Well lovely readers, I am writing to you from my home away from home: New York City!!!

I love this city! I am very much in my Carrie Bradshaw mode right now, just with a little less sex and a little more city. (Depressing, I know.) I am truly a west coast girl with an east coast spirit!

Exactly how I feel inside.

So where to begin? Well my good friend Monique and I decided to take a quick trip to the big apple to get away for a bit and catch up with a city we both love. We have not been here in a while and it's wonderful to be back. Monique and I have a lot in common; you might remember me mentioning her in my Ten Anchormen blog. She's my travel buddy. We both love traveling, shopping and guys, yet don't get much action on any of these fronts.

So what could be a better place to accomplish these sorts of hobbies? (Not that I'm saying that guys are my 'hobby.' I am a classy sort of girl, remember.) Enter NYC. Without a doubt, it's our favorite domestic travel location!

Monique and I have been here for just a couple of days now and of course, I already have a story for you...

We're staying in the touristy part of Manhattan, literally walking distance from Central Park and Times Square. Last night we headed out to wander around the Square and pretty much just see what kind of trouble we could get into.

We happen upon this adorable pub... I mean there are hundreds of pubs here and most of them are pretty amazing. (I so prefer pubs over bars...) and this one in particular is just so cozy and friendly. It's the first time either of us had been to this place but we liked it immediately.

We take a seat at the bar and Pat, the owner/bartender, greets us with his friendly Irish accent and offers us some of the hometown favorite brews. We accept his recommendations and proceed to enjoy his suggestions.

I lean back, and you know, I'm happy. It's so homey, even here in the heart of the craziest city on earth. I watch the people, the Lakers game on TV (you just cannot ever escape the Lakers, right?) Great 80's rock ballads are blasting from the jukebox, and can I help it if I start scanning the room for possible East Coast lover boys?

I <3 NYC

It's such a typical New York crowd. At one table there's a group of wall street bankers in suits and at another there are off duty firefighters. Fabulous. I happen to glance up and notice the other bartender on duty, and boy is he adorable. I immediately decide to officially make him my NY man.

Monique and I both noticed him at the same time and smoothly, we both try starting up a conversation with him AT THE SAME TIME. Miraculously, this did not deter him from conversing with us.

After a few drinks I'm feeling pretty good and an epiphany hits me. This is the man I am supposed to marry!

He is really nice and so sweet; the three of us talked most of the night right up until closing which in NY is 4am (Another reason I love this city!) He tells me that he's from LA originally and he moved here with some friends recently to make a change and he got a job bartending because it's all he could find.( I assume he is an actor or musician, but it was never confirmed.)

Well that just explains it. The reason I cannot find my husband in Los Angeles is because he moved to New York!

Typical, really.

I tell him about what I do (but I leave out the part about writing a dating blog for this great website!I have a feeling that the words 'dating blog' are a natural repellent to the male species. Go figure.) He listened, he actually listened! And then, just before closing time, this group of really loud, obviously intoxicated girls walk in and start making so much noise it's impossible to carry on my conversation with my dream bartender anymore. Ugh. Drunk people are so tacky.

I turn around and shoot death glares at the Sirens hobbling in and one of the girls shrieks with excitement when she sees the Lakers game on the TV.

"OH MY GOSH. I love the Lakers. I love LA! OMG!!!!" screams the Lakers lover. I know its playoffs and all, but really?

The group of girls then sit down directly across from Monique and I on the other side of the bar. "OMG! LAKERS are like, THE BEST. I am going to MOVE TO LOS ANGELES...

Like, go Lakers!

TOMORROW."

Fabulous. Why not just move there tonight? She continues with her redundant speech about her deep love for all things LA, in her beyond thick Connecticut/New York accent. To make matters worse, when she hears my (lack of an) accent, and discovers that Monique and I are Native Angelinos, she flips out!

No joke! She keeps talking to us about LA and the freaking Lakers and the ocean and traffic (like we have no idea what she is talking about, I live here babe!)

This goes on for a while and kind of ruins the whole thing I had going on with the bartender. Soon enough Monique wants to leave, and I of course want to stay, hoping to salvage the rest of our conversation. But at about 3:30am, the last call customers bum-rush the pub, and we decide to head back to the hotel.

Clarence McGee's is the name of the pub and we shall return....tomorrow night! If you are there, do not stalk me. (Do you now see why there is no picture in my banner?) I can just see it now, flocks of Jewish men hoarding McGee's and going up to random hot women: "Natalie? Natalie, is that you?"

Don't deny it.

Anyway, as we finished the night off, Monique got the munchies so we stopped at a place below our hotel, It must have been prom night or some sort of formal was going on because the place was packed with high school age kids in taffeta dresses and tuxedos eating French fries and milkshakes. I do not miss those days.

Monique goes to order her food and I notice the cashier has really nice eyebrows, nicer eyebrows than mine. In fact, not only did he have nicer eyebrows than I do, but he had pretty "diamond" earrings, and really shiny hair too. What is this?! This guy is prettier than me! I whisper this into Monique's ear (big mistake) because she giggles like a school girl, and the cashier looks at us like we are nuts. Ugly nuts.

Difficult to resist, but we managed

When our order is called, Monique grabs the food and we head back to the hotel. Once we're there, she suddenly decides she wants a milkshake and I stare at her with my "are you kidding me?" look and she says: "I want something sweet!"

I'm a good friend, so back we go, and there's Mr. Pretty Boy still at the counter.

"Back for more?" he winks at us.

Oh lord.

"I want something sweet." Monique tells him.

"Well honey, I'm sweet, do you want me?" He replies in all seriousness.

(Well that's the last time we come here, I think to myself)

"Oh no, that's ok, I'll take a milkshake instead." Monique responds seriously as well.

I burst out laughing. I love Monique she is so hilarious sometimes! I head outside and wait for Monique to finish up with SugaBrows. I still can't stop laughing. I now realize I was probably more intoxicated than I initially realized.

Back to the streets tomorrow. I love this city! 

<-- Natalie's adventure with the Surfer Boy and the Communicator
NY Part II - Sexy Ladies, Drinks Yes? --->

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