Where Mary's Been: The FIRST Review

So as most of you know: I'm a New Yorker, born and bred. And I am finally getting to enjoy New York City as it was meant to be lived: from the stance of an unmarried twenty-something whose only responsibility is to appear at work five out of seven times per week.

So it goes without saying that I spend a lot of time out-and-about in this crazy city. Often there are stories to be had, and I leave with a new experience of a new place that I would either strongly recommend, or urge my friends to avoid like a plague. In the interest of creating a log of this current time period of my life (in addition to letting you all know my "verdict" on a particular venue, something I know you've all been breathless with anticipation for), I will be attempting to review "where I've been." And we are going to be starting with...

BRANCH
54th Street Btw 2nd and 3rd Avenue
What You'll Find There: A peninsula bar, a dance floor lined with candlelit tables, a steam machine, a disco ball, and a DJ who knows what he's doing.
Wore: Off-the-shoulder sparkly gold top, black pants, pink crocodile heels (channeling: Samantha Jones)
You Should Drink: A dirty martini (excellent)
Need to Visit an ATM (scale from 1 to 10): 4, depending on how many dirty martinis you want.
Rambling: This was the setting for my recent birthday celebration, and I am pleased to say that Branch delivered exactly what I wanted for my birthday: a night of (nearly) drama-free dancing with my nearest and dearest. It was the first time I brought together various Friend Families and BRANCHes of friend-families, and this place really had something for everyone. The cover was ridiculously cheap, and Branch provided an OPEN BAR between 10 and 11, making everyone instantly happier than they'd ever imagined they could be in the middle of Midtown East on Saturday night (I am sadly not a fan of Midtown East as a whole, although it and I are slowly trying to work out our differences). In fact, I think they must put some type of happiness elixir in the steam machine at Branch, because it made friends of mine dance that I never, EVER, thought I would see attempt to move rhythmically. And they looked GOOD, too!