posed by Joe the Juice on Columbus Ave.

Walking home across Lincoln Center Plaza at 10:00 PM after an amazing Mostly Mozart concert

Lincoln Center has once again invited New Yorkers to come together all month for hundreds of free events including dance lessons and disco with thousands of artists celebrating the cultural communities of NYC. I was watching from the sidelines and loving the sight of New Yorkers and guests of all ages and sizes learning the Hustle and getting down with the live disco band. Watch this brief video by clicking on the arrow at the bottom for a smile!

On Saturday I splurged and bought a pair of funky shoes online at Nordstroms. Instead of having them shipped, which could take a week to ten days, I opted to pick them up at the Nordstroms Mens Store (go figure) which is only a few blocks from my apartment. Sure enough they were waiting for me at pkg pickup on Sunday afternoon.

A young (and very cute) guy ahead of me was picking up a pair of shoes as well. We both asked if we could try them on, “of course ” replied the customer service assistant pointing to a grouping of comfy seats for just that purpose.  His shoes were a very trendy cocoa brown suede loafer, mine were purposely mismatched colored loafers. We politely ignored each other and concentrated on our important tasks. Happily, my shoes fit and I couldn’t resist asking him if he had the same results. With a dejected look on his cute face, he reported that his shoes were too big. “Good thing you tried them on here” I commented, “much better than taking them home than having to return them”. “I suppose” he said, “if I took them home” he began,  at which point I finished the sentence for him “you would have kept them and worn them even though they were too big”. “OMG “he stated, “you know me so well!”.

We both laughed and wished each other a good day.

Smoke from more than 400 wildfires in Canada is causing NYC to experience dusk at 1:30PM today

I was on my way home from dinner and a movie with a friend in Soho Sunday evening, and since the weather was beautiful, I decided to take A train and walk home from Columbus Circle instead of taking the 1 train and arriving almost at my door (useless information for non New Yorkers but since most of my dozen or so readers are from New York or surrounding areas it makes sense).

We descended into the subway, swiped our cards, and said goodbye, but to my chagrin, no A train was listed. I started to exit via the turnstile when the man sitting in the subway booth saw me and motioned for me to stop. He then left the booth and came over to me. “I saw you just entered, what’s the problem? No A train I replied. Yes, there is, just head down the stairs and the A will be arriving in 2 minutes”. Was I dreaming? On what universe does an MTA (Metropolitan Transit Authority) employee notice anyone, let alone me, entering then attempting to leave and, especially on a crowded Sunday evening?

Now I felt trapped and itimidated enough to follow his instructions. Lo and behold two minutes later I was on the A train heading to Columbus Circle! But wait, that’s not the magical part. At the next stop as soon as the doors closed I heard the dreaded words “excuse me ladies and gentlemen, I don’t want to bother you but…..” This usually means some poor soul is asking for money and/or trying to sell something. Something in the tone of his voice, however,made me look up from my phone (usually no one does).

Now for the magic… standing at the door was a handsome, well-dressed teen holding a violin, “my name is Buddy,” he said. “I’m a high school Senior and I just won a scholarship to Juilliard. With your permission, I’d like to play something for you”. My applause at this announcement got me a dimpled smile from Buddy and encouraged more people to join me.

By this time, almost everyone had put down their phones and were paying attention. He was truly amazing and the applause and donations were so encouraging he stayed on past his stop and and played two encores.

One more reason to love New York! See for yourself

As I was cutting across Lincoln Center Plaza this afternoon, arms full of grocery bags and in a rush to get home, I spotted a woman with a camera positioning someone sitting on the edge of the fountain. I noticed them only because it’s a chilly day and there was a pile of coats on the ground next to the photographer.  As I was approaching thinking “crazy tourists” I heard a woman who was walking toward them with her cell phone pointed yelling at the top of her lungs “you are gorgeous, I love your new series”. Of course, I stopped to see who was gorgeous and thought I vaguely recognized the woman who was posing. She was wearing a simple sleeveless dress and hardly any makeup but since I had just started watching the new Netflix series “The Diplomat” I realized it was Keri Russell.

Ok so I live in NYC and star sightings aren’t all that unusual but Keri Russell’s reaction caught me totally off guard. When the woman started shouting at her she stopped posing, threw up her arms, and shouted back “Thank you, you have no idea how good that makes me feel, you made my day” and then proceeded to pose for the woman while I, with arms full, had no way to get to my cell phone. This whole event didn’t last more than a minute or two and even though I couldn’t get to my camera to capture it, I am still smiling.

Suggestion:

When filling out a form that asks who is to be called in case of an emergency I think you should write, “An ambulance.”

A Few Observations:

The easiest way to find something lost is to buy a replacement.

The sole purpose of a child’s middle name is so they know when they’re really in trouble.

Did you ever notice that when you put the two words “The” and “IRS” together it spells “Theirs”?

Eventually you will reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it.

And A Wish:

May you always have love to share, cash to spare, tires with air, and friends who care