No more tan in a can…

Weekends in NYC can be so stressful, what to do? where to go? who to meet? Well really my big dilemma was what drink to order.  Thankfully for a little Israeli girl, far away from home, NYC is apparently the Mecca for all my traveling friends. Seems all my best friends come through here at some point. So I was fortunate to share my Israeli friends with my American ones (with a token Brit). So in terms of who to go with, I was covered. Another reasonably priced tid-bit for NYC is IRON SUSHI! Followed by CRUMBS, for some amazing cupcakes (try the raspberry!). Finally we ended up at my favorite neighborhood bar CUBBYHOLE, for vodka cranberry. I promise you none of these were a killer in terms of cash. Following Friday’s festivities I went tanning in central park with two of my nearest and dearest. Not the best idea considering the heat, I must say it got a little too hot as we found ourselves losing more and more articles of clothing and pouring our drinking water all over. One of us claimed to have gotten heat stroke. We were so hot, it was worth the risk of indecent exposure. I’m not used to this park tanning, I need some water to dunk in close by and the green mossy ponds at central park almost seemed tempting. That was the moment to relocate, so we cooled off at my favorite upscale Mexican place, CREMA. OK so what if my friend just happens to work there?! They still have the best margaritas in New York. It was definitely better than getting arrested in Central Park for fighting the heat with nudity. 15 drinks later and dinner to soak up the booze, I was ready for bed. Since I didn’t feel as though I had really had a full tanning experience, Sunday was my last chance. I took my buddy to the city pool (FREE!!!) on 23 and ave C! We enjoyed the sun and a little bit of water, but G-D forbid we actually go in the city pool water with the 2 million screaming kids. In any case, I found it cool to hang out at a pool on the FDR Drive (highway surrounding Manhattan). After a rest and a nice lunch at home, we got ready to see the Opening Ceremony of the Maccabi Games. For those who don’t know they are the Jewish Olympics (ages 13-17). Amazing how us Jews have Nobel prize winning scientists, amazing Doctors and the best Engineers, but we can’s do sports to save our lives. So we made up our own Olympics. But seriously it was touching to see the sense of community. What was even cooler was the huge performance by some of the best Broadway stars at the ceremony. Again this was a lovely opportunity given by a friend who works there. One important NY lesson, for those trying to make it: it pays to have friends in different places in this city. Well…maybe they can’t pay you, but they can surely save you some money.

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