autumn in new york, again

We are in the middle of our third fall in New York City. Our first NY “experiment,” we spent three months in a West Village pre-war apartment relishing every little new thing and adjusting to urban life. For our second experiment, we stayed in a newer building with a “real” doorman above 14th St in Chelsea. Last April, we signed a one-year lease on an apartment in Columbus Circle in a new building with a roof deck, a modern kitchen with a three minute walk to Central Park. After gathering intel in the two previous long stays, we determined that as much as we love being downtown, being close to the park would make living with a 100 pound dog a lot easier. The move uptown has been great and, while we loved walking on the Hudson River, our daily dog walks in Central Park are more meaningful than expected. 

Consistent with previous years, our schedule on either coast is driven by where we are working out, playing tennis and pickleball. We finally pulled the trigger and joined a NY gym called LifeTime so that we can play indoor pickleball. For those of you in the pickleball world, you will be interested to know that LifeTime PENN1 has seven indoor courts and may be the most competitive place to play pickleball I have been (likely on par with Mitchell Park in Palo Alto but more structured). We play tested a few other options, including the ultra scenic courts on the Central Park ice rink, and determined that LifeTime had the best schedule, high level play and clinics and it is easy to get there from our place. 

Because there are so many competitive players and a packed daily schedule of play, there is a constant discussion on What’s App about which sessions are full, which levels want more court time and a venting of player frustrations. The club has a strict policy of playing at your rated level (which is called DUPR) and many people like me, who earned their ratings outside of this pickle mecca, find that they have a tough time hanging at the level they thought they were and this often sits very badly. I was in a ladies 3.0+ game and witnessed a woman lose her mind when she was prevented from playing in the group because her rating was below 3.0. After losing two games on our court, another player asked the pickleball “attendant on duty” about whether this woman was eligible to be in our group. The under 3.0 ranked player then aggressively insisted to multiple staff members that, outside of LifeTime, she was better than 3.0 and she was being treated unfairly. The club bylaws explicitly state that any harassment by members of staff will not be tolerated so she was kicked out of the entire club and there was an update posted on What’s App. Having played women’s team tennis and pickleball for most of my life, I thought I had seen almost everything but this was some fresh drama.

Per usual, I am also doing plenty of shopping all over Manhattan and noticing some consistent trends:

• Preppy is back. Decide now which barn jacket, corduroy pants and boat shoes you are going to buy because it’s inevitable. If you happen to have your “Preppy Handbook” from the 1980’s, get it out and brush up.
• Plaid is everywhere. I am currently fixated on acquiring a plaid blazer or mid-thigh length coat. I am tempted by some ankle length Zara plaid pants but so far have not pulled the trigger.
• Sadly, Crocs are experiencing a re-boot. I am not going to participate in this trend. They should be reserved exclusively for toddlers, chefs or home gardeners. 
• While I am seeing tons of wide leg pants (some with pleats and some plain front), I am told by many that the low-rise, skinny jean is not dead. If you happen to own your original True Religion skinny jeans with the white seams and triangular, flap back pockets, you are moments away from working them back into your fashion line-up.
• Flats have made their way back – ballet and Mary Janes – and they are in every color and texture from velvet to patent leather. For those of us who like at least a little heel and some arch support, this is not an ideal trend. On top of having a tough time with flats, it looks like combat boots, a favorite of mine, are out of fashion after only one season of being featured everywhere.
• This is not a fashion trend but I have now been to two 260SampleSales. If you know me at all, you know that I love sales. I love the feeling of productivity and savvyness when I buy something I saw at full price on sale. It’s a game to me and I am in it to win it. I have two more sample sales on the calendar for next week. So far, the important things to know are: dress for ease of try-ons in a group dressing room under a time limit and be ready to google potential purchases to make sure you are getting the best deal.

Consistent with all of our living experiments, we are making the most of the restaurant scene and avoiding cooking more than one dinner a week in our apartment. In our defense, friends from California are here every week either on business or visiting their own kids and often want to meet for dinner. Almost no one comes to New York and wants to stay in for dinner so we are really just being good friends by being willing to eat out five or six nights a week.

• We finally managed to get into I Sodi for dinner and it is now firmly in our top 5 restaurants. We were lucky to be seated on their back patio on a gorgeous night and it was magical. People talk about lasagna at Don Angie, but my “best of” vote goes to I Sodi. It’s a giant portion of endless layers and somehow manages to be light and oh so tasty.  Insiders tip: we got our 5 pm reservation by putting a “notify” on Resy and I think it was worth it not to have to wait in line.
• Two places that we clearly need to try are L’Industrie Pizzeria and Salt Hank’s for a French Dip – both in the West Village. L’Industrie has a serious line of young, good looking millennials waiting to get in – which is both why we are interested in trying it but also why we haven’t gone yet. Salt Hank’s is also a scheduling issue as they often sell out of sandwiches by 2:30 pm. I am worried that my stomach may not be able to handle a French Dip but I know my husband will take one down with gusto and will provide details for those interested. 
• We were lucky enough to be included for meals at two somewhat exclusive spots. First, my friend Dana was able to get us into People’s which is “an evening club and art salon located in Greenwich Village” and “visits are by appointment only.” We were by far the oldest people there and left around 11:30 pm right as it was starting to go off. My friend Anne also took me to the restaurant at Zero Bond which is a private club in NoHo. No celebrity sightings to report but apparently T. Swift and Jen A. have been spotted there (not together). I can’t tell you much about the food at either of these two clubs because I was more than distracted by the people watching and trying not to look too old (which is an impossible task). Ahead of going to these two hot spots, I had a rough time deciding what to wear and now am desperately looking for new “going out” tops.

So far this fall, I have only seen two shows: the off-Broadway play, Caroline and the one-woman show, Dylan Mulvaney: The Least Problematic Woman in the World at the newly remodeled Lucille Lortel theater in the West Village. We bought tickets to Caroline through Grab Your Group and Go which is a NYC experience and travel company led by a very friendly and approachable woman named Linda. Slightly ironically, I attended Caroline with my friend Carolyn who happened to know the father of one of the stage managers and, yada yada, it’s a pretty small world. This performance was intense, believable and relatable. I was only mildly distracted by the fact that Judith Light was seated next to us and was trying to remember the words to the theme song to “Who’s the Boss?”

We saw Dylan Mulvaney’s show in previews and with only a tiny bit of info on her backstory: she is the trans woman at the center of last spring’s Bud Light boycott. Dylan warmly greeted the audience in front of the theatre wearing all white and giant angel wings which set the tone for the next 90 minutes. I have a habit of getting distracted when required to sit still and be quiet and I was entirely engaged and entertained throughout this show. I know it is not kind to recommend a show that is already closed but if it somehow reopens or shows up on streaming, please watch it. If you have ever been thrust into a controversy or difficult dynamic while trying to be true to yourself, you will identify with her and the road she has traveled.

In the next month, we are excited to see the following four shows:

• Waiting for Godot with BOTH the lead actors from “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” – also known as Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter. I am worried that the story will not grab me given the overview states it is about “existentialism, the meaninglessness of existence, and the futility of waiting for external forces.” 
• The revival of ART with Neil Patrick Harris, James Corden and Bobby Cannavalle. This show has received mixed reviews which is hard to believe because of the stellar cast. 
• Queen of Versailles with Kristen Chenoweth which is based on the documentary of the same name about Jackie Siegel and her quest and ultimate failure to build her version of “Versailles” in Orlando, Florida. While my favorite story theme is a giant, public business failure, I do love a rags to riches back to rags story set to music, dramatized and satirized.
• Gruesome Playground Injuries is another revival and follows a 30-year relationship and the various injuries that bring them together over time. Like Caroline, this is another show that hooked me based on cast and theater location and I am hopeful that it will be as intriguing as the title.

It’s been an amazing fall so far and the weather has finally become slightly crisp in the last week. As I walk our dog all over Central Park, I have noticed that instead of spotting couples taking engagement and wedding photos on Bow Bridge there are now an abundance of families taking their holiday card portraits with colorful backdrops of fall leaves. For a girl who grew up in LA, I am still thrilled to experience the change of seasons and all of the amazing things this city has to offer.