I had one of the most amazing NYC evenings the other night with J. I feel like I'm grinning from ear-to-ear each time I talk about it, and I can't quite convey how perfect it was. Confession: I'm totally a sucker for romantic movies...the good ones, the bad ones...I'll watch them all (multiple times) but at the same time I have this (healthy) cynicism I think where I realize that isn't necessarily how real life actually goes. But thinking back on the other night, I feel like I should check my cynicism more often.
J's brother very generously got him tickets to see Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden for his birthday, and then very generously let me use the extra ticket! J picked me up at my apartment, and we made our way into the city. As we walked to the subway I watched the clouds starting to gather and the sky turn a swirly black, "hopefully we miss this rain storm." J said we wouldn't, and I told him not to jinx anything and think positive. He doesn't believe in jinxes...thus jinxing us because as soon as we got out of the subway at Herald Square the sky opened up and unleashed buckets of rain.
There is something so inconvenient but terribly romantic about this kind of rain, I think. Maybe it is because you can't escape it, and are literally trapped in the rain...or maybe it's all of the times I've seen The Notebook...
I think it also shows a lot about how someone will handle a situation. Rain like that where you're instantly drenched either turns you into a grouch or a giggly little kid. I ended up as the latter, and thankfully so did J. He held my hand and helped me weave through the throngs of sopping wet tourists, and as we ran I couldn't stop laughing, and then something hilarious happened...or at least I think so...I lost a shoe! I ran right out of my sandal, and tugged on J's hand to turn around and watch it float down a river of rain...it went right on down 34th street so I found myself cracking up laughing, drenched clear through, running down 34th street with one barefoot! A barefoot in NYC is no laughing matter. (So gross!) But I couldn't help myself...if it hadn't been raining so hard, and catching my shoe wasn't such a priority I would have sat right down and had a good belly laugh. J helped me chase after it, the shoe was reclaimed and we were on our way (with a couple other quick shoe losses) but I think I will always remember that rainstorm as one of my favorite NYC moments. The rain, the traffic, the tourists, but it was all blurred out by this hilarious little story they were oblivious to in our own little world. Pretty great!
Speaking of "pretty great..." BILLY JOEL was phenomenal!
Forgive the horrible photography, but I find the more fun I'm having, the less photos I take. (My mom has been complaining that I'm never posting anything on Facebook, lately.)
Shoe disaster averted, rain-drenched and drowned-rat looking we made our way into Madison Square Garden and had a blast at the concert. I have enjoyed Billy Joel but honestly only know the words to a handful of his (most-popular) songs. J is a super fan so it was extra fun to see how excited he was. It was contagious.
I've never been to Madison Square Garden before, and I was really surprised about the acoustics. They were so great! And our seats were actually behind the stage but we could still see everything so well. His piano rotates, too, so if you're considering going, and the only seats left are behind the stage, do it. I think it is sold out through the end of the year, but it sounds like he's planning on continuing these shows until there isn't a demand...which will be never.
A perfect NYC evening!
This time J got to be my date, and I could tell he wasn't sure about it. J has this weird musical preference of like classic rock, and metal. The newer less stuff and/or non-metal stuff he's not super familiar with. Lucky for him, Ryan Adams is a metal guy, too. There were plenty of obscure metal references for him, and he's been telling me all day today that he had a good time. It feels like he's overcompensating for his groggy reception on the train ride home. The train was sooooo slow last night, it's terrible when there is construction and so there are speed limits, but that's a different story for a different day.
