The Perfect Weekend

I was lucky enough to go back to California with Eric for the weekend for our good friends, James and Andi's, wedding. It was as wonderful as I could have ever expected to see our old friends and to just be part of our group again. Even though it was so sad to leave, it wasn't so bad, because every time we get to spend together reminds us that we are really great friends and that's never going to change. We might just have to work a little harder now!

We got to Stockton really late on Friday night (well late for us, early for Stockton- we had to adjust... not too hard once you're surrounded by friends) and were a little nervous because there was a Halloween party at our old complex (which is where we were staying with Tara). We had to walk right through the middle of the party, and even though we thought we were completely over "college parties" it turned out to be really fun to be able to see a bunch of people at once who we didn't know if we'd get to see at all. The SAI girls, Jesse, Jeremy, Jeff....Amazing to reconnect- it's strange though, because after this year, we won't really know anyone in Stockton- have we made our last trip to good old Stocktown?

When we finally went to bed that night we ended up staying in James and Andi's apartment because, duh, they were about to get married and weren't home. So we got to play with their kitties! Ned's the largest cat I've ever seen and completely solid. Luckily "the white one" slept on Eric's chest, and not Ned. We found out "the white one" was actually named Misty, but it's a lot more fun to call her "the white one."

Then we went to Fresno (or Fres-yes, if you're being clever) for an amazing wedding. It was beautiful, and I, along with basically every other girl there, was crying as soon as I saw Andi and pretty much didn't stop until after the ceremony. I'm lame...And then it was a huge party with all of my old friends. We ate and drank and laughed and danced and went on boat rides well into the night. I recently read someone else's blog who was at the wedding and she was thinking a lot about how we got here. I mean, 5 years ago I didn't know these people, and this weekend, I traveled across the country for a wedding, and I didn't even for a moment think about not going. Those times are that special to me because these friends have meant so much to me over the last few years. And they've assured me that they'll all come to "the next wedding" (hint hint hint) whevever that might be...Yeah...They better- because weddings are super fun.

Even though this blog is supposed to be about New York, I have to talk about Stockton for a minute- over the weekend, our friend's rental PT Cruiser got it's wheels stolen while it was parked on the street. She came out in the morning and it had no wheels! What do you do with that? The thieves kindly left the car propped up on a jack though...Only in Stockton...

And now I'm back in New York, working at a temp job today (yayyyyyy money). Still haven't heard about the ASOL job, but keep me in your thoughts- there's still a chance!

It is really dark out. Unreasonably dark. And I have to go to school. And it's Halloween. And I'll be in the Village- the biggest Halloween party spot ever. And I'll be learning about marketing. What a cruel cruel world...

Peter Piper Picked A Peck of Pickled PAPERS??

People here are completely crazy. I was walking to the subway, and the man that sells the New York Daily News was standing on the corner yelling as usual for people to come get their 25 cent daily news. But yesterday, it was like he was getting papers and peppers mixed up. He'd be like, 25 cents for some peppers, get your 25 cent paper! Peppers are good and they're 25 cents and papers are good for 25 cents. He just was going on and on about whether people should spend their 25 cents on papers or peppers. Yeah. Crazy.

This has been a pretty good week. I'm actually trying to type as quickly as I can because we're about to leave to go to CALIFORNIA for the weekend and we're really exicted, but I thought I should do a quick blog update...I finished my millions of midterms and feel pretty good about them- we'll see though- I usually am pretty confident before class and then go to class and then leave feeling much less confident. But that's slowly changing I think.

I got two interviews this week! On Monday I have to go to a "hiring event" at Google for an Administrative Assistant job. I don't know if that one really even has a chance of working out, but it will be good experience at least. Then I also had an interview at American Symphony Orchestra League and I'm so excited about the job. My interview went well, and I have a good feeling, but I haven't heard anything yet- keep your fingers crossed because I would be seriously excited to get hired there. I'm glad I got these interviews, because so far the temp agency hasn't been as helpful as I would like. It's nice to pretend to have a job, but if I'm not working, then I'm really no better off than I was before.

The most disturbing thing happened to me the other day- I kicked a rat!! I felt something solid against my shoe as I was walking through Washington Square park, and I looked down and there was a rat laying on its back by my foot. I don't know if it was already dead or if I kicked it and killed it (or at least stunned it)- but how sick is that??? I ran away screaming, I'm not even kidding.

Our waitress at this pizza place the other night (John's on Bleecker Street- a landmark!) was so funny. She had fake hair- extensions- and had no idea what was going on. Like she had no idea what was even on the menu.

Yesterday in the worst class ever we watched a short film about something that no one has any idea how it was relevant, and the woman who was being interviewed looked exactly like Mimi on the Drew Carey show. Again, I'm not even kidding. How can people look like that in real life?

So babies in New York ride around in strollers like nothing I've ever seen. The strollers all have thes plastic zip up bags around them, so if it starts raining or crazy people start yelling the moms can just zip their babies up in a plastic bag and everyone's safe. Well I guess they up the ante for winter, because yesterday I saw a baby in a stroller that looked like a sleeping bag. Wait, I take that back- I actually saw a stroller that looked like it was a sleeping bag and the sleeping bag was moving like it had a little mouse in it or something. I assume it was a baby, but I guess it could have been a dog or something (and, yes, I have seen a dog being pushed around in one of the plastic bag strollers)

It's cold here- I'm going to look like a little dumpling all bundled up all winter...

"I got drunk with Kyle PICKLES and Steve from BLUE'S CLUES"

Has that sentence ever been spoken anywhere in the world before? I really bet not...
Ok, well I actually didn't get drunk with Kyle Pickles and Steve from Blue Clues, but one of my new friends did, and she's pretty lucky I think , because she got to say that sentence in real life.

I had a really good weekend, even though I was expecting to just do homework the whole weekend. On Friday I went to a career and life planning workshop. It was a little too much for me, but I definitely got some good ideas, and at the very least am inspired to keep searching for what I want. A lot of the workshop was focused on figuring out what we want to get out of life and our jobs, so we were encouraged to work hard and really focus on what makes us the most happy and what we're the best at. And apparently it will all come together after that.

The best (or worst, depending how you look at it) was that the woman who presented the workshop had could somehow talk without moving her face. Her eyes were open as wide as possible and her highbrows were always lifted so much and she was always smiling (if you could call it that), but somehow the rest of her face didn't move at all. Like it was made of plastic or something...

The real greatest part of the day was that I finally felt I bonded with a few of my classmates. We all ate lunch together (cafeteria food! yeah!) and then went out for drinks after the workshop. It was so great to just talk to a bunch of people again- I feel like we all know eachother a lot better now that we've spent more time together than just in the classroom. I get more intrigued by the Village every time I go down there- there are so many great bars and restaurants- I want to go them all!! My marketing teacher said that Halloween is pretty intense down there- i think I'll bring my camera and join in the fun if I don't get mobbed by crazy Halloween people.

Saturday was the most perfect day here- and we almost missed it because I was so focused on writing my paper while also watching the Food Network (it's Halloween special time- the Food Network Chefs get especially crazy for the holidays). But we did get out of the house and walk in the park. I'm still so mad we didn't bring our camera or a picnic. Those kind of days are what fall is supposed to be like- red and gold leaves everywhere, cold breezes, bright sun, blue sky, apple cider, nuts for nuts (yes, we finally got some nuts for nuts- delicious)- and I'm just hoping that we get another day just like it. Today- not so good....

Last night we went out with Eric's uncle and his girlfriend- hit up the best dive bars in the upper west side. So fun if you like paying $10 for a Guiness in a dive bar...It was very, very fun, and I was at least wearing boots and not tennis shoes for this Saturday night out.

Today was spent mostly writing papers. 4 papers almost entirely written this weekend- I can't really believe it myself. We did spend a little time in Chelsea, even though we really wanted to have a perfect fall picnic in Central Park (you can't have everything you want), but mostly it was a day of work work work.

Perhaps some more work tomorrow- you never know what secretaries will need a substitute for the day....

CELEBRITY SIGHTING???

I may have had my first quasi-celebrity sighting- yesterday at Kinko's I was sending a fax and had to get in line, so I asked the boy in front of me if he was in line and he turned around and I swear to you that he looked, talked, and dressed 100% like Daniel V from last season of Project Runway! So I know this is not major famous person, but still he was on TV, and I didn't just see him, I spoke to him and he spoke back to me. Basically that means I'm awesome.

Then when I was walking home from class I noticed (well actually it was hard not to notice- it was a pretty big deal) that they were filming something in Washington Square Park. They had the park all blocked off by police and stuff, and there were GIGANTIC lights- we're talking as big as cars and at least 2 stories high- lighting up the whole Village. There were all these really dusty cars around so I think I might have walked straight through that movie set! I could see into the park and there were tons of people in full white body suits, even covering their faces, gathered around a huge glowing orb. Really creepy. I'm too much of a chicken to ask anyone what was actually going on, so I have no idea what it was, but it was still pretty exciting.

On another note, how is it possible for the wind to blow in every direction at once? It seems like a scientific impossibility.

Working hard for the money

The past few days have been a huge blur- I'm trying so hard to keep up with everything, but it seems like something's always coming up or I'm tired or there's just too much and I feel overwhelmed. But I'm hanging in there, not to worry.

Friday I had my first day as a temp. I worked from 9:30-6:30 at a very hip graphic design firm near the Empire State Building, and even though the office and the people were oh so cool, it was still the longest 9 hours of my whole life I think. I felt pretty awesome going to work at all considering it has been 2 months since I made a single dime, and it was neat to take the subway in the morning with all the investment bankers, lawyers, and other administrative assistants going to their fancy New York offices, and then look out the window of the trendy office (complete with a cappucino maker and the best smelling soap ever) and see the Empire State Building. However, I will have to get used to being treated like an idiot whenever I go into a temp job. It's pretty sad, and I definitely experienced some of it this summer, when I was "just a receptionist"- but now I'm "just a temp", which believe me, is a lot worse. No one talks to or really even looks at you, and they just expect you to be so so stupid. So if you make even one tiny mistake when you're learning their phone system, which is of course a little different from any other phone system (they always are), they treat you like you're even stupider. Needless to say, I survived the long day and got some reading done. And now I have $100 that I didn't have before. I was so tired at the end of the day of doing nothing though! I don't know what it's going to be like when I have to work all day and then go to class. That will be rough- but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

So over the weekend, I was supposed to do a lot of homework, but because I'm a loser I didn't do much because I was completely distracted and uninpsired. I have a lot of papers coming up, so it's a pretty bad time to be distracted and uninspired, but I guess I can't change how I already spent my time. Saturday was the coldest day we've had so far- we tried to read in the park, and sat there all bundled up trying to work on my marketing paper and just shivered and shivered. My hand looked like it belonged on a corpse, it was so blue and grey and shriveled. Gosh winter's going to be fun! Yet, I'm strangely excited. OH! I had the best apple I've ever had from the farmer's market that day too. So autumnal...

We met our friends from college Mara and Allison for dinner and drinks that night, and it was so refreshing. It's just great to know that regardless of how tough things are, or how difficult it is to make new friends, my old friends are always going to be around. And even if we don't see each other very often, when we do it will always be as special. We went to a fantastic noodle house for dinner- New York Chinese food is the best- for 4 of us it only cost $27. That's unheard of around here! We also went to a very trendy bar (aren't they all?) called Bar Nine, and I felt really out of place because I was wearing running shoes and every other woman in there was wearing her finest high heels. Bad planning I guess, but I really though we would just get some noodles!

Although I should have spent Sunday writing and researching we had to go to all you can drink brunch again (HAD to- Allison needed to experience it before she left). Fun as always, but we had a bad waitress- not as exciting as last week to be sure. We went to another bar after that and apparently made a scene without even knowing it. I guess to the bouncer Carley looked like she was about to die, although to us she seemed fine. So he kept looking at us, and the something happened when we were trying to pay, because they ahve a $25 minimum on credit cards, but for some reason decided to run ours anyway. I really have no idea, all I know is they pretty much kicked us out and I didn't even know why. I thought we were spending a lovely Sunday afternoon. We were mad anyway, they wouldn't give us water unless we paid for it. Lame lame lame.

Today I'm at a different temp assignment- this time I think it's an investment banking firm. Park Avenue, very fancy. Made a fool of myself at security, because, again, every place is a little different and I can never understand the security guards. Life is tough for me, can't you tell? Today's not quite as long, and actually not quite as boring, because I'm over in my own little corner and can just play on the internet (or write in this blog) and answer the phone every now and then. I had a horrible night though- I could not get to sleep- I've never had that much trouble. My mind was just racing- I kept imagining every thought I had was being typed on the computer in the form of a marketing exhibit (the paper I'm supposed to be working on) and then I'd freak out because I have so much to do...and on and on it went. Too much happened yesterday I guess. So I was really upset for most of the night because I was trying so hard to sleep, and then I got up at 3 and went and watched TV, and then went back to my bed at about 6, I think. And at 8 the phone rang and I had to go to work. I was very very sad- but I really really need money. So here I am.

Time for lunch! Eric's outside!

Chunks of meaning

WARNING: THIS IS VERY LONG- PROCEED WITH CAUTION

Yes...that was a topic in my management class last week. CHUNKS of meaning- that's what we're learning in grad school people- all kinds of CHUNKS...

Anyways, back to the fun-filled family weekend...I'm pretty sure when I saw you last we were deep in the throes of Saved By The Bell. I cannot imagine a more wonderful show- I haven't laughed so hard or been so happy watching TV since, I don't know, Saved By The Bell was on at least 6 times a day after school. Well on Sunday we had a BIG day. It started with an exciting subway ride to Battery Park and then we boarded a ferry with the masses of tourists wearing foam statue of liberty hats and headed to Liberty and Ellis Island. You could not imagine a more perfect day to be on the water and looking at the city. It was like a postcard. On Ellis Island we looked really hard for any sign of Strietelmeier, Ahlemeyer, Hoerl, or Vierhaus immigrants, and only found one Anna Vierhaus. Oh well...We didn't stay very long there (just long enough for me to be chased by a mad bee), because we had to get to the star event of the weekend...drumroll please....all you can drink brunch!

We felt pretty awesome because we were sitting outside on an absolutely perfect fall day in the middle of the superhip Greenwich Village drinking margaritas and basically making a huge scene. After only a couple of rounds, people were taking pictures of us. I'm not kidding. We made the most impressive sculpture out of our cauldron of guacomole and the neon plastic animals that come with every drink. We got our picture taken for the restaurant website. We are that cool. And we defintiely got extra bacon. Duh.

Then the craziest thing happened- we realized that our waitress is the sister of one of our friends from college who married another one of really good friends from college (it was Rebecca Sponseller, who also went to UOP, but before our time). How crazy is that?? How is it possible that in all the possible places to eat in New York, our very favorite place just happens to be the hub of UOP action.

The rest of the day was pretty much a huge waste because margaritas in the middle of the day will do that to you. I believe we wandered around Washington Square Park (a very cool place to be, and the site of a movie shoot lately...Rumor is that it's Will Smith...) and then went home and zoned out with Saved By The Bell, and then ate some more fat. But, basicallly, we should have just taken a nap, and then we could have had a much better party!

The next morning we ate in a diner where Paul's pickle tasted like a foot and Julie's lemonade tasted like lemons (crazy I know) and then my family had to go. So sad. There could not have been a better weekend though. Ever.

Then Eric and I watched some really funny old people play lawn bowling in Central Park- how funny would it be if we joined their lawn bowling club? We need some friends, so maybe that's a perfect way to make some!

On Tuesday we saw the craziest woman in Washington Square. She just started talking to this boy, and we were so amazed because he just let her keep talking to him forever! I would have run away so fast...

Allison Gomer is here and that means the best times are in store for us. Last night we went to the House of Brews (clever, yes?) and had the worst waitress ever! I've never seen anything like it...But the good news is Paul got a dish called the Southern Brown- it was literally a turkey sandwich stuffed with bacon, cheese, and cole slaw and smothered with cheese gravy. And some brown french fries. It was Paul's version of heaven I'm pretty sure.

Eric got an interview at Google, so next week he has to fly to Southern California to have interviews with about 100 people in 1 day. YAY ERIC!! And I get to work for my temp agency tomorrow answering phones at a graphic design company. YAY ME?

While we didn't discuss the chunks of meaning that we learned about last week, my class tonight was equally ridiculous. We literally watched videos for about 2/3 of the time. And the rest of the time, the class was just wondering why we were there and the professor asked us questions we didn't understand. It's really too bad...

Excuse me- how much would it cost for more bacon???

Oh man! What a weekend! My family was here for my sister's birthday and we had the best time. Friday was the first cold day of the fall and I loved it. Eric and I sat and ate in Central Park, shivering because of the wind and quivering because of the surrounding pigeons and yelling crazy man. Later we made our way up to my parents' hotel and went to a great dinner in the Upper West Side. It was the first of many great meals- this is what we do when we're having the best time- we eat...On Friday I also had my interview with a temp agency and it seemed to go really well, but I was supposed to work today and they never called me, so I'm already a little doubtful of how it will work out...Keep your fingers crossed.

After dinner I got to show everyone my apartment, and was a little "disappointed" because the shock of how small it is was completely worn off because their hotel room was about half as big as my apartment. So it seemed big. Who would have known. It was still fun to show my apartment because I'm really proud of everything we've done with it. The party continued well into the night while we watched Jeopardy, and then we sent my parents back out through the projects to get back to their hotel. Don't worry- they made it and I don't even think any crazy people talked to them.

Saturday we walked through my favorite little walk in Central Park that's in all the movies and is so beautiful in the fall, and then down 5th Avenue- that's a great way to see all the sights- Rockefeller Center, Tiffany, Cartier, Radio City Music Hall, Prada- you know, places we go everyday....Even though there's about 100 people per square foot of space on 5th Avenue, no one panicked and we had a great time just taking it all in. Paul took us to a tiny deli for lunch and we got gigantic bacon and chicken sandwiches (bacon incident #1) and then we saw GREY GARDENS (imagine us yelling GREY GARDENS! all over the city- we were just doing our part to help market the show....all the time) It was so fun to see Paul be on Broadway- is that really possible? I mean really....but it was and it was great and everyone should tell all their friends to run around the streets shouting GREY GARDENS so Paul can keep being on Broadway.

Because Paul knows way more fun places to go in all parts of the city than we do, he took us to a great place near Times Square for margaritas after the show. Because the weather is so perfect lately we had cocktail hour outside and were able to watch even more crazy people. That night we had dinner in an Italian restaurant I always walk by and see the nice looking people having nice looking food in a nice looking restaurant and I always want to go in. So we finally got to, and now I will continue to watch all the nice-looking people and food and know that it really is very delicious and we should always eat there. We also left our GREY GARDENS ticket strategically placed so as to continue our marketing efforts.

Ok listen- there's still more to tell, including but not limited to Saved by the Bell, bacon incident #2, feet-like pickles, and all you can drink brunch, but I have to go to bed...Stay tuned for episode 2 tomorrow...

I need a mosquito net

The mouse situation seems to be fairly under control, but we have a serious mosquito issue. I'm a little tired of waking up covered in bites! I don't live in a swamp I don't think...Hopefully I won't get West Nile.

Yesterday we were walking in Central Park and it was just so amazing. The leaves just started to change, and we were walking down this little pathway with trees lining either side, and the leaves were just falling all around us. It was like being in a movie. We kept walking and explored some more of the park- it is just so big. I don't even know where we were, but we found the zoo! How cool is it that you can watch seals playing in the middle of Manhattan?

Today we had incredible weather- it was an absolutely perfect fall day. Cold even. But perfectly sunny. Days like this are what life is about- you can't help but be energetic.

My classes this week were better- I don't feel quite as frusturated, and every now and then I even felt a little smart. There were a couple of awkward moments (not from me, thank goodness) that made me laugh a lot....For those of you who have seen "Clueless" there's a girl in my marketing class who could seriously have inspired the character of Ty. She has a really thick New York accent, always has her mouth open and really blank eyes, has no sense of style (wow- I am a mean mean girl- but I'm just trying to make a comparison), and always has something very opinionated, and typically irrelevant, to say. She is just so totally clueless!!

In my performing art administration class there's this poor Asian girl who can barely speak English, but she always has a lot to say too. So yesterday we were having some discussion about audiences or something, and she starts telling this story. I'm not kidding, she was still telling her story 5 minutes later and no one had any idea what she was even talking about! The professor kept trying to get her to get to a point, but I'm not sure she ever did...So to top it off, we also have a deaf girl who comes with a woman who types the whole class into "open captioning". And the woman kept yelling for the Asian girl to slow down or to speak up and that she couldn't hear. So this poor girl has to keep saying things over again and just keeps talking faster and still no one knows what she's talking about. It was so so sad. And so so awkward.

Tomorrow I have an interview at a temp agency tomorrow so maybe I'll be employed soon...

Roasting meats, fresh rain, and a little pee

New York has a lot of smells. I was thinking it mostly just smells like cakes (as evidenced by my NUTS FOR NUTS story) and trash (comes with the territory when you live by a trash pile). But in the past few days I've noticed that there really are different smells every time you turn a corner. Mostly they are of the roasted meat variety- sausages, chickens, hot dogs, you name it, it's probably roasting on a New York street corner...But sometimes you stumble across a little patch of Manhattan that smells just like pee. Sick.

I had my first New York interview today! It went well, but I'm not sure it's the job for me- it doesn't sound like they're going to actually be hiring a person until November or December, and the plan is probably to have a job before then...yeah...that would be good. So I guess we'll see about that, but I also guess it's kind of back to the drawing board/waiting game...

I either looked like an idiot or as sad as I felt as I walked home from my interview- I was wearing my very favorite gold high heels (I had to look really cute- it was Parson's School of DESIGN- people are cool there) but I guess I overestimated their comfort level for nice long New York walks. They were cutting my feet and the stupid straps wouldn't stay on so I was stopping evey 2 seconds to put them back on my feet so that I could get home without walking on the (possibly covered in pee) streets. I was pretty close to just calling it quits and sitting down and calling Eric to bring me some different shoes. Yeah, I was sad. Oh wait- then I dropped my almost full Jamba Juice in the street. Oh yeah- THEN I was sad. So I just dragged my poor feet home without my Jamba Juice treat. Boo Hoo.

I did accomplish everything I wanted to today- this is a first. I actually did every bit of homework and research that I planned to do today! Yay! I didn't go running as I so optimistically intended, but that's neither here nor there.... :)

When I left my apartment and was finally able to see it, the sky was really blue today. Almost like Colorado.

I like pumpkins

I'm just so so excited because it pretty much seems that fall is here. The past 2 days were perfect weather. Crisp, cool, breezy, perfectly sunny. The picture of fall. I cannot imagine more perfect days- unless of course I didn't have to do so much homework and I was with all my friends and family- but we can't have everything we want, so the perfect weather will have to be good enough.

I can't wait for the rest of fall- I want the leaves to start changing colors, the light to change to that perfect amber color (it's starting to already, if you catch it at just the right time), to see pumpkins everywhere...Speaking of pumpkins, Eric and I have a new hobby- baking loaves. Last week we made banana bread, which would have been more aptly named banana-butter bread. And tonight we made pumpkin bread! AND I LOVE ALL THINGS MADE WITH PUMPKIN!

Let's see, besides this great weather, what else is new? I have an interview! It's on Monday at Parson's The New School for Design. My schedule and future schedule are both a little crazy, so we'll see how much I can twist their arm to convinve them that I'm worth hiring. Otherwise, I think it might be back to the drawing board again- but cross your fingers.

Friday night Eric and I went to a very "New York" bar- a Belgian beer garden. But it actually felt like being in the middle of Europe when we were just right in the heart of the West Village. Then some of our neighbors had a GIGANTIC party. Not as fun when your neighbors have a GIGANTIC party and blast music (even if it was great ones like the Spice Girls) all night long when you're not part of that party. We're just hoping it's not too frequent of an event.

Today, we took the subway up to the Cloisters at 190th street. It's a monastery/museum that's really pretty. We actually didn't end up going into the Cloisters themselves, just walked around the park that it's in and read some really great books about marketing and audio processes. It was right along the Hudson and you could see the George Washington bridge and there was a lot of "wildlife" (aka even more squirrels and pigeons...but they were in a much happier, natural habitat I guess). It was a lovely way to spend a fall afternoon.

Since we were so far uptown, we decided to venture back into the Bronx to go to Target again. While, sure, it's nice to go to a wonderful place like Target, this was just not an enjoyable experience. It's too bad when Target makes you more tired and stressed out that when you began. It should make you happy and full of warm fuzziness. I mean, come on, it's Target!