movin' on up

My room is about 9 feet by 7 feet. To call it a room is fair but the irony lies in the fact that I don't have a lot of it. Fortunately, the ceiling is 10 feet high so there is space to grow. This room is the smallest space I've ever slept in since wedging myself between my parents in their bed when I was 2.

My bed was delivered today by 3 sweaty gentlemen who didn't see that there is an elevator in our building and who dragged my mattress and boxspring up 4 flights of stairs. As they set up my bed, I gave them the risers on which to place the bed frame. The risers allow me to store things under the bed which now occupies more than half my room. But I've used the vertical as best as I can and although it's no loft, I did buy a step stool to make getting into bed a little easier. Like the rest of Manhattan, I'm movin' on up.

I'm also movin'. As the streets calmed after the initial rush of morning commuters, I put on my running gear and took on the NW corner of Central Park as my new training ground. I hadn't run in at least a month so my soft muscles combined with the cold air made climbing the most conservatively sloped hill feel like running straight up a wall made of oil. My legs seized as if I had asked them to wade through a chest-high bowl of pudding. The run, not so successful. It devolved into a walk mixed with spurts of running past people who looked like I might feel embarrassed for walking in front of. While strolling (and panting) however, I did notice that many of the trees and bushes and flowers in the park are labeled with their common names. It was an educational 10 minutes.

By the time I crawled back to my apartment dragging my offended limbs, I was starving and wolfed down a bowl of leftovers concocted with noodles, char siu pork, shrimp, greens, fish, crab... I ate like I was being paid. The cop lay asleep on the couch while I masticated. When he woke, he dropped me off at Bed Bath and Beyond for yet another trip to procure handy items to make my space more efficient. My doors look like candles, clothing on over-the-door hooks dripping down all surfaces.

I had never strolled through the Upper West side much before and I was quite enamored with the big name stores alongside small boutiques. The pedestrians were mainly middle-aged women with very young children and Columbia students. Not being sweaty or terribly kinetic but very slovenly, I hadn't changed out of my running clothes so I looked pleasantly faux-sporty. A necklace caught my eye in the window of a shop called A Tempo at 290 Columbus Avenue. A necklace I don't need but which I ordered anyway as my first gift to myself here. It's got the silhouette of a small bird on it. I'd also bought a jewelry dish with a bird handle. I've left the nest to build another.

The Magnolia on Columbus beckoned but instead of dense cupcakes with painfully sweet buttercream, I splurged on dark darling Bing cherries from a small grocer. They're not in season but they were passable for dessert following my final meal of Chinese New Year leftovers. Roasted duck and fried rice. The duck was still rich and the rice heated beautifully. I considered returning to the UWS to catch a movie but the comfort of home was so enticing that I stayed in on my Friday night to write and stay in touch with friends online. At the end of my evening, I literally climbed into bed and slept like a princess on a pedestal.