Cocktails and The City

Summer Nights in the City

There’s something really special about New York in the summer. When the first glimpse of the summer sun appears, it brings a sense of anticipation of what is about to come. The light nights, the darker skin, and of course the happy hours spent outside with your friends.

I spent this past weekend back home with my family for Easter. Now whilst it is amazing to be at back home, cozied up with your family. I felt the call of New York, eager to get back to what I consider my new home, the place where anyone can truly be free and be themselves. So, the night I arrived back, I spent it catching up with my friends and re immersing myself within the city I love.

There’s nothing more New York cannon event than heading to a pop-up concert on a summer night in the city. This at first boring Monday evening, Lorde was planning on appearing in Washington square park. So, because everyone knows the best plans are the most impromptu ones, when I got a call from my best friend Steven to come downtown for the concert, of course I had to say yes. We headed down on the one train and ran our way through the streets until we made it to the park. New Yorkers never run… unless you’re about to be 20 minutes late for a concert that is! By that time, the crowd had assembled, and it was hard to even get a glimpse into the center. But there, we encountered the most New York thing possible; all of our friends. There’s nothing more New York style than bumping into all your friends in the most unexpected and unplanned places downtown.

Low and behold, we waited and waited, and Lorde never appeared. Whilst disappointment was evident on all our faces, we wanted to make the most of our night. So, walking down fifth avenue we went, and we decided to look for a place to go get food. I was thinking something cute, maybe someplace vibrant, perhaps a cocktail or two. Well, we ended up at Taco Bell. Now, this was not for me to complain however as the sunsets on our way there made the journey all the worth while. As the sun set on upper Manhattan, we walked down the street with a sense of bliss on our faces, and tacos in our hands. It was peaceful and absolutely perfect as I walked down the street with my best friends, arm in arm. The best way to come back to the city.

Now that the sun is fully out, you know what that means. It is time to ditch the libraries in place of working, or rather hardly working, on the lawns. The sun has a perfect way of bringing happiness out in all of us and bringing us all out together. And everyone knows, there’s nothing more perfect than a BBQ in the sun and being with your friends outside on the grass. This evening, Columbia was hosting one of its annual themed dinners, Surf & Turf with steak and lobster galore. Of course, we had to indulge. We grabbed our food and then sat out on the lawn, with prime entertainment. The football players making a measly attempt at baseball. A sport which they were clearly not as accomplished in, however it made for the perfect show. We spent the evening like that, only briefly leaving to grab ourselves a few cans of White Claw and our speaker. It was the perfect way to spend a New York evening, as the night came to and end, sitting on the lawn.

The next day was another sun filled one and to make things better I had no work. Now, if you ever don’t know what to do in New York on one of the sunniest days of the year, make your way down to Grand Banks. This gorgeous sailboat located on Pier 26 is perfect for sunny summer days in New York. It serves absolutely delicious cocktails right on the water, overlooking the Statue of Liberty and the World Trade Center. It really is cocktails with a view, and what a more perfect view could we have?

Afterwords, I made my way back uptown to check out one of NYC’s newest and hottest happy hour spots called Shy Shy located in the West village. This cozy little bar is perfect for either meeting up with friends over dirty martinis or even sitting by yourself at the bar reading a book with their Steak Tartare as accompaniment. The vibe here is especially busy on Friday evenings and is a perfect location to people watch under their spinning disco ball whilst indulging in some mouth-watering nibbles.

As per usual I wasn’t ready to head home yet, and the sun was far from falling so I took myself out one final destination, a hidden bar located in Midtown called Patent Pending. The cocktails at this bar were so unique and the overall the hidden nature of this bar makes this the best location to hide away with a book. The cocktail menu itself is something never to be seen before, each cocktail is unique and absolute delicious. A must visit to impress your friends.

I returned back to campus to the sun setting over the library and decided to meet up with my friends. Since the semester is coming to an end, we wanted to spend as much time around campus as possible. So, this Friday we decided to stay on campus and go Frat hopping. Now, none of the Frats were particularly busy but being with your girlfriends, dancing in the street makes it all the more worth it. If any of you have ever been to college, you know this is the place that can either make you or break you, especially in the city that never sleeps. For me, this city and these people have made me. Walking around campus at 1am still in shorts and a little tank top is the perfect way to spend an evening… that and many a cocktail or two to go alongside it.

You know it’s really summer when you miraculously wake up early the next day to another perfectly sunny day. And if there’s one thing the sun brings out as we’ve already seen, it’s the football players. For the last time there was a friendly football game held at Columbia so of course we had to attend. I must say, it was less interesting than the usual football games against other schools but everyone being outside and playing together simply made my day. And just like that, I began to reflect on my year here. Of the people I’ve met, the football games I’ve attended, the parties I’ve been to, and I realized I would never have wanted to spend college anywhere else. Columbia may not be considered to be a typical “party school” but I say, why not! This place is full of excitement, parties and college students galore, so you need to be able to make the absolute most of it in the short time we get here. Not that I’m planning on leaving any time soon. We’ve already established that I’m a New Yorker now.

Once the football game was over, and me and my friends had exhausted staring down the players, I decided to take myself to the Upper East Side. The district filled with class and sophistication on a Saturday. The newest and coolest place to check out is called Nightlys and is an absolute must try. Everyone that works there greets you warmly and with a smile, and what’s better is the perfectly crafted Martinis. I really needed that in my life today, reading my kindle whilst sipping a martini and watching the world go by on the Upper East Side. If you know what a New York summer looks like, then this is most definitely it.

I had an assignment to complete for my class which brought me to the Met this afternoon. It was absolutely packed with people, all eager to view the historic and beautiful art that the Met encapsulates. I would strongly recommend walking around the Greek and Roman statue section. It really makes you feel as if you are in the movies, and the statues are ready to come to life. Soon, the Met will host its annual Met gala. Which of course you know yours truly will be watching. Perhaps this time I will watch it from the Met itself, rather than on a screen back home. That’s one of the most exciting things about New York in the summer, the countless possibilities of where to go and who you may see.

Afterwords, I simply spent some time walking around the Upper East Side in the sunshine, enjoying passing all the happy faces and ladies who lunch on the street corners. Perhaps it was the martinis, or perhaps it was the sun but I was really feeling that New York love. The emotion that takes hold of your heart and soul and tells you that you’re exactly where you are meant to be, walking down Madison Avenue shopping and watching this perfect little world go by.

This evening however was far less wholesome. I was hosting the very last Spring dorm party, and I was absolutely determined to make it a success. Now if you know anything about New York parties, the way to entice people is through alcohol and generating hype. So naturally, this was exactly what me and my friends did. So, when we ended up with sixty people, twenty of whom were football players who took up the majority of the room. I considered that a success. The night was an absolutely wild one, and definetly a party to go down in the books. They call me the hostess with the mostess and tonight I was definitely planning on living up to that title. Multi tasking by making drinks and fraternizing with the football players, what I do best. If you ever need to make friends at college, I can’t recommend hosting a party more. It’s who I’ve become, the girl on 7th floor who hosts the parties…and perhaps secretly writes this blog. Something I will always like to be known by from this day onward.

After the antics of last night, and going to bed at an ungodly hour, I decided to spend my Sunday resting, in door with my friends. So even despite the sunshine, sometimes all we need is our New York friends, and a few Tylenol to kill the Tequila from the night before.