Oh what a weekend!

Memorial day weekend always brings a lot of great things: it is the official kick-off of summer which brings about barbeques, days at the beach, time to catch up with old friends and of course hot weather. Summer in New York City is a unique experience, if you can stand the sweltering heat that is. The streets are buzzing with people who have finally come out of their winter hibernation - every sidewalk café is packed and any roof top bar is the place to be on a weekend night. This year Memorial Day weekend also happened to overlap with fleet week. During the annual fleet week naval soldiers flood Manhattan in a quest to get drunk and meet girls. As a single girl living in New York fleet week is the ultimate experience to partake in. After all, what is cuter than a boy in uniform, right? This year my friend Natalie and I happened to meet some sailors. We were on our way to go out to our usual spot Arlo and Esme, a Lower East Side “fratastic” bar when we saw a sailor on the street. We decided to go up to him and ask him where he was going. He said he was going to meet some of his friends 230 Fifth, a famous (what else) roof top bar. He invited us to come along so of course we didn’t turn down the chance to check this place out. We arrived at 230 Fifth and saw a line around the block but of course Mark (the sailor) just walked right up to the bouncer who opened up the velvet rope and let us right in – it was like being escorted by a celebrity. The bar was as I expected it to be – overpriced and full of lots of tacky girls from outside of New York City. We still managed to have a good time and got to take pictures wearing the sailor’s hats! Fleet week was definitely a fun experience.
I have not spent a summer in New York for about five years. As much as I love the city, I hate the humidity that accompanies the summer heat. I have always been away for the summer working in Maine or Vermont, so now being in the city all summer working is going to be a new experience for me. It is only June 1st and it is already unbearably hot – it’s going to be a long summer, but I am going to make the best of it. Happy summer to all and may we all stay cool!