Rocking, Biking, Hanging and Shopping: Another Delicious NYC Weekend!

It has officially been a NYC weekend for me.

My weekend has featured everything from seeing of Montreal (with an opener by the fabulous Janelle Monáe) on Friday to partaking in a wonderful housewarming party in Park Slope Saturday, to catching up over cocktails and shopping in the L.E.S. today.

Janelle Monáe, as always, was a soulful, sci-fi diva with mesmerizing dance moves ranging from skat to seizure-like break dancing moves. And Of Montreal put on a top-notch, trippy performance, with lead singer Kevin Barnes in a buttless skirt for the first half of their show. Alien-like creatures abounded, and though, unlike a prior performance I had seen, there was no live horse on stage, they did bring out a horse-muppet-dragon creature with Barnes striding on top.


Of Montreal's show featured a heady mix of classic songs and tracks from the newest album: it was definitely a hyped up dance party at Terminal 5. Though I have to say I prefer the intimacy of smaller venues, it was incredible to be a part of the massive energy at Terminal 5 on Friday.

Friday's show ended with several covers of Michael Jackson songs, with Barnes on vocal, and a crew of dancers onstage, including Janelle Monáe.

The funny thing is that the next night, at around the same time as the previous evening, the house party I was at featured a slew of old school Michael Jackson songs. MJ time, apparently. My 45-minute bike ride to Park Slope was well-worth it for the experience of mingling to MJ music at my friend's gorgeous new apartment. When people ask me my line of work these days, I am beginning to add "writer" to my list; hopefully I will shortly be not just a writer but a published one! I am finding conversations with new acquaintances and social networking to be more meaningful now that I am seriously pursuing my writing. I love meeting friends of friends in this city.

So I definitely had apartment-envy on Saturday. My friend's Park Slope apartment features two balconies and the master bedroom has its own bathroom. Meanwhile, I am sharing a bathroom with two guys, in my run-down apartment building in Williamsburg! But, now I know I am a 45-minute bike-ride away from my friend's Park Slope place... It's a small world, NYC, especially on bike.

And today I spent the morning writing, then met up for my weekly writing workshop with my new friend (who I met at the mediabistro personal essay class I attended!). Spending the afternoon over a cocktail at Schiller's Liquor Bar in the L.E.S., discussing writing and life, I felt like a true New Yorker. And of course, I ended my afternoon jaunt in the L.E.S. with a splurge at Steven by Steve Madden! Hello, sale! Funny, and the writing piece of mine that we discussed this afternoon is about how I am learning to balance being thrifty with indulging.

And, in thriftiness, I returned to Williamsburg the way I had arrived into Manhattan earlier today: by bike. And there was my NYC weekend.