My dream came true as trudged through the gritty streets of New York with my father and sister. Clad in knee-high boots and a soft, leather handbag I loaded my luggage into the yellow cab I always dreamed of hailing—except in my dream it didn’t smell of onions and peculiar body odor.
By the third day, my feet ached from walking 92.7 miles through Manhattan. And those shoes that would make Carrie Bradshaw jealous? Yeah, they ended up at the bottom of my Samsonite suitcase. I walked around the city in flats that only a podiatrist would love. I was a shame to myself and every other tourist who vows to never look like a tourist.
The hot dog I salivated over in movies made me nauseous as it bobbed in murky grey water I was positive contained a water-born fungus. Or SARS. Or both. I ate it on my way to buy theater tickets for life-changing Broadway production and felt very New York. Except real New Yorkers don’t eat hot dogs en route to a play. Oh, it’s just a detail.
Every play was sold out. And when I say every play, I mean every play worth seeing. Rent, Phantom, Les Mis, Beauty and the Beast—sold out. To thwart our instantaneous twin depression, my father told us there was an “amazing” off-Broadway show he read about in TIME magazine. I should’ve known it was some political piece starring a Jewish woman reenacting the entire conflict Golda Meir faced as the first female Prime Minister of Israel. 1. It was my father, and 2. it was TIME magazine.
After convincing my father to leave early [his snoring was bothering the patrons], we wandered the damp streets until we found a cafe. We sat and spoke about life, ministry, and family over coffee and warm pastries. We laughed and chuckled with our waitress who really said phrases like, ah forgettabloutit!
We weren’t in Times Square, I didn’t have Jimmy Choo‘s on, and there wasn’t a cab near by. But it was New York. The real New York. And I fell in love.
Somehow Hollywood has concocted a romantic notion of what life should look like. Sensual, sweaty, and scandalous. But is that our reality? The life of smelly cabs, weird hot dogs, off-Broadway plays, and littered streets is more like life. The real life.
To thwart depression by juxtaposing the life you live with the life you think you should live, remember that reality in small cafes with normal people eating warm pastries and wearing comfortable shoes is beautiful. And in that beauty there is a freedom. Be free.
ahhhh…. once again, you're reading my mail. so good.
Love you, Annie 🙂
I love a good dirty water dog! When I lived in DC, I ate them before grad school classes almost every week. Ha!
I love NYC…but the last time I was there, I got the most heinous case of food poisoning I've ever had and really spent 48 hours in a hotel room. It was less than divine. But I got better just in time to see Wicked. And even though I'd seen it before, I wasn't gonna miss it. A friend of mine was Glinda on Broadway and puking or not, I was gonna watch her descend in that bubble!!! : )
Gaaalinda?! No way! She's my favorite character 🙂
But no way, Jose! I won't eat those dogs any more.
I so prefer Elphaba (HA! My ringtone for my mom is 'Popular' because….well…she is. We also have a long-running 'Oz' joke in our family that morphed into her being 'the Good Witch of the South' – Glinda – and me being the 'Wicked Witch of the Midwest'. Which I'm cool with because I get to defy gravity. ha 😉 )
Preach it, sister! It's delicious.
Wow, thanks Lisa-Jo 🙂 I appreciate the lovin'.
That's why Hollywood can be so successful…the power of escapism.
Great post, Bianca.
Power of escapism is the reason I love movies so much. It's a blessed curse, I tell ya!
exactly what I needed to read today. thank you for writing! The nitty-gritty of real life is so much more beautiful than the way I imagine things should be. It's so easy to be swept away in imagination and fantastic thoughts that I forget to actually fully live the life that's right here staring me in the face – I need the reminder. Be present for the beauty that you experiencing; enjoy reality.
Awesome! I'm glad it resonated wel 🙂 I was afraid it would be lost in translation…
I love this B! Thanks for being so faithful to share truth.
Oh Kayla! I've been thinking about you SO much. I hope you're well. I told Allie we need to play a WM event just to force us to hang out 😉
Have a great weekend, love. xoxo
Well said! Choosing the actually-is-my-life over the sometimes-want-it-to-be-my-life (although potentially less glamorous) IS much more real and beautiful.
So true my friend!! I don't have a fancy car, millions or even thousands in the bank, I'm not a size zero and I don't live up in the hills but life is soooo good! Eating with friends in little hole in the wall places, sitting on the couch laughing with my hubby, enjoying a day in the pool with my family. Life is beautiful! Amen!
I LOVE and needed this! Thank you for sharing!!!
Dad was REALLY snoring!!!
Hey B! LOVE the post! Don’t all us of West Coast peeps have that idea in our head! Exactly as you say!! And I mean EXACTLY! I still haven’t been there, but it’s on my bucket list! I’m sure I won’t be in love with smells, walking 100’s of miles every day, everything so expensive, rude natives, etc. If they can be snobs about NY, so can I, I LOVE L.A., CA and the WEST COAST baby! ha ha
Here's the awesome part of the story: My last trip to NY? I was 6th row center for Wicked and 2nd row center for Spamalot. (Wheee!) Happy Girl!
The not-so-awesome part? I wore what I even *thought* would be 'sensible' shoes and got the absolute biggest blister I've ever seen on the back of my heel. It took about 2 months to go away. It was hideous and ugly and awful. Which, on the down side, meant I couldn't wear the fabulous heels I'd brought to the fabulous shows. (On the up side, it meant I needed SOME snazzy shoes without backs on them that I *could* wear which equaled…..shoe shopping in NY. 😉 )
Things rarely go as planned….or the way they look in our heads…..but they generally turn out better (and with better stories to go along). 😉
The only dogs I eat are the one's from the Garment District… ask your DAD!
Wow! New to your blog and I loved this post! Fun and so true!
That was my dream at one time as well…
Minus the hot dogs. 😉
Normal ordinary life…simply the best 🙂
Oh how beautiful it is! 🙂 My heart is so warmed by this post. It gave me that warm and fuzzy feeling. 🙂 Thanks for posting!! Love & blessings!
Back at you, Tara 🙂 Hope you had a GREAT weekend!
This made me cry. Maybe I'm just emotional today. But I loved it.
New to your blog. Love this!!
Heroic website, keeping me from updated
found you here from a facebook search. Your blog has become a little famous. Might want to participate there so they can get to know you better and you can get new web denizens.