NYC Round-Up

mood: nostalgic
pandora/ipod: "new york state of mind" by billy joel

It was the best of times, it was the ... best of times.

Seriously, I spent 3 days in New York with friends and amazing activities, how could it not be the best of times?

Late January isn't the most popular time to visit the Big Apple, but I had a great reason. Like, the best reason. Like the kind of reason that you just can't ignore. A very good friend of mine from undergrad music school was making her Metropolitan Opera debut.

Fuck yeah, right?

But let's work our way there. The first thing I did when I decided to make the trip to NYC this month was contact my Rockstar agent Ginger Clark and find out if we could meet up. And we did. Trust me, I was like a nervous little girl waiting for her outside the restaurant, but it turns out that Ginger and I were separated at birth...well, at birth plus 18 months or so. (Yes, I'm the older twin. No, you may never mention that again.) I mean, aside from the fact that we look A LOT a like:


It's like Twelfth Night - "Which is Sebastian?"

Okay, so aside from the Doppelgangerism, we actually have a lot in common, share a similar sense of humor and both love the olive oil gelato at Otto.

In addition to finally meeting my fab agent, I got the opportunity to meet up with a large group of writer friends. As most of you know, I've been a vocal proponent of the Absolute Write writers' forums for quite some time, and a group of my writer friends - two of whom are fellow members of the YARebels - from AW got together while I was in town!


From l-r, front: Chandler Craig, Jen Hayley, Shana Silver, Wendy Cebula
From l-r, back: Me, Steve Cordero, Sarah Eve Kelly, Kody Keplinger

Are we or are we not a sexy bunch?

(I totally need to bleach my teeth.)

It was an amazing evening, topped off by my gorgeous friend Jason Berrent who joined us for late drinks. Yes, the blending of circus and writing - I was in heaven.

The major themes in my life: circus, writing and opera. Time for the opera.

My dear friend Julianna DiGiacomo sang a freaking KICK ASS Lina in Verdi's Stiffelio last Saturday night. Amazing. Mind-blowing. I bow down to her talent.


Why yes, that is Julianna sandwiched between hottie hotness tenor Jose Cura and the greatest-tenor-of-all-time-turned-maestro Placido Domingo. Yep. I was twelve rows away.

It was our last night in New York so after the opera, and after the opera after party, fellow revellers Roy, Cameron, Rachel and I got a little...silly at the Standard Hotel in the Meatpacking District.







Silly, right? But so much fun.

So that was my extended January weekend in NYC. Um, when can I do it again?