Sunday, February 17, 2008

Why I Love NY: Reason #1 (Bagels and Delivery)

This is not the number one reason I love New York; it's just one of the many reasons I love it. I'm calling it #1 because it dawned on my today, in my slightly hungover state, at 1:20 pm in the afternoon, as I was letting the hot water wash over my face in the shower, waiting for the corner deli to deliver my toasted everything bagel with a slice of melted swiss, tropicana orange juice, and coffee, that it might be fun to keep track of things like that. The random New York city specific things that delight me, from the most simple and mundane to the more extraordinary.

I thought it would be fun to see how many reasons I could post about in a row. Or maybe it wouldn't be in a row, maybe it would just be something I could keep track of. I bet I could get up to 100. Easily. Maybe 1,000? It might be kind of an interesting feature to blog about. On the other hand, I've started blog features before with great expectations, only to let them fade away. There were the posts about goddesses and daily doses of positivity, for example. But, reasons I love New York, a perspective that finds it way in to many of my posts naturally, might actually work. It also fits with the general spirit of the blog: to be present in the now and to enjoy the moment.

At the moment, I'm in New York, I'm being present, and there's a lot to enjoy. So, why not write about it?

Here goes: Reason #1 Why I Love New York:

This morning, I slept late, until almost 1 in the afternoon to be precise. I had woken up earlier because of the strip of bright hazy light shining through the crack in the eggplant-colored curtains, but then rolled over and buried my head beneath my feather-filled pillow and drifted back to sleep. Thankfully, my head didn't hurt, because I had taken a motrin along with a tall glass of water sometime in the early morning hours. I've become such a light weight. Only 2 and a half glasses of wine and I'm done. Well, 2 and a half glasses of wine and staying up until 5 in the morning. Then I'm done.

To be honest, I'm not happy I stayed up until 5 in the morning. It's rather silly and I think I'm too adult for that at this point. Staying up until 5 in the morning really negatively impacts one's ability to maximize the day. I should know; it's 4:32 in the afternoon and I have yet to leave the house. I missed the knitting store's opening hours. Again. I've tried to go three times in a row, the last three days and I've missed open hours by mere minutes each time. I need yarn because I've been wanting to knit. Babies are popping out of all my friends, so any knitting that I would do in the baby blanket genre would have a purpose. It wouldn't be empty knitting, soothing and relaxing, but easily put aside. But, before I can keep my hands busy and my mind calm with stitches, I need some good quality yarn, and for that, my friends, I need to go by the knitting store when it's open. Maybe tomorrow?

Let's go back to 1:30 in the afternoon, after I had my shower, while I was feeling slightly hung over, but thankfully not sick, and Reason #1 Why I Love New York. I thought to myself, as I do when I've had a little bit too much to drink, that the most perfect thing in the world would be an egg and cheese on a toasted bagel with coffee and orange juice. Doing a mental inventory of the kitchen and a quick status check of my relative desire not to cook, I realized my kitchen was lacking bagels, cheese, and milk for my coffee, that I had coffee but in order to make it I would have to clean the pot, and that the orange juice in the fridge was past it's due date. I contemplated getting dressed and starting my day, maybe preparing for a day of shopping, but then instantly dismissed it as fool hardy. I then contemplated throwing on a pair of boots and my jacket over my pajamas and braving the cold to fetch some food. My craving for an egg and cheese and coffee was strong, but the thought of going outside was singularly unappealing.

Then, a moment of brilliance struck. I recalled that the deli on the corner might deliver. A quick search on the internet got me the deli's number and within a minute I was placing my order. 10 minutes later, a delivery man was knocking on the door of my 5th floor walk-up, warm toasted bagel, coffee, OJ, and milk all packed neatly in a brown paper bag. Five minutes after that, I was comfortable ensconsed on the couch, sipping my coffee and enjoying the perfection of my egg and cheese. There honestly is nothing better after a night of over-indulgence.

So, there you have it. Reason #1 Why I Love New York is that with just the effort of a phone call, you can have an egg and cheese and coffee delivered to your door within 10 minutes. It's awesome.

4 comments:

Tracy said...

Nice use of the word "ensconsed". :)

Sounds wonderfully decadent!

xo

Gypsy said...

Delivery is definitely something to love.

soleil said...

that IS freaking awesome!!!!!!
i do hope you keep track of all the reasons you love new york. one of the things i enjoy a lot about your blog is the way new york creeps in there and one gets a sense of just living there, rather than visiting.

Tracy said...

I just discovered that google maps has 360 degree photos of an address you put in. So I entered my old NYC address and had so much fun taking a virtual "walk" through my old 'hood.

:)

I'm planning on being in NY this summer in late May/early June for an acting school reunion...can't wait!