I’m going to NY on Wednesday!

New York, New York, the place so great they named it twice!

My cousin, Julia, is having a fancy-pants bat mitzvah party in SoHo and who am I to turn down an invite to a fancy-pants party! I am so looking forward to going to NY, visiting Andrea (one of my best friends, whom we are staying with in Brooklyn), and getting all dressed up. What I’m not looking forward to is being fed lots of meat (though Ben is), and seeing my entire family. They can be quite judgy, gossipy, and rude when they are all together and I often get caught in the middle, as a supposedly neutral party who gets to hear everyone vent their stuff. It often makes me want to run away (which I’ve already done, to Colorado) or just hide in a drink (which I’m not so good at). Maybe, there will be an awesome DJ at this party and I can just hide on the dance floor. Hopefully it won’t be too bad, we’re minimizing our family exposure to only 2 of the 4 events over the weekend. We’re skipping kabbalat shabbat dinner and Sunday morning bunch to spend more time with Andrea before she moves to LONDON to (finally) live with her husband (who has been living there since about 5 months before their wedding last March).

Thursday, I’m going to pick up my Grow and Behold order of kosher, organic, pastured meat for Thanksgiving, and as Ben’s Hannukah present. I’m going to also try and stop by the Hazon office and see the #OccupyWallstreet folks. I might visit Ground Zero, but I’m not sure. 9/11 was pretty intense for me, having so much family living and working in NYC and family friends working at the Pentagon. I’m not sure I want to go by myself because I’m afraid I’ll break down and I don’t want to have strangers hugging me when I’m so broken down. I’m not sure what Andrea’s planning for dinner. But I’m sure it will be great. Ben’s flying in late Thursday night.

Friday, Ben and I are meeting my friend Jennifer for breakfast (here or for donuts) and then spend the day at the Met. He’s never been to the Egypt room and didn’t know who William is!

Saturday, the bat mitzvah is in the AM at B’nai Jeshurun and there will be a big party at a hotel in SoHo in the evening. In the afternoon, the plan is that my dad will take us to the Museum of Natural History.

I think I’m going to need to buy a 7-day metro pass instead of paying as I go. I’m going to be going all over Manhattan and Brooklyn!