#knocksmeouteverytime

last night, the sunset in NYC was truly incredible:

(i know i've been gone for a long-ish time. the last few weeks have been crazy and wild and challenging and fun and sad and hard and wonderful. more deets soon! xox)

behind the bar

bartenders have all kinds of interesting conversations with their customers. sometimes  they're hilarious, sometimes they're deeply awkward, sometimes they're way too personal for two strangers, and sometimes they are amazing and stick with you for a long time.

last spring, i waited on this guy from minnesota who was waiting for his daughter to finish a day of auditioning for dance companies. i think his name was brian. i knew i liked him from the moment he ordered a coors, and after listening to me rattle off our list of imported funky draft beers, said "uhhh......just give me whatever is most like coors." his daughter joined us, and she was like a cartoon character: super nice, super sweet, but the most insane valley girl mixed with minnesota accent ever. i loved waiting on them as they were just so nice and funny and chatty, and reminded me of my own dad and me. we talked about new york, and her hopes of joining a dance company or college dance program, and my own dreams and goals of acting.

when they got up to leave, the dad grabbed my hand over the bar, looked me right in the eyes and said:

"olivia, i want to tell you something i tell all four of my kids and i want you to remember it, too: 

no one is coming for you. if you want something, go get it. that's it. go get it."

i think about that all. the. time.

thank you, minnesota-dad-who-is-maybe-named-brian. your words stuck with me.

(via here)

home sweet nyc

a few observations about nyc after five months in the uk:

new york smells bad.

new york is so loud.

paris metro > london tube > nyc subway 

(did i do that right? i remember the mouth eats the bigger/better thing....i think)

(ok just in case: new york is the worst. i'm no urban planner or whatever it's called but seriously, let's get it together, mta.)

people, myself included, have no shame in public: i witnessed so many angry/tearful/crazy/funny cell phone conversations in our first 24 hours and i was like "wow. people in london DID NOT broadcast their private lives like that." at first i was a little surprised and then i remembered the time i missed the megabus to go home to see my dad sing and i was in literal hysterics on the corner of 34th st and 8th ave on the phone with my mother...wish i could say it's the only time it's happened but that would be a lie.

and

new york is my home and i love it so.

(photo from here...someone please buy me everything in this shop)