Back in the hood

The weekend started out interesting enough….. with a drug bust! I was waiting on the street for Farrell to arrive when I caught a scuffle out of the corner of my eye. Two large guys had pinned three small men against the wall. After they took out cuffs and started patting the suspects down did the situation sink in (the two big guys were undercover cops). All of the sudden, on of the suspects took off running. The cop yelled freeze and bolted after him. The cop managed to grab the guy’s jacket, but the little sucker slipped right out of it and kept running. The little guy dove over the hood of a car, dogged traffic and sprinted down the street. A half block down, the cop gave up because the sucker was fast (and probably cold since it was 10 degrees out and he was sans coat). I looked around and was like “am I the only one who saw that? That was awesome!” Actually I am quite used to seeing police busts since my old Chicago neighborhood is no peach.

Later that night, Farrell and I met up with Bree, Bethany, and Captain Ali. I wish I had my camera with me to capture Ali’s outfit. It was a ribbed turtle neck with a double breasted navy blazer with gold buttons. A little captain hat and a pair of Dockers would solidify the “I’m yachting” look. Evidently he bought the coat off of a homeless guy for a dollar. I can see the mastercard ad….coat from homeless man - $1, hearing about him freezing to death on the streets – priceless. After cheap drinks at Bethany’s bar, the gang headed down to a SoHo bar to meet up with Josh and his brother. One horrible thing about trendy bars is the line. Okay it is ten below outside, yet we are forced to stand in a line. I threw image out the window and pulled on my big hat and scarf. Actually I wrapped my scarf (that someone said looked like a dishtowel) around my face to only expose my eyes. A warning, I get cranky when I am in a pointless line when it is freezing outside. That being said there were two girls in front of us in line who kept telling me they liked my scarf. I took it as mocking, and was sharp with them spitting out remarks like “well it is keeping me warm” to let them know I didn’t care. Turns out they really did like it, but oh well I have enough friends so they can shove off.

Saturday morning came quickly. Luckily I had four girlfriends visiting from Chicago. They have the sweetest hotel room. I guess it is old apartments (3-bedroom with kitchen and bath) that go for less than $200 a night. Great deal! Luckily, it was also near Times Square, so I just walked a few blocks down to meet up with them. We started the night with Cuban food in the St. Mark’s neighborhood. Later we headed over to Blue & Glory, McSorelys (the oldest Irish bar in Manhattan, the one with only light or dark beer), and St. Mark’s taproom all in the St. Mark’s hood. The taproom was full of Scotsmen! Seriously, there were groups of them just standing around. I had to take a picture of them because how do you match plaid on plaid? I guess it was national Scotsmen day….seriously like a holiday or event.

Later we headed over to the Village Pour House with big expectations to hit two other bars before last call. Of all the people to want to party all night, I would never have pegged Cindy. By 3am, her friends were ready to go (it takes a while to get used to the 4am bar thing). I think she was putting the moves on Josh’s brother, so she was really reluctant to leave. Finally, the turned on the lights at 4am and we all had to leave. I think she had a good time, but sadly she left with the girls and not the boy. Till next week.

Oh and the celebrity spotting of the week was Ali running into Kate Winslet at the Barnes & Noble. I sure hope he was still wearing the captain jacket.