Can NYC Beat the Winter Blues?

Originally posted December 12, 2019

I’ll start with a funny story…

So, I was working the other day with 2 women who came into the store looking for Christmas gifts and after helping them search and pick out the perfect things and then finally check out… One woman says to me, “You have amazing skin.” The other woman turns to her and says, “I was thinking the same thing! Just glowing!” (Little do they know I’ve been having an allergic reaction on my face that I’ve been having to use a powerful and expensive steroid/antibiotic ointment all around my eyes so it’s been keeping me “glowy”.) So, I say thank you all embarrassed and such and the two keep going on about how they would ask what I use, but they know it wouldn’t be the same and blah blah blah… I spend the time after that feeling all cute and such and when I finally go on my break, I go to check in the mirror to see what all the fuss is about. And what do I see?

A GIANT BLACK HAIR GROWING OUT OF MY CHIN!!!

Those women MUST have been Southern to compliment around the fact that I had a beard. (No offense to my bearded ladies out there, rock on.)

Anyway. I share this story because it is just one of the things that has kept me belly laughing in this gross city. As the days get shorter and the weather gets colder, New York just gets grosser and grosser.

It started with getting dark at 4:30pm… That’s just way too early and it makes me feel like I should be asleep by 7pm. But I like to use real hours. Then came the rain… the rain just washes everything from the streets down the subway stairs and… need I say more? And then the SNOW FLURRIES that melt immediately as they touch the ground and just create a slushy mess similar to, but worse than, the rain when it comes to the leakage down into the subway.

It’s bleak y’all. When you’re on a train wearing too many coats because it’s 50 degrees when you leave for work but it’s going to be 30 when you leave… And you’re sweating and sticking to your coat and scarf… And sitting really, REALLY close to someone who has the most aggressively, mucous-y cough and sniffle… It kinda makes you rethink everything going on in your life at that moment. I know that I’ve fully made a face of disgust sitting far too close to someone who was sniffling something so loud and thick that it could be heard over my blaring earbuds.

Also, when it’s rainy and cold… The rats become… More visible. I see them scurry across the sidewalk too close to my feet for comfort. I’ve decided to maybe write an A-Z Children’s book about the rats of NYC with illustrations… I’ve only gotten “L” through “O” so, let me know if I should create a full A-Z and share it on my blog.

“L” is for the “Littlest Mouse” scampering into a bush. “M” is for “Mangy Mouse” with a spot on his tush. “N” is for “No-More” rat, roller-pinned into the street. “O” is for “Oh my gosh! That rat only has 2 feet!”

People are getting sick. It’s cold and gross out. The rats are running these streets. And there is no end in sight. This does not mean I’m giving into the winter blues!

I was in SoHo for a work event and of course, it had been raining all day, which meant I had to trek all the way down through the crummy weather for a short hour so I had a friend meet me and grab food afterwards. I’m waiting to cross at Canal street when an taxi drives by and splashes all the water piled up from the curb up onto me! It was like a scene from a movie. I didn’t think stuff like that actually happened? I also wasn’t standing very close to the curb so the water traveled FAR. Luckily, I was in my rainboots and big, yellow raincoat (which made the moment even more cinematic) and I just cackled. This was my life. I’m living a dream that is a character in a movie’s worst day but in the end that character always gets what they want. Right? It was something so simple and not necessarily nice, but it made me belly laugh at myself and the city.

BUT THERE HAVE BEEN A FEW GOOD THINGS!

1) The tree in Rockefeller Center is HUGE and FABULOUS just as one would expect. It’s crazy to think about that tradition and finding the perfect, real tree that gets to be decorated and call the Rockefeller home for Christmas.

2) I’ve taken 3 dance classes so far in December and I’m excited to take a few more. I had really been slacking on that but I found some classes that inspire and I’m excited to go back to!

3) It’s worked out that I WILL get to go home for a couple days around Christmas and that has honestly made the days more “Merry and Bright” for me.

4) I got to be a part of a second iteration of Megan Sperger’s musical, Going to Be, in it’s first NYC reading presentation at the New York SongSpace. Megan is pictured above in the fabulous purple booties! Getting to sing with some people that I haven’t sung with in a while was really special and Megan’s music is really beautiful. So proud of her and the work she’s done and can’t wait to see how much she learns and grows! Watch my short vlog about it here.

5) I had to personally call Dave Franco at work about an order he placed and that was cool. I thought it was really funny because my manager didn’t realize who he was when she assigned me that task and it felt like my Cindy Crawford fate all over again… This city is crazy and a lot more celebrities than I thought wear lululemon. Even Jesse Tyler Ferguson came into the store on Black Friday! Crazy!

I’m constantly finding things I’m grateful for and things I can choose to laugh about even though I’m finding New York gloomier by the day. Today I was in a Theatre Dance class at STEPS and was fascinated by a little girl, maybe 5 years old, sitting on the floor in the doorway. I could hear her mom in the hallway telling her they needed to go but she was fixated on the dancers and the combination they were performing. It was like I was witnessing a dream form and it made me feel incredibly lucky to be living my dreams. There are some things that I am still the little girl sitting in the doorway, mesmerized and hoping about, but I am proud to be in the doorway.

Audition season is coming up and I’m looking forward to that. I set a goal for January 12th that I will have created an Audition Rep Book by then that feels fresh, authentically me, and is full of pieces I am passionate about! I guess I’ll update on that in my next blog.

XOXO,

Texas Jess