New York, Day One

Day One, Friday

Well, it all started off just dandy at the Sacramento airport. I was random bag check girl, so I had to step aside and have my personal space violated and my TIDE detergent pen confiscated. This was the beginning of the end! You see......I must, at all times be in the possession of either SHOUT wipes or TIDE pen. It is never a question of IF I will spill something on my shirt; it is merely a matter of WHEN. Traveling without my spot removers could throw off my carefully thought out travel wardrobe. This was not a good sign. But I digress........

Because I was delayed by security, I was one of the last people on the plane. Everyone was waiting impatiently for the last few stragglers to get seated. All of the overhead compartments near me were full, so my carry on bag had to go almost 20 rows away from me. Goodbye buckwheat pillow and Ambien!

So I get in my seat, a middle seat and try to get comfortable......it is not happening. We take off and everything is cool. I am not comfortable, I miss my pillow and I want my Ambien! I finally fall asleep about three hours into the flight only to be awakened with crazy turbulence. No sleeping on the plane.

We get off the plane in NY and go outside to get the super shuttle to our hotel. We wait for almost an hour! We drive around in the shuttle with this crazy driver named Al. He was driving like a maniac, but he takes us and our fellow travelers (another story for another post) all over Queens and Manhattan. We got off our plane around 7:30 but didn't get to our hotel until almost noon. Boy, did we have to pee and we were in desperate need of a Starbucks!

We checked into our hotel. The room and bathroom are TINY, but nice. We freshen up and head directly to STARBUCKS. Coffee in hand, it is now time for my first ride on the New York Subway. Not bad, a little easier and cleaner than Boston's "T".

We when to a store called "Intimacy" for bra fittings. This stores' owner has been on Oprah, The Today Show and What Not To Wear. It is fabulous! I was fitted without Marille even using a tape measure. (Picture this, you are standing there, naked from the waist up and this woman you don..t know is staring at your boobs, UNCOMFORTABLE!) Marille looks at me and makes this HUGE sigh and says, in a French accent; "I am going to have to go to the basement for you.." and off she goes with me topless in the dressing room. She is gone for what seems like and eternity then she is back and hands me a few bras. I start to put one of the bras on and she says; "I like the way you bend over to get the girls in there!" I am trying to not bust out (pardon the pun) into a fit of giggles, but I did not expect the color commentary whilst I put the bra on! When I get the bra on, this tiny woman grabs onto the front of the bra and starts shaking so hard that I almost fall over! She then says, "You have to shake the girls to make sure they are in there correctly!" This scenario is replayed over and over for about an hour. So, I try about a zillion bras on and find 5, plus a sports bra that fit. And just as Marille predicted, I was a three cup sizes bigger than I thought I was.

Deb and I each bought some Bras and off we were to 34th Street(as in Miracle on) to see Macy's. It looks just like the one in SF, but was HOT as an oven. While in Macy's we took a time out to go pee. There in the Macy's women's bathroom waiting room, we started to talk with this classic New York City woman; lots of make-up, nails, hat, dressed to a "T" and full on accent. She proceeded to tell us of all the bargain places to shop and how she has lost so much of her hair over the past year. She moved on and we cracked up.

We took off to Times Square, visited some stores and had dinner. On the way home, we stopped at Grand Central Station and Deb showed me how they restored the whole place. We bought a slice of cheesecake to share later on. We stumbled on the subway and headed back to the hotel. We stopped at Starbucks, again, and got some decaf....came back to the room, ate our cheesecake and Deb is currently asleep on the bed.

Tomorrow will be busier, but more organized!