Holiday in Bohemia Part Two

so where did we leave off?

Mic's bathroom was flooding, I joined the rest of the unwashed on the subway... and I was off to visit Gillian in her new Bachelorette Pad: Loft Edition (BP:LE) which she shares with three others.
It was only about 15 mins to get from Mic's to Gillian's. So easy. When I got off the subway I was in a very loud area with lots of trains, bridges and underpasses... I milled about wondering where to go for a while. Incidentally, I was also wondering if taking a pee on the street would be neighborhood appropriate because I had to go so bad. I called Garth to get help with directions and he directed me. The first thing I saw was an interesting concrete park. See the green painted grass?

It wasn't long before I found Gillian who, to my pleasure and envy, has attained hotbody through marathon training. She has a specific category of hotbody: hotlegs!!! I need to run a marathon to get these legs. Check them out.

Stepping into Gillian's loft was quite a contrast from Mic's tiny East Village apartment. It was a huge 3000 square foot loft! Gillian lives with a photographer, a painter and a musician (Anna, Leigha, Daniel) I spent about 30 minutes walking around in complete awe of their cool pad.

Luckily Gilly was up for an adventure. The Prosecco began to flow so the adventure started in her living room (well the couch part of the one gigantic room). Gillian's friend Chad was in town. He looks such a lot like Colin Firth that after about 1.5 glasses of Prosecco, I started calling him Colin. It was quite rude, yes, but don't you think he looks exactly like a younger Colin? He really does. (Chad + Prosecco = Colin)

After drinking and talking with Colin and Gilly's roomies we all went out to dinner at Superfine. I had a steak dinner and Colin and I were partners at pool. I think I was drunk at Superfine because I have vague memories of a small child buzzing around our pool game...but who knows? After the superfine food (it was really good!) we visited a studio for an exciting private viewing of Leigha's paintings. Leigha is the woman on the right in the picture.

The next leg of our adventure (with some prompting and pleading from a certain Canadian visitor who loves sing-alongs) was a sing-along at this park which has views of the Manhattan bridge and the Brooklyn bridge. Daniel brought his guitar and Gillian and I brought mugs of sparkling wine. (Adventure = drunk) Check out some pictures of the antics. (Antics = sitting on the grass)

After that we went out to a dance club called Rebar. As you can see I was dressed for success and spent the time that I was not dancing (ie the whole time) chatting with a cute bartender. For me, the highlight of this leg of the adventure was being told by a young black man with dreads that I looked like Ellen DeGeneres. Let's face it. He was really, really right. I still felt like I needed a comeback so I said 'yah well you look like Milli Vanilli.' I (like Ellen DeGeneres) have been blessed with the quickwit and usually find myself making a joke or comeback before I even consciously think the thought of it. Well the timing was excellent but it is not until this very moment that I realize how much he DID look like Milli Vanilli (either guy really because of the hair and skin tone). Good one!

We closed the place, went for snacks at Peas and Pickles, witnessed a store clerk hit a complaining patron in the mouth and headed home to the BP:LE.

The next afternoon I was back in Toronto with my head just full of ideas about film and the arts and community development. I was really inspired by the holiday. (Inspired = want to quit my job) Anyway, that was holiday in Bohemia. Thanks to all who made it possible.

My next adventure in NYC is Nov 1-6th when I will cheer Gillian on at the NYC Marathon and enjoy New York with Shirley, my friend and Gillian and Garth's mum.

Things I'm looking forward to in this next visit:

1) Seeing Gillian's hotbody legs in action at the marathon and cheering people on. I really love marathons. The energy is incredible.

2) Bonding with Shirley. Shirley was the 'designated mom' who dropped off and picked up Garth and I at Oktoberfest. The pickup was hilar because everyone was drunk outside Concordia club and they all started cheering 'Mom!!!' and Shirley got out of her red convertible so someone could take a picture. The police told her to move along. THEN didn't we take the cake?! Shirley, Garth and I went through the Taco Bell drive through!

3) Seeing Odd Todd in Brooklyn. I've tried twice already and he has blown me off but I can't give up because it is on my list to find him and his dog Roscoe.

4) Going to a museum with Chetan (previous Northwater coworker) - either the Museum of Natural History or the Guggenheim. TBD.

5) Seeing Mic again. We are doing so well with the visits. She is a consultant so she can fly to Toronto easily for free. We've got a plan for that in the hopper too. I'm hoping we can have a painting party with Anthony too. This was something we ran out of time for last visit...

Stay tuned for an update after my next trip to NYC... In the meantime, it's time for Hallowe'en!

xo

d