Halloween in NY is crazy!

I know I already did a Halloween post, but you will just have to suffer through another one! Since Nada and I actually spent money on costumes this year, we vowed to go out on actual Halloween night, and go to the parade. For those of you who don't know, every year there is a big Halloween parade in the Village. I have never gone to it, because generally I don't like parades, and I don't like crowds. I didn't want to leave New York (if I leave) without having ever checked it out, so I told Nada I would go with her. I did a little research on 1920's Flappers during the day, and found out they are actually quite interesting. Here is one description I found:
"With short hair and a short skirt, with turned-down hose and powdered knees - the flapper must have seemed to her mother (the gentle Gibson girl of an earlier generation) like a rebel. No longer confined to home and tradition, the typical flapper was a young women who was often thought of as a little fast and maybe even a little brazen. Mostly, the flapper offended the older generation because she defied conventions of acceptable feminine behavior. The flapper was "modern." Traditionally, women's hair had always been worn long. The flapper wore it short, or bobbed. She used make-up (which she might well apply in public). And the flapper wore baggy dresses which often exposed her arms as well as her legs from the knees down. However, flappers did more than symbolize a revolution in fashion and mores - they embodied the modern spirit of the Jazz Age."
Not bad! And surprisingly, a rather appropriate costume for me to pick (mom, I'm sure you would agree). I also learned that they wore pretty heavy eye make-up, which I decided to try to re-create. I actually found a how-to video on YouTube! No joke! Damn I love the internet. I also tried to do some kind of finger-wave thing with my hair, and pinned it in four twists in the back. I liked the blonde wig, but it's really not my color, and I didn't want to have to bother with a wig all night.
I have never had that much eye make-up on, but I think I actually did a pretty good job...

Can't forget the headband! I didn't get to wear it last weekend because it pulled the wig off, so I wanted to make sure I wore it tonight. Trying to look serious...hehe

Look at that eye make-up!! Who could go out like that on a regular basis?!
I hopped in a bad and headed out to meet up with Nada. Unfortunately, we don't have the best history for making plans. We said we would meet at 14th and 6th, but my cab driver totally screwed me and didn't cross town. He tried to cross at 14th, but of course couldn't. So I got out and started walking over and called Nada, and then we ran into another problem: neither one of us could cross 6th Ave! So we were 1 block away from each other, but couldn't meet up! I suggested that we walk up to 21st (where the parade ends) and try to cross there, but she wanted to walk downtown since we would be heading that way to go out later. I said yes, and we both - parallel to each other - started walking. Then the other problem happened - my stupid phone started beeping, saying "low battery"! Oh no! My phone started out so great, and now the battery is becoming total crap. What a disater! I told Nada, and we agreed to only talk periodically. At first I was a little pissed (mostly at myself), and a little scared. I don't particularly like to be alone in a huge crowd of people, and the fact that thery were all wearing weird costumes really didn't help. Plus, no offense to you guys out there, but you are total animals on Halloween. Just beacuse it's Halloween doesn't mean you can grab people and act like maniacs. However, I realized after a while that no one was really bothering me. Guys would make comments, but no one got in my face or grabbed me or anything! Nada was not having the same luck over on the west side, and I have come to the conclusion that it must be the red lipstick. It scares guys I think. I might start wearing it every single day.
Once I realized that no one was bothering me, and that I could always just go home any time I wanted, I calmed down and actually started to have a great time. There were some really funny costumes. One of my favs was this guy who had a big black cardboard box, and in white letters in the middle of the box it said "Suspicious Package". Hilarious! Since I was having such a good time, I walked over to 6th Ave and watched the parade for a while. I was lucky to be in a spot where I could actually see it, so I took some pics and video...
Look at all those people! Craziness...

Freakshow safari indeed...

Eventually I made it down to Prince St, and they were letting people cross over FINALLY! They were about to not let anyone else cross over, but I literally RAN across. I called Nada to tell her I finally made it and find out where she was. Then we realized our other problem: neither one of us are familiar with that area of NY, so when I told her where I was and she told me where she was, we had no idea how to get to each other. At one point I even went into a subway to look at a map - that definitely helped. Two of Nada's friends were also trying to cross over and meet up with us, so poor Nada was trying to figure out where to meet me, where to meet them, and where she was. I just kept heading to where she was, and texting her to find out what streets she was on. She texted me "I'm on Bleecker and Carmine", and I asked about 4 cops along the way where Bleecker was. I have to say the NY cops were great - I think in total I talked to at least 20, asking where I could cross and where I was, and how the heck to get wherever I was trying to go. I made it to Bleecker and had to battle the craziest mob of people I have ever seen, but when I turned the corner I saw that the next street was Carmine! I called Nada and she said she was on "Carmine and Bedford", so I said "STOP WALKING! DON'T MOVE! I am on Bleecker and about to turn on Carmine! DON'T MOVE". I turned on Carmine eventually and saw Cleopatra at the corner of the next block! I ran all the way down the street and hugged her. What a great feeling to finally find each other!
She told me where we were supposed to meet up with her friends, so we headed that way. We sat outside at one restaurant while we were waiting, but were informed that we were not allowed to sit at the table until our entire party arrived. In the mean time, said the waitor, we could wait at the bar where there is plenty of room. I guess by "plenty of room" he meant "totally packed". Cleopatra and the Flapper were in no mood for such treatment, so we promtly turned around and walked out. We found a mexican restaurant that looked good and was right where we were supposed to meet the other people, so we went in, got a table, and a very large pitcher of margaritas (lime, on the rocks, with salt - yum).
Finally the rest of our party arrived - Nada's friend Meredith and her bf Dave! That was fantastic! They moved us to a table for 4 - much to our waitor's displeasure (we didn't quite understand why), and we finally got the party started!
Here is Dave wearing Nada's wig (backwards - oops!)...

Me and Nada...I mean, Cleopatra and the Flapper. I need a better name, maybe Millie? That works...
Meredith and Dave...aka Bumble Bee and...Death? I can't remember...
We got food and drinks...we did have to wait for about 20 minutes because there was some confusion as to who was our waitor. No one helped us, and then our old waitor came over and we ordered something from him, and then another guy came over and said actually he was our waitor. Not very well organized, but whatever. We ordered a bunch of apps, including nachos, and this is what they brought us...
How do you call that "nachos"? There were 6 nachos, with the stuff already on them, which of course meant that the chips or whatever was on the bottom was not crispy. They definitely need to work on their menu descriptions. Overall, the food was good and the margaritas were great. Then Nada ordered some kind of flaming shot. She saw the table next to us order it, and thought it would be a great idea to order 4 for us. They brought them over, and we all just stared at them and each other, trying to figure out how the heck we were supposed to drink that. The waitor said to put the straw in and suck it up quickly. We decided to do it on the count of three, but when we got to 3 Nada said to wait a second. I did not stop quick enough, and my straw lit on fire! It was still usable, so we tried it again. We all did it - and did not get burned thankfully - and then just kind of looked at each other, and Nada said "I'm really sorry guys. I thought that would be such a good idea but it wasn't. That was a terrible idea", and we all burst out laughing. It was the most disgusting shot I have ever taken. Oh well...

We finally left the restaurant, and started walking around again. We of course had to stop for a pic...we weren't quite ready for this one...
Take 2 - much better, except those weird guys jumped into the picture too! It was so funny, and this is my favorite picture of the night. If you look back at the previous photo, you can see the guy with the gun (or whatever that is) behind us...

All the cops were sitting on their bikes, watching the madness...
The parade was long over, but it still looked like this on the streets...

It looks like Cleopatra is having a little wig trouble...

Who knew Cleopatra was beautiful AND strong?
A bunch of guys dressed up as playboy bunnies...so funny...
My eye make-up was holding up surprisingly well...
Nada and Meredith loooove each other...
So cute!
Time to strike a pose...too bad I didn't turn the camera the long way...
And then Nada informed me it was my turn to strike a pose...
We walked around a little more, and then stopped at some italian restaurant. We sat outside, drank a carafe of a nice chianti classico, and people-watched. It was great. Then we all decided to head home, but not before one more pic...Cleopatra's poor wig really took a beating last night...

Even though it started off as kind of a disaster, it was such a fun night!! It was definitely an adventure, and as you know by my blog url, this is all about Melly's Adventures! This was one of the best Halloween's ever, and now I can't wait to dress up again next year! Here is my parting advice: whenever you go out in NY, always bring a map! Happy Halloween!!