I LOVE city life. I love that I can go out for drinks and not have to worry about the drive home. I love that everything I need is within 5 blocks of my apartment. I love that pretty much every store and restaurant has a delivery policy. I love that this city is incredibly dog friendly. I love that there is no other comparable city.
New York City, I love you. I don’t think I’ll ever leave you! Maybe for a weekend trip or a short vacation, but I love you too much to ever leave for good!
What’s also great is that there are always people visiting! Who can resist the Big Apple? My friend Ryan is in town for the week and on Thursday, Erica arrives! Yay!
I went out for a jog this morning. I know, I know.. all this walking, all the stairs and yet I still need to exercise. Peanut and I ran along the East River for about 40 minutes. I feel good! I’m starting to feel the pain and exhaustion in my legs though.. I’m so out of shape but this is a good start!
So, like I said, this city is so wonderfully walkable and the public transportation is great. I don’t take the bus so I’m not really familiar with it (I’m actually kind of afraid of buses..) but it seems reliable. There are times when the subway is delayed but you know, that kind of stuff happens. I admit I get really irritated when the subway is delayed. Time is money and people need to get to work!
My parents recently returned my leased Volkswagen GTI to the dealer. There is absolutely NO WAY I would’ve brought that car to NYC. It just doesn’t make sense! Plus, parking here is ridiculous and I’d be paranoid about scratches and bumps. Oh, and you can’t forget the gas prices.. I don’t even know where the gas station is! Anyway, if you are car-less but need one for the day, you can get a Zip Car. Tim’s a member and reserved one for a couple hours this past Saturday. What’d he need the car for?
COSTCO!
I took the photo while we were in the car. Anyway, Cindy, Tim and I drove over to Brooklyn to pick up some essentials at Costco. It was 2 stories! I’ve never seen a 2 story Costco! Afterwards, I picked up some items at The Container Store and Bed, Bath and Beyond. I think I’m pretty much set in terms of furnishing my room.. except for my bed frame. Oh, I got my mattress yesterday! I bought a memory foam mattress from overstock.com. I highly recommend it! So anyway, I was dead-set on building an elevated bed frame but after spending an arm and a leg on closet organizational stuff at The Container Store, I think a box spring will do just fine. No need to cram things under my bed!
Alright, enough writing and more pictures! All of these are from my Facebook and taken with my phone (I don’t use my digital camera as much anymore but I will soon! Promise!).
Peanut napping.
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The protesters outside of my office building. They were particularly loud this day.. banging on buckets! The police arrived and enclosed them in a fence, haha. I have no idea what they’re protesting, by the way, but they’re here every single day. It’s usually just a handful of people.. this was a special day, I guess.
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I took this while walking on Exchange Place.
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My roommate Nick and Peanut. He’s not sleeping, he was blinking, hahaha. Oh, Peanut!
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Tim and Cindy in the zip car.
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The Brooklyn Bridge.. obviously taken from the (moving) car.
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The buildings across the street from my apartment.
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3rd avenue around Gramercy.
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Pravda for Nick’s birthday. I like this lounge.
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MMM, Sam’s Falafel cart! This is probably the cheapest place in the city. $3 for a sandwich! And it’s actually delicious! I get one whenever I have cash (like once a week? I never have cash).
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Stuyvesant Square.
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Peanut at the dog park with another beagle!
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Well, that’s it for now. Leave me comments!!! 
<3
E
San Francisco is a great city too! I am jealous though… i sooo want to move to New york for a year
so glad to hear you and peanut are having an AMAZING time! Ps. we signed 2 new clients…woohoo!
Comment by Jenine — June 24, 2008 @ 3:47 pm
Ahh, congratulations! Finally!!!!
Comment by Erika — June 24, 2008 @ 3:48 pm
PPS. I think George and I are going to try to make it out to New york in September
Comment by Jenine — June 24, 2008 @ 3:51 pm
oh yay!!! keep me updated w/ the details!
Comment by Erika — June 24, 2008 @ 3:57 pm
Strategic Alignment and Team’s Enthusiasm Wins Tournament
Nashville, TN – June 23, 2008 Not just another spring volleyball tournament at Hooter’s Music City (Harding Place), Recreational League Tournament was held on Sunday, June 22, 2008. Seven teams competed during the tournament including Team TAZ, winner of 2008 Spring Beach Volleyball Tournament. “I have watched my team very closely throughout the league and studied each one’s strengths, since this is the first season we are playing together as a team”, says Maria Stewart, team captain.
A mother of 3 boys with set of twins age 4, Maria knows the importance of life balance. Being active and keeping healthy has been a challenged for her after having children, but with many outdoor activities being offered around Middle Tennessee area, recreational sand volleyball appealed to her in so many ways. Originally from San Francisco bay area, outdoor volleyball is undoubtedly one of her favorite sports. This is her 5th year playing recreational tournament against other teams.
“The secret of winning are good players who work together as a team outperforms great players who don’t. I strategically aligned and positioned everyone according to strengths and chemistry of each players and it worked. Most of my players are parents and they have full time jobs not to mention tending to their children 7 days a week, we work very hard so we play even harder”, says Stewart.
The players come from all over Middle Tennessee – Spring Hill, Murfreesboro, La Vergne and Nashville. “We often enjoy great hot wings and cold beverages from Hooter’s”, says Will – winning last served two games out of the five.
TAZ dominated the game with a record high of 5 to 1. TAZ’s players comprised of Britt, Kim, Mike, RJ, Zach, Will, Selena and Maria as team captain.
Comment by HoneyIWant — June 24, 2008 @ 5:10 pm
I enjoyed reading and look forward to visit NYC again. I liked the pictures esp Peanut napping. take care.
Comment by Mama Mia — June 26, 2008 @ 1:19 pm
July 4th update?
Comment by Jenine — July 7, 2008 @ 9:09 pm
hey tita, i miss u… sounds like fun i n NYC cuz u havent been visiting us… hahaha… mommy says we might come and visit u but im not sure when, i hope soon though.
Comment by sunolchic — July 13, 2008 @ 4:29 pm
HAYY! sweet blog erika!!
Comment by justin — July 16, 2008 @ 10:09 pm
HAAAY joostin loo, thank you!
Comment by Erika — July 20, 2008 @ 11:21 pm