Having been rushed around working all week, it was a relief to take a Saturday off, but still I didn’t have the time to prepare for New York like I wanted to. We took off early Saturday for Six Flags alone, as we still don’t have any good friends.. SIGH.. We did however meet up with some of Jay’s co-workers and their partners after we had been at the park a couple of hours. The park was not crowded and it was so cool to be able to ride all the rides and get on them so quickly. The rollercoaster called Mind Eraser is certainly jerky and more of what I would rename the “Concussion Maker.” I enjoyed the Batman a lot as it was cushiony with plenty of head support and swift. Pandemonium or as Jeremy would continually call it the the Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, something or other, obviously he is confused; was a favorite with its spinning rollercoaster car. I especially loved the two young ghetto fabulous transsexuals who were “vogue-ing” while cursing obscenities going up into the air and being dropped on “Scream” the 220 foot freefall ride, I suppose they fit the description perfectly. I relaxed a bit and had some nasty park cheese fries while chatting with Cody and James as they were sitting out the last ride on the Superman. Jeremy ended up loosing his car key on the ride and after only a brief 20 minutes after the ride was closed, they found the key in a spot that the staff frequent after someone looses things from the ride – the G spot they called it. I can only imagine after a long day standing around and lifting up chest bars and pushing big yellow buttons they all descend under a steep turn or flip under the coaster and sift through the tall grass or shallow rock. Occasionally picking up chewing gum by accident, or perhaps a nice watch, a million coins, a TV or two, or even a car key that may have fallen out of the pockets of the patrons while they put their hands up to spiral through fun at Six Flags.
Another rush to pack after returning from Out In the Park and an early morning drive to the real city of NY. I arrived around noon waking up the girls on my phone call informing them of my proximity to the financial district hotel in which we were all staying. I could tell they had a rough night and they began discussing the previous night stories of debauchery in the Meat Packing district with a nice dinner and a continuous fight to get into clubs and bars (Apryl had forgotten her ID). I think they managed to get into a few places, but Jenny described it as feeling like she was in the movie “Knocked Up” running to the begining of the line and arguing with the bouncer. See IMDB link-- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0478311/quotes
We got right to some shopping in SoHo - my favorite spot. We ended up waiting 45 minutes for this very cute stylish restaurant called Delicatessen which turned out to have the most unbelievably horrendous service I have ever experienced from a server whose brain was de-commissioned before she arrived to work. See my Yelp review.. http://www.yelp.com/biz/delicatessen-new-york
No planned reservations for dinner, but we managed to find a pretty good place near China Town called Boroco. It was a cavernous place, more of a romantic getaway, but nonetheless, where else would I have the opportunity to try “creamed cod” – Seriously?!
After dinner the girls went back to crash and I went uptown to…well…be out in NY. I soon got bored and tried one other location, “The Cock” over in the East side, and again got bored and took an early night in.
I awoke in a sweat in the middle of the night and immediately went into a panic attack as I couldn’t feel my left arm. I crouched around in the dark only using my cell phone to light my way to find my Xanax - only took a half to start this attack from becoming worse. I felt ill and my stomach began to churn so I decided to run a bath, knowing that would calm me down. So here I am at 3am in a NYC hotel shallow bath tub pondering the reasons why my more recent anxiety attack came on: (1) Stressed at work, from being so busy and with all the new and sometimes demanding clients, (2) Recently being sick, and I hate being sick, and (3) Too much caffeine? I realized after soaking and calming down that I believe that my left arm completely fell asleep and when I turned over in my sleep all the blood started to rush back into my arm with painful vengeance. OUCH.. sigh. Of course the running joke when I get flustered or hyper in the salon is, “Shan why don’t you take a bath?”
Deva Day at the Departure Lounge in SoHo. I am super excited to finally be officially trained in the Deva concept of cutting and coloring curly hair. I must say, the staff was very nice and down to earth, much more than I expected from such a reputable salon in New York. Our team from Pure really absorbed the details, and I think added more education through questions to the other 14 or so stylists in attendance from all over the country. Apryl cracked herself up and us with her imagining that she had smeared hair color all over the back of my vintage black jacket between swipes of painting strands of hair since we were in close proximity to each other. I suppose it was more imagining my response and her carelessness that defined the whole pretend scenario. At the end of the day and after seeing my techniques, one of the instructors/stylist said I should come work there. I want to work there, what if I did a few days a month in NYC?
Over all we had a super time in NYC and it was always in my thoughts that it would be good for us to bond and chat as a team outside the salon. The Drive back was split up, Maria and I in the lead speed car and Jenny and Apryl following us up the FDR highway to 95. We got caught in Connecticut construction for about 30 minutes and while traveling Apryl would occasionally call Maria, just to chat. At one slow going bumper to bumper traffic Apryl was seen by us and many surrounding drivers crawling back into the of Jenny’s Hybrid. She put down the seats and was pulling her pajamas out of the suit case. The truck driver next to them certainly enjoyed the show. Maria was sad that I had forgotten my binoculars. We were so slap happy that at times I would burst into laughter just thinking of Apryl’s reaction to meaningless random items along the drive that might inspire a thought from her.
It is always a joy to be back home in Boston with my man Jay. This week has been busy, but I have been much more relaxed. My 1 year anniversary of returning to St. Louis to do hair is upon us and I am excited to share my enthusiasm for good looking hair.
