A Hat and A Goat

Have you seen the PBS six-part documentary called "Circus"? Well - Matt and I did - and he subsequently became totally entrenched in the lives of the featured circus performers in the show, all a part of Big Apple Circus. I'm not really keen on any form of circus and for the life of me I will not understand clowns (I find them more annoying than creepy), but this boy was DAZZLED. (I have no sense of childlike whimsy so I was more like, "eh".) Anyway, for Christmas, his parents got us tickets to the show which is currently stationed in Manhattan. After a delay (we were originally scheduled to go on the 26th but the big snow storm nixed that and made me a stressed-out, flustered mess) we trekked up in the train this New Year's Eve. Here is a short pictorial of our day in the city, staring Matt and his hat:

Instead of New York chic, Matt went with "Igloo Chic". Here he is driving to the train station as the sun was rising and wearing my bedazzled sunglasses. He's sassy like that.

Since I know my way around the city I asked him what kind of food he wanted to eat, and the boy replied "TACO CART!" I asked again and he replied that a taco cart was non-negotiable, so here he is at....yes....a taco cart for lunch. We got the chulupas. (After a week of eating horribly, and my stomach already churning, this was not the best decision on my part...)

We strolled through Central Park, which was glistening and bright. Snarkiness aside, it was rather lovely and made me feel all nostalgia-y for the city. I never found New York particularly romantic (more tiring, sooty, lively or whatever) but this was definitely....nice. Matt, his hat, and I really enjoyed our morning.

We made it to the circus! (And here is Matt...in that hat.....again.) He noted how stylin' he was since he saw "native New Yorkers" (his words) wearing them. Sigh.

In our (read: his) excitement, we got there rather early. Here is the view under the big top.

I felt rather awkward as I think we were the only couple without kids in the audience. It just felt creepy and wrong, UNTIL this act with goats and dogs came out. Then I let out a hoot and a holler and really got into it. Look, there are a few terrific, cosmic couplings known to man: peanut butter and jelly. Burt and Ernie. And now? DOGS AND GOATS!

Get this: the goats jumped on the backs of these mini-horses and road those beasts around the ring! This is when I decided the circus ain't all bad, and that goats are marvelous animals (well, I already knew that...). I was positively giddy for the rest of the day and vowed to get a goat.

This is a really bad photo of me, but let's ignore that and focus on the sign. Here we are waiting to get into Momofuku. When I asked the dear boy what type of cuisine he wanted for dinner (thank god it wasn't "taco cart"), he said, "I heard an interview on NPR with this chef; it sounded good...something like FooFoo's Noodle House?" I was so proud of him...this little burgeoning foodie! I said, "Do you mean Momofuku noodle bar?" and he exclaimed "YES!" I was surprised because he is the opposite of trendy and here he was suggesting the restaurant du jour in Manhattan that all the hipsters flock to - my, how the tables have turned. Here we are waiting to get in; by the time they opened for dinner there was a line 50 people deep. We were first. I was damn sure we were getting in! (And dinner was delicious.)

It was a long day. We walked from Penn Station to Midtown East (you know, for the taco cart) then through the park to Lincoln Center (where the circus was), then took the train downtown to Soho and Chinatown for some shopping at Pearl River (amazing home goods), then walked over to the East Village for dinner, then to Union Square, and then, gosh darnit, we hopped back on the subway for home. Here he is underground with the subway station critters on 14th Street. And yes...still wearing the hat.

I don't know what it says in that we were home and in bed by 10:30 pm, and then turned on the television to watch the ball drop where we just were, but I suppose that's par for the course. Anyway, I heard those Times Square goofballs wear Depends to keep their spot in the crowd, and honey, that just ain't my scene.