a view from the bridge. and the park.

Wow this was a WEEKEND. For so many reasons. I'll go chronologically otherwise I'll get messed up and forget some of the amazingly epic things that happened this weekend.

SATURDAY in the park. I think it was the 15th of May. I mean, it actually was the 15th of May. I got up early and met my fellow 3Day-ers at Penn Station for a 16 mile walk! We walked over to the Hudson, down to Battery Park, around the tip of Manhattan, across the Brooklyn Bridge and back. It. Was. Amazing. First of all, the weather was perfection. I mean really. Like 75 and sunny with a breeze all day. Just incredible. Once again, I loved walking with others going through this. This time, I was the only first timer, and I relished in asking all of the big questions: shoes, socks, sleeping...we covered it all as we covered our miles.

Hands down my favorite part of the walk was the Brooklyn Bridge. Wow. I mean wow. I kept taking pictures because I wasn't satisfied with any of them until I realized the epic-ness of the bridge just couldn't be captured by my measly little BlackBerry. It's truly indescribable. It is massive and beautiful and overwhelming, and I loved it. Even when we got caught up in obnoxious groups of tourists. Which happened a lot. Anyway here are my photos that don't do it any justice:

Almost there...

AMAZING. Also, I felt like Miranda going to meet Steve in the SATC movie. Anyone?

The citay from the bridge.

3Day swag on my fellow walkers!

We stopped for some delightful pizza at Adrienne's on Stone Street. Stone Street is the coolest thing ever. It's like a block long and there are no cars and in the summer it's just filled with outdoor seating for all of the restaurants on the block. What?! Apparently it was the first paved road in NYC and it has this really old timey feel. The. Coolest. Once again, I found myself marveling at the new/old juxtaposition of the Financial District. It is cool.

After we walked back up to Penn Station, I made the smart (crazy?) decision to walk home, too. I took a detour and went to Paragon Sports to look at some shoes, and I bought some! I tried a ton of different kinds, and these were the most cushy and supportive, although I'm sad they didn't come in pink...booo. I also got some double layer Wright Socks, as recommended by our training walk leader, Burt. I haven't started using either yet, but I'm excited!!

SUNDAY morning I participated in the 25th Annual AIDS Walk in Central Park. A group of friends got together a team so I thought I'd hop on...it was a good reason to walk 6.2 miles and seemed like a cool thing to be a part of. I had no idea what to expect, and I was bowled over by the experience. There were THOUSANDS of people there. So many. And it was really cool to walk with so many different people from vastly different backgrounds. I was a little bit frustrated by the glacial pace we kept...not exactly a training walk...and after about 3 miles I cut off and walked on my own, but I was so glad to have the experience and I'll absolutely do it again in the future.

OK this is the big part. During the AIDS walk, I received a notification of a donation to my fundraising efforts. I excitedly opened the email to find out this was the largest donation I've received to date and it took me from 49% to 92%. I immediately started crying. This donation didn't come from the wealthiest person I know. It didn't come from my best friend in the entire world. It came from an amazing human being with a gigantic heart, and I could not have been more honored. The day before I had been talking to Burt about how special the fundraising process is and how each and every donation is a miracle. Yes, this particular one let me breathe a huge sigh of relief as I was getting super nervous about reaching my $2300 minimum, but I felt the same reaction with every $5, $10, or $100 donation I received. I know we're all broke, especially now, so I know every dollar that comes my way has been carefully thought out and accounted for. Each one comes with a lot of love and man do I feel it. So thank you.

Phew! Crying again! So I'm now $80 from my minimum and $780 from my secret goal of $3K. Oops. Guess it's not secret anymore. But yes, I'm going to keep fundraising past my minimum, because I'm realizing the 3Day is not about reaching minimums and squeaking by. It's about walking one more mile and raising one more dollar than you ever thought possible, which is what I intend to do.

Also Sunday, my life got a special guest appearance by Betsy Hogg and we saw Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson at The Public Theatre. This show has been getting some MAD critical acclaim and I went in skeptically, as I'm not always ready to jump on these Ben Brantley bandwagons. But it was awesome. Just freaking awesome. This entry is too long and the show is too difficult to explain to make it worthwhile, but just go see it. K? Great.

LOVE and miracles of every size,

KFine

Also this is love:

the ladies who brunch

I. Love. Brunch. Moral of this weekend. You can stop reading. But not really.

So I decided Saturday morning to treat myself to brunch at my new fav place, Elephant and Castle (a-thank you Betsy Hogg). I sat in a little corner with my little book and my little coffee, and it was so delightful. I think I've learned to love doing things like that in NYC. Living on the opposite end of the island from most of my friends has allowed me the opportunity to discover the joy of sitting in a restaurant for an hour and a half, subtly eavesdropping on hilarious conversations around me, and enjoying the morning. I think I'm going to make this a weekly thing. We'll see.

After my brunch, I went on one of the longest walks I've been on thus far...totaling about 6.5 miles! I walked all the way down to Battery Park, the southern tip of Manhattan. It looks something like this:

Yup, that's the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. It was a little cloudy and rainy, which I think weeded out some of the tourists, so it was a delightful time down in the Battery (as opposed to up in the Bronx...).

My walk down there was amazing. I love downtown Manhattan. The juxtaposition between the brand new fancy schmance skyscrapers and the super old historical buildings is just really phenomenal. This idea of past and present living side by side is...there's something magical about it. I think this is best exemplified around Ground Zero. I hadn't been there since I became a New Yorker (am I a New Yorker? I feel like I'd get yelled at for using that phrase, but I live here, right??). I got weirdly emotional walking in those surrounding blocks. Just thinking about that day, walking on the same sidewalks where firefighters had run to the scene and others had fled...I'm getting chills just thinking about it. I finally started to understand how huge these towers were and how much this changed New York. I mean I obviously understood it intellectually, but this was on a completely different visceral level.

Anyway, my whole point...across from Ground Zero is St. Paul's Chapel. It looks like this:

This place opened in 1766. 1766. That is 244 years ago. George Washington prayed there after he was inaugurated president. GEORGE WASHINGTON. (side note: this video is hilarious.) Just seeing this combination of new history at Ground Zero literally across the street from some of the oldest history of the United States...it's really incredible. I tried to get the vibe with this pic...the tombstone closest to the camera is a 32 year old woman who died in 1805...

So that was that. It was cool. Then I walked back up the west side along the river, which I will always love. I learned that down at the bottom tip of the island, there are like a billion parks along the west side which was amazing. I can't wait to make picnic baskets and bring them down there this summer. And dammit I'm gonna do it!!

Last night, my friends and I decided I'm going to become a runner. It's going to be a long process, but I'm going to ease myself into it. So today, I went for about a 3.5 mile walk and ran about .75 miles of it. It's something, right? I dunno.

At the end of that run/walk was another brunch, one that was the exact opposite of yesterday's to celebrate a one Jessica McKenna's birth. Lots of friends, lots of food, lots of laughing. Just as yesterday's brunch was a nice reminder of the joys of solitude, this reminded me that I could not be luckier to have such an awesome group of friends in the city.

Discoveries abound this weekend, and tomorrow...CUBS VS. METS!!!!!! I love baseball.

I'd like to leave you with this photo, and I hope you take its advice to heart:

LOVE and well-fed rodents,

KFine