Blackouts & Airplanes in Magical Realism

After Murmansk, life went (somewhat) back to normal. A few days after I returned I went to see Marina & the Diamonds at Bowery Ballroom and ended up running into my friend Brian from freshman year of college. It was fun to see him and SUCH an amazing show! Afterwards we went to dinner at Pearl & Ash and it was crazy to see how much my old neighborhood has changed.

The next week was pretty calm, work, gym, etc. - then went out to a screening of 5 to 7 with a friend on a Tuesday evening, had a drink at the Plaza, went with some people we met there to Beautique, closed out the place and then went back with a group of people to a ridiculously huge suite at the Andaz. So not my scene yet I still managed to stay out until 11am the next day. Ugh. There are so many things wrong with this, and I don’t have the space or mental energy to analyze it. On the bright side I had taken the day off for a dentist’s appointment, but on the flip side I then had to go to the dentist on no sleep. The next weekend was Easter and I had brunch with my mom, brother, sister, and assorted boyfriends/girlfriends.

The next week was work/gym again, swimming outdoors at the weekend, and a very nice Saturday brunch with A at Spasso. Tuesday evening we went to the Secret Mausoleum Club at Green-Wood Cemetery, which I always enjoy. Beautiful views of Manhattan skyline at night, gorgeous ornate monuments, and cocktails and live music (including a harp!) in the mausoleum. This night was warm so we spent most of the time outside the crypts.

Finished off the week and on Saturday went to the opening night of Speakeasy Dollhouse‘s Ziegfeld Midnight Frolic. I had high expectation for this and sadly the night was a little disappointing. It was an interactive performance in a great old theater, but some of the performers weren’t the best and organization was a little poor. A and I always have a great time with each other though, so we had a lot of fun just horsing around and exploring. There was one part where we went back into an area based on the Heaven/Hell themed clubs they had in Paris at the time and they had me go up, stand in a coffin and then somehow morph me into a skeleton for the audience. That was definitely the highlight of the night. Drinks and snacks at Smith’s afterwards.

The next day was Tribeca Film Festival, we had tickets for the premier of A Ballerina’s Tale about Misty Copeland. It was okay. We went again later that week to see premier of the Overnight - that was a crazy one, very weird but a few good laughs just at the oddness of everything.

The next Saturday was my friend Dustin’s 35th birthday. He lives in this awesome high rise apartment with a balcony with river and awesome city views and invited a small group of us to dinner - our other friend is a private chef and cooked a ridiculously amazing meal for us. It was crazy. We were supposed to go out with them the next night too to King’s Day (most of them are Dutch) but I slept the whole day and ended up bailing. The next night was the Young Lion’s Fiction Awards and Gala - I was on the committee so brought Dustin and a couple of my swimming friends and their husbands. It was a fun night.

Wednesday night we went to the opening reception for the new Whitney Museum in our neighborhood. The building is stunning and we spent most of our time on the deck just hanging out. Not my favorite art but maybe it will grow on me. Great new neighborhood spot, the views are incredible.

Later that week we joined a masters swim team and started morning practices. To be honest I am finding it difficult to find the time to train and am just so tired in the mornings. But I need to do this if I want to get to the next level. So there we have it. On Sunday I swam in a swim meet with my new teammates and they even looped me into a relay. It was a lot of fun. I swam the relay, 200 fly, 100 fly, 100 IM and 50 fly. Times not horrible, markedly slower than college but faster than my last pool meets 6 years ago.

Here’s my pale ass flying off the block:

Thursday I left on a girls weekend training trip to Bermuda. Met my friends at the airport and had a great few days in the clear turquoise waters. We ended up entering a 5k race last minute - it was beautiful but the course markings were messed up and I never saw the halfway mark so felt like I was swimming forever until I saw the finish line. What got me through was a very nice pack of wetsuited men (never thought I’d type those words) who knew the course even without markers so I just stayed with them until the finish. Each day was early to bed, early to rise for a long swim, no booze but lots of good food and ice-cream.

For me, I think the best part was swimming in these beautiful natural caves on our hotel grounds. So cool, I wish I had better pictures of this:

The next week I had to go for a very quick work trip to Atlanta, basically just in-and-out packed with events. Flew in, had drinks at CUTS Steakhouse and dinner at TWO Urban Licks (I had been here like 10 years ago - time flies.) Early morning the next morning then meetings until afternoon when I hoped on a plane back to LGA.

Saturday we were registered for our gym’s annual indoor triathlon - I had tweaked my shoulder or something and was worried about getting sore for our stair run the next day, so I opted out. A did very well and was in the top 75 finishers nationally!

The next day we got up early and headed downtown for the Tunnel to Towers stair climb of the new 1 World Trade Center building, our Freedom Tower. It was a very emotional experience. We climbed until the 60th floor or so, and then one of the water stops was on an unfinished floor with huge windows overlooking the city. I held back the tears and tried to enjoy the view without thinking of everything that had been lost. Life keeps going, New York City keeps changing, we keep going forward. But it still hurts. I didn’t want to leave and we dawdled there way too long for what is technically a timed event, but who cares. Finally made it to the 90th floor and we were done. More great views at the finish reception and we wrote our names on the (unfinished) wall. Seems appropriate, I like the idea that part of me will be part of this building for as long as it stands.

Watched the Mad Men finale, went to a Library lecture/reception with my mom about the American Founding Fathers’ affinity for gardening, started a Whole30. Went for coffee and a walk with diarist Red, which was very very nice.

Next few weeks laid pretty low. A cooked for me a lot, ate lots of salads and tea at night, worked out a lot. One Saturday I did another swim pool meet, 50 each of butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle, plus a 100 IM. Times were even faster than the first meet, but my shoulder twinge seemed to get worse, and I was worried.

Went to MOMA‘s Party in the Garden benefit - I was zonked but dragged myself out to see a great performance by The Weeknd. Slinky songs about drugs and sex and alcohol could have been a great combo paired with the fancy open bar but I was still on the Whole30 so we went home afterwards like lame losers.

By the next day I was freaked out about my shoulder so A made me an appointment with a sports medicine doctor and went with me that Thursday. They x-rayed me and examined me and it turned out what I had is “frozen shoulder” (hahahhahaha) or adhesive capsulitis. I was so happy to learn that resting it is actually the worst thing you can do, so that day I had a great workout and yoga and from then have been keeping it moving and feeling good. I was just so worried I wouldn’t be able to train or swim, thank goodness it was just the opposite.

Last week of Whole30 and I was ready to be done. Then of course I got food poisoning and the rash or whatever and it came to a rapid end anyway. Another crazy rooftop party at D’s house, total bacchanal of food and booze. Flower headbands and RED SHOES were just the tip of the iceberg (bless my friends for making me take these affected photos but I love it. Too silly to use for a facebook profile photo?):

The next day I had what was supposed to be a routine check-up with my oncologist. Instead he finds a lump that I thought was just my temple bone, and makes me an appointment for the next day for an ultrasound of my head. I freak out all day and night, go in for the appointment, wait for hours only to be told it’s just an osteoma (bone growth.) Thank goodness but so much angst in 24 hours.

Rest of the week was uneventful, then on Thursday morning I headed out to North Dakota to meet some friends for a marathon river swim. They were coming from SF but we both had connections in Minneapolis, so we met there and connected to North Dakota together. Had such a nice time on Thursday together, 2 mile test swim previewing the last couple miles of the course on Friday morning, then dinner and the swim briefing on Friday night. A came in to kayak for me late Friday night, I went to bed at 8pm and he got in around 11pm. Very early morning start (I think before 4am if I remember correctly) then a 6am start to make the most of the day as we only had permits to go until sundown.

The first 29 miles felt awesome, I felt strong and smooth, I was thankful it was a cloudy day and I didn’t need to worry too much about the sun with my thick coating of zinc diaper cream. But after that, the mile markers stopped coming and it felt like ages and we still hadn’t seen mile 30. Turned out the markers weren’t visible, so A tried to gauge our distance but it just wasn’t happening. I felt cold and was shivering in the water even though it was supposed to be 70 degrees (21*C) A was so good with me, but I was crying with despair in the water. He finally GPS’d where we were on his phone, and we were less than 2 miles away. Things started to seem familiar and I put my head down and got it done. To get out I had to scramble through a foot of soft mud on the riverbank, but then finally I was done. 36 miles in the bag, just under 12 hours. I dried off, tried not to touch anything, and went back to the hotel to soak off my zinc and mud.

The next day A left, I went to the awards ceremony with my friends and we grabbed brunch. We went to see Entourage at the local movie theater, which was $4.75! Had dinner and giant margaritas for dinner, then fairly early to bed. Breakfast together the next day, then home again.

Next day was the annual Summer Party for the High Line - always a good time! They had fresh flower garlands, tons of drinks and carnival food, and CROQUET. It was lush. Thursday I had my annual medical check for swimming and Friday my annual gyn exam. Laid back weekend, went to Prospect Park for picnic and Paris is Burning with my friend T, then the annual Pride Run on Saturday (so festive after the Supreme Court ruling), and brunch with friends afterwards. Cleaned the house and did errands on Sunday.

The rest of the week has been pretty laid back, we have been dogsitting for my friend’s dog which has been fun. Last night we went to a members tour of the Whitney with a wine reception afterwards. The best part as always was the view. Went home and took Bean for a walk along the water. He is 14 years old!

Last updated July 09, 2015