City of Strangers

This week I witnessed another example of how to make New York your own. Not only do you learn to give yourself over to the ways of the city - flowing (or fighting) with pedestrian traffic, waiting for a train, cursing the police sirens right outside your window in the middle of the night, walking past the people playing the grand piano in the park, watching the foreigners try to feed the squirrels, or passing a random famous person on the street, but you begin to realize the odd moments where you fit in as a person. You find your favorite coffee shop, the part of the neighborhood you most love walking by, the store windows you love passing, the apartment building you wish you lived in, and the clothing store you find yourself in every weekend. You revel in awe at the fact that you can get the best piece of chocolate you've had in your life for a ridiculous amount of money. You enjoy bumping into tourists and getting asked for directions. But beyond the physical atmosphere of the city, there's a small connection that only you catch glimpses of. The connection exists when you meet the eyes of another person walking down the street. Or when you're waiting in a ridiculously long line and the person behind you sends you a small, frustrated sigh that you return with a knowing look. Those moments connect you to your new companion - someone you'll likely never recognize again, but someone who bridged that gap, as if to say, "Hey. We're all in this together." And we are. Our diversity is our unity.


It snowed this weekend. It was everything I could've imagined it to be - absolutely beautiful while I gazed at it falling out my window. Then it became gross, sloppy, and wet as soon as I stepped outside. Aside from avoiding the awful weather, I had a lovely weekend. We saw Company on Saturday performed by the vocal performance program, and ate too much chocolate and watched Jekyll and Hyde (to which I fell asleep).

Remember those lovely fall apples we picked? (featured above) Well, we made some yummy things this week! Mary and I made apple sauce and apple crisp. I had never made homemade apple sauce before, but it's super easy. First you peel and core the apples. Cut them into chunks and place them in a large pot. Pour in some water or apple cider and heat up until the apples boil down into... well, into sauce... and sprinkle them with cinnamon and nutmeg to taste. We didn't add sugar to ours because it definitely didn't need any. I loved the flavor we ended up with. Because we had so many kinds of apples, they made for a great mix. The apple crisp we made turned out super delicious and was really simple. We added oats and chopped pecans to the crumble topping, which gave it some great texture and flavor. It was delightful.

Lauren and I tried hot chocolate from Max Brenner's this week. It was really good. Here's the lovely weather I met - coming out of my building. Today though, it was beautiful and sunny. I spent my afternoon cozily wrapped up in a blanket and sweats, completing the huge pile of homework I have due this week. I can't wait for the Christopher Paolini book signing, which is right around the corner.

"Believe in this town, and this town will believe in you."

All my love,
Emily

Official Inheritance Count: 9 days. (SO close)

Short but sweet.

I had the most beautiful weekend. The weather has been perfectly fall. I bought a poncho from Anthro the other day, and it's become my fall staple. It's so warm and cozy, I love it. The leaves are just barely starting to change, but we're finally experiencing 50(ish) degree weather.

Friday was national pumpkin cheesecake day. In honor, Crumbs bakery was selling pumpkin cupcakes for only $2. Mmm... The batter was pumpkin with raisins, chocolate chips and walnuts, and it was topped with pumpkin cream cheese frosting, drizzled with chocolate and sprinkled with walnuts on top. It was beautiful and absolutely scrumptious.

I met some friends for brunch on Saturday. We went to the Corner Shop Cafe, which was absolutely amazing. The food was relatively affordable and the place was really cute. Their creme brulee dipped french toast is to die for. Ben ordered it. I was super jealous. Mmm. I tried the organic blueberry pancakes, also really good. It was a very relaxing way to spend the early Saturday afternoon. I've worked all weekend, so I have no exciting events to talk about. I started Christmas shopping this week! That's right. I can't wait. I'm going to start reading Wuthering Heights. I'll keep my thoughts posted as I read. But Inheritance is just around the corner, and it takes precedence, so dear Emily Bronte will probably be put on the back burner for a little while... 

Thinking of Idaho,

♥Emily

Official Inheritance Count: 15 days.

Lovely.

I saw the cutest older couple walking down the street today. They were clearly 'just on a walk', in sports jackets and walking shoes. I was reminded of my neighbors from back home, the Berrys. They always generously shared their harvest from their garden. I remember coming home to find a bag of cucumbers and squash on our front step. The couple on the street today stood out to me in the most ordinary way possible. There was nothing extravagant about them. They were just on a walk, together. Their company and partnership said much more than they intended. It was pleasing and oddly comforting. By being simply ordinary, they were being extremely abnormal. They weren't in a rush to get somewhere. They had no appointment to meet. They weren't in business suits, or on the phone. They were simply walking, sharing that moment - with each other.

Sorry to disappoint, but there were no shows this weekend. The post I sent out on Tuesday possibly could've been broken into several different categories, each with posts of their own. So this may be short. My busy weekend was spent working for the most part. I absolutely love work. This weekend I was offered a spot on the apparel team. :) We rehearsed for Dr. Horrible on Saturday. My floor is putting on Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog. I'm Penny. We're really excited and really disorganized. But overall, it's coming along. I chatted with Mauri for about 20 minutes on the phone, but I had to run to rehearsal. We've both been so busy - she just got back from Scotland, and I haven't heard all her adventures yet.

The couple from the street have remained on my mind all day. I don't know why, but I think of them and half-smile. I enjoy walking down the street and meeting the eyes of those that pass. There is so much to be said in someone's eyes. Fear. Loneliness. Joy. Hope. These glimpses provide me with the smallest insight into someone else's world. A world so different at times, I can't even hope to understand. But I believe that these moments happen in order to weave the connecting thread of our diversity. In the loosely paraphrased words of my dear friend, Ben - we are meant to share moments. And no moment is invaluable. Moments of joy, sadness, love, silliness and truth in a way steer our lives. They shape who we are and who we influence. And that couple, unknowingly, influenced me today. It was... lovely.

"We just were, and didn't question it."

Official Inheritance Count: 22 days.

One short day in the Emerald City...

... every way that you look in this city there's something exquisite you'll want to visit before the day's through! I am still overwhelmed by the idea that I'm living in New York City. I have fallen in love with this city. I was lucky enough to see Wicked this weekend with Lauren - she won lottery for the show. Front row seats - an absolutely amazing show. In a way, I revisited my childhood love for the stories of Oz. When I was in elementary school, I read all the books that our school library had by L. Frank Baum about Oz. I read all the tales about the Munchkins and the adventures that all the Ozian creatures had together. I fought the idea of seeing Wicked for the longest time because it was so popular, but now it's my new musical obsession. The foreshadowing was insane. It was like gradually building a puzzle - the second act brought everything together so well. We went uptown with Curtis and Ben, who got standing room tickets for "Anything Goes", so we found an awesome Chinese food restaurant and ate to our little hearts' content before we saw our separate shows. It was a great start to the four day weekend. 

On Saturday, I went apple picking! It was so much fun. Mary and I went with a group from Trinity Grace. We went to Hurd's Family Farms, where you buy a bag and are allowed to fill it as full as you can. They had so much land, it was insane. There were rows of apples everywhere. It was so refreshing to get out of the city and see actual trees and grass. The farm also makes homemade apple cider donuts, and sells fresh pressed apple cider. I bought cider to bring home and am currently keeping it in my fridge. It was so amazing. By the end of the day, we were full of apples and donuts. Mmmm. Here are my apple picking adventures:

So yummy.

All that land!

Deirdre found a four-leaf clover. Lucky duck.

All the apples we took home!

Sunday morning we decided to try for student rush tickets for "How to Succeed", so at 4:30 a.m. we woke up to meet at the subway station just after 5. Naturally, we just barely missed an uptown bound N train. And everyone knows that the N and the R 'Never Run'. So we waited half an hour for the next train, and by the time we got uptown to the theater, it was 6. Surprisingly we weren't the first ones there. There was one person in front of us, and she was supposed to meet friends there, but couldn't get in touch with any of her friends. They finally showed up, and we had some great little chats while waiting in line. Box office opened at 12:00, mind you, so we were crazy enough to wait for 6 hours to get tickets. By the time it opened, though, there was a huge line, so I felt justified. 

And after seeing the show, I was insanely glad that we waited for such a ridiculously long time. Dan Radcliffe is an adorable performer. The show was cute, and I laughed for the majority of the show. The chemistry between the actors onstage was so interesting, because John Larroquette and Dan Radcliffe just worked so well together, it was great. The show is well worth seeing before Dan Radcliffe leaves.

This is Times Square. Deserted at 5:40a.m.

On Monday, Lauren and I shopped. I forgot how exhausting shopping could be. We tried Cafetasia for lunch. I was relatively unimpressed. It's Thai food, and the spring rolls were good. I tried the Red Curry, which was okay. I liked Spice much better. If you're searching for good Thai food - go to Spice. So delicious. Monday was also my first day of work! Training went really well. I love working there, and I'm so excited to begin the holiday season! Tuesday, I freaked out a little bit about all the homework I had. So I diligently devoted myself to theory homework. Then, Betty and I went to Rice to Riches. Yum. Rice to Riches is this great rice pudding place in SoHo on Spring St. Apparently they can ship their pudding anywhere in the U.S. It's insane. They have every flavor imaginable. I had espresso rice pudding. It was so good. 

Dancing through life,

♥Emily 

Official Inheritance Count: 25 days.

Guest Blogger! :)

The following is a wonderful post from my dear friend, Ben Bartels. He's an incredible singer and performer, studying music theater here at Steinhardt. I loved this post, and with his permission, was delighted to feature it on my own blog! For more of this juicy goodness: http://outwardlyinward.blogspot.com. 

Just Another Day

In just one day of living in NYC you may see:

A mass of people swaying awkwardly around a drum corps

A dealer not so subtly offer you drugs

A piano in the middle of the park

A homeless man curled up on a bench for an afternoon nap

A 99¢ pizza place

A ghetto bootie that does not belong to a female

A strap-on on and fake boobs on a manequin

A pigeon flitting fearlessly a foot away from your face

A jazz combo playing Afro Blue on the walkway

A huddle of theater kids dancing inappropriately to the music in the air

A few same-sex couples walking happily together unimpeded

A pair of kids practicing Capoeira on a raised platform

A line at Starbucks wrapping three times around the interior of the store

A little person not sanctioned by the university shouting at passersby as if he were traffic control

A quartet of semi-intoxicated friends (two guys, two girls) converge on a single point in the air to make out. All at once. Like literally four set of lips interacting inclusively.

A Broadway star buying a meal at the same chicken joint as you 

A beautiful purple sky created by smog and light pollution

A high skyline blinking with bright lights, the biggest reminder that you're in one of the greatest cities on Earth- a city so steeped in history, so full of energy, so industrial and yet so beautiful. 

Enjoying his bite of the Big Apple,

Jamin

Unlimited.

Fall is right around the corner. Today finally cooled off after it rained, for which I'm so grateful. It has been so muggy, I never know how to plan my outfits. Now I can look forward to boots and sweaters. I just want crunchy fall leaves. I'm also training for work this week! I got a job at Anthropologie, my favorite clothing store. :) 

We're moving into 30's style dances this week for dance, so we started doing tango-esque things. Things have finally become settled, and classes are in full swing. Lessons are going very well, and we've chosen my piece for New Student Cabaret. On Friday night, I went to see Sweet Smell of Success, the Steinhardt school (my school) musical, and it was absolutely incredible. It's all vocal performance. The show was so great, and all the songs have been stuck in my head all weekend. Afterward, we grabbed coffee and headed to Lauren's dorm room and ordered Insomnia cookies, which are the best cookies in the city. It was pouring rain, so it was the best way to spend the evening. The next day, I spent the morning chatting on the phone with Mauri!! I miss her so much. It turns out that neither one of us is actually going home for Christmas... Later on in the day, Lauren and I checked out Trader Joe's and Whole Foods and bought some food (yay grocery shopping!).

This weekend was fairly uneventful. Today I spent the morning in Brooklyn with Mary. We went to church, which was incredible, and then grabbed brunch at Sidecar. This afternoon, Lauren, Curtis, Joe and I had to record "If Music Be the Food of Love" as a quartet for an assignment for choir. We spent more time belting music theater songs in the practice room than actually recording... and it took like 8 different tries to record the last 5 measures of the song because we couldn't stop laughing. Then we went to Crumbs bakery. It was my first time trying their cupcakes. They had a dairy free cupcake that made one Emily very, very happy. Right now I'm finishing the other half of my cupcake with the coffee I've made with my french press! Apparently, two of my friends from home have written me letters, and neither one of them have reached me yet. I'm beginning to think the security guards in my apartment are stealing my mail.

Sorry that the photos are rather uneventful... I didn't do anything very picture-worthy this week. The rain was gorgeous, but I can't capture that very well on my phone camera. We're hoping to snag the Ticket Central tickets for "How to Succeed" this week. And! No judgment, but I listened to "Wicked" for the first time ever this week. Thank you, Lauren, for burning me a copy of the CD. This musical is the epitome of good music theater. It's rather exciting.

I've procrastinated my music theory and Italian diction homework about as long as I possibly can, so I apologize for the rather short blog post. Next weekend, I'll have a lot more to share. AND! Be on the lookout for my mid-week post. I'm featuring a wonderful guest-blogger that I hope to share on Wednesday. Keep your eyes open!

"Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead." -Louisa May Alcott

Official Inheritance Count: 36 days.