Time flies!

I’m currently lying in bed with the AC on full blast. I’m taking advantage of my last weekend in my apartment before I move to my new place. Man.. time really does fly. I plan on moving on Monday. It shouldn’t be TOO difficult since I don’t have a lot of stuff (yet). Actually, I’m really not looking forward to hauling everything up 4 flights of stairs. It’s not worth it to hire movers because, like I already mentioned, I don’t have a lot of stuff! Perhaps I’ll just Craigslist an ad for some help.

Things are going fairly well as of late. I was sick through Memorial Day weekend and this past week; that wasn’t too fun. It was a combination of my crazy sinuses and a cold. I know I’m legitimately sick when I start sweating profusely for no good reason. It’s SO embarrassing!!!! Yesterday I was sweating like crazy on the subway for no reason at all!!! I’m still kind of congested but I just got my sense of smell back so that’s pretty exciting. Despite feeling under the weather, my good friend Timothy forced me to come out to Central Park and lay out for a while on Monday. It’s nice lying in the sun.

Peanut is coming this Thursday and I’m SO anxious and excited to see him!

What else.. work is great! Bossman just gave me my first big programming assignment. I’m excited!

Apparently there’s this thing that some companies participate in called Summer Fridays where the work day ends @ 2 pm. Sounds kind of dangerous to me. We got off work @ 1 pm last Friday for the holiday weekend and.. yea.. getting drinks after work (especially that early) was kinda crazy. Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed the early start to my long weekend but I don’t know if I’d like getting out that early regularly and then, come fall, switch back to regular Fridays. It’d be such a tease.

There’s a thunderstorm going on right now! And it’s 74 degrees! What a waste of warm weather! It all works out though because I have absolutely no plans today. I packed all my stuff on Thursday night (after the Lost season finale.. SO AMAZING) so I’d be free all weekend. It might be best to finally get out of bed. I slept around 3 am and woke up at 7 am and I’ve been in bed since. I’m so lazy!

<3

E

Two weeks!

Top 3 things I’ve learned since I’ve moved here:

1) The weather is UN. PRE. DICTABLE. weather.com is unreliable unless you’re checking it the day of. Even then it’s not trusty. Let’s just hope it’s like that right now. NYC is in this weird in-between stage.. it’s not exactly Summer yet. weather.com claimed that it would rain straight for a week but uhh, it hasn’t. Oh well, no need to complain about decent weather!

2) Walk at the speed of traffic. Pedestrian traffic. New Yorkers walk faster than.. uh, well, pretty much everyone else. Walk fast or get out of the way! Some of us are late for work!!

3) When there are 2+ food carts that serve the same food and you can’t decide which is better, just look for the one with the line. There are a bunch of food carts off of Broadway near the office and @ least 4 serve falafel. The cart that consistently has a LOOOONG line (that moves fast, though!) is Sam’s Falafel. It’s DELICIOUS. I’ll probably have some tomorrow.

Ah.. a fortnight in Manhattan. So what’s new with me? Well, I went shopping this weekend. I must say that the sample sales in NYC are unparalleled. I went shopping ALL OVER–the fashion district, Chelsea/Flatiron, Tribeca, the village & Soho. I picked up a 100% king sized cotton quilt, a couple pairs of jeans (sales @ uniqlo! go now!), a cardigan, a couple tops, a yoga mat.. yea, shopping here is great. Oh I also picked up the MOST COMFORTABLE FLATS I’VE EVER WORN, EVER. They’re called Sanuk. Apparently they’re sandals? They’re so comfortable. I’d rather wear them in the house than be barefoot.. THAT’S how comfortable they are.

Oh, I also signed the lease for my new apartment! Before I moved over here, I was really scared that a month wouldn’t be enough time to find a place. I posted an ad on Craigslist looking for dog friendly, trustworthy & responsible roommates. I ended up finding a roommate w/ an available room a couple days after I moved! Such luck! I’m moving in with this great Greek NYU student and her brother. They’re cool and I’m super excited to live with them. In 2 weeks, I’ll be bidding farewell to the village & saying hello to Gramercy!

Hope everyone’s doing well!

A photo post!

I’ve been taking pictures on my phone and posting them on Facebook so if you’ve already seen them then uh, too bad.

One large suitcase (full of shoes), three large boxes (full of clothes) and two carry-ons later, I am finally in NY!

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At the subway station, waiting for the train.

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I had a DELICIOUS chicken gyro on the steps of some building across the NYSE. This was the same day I walked by a film/tv set. Some actor (his name escapes me) was filming a scene. He’s the guy who kinda resembles Kato Kaelin.. I can’t remember his name! I wasn’t able to take a picture because I was on my lunch break and had no time to freak out over my first celeb sighting. Anyway, cool place to eat lunch and people watch for a bit.

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I walk through Soho to take the subway to work. Boss man told me that there are closer trains but I really enjoy the walk. It was especially beautiful this day.

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Christina, Kristen & Traci are visiting at the moment (their trip was planned prior to my move but man.. great planning, guys!! =)) and this was taken while we were walking to the Soup Man. “NO SOUP FOR YOU!” Anyway, we saw a whole bunch of cops line up in case this rally or protest or whatever got out of hand. Their posters bared this message: “Socialist revolution is the only solution!”

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It was raining Friday and on my walk through Soho, I came across this broken umbrella. It was one of many. People–don’t skimp on your umbrella purchases! A $10 minimum should be in effect when deciding on a worthy umbrella!

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I made a wrong turn coming from the subway the other day and ended up getting lost for an hour around Soho, hahaha. For your reference, Soho and Greenwich Village (where I currently live) are neighboring areas. Like, RIGHT NEXT TO EACH OTHER. Anyway, check it out! A model! If anyone can identify her, please let me know! Haha @ the woman in the foreground.

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I ended up walking through Little Italy while I was lost.

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This man was blowing bubbles on Broadway.

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Like I mentioned earlier, Christina, Kristen and Traci are in town and man.. they are really good at planning vacations. Thank God I’m going to Jamaica with such thorough planners! For NYC, they planned a DRINKING TOUR (omg) of the East Village!! Don’t worry, it wasn’t JUST drinking, it was a fusion of beer & history. East Village is a pretty cool, historical place. This was the group at the beginning of the tour.. still presentable.

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The first bar we went to is the OLDEST bar in NYC. So much history in that little bar. I’m talking Prohibition, Harry Houdini, Abe Lincoln and yea.. pretty awesome. This was the second bar on our list. And yes.. they are serious.

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CBGB = Country blue grass & blues. OMFUG = omf-unbelievable-g? No.. OMFUG = Other music for uplifting gormandizers.

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A lot of locals would stop and listen to Eric talk about the history of the East Village. This woman was one of them.

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This man is 90+ years old and he STILL works his own bar. In fact, this bar was a Rat Pack bar. Frank Sinatra and Madonna (among other greats) used to frequent this joint. Amazing, huh!! Also, this man works based on his mood. If he is tired at 7 pm and wants to take a nap, busy night or not, he will close up shop and tell everyone to come back in a couple hours. Needless to say, all I wanted to do was not anger this old man. Christina and I were very intimidated.

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It is Sunday today and besides enjoying this beautiful weather with a group of fabulous ladies, I plan on cleaning my mess of an apartment.

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HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY, MOMMY!!!!! And to all Mothers out there. =)

<3

E

Settling in.

It STILL hasn’t registered that I’m in Manhattan!!! I wonder how long it will take to wear off. Someone at my company said it takes about 6 months to get accustomed to NYC life. We’ll see.

At the moment, I am sitting in my studio in the Village. The company put me in a fabulous temporary apartment for this month in the heart of Greenwich Village. It’s comforting to look out the window at any time of the night and see ppl outside. The location is GREAT!! Bars and restaurants line the street, two 24 hour drug stores next door & a market on the corner. My subway stop is a quick walk, about 1/2 a mile away.

Speaking of the subway–I got lost on it today. Hahahhaa. I meant to take the L train from Union Square to the last stop before Brooklyn (which is at 1st ave and 14th st) but the car was REALLY crowded and I figured that I wasn’t necessarily losing anything so I just rode the subway to the first stop in Brooklyn.

I’ve been meeting with potential roommates, too. Man.. my life is nonstop GO GO GO GO! I arrived on Sunday evening, hit up CVS and bought the essentials (toiletries and water) & met with a potential roommate in the Financial District. Renting here is RIDICULOUS. JUST. RIDICULOUS. $1700 for a decent sized bedroom, plenty of closets, a washer & dryer in the apartment but what? NO WINDOW IN THE BEDROOM? I’ll pass, thanks.

Oh, I totally had an “Office” moment yesterday. As a software engineer, I think it’s pretty much common knowledge that you do not have to dress up for work. It’s only business casual on important days.. like interviews and uh, conferences or something. Anyway, it was a BEAUTIFUL day in the Big Apple yesterday so I wore my usual work attire–jeans, flip flops & a hoodie. Hey to my credit, I was still not unpacked so that was the best I could get out of my boxes. I walked into the office on my first day and lo and behold, everyone was in business casual. Talk about red in the face. I made up for it by wearing flats & a cardigan today.

I miss Peanut! I’ll be flying him over soon.. once I move into my permanent place of residence. PERMANENT RESIDENCE. WHAT?!?!?!? Still so surreal.

Here is my studio. Photos don’t do it justice. It’s about 500 sq ft.. that’s large by NYC standards. I actually have space to do cartwheels and yoga!! I have 2 closets, a full bathroom, a small kitchen (gasp, I don’t think I’ll even use it!!), a love seat, a tiny but cute dining table but no space for my shoes! I’ve also included a view of the street from my window. I’ll probably take a better picture of the street view later.

It is way past my bedtime and I have to get up early tomorrow. More photos will come soon, I promise!!

<3

E