Jerseygirl Takes Manhattan*, Part 1

*Uh, not really.

Yesterday I went to the city BY MYSELF. And as I settled back into my seat on the train, I reflected on prior trips to the city. Because even though I live less than 15 miles from New York, I hardly ever go there anymore. And I realized that I hadn't been to the city alone since I was in college.

That sort of doubled my excitement. I was already excited because the trip to NYC was for a blogger event by the SV Moms group and it was the first time I'd ever actually gone to a blogger event. So I was practically bouncing in my seat on the way into the city.

I say practically because as soon as I left my house I started hating my outfit (skirt, t-shirt, cardigan, chiffon scarf - it sounds okay on the internet, but they were all from the non-designer section of Target and I am not one of those people who wears clothes so well that everything looks designer) and I felt dorky in my socks and sneakers (cute sandals were in my bag). I think it's a testimony to my maturity that I wore the socks and sneakers at all, because on my last solo trip to NYC I wouldn't have been caught dead in Working Girl attire. However, I was planning on doing a lot of walking (because A, I hate the subway and B, who doesn't want to walk through Greenwich Village, Soho and Tribeca on a sunny Sunday?) and I didn't want to wind up hobbling on the way back. Or possibly crawling. My feet do not like heels.

Also, I left the house without the 4 blogger business cards I have left. Fortunately 2 kids who looked like they were auditioning for the meth version of Glee spent the whole train ride singing and making odd musical references, so I was quickly able to get over myself and embrace the  journey.

My walk downtown was great, even if some gay couple sniffed "Jersey!" at me as they walked past. I almost turned around and yelled, "You need more Botox!" but then I realized that pretty much anyone on the street might think I was talking to them. And some of those women looked like they did a lot of kickboxing.

The greatest challenge was changing my shoes across the street from the theater. I couldn't see anywhere to sit (after I got closer I realized that there was a park - with cleanish benches - nearby, but oh well) so I just stood on the corner and did it. A wandering vagrant was fascinated, but I think he only wanted my socks.

So I arrived at the event, clad in cute shoes and a vague sock outline around my ankle. It was at Tribeca Cinema - where they hold the Tribeca film festival - with the moms who write for the New Jersey Moms Blog, the New York City Moms Blog and the Philadelphia Moms Blog. Every last one of them is adorable and friendly and stylish. Oh yeah, and I don't really know any of them. To be more accurate, none of them know me because I've only been writing with them for a month and I haven't left very many comments on very many  of their blogs because we all know I've been a total reading/commenting slacker lately.

To be continued. . . .