Splurge
You ever have one of those nights were its perfect - perfect from the beginning to the end? I’m not gonna lie this night was more about the person I was with rather than the actual places that we went to. The cool thing about this night was that everything went well. It just all flowed perfectly. It reminded me of why sharing with this person and loving this person truly brings me so much joy and it also reminded me why I love New York so much. Before meeting up with my friend our conversation went like this:
Me: Can we do someting fun?
Him: Ok. Like?
Me: I’ll think of something - just come over. If I don’t come up with anything you’ll still have fun cause I happen to be one of your funnest friends (ever!!!)
Him: Hahaha! Sure you are Weezie
When he got to my place I sat him in front of my computer and presented him with my 4 idea:
Brooklyn Boulder - this choice I knew that he would say no to for sure and...Next option was Franklin Park - a bar by my house - this honestly was were I totally thought we were gonna end up. Then came Nitehawk Theater in Williamsburg to see Eddie Murphy Raw - he actually entertained this idea for a bit. Final choice was tattoos at West 4th Tattoo - his eyes actually got big on this idea. He went back to the Nitehawk Theater idea for a bit and then back to the tattoo idea and...The night was spontaneous. A few unexpected things followed our first stop. But all in all everything was nice and simple and just flowed the way I think it was meant to flow. Sheer perfection! Read on to see how it all unfolded.
1. Moon Sheen Tattoo - Tattoo artist: Christopher - So I truly was shocked that he ended up choosing to get tattoos. Not because I din’t think he wanted one - we both have been talking about getting another one for a while. I just knew he would say no because he is the type - or at least I thought he was the type that would need to think on something like this for a while but...he said yes - I was shocked. I asked what he thought he would like to get and he blurted it out so quickly. We Googled it and found an image that he liked - still so shocked. I picked out something as well for myself and we were off. I initially said we would go to West 4th Tattoo but their rate was a lil steep for the both of us at the time. I was so upset. I made a plan and...hell I wanted it to happen. My friend said my intention was good and suggested we go eat. I remember passing another tattoo shop on our walk and mentioned it and my friend said he heard someone say that it was closed as we passed by. We were walking that way anyway so I said lets just check for ourselves and...good thing I did cause it was OPEN - yahoo! We showed Christopher our ideas, he gave us a quote, we stepped outside to discuss and decided that my friend would be the one to get a tattoo and I would come back another time. So here is where our lil adventure began. Chrisptopher was a man of few words but he was patient, gave a few suggestions and as he worked you could tell that he was a professional. I don’t know much about tattoos at all but his lines were very sharp and amazing. I sat along side my friend throughout it all - mainly trying to distract him but we always have good convos and laugh a lot so as Christopher “drilled” (those are my friends exact words) into my friends skin we did just that. This may be silly but I felt a lil privileged to be alongside my friend as a memory was being created. I also felt like my friend got extremely lucky with Christopher being the one to give him the tattoo. I am definitely going back to get mine done - definitely!!!
2. Galanga- Thai Restaurant - We both were starving and Thai food always seems like its our go to when we’re starving. I’m very rarely disappointed when I try a new Thai restaurant and that ended up being the case at this restaurant. The food was yummy (I had Spicy Basil Fried Rice with chicken - my usual when I am trying a new Thai place and I also had a Chang beer - my fav!!!). I read the reviews the next day and when I go back I have some dishes that I would love to try. The service was good - very friendly hostess and waitress. The price was right - only annoying thing is they only accept cash - I very rarely carry cash. While we sat and waited for our food (which wasn’t very long at all) I kept asking my friend to see his new tattoo - it made me so happy for some reason. Food came we scarfed it down and talked and laughed some more. Good company and good food - two of my favorite things!!!
3. Bar Next Door - La lanterna di vittorio - I truly was having a great time so far during our lil adventure but something kinda rubbed me wrong while we were eating - no need to go into it but it just made me feel like maybe it wastime for the night to end - everything had been great so far and I wanted to end with that feeling and not let my mind start taking over and ruin things. We talked while we walked - mainly about how much we love NY. As we walked more he remnisced of the things he used to do in the area back in the day. I love the look that people get in their eyes when they reminisce (at least when they reminisce about good things) - it makes me feel happy. So now instead of wanting to go home I decided I wanted to share something else with my friend. The Bar Next Door - its a cozy (like super cozy) spot inside of La lanterna di vittorio (which if you are huge dessert fan might be heaven to you). I’ve only been to The Bar Next Door one other time and that night was very similar to this night - random but so good. Entered thru La lanterna di vittorio and headed downstairs - everything is narrow in this spot. My friend commented “oh we are in the cut”. I asked the waitress if there was anymore space and she said we have two more seats left - those would be ours, thank you! I turned to my friend and said “is this good” and he said “this is so cool”. I smiled because...I scored again. The bar plays three sets of live music on certain nights - usually jazz. We sat literally right behind the band - Ben Monder on Guitar (if my friend were in the band this would be his instrument of choice) with Matt Brewer on Bass (If I were a part of the band this would be my instrument of choice) and Johnathan Blake on Drums (one of his solos - can't remember the piece - was so good!). One of the things I love about this friend is moments like this are okay with him - us not talking is okay with him - us experiencing things together but yet separately are okay with him. Being in the bar made me remember how much I wish that I could travel more and and I also though if I were able to I would definitely want to share some of it with my friend. This spot makes me feel like I am not in New York at all. I know that its Italian but I felt like I was in a lounge in Paris somewhere. It truly is an amazing place! We sat for a while and I leaned over and asked my friend “how about some beer and chocolate” - he smiled. I took that as a yes and...we drank, ate and got lost in the music.
4. da Tommy Osteria- Italian Restaurant - When we left The Bar Next Door we kinda got a little turned around. Again while walking trying to figure out where the train was we spoke about our love of NY. This time it was more about how you could just turn on a street, any street and stumble onto magic. While talking I turned and peeped this restaurant and all I had to say to my friend was “c’mon, one more beer”. He smiled and then opened the door. We only had a drink so I can’t comment on much else other than the service was good - they allowed us to sit at a table and have a drink even though we weren’t eating - which I think is pretty cool for a busy restaurant to do on a Saturday night - they even offered us bread. Sitting in this spot also made me feel like I was somewhere other than NY. The place had a really cool vibe to it. Again we sat, drank, talked, laughed and I constantly kept asking to see his tattoo - I was still so amazed that he said yes to getting it and to the fact that that was our sole plan for the night yet...we ended up here.
I knew this was the last stop on our lil adventure - not gonna lie kinda got sad. I went from its time to go home to this - not wanting the night to end. When we walked out the first thing I saw was one of those bright red lit up PSYCHIC signs and I think my friend could see my eyes get big and light up and all he said was “no Denise, no psychic tonight”. I couldn’t help but smile...it was time to go home and it was okay...sheer perfection.