Love Is Never Having To Say You're Sorry

Love is a funny thing in New York City. Or should I say; attraction is a funny thing in New York City.

Here's a breakdown of the levels of attraction I've experienced:

1) The Subway Eye Flirtation
Your eyes meet on a crowded subway, over the shoulder of a mom being clung to by a baby, past the right earlobe of someone listening to music; your eyes lock. Then they quickly shift away. Then you look back. Ah! They are still looking at you. Now downwards at your shoes. And back, but damn they are focused on wiping the sweat off their brow. Maybe they are trying to make themselves more presentable for you?

The subway eye flirtation is a favorite of mine, because it is non-committal yet deliciously entertaining. You feel good because they are checking you out, they feel good because you are checking them out. Everybody wins!

2) The Street Holler
It's the end of the day, you just climbed the stairs after a 35 minute train ride, and it begins. "Hola chica, que paso?", "Muy bonita, mama", "Mi amor, mi amor!". You adjust your earbuds, permafix a frown to your face, and march on down the street.

It's like Vanessa sings in "It Won't Be Long Now" in In The Heights, "The boys around the way holler at me when I'm walking down the street / Their machismo pride, doesn't break my stride / It's a compliment so they say." Okay great, another ego boost. However, these just seem lewd. Maybe it's because I'm not 100% sure what they are saying (WHY did I take French over Spanish?), maybe it's because I've never really experienced this kind of attention (Vancouver guys certainly haven't whistled at me on the street), or maybe it's just because I feel somewhat objectified (Thanks Theater and Dance classes!). It just seems a little absurd. I mean, I've gotten a marriage proposal before... Really? A girl you've seen for less than 30 seconds and you think she's the one to marry?

3) The Real Grown Up Dating
You meet up at the predetermined time and place. The basics are covered: where you grew up, where you went to school, family, your professional future (and only your professional future, your romantic future is taboo!). You discuss things you have in common, things you don't have in common, and if you're lucky, only a few awkward pauses.

Or you get stood up. Cute.

4) The Bicycle Built For Two
Basically the happy montage section of a rom-com. Exploring the city together, sharing Big Gay Ice Cream Monday Sundaes together, taking touristy photos together, loving life together.

This level of attraction is so fun. It's like nothing is the world can touch you. Sometimes I crave the affection of the level four attraction; the finger linking, the gentle kisses, the late night life talks. But on the other hand, there is something extremely freeing and exciting about not having to answer to anyone but yourself. That's what NYC has given me this summer. A chance to "do me". I've been doing independent, single, 21 year-old me, and as cheesy as that feels to read, it feels even better to live it.

And while I do appreciate the quote from Love Story that titles this post, I think we can all agree there are times when you hurt someone you care about, and you have to apologize. But when it's you, just you, you never have to apologize for being yourself.

New York City, the sequel.

In Theaters Now!

Put on your seat belts, ladies and gentlemen, for this post is going to be a doozy.

I first must take a moment to apologize to my loyal readers, who had been religiously following these posts (hey mom!), for not updating since March. But now that I'm back in New York, I've had a request to chronicle my life and the brouhaha that is likely to be this summer. I had already been scolding myself for not writing more, but after the NYC/Spring Break post, life got CRAY-CRAY. Just three mere days after I wrote that post I had to spend the night in Nashville, alone! A snowstorm delayed my flight from NYC so I missed my Nashville-Austin connection and had to sleep for six hours in a scary big (albeit suuupes comfy) bed in some random hotel ALONE. Talk about our 20s being a time to grow up.

I also threw myself into Theater and Dance when I got back. Our department hosted this AH-MAZING New Works Festival and my responsibilities with the end-of-the-semester musical theater performance peaked.

The 202 (the apartment I share with Sean!) became the social hub for our friends, and we spent many a night staying up til 4am, laughing, reenacting musicals, and me surreptitiously trying to sleep. (Didn't work-- my so-called "friends" even stole my mattress one night.)

Then I spent time in the good ol' Couve, where I caught up with my best friend, my fave local ice cream shop, and some much needed time with my pillow. I should have caught up on my posts also, but I'll be honest, eating s'mores and watching Gilmore Girls sounded a lot better at the time.

But now I'm back in that city that never sleeps, and it just feels right! NYC is where I took my first baby steps into the blogging world, and now that I've returned, it'll be easy to slip right in again.

It's funny, during my first couple days back in the city, I realized I needed to readjust back to several of my NYC-ccentric tendencies. I had remembered that since I'm in the same neighborhood that people would talk to me in Spanish because they think I'm Dominican, and I actually think it's really cool. But I had forgotten that I don't have to self-consciously try to hide my thick thighs when wearing shorts because there are girls that are the same shape as me. I forgot that I don't have to search high and low for hair products because there are girls that have the same hair as me. I forgot that you don't have to say sorry when you bump into someone on the sidewalk. And I certainly forgot how tiring the city is.

Let's do a quick recap of this past week's highlights:

*Attended Chicago night at Below 54 with my friend Jennifer
*Fan-girled over Adam Pascal at Chicago night
*Second first day of summer internship at DoSomething.org
*Drinks after work with one of DS's graphic designers, Keri, and the oh-so talented performer, Kyle Scatliffe
*Made Kyle serenade me with "Felicia Green Eyes" (formerly "Sarah Brown Eyes") from Ragtime
*Celebrated DS's 20th birthday in a major way:
     -Sang along while Hanson performed
     -Received cell numbers from two guys in 15 minutes (a first for me..)
     -Bonded with new interns and saw/laughed/danced with old interns
     -Went karaoking (which is much better when you are 21 and with the DS staff)
*MY FRIEND JENNIFER WON TONY AWARDS STUDENT RUSH TICKETS!
*Wore an XXL T-shirt and yelled #fitchplease outside of the flagship Abercrombie store.

...and those were just the highlights. So now I'm in bed, enjoying this luxury of, well, doing nothing. Even Wonder Woman has nights off.

I'll admit I might have been a little nervous that this summer wouldn't live up to the summer that never slept. I mean, they say that good things come in pairs, but in my experience, that isn't always the case. Thing 1 and Thing 2? Two people obnoxiously making out on public transportation? And don't even get me started on Grease 2. However, if this first week is any indication of how the rest of this summer is going to go, I have no reason to worry. I can already tell this will be a sequel I enjoy, like National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets. Love me some Nicholas Cage and Justin Bartha!

xx