The grand finale of my 2 weeks on the east coast was spending the weekend in NYC to see Christine, Anna and Ben. Between living in NYC for 6 years and Anna/Ben recently moving there, most of my closest friends are living in NYC. With a short weekend trip, I decided to spend most of my time with these best friends who I hadn’t seen in months. 🙂
On Friday, I met Christine in Union Square for dinner. Christine and I had so much to catch up over the past few months. We ended up talking for 5 hours about everything under the sun and even went for coffee and dessert too. Flashback to my NYC days when we’d hang out for days in a row and talk and laugh for nonstop… Christine is one of those people who I always feel instantly better and lighter after seeing. I’m so grateful for our evening together. ❤
Afterwards, I trekked to Flushing, Queens to stay with Anna and Ben for two nights. I was greeted with a tour of their dope new apartment and cracking open two bottles of soju. I was so happy to see them both again and we stayed up late catching up about work, friends, family…it felt like no time had passed being with the two again.
The next morning, Anna and I headed onto Main Street for a dim sum brunch. Anna is a great companion for dim sum because we are always on the same page for things to order. We got soup dumplings galore and other Chinese classics.
Then we strolled around the Flushing mall which literally felt like China. Then Ben met us for bubble tea. We hit up a popular hole in the wall that has only one flavor, brown sugar, and it was SO tasty!
Then we went back to the apartment to rest up before our night out. I took a nap and then Anna and I tried making a DIY costume for the party later, but it ended up being a fail. 😛
For dinner, Anna’s baby sister Christina came to Queens. I heard so much about her and was so excited to finally meet! The three of us went to a yummy Japanese restaurant nearby. Christina was so open and funny and a lot like Anna – since Anna and I are besties, her sister felt like my own family.
After dinner, we got ready to hit the town. We found a huge costume party at House of Yes in deep Brooklyn. Since our DIY costumes didn’t turn out, I ended up raiding Anna’s closest and we both wore glittery outfits with face jewels – I guess that’s costume-y enough 😉
We made it to Bushwick and first pregamed at 3 different bars, which all had unique hipster ambiances. Bushwick felt a lot like Williamsburg before it got too expensive/gentrified…it was kinda crazy seeing how much the city has changed in the time I’ve lived in SF.
Several of Anna’s high school friends live in Brooklyn and came out for drinks too. Anna had been talking about her friends to me and vice-versa for a while now and so there was a lot of anticipation to meet! Everyone was so welcoming and fun. We had such a fun time drinking together and joking around. I felt right at home.
By 1am, it was finally time to go to the main event. I forgot how late New Yorkers party compared to SF. We arrived at House of Yes and I was immediately into the vibe – everyone was dressed up in their glittery costumes and surrounded by burlesque acrobatic dancers around the venue. It was a very Burning Man crowd, but with a sceney New York flare.
We had a fun time dancing away in the main room and meeting new people. I had been to House of Yes once when I lived in NYC and remember being overwhelmed with the vibe. Now after living in SF and going to different Burner events, it’s crazy to see how my heart has expanded so much where I felt right at home this time.
We stayed out pretty late being on New York time, and then I was up by 7am to hop on a plane to SF.
What a fun and heart warming weekend! My heart is so full after spending time with my closest friends. But if I’m honest, every time I go back to NYC, I feel further removed from that part of my past and more sure of my decision to live in SF. It’s always a ball of mixed emotions in NYC: nostalgia, gratitude, sadness, and missing my friends like crazy.
As fun as my New York trip was, I’m honestly very eager to get back to SF. I’m really missing time in gorgeous SF nature, my routine, and seeing Joe of course. ❤
Hope you have a great start to 2020!!
I Run Like A Girl 