A Week in New York
As you may have seen, I was away in New York City for a work trip in October. As the headquarters of my full-time job is based in Long Island, it was a good excuse to see my team (as I’m the only remote worker), as well as block a few meetings, breakfasts, and the occasional cocktail.
I’ll give a better update on Life Stuff™ soon, but for now, here’s a play-by-play on what I ate, where I stayed, what I did, and who I saw while in the City.
Monday, 16 October
After getting back to the house at 2:00 am from the emergency vet (more on this another day), I was on a morning flight to LGA out of a small regional airport. While the convenience of the airport is that it’s only 30 minutes from my house, with free parking and no wait time for security/baggage claim, the downside is a layover in Dulles, turning this flight from about 50 minutes to 4 hours. Oh well. I got caught up on my reading (a couple issues of Monocle and half of a Konfekt, to be precise).
I was too tired when I got into the city (and a bit carsick, which is new for me!), so I spent the night in. It might be boring of me to have done so, but I think we must sometimes remind ourselves that New York is an illusion. It’s a lot easier to forgive yourself for not Doing It All when you realize this.
Where I stayed: 3 West Club — It was absolutely fine. It was historic and there was a cocktail reception for Republican donors on the second floor, so everything felt like the air had been sucked out of it. But I did have a suite of sorts with some placard of a wealthy old woman nailed on the door and the keys were real, physical keys, so those were very much of interest to me.
What I ate: Close to the hotel was a place called Katsu-Hama, which specialized in (you guessed it) katsu. I opted for the chicken version over pork and enjoyed a nice Sapporo and green tea mochi for dessert.
What I did: I was asleep by 9:00.
Tuesday, 17 October & Wednesday, 18 October
I’m lumping these days together for the simple reason that I was in Long Island for work during the majority of these days, so there isn’t anything particularly to report here other than, well, work stuff. But I did make it back to the city Wednesday evening for a party. Only slightly carsick and a tad dehydrated, but worthwhile all the same.
Where I stayed: In Long Island — some Econolodge or other close to the office. In Manhattan — the Life Hotel, which had a great staff and a large, comfortable bed.
What I ate: In Long Island — some terrible Chinese takeaway close to the hotel. In Manhattan — I don’t believe I did eat dinner (which explains why the wine at the cocktail party went right to my head)
What I did: Other than work over the two business days in the office, I also attended a little cocktail thing at Roi du Lac. Surrounded by silks, expensive porcelain, and even risotto served in a pumpkin, I was quite charmed by the occasion and just a bit tired from it all.
Thursday, 19 October
Ostensibly a work day in the city, I had meetings stacked up from 11 am to 8 pm which all goes a little haywire when you’re trying to catch the waiter’s eye and find time to rest your feet and be polite and not cut someone off midway through a conversation with a polite but firm, “Thank you so much, but I have to go now. My Uber is around the corner.”
Working as a director in the luxury pens industry means that I am thinking about growth potential for the brands I represent often. One such area I’m looking into is menswear. This is, of course, no surprise, since most of my work outside of my job is in this field; but, all the same, I want to be a little discerning on just who we partner with. So, mid-morning, a meeting with the Upper East Side’s Armoury was planned to discuss the possibility of a potential something-or-other down the line. TBD. But I am hopeful.
It was my first time at the Armoury and the location was perfect. Did you know they have a courtyard out back? And an apartment upstairs? I was a bit smitten by the charm of it all, doubled, in fact, by meeting the GM of the location and an online friend of mine, Dan. Now, if only I can tack on a book signing at the Armoury, I’d be very happy indeed (more on my book in a future newsletter, by the way).
After the pens were zipped away and I had said good-bye to my coworker who had attended with me, I moseyed down to the Lower East Side to meet David and Ross of Xhibition, with whom I’ve been doing some work lately, for coffee. A shot of espresso in a wonky demitasse on their little blocky benches out front was the perfect way to catch my breath before I made my way to the Rowing Blazers sample sale. In line for 30 minutes, I was gauche enough to text the owner, Jack, to ask someone in the pop-up to let me skip line. Thankfully, I was in soon after and picked up some sweaters for my niece and nephew and a sweater for me (of course).
The evening concluded at a 10-anniversary party for Natty Adams’ book I Am Dandy at, ironically, the Tribeca location of the Armoury. I wore silk pyjamas and nursed a cocktail until I felt my time (and social battery) had expired. I was gloriously in bed by 10.
Where I stayed: Motto by Hilton. Swanky with a good-sized room. They do play live jazz in the lobby every night, which felt a little much to me.
What I ate: Breakfast at Poppi, a bakery across the street from the UES Armoury, with a great uniform and color combination for the staff. Coffee at Colbo. Drinks at the Armoury. Dinner was a slice of pizza from 2 Bros.
Where I went: The Armoury (both NYC locations); Colbo; Rowing Blazers
Friday, 20 October
As mentioned above, part of my role is to find new markets in which I introduce my brands. Having worked with Worn & Wound (and written for them as a regular contributor!), my company attended Windup, a watch show that highlights smaller brands and is open to the public. After shlepping the boxes in the rain and setting up, it was a bit of a whirlwind of a day and I don’t remember much of it other than enjoying seeing people, meeting some familiar faces behind watch brands I admire, and that it was a terrible idea to wear Gucci loafers when I was standing for six hours on concrete floors.
Where I stayed: Motto again
What I ate: I had the pleasure of having a three-course dinner with my publisher at the Penn Club that evening, which included shrimp cocktail, branzino on a bed of couscous, and a bit of cheesecake for dessert. Washed down with a glass of Pinot Grigio, which I had nursed for about 1.5 hours to ensure I didn’t get a hangover for Saturday (below will tell you how grateful I was for that).
Saturday, 21 October
At around 2 in the morning (I’m guessing, as my glasses were off and I was panicked) I woke up to an alarm sounding, along with a message over an intercom from the hotel GM.
“WE ARE INVESTIGATING THE CAUSE OF THIS ALARM. REMAIN CALM. WE ARE INVESTIGATING THE CAUSE OF THIS ALARM AND WILL UPDATE YOU WHEN WE HAVE ANYTHING TO SHARE.”
I, of course, did not remain calm and, in fact, ran out of my room in nothing but my underwear and a pair of Belgian shoes. Thankfully, I had the wherewithal to grab my hotel key, as I would have been royally fucked (pardon my French). The elevator was locked. The stairwell, too. The only people on my floor were Japanese who didn’t speak English when I asked if they knew what was going on. “No, sorry,” I replied back when, I believe, they asked me the same thing.
For nearly an hour and a half I sat in my room waiting. Intermittent spurts from the intercom gave no update and the alarm stopped beeping just long enough to lull me into a sense of security. But I don’t think I had ever felt so alone. At 3 in the morning, who do you call? At first no one answered, so I began to run down the list, texting people as I went, until (finally! thankfully!) my best friend, Carissa, answered. After that I called my mother-in-law to try to get ahold of my husband. His phone was on silent — but who can blame him? No one really expects their spouse to be caught in a hotel fire or an active shooter, now do they?
By morning the fire truck went away and the police soon followed. The GM’s voice crackled over the speaker to tell us it was all a false alarm. I got two hours of sleep after that and sat on the floor of the shower until I could convince myself I wasn’t as tired as my body was telling me I was.
I was able to make my 9 am breakfast with Ray from Chowa, the company behind some of my favourite Japanese-crafted wooden boxes. It’s always lovely to meet people one connects with online and to realize they’re even lovelier in person. We chatted for an hour over tea and toast at Sartiano’s at the Mercer Hotel down in SoHo. I left to grab an Uber, my own Chowa box in tow, in time for the second day of Windup, where I met a variety of friends who stopped by, including Matt, Pieter, David, and Simon. With names like that, I should have called them my apostles, haha.
What I ate: I’m not a breakfast person, especially when I’m tired, so I stuck to black tea and some seedy toast when meeting with Ray. On my way home from the tradeshow, I stopped again for cheap pizza and ate it in my underwear in bed while watching shit TV.
What I did: This is more of what I was supposed to do, which was attend the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève cocktail party. I had a great suit picked out, but was too tired to even try to make it.
Sunday, 22 October
My final day in New York included more of saying by goodbyes than working the show. I made it home by midnight and the next day, as life tends to go, it was like I had never left at all. But there were more vet appointments to make, more assignments to submit, more emails to write. New York was a break from real life, I suppose you could say, but it just simply isn’t my life when I’m in town.
