Uber Delight in New York City!

Mood today: This is Lilah my furbabee and she is one spoilt little girl, as you can see. That's how I feel today ;-)

New York is DE CITY for both uber-author and uber-spy because there is so much going on all the time. Information and good food; aliases and fashion; crazy people and culture converge together in one giant wok.

I arrived on Friday and it was such beautiful weather I didn't even need my leather jacket. It's been walk-walk-walking everywhere since, with me totally so in love with this city.

The first night we went to see a show called I LOVE YOU YOU'RE PERFECT NOW CHANGE. Funny stuff. It's musical skits, making fun of coupledom in general, from light-hearted first dates, to tired parenthood trying to sneak in sex, to old people in funeral homes trying to get a date. Hilarious scenarios that had both of us and the audience laughing most of the two odd hours.

When I'm in NY, I always meet up with uber-author-food-connoisseur Dave Feldman, author of those wonderful books such as Do Elephants Jump?, and have him take me anywhere to eat. When it comes to food, my motto is TRUST DAVE. Besides, every time I suggest a place, he has this look on his face that would sour any bread. "Jenn," he says to me every time, "you know I love ya, but I have one complaint. You don't have any taste in restaurants!" ;-) Ah well, he's talking to the Queen of Shit and Grits' special of the day food in Daytona, so what did he want?

So, Dave arranged our first lunch out:

Dave (on the left) took us to an Egyptian restaurant in Queens, Ali's. He drove us there and we found a parking spot almost immediately! Luck was on our side. Usually, looking for parking is part and parcel of NYC driving adventure.

The most wonderful smells wafted out to greet us, along with the owner, Ali himself, who is a trained chef from Egypt.



Here's Ali, showing how to eat properly with hands







We ate duck braised in honey, the best sliced baby lamblet with fragrant rice, different kinds of meat and pastes that are out of this world delicious, along with hibiscus tea. All the time, Ali was entertaining us with stories about Egypt, his travels to Mexico, and how to smoke a hookah. Heehee.

After TWO hours, you have two very FULL and happy people trying not to burb. I was thinking my jeans were going to split open from all the food I downed. But the embarrassment would have been worth it. SUPREMO.

Dave was right again. Ali's restaurant was one of a kind.

We went back to the hotel to rest up (hey, it was hard work, eating) and I even wrote a little (!!!) before we took off again to see the Blue Man Group. Oh man. Was it every the FUNNEST interactive show! These guys were wild. Well, what do you expect from men who are blue all over? Their show is an experience in itself. Go, go, go, if you have the chance. It's totally fun. With lots of paper. LOTS. If you've never seen their videos, check them out and you'll see what I mean.

After the show, we chased cabs till we decided that the subway would be faster, LOL. It was getting darn cold!

Today, Steve and I went near the garment district to shop for clothes. Steve was playing the role of gentleman rake, making his lady try on these different clothes for his perusal. You have to understand--my idea of shopping for clothes is usually "hey, it's small, okay let's get it." Nope, not this time. Lord Steve was picking out items left and right for me to try on. I suppose a girl's got to compromise. He IS shopping ;-) and hadn't complained about walking around Victoria's Secret. He even admired the "angels" mannequins. Hmm.

Of course, we HAVE to be back for NFL FOOTBALL because they are BIG games. Did you think the shopping didn't have a price? ;-) I'm going to write a bit and then maybe sneak off to Chinatown while the man yells and enjoys the game of men in pads running up and down the field. Heh heh.

Tomorrow, I meet with my editor. I hope to find out a bit more about when my book's coming out. Of course, I'll also have to be begging for mercy but until then, there's this wonderful Greek dessert we bought at Queens to give me courage....

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