Since moving to NYC, I have become more of a housewife/home manager/chef/director of housekeeping – essentially all of the above. It seems as though I’m typically in charge of figuring out what is going in our bellies at any given time. So, I’ve been the one making dinner reservations, ordering food online, grocery shopping, cooking, or just generally trying to manage how and what we are eating. We’ve had some delicious food and have made some mistakes, but that is how one discovers their favorite restaurants and recipes.
So now we have a few solid go-to places to order from or visit in-person – Joe’s Shanghai, Thai Villa, Fraunces Tavern, Bengal Tiger, Mamouns, just to name a few. And, we’ve found some places that serve a mighty fine Manhattan too! Still, though, we continue to be on the search for the best pizza (gluten-free for Ash, gluten-full for me), but that will present itself, I have no doubt.
Feeding my soul, however, well, that can tend to be a bit more elusive. It typically comes when I create new work or guide dancers to find their internal energetic flow, but those moments are currently in short supply. I haven’t found myself in a studio for over two months now, so the soul fuel needs to come from other sources. Writing tends to make me feel better – it feels cathartic. I often wonder if anyone is reading this or if “writing a blog” is just another name for publicizing my diary simply for my own sake. With all of that being said, I still find that it feeds me as an artist and a human.
And lastly, social interactions are vital to keeping me from falling into despair, and fortunately, I’ve been able to reconnect with old friends, former colleagues, and sweet college mates! Since we arrived in NYC, I’ve combined feeding my soul and belly with our reunited friends. On a few occasions, we’ve had friends to our home to share a meal and laughs, met up at restaurants to catch up over coffee, cocktails, or delicious food, and I’ve even managed to convince a friend to join me at a modern dance concert. I’ll continue seeking out good food, good friends, and for the good of the blog; I’ll keep wandering around NYC – any rookie blunder I make feeds the stories! This is all to say that the essential ingredient for moving through a series of changes is finding what genuinely sustains you. Latch on to that and drink in the new experiences, old connections, and all this city has to offer.
56AndTheCity 