Kehilat Hadar
Didn't set my alarm for 8:30 so I woke up at 11. I fully intended to skip crim so no big deal. Went to the gym. 20 minutes on a rowing machine and some weight lifting got my high on. Hurried home to shower and get into business casual garb for lunch at Skadden. They are located in Times Square with most of the big firms and they have a beautiful building. Lots of natural light and good taste in artwork. Too bad the main course for lunch was chicken wrapped in bacon. I filled up on greek salad. No traif for me. Decent presentation. When I got home I hung around my apartment straightening up a bit. At 5 it was time to meet my shabbat crew at the corner to walk downtown. We went to Kehilat Hadar. Pretty far, 25 minute walk maybe. And it was cold. The wind picked up and it got brutal. Even without windchill the temperature was in the teens. The service was interesting but I don't know if I'll go back. It's very loud, people sing at the top of their voices, which I like. The problem is the crowd. It's all young married couples, some with babies. I'm not quite old enough to fit in with that set yet. I'm closer to Hillel. Professor Primus showed up and we gave him a seat next to us. Kinda cool to have a prof at services. He didn't stay for dinner. The food was very good. Except the chicken, which was terrible. Dessert was a highlight. Chocolate trifle. Peach trifle. Fruit pie, brownies, cake, hamentashen, fruit, tons of goodies. Also a tasty dessert wine. And everything tasted amazing. Definitely a nice dinner. Walked home after and had to stop at every Duane and Reade on the way to warm up. Brutally cold. Hung out at Lerner for a while and shmoozed in the lobby chairs on the way back to drag out the journey further. We split up at the edge of campus but I ran into other friends in the one block trip from campus to my apartment. They convinced me to come drink with them at Amsterdam Cafe, so I did. There was a Latin band playing there and a dancer, which was cool. We had Long Island Ice Teas and chatted (shouted, it was loud) at the bar for a few hours. Finally just got home. I'm exhausted. Time for bed.
