SO.
Last Friday I got on a plane with my roommate and bromance, Carlos. We flew together at the crack of dawn from Burbank to Boston. We snuggled for the first flight and basically slept from take-off to landing. Upon arrival in Dallas (our layover city) we shoved our faces with Iced Coffee and egg sandwiches from our beloved and estranged Dunkin Donuts. Before we had a chance to finish, we were back on the plane and headed to beantown.
When we got downtown, we split up, and began our own adventures. If you’ve read Monday, then you know what Los was up to, but now here’s my story:
I spent that evening with some of my favorite people in the world. The thing that I realized only a few hours into my trip was that, despite the fact that I love it in LA, I haven’t found the comfort of really close friendships yet. Its not to say I haven’t made some incredible friends, but when you are in a city that you are incredibly familiar with, surrounded by people who know your silly habits and eccentricities, enjoying a brisk (but not to cold evening), it is hard not to feel homesick. It was like I’d never left. I felt lucky to be able to just fall back into that comfort zone. I spent the night drinking, laughing, and singing karaoke at the local theater hang out. I slept over at Steve’s brother Matthew’s (and he girlfriend Ilona’s) apartment. We caught up on the previous few months over some pizza and “LOST.” Even though I don’t live in Boston anymore, it is nice to feel like I still have family there.
The next morning (after Dim Sum) I left Boston proper and headed out to Plymouth, where my brother Seth, my sister in law Joyce, and my niece and nephew Rosie and Zak live. When I moved to LA, something that was very hard for me to deal with was the idea of being 3000 miles away from my baby niece and nephew. Especially since I tried to be around as much as possible when they were first born. That being said, being with them was such a treat. I made about a million balloon animals for Z and fell over laughing at about EVERYTHING that Rosie did.
Now, we’re at Sunday: this past week my nana rose would have turned 90 years old. Sadly she passed away this summer. But her twin, my Aunt Pepe, is still living and so (a big reason I went home) we celebrated her milestone with most of my mom’s side of the family. It was a very bittersweet day. I was happy to be there, but it was hard to not have my nana there. Strange, but even as time goes on, it almost gets weirder to comprehend she is gone… this is for another post… I digress.
On Sunday night I arrived in NYC. I got to see my AMAZING friend Shaina play a solo show at a little place on the lower east side and got to see a lot of people I wouldn’t have had the chance to. Do yourself a favor and check out her music, it is astounding…
Monday was spent with my former roommate Betsy. We had sushi and talked like we hadn’t spent a day apart. I am so SO lucky to have her in my life. It’s like a joke how easily we understand each other and click. We then had a night that would have made New York miss New York.
To protect some people, I’m not going to name any names, but they aren’t really necessary to the enjoyment of the story:
We went to an apartment that is across the street from Carnegie Hall. It is epic, huge, stunning, it is the kind of apartment that you DREAM of having in your WILDEST dreams. The apartment is owned by a very talented and award winning composer, who happens to be dating a close friend of mine from college. The gathering at the house was lovely- lots of funny, creative people all drinking wine and catching up on our lives. Among those, was my friend Jonathan Reid Gealt. He is an actor and composer, and for a while I sang one of his songs at auditions. In this apartment was a piano that was formerly owned by musical theater legend Richard Rodgers. Because JRG was there, I sang one of his songs…. while he played… on Richard Rodgers piano. It was one of those moments that makes you wish you had a camera crew and professional audio team with you at all times.
Over the next few days, I got to see some of my closest friends in the world. There was a lot of laughing and catching up and joy.
On Wednesday, I recorded for the demo of the musical “The Gefilte Fish Chronicles,” which is based on the 2004 documentary that my parents made. I don’t want to say too much right now, but as soon as I have more information, I’ll post.
Wednesday night was also a very NY, NY evening. I went (again, with many wonderful friends) to my friend Greg’s apartment (which happens to be in my parents building) to watch his boyfriend, Zac, on “Top Chef: Just Desserts.” Zac is a friend of mine from summer camp 12 + years ago and is coincidentally, dating Greg now. Zac brought this amazing dessert over for all of us to enjoy while the show was on. It was SO exciting to watch the show with Zac, while eating his dessert, and getting all the gossip about the show. GO ZAC!
So, now I’m on the plane (JetBlue, direct to Burbank) thinking about this last week. I had a terrific time… really. It was hard to leave. I love the east coast, I love the leaves, the people, the community. But, when I was there, there was a lot I was missing about LA. I guess I’m at that place where I can look at both places objectively and say, YES, I do want to be apart of both communities. I’ll take the weather from LA and mix it with the familiarity of NYC… then mix all the people together. That would be ideal.
Thanks for reading. Check the links I’ve left, trust me, they are worth your time.
Happy Halloween. Be safe and don’t get too fat.
East to West: A Chronicle 