That that don't kill me, can only make me stronger. I need you to hurry up now, cause I can't wait much longer. Kanye West, Stronger

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Stupid Mistake Turned Tour de Soho

I tend to forget my university id about once every three months--and always on the worst day possible. Without it, you basically don't exist. I can usually get into my office, if the nice security guard is on duty. But I can't take the stairs (grr) or enter any other building without serious explaining, pleading or flirting, depending on the particular case.

I realized I left my card in my jacket when I was heading to the gym at 7:30am. Damn. I knew there was no way I could convince the gym staff to let me in sans ID, so I had to come up with an alternative plan. The A.P. turned out to be power walking.

I dropped my stuff off at the office and cranked up my ipod. I tried to walk as briskly as possible, swinging my arms, abs engaged. I aimed to look like a busy New Yorker on a mission rather than a power walking granny.

It was the first nice day in a long time, so that was fabulous.

When I first moved to the city I lived way way downtown, so it was nice to be back on the Soho streets I used to know so well. Plus, there are far fewer stop lights to hold you up!


I wound my way back and forth from West 4th to Canal, weaving up and down Mercer, Greene West Broadway and Wooster, avoiding the bastardization/commercialization of Broadway. Old Navy and H&M have their places...in the mall.

It was pretty soothing on the eyes not to have to see a Starbucks every two blocks. Instead I roamed the quiet cobblestone streets, almost all to myself so early in the morning. I said almost, I happened to see Whoopi Goldberg on Grand and Wooster!


I love the industrial, cast iron buildings and the "don't fuck with me" individuality this neighborhood of the city lends. It's how I imagined New York would feel: proud, cool, and detached, but accepting and charming. I find Soho to be especially this way with its little hidden gems studding the streets, waiting to be discovered.


The fabulous designer boutiques were much better eye candy than I could get at the dungeon gym. Since all the stores were closed it was easy to keep trucking past the tempting windows of Te Casan, D & G, Besty Johnson, Marc Jacobs, Anna Sui, Catherine Malandrino, and Kate Spade. Maybe someday.

Since my niece was born, I now pay close attention to the amazing baby stories that I used to ignore. I was delighted to see Oilily, Scoop Kids (OMG), and La Perla. Okay La Perla isn't really a baby store, but my niece has a ridiculous la perla onesie collection.

So while I didn't really work up a sweat, I got fresh air, cleared my head, and (if you couldn't tell) fell head-over-heels back in love with lower New York.

If you want to take a virtual walk through SoHo, as it is this very minute, you can use google street view!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi,
Thanks for your response yesterday.
I was looking at your weekly wrap out (which I love!). I like to exercise in the afternoon or after work which you seem to do some days as well. Mornings are just to early and rushed for me. However, the problem is motivating myself for the afternoon or after work exercise. How do you motivate yourself to do it rather than relax and read magazines or watch tv? I find I am so tired at the end or middle of the day. Plus, does exercise wind you up too much to sleep?

Melissa said...

Hi Natalie,

It is hard to go during lunch or afterwork! I dred it and I am exhausted many times, but I always feel better after. I once heard a quote "you never leave a workout feeling worse." So I try to channel any exhaustion or frustration into the workout.

It also helps to have workout dates. yesterday for example, I went to the gym on my lunch hour with a friend, but you only have time for a mini workout during lunch, so I made plans with another friend to go after class. By 7:45 I was tired, cranky and didn't really want to go, but I was happy that I had already made the commitment. So I got to relieve stress for another 40 minutes and headed home happy I went.

If I have a really intense workout late at night it is hard to wind down, so plan accordingly! :)

Anonymous said...

This post makes me want to visit NYC again!

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