Get Jaded

NYC January 2026

My first day in NYC started off with trying Ukrainian food at Veselka. I have never had a pierogi and they were delicious. The potato one was my favorite, the cheese one was a little sweet. I also tried borscht and that was a no for me. I like beets maybe more than the average person but that was a soup cup of beets too much for me. The cabbaged wrapped rice though was delicious. We walked to try a New York Style cheesecake at Eileen’s Special Cheesecake and it was special, it was good but I have a friend that makes the best cheesecake I have ever had. Eileen’s did not surpass her cheesecakes. The curse of having friends that can cook and bake. It was a short walk to Little Italy, which was absolutely adorable, not very lively considering the weather but still spirited.

We headed back to the hotel to officially check in and check out Times Square. The experience of Times Square was both overwhelming and underwhelming simultaneously. There were people everywhere and all the screens but it did not seem as sharp as it does in the movies. Being from California, I should know that things are often not how they appear in the movies but Time Square is “something you have to do!”. I say unless there is a specific add you want to see, skip it. At the end of my trip there was a Harry Styles ad that I wanted to see and that was a fun experience. Was it worth seeing it at 11:30pm in the freezing cold? I think it was but it played on my nostalgia and fan girl mania. Now, if you ask me if I liked the single I would politely say that maybe synth pop is not for me. How I really feel is that the single is meh, and I think the album might be meh as well and I will not be seeing him in concert over the ticket prices. So far seeing the ad has been the best part of his return for me.

Any way back to New York. After wandering Time Square and checking into our hotel room (which I was warned was small but it was like a longish walk in closet), we got dressed for the sunset boat ride to see the Statue of Liberty. The boat ride to see the Statue of Liberty was less than ideal. It was literally freezing, snowing and the wind from being on the water was numbing. From the boat we saw the bridges and the Brooklyn Bridge is architecturally stunning.

The New Colossus (Slightly abriged)

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

– Emma Lazarus (November 2, 1883)

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I read the script of the Cursed Child when it first came out and to this day I loathe it. In its entirety. My disgust for it did not dissipate when I saw the sign outside of the theater. I refuse to spend my time suffering through the play script come to life so needless to say, I did not see it. Draco Malfoy is one of my favorite characters in the book (yes, I know, problematic) and not even the promise of seeing Tom Felton on the stage reprising his role. The copy that I had purchased of the script was loaned out and I begged for the individual to not return it to me. Having it sully my bookshelf was not an option and the bookstore would not buy it off of me.