Burritos, Babysitters and 2015

 

On New Year's Day I walked past Harry's Burritos on 71st and gasped when I saw the big white sign in the window declaring it was going out of business. And when I say gasp, I truly mean a breathy, loud, Talmage started yelling "Mommy, are you all right?" type of gasp.  I couldn't believe my eyes and started looking up and down Columbus, sure I was on the wrong block or I was being filmed for some television "I pranked you so bad" special (clearly paranoid after re-watching the Truman Show). But no, turns out I really was on 71st and all I saw around me were other people equally curious at the vacancy. 

To be honest, Harry's cuisine was mediocre at best, a mouthful of grease disguised as Tex-Mex, but to me it was a symbol of so much more. You see, there was once a 19-year-old Heather who ate an overpriced burrito outside of Harry's on a warm summer night and dreamed about raising a family in New York City, specifically the area right around Harry's. "This is it," my young self thought. "If all my dreams come true, I'll be having my babies and owning city life, all from the Upper West Side." It was a dream that I never really thought would come true. In fact, as my yellow cab headed to JFK at the end of my internship, I watched the city fade into the distance and sobbed, sure I would never see my beloved city again. Gosh, am I still this dramatic? Yes! Because here I am, nearly crying over a restaurant closing! But guys, when I came to look for our new home in NYC I saw 16 places in two days and most of the places were expensive, dirty walk-ups that smelled like pee. No joke. But then I saw a random listing for a little place on 70th street and as I walked by Harry's Burritos and down our tree-lined street I thought, "This is it!" And it was.

I was reading some of Noni's writing a few days ago about how she thinks that the New Year holiday is a good indication of how the rest of your year will be. I tried to brush that off when our babysitter flaked last minute leaving us home on NYE instead of at the fancy party hosted by our dear friends, but when I saw that Harry's Burritos was closing...well let's just say I'm worried!

The ball dropped a little early in the Wiggy abode, thanks to Daylight Savings and Youtube. We made a whole lotta noise as we entered 2015 at, ehem, 7:15 pm! The boys were pleased because they "stayed up so late" and I was pleased that the house was quiet by 7:30. From there it was lots of treats and lots of movies until we actually sealed in the New Year with a kiss, followed closely by a snore!