And Just Like That...

I Turned into Carrie Bradshaw - My Surprise Visit to New York!

As I sat down to write this in a hotel room, gazing at the beautiful East Coast foliage, I began romanticizing my life as a writer, and I couldn’t help but wonder—Am I literally Carrie Bradshaw right now?

Except, instead of writing in a beautiful brownstone in the West Village, I’m actually in the middle of nowhere, New Jersey. But that didn’t keep ya girl down! I’m here because I booked a commercial gig, and while I was very excited and thankful to book a commercial, my heart mainly heard one thing—free trip to New York!

I was staying in Jersey, but I was gonna make it to Manhattan one way or another. That’s the city where dreams are made of. Anything can happen! I wanted to reunite with some friends and bask in the city I’ve only been to twice but am obsessed with.

My old boss/mentor lives out there, and we are rarely on the same coast, so I reached out in hopes of grabbing a coffee. She couldn’t meet up because she was busy working, but she did me one better.

She invited me to visit her at work, which happened to be the set of And Just Like That…What?! I thought to myself, not only do I get to visit the famous 5th character of Sex and The City (New York ;)), but I also get to witness the SATC legacy in person?!

I was very delayed in getting my shooting schedule and prayed to the scheduling gods that I could run away to New York, even for just a moment. And it worked out! I had the day off and could rendezvous in the city. Word to the wise—if you ever Lyft from Jersey to New York, they do not calculate the toll fees, and you’ll have to pay your driver even more than the rate listed on your phone…it’s expensive.

But it was either that or figuring out how to take three buses and a train or two into the city. I wasn’t going to do that; I was going to live my Carrie Bradshaw writer life and spend money I don’t have on extravagant things! I did technically get reimbursed with my per-diem from work, but frankly, I would’ve spent the money regardless!

Susan Fales-Hill is my Queen and the reason for this epic adventure. You might know her as the iconic showrunner of A Different World, but her resume is long, and I urge you to check it out. One of my favorite books is Always Wear Joy.

She let me get a glimpse of some on-set magic, and it was an incredible highlight of my trip. I will not be dropping any spoilers or hints about the show, but I will tell you about my fabulous time and a teeny bit of what I saw.

I love being on set. It never gets old to me. I love listening and observing what everyone does—and, of course, I also love working on set if anyone is hiring! My mother raised me on a steady diet of Sex and The City, and I couldn’t believe I was witnessing this in person. I was very cool and chill on set, though. I don’t freak out, I just quietly admire. I was able to chat with some of the writers, and everyone was so warm and friendly.

You know when you’re talking to someone, and you feel like they’re just being “nice” but not all that interested? This was the opposite of that. They were genuinely interested in me. We chatted about the current industry vibes in Los Angeles and what I was up to and dissected what we were watching. It was stimulating conversation if I do say so myself!

They were filming on location in the streets of the Upper East Side, and it felt surreal to be traipsing through New York and watch these iconic characters also traipsing through New York. The lines between what was real and what was set design got blurred. I’m always so impressed by set designs. It’s real movie magic! What I thought was a real shop was one built for the show amid other real shops.

I got to see Kristin Davis and Nicole Ari Parker film a funny scene, and then I got to see Sarah Jessica Parker film a little solo moment in the most fabulous outfit. I also got to meet the second most important 3-named icon of Sex and The City/And Just Like That…, Michael Patrick King.

He was so gracious and welcoming. The lovely Susan Fales-Hill boosted me up and introduced me as a writer and a performer—he immediately perked up at the word. Side note: all these fabulous 3-namers got me wondering if I should incorporate my middle name professionally so I, too, can be in the club.

He asked me if I perform my own material, and we chatted about doing comedy as he is no stranger to the live comedy world himself. I was a little stunned that he was so intrigued! He and Susan both loved my sketch team’s name, Anointed Greens, and he had asked me what our other name pitches were.

I’m kind of obsessed that he asked that question. Anyone who does improv or sketch knows how stupidly serious we take choosing a team name, and it usually involves a too-long thread or poll of silly/punny names. That wasn’t the case for Anointed Greens, but I’m very familiar with that.

I’m also a huge fan of The Comeback (which he co-created with Lisa Kudrow) and was able to talk to him about it. This all felt very destined as I re-binged it just a few months ago.

I’m not relaying all this to be braggadocious but to reflect on how thankful I am that someone in my corner did this for me. I’ve been lucky to meet so many kind people in this industry. If you work in the film/TV industry and you’re feeling a little burned, don’t lose hope; the industry is big, and there are some great people in it!

The people you have real connections with are your people, and you should cherish that. The entertainment industry has been bleak this year dahhhling, and this boosted my morale and excitement. I didn’t realize how much I needed this moment.

MPK (does anyone call him that? I like it) also gave me props for spending my day off “making moves” in Manhattan instead of wondering what to do in my New Jersey hotel room. As I mentioned earlier, this is the city dreams are made of, and this day definitely was a dream! If you’ve been hesitating to reach out to someone or do something that scares you, make that move, baby! It just might be what you need. But, like, be respectful. No one owes you anything.

After catching up with Susan and a whirlwind set visit, she had to get back to work. I’ll forever be thankful for her kindness. Here’s a lil pic as proof of my experience.

This is all you’re getting—I’m a professional, I can’t be snappin’ photos like a tourist all over set!

I then spent the rest of the day meeting up with friends and eating good food. Perhaps I’ll share more about that in another post. I ran around the Upper East Side, drank cocktails, met up with friends all over the city, swiped my credit card without looking back, wrote about my experience, And Just Like That…I had a Carrie Bradshaw New York day.

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Thank you for reading! May your week be as fabulous and lucky as my day was! Below are some of my upcoming shows.

Cheers,

Paige (middle name) Elson

Harold Night 10/28 at 7pm

Friday Block Party improv show 11/8 at 5:30pm