RS12 – Day One

I had been anticipating the annual Reader’s Studio event for weeks.  Not just because it’s a chance to do non-stop tarot, but it’s also an opportunity for me to hang with friends and go back to my old stomping grounds in NY.

I arrived two days early with my daughter to have a little time for some site seeing and eating, of course.  New York is a foodies paradise and one can never run out of things to eat.

We spent Tuesday with old friends touring through St. John the Divine’s church on the upper west side.  Supposedly, this is the most haunted church in Manhattan!  I didn’t see any ghosts but perhaps that is because I was wowed by the incredible architecture of this massive cathedral.  It was stunning inside and out, from the garden sculptures to the giant stained glass windows.

After touring the church, we shared some delicious pastries at an old Hungarian pastry shop that has been around forever.  One of my friends used to eat there when she was in college and she remarked that the place hadn’t changed one bit over the years.  It sure looked it – the place had that “old world feel” and some of the signs look like they hadn’t been changed in eons.

The next day, we headed out to Little Italy to check out some cute Italian guys and eat non-stop.  Did I mention that I am on a diet?  Yup – being on a diet and hanging in Little Italy was not an easy feat.  I managed to eat some delicate chocolate French macarons and a fantastic lunch of seafood and veggies.  (No pasta – had to sacrifice that for the cookie!)  My daughter had fresh cheese ravioli which was so good she ate every last bit.

As we headed back to the hotel, we noticed some tarot people beginning to arrive.  It was now obvious that it was going to be non-stop tarot talk.  

After a good nights sleep and mucho allergy meds (I’m currently in allergy hell – ugh), we headed down for some breakfast and to meet and greet fellow tarot lovers.  Didn’t take long to round up a bunch for a lunch date at the local Dominican restaurant (can you tell that this blog today is a bit food oriented?).  I had one of my favorite things in the world – goat.  Yup, I am a fan of goat and this restaurant served it perfectly done along with a side of Yuca fries.  

We got back to the hotel and things were starting to get hectic – Ruth Ann and Wald Amberstone (our fab hosts) we scurrying about, handling last minute details and various staff members were trying to set things up and get the first day in gear.

I don’t know how they do it year after year but we were able to seamlessly register and get our “goodie bags”.  My daughter scored big time – she got a copy of the Gilded Tarot.  I, unfortunately, got a hideous deck that is completely unusable (for the sake of the artist’s feelings, I won’t name the deck).  Oh well.  Beginner’s luck, I guess!  

We were signed up for the class with the Amberstones: “Court Cards – The Fourth Arcanum Master Class”.  As usual, Wald and Ruth Ann delivered a powerful class with some interesting concepts.  I won’t divulge their method here but let’s put it this way: we were having many interesting breakthroughs at our table!  I highly recommend that you always take the Amberstone’s class when you come to Readers Studio – it’s very much worth it.

After class, many of us were crowded into the bar area to eat and congregate.  Angelo Nasios “crashed” the party – which made it all the more fun.  We were laughing, talking tarot, examining the latest Gilded Royale tarot and trying to get something to eat.  The poor beleaguered staff was kept busy trying to get us our food and drinks.  Needless to say, I ended up eating way later than I wanted to and could barely keep my eyes open at the end of the night.  I bid my fellow tarotists adieu and headed to bed.

And now the first “official day” of RS12 begins…..

Blessings,

Theresa

© Theresa Reed |  The Tarot Lady 2012