Weekend

[jethrien]

So remember how I said I'd dreamt about every possible facet of the wedding? Well, I was wrong. I missed one totally crucial element: my toenail polish. Yes, ladies and gents, I had a long and detailed dream about realizing on the morning of the wedding that the bottle of toenail polish I'd bought wasn't the shade I had thought it was, and dragging the entire bridal party through drugstore after drugstore in search of the perfect color.

In other news, trinityvixen had a good idea, and transportation hates me.


Trinityvixen found out that there was an "Uptown Treasures" event in the Washington Heights area yesterday. A bunch of historic buildings were open, and they were running free trolleys between them. A bunch of us spent the day exploring random historic places. Lots of fun. Some highlights:
-a cider press at a colonial farmhouse in the middle of Manhattan, surrounded by apartment buildings. There's a rebuilt Hessian barrack in the backyard. The cider was delicious.
-a medieval music concert with a spooky theme (all the songs were about spirits or death) in the Cloisters.
-a ridiculously tall water tower thing manned by a park ranger who graduated from Columbia at the same time as other party members.
-a mansion that George Washington commandeered that had astonishingly ugly wallpaper.
-the Academy of Arts and Letters, the highest honor for writers and artists in the US, which ordinarily is closed to the public. I got to sit in Emily Dickinson's chair.


Meanwhile, though, I spent all weekend fighting with various types of transportation. We missed a train by about two minutes on Saturday, and my mom was half an hour late picking us up from the station because of road construction. We tried to go to Ikea, but the incredibly poorly marked and lit roads caused us to miss the damn place on two different passes, and spent 40 minutes going in circles. We finally gave up after we ended up at Newark Airport for the second time that night. And then there was more construction. When I tried to go uptown yesterday, I sat for half an hour waiting for an A or C, which apparently just weren't running. Then I got horribly lost on foot in Washington Heights. An hour later, we got lost in a park. Then we had a debacle involving missing buses, trolleys not leaving, having another bus show up but refuse to take passengers, deciding not to take a slow-poke trolley, getting the bus, and then finding out the slow-poke trolley beat us to the next stop. Stupid trains, cars, subways, trolleys, buses, and feet.

So yeah. Weekend. Wedding. Less than a week. AAAAAAHHHHH!!!

Comments

[jeths-mom.livejournal.com]

I have to tell you the Ikea debacle threw me into a complete funk all day Sunday. I felt like such a failure for not doing another 40 minute round to try again, but I was seeing double I was so exhausted and knew I had at least two hours to get home. Of course I got yelled at for not asking the guru for directions before we left. (Couldn't keep the cover story up - had to go with a slightly revised version of the disaster.) It took two margharitas at dinner to get me back on track.

But James is coming home today, so all will be well. And every day will get better until the flawless event that will be Saturday.

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

Please don't feel bad about not trying again. I think we all just wanted to go home at that point.

I felt really bad for dragging you all the way up there and not getting clearer directions. And I'm really sorry that it ruined your Sunday.

[nanonicole.livejournal.com]

Were you trying to get to the Ikea in Paramus? That thing is such a pain in the ass to get to... and then once you think you've gotten there and you're IN the parking lot, you still can't actually find your way to the door. Getting OUT is very difficult too. The signs in the parking lot suck and you want to go North but there are only signs for South and all you want to do is LEAVE Ikea, but you CAN'T. I have a feeling this Ikea has frustrated many a shopper.

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

Whichever one it is that's directly across from the Newark Airport. My favorite part is how you can pass the big Ikea store right next to the highway over and over and over again, and still not be able to get there. It just sits there, taunting you.

[jeths-mom.livejournal.com]

Oh, bless you! Now I don't feel bad for not continuing to try, because I know that after spending another 40 minutes (minimum)getting in, doing the shopping, somehow getting to the loading area and getting the stuff into the car, I would have faced another byzantine labrynth hell trying to get out before heading into the construction traffic. I'd have gotten home at 3 am, if I didn't fall asleep at the wheel.

Buy the damn china cabinet online, pay the shipping fee, and save us all another trip into that nightmare.

[nanonicole.livejournal.com]

At some point, the shipping fee becomes less than the gas money required to navigate around the maze that is northern NJ... =)

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

That area of the turnpike is particularly daunting. That's the fourth time I've had serious (over half an hour of going out of my way) issues on that stretch of road.

[jeths-mom.livejournal.com]

...and the tolls! We got on and off the turnpike at least 6 times. Those ezpass charges are going to "out" me to my husband who will know the full extent of our folly and will mock me forever for not listening to his extensive oral directions.

[deltagrl.livejournal.com]

Your subconscious fascinates me. I can't wait to see your toes!

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

I wasn't even planning anything all that special!