Before I Forget...the Ben Chronicles

A daily recap of Bence's NYC visit:

1/24: He arrives, I pick him up at airport, we settle in, and grab dinner at Lombardi's. First NY slice of pizza.

1/25: Sleep in, brunch at Essex for the "NY brunch" experience. 3 free drinks w/meal! Walk across Brooklyn Bridge in the freezing cold, see WTC site, dinner at the classy Russian Tea Room. Meal, very good but quite pricy (thank God for 1/2 off gift certificates!) Then we stopped for a drink at the Hard Rock Cafe where we saw Shakira's music video for "Whenever, Wherever"

1/26: We meet for lunch at the Diner on 91st/2nd Ave. Ben has a ham & cheese omelet and really likes it, I'm pretty sure I have a turkey or chicken club. That night, we grab drinks at the Playwright Tavern on the outskirts of Times Square, head to the David Letterman Show. The energy was high and it was an all around good time; he was good but the guest was Mary Hicks (who was utterly boring) but I shouldn't complain since we did get in to see the show, after all. Continued the night at Chinatown Brasserie w/Jordan. 3 shots of Tequilla.

1/27: I get in late for work. I come home to have lunch w/Bence while simultaneously on a conference call (had my phone on mute; I had to listen and not participate, so that worked). Ben made me his mother's homemade French Onion Soup and also some bowtie pasta w/sour cream & bacon bits. Delicious. We went to see Phoebe perform at Gotham Comedy Club - a lot of good acts and themes were Obama & the plane crash in the Hudson the week earlier.

1/28: The day, weatherwise, was pretty shitty; freezing rain and skies were gray. I have a meeting around noon but get back to the apt. to eat lunch w/Ben. That night, we meet Joe Burns and Henry for a drink at Kennedy's; followed was the best steak we'd ever had at Delmonico's downtown by Wall Street. We discovered Renata, the maitre'd (spelling?), was actually Hungarian. Henry tried to flirt with the Croatian coat check girl.

1/29: I took the afternoon off and Ben and I headed to Brooklyn to the River Cafe; views were great and the three course, restaurant week cuisine was phenomenal. We continued on to "Top of the Rock" and took about a million pictures; we were there at that awesome 'twilight' time whe the sun's setting and the lights are just starting to come on, and we stayed until it was fully dark. We got a lot of really great shots! I even took a quick nap :) That night, we had McDonald's for dinner and saw Chicago, the musical, for free!! (Thanks to Heather and I's Ohio I.D's)

1/30: Up early to see "Good Morning America" - we met some VERY excited tourists from Mississippi who said, "quick, grab the kid from Huuuungary in ma pictuure!" We got a picture w/Kate Snow, and got to see the inside of the studio at Times Sq. including the control room. I tried to pitch my "date savant" segment idea. We returned to my apt. and took a nap; I woke up for a pointless 12 Noon conference call; we then met Meghan for sushi lunch at Ging. Ben didn't dislike the sushi, but it was not his favorite. He liked the Spicy Salmon Cruch roll, a favorite of mine and Meg's. That night, we took a walk downtown and stopped at Andres Cafe, the Hungarian Restaurant and Pastry shop on 84th & 2nd - Ben spoke Hungarian w/our waitress and 2 other gentlemen who were originally from the motherland. Later, walking downtown, Ben slipped and fell in the middle of 79th street :) luckily he was okay. We then bought Jack Daniel's, had about 10K shots each, began a wild, drunken, two man dance party, then headed to a super classy meal at Buddakan w/my sis, Drew, and Holden, and then continued the dance party we started back at my apt. We ran into a little hispanic boy w/a Bluetooth headpiece, "Sandy Jenkins," a crazy, drunk blonde girl that let Ben pose for a picture w/her, and a few others along the way. I should also mention we gave NY a free show as we sang all the way to the train, and on the train, "Self Esteem" and "Dancin in the Moonlight."

Bence also called me "Samantha" from Sex & the City on account of how promiscuous he thinks I am. Ha! :)

1/31: We woke up, both a bit exhausted, hungover; headed to Philly for the day. We met Mikey in Trenton, got a sixpack, and chilled. Subsequently, Ben enjoyed a "real cheeseteak" (we all did, but it was his first, I think) and then we hung out w/Mikey's gf in Center City Philadelphia. Mikey and I rekindled the "Rebecca Bindrim-Hatch-Betts" joke which became an instant hit once more. We headed back, had a low key evening, tried to meet Annie at Finnegan's Wake on 1st, but she never showed so we just sat and talked about life. Good times.

*I should note: I attempted to explain the whole "jam" theory to him; he started to say, "it's all jam" and I know he gets it. :)

2/1: We had brunch at City Crab, where I had a coupon for a free entree. The brunch was great; we then flew to Penn Station to catch the train to Huntington for Joe Burns's friends Super Bowl bash. Party was great, plenty of food, beer, & other treats - Ben and I won $20 each for guessing the score of the 1st quarter!! We also talked to Jerry, this really drunk "New York" woman, real rough around the edges, gruff voice, loud & outspoken, but absolutely hilarious. When Ben and I got back, we drank some more, rocked out to some music, and had a great friggin time, as always.

2/2: We went on the ferry to the Statue "Lady" of Liberty. It was great, complete with a signature "lighting the cigarette on her torch" shot. This brief trip made me think about my grandparents and great-grandparents coming to this country; I wonder what they thought as they saw Lady Liberty for the first time. It seriously gives me goosebumps(the good kind) just thinking about what that must have been like. 50+ years later, here I am, succeeding in part because of them, living on the island before us. We made it back to get to see Joe's rooftop balcony for about 2 seconds, then they all left. Ben and I then schlepped it out to Queens for, in my opinion, some of the best dumplings in the world!

2/3: Avenue Q night; we met Dan at McFadden's bar beforehand and then continued the party at Chipotle. Avenue Q was hilarious; we then came back and chilled for a bit. I don't think either of us went to bed before 1 any throughout that 1 1/2 weeks.

2/4: I met Ben for lunch - the soup man on 49th lives!! He then went onto the helicopter tour of NY (they offer a bunch of different options); I didn't go but got to see the awesome pics! I know it was a ton of fun for him. We met Heather for a quick second and then continued onto the ADA awards ceremony where Gloria Gaynor (yes, that's right, Ms. "I Will Survive" herself) played live!! It was really cool, random, but cool.

2/5: Ben and I chilled; I took the day off. I began to well up (I was really going to miss my friend!) and then took him to the airport. Saying goodbye was not fun, but necessary. I missed a call at some point that night; it was Ben, he'd arrived hom safe! What a great honor it was to have him visit - it was an awesome experience for both of us and will surely be one of the highlights of my life.