I had another wonderful day in New York...while I wouldn't go so far as to say that I want to move here, it has certainly been good for me to get out of SF for a few days (and the thought is certainly percolating, with increasing insistence, that I've said 'it's been good to get out of SF' a bit too frequently and with too much sincerity the last few months to ignore that instinct....). But I don't know what that realization holds, other than that I expect to enjoy the rest of my weekend as much as I've enjoyed my week so far.
Anyway, today was pretty successful in terms of taming my monkey mind (although, as my dad pointed out, he has called me 'Sara Jane Monkey Brain' since I was a small child, so perhaps it's his fault!). I slept for nine or ten hours last night, and I woke up feeling remarkably peaceful. So I successfully avoided my phone and the internet, wandered downstairs, made some tea, and sipped it while looking out the window at the fantastic gorge behind Kathia's house. There's a lot of natural quartz in the area, which means the ground shimmers and sparkles as the sun comes up. And I saw deer in the woods while I was making my tea, which was a far cry from the sirens and screaming crackheads of the city of sin.
So I enjoyed my tea and contemplated life, and eventually Kathia joined me (she had gotten up at five, written, and gone back to bed while I was in hours six through nine of my epic sleep). We sat around for a bit, and then we went to a restaurant near her to have breakfast (delish) and write for a couple of hours. This felt so much like old times, which was really soothing. I didn't write, but I reread a bunch of stuff for the YA book, which I think I'm going to work on through the end of the year, since I'm feeling like romance is a lie (j/k, kind of).
After that, we came back home, walked around outside (I picked up some quartz to take home, since I will eventually turn into my ancestors and hoard rocks), and then returned to the warmth of the house. I worked for another hour or two, and then I took a long, blissful nap. Eventually, though, I woke up, showered, pulled myself together, and Kathia and I went out for a long, extravagant dinner.
The long, extravagant dinner involved sitting at the bar at The Inn at Pound Ridge, which is a Jean-Georges Vongerichten establishment. We started with a glass of champagne each (because champagne is always the right answer), and we split a beet salad (delish) and the crispy sushi with hamachi (which was one of the best bites of food I've had in a really long time -- the sushi rice was crisped up on the outside almost like a tater tot, but had spicy mayo worked into it, and it was out of this world good). Then I had an awesome awesome pork chop wrapped in prosciutto, and Kathia's lamb chops looked equally awesome (although I prefer pork by a mile). We skipped dessert, but I had hot chocolate, which somehow made me feel like a twelve-year-old after two hours of being a decadent adult, and it was somehow the best way to feel.
Then we came back to her house and had a grand old time burning some stuff while drinking a bit of Templeton rye. And then we curled up in her living room and talked until I was yawning too much to keep going.
So, my visit has been great, and I will hopefully meet up with Kathia in Paris or New Orleans (or come back to New York) sometime in the nearish future. But tomorrow, I must say goodbye again (after breakfast/writing/lunch) and go back to Manhattan, where I have more fun planned between now and when my flight leaves on Sunday. That means I should sleep so I can enjoy it - goodnight!
Anyway, today was pretty successful in terms of taming my monkey mind (although, as my dad pointed out, he has called me 'Sara Jane Monkey Brain' since I was a small child, so perhaps it's his fault!). I slept for nine or ten hours last night, and I woke up feeling remarkably peaceful. So I successfully avoided my phone and the internet, wandered downstairs, made some tea, and sipped it while looking out the window at the fantastic gorge behind Kathia's house. There's a lot of natural quartz in the area, which means the ground shimmers and sparkles as the sun comes up. And I saw deer in the woods while I was making my tea, which was a far cry from the sirens and screaming crackheads of the city of sin.
So I enjoyed my tea and contemplated life, and eventually Kathia joined me (she had gotten up at five, written, and gone back to bed while I was in hours six through nine of my epic sleep). We sat around for a bit, and then we went to a restaurant near her to have breakfast (delish) and write for a couple of hours. This felt so much like old times, which was really soothing. I didn't write, but I reread a bunch of stuff for the YA book, which I think I'm going to work on through the end of the year, since I'm feeling like romance is a lie (j/k, kind of).
After that, we came back home, walked around outside (I picked up some quartz to take home, since I will eventually turn into my ancestors and hoard rocks), and then returned to the warmth of the house. I worked for another hour or two, and then I took a long, blissful nap. Eventually, though, I woke up, showered, pulled myself together, and Kathia and I went out for a long, extravagant dinner.
The long, extravagant dinner involved sitting at the bar at The Inn at Pound Ridge, which is a Jean-Georges Vongerichten establishment. We started with a glass of champagne each (because champagne is always the right answer), and we split a beet salad (delish) and the crispy sushi with hamachi (which was one of the best bites of food I've had in a really long time -- the sushi rice was crisped up on the outside almost like a tater tot, but had spicy mayo worked into it, and it was out of this world good). Then I had an awesome awesome pork chop wrapped in prosciutto, and Kathia's lamb chops looked equally awesome (although I prefer pork by a mile). We skipped dessert, but I had hot chocolate, which somehow made me feel like a twelve-year-old after two hours of being a decadent adult, and it was somehow the best way to feel.
Then we came back to her house and had a grand old time burning some stuff while drinking a bit of Templeton rye. And then we curled up in her living room and talked until I was yawning too much to keep going.
So, my visit has been great, and I will hopefully meet up with Kathia in Paris or New Orleans (or come back to New York) sometime in the nearish future. But tomorrow, I must say goodbye again (after breakfast/writing/lunch) and go back to Manhattan, where I have more fun planned between now and when my flight leaves on Sunday. That means I should sleep so I can enjoy it - goodnight!
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