Hidden City History, Food, People, and AN OPPORTUNITY TO MEET ME! (because I know you all want to)

So, if you've read any of my other posts, you've discovered two of my greatest loves: food and history. 

This past weekend, I got to indulge in both! Huzzah!

Over the spring break, my Grammy told me that a designer I really love had opened up a store on Elizabeth Street. If anyone used to watch Project Runway as much as I did, you know who Christian Siriano is. Well, I can't pass up an opportunity to go see beautiful, beautiful clothing I could never afford, so I decided I was going to go down and see it. My friend Erica loves Christian Siriano even more than I do, so when I told her about it, she was gung-ho on going as well.

Friday rolled around and since Erica has Fridays off, we decided to leave as soon as I got back from class. When we met up at the dorms, we invited our friend Sam to come with us.  

We meant to hit the store, get groceries in Chinatown, and I needed a pair of sunglasses, so we thought we'd probably head to St. Marks. 

Then, my friend Sam drops an atom bomb. He needs to get a pair of slacks and a button down. Why? 

BECAUSE ON SUNDAY, HE HAS A MEETING WITH A CREATIVE DIRECTOR OF A MODELING AGENCY. Some lady had taken his information in Forever 21 a few days before... and now he needs to go meet with them, bring a headshot and a body shot if he has them, and they'll talk about him doing print-work, possibly. WELCOME TO LIVING IN THE CITY, WHERE SUDDENLY, YOU'RE A MODEL.

Clearly, I am still really amazed about this. It's not surprising, because Sam is very handsome, but it is surprising - because he's just my friend Sam, and I cannot imagine opening a magazine and seeing his face trying to sell me something. It would be really weird.

So, downtown bound, we headed out. We got dumplings first in Chinatown, and as per usual, they were amazing. After sitting in the park eating our dumplings, we went and got ice cream. (Another usual) As we walked through the park, enjoying the beautiful weather, we saw a bunch of people playing musical instruments that I cannot even begin to name. A woman was singing in Chinese, and she was very good. We stood and watched a soccer game (by which I mean we watched the attractive guys playing soccer). At one point, the musicians started playing Christmas Carols - I was really confused by that one.

Then we decided to head back up to Elizabeth Street and see Christian Siriano's store. As we went into the Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall stop, I decided that that was the time to ask my friends for a very strange favor.

A few years back, I heard a rumor that there was a beautiful subway station below City Hall that you couldn't access. Apparently, they had meant for it to be a separate stop from the Brooklyn Bridge. I heard it had beautiful chandeliers, gorgeous mosaics, and lovely skylights. But, it wasn't used.

By now, my friends know I'm a font of useless knowledge, so when I brought it up, they believed me - mostly. When a downtown 6 pulled into the station, we hopped on it. As we went into the tunnel, my friends looked a little nervous. After all, we're the only three people on a train going god-knows-where, hoping to find a hidden subway station.

After about 3 minutes riding in the dark, we saw it. IT WAS THERE, AND IT WAS BEAUTIFUL. The tiles were clean and there were lights illuminating the signs that said "CITY HALL". I'm going to refrain from telling you too much about it, because I want you to go find it for yourself. The downtown trains circle back around to the uptown track after this voyage into the hidden past of NYC, so after that you just continue on your trainride uptown.

We went to the store, and the clothing was just as beautiful as I imagined. He used a lot of pastels, some really beautiful watercolor-like fabrics, and had one beautiful little black dress with gold dots on it that had a great shape. My friend Erica was absolutely DYING the entire time. I honestly think the clerks in the store were more amused by us than anything else that day.  After that store, we hit a few more in the area – a sculpture store with a really friendly dog, a shirt with wonderful nautical printed shirts, a store that specialized in interior design based on black and white patterns. Nolita (north of Little Italy) is a really great area to window-shop in!

Then we had to be practical. Sam asked if we’d go to a few stores with him and help him pick out some clothes. We wound up going to Uniqlo and H&M, and the shirt he got was really cool, as well as the pants. We went back to the dorms to drop off our purchases.

Sam and I intended to go back out to St. Mark’s and get my sunglasses, but that didn’t happen. We made food and went up to Erica’s room (she has a tv) to watch the latest installment of a web-series we all love. If you’ve heard of The Outs: OH MY GOD THE CHANNUKAH EPISODE WAS AMAZING, RIGHT?

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, go check out The Outs. (I'll even give you the link so you don't have to find it : http://theouts.squarespace.com/) It’s a miniseries based in Brooklyn that follows the lives of Jack, Mitchell, and Oona. It chronicles their lives after Jack and Mitchell’s disastrous breakup, dealing with getting back in the dating game, getting back to friendship, and learning to live with your memories of the past as well as the people who were a part of it. Plus, its based on the subway lines which is really cute. There are only 7 episodes, so its short but sweet.

Saturday, Erica and I went up to Central Park. We packed a picnic – apples, carrots, cheese sticks, and peanut butter sandwiches.  After that it was back down to a night wandering St. Mark’s Place and Chinatown again.

For any and all who were wondering, Sam’s modeling appointment went well, but they’re still iffy about whether or not they’re going to have him do some work. Sunday night was spent sitting in Union Square because it was so lovely, watching people and animals frolic in the twilight and then the skateboarders practice on the steps. One guy had a board that lit up underneath – he couldn’t do as  many tricks because of it, but it looked really neat.

As spring goes on, I think my posts are going to become more focused on the people I see in the parks and such. I’ve been spending a lot of time outdoors, so I’ve run into quite a few characters. The only advice I have for all my pale brothers and sisters out there – the reflections off buildings in the city means you get sunburn a lot faster than you think you will. I learned that lesson the hard way this weekend.

OH, YEAH, SIDENOTE: I am going to be volunteering at the Macaulay at Hunter Class of 2017 Day this Thursday (crud that’s tomorrow I need to get my life in order…) So if you’re planning to attend, swing by and talk to me! I’m not quite sure what I’ll be doing yet, but I’ll be there, somewhere!