Late night #1...

Thursday morning I put some time in at the gym. Equinox has these turbo elliptical machines that have crazy resistance with hills...I love them for days without dance classes. I did some warming up and prepping for my noon coaching with a pianist that Craig Verm recommended. I met him at Juilliard, where he is on staff. He was so great and cleaned up my languages. He mostly made me realize how much refining work I have to do. The thing about musical theatre is that I can always be working on my dramatic interpretation but the vowels and language come pretty easy. I was really encouraged and inspired after the coaching, knowing that if I do my homework I can sound a million times more professional and polished.
I went to Starbucks by Lincoln Center expecting to see Midori or James Levine. Instead, I got a coffee and ate my peanut-butter and banana sandwich (my new favorite...it's the best) as I wrote valentine cards (coming soon to your mailboxes!) I was set to meet Ali Dawson at her law-firm at Rockefeller Center at 4 pm. On my way there I ran into RJ, my Billy from "Anything Goes" in Salinas. So random! He had just sent me a message on myspace that morning and there he was on 6th Avenue! Very fun chance encounter.
Ali and I went to the Starbucks under the Rockefeller Center (I know, 2 Starbucks in one day...please don't tell) and had fun catching up on all the fun teaching jobs she has as well as her new boyfriend. I was lucky to steal an hour of her time considering she works about 12 hours a day in various locations. Eeek. The life of the starving artist.
I was supposed to meet Karim at 5 but he ended up cancelling on me. I had dinner plans with the two girls I met at church (Carrie and Kristin) on Saturday. I was going over to their house and offered to bring a bottle of wine. I first tried the Whole Foods in the Time Warner building...totally overwhelming in typical NYC fashion and devoid of any wine!!! I told the concierge that the CA Whole Foods have amazing wine selections to which he responded, "This isn't CA." He was nice though and explained that with so many great outlets for wine in the neighborhood they stopped carrying it as a public relations favor.
I walked all the way along Central Park South to greet the 6 train right smack in the middle of rush-hour. I was to passive to get on the first, second and nearly the third train that came by. From mid-town at that time it is nearly impossible to cram onto an already packed train, especially when you're fending off career pushers! Karim thinks that in no time NYC will change me...be agressive. Be agressive.
I got off the train at 86th and ran right into a great wine store called "Best Cellars." They have nightly wine-tastings and all of their bottles are less than $20. I got to taste two really yummy wines including a champagne made from Pinot grapes that I will definitely be back to buy. For the moment I found a Rueda which is the region in Spain where my favorite Bodeguita wine is from. The clerks were so helpful at the store and gave me a chilled bottle and I was on my way. Carrie and Kristin live with another girl from Redeemer, Ruth, who I also really liked. She is a nurse at NY Presbyterian and she is planning on going back to school with the goal of doing full-time medical missions. Ruth is a vegetarian and so the dinner was a wonderful smorgasbord of veggies...a pumpkin-ginger soup, steamed asparagus, sauteed squash and a salad with green beans and some kind of fancy cheese. YUM-O. Their apartment has really high-ceilings and is totally charming but the kitchen is even smaller than ours and requires lots of creativity on their end. I'm really excited those girls live so close and I'm looking forward to more dinners and fun times together.
Karim called me while I was there, asking if I wanted to meet him at the stage door of Carnegie Hall at 10. Our friend from Rice, Jessie Lloyd, who is a singer now living in Toronto, was performing there with her choir. I had tried to get in touch with her earlier in the week but those dang Canadian cell phones don't work in the Big Apple. We met up with Jessie and her dad and step-mom...it was the first trip to NYC for all of them so we went to the famous Carnegie Deli. I think they are more famous for their imposing stacks of pastrami than their service but it was fun to hear about the Dave Letterman taping that Jessie's dad and step-mom had attended. Jessie, Karim and I then looked for a place to get a drink and catch up further. It was ssssssooooooo cold that even the Canadians were complaining. We ended up at Rue 57, a French restaurant and sushi bar that happens to have the best drink I've ever tasted....called, the Rue 57, go figure. It was a champagne cocktail that included some sort of grapefruit yumminess in a glass that had a rim of caramelized sugar, almost like a lollipop with some bonus bubbles. Karim and Jessie somehow convinced this lightweight to have a second cocktail...I definitely can pull that off only among dear friends. Those sweet bubbles (and even sweeter friends!) made sure that I took a cab home and I was happy to meet my bed at around 1:30.