Ashley Harrell

As I sit here on my lunch break, eating remnants of last night’s dinner on Curry Hill… I can’t help but wish that it was still Sunday afternoon. Last Thursday, my Mom flew in from the Bay Area, and was welcomed to New York City by attending my non-profit’s annual art auction. We enjoyed the wine and food (yes, I ate quail eggs, GASP) and did not leave empty-handed, returning to my apartment with a recycled iron and granite side table. After enjoying some wine, we headed to bed in anticipation of the rest of our weekend together. Friday was a whirlwind that passed too quickly, with a shopping trip to SoHo, lunch in Alphabet City and Zeitzeff (GO THERE!), and a massive spree at Trader Joe’s. After a clean, delicious dinner, we enjoyed a movie and headed to bed. Saturday, we woke up wildly early, and met up with Jess at her apartment in Brooklyn Heights. We made a delicious brunch, including Jess’s famous potatoes, my ricotta/egg concoction on toast (yes, eggs, GASP), blood oranges, grapes, banana muffins, and coffee. What a spread! To work off our breakfast, we explored Brooklyn, visiting the Brooklyn Flea in DUMBO and strolling through Park Slope. Deep down, I have a feeling I’m a Brooklyn girl. Saturday evening, Mom and I saw the Broadway Show “Avenue Q” – SO good. I don’t want to give too many good parts away, because the greatest aspect of the show is the shock value. I recommend it! Sunday we slept in, and headed up to meet Brian at the UCB Theatre in anticipation of Rachel’s storytelling show… Unfortunately, I seem to have some trouble with my eyesight, and misread the show’s date, when it was actually on Saturday. But we, clueless of my mistake, purchased our tickets for the “student show,” waited in line, entered the theater and found our seats in the front row. I knew something was amiss when the class teacher came out and it was an improv teacher, not the storytelling teacher. He greeted the audience, said thanks for coming to the Improv 101 show and asked the class to come out, introducing the first group as “A Lotta White and a Little Bit O’ Brown.” I realized my mistake and grumbled an apology to Brian and my Mom, when Padma Lakshmi suddenly emerged from behind the stage with the rest of her 101 class. So, we stayed. And watched Padma do improv. I’ll just say… I’m a better improviser than Padma Lakshmi. After our show, and a little inspired by Padma, we enjoyed an Indian dinner at Dhaba in Murray [Curry] Hill (yes, butter, GASP) and met up with longtime-friend Dana in the Lower East Side for a Sunday performance of The Karate Parade. Our weekend together was complete this morning after a delightful breakfast at Balthazar in SoHo. What a weekend! Now I’m just catching up, getting things in order, and anticipating more guests… Christina next Thursday, and Katie/Jon the following week!