Getting back to "The Bumpy Ride" has been very much on my mind lately. I've spent the past two years helping my family pursue their dreams and since THEY are my dream, I felt that I had to put writing to the side; but I've really missed it.
I've been giving a lot of thought to making time to write and once again I even contemplated changing the look of my blog, to make yet another fresh start, but alas - I did nothing. Then this morning, Luis posted this photo of me on Facebook. He said he'd found it on "The Bumpy Ride" and I was quite surprised to see it. I wondered what he'd been doing here, and when I asked, he said that he'd been Googling "LYNDZI'S" , which is a totally other story - and he came across "The Bumpy Ride" and this photo. I commented "is this a hint?" Thinking that he was trying to tell me that he'd like me to look like this picture again, OR that he might think that it was time for me to get back to writing - but he just replied "No, hint, found it at The Bumpy Ride!!" So my theories apparently got lost in translation, but I decided to re-visit "The Ride" anyway. Not having any idea where or how to start, I re-read a couple of posts, hoping for inspiration and then I found it - a typo in an old post. I actually wrote hear when it should have been here; and I was HORRIFIED! I immediately tried to remember how to log on, as I was going to try and edit my mistake, and whaddya know; it brought me right to this blank canvas, so I took it as a sign to just get going.
So here I am Riders, if any of you are still out there. I won't ignore the fact that I never gave you any of the details of my New York trip; and now that I think about it, I'm not sure why I thought it would be such a long story to tell. So... Lyndzi and I took the red eye the night of my 44th birthday. We flew Jet Blue and we were very excited to have TV's to watch; however, they were not working during our flight. We don't sweat the small stuff, so we snuggled, slept and woke up in New York City raring to go! "My sister" Michele picked us up, along with her kids Giancarlo and Masha. We had a breakfast in a Long Island diner and I immediately felt like I was home. We went to their beautiful, house in Long Beach, so that they could pack up some things to take to the city, and we were off to our hotel, compliments of Big V. The hotel was just a few blocks from Times Square, and after visiting with my friend June for a little while, we went to Toys 'R' Us, met my dear, dear friend Rachel, rode the Ferris wheel and did some exploring. We were hit with a torrential rain storm, as we were making our way to China Town. We took the subway, (one of my least favorite things to do in NY) and we had to walk so far in the station to get to our actual train, that it felt like we were walking all the way to China Town. Once we arrived at our stop, it continued to down pour and although we laughed as we ran through the rain - we arrived at the restaurant soaked to the bone. I'll never forget the feeling, walking into the crowded restaurant and finding friends of mine that didn't know each other, all sitting together waiting for me. Rachel, Michele, the kids and I greeted Stacy,her daughter Rachel, Bobbi, and Tammy. How spectacular that even though these women hadn't met each other before, they were all able to figure out that each of them were there to see me.
We had a terrific dinner, and thankfully the rain stopped, so we were able to roam the streets of China Town and Little Italy. We chatted, walked, shopped and I don't ever remember feeling more comfortable in NYC. Of course we had to go to Ferrara's and have dessert, and I must say that as we all sat at the table enjoying our treats and the fine company, I was overcome with emotion and moved to tears. I felt very, very blessed and I kissed my incredible friends good night.
Saturday, at Giancarlo's insistence we experienced the deliciousness that is Shake Shack. We had amazing burgers and fantastic cheese fries. Michele tried this burger that had a breaded, fried Portobello mushroom on it and in inimitable Michele style, she shared with all of us. And as if that wasn't enough, we followed up the meal with the pièce de résistance - Salted Caramel Custard. Stuffed as we were, we made our way back to the hotel, so that we could get ready for "Mamma Mia."
Bobbie, Dawnie, Jasmine, Michele, me and the kids were all delighted with the fun loving show. We had fantastic seats (again, thanks to Big V) and we literally danced and sang the whole time. I think that the only thing that was better than the performance was the look I saw on Lyndzi's face as I watched her fall in love with live, musical theater. She LOVED it, just as I knew she would and it made the experience complete for me.
Outside the stage door, as the kids waited for autographs, we met my old college friend Eileen, as well as Rachel and her mom, Penny. We made plans to meet for dinner and were joined by my friend Beth, who I hadn't seen since high school, Dawnie's husband Michael and Rachel's dad - Mr. Schatten, (I've never called him by his first name. LOL) We had a wonderful dinner at a small Italian restaurant that Rachel knew, and my only regret was that I couldn't chat with everyone at once, because I so appreciated them coming to spend time with me.
Now why in the world I just thought I could get this full trip done in one blog post is beyond me. So, i'll stop here for now, but PROMISE that I will tell you more in the not so distant future.
Till next time...
Paige
