vettecat | Live from New York (almost)

Just a quick update... can't really catch up on posts etc. yet b/c I'm borrowing a computer at my cousin's house in New Jersey.

Sunday at the store was pretty busy, which was good b/c otherwise we would have felt we should have gone down to NY a day sooner. Got to go to dinner with

sdavido (miss you...), then met up with my parents for the ride to the train station. Got there just in time. The train ride was pleasant and uneventful - my mother and I had each brought some munchies, and I got to catch up on some reading.

Once we got to NY, we had the treat of standing outside Penn Station waiting for a cab for 1/2 hour... although it was amusing watching people going into the post office across the street (which was still open at 11 p.m.). Finally got to the hotel and checked in (after clarifying a bit of confusion about our room), settled in, and went to bed.

Monday we spent at the Show (of course). Lots of interesting new things to look at, though I don't know if any of them would be fun to read about (perhaps for those of you who really like typography). Monday night I had dinner with

running_girl4, which was a nice treat. We so rarely get to spend more than a few minutes together. My mother had arranged to meet my cousin for dinner at the same restaurant. It was a Japanese grill, which sounded interesting. The food was good, although what I ordered was on the tame side (teriyaki chicken and beef). RG4 got a bento box, which consisted of two stacked trays with compartments containing samplings of different foods. Quite attractive. We split a piece of lemon cake and a piece of chocolate cake, and then it came time to pay.

The bill said "We accept AmEx exclusively." At first I thought that was just promotional. Then I looked at it again... uh-oh. I had a Visa and a MasterCard. I wasn't carrying my checkbook. And we had between the two of us just enough cash to cover it, but then there wouldn't be any for a cab back to the hotel. Gulp. So I went over to the table my mother and cousin were at for a consultation. After some startlement (they don't what???) and a bit of discussion, it was decided that my cousin would put it on her AmEx and we'd pay her back. So it worked out in the end, but it was a bit awkward. I wish they would have had a sign in front so we'd know that from the start.

My cousin gave us all a ride back to the hotel, and my mother and I wandered around Times Square with RG4 a bit. Around midnight, she mentioned that she had to leave her house at 5 a.m. the next morning, as she and a bunch of friends were going to the Today Show to try and get on-camera in support of NY's bid for the 2012 Olympics. Um, you should go home now...

So this morning we turned on the Today Show and watched the crowds, and saw RG4 there! Wheee! Then it was back to the Show, for another day of searching for new product. Tonight my cousin picked us up and brought us back to NJ, where we went for dinner with her family. (Ironically, that restaurant didn't take AmEx!) Then we came back to the house and I asked to go online for a few minutes... but I need to end this now as they're calling for me. Will be back home tomorrow night (yay!), I'll try to catch up on news et al soon!