was it really worth it?

This has been an alright little week for me. Though I am very happy to see next week is not far around the corner (though, not too excited about it either as it means it's one week closer to school starting! ah!) Anyhow, I've gotten house work, yard work, and school work done. Though, I will admit, not as much as I would have liked. eh. oh, well. What can you do when life brings along unexpected surprises during the day? Nothing but go with it I say. At least they were pleasant surprises, I got some new reading material (mostly for school) and have been busy catching up on some reading (and planning in my head... I should write those plans down, but the paper and pencil just seem so far out of reach when I'm thinking about those things :)

Anyhow. Here's the story. I've kind of been putting off telling it because, well, it's probably one of the worst things that has happened to us recently (I might even venture to say all year, it's not a good story).  But I feel as though I must be fair to myself and relive this horrid experience one last time.

Warning: lots of words ahead :)

So, I left off with sharing some pictures from our big adventure in New York City. After all the sightseeing was done for the day (and after it had cooled down by about 10 degrees, thank you Jesus!) and after we were all sweaty and unpleasantly sticky we finally headed back to the apartment we were staying at. We (that is: me, the hubs, and our couple friend) freshened up a bit (or not at all :) and decided on a little restaurant to eat dinner at.

Now, the hubs and I are cheap people so our criteria for eating out for dinner included: no famous chefs, no reservations, and no dress code (i.e. we could wear flip flops and t-shirts). We are not all about dropping hundreds of dollars for one measly meal. So, we found this place that had come recommended to us.

cute, huh? 

We looked at the menu online before we headed over just to make sure it had food we would like and could afford. So we strolled down the lane and enjoyed a pleasant and yummy little dinner. I will have to say that the food was very tasty, my salad was quite filling (I feel like most of the time salads never fill me up) and it was one of the better salads I have had. The others also seemed to enjoy their food as none was left on any of the plates. The super bright side was that we didn't even have to pay an arm and a leg (who ever even came up with that expression?) for our meal, we were pleased. 

After a happy dinner we went back to the apartment and that's when the hubs decided he wanted some dessert. Honestly, I could have passed, and I let it be known that I would be perfectly happy to skip out on a sweet treat. But Hubs wanted some, and of course I wasn't going to make him go out all on his own, now was I? Our friends were going to go shopping so we went over to some place (I don't even know where) together and split paths. Since the hubs and I were only going to have dessert we told them we would probably be back at the apartment before them. They gave us the key and off we went. The Hubs had looked up the name of the dessert shop online before we left, so we knew the street it was on. We walked a few blocks in one direction and thought we ought to check for street numbers. That's when we realized we were walking the wrong way. No problem, we just turned around. After about 6 minutes or so is when we realized, yet again, we were walking in the wrong direction. So we turned around. Again. 

Finally, we got there. To the sweet Little Cupcake Bakeshop. It was very cute and it had a fun little atmosphere going on. Plus all the treats looked delightful. 

Minutes after arriving at the Little Cupcake Bakeshop however, our friends called us and said the shops were closed and they were headed back. yikes. That meant we had to ditch our plans of leisurely enjoying our desserts at the shop and instead taking them to go. Which was fine, just not what we had planned, you know? 

Off we walked and went to the subway station. Looked at a map and found out the stop we needed to get off at, the first street we needed to see once we got off, and the name of the other subway station we needed to get to (they were on different lines or something). No problem. So we got on the subway and were on our way. After we got off, at the correct station, we walked outside to look for Mercer St. It was not the first street we came to. I thought we should turn around and look to see if it was the other direction. But we asked a guy and he said we were going the right direction. So on we walked. For ten blocks. No Mercer St. We saw another guy and asked him the same thing. He said we were going in the right direction. So on we walked. No Mercer St. But we did see a map. Thank you Jesus. And that's when we discovered, both of those men were liars and we should have turned around a long time ago. 

Now, under "normal"circumstances that wouldn't have been a big deal. But because we knew our friends were almost back to the apartment and would soon be waiting for us, we were trying to rush and, it of course added stress to the whole walking in the wrong direction for ten blocks thing. So, we promptly turned around and started towards the direction we should have been going in all along (and past everything we had already passed). 

ai. ai. 

Then the Subway station appeared and down we went. We found the name of the stop we would need to get off at on the map, and the name of the street we would need to walk towards once we got off. Except the problem was, the subway didn't come. And it was soooooo hot down there. And there were no people down there. And I was slightly scared of getting mugged for some reason. Not that I had anything with me, but still. I was scared. So, we decided that we wouldn't wait for an hour for a train and that we would walk the rest of the way. 

Problem was, we didn't have a map with us nor did we have a smart phone. So we couldn't just "know" where we were and how to get to where we needed to go. ugh. 

We walked for a while, looked for names of roads we thought would put us in the right direction. But pretty much had no idea where we were or how to get to where we needed to be. We were lost. 

Keep in mind our friends are back at the apartment waiting for us, texting us constantly to see where we were and when we were going to get there. Wanting us to arrive about an hour ago. I understand. I would be frustrated if I were them too. But we were doing our best with what we had, which was nothing and no knowledge whatsoever of the city. And knowing that they were waiting for us only made the whole situation more frustrating for us. Overall, it just wasn't good for anyone. 

bah!

Finally, the hubs had had enough and called a taxi. We knew that we were super close to the apartment, only blocks away, so it should be a short short taxi ride. Well. Our taxi driver decided to take us the long way. And then claimed he misunderstood us, when in fact, he knew what we had said all along, because after we told him he said it right back to us. We were two blocks away from the apartment. He drove us ten. Ten. And then, "conveniently" didn't have the correct change when we were getting out. oooo.... I don't know if I have ever see hubs as upset as he was then... I'll spare the full details. stupid taxi driver. I was pretty cranky by then too. I do not like being gypped. no I do not. 

Thing is. We were so angry at the whole situation that the night turned out to be, that we didn't even get to enjoy our desserts that I had carried 60 some blocks through the streets of New York City. 

ooooooo....... 

All I can say is thank goodness I hadn't freshened up earlier and mostly, thank goodness for cool showers. Hot water was the last thing I wanted. Oh, and even more mostly, thank goodness for sleep. 

The next morning we left bright and early (and in a semi-better disposition) and after driving for an hour or so I was famished (we didn't eat before we left). I pulled out the desserts we had gotten the night before (which I had almost thrown on the ground in anger several times the night before) and took a bite, hoping they would taste so amazing that the night would have been worth all the stress and craziness that it was. 

carrot cake cupcake. 

...it was good, the peach one was better though. All in all, not the best cupcake I've ever had. Not worth the fiasco of the night before. 

blueberry cheesecake. 

ah-mazing. or delicious at the very least. This one made me very happy and it made me think it might have been worth all the trouble. Or maybe, I was just really extremely hungry. 

Regardless, they were both gobbled up that morning (don't worry, I shared them with the hubs :)

dang desserts.

I will end with this (if you've stuck around to read the whole story, you are almost done), NYC is not for me. Granted, we had some not so great experiences, but still: big city + hannah = cranky hannah. I'm not sure if I would go back there, it wasn't quite my cup of tea. And I like tea.

Anyhow. thanks for sticking around and reading my miserable tale of NYC at night. I hope you all have a lovely Friday and weekend (and do not have an experience like the tale I just shared)!