what's in store for you

If you decide to take a trip to New York, here's how it will go:

1. The Columbus Circle subway stop will be under construction. They'll be making great progress in the effort to restore it to its original "Mouth of Hell" condition.

2. The Statue of Liberty will be more impressive than you imagined. You've seen it countless times in movies, television, photos... even in person from the edge of Battery Park. But it will really prove an astonishing structure in person. It'll almost make you want to buy one of those green foam crowns. ALMOST.
3. You'll figure out how to speak like a New Yorker. You'll find there are lots of special insider pronunciation rules. For example: Duane Reade is pronounced "Duane Reed," not "Duane Ready." If you want to look like a real out-of-towner tool, you'll pronounce Houston Street like the city in Texas. BIG no-no. You'll realize it's pronounced "Chopped Li-vah." The locals will really like it when you try to speak their language in this way. No dirty looks whatsoever.

4. You'll have a reuben at Katz Deli and you'll pay way too much for it. Later, you'll look at a photo of said reuben and decide to hate yourself.
5. You'll visit the chapel at Columbia University and you'll think of Rome. Or Paris. What I'm saying is it will remind you of the DaVinci Code.
6. You'll discover that Momofuku is a charming, delicious, slightly adventurous place to have dinner. You'll be seated next to someone you don't know. Your prawns will still be wearing their heads. The pistachio ice cream will change your life. But not as much as the walk you'll take right after dinner.
7. To Tompkins Square Park, where you find a little gazebo to shield you from the rain and your adorable boyfriend will say something that neither of you will really remember exactly, but it'll amount to: Will you marry me? And you'll be all: EEEEEEEEEEEEK! YES! (EEEEEEEEEEEEK!)*not my actual engagement ring
*check it out: no cavities in my molars.

8. Then a few days later when you're thinking back wistfully to your trip, you'll decide to search for this particular park/gazebo on the internet and you find a photo. And you'll be like, "Hey! That's the exact spot where FLD proposed to me!" And then you'll notice a word ETCHED IN STONE: Temperance. WT..?
Who knows? Maybe that's not how it will go for you. I could be way off. I can only speak from experience.