Social Saturdays

New York really is an amazing place. Even when I am feeling most disappointed and disillusioned, the city manages to offer up sympathy in the most diverse and pleasing ways

Yesterday soothed with a healing medley of opera, dinner, and dancing. Went out with the roomz and a visiting friend to see Barber of Seville at the Met Opera (I love that my work gives me free tickets). This production was SO raucous and hilarious!

It was genius that they built out the stage over the orchestra pit and blocked out acting choices where all of the principal singers came down and interacted with the audience. Talk about literally making opera more accessible! At the end, the Barber even gave out his business cards to a few people in the front row. Wonderful.

Anyway, after a lovely walk through Central Park, my friend and I parted ways for a bit so she could get macaroons with a friend, and I went and worked out. After the gym, the city greeted me with the most cleansing yet light rain, right as the sun was setting. It was serenely gorgeous.

Finally, we went to Le Cirque in Midtown for dinner, via a reservation with this new Groupon-esque company called Savoured. Le Cirque is one of those restaurants rated $$$$ for how good yet expensive the food is, and it has been highly rated by food critics around the world. As you may imagine, I was a cool 2.5% nervous about what our bill might look like. (Especially in the wake of an unpleasantly surprisingly $400 prefix valentine's dinner I recently had at Boulud Sud).

My friend and I ordered the lamb chops and the venison medallions, but SCANDAL they had run out of lamb! The lovely French waiter made up for it by buying our wine, gifting us a lovely little fizzy dessert wine, and then sending out souffle, creme brulee, macaroons, and chocolates on the house. With that and the 30% off your check that Savoured arranges, our meal was absurdly affordable. Another pleasant surprise!!

Those of you who knew me in college probably remember that I was not the most stereotypically adventurous of college youths, but wow have I been enjoying my post college life. Nothing thus far compares with how I ended my night, at this club somewhere in So Ho called South Side. There was dancing, there were smoke machines, there were weird psychedelic lights, and a cuddly but tortured Frenchman. I was a wee bit skeptical at first (I can't help it), but even after getting home at 4am, I'm oh so glad we went. All in all, it was the most cathartic way I've yet discovered to deal with the ennui that's overwhelmed me of late.