Tag Archives: New York City

On My Mind

Hey, curly girls! This one’s for you.

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I got my hair cut today. This is a big deal because I think the last time I got my hair cut was three years ago. And it’s an even bigger deal because I asked the stylist to straighten it.

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I normally wear my hair down and just let it do whatever it’s going to do. This is a coping mechanism – equal parts resignation, exasperation, and experience. Sometimes it looks great and I love it, like in the picture above. It really is that curly and I really do have natural red highlights, which sometimes show up.

Since I’m asked this a lot, these are my current hair products:

Most people have never seen me with straight hair. I’ve rarely seen me with straight hair, actually. Once upon a time, about three years ago, I wrote about having curly hair and I straightened my hair to make a point. I don’t think I’ve had straight hair since.

And yet, here we are again!

On a recommendation from my mum’s stylist at Tru Salon in Rochester, NY, I went to the Aveda Institute here in New York City to have my hair trimmed by a student stylist. I’ve had enough bad haircuts as a curly-haired person to avoid a) getting my hair cut entirely and b) paying a lot of money for a haircut. Rachel, my mum’s stylist, assured me that the Aveda Institute sees a lot of curly patrons because getting a good curly haircut can be such a challenge and a huge expense.

It’s only hair, right? It’ll grow back, right?

Ha.

Normally I’d say yes, but that’s precisely the problem.

I haven’t cut my hair in three years because it doesn’t grow. I’ve dreamt of long, flowing curly locks for enough years to know I’ll never have them, even though I follow all of these tips.

Oh yeah. Except for the one about regular trims. Oops.

So off the the Aveda Institute I went!

At the Aveda Institute, student stylists have to get the procedure and each stage of the process approved by an instructor. While this might make some patrons nervous, I understand the need to practice on real humans to learn your trade (I’m a teacher, after all). I truly encourage everyone to look into the Aveda Institute if you’re looking for a top-quality, inexpensive service. After all, students are very careful and deliberate because they’re still learning and you have the benefit of an expert stylist watching each step of the way.

My student stylist, Mary, told me everything I already knew about my hair – it’s surprisingly healthy and hydrated, surprisingly soft, and surprisingly fine. She was surprised that I haven’t cut it in so long. People usually are. What made me happy is that she understood exactly what I wanted and clearly explained how she was going to make my hair look even healthier (and hopefully grow). Even better, the instructors agreed with her! I dread the oft-heard question, “How do they usually cut your hair?” from a stylist, indicating that curly hair like mine is unfamiliar. Mary’s confidence made me feel at ease and since she had the scissors, that was probably a good thing.

Reasons to Visit the Aveda Institute

  1. They provide a wide range of salon services (I’ll probably be back soon for a facial)
  2. They serve tea
  3. It’s fun to watch the students style and color mannequins’ hair
  4. The students are very conscientious
  5. Instructors check every step of the process and make some adjustments along the way
  6. It’s very, very affordable and reasonably priced

One thing to note: If you want to tip, they only accept cash and don’t have an ATM.

When Mary was done, I asked her to take some pictures:

Hey, everybody! I have long, flowing locks! Amazing. Darn all that curl shrinkage.

Unfortunately, my hair won’t look like this tomorrow. I don’t own a comb, brush, blow dryer, or straightening iron (or blush, eyeshadow, or lipstick) so it’ll either be back to curls or up in a ponytail. But it’s super fun to feel it swish against my back and the sides of my face! It’s always the little things, right?

So after three years, about a 1/2-inch of split ends have been cut off and my layers are relayered. I’m looking forward to seeing what my hair looks like curly!

If you have tips, tricks, or hints to share, I’d love to hear them! I’m pretty low-maintenance (could you tell?) but surprisingly vain when it comes to my hair. Happy to hear anything you’ve got! Comment below or through the contact page. Cheers, curly girls!

New York

Home Sick

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I’m taking my first ever sick day today and that seemed monumental enough in my personal life to write a blog post about it.

When I was growing up, I hated missing school. I hated the catch-up required after being out for even a day, hated copying friends’ notes, hated missing the jokes and the banter. I’m also bad at sitting around at the best of times so being stuck at home has never worked for me. Right now, I’m wearing jeans and a sweater and all the jewelry that I normally wear. The only unusual thing is that my hair is in a ponytail and I’m wearing glasses.

When my roommate got home last night, she took one look at me and said, “You need to be horizontal right now.” I finally listened to her around 9:30pm. Today, I’ve spent most of my time on the couch wrapped in a heavy shawl that I sometimes use as a blanket. I’ve been reading but also doing the school prep that needs to be done whether I’m at work or not. And because I can’t stay home all day without losing my mind, I added the library and a vegan sushi restaurant that makes delicious spicy soup to my errands for the day. The more practical errands of doctor and pharmacy, I’ll have you know, also made the list.

I think much of my disdain for staying home sick stems from my childhood experience with illness. My mother is one of the toughest people I know and I was lucky enough to have her as a stay-at-home mum for my school years; she went back to work when I was finishing high school. She never let a sick child prevent her from doing whatever needed to be done that day. And when you, the sick child, had the misfortune to have walking pneumonia in sixth or eighth grade, you were deemed too young to stay home alone and take care of yourself so you might as well rally and join mum at the grocery store. So you did. (The third time I had walking pneumonia was while traveling in Norway. When I woke up with pink eye my parents finally decided we could probably skip a tour of Oslo City Hall and visit an urgent care clinic instead.)

So that’s the backstory of why staying home from work is a big deal.

 

I felt myself getting sick over the weekend but one of my best friends was in town so I joined the rest of the gang and explored some pretty cool haunts around the city:

I asked the bartender about the Public Displays of Affection sign on the right. If you want to buy someone a drink, you’re welcome to do it by filling out the required information on this chalkboard. How fun! I was tempted just because I like chalk.

Next door to Harlem Public is a neat spot called At the Wallace, which has board games, arcade games, giant Connect Four, giant Jenga, shuffleboard . . . and a whiteboard wall with markers in the bathroom! Couldn’t resist taking a picture of my graffiti. The ceiling was plastered with old National Geographic covers and the walls with photobooth pictures. We meant to take one but completely forgot after taking over a table in the corner that was also a PacMan console.

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I’ve never been in a bar as it opens for the day, but had a delicious Irish coffee in the silent Swift before brunch on Saturday:

Neat mural in the East Village on the way to brunch at Vic’s:

Old firehouse across the street from said mural:

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It turned out to be quite the weekend for games! We played a lot of giant Jenga and giant Connect Four but I also had fun photographing the flashing lights of arcade games at Pioneer’s, a Chelsea establishment full of couches, armchairs, and coffee tables that provides free popcorn and allows food delivery:

And then there was some solitary wandering in midtown on Sunday because, though feeling poorly, I figured I might as well do the shopping that I dislike equally while healthy:

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Loved the shadows – I think this is St. Bartholomew’s but it might also be St. Patrick’s
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International Building at Rockefeller Center
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Really quite pleased with the lighting in this one!

And there you have it! A recap of my first professional sick day and the really fun weekend that led up to it. I’m on steroids for a nasty rash that is (mercifully) hidden under layers of clothing and as long as I have a cup of tea practically glued to my hand and avoid talking, my throat feels okay. My students yesterday were so helpful with my inability to speak and I hope they were as good to the sub today as they usually are to me. I’m sure I’ll hear all about it tomorrow.

New York

Three Men on a Bench

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Last weekend I went for a walk in Central Park and had a fascinating encounter with three men on a bench. When I lived on the Upper East Side I used to run in the park almost daily, but never carried a camera (or phone . . . or MetroCard . . . or ID . . . wherever I run . . . at whatever time of day . . .). I often wished that I did, though, because Central Park is just beautiful. I always forget, however, that everything looks different in the winter because you can see through the trees. That means noticing all sorts of things that weren’t visible before, like skyscrapers.

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Perhaps more compelling, however, was another human-made object: The sign in the picture below.

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At first I grinned but walked by, not really sure if I wanted to engage in any sort of discussion with strangers. I’ve been trying really hard to meet people lately, but that still takes effort and I was feeling pretty good on my own. So I walked on by.

But I couldn’t stop thinking about that sign. Anyone? Anything? Really?

I turned around and asked the three gentlemen (yes, I know there are two pictured above) for permission to take a photo of them with their sign. After graciously posing, they asked if I wanted to sit and talk.

When I first moved to New York, my best friend told me that the best advice she could give me was to say yes to things. So I did.

For about 15 minutes, I sat between Sean on the left (or maybe it’s Shawn – apologies for not asking!) and Jared and chatted. Steve did some audio recording during our conversation to conduct a sound test for the web series they’re working on. One thing I do love about New York is that people are always up to something interesting. I always have a lot of questions about what’s happening and why, and was glad for the chance to ask some of them.

Jared asked what was on my mind and I mentioned politics because I’d been listening to a Sam Harris podcast on my way through the park. We chatted about that for a while and then our conversation switched to the experiences they’d been having when trying to engage people in discussion. We talked about how reluctant many people are to having a face-to-face conversation. People are very vocal about anything and everything on social media but talking in person is much more difficult. There’s a real vulnerability in sharing yourself with others. Despite how important authenticity is to me, which is one of the reasons I try to be pretty open on this blog, I probably would have walked away after taking my photo had these guys not said, “Want to have a seat and talk to us?”. Connecting with people requires a deeper level of engagement and commitment than a Facebook post, blog post, or tweet. It requires looking into someone’s eyes and saying what’s on your mind. That can be hard.

After my chat with Sean/Shawn, Jared, and Steve, I continued my Central Park walk with a feeling of buoyancy and euphoria. I had just sat on a park bench between two men I had never met and we’d had a perfectly lovely conversation about politics, the news, and the importance of being able to talk. I was glad to find openness and receptivity, which seem like scarce commodities in the often isolating world of New York City. The more I open up to people, however, the more I find that they do the same in return. So maybe that isolation is a shield, or a defense, for many of us. Maybe there’s a real desire for connection that isn’t being met because vulnerability is scary. Maybe the aloofness of many New Yorkers is just a mask.

I told Sean/Shawn, Jared, and Steve that I keep a blog and asked if they wanted me to share any contact information for them. So here it is! They mentioned that they were hoping someone would have a seat on the bench and just spill their heart out. So, gentle readers, if any of you want to talk to someone willing to listen, I can recommend three men on a bench in Central Park. I’m glad they asked me to stop and chat and I’m glad I said yes.

Gentlemen, thanks for making my day.