It’s about time I got around to blogging about the weekend trip I took with Manfriend to ring in 2010.
Brad and I touched down in NYC around 9 p.m. on New Year’s Eve after a pre-flight beer, a few take-off tears and an on-flight vodka cranberry (all me, of course).
We grabbed a cab and headed into the city, and since our hotel was in the heart of the Theater District, the cab dropped us off approximately five blocks of angry mobs away. Then we walked. Him with a single carry-on bag, me with a large purse, a larger purse and a giant piece of luggage that I checked (he eventually helped me carry the largest purse because he is a gentleman). Oh yes, and it was raining.
We had to go through at least five security checkpoints just to get to our hotel. Cops with heavy Brooklyn accents pretended to have things under control - one asked to check my luggage, but once he fiddled around unsuccessfully with the zipper for a few minutes, he sent me on my way with a “Have a good night.”
We finally got to our hotel, checked in, dumped our luggage and stared in disbelief at how ridiculously small and ugly our hotel room was. See the photo for evidence. But we didn’t care, we were there! We laughed at how ridiculous it all was. And then I forced a few vodka shots (that I packed in one of my boots) upon Manfriend with a “But, we’re in NY!” and a “But, it’s New Year’s Eve!”
We ventured back out into the noisy night around 10:30, disappointed that we probably wouldn’t get anywhere near Times Square this late in the game. As we walked along 8th Ave., we passed a cop who said, “Go this secret way,” as he pointed down some street. We followed, and ended up in between two large sectioned-off crowds on Broadway. We were a few blocks from Times Square, but we could still hear the sounds, see the lights and we ended up underneath a giant TV screen that supplied us with all the countdown action we hoped for. Success!
As the crowd began to press in around us, we couldn’t stop smiling. Everyone was speaking different languages, silly string flew overhead, people sang and danced to Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind” and we were in the middle of it all. Despite the drizzle, I couldn’t stop squeezing Brad and squealing with excitement. The countdown came before we knew it and then we kissed, clapped and cheered for what was to come in 2010.
The experience was unpredictable and unforgettable. And now I can be one of those people that says, seriously, you have to do it once.
See those smiles? That’s what happiness looks like.
