Wanderlust

From 1/19/10
Today was another day when I planned to go home, and my mind just couldn't let me do it. I had a really nice long weekend and had been off work since last Thursday. I shook my booty at my friend Lydia's birthday party on Saturday (drank more than I should) and then hung out in Long Island with my friend Nicole for two days (saw Avatar, Awesome!). Needless to say, I didn't get enough exercise in and my body knew it was time to make up for it. I had no plan today and just picked a direction. I ended up walking south on 8th Avenue.


8th Avenue was eerily quiet. I mean, people were walking by and the streets weren't empty, but it was still quiet. No ambulance or police sirens. Even the cars seemed to be on some type of silent mode. I wasn't sure if I was noticing this because I wasn't listening to music or not. Haiti was heavy on my mind all day and my heart was feeling heavy. It's still hard to hear my friends talk about the family they've lost or still haven't heard from. But I believe in the power of prayer and haven't been going to sleep without asking God to please have mercy on them and to help them to keep faith. I quickly shook these thoughts out of my mind since it was taking me to a place I didn't want to be (what a luxury...huh?)

As I reached Bleecker and 8th Avenue turned into Hudson Street, junk food cravings began to punch me in the face repeatedly. Fortunately, I was absent-minded this morning and forget my wallet. I passed like 5 different chocolate shops and bakeries and it was killing me. By the way, I AM DOWN 44 LBS WOO HOO!! Living a healthy lifestyle has gotten easier and easier and is becoming second nature instead of a task. I pray that I reach my goal sometime this year. Hudson Street proved to be quite charming. I passed a lot of people walking their little lap dogs and just hanging out and enjoying the not-so-cold weather.
I made a four-legged friend over the weekend and I can't stop talking about him. He's a Yorkshire Terrier and his name is Cuddles. I think my friend thought I may kidnap him (OK...I thought about it LOL). Oh...how I wish I had the means to take care of a dog, but it wouldn't be fair. I'm not home enough, and their medical bills are ridiculous if anything happens. Like I've said in a previous blog, having a dog in NYC is like having a child. EXPENSIVE!


Once I reached West Houston, the neighborhood became less residential and more commercial. The lobby of an office building caught my eye. There were interesting pieces of art adorning the walls of the entire lobby (375 Hudson). I walked in to get a closer look. I tried to ignore the stares I got from people leaving their jobs. I'm pretty sure they are oblivious to the artwork in the lobby since they've surely passed it a thousand times. I'm not gonna lie and say the artwork was "great". I repeatedly thought, WOW people actually get paid to do this? I could do that myself. Shoot, a kindergartner could do that. But see the difference between me and the artist, is that they actually got up the nerve to complete it and call it ART. They didn't let someone tell them what art should be and just threw so crap on some canvas and said VIOLA!! LOOK AT MY MASTERPIECE! AND THE MASSES SHALL LOVE IT! And people eat that crap up, including myself. What would this world be without risk takers.

I had a great conversation with my father as I walked and was feeling like I needed to be around family. As I got closer to Chambers Street, spontaneity took over and I called my Aunt to let her know I was near her job. I walked over to Maiden Lane and my Aunt and I spent some much needed quality time as we traveled to the Bronx together. My Auntie has the ability to make a person feel like they are the most important person in the world at that moment in time and she made me feel so good about my weight loss progress. What a beautiful end to my walk.


Streets Walked
8th Avenue (14th Street-Bleecker)
Hudson Street (Bleecker-Chambers)
Chambers (West Broadway-Broadway)
Broadway (Chambers-Maiden Lane)
Maiden Lane (Broadway-Gold Street)