New York City

Part of annual report season is the ultra glamorous job of presschecking in exotic locations. Went to Boston for Fluor (it was COLD -- 10 degrees, 30 degrees below with windchill -- and we didn't bring coats. don't laugh. displanted yankees DO forget about these things). Went to Williamson. Went to Allen, Texas.

And finally, to New York City. Well, I'm making it sound more exciting. We were presschecking in Secaucus, and staying in Englewood, NEW JERSEY. What's even more fun is that I've been battling a bad cold/crud and am not feeling well at all. The gentlemen who sat next to me on the airplane probably loved the hacking. So, on this trip, I brought the art director, Matt, a newly out of college, but very talented young man who had never been to New York. And had never experienced an Annual Report Presscheck.

The glamour: Sitting in a room at a printer without windows for an entire day, with four to six hours of waiting between checks. Having lunch brought into the windowless room while waiting between checks. Going back to the hotel for an hour to then go back to the printer. And also going to the printer at 3 am, prime sleep time.

But, Matt and I did get to play a bit. Thursday night's adventure for dinner was going into downtown Englewood. Thought we'd find a deli. There was one. But, happened to be a chinese food restaurant in what used to be a deli. But the phone rang so we needed to eat on the go. And went to It's Greek to Me -- Souvlaki Taverna (itsgreektome.com). Not bad and seeing that all of the patrons were greek, meant that the food was good. Matt may not be the most adventurous food eater, but he took it in stride and the Tzatziki sauce didn't scare him off.

Friday, a car picked us up at our lovely hotel in Englewood (the rooms aren't bad, but the atmosphere around and in the hotel is less than desirable) and off we went to MoMa (www.moma.org). Matt really wanted to see the 50 Years of Helvetica exhibit. Part of me was a bit unsure about heading to an art museum with a graphic designer -- was Matt going to want to look at every paint stroke on every painting and read every description and contemplate EVERYTHING? As we were walking by the free audio tour stand, I asked Matt if he wanted to listen and he said no (thankfully) and then proceeded to tell me that he was a quick museum goer (thank god!).

Matt and I did MoMa in a quick hour and a half, seeing what we wanted to see, and not stopping for what we didn't. A six year old on a field trip put it into perspective "I saw a naked lady." Yes, boobies is a general way of describing art in the MoMa. The 50 Years of Helvetica exhibit only occupied a small corner of a wall, but we enjoyed the rest of our whirlwind tour.

Then, off for lunch. A deli was in order. Jason recommended Carnegie Deli (where the famous fake orgasm scene in When Harry Met Sally took place -- Matt hasn't seen so he didn't know what I was talking about. You learn a lot about your clients and co workers while on press during the downtime. At this check, discovered that Matt was born in 1984 -- that's when I was in HIGH SCHOOL. A bit of a shock.). But, with a tour bus out front and unloading, we went across the street to one of the other hundred delis on that block. Matzoh ball soup, potato latkes and hot patrimi later, Matt and I were stuffed (and we split everything). I definitely had needed some Jewish penicillin (spelling?) with the cold I was nursing. Matt also learned the awful truth about Dr. Pepper -- it's readily available EVERYWHERE in Texas. But definitely not in NYC! He decided he couldn't live in New York after that truth.

Off we walked. Since Matt had never been to NYC and it had been about 20 years since I was last year, we walked to Times Square (talk about putting it on steroids after 20 years!) and then to Rockefeller Center so that we could experience the Nintendo store. I'll admit, that new Wii looks like fun. Just what I need to play more golf! And then the NBC store. Finally, the phone rang and Jason was done with his lunch at Bar American (Bobby Flay's restaurant -- one of them). We needed an adult beverage. Shopping is just no fun. But, if it's easy to find a Wii in NY but not in Dallas -- we could have a little enterprise...

So, Matt and I met up with my good friend Jason Alexander (yes, coincidence about the famous name) at Rosy O'Grady's on 52nd and 7th. Guinness. Yum. And then headed to the Marriott's The View, a revolving bar with a few of the city. For something that could have been pretty touristy, it was pretty cool. A few more. I didn't realize that the building didn't move, just a part of the floor at the bar. It's time to get some food, and change the scene, so we jump in a cab and go to Arturo's for some NY pizza. Poor Matt has already had a few too many though and didn't get to enjoy the pizza. This is his first Annual Report Presscheck and he's tired and not used to lack of sleep --- coupled with some alcohol, he doesn't hang like we "adults" can. So, back in a car and then back to Englewood.

So now, I'm trying to catch up on some much behind blogging. Despite my need for sleep, just can't do it, so I'll just blog until it's time to call and wake up young Matt and make sure we don't miss our plane!