New York City trip in pictures!

This post is seriously late, but I've been busy recovering from a whirlwind trip, jet lag, and the knowledge that I have to be back in the classroom, bright-eyed & bushy-tailed, Monday at 8 am.  WHAT?  Ugh.  Scratch the bright-eyed & bushy-tailed part.

New York City is magical, as was seeing all my friends together (we all got together Saturday night for dinner in Brooklyn--12 of us!--some friends from childhood, college, grad school, etc. etc.).  Summer has those pics on her camera, so I will post them as soon as she sends them to me (ahem, Summer).

But here's a summary of my trip, in photos:

Summer and me out exploring

In Times Square, right after we exited the biggest Forever 21 in the freakin' world (5 floors?)

how delighted was I to spot a dress made out of cards??

me with itty bitty Baked by Melissa cupcakes

seriously, they are about the size of a quarter!

Summer and Adam's boys

Radio City Music Hall

The closest I came to Carrie Bradshaw was visiting the Patricia Field store

(where I fell in love with a gold glitter iPhone case)

Times Square

check out the marquee--the Bronx zoo cobra was on the loose!

btw, if you don't follow @BronxZoosCobra on twitter, you're seriously missing out

a morning alone in Union Square . . . 

. . . where I spotted these precious school babies!

my darling friend Marisa at Motorino Pizza in Brooklyn

if you live in NYC, run there pronto!

we had broccolini & margherita pizzas

and love bomb cocktails!

Marisa and me at dinner--old friends!

heehee

Make it work!

my college friend Peter in his office at Kensington Press

(I'm suffering from job envy: he reads fiction manuscripts all day & decides whether or not to publish them!)

in the theater district

(I love how the light is shining on the "i")

Simon & Schuster, for those of us obsessed with literary presses

taken from the Brooklyn Bridge

(oh how I wish this were properly centered)

walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, heading to Grimaldi's

aka the best pizza in NYC

goodness gracious alive, this pizza is good

I love this picture of Summer with the "Live Your Life" sign in the background

Aside from a couple mishaps (including losing my phone & having to buy a new one), it was a phenomenal trip.  Summer was the best hostess ever (as was my dear Marisa, whom I stayed with one night!).  I wish I'd had more time so that I could have spent more time with everyone . . . but all the more reason to make NYC a yearly vacation!

Hope y'all had a wonderful week.  I'm glad to have returned to the blog world!  Happy Monday.

Hello from New York City

Having a great (and adventurous) time!

A Series of Mishaps

Thursday started off . . . a little rocky.  I woke up in plenty of time, ate breakfast at home (never happens), and had a nice chat with Summer before heading to work.  But, sometimes I can be a little oblivious to the forecast.  So when I put on my cotton maxi-dress (that's too long for me btw) and canvas Toms, let's just say I wasn't prepared for the apocalyptic weather awaiting me outside.

Seriously, y'all, it was torrential.  And I couldn't find my umbrella.  Because of rain-induced traffic, I arrived at the high school just in time . . . with not a parking space in sight.  Literally not within any reasonable distance.  After driving around and around and around, and with the late bell ringing, I finally parked in front of a gate (NO PARKING ZONE), put my hazards on, and prayed that if Balboa decided to tow, that they'd figure it was a teacher's car and make an announcement: "White Honda Civic about to be towed!  Get your shit together, Ms. Kiefer!"

My plan was to teach class (while praying the whole time that my car wasn't being towed) and then run out and move it to a legit spot immediately.  Which is what I did . . .

but the damn thing wouldn't start.  Perhaps because I'd left my hazards on too long.  By this point, I was DRENCHED.  I called AAA and sat in my car awaiting help.   At last, help came, in the form of a former-Balboa-student-turned-AAA-driver.  He jumped my car, and off I went . . .

only to hydroplane across 6 lanes of freeway.  I am not exaggerating when I say that my car began to spin out of control, and did multiple donuts all across the freeway.  Probably four complete circles, from the left lane to the right exit ramp.  At one point, I was staring in the face of a semi-truck heading in my direction (head on).  This was certainly the closest encounter I've had with death, and it was only a miracle that the semi-truck could see far enough ahead to understand what was happening and slow down in time.  He (and all the other cars) stopped completely on the freeway while I spun.  I've never experienced anything like it.

My stomach was in knots for hours.  And I went straight to the tire place and replaced my back two tires. This was the scariest thing that's ever happened to me.  So thankful I'm alive.

And then today I overslept and missed my plane.  But all is well in the world now, as I sit in 24A writing this blog post, browsing twitter, and sipping my vodka tonic. ;)

Speaking of twitter, I'm new to it!  Come find me, as I need more awesome/funny people to follow.

@clairekiefer

I hesitated for a couple years but then realized that if I jumped on the twitter train, I could follow the Jersey Shore cast.  And why do I want to do that?  To see the Sitch tweet about #GFI (Grenade Free Italy) and to get updates from Vinny like this:

VINNYGUADAGNINO Vinny Guadagnino 

Life is a garden. Mad hoes.

6 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply

Happy Friday, y'all! You'll be hearing from me (and Summer!) soon!