Top of the World

My lady Nana (Ariana) gave me the sweetest blurb highlight in her blog! Check out the love! awwww =)

Today was a good day. Not too cold, not to blustery.... at least on the ground =P

I went to the TOP of the Empire State building today! Woohoo!I apologize again, for the lack of pictures documenting this event (posted pix are offline). However, it was completely spontaneous.... and I should have pictures soon, hopefully. You see....

after my casting this morning I ran a few errands and ended up in Greenwich Village at the agency to pick up prints for my portfolio. While I was there Yelena (friend) came in to pick up her check so we decided to go get lunch together. Also, I met a noob ("new-bee") guy just scouted off the street by our infamous mens division; his name's Lucas. So the three of us went to grab lunch and chat. He had a lot of questions about the business, understandably so. Hopefully Yelena and I straightened him out some! =)

LONG story short, Yelena went her way and Lucas and I ended up needing to catch the same train uptown again. His plan was to see the Empire State building and, once he discovered I'd never been, invited me along to join him. It was nice - much better than going it alone for either of us. Luckily he had a camera, and has my email, so that is how I am hopeful to get a few pictures out of the deal.

I can't even begin to describe the view from the top of the world! If it weren't for the clouds, I think we could've seen all the way to the west coast! (Lucas's from a farm in Oregon) It was surreal.... there's so much hype about the experience that I honestly wasn't expecting too much (everything's overrated?) honestly, the best 20 bucks I've spent being here. I stayed all the way through the sunset and got to see the city lights turn on. WOW. The perspective is incredible. Suddenly, I felt even smaller. The Financial District (at the southern tip of the island) was a powerful view .... with the Hudson and East rivers merging behind it's skyline, the statue of liberty and Ellis Island looking so small off to the right, the sun setting and casting shadows stretching from Jersey across the Hudson River to Manhattan's shore, the absence of the Twin Towers eerily felt. WOW (we said that a lot while up there) simply breathtaking. I stood facing south for a long while - hoping to sear the view into my memory. I think it worked. I will definitely return again, and again.

Not having ever seen or experienced the Twin Towers' majesty.... I can only imagine the emptiness New Yorkers feel when looking in the direction of ground zero. Even so, it feels like the Empire State building has taken on a new purpose of hope and dignity, as if it's standing a little taller, prouder, defiant. Call me crazy ....but not till you've experienced the top of the world, too.
xoxo