Once again, there was a possibility of sleeping in but none actually occurred, at least not for Mom & I. Mom and Margo and Bookworm were planning a day of walking around the city and trying different nibbles, and I had a brunch date with my friend Abigail, recently returned from Dublin to live and work in NYC.
Abigail was surprised to find me waiting for her and hoped she hadn't gotten the time wrong, but I told her quite honestly that I tend to be early anyway, plus I was so excited to see her that I was ready early. I bought a subway pass and we took a short ride to Gramercy park and had a swoon-worthy brunch at Friend of a Farmer. Abigail had pumpkin pancakes, I had Eggs Benedict with corned beef instead of ham, and we both had some complimentary applesauce. Everything was amazingly good.
After brunch, we stopped at a drugstore so I could buy nail polish (cue chorus of "Of course!") and then went to Strand Books, which is of course a New York landmark. We talked a bit about independent bookstores which have lost faith in the differences which make them special, which includes both Strand Books and The Book Loft in Columbus.
I was feeling a bit tired and after a phone call to Mom, we agreed to walk only as far as Union Square to meet them. I will be honest and say that I spent most of the walk complaining that I was fine and that my family was cosseting me, and Abigail was good enough to listen to me vent and to go back to the restaurant when I realized I left my glasses on the table. She was also worried that she was making me sicker by getting me to come out and walk around in the fresh air! I told her then and am reiterating now that our brunch and walk could not possibly have made me sick.
Abigail was prepared to spend an afternoon with my family, but by the time we reached them and I made introductions, I discovered that Margo had blisters on her blisters and was ready to go back to the hotel. Since by then I was coughing, I said I'd go with her, so Abigail headed home, Margo and I headed for the subway, and Mom and Bookworm went walking. I did finally get a pretzel on the way home, and gave my subway card with a little bit of money left to a young lady who was either coming from or going to a yoga class, and absolutely collapsed on the bed when I got back to the room.
Mom woke me when it was time to get dressed and go to dinner. By then I was coughing pretty hard and didn't have much appetite. Still, the four of us had a nice dinner at Cellini, and I was sure that a good night's sleep would make things better. When we got back to the room, Mom turned on the tv, and we watched the last hour or so of Pitch Perfect. It amused me no end that the woman who is incredibly squeamish about blood had no problems with the barfing scene, but while I can read horror novels and not think anything of it, I had to close my eyes and put my fingers in my ears!
I was in bed by 9:30, sad that the weekend in NYC was almost over but looking forward to going home.
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