I really miss New York lately.
MB caught a cold and has been working from home, which means breaking up our days with strolls around the city. Walking around here is not the same as walking in Manhattan. I miss wandering through SoHo, down the cute, cobblestoned side streets lined with boutiques and cafes, battling our way through congested Broadway, and eventually getting over to Bond Street and the crazy ass building there.
Sometimes we’d hike all the way across Houston Street and pop into the Jacques Torres Chocolate Factory. Then over to the Village, still confusing to me after all these years. Being in the Village at night reminds me of when MB and I first started dating. After my company Christmas party, I was drunk and hungry so MB took me to A Salt and Battery for fish and chips. New Year’s Eve we went to P*Ong, which is now closed, sad to say.
We have yet to find a replacement for one of our favorite LES restaurants, Zucco: Le French Diner. Oh, how I miss their risotto des legumes! Their pain perdu with their mind blowingly delicious syrup! Their delectable pate and cornichon sandwiches! The French places around here seem to be more stereotypically chi chi.
Makes me want to fly back to the east coast for a visit soon.
In SF Union Square, there’s a ice skating rink and Christmas tree. It’s funny to watch people ice skating when it’s 60 degrees. Then again, it seems to be about the same in New York. Also it’s far less crowded here than around Rockefeller Center. It’s nice to be able to sit and relax, and breathe in the piney scent of the giant evergreen.
Next week it’ll be great to see my family. My parents are flying over on Sunday, and we’re traveling on Tuesday to my brother’s. My aunt from Connecticut is also going over at some point. Thursday we’ll all go over to my uncle’s, where my parents will be staying while my uncle and his family are away, to help look after my grandmother. It’ll be the first time I’m seeing her in more than two years. In that short time, I know she’s changed a lot, and I’m a little scared about seeing her no longer vibrant. Bony instead of fat, white haired instead of dyed jet black, silent instead of loud and boisterous.
I talked to my cousin earlier this week, and she and her family are still coming on Turkey Day. Yay! The last time I saw them, their daughter wasn’t even a year old. Now she’s three.
And of course everyone will meet MB. My parents, brother, and Connecticut aunt already have, but it’ll be the first time for my grandmother and cousin. I wonder if Puo-puo will even know what’s going on. I wonder if she’ll recognize me.