel in bed and went to sleep. We really are an ancient couple. But that bed was so comfy!! I just love a king size bed. Someday when I move out a shoebox NYC apartment, I’m going to get one of my very own!

The next morning, we packed up and got ready to leave. The life of a man in finance means work on a Sunday, so we had to get back to the city. However, we needed sustenance first! Thankfully, my friend offered a final breakfast recommendation 10 minutes outside of Hudson, Gracie’s Luncheonette in the Catskills. We went from watching Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, to pretty much being in an episode of our own. We ate more delicious food and got a freshly-made donut for the road. We tried to leave quickly, because it started to snow as we ate. Not just flurry, but SNOW! I’m from Florida, and my bf is from Texas, so neither of us are too used to driving in a white-out. Thankfully, he took the wheel and I handled the donut. I’m pretty talented at feeding the driver, if I do say so myself.

We took toll roads back to the city, and got back within 2 hours! My bf dropped off the luggage and me, then returned the car, and I settled back into regular life and meal prep. Overall, it was a great 42-hour getaway with plenty of food and relaxation, and time with my better half. I have to keep reminding him of how much fun it was, so he knows to plan more surprises for the future! I promise to keep you guys posted. Do you have any fun mystery date ideas? Do you know my mystery man behind the emoji? Send him a text with an idea!

Morning Catskill Kisses in the Snow.
Evening FREEZING stroll. Doesn’t my bf look cold? 😉

Long Legs and other Personal Problems, Miscellaneous

Resolutions 2018-2019

December 28, 2018 1 Comment

As 2018 comes to a close, I want to check in with you guys on your resolutions. Did you make any? Did you stick to them? I wrote a blog last year where I challenged you to make a few, and it’s only fair to tell you guys how I did with mine, as well. Quick refresher, my three resolutions were:

Plan myself less; have 1-2 FREE nights/week.
Get back in the pool and start swimming again.
Do more weight training to become stronger.

The first one was a half-win. I booked myself permanently for Tuesday nights as “date nights,” which made my free time 1/7^th less. However, I told my emoji-bf that our date nights didn’t need to be excursions all the time; it could be Netflix & chill. Sure enough, we did that a lot. I did a better job of not making plans on Fridays, which I always regret when I make them. I am so busy all the time, especially with travel (another blog coming soon on my 2018 travel recap), that it’s nice to sit at home and veg out every once in a while. I think I will continue this resolution and roll it into 2019.

Speaking of rollovers, my second and third resolutions were actually leftover from 2017. I did a much better job at these! For swimming, I moved to an apartment that was closer to a gym with a pool, which was incredibly helpful. Before Tuesdays became date nights, I was swimming every Tuesday. Also, after I unfortunately sprained my ankle AGAIN over the summer, swimming provided a great alternative cardio workout. I even swam for weeks using a buoy between my legs, and only using my arms. I felt so much stronger, and my ankle always felt better after stretching just by dragging through the water resistance. I have fallen off the swimming a bit in the past 2 months because of date night and because it’s COLD! I don’t like being wet and walking the (albeit short) 9 blocks home.

Swimming is always easier with a friend to push you!

My last resolution to weight train more has been incredibly successful, again thanks to my proximity to a new gym. I found two classes a week that I enjoy: A Sunday morning boot camp class, and a Wednesday evening TRX interval class. Between these two classes, I have increased my strength and I have gained self-esteem by realizing I can do things I didn’t realize before (like hold a handstand against the wall for a full minute!) Adding non-cardio workouts to my routine has helped me stick to a diversified schedule, and the secret was just finding instructors I liked, and small classes to keep me accountable.

I get down on myself when I fail at resolutions, so it’s important to recognize success where I can find it. I am all about positive reinforcement, even for myself. I like to recognize and pat myself on the back occasionally. Some of my ongoing resolutions that I have been able to stick to are:

Make coffee at home. I prefer iced coffee, so I used to buy it out every day. I have been incredibly successful at making it in advance at home. I have spent a mere $169 on coffee shops in 2018. This may seem like a lot, but I used to spend $75/month! That’s a reduction of $731 for the year.
Speaking of saving money and budgeting, I have continued to stick to my mint. I may not be saving yet but, but at least I know where each of my dollars is going. That’s the first step.
Travel more internationally. As I mentioned before, a blog about my 2018 travel is coming soon. I have fallen off a bit with my travel blogging, but I did make it to three countries outside the US this year, and two of them were new!
Tweet more. Last year at this time, I had about 510 tweets. Now I have 1,147! Not bad! I’m still working on it. Follow me @longlegsbigcity!
Save for retirement. My work has helped me with this; they have an amazing plan where if I put in 6%, they put in 8%! It’s basically unheard of. I was doing really well before our Commander in Idiocy crashed the market last week. Oh well.
Read 4 nonfiction books/year. I have succeeded! This year I read 41 books so far, and 12 of them were nonfiction. My nonfiction selections were: Becoming, The New Jim Crow, Tuesdays with Morrie, Lean In, So You Want to Talk About Race, So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed, Lucky, Wild, When, Shrill, The New Rabbi and What Happened. Follow me on GoodReads for recommendations!

Traveling internationally for the first time with a backpack! (and Purple Bear)

I’m excited for 2019, and I will try and continue these resolutions, as well as add on a few more. My two main resolutions are:

Food prep more and bring lunch to work. This means traveling less on the weekends, so I have Sundays for food shopping and cooking. We’ll see if I succeed. I have my doubts because I already have 3 weddings on the calendar.
Get BraidInManhattan.com up and running and monetize the braiding hobby into a braiding business! Right now, I purchased the domain and I have it redirecting to my Instagram (I’m up to 1,336 followers!). For 2019 I want to do more hair for weddings, prom, events, etc. Do you know anyone who needs a stylist?

What are your resolutions? Do you have any? Leave them in the comments or let me know how you did with your 2018 ones!

Big City Living

NYC Date Night

August 21, 2017 1 Comment

Saturday I went on the most epic NYC Date Night. Spoiler alert, Broadway was involved. This is my first blog post where I actually rave about living in New York, so get excited.

Back Story: My bf told me I am not allowed to write about him on this blog (hence why I always cover his face with an emoji), so I won’t give much detail about the back story. But, suffice it to say, I had not spent any meaningful amount of time with him in weeks, unless you count hours of sleep, and I told him he owed me a date night. If you don’t say what you want, how will you get it, AMIRITE? My emoji-bf’s idea of a date night is almost always the same: dinner at a restaurant where the cheapest aperitif rings in at approximately $25 and you are expected to have a glass of wine to pair with each course. Now don’t get me wrong, I can appreciate a good meal every once in a while, but I’m more likely to appreciate a dinner at the Meatball Shop, where I can go Balls to the Wall and still end up with a total bill of $20. I simply told my emoji-love-of-my-life that a fancy dinner would not do for date night, and I wanted to do a “fun activity.” I was thinking mini golf. Maybe bowling.

But no, he ended up surprising me with tickets to Book of Mormon on Broadway, and a dinner afterward! With 4^th row orchestra seats. It was amazing.

If you are an avid longlegsbigcity reader, you know by now that I complain about New York more often than I rave about it (disgusting hot summers, terrible rainy days, smelly, non-air-conditioned subways, mystery slush lagoons in the winter). But I must say, Saturday was a day where I was incredibly thankful to live in the city that never sleeps.

Here is a rundown of the day that made me fall in love with NYC again:

Morning: I taught a spin class in my neighborhood, meaning, 30 blocks away. It was hot so I hopped on the subway (free with my unlimited Metrocard) and for once, the train came on time. I got there in 10 minutes. I made $50 and got my workout in. I picked up my new spin shoes on the way home, at the bicycle store that is conveniently located on the same street where I live.

Afternoon: I did 4 loads of laundry while I tanned on my rooftop. I am one of the lucky New Yorkers with both laundry in the building AND a rooftop for tanning. More on the #RooftopDweller Lifestyle later this week.

Later Afternoon: I asked Emoji-BF what I was supposed to wear for later, since he had told me he had planned a surprise date. He said “semi nice” which is not a thing. So I asked him more specifically and he said “we are going to see a show.” Keep in mind, he had never been to a Broadway show before, so I wasn’t sure if he meant show like, comedy club, or what. I showered and put on a sundress, and we walked to my sister’s house to hang out. Did I mention my sister and her husband live 11 blocks from me? It took us 10 minutes to get there by foot. Another great advantage of NYC.

Evening: E-BF (“emoji boyfriend”) called a Via and the two of us got down to midtown for $5.95 total. (Use my code to sign up for Via, and you can get super cheap rides too!! Use the code emily5s6e to get $10 free!) Anyway, we got to midtown and he handed me a ticket for Book of Mormon. I was ecstatic. Not only had I wanted to see that show for years, but we are going to Utah in 10 days! Perfect time to brush up on my Mormo-trivia. Not a typo, I call them Mormos.

Anyway, we entered the theater and the ushers told us to proceed down the aisle to the “front section usher.” What?! OUR TICKETS WERE IN THE FOURTH ROW. Guys, these seats were amazing. It turns out that there were 3 seats together, and they were still available that morning because you are not allowed to book 2 seats together on Ticketmaster when only 3 are available. However, E-BF tricked the system. He reserved (but didn’t purchase) one ticket, which holds it for up to 8 minutes, and doing so opened the other 2 up for purchase. Then he opened another browser window to purchase. BAM. I date him because he is so stinkin’ smart.

The show was absolutely AMAZING. Probably one of my favorites I have ever seen. And I have seen a lot. In order of most recent to least recent: Fiddler on the Roof, Porgy and Bess, Jersey Boys, Chicago, Aida, Riverdance, Bring in Da Noise Bring in Da Funk, Miss Saigon, Phantom of the Opera, and possibly more that I don’t remember. Anyway, HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend The Book of Mormon. I was laughing out loud within 1 minute of the curtain rising. I was smiling the whole time. My face literally hurt by the end. And the songs were so catchy, I have been listening to it on Spotify ever since. More importantly, I feel completely prepared for Utah.

Minor spoiler alert if you know absolutely nothing about Book of Mormon. The main characters, Mormon missionaries, get stationed in Uganda for their mission. This was a tiny bit awkward since my boyfriend is of African heritage. They make fun of African issues in a very satirical way, but it goes on for quite some time. Aids, people who think they can have sex with virgins to get rid of their Aids, dysentery, war lords, etc. I think E-Bf was a pretty good sport, but there were a few times I was worried to look over at him. He was born in New Jersey though, so I thought I was pretty safe. Maybe less safe at Jersey Boys.

When the show ended around 10:25, we were hungry and guess what, it is NYC so every single restaurant was still open. We went to Dutch Fred’s for dinner, one of E-BF’s fav spots. Then we took another $5.95 Via home.

What a successful NYC day/night. In what other city can you just decide on a whim at 11 am that you are going to buy tickets to a world-class production for that current day and take a 10 minute, $6 car there? Sometimes it’s really cool to live here.