Waiting to Get There. Usually on the A/C/E in Chelsea, New York City.

  birthday parties in bars Don't get. me wrong, I love a birthday party in a bar. You cruise in when you want, you leave when you want, you order what you want. It's very accommodating to guest peccadilloes and god knows I have a few.  Now, before anyone from out of town wonders how expensive it is for the host/hostess to arrange their birthday party in a bar, please do understand this is no open bar situation. It's a "celebrate a birthday at a bar where everyone has their own tab" situation. This is perfectly acceptable in New York City where we make our own damn rules of etiquette.  Speaking of rules of our own damn rules of etiquette, I was talking to Helen yesterday about how she will not be attending a Bar Mitzvah she was invited to due to a conflict. She asked someone who lives in Maryland how much $$ she should send as her gift to the birthday boy along with her regrets. The Maryland person said to send "something like maybe $36." Helen asked some...

  Chelsea Manhattan - losing its charm because we lost: CVS, Rite Aid, Taco Bell and McDonalds (plus the tennis club and the movie theater) OK so RIP the Tennis Club and the movie theater and admittedly I was sad when the 24-hour Super Duane Reed on 8th Avenue closed a few years ago, but... since when are we thinking that two chain drug stores with regular business hours and no downstairs with a sock department and/or a couple fast food joints added charm and character to the neighborhood? I mean, we're not even talking about a fancy restaurant chain like Olive Garden. God forbid one of the seven Starbucks goes out.  Anyway, I would have missed the whole commentary on this sad sad state of affairs if I hadn't haphazardly logged into Facebook this morning to see if there were any FOMO concerns for not logging in for however long. Spoiler alert - there were not. Turns out that right underneath this Chelsea post... seems like the only thing I get these days in my feed are cat vid...