Siddity In The City

Meanwhile, back on the island...

Problem: Last Wednesday I rolled out of bed, took one look in the mirror and realized that, though in desperate need of a blowout, I couldn't be assed to do it myself. Solution: Walk-in. There are several salons in my area, but most are not for people of color, so there was high disaster potential inherent in this pursuit. I mean, I've tried salons with white stylists with mixed success--some were fa-bu-lous, while others were a complete waste of time and cash. Luckily for me, I live a few short blocks from celebrity stylist Ellin Lavar's Lavar Hair Designs studio (127 W72nd; 1,2, 3,9 to 72nd; pick up an Essence. She's a regular source.) Even luckier, they actually take walk-ins. I booked myself a late morning app and moseyed on over. How can you go wrong with Whitney's stylist, right? Whitney might be high as SpaceShipOne half the time, but her weave is always tight. The atmosphere at LHD is an odd mix of uptown (atmosphere, prices, reception staff, who were the friendliest, most solicitous people I have met in this city thus far) and around-the-way (stylists, owner, services, thank gawd). After a heavenly shampoo/scalp massage given by one stylist, another stylist, who seemed to still be in training and frankly didn't speak English, gave me one hell of a blowout and flat-iron. Yay! I thought, I've found a NYC salon! I won't have to head back to Cramer's in Boston! And then I got the bill. I knew going in that it would be pricey. This is NY after all, and the owner-stylist is famous. Still, I was mildly horrified to learn that the cost of a shampoo, blowout and flat iron rang in at about $75 since every service is priced separately. With tips, I ended up shelling out close to $100, and I had to seriously consider whether it might have been cheaper to take the Chinatown bus back to Beantown. Sigh. Still, I know where to go when I need a trim. Lord help me when I need a touch-up. Friday, I had dinner with TBNY, HD, and HD's sig. ot. TBNY already said it all here. Sunday (my one full day off last week), faced with the unenviable task of deciding between a knitting circle, the Medieval Festival at The Cloisters, and pretzels and beer at Oktoberfest on Lexington (according to AOL's Digitalcity), I monkeyed around and eventually settled on Oktoberfest. Unfortunately, when I got to Lexington, there was no bloody Oktoberfest to be bloody found. What there was was the standard NYC street fair featuring $2 Thai food, handmade accessories and Gyro stands on every frigging block, the likes of which I have visited a half-dozen weekends already. After a long and befuddled walk down Lex searching for even a hint of Bavarian pretzely goodness (there was none), I gave up and went home with these earrings ($7, and I actually lurve them-they're like having my own personal windchimes) and a couple of bags of kettle corn. Shite. I can't believe I missed the Medieval fest for that. That's what I get for believing Digitalcity--which, last I checked, listed The Cloisters as being downtown, when in fact it is way the hell up in Fort Tryon Park, on 190th St. Curse you, Digitalcity! For your lies I missed real jousting! And that was last week, in a nutshell.

posted by Sid @ 10/06/2004 01:52:00 AM