100 things

Things have been slow this week so I'll take a shot at a "100 things" list.

1. i love lists, i have them for most things, so this is by no means a chore

2. i'm horrendous at math and haven't take a class in it since my junior year in high school.

3. i hate mushrooms, with a passion

4. i secretly think i'd be good at jeopardy because of my vast amount of useless information

5. I've had many jobs in my life, but only 2 professionally. they include working in a surf shop, beach club, salad stand, and dive bars


6. when i get off a bus i thank the bus driver, but don't expect people to thank me for seeing my ads in magazines

7. my lowest grade in college was a C+, the only C i ever got. i was super distraught about it.

8. i'm an overachieving perfectionist

9. and a paper nerd. when i was young instead of playing house i played 'cheers to you' -- it was a stationary store in my hometown. i pretended i owned it, and sold stationary.

10. my career found me, i didn't find it. all thanks to a headhunter. paper nerds unite.


11. when i was little these were my dream jobs (aside from owning the stationary store) magazine writer, national geographic photographer, teacher

12. my dream jobs now are: magazine writer, national geographic photographer, tv chef

13. i love to cook

14. i am horrendous at baking. something about measuring and mathematics puts me off

15. i wear my heart on my sleeve, but when it comes to matters of the heart, i wear it on the inside.
16. i think the first guy i ever kissed is gay now.

17. frigging is one of my favorite descriptive words. i use it often.

18. i befriend men easier then women, and have had only a handful of great girlfriends over the years

19. but then again, i believe in quality not quantity

20. i revisited a food from my childhood last year, and now it's a staple. mmmm. sloppy joes.



21. i am a proud supporter of weight watchers, attended meetings, lost weight, etc. i never told my fellow watchers that i lovingly referred to it as fat camp. (except for one fellow camper)

22. this is the day of my birth. May, 23d. the number 523 shows up daily in my life, it use to freak me out a bit, now i look forward to it

23. one of the worst things you can say to me and genuinely mean is this: "i am disappointed in you." -it'll make me cry 9 times out of 10.

24. i'm not a pro or an expert in anything. this use to bother me, now i see it as room for improvement

25. lime green has been and continues to be my favorite color for over 10 years.

26. capellini is my favorite long pasta

27. i keep a note pad next to my bed because i often wake up and think of things

28. i have a small family: parents, one brother, one aunt & uncle, 2 cousins. but if you hear our familiar stories, you'd think we were massive...again, quality not quantity

29. one of my biggest fears is not being able to have children. i guess i'll find out later in life

30. watching medical dramas and comedies on television at times makes me want to be a doctor because it looks like fun. then i remember how media makes advertising agencies seem so glamorous.. they're not.

31. i read 'chick' lit books and enjoy it

32. then wonder why i don't write one myself.

33. i have a strange crush on kid rock, he's sexy in the trashy-sexy sort of way

34. i'm afraid to write things down because they may come true. when an ex cheated on me, i never wrote it because there was a small part of me that believed it couldn't happen to me.

35. my earliest memory is when i was 2. my family was driving up to smugglers notch, vt for a late spring vacation. my brother and i were laying down in the back of the green van eating combos. i was wearing my red hoodie.


36. i use to ride my bike all the time when i was little. back and forth to friends houses, the beach, pizza place, you name. small secret... i am afraid to ride a bike now. turning scares me

37. i am afraid of spiders. but i am not afraid to squish them.

38. i was born with light hair, had blond highlights in high school, but never wanted to be a true blond

39. all of my grandparents passed away by the time i was 16. i'd give anything to have another day with each of them

40. E by Matthew Beaumont by far is one of my top 5 favorite books. it describes working at an advertising agency through a series of emails


41. i have only one moving violation. 85 & north druid hills road, improper right on red. till this day there still is no sign stating "no red on red" it was on 1/18/04

42. i've been a maid of honor twice. both dresses were lavender and pretty

43. i'm not particularly superstitious, but i won't walk on the seams/cracks of the jet way leading out to a plane.

44. if i could change one thing about myself it'd be my nose, but i don't think i'll ever get plastic surgery

45. i was a vegetarian for 8 years, beginning when i was 12. i don't regret it, it opened me eyes up to many new types of food.


46. i credit my junior year english teacher with giving me confidence in my intelligence and writing

47. since i started in advertising i thought it would be great to be a copywriter, but didn't want to go to school for it.

48. september/end of august is one of my favorite times of the year, because that's when all the school supplies come out

49. sometimes when shopping i vow to reinvent myself through clothing, but then come to my senses. it's much easier sticking to what i know. i can't pull 1/2 that crap off anyway

50. i'm a cheap date. i don't like lobster, don't typically drink hard alcohol (but will make an exceptions for the occasional margarita) and my favorite beer is PBR, and i'm not afraid to admit it.


51. i played soccer on a club/traveling team from kindergarten through senior year in high school. I then played on a co-ed intramural team in atlanta for 3 years

52. even though i consider myself athletic, i throw like a girl. yep, can't throw a football, even worse, a baseball

53. i never liked baseball anyway, i go to live games mainly for the hot dogs, beer and pretzels

54. at one point in my life i want to own a one of a kind piece of art that i absolutely love

55. it may sound cliche but matisse, picasso, van gogh and degas are some of my favorite painters



56. i was addicted to the gym over the last 2 years in atlanta, going everyday, sometimes twice a day. i joined a gym in nyc mid december, haven't walked through the door yet

57. Since 2000, i've had seven different addresses

58. i failed parallel parking on my driver's test -i'm awesome at it now

59. i do not normally snore, only when i am sick but both my parents do

60. getting my wisdom teeth out was very scary


61. i've had one dog in my life, her name was Rowdie.

62. I've seen the atlantic ocean, mediterranean sea, pacific ocean and caribbean sea.

63. i have naturally curly hair, it's kind of unruly. i don't wear it that way often

64. my biggest pet peeve is when people miss belt loops. i stopped a world history class in 6th grade because my teacher missed one and i couldn't concentrate

65. i've had 2 cars in my life you know about my focus, but my first was a white 1997 Jetta GE. it had a sunroof, cow seat covers and 3 transmissions

66. i love camping. and spent over 5 summers camping on a island on lake george. no electricity, no running water, and a port a potty

67. i love acoustic music. it's calming especially the songs you'd never think would sound good without a plugged in fender strat

68. i spell definitely wrong all the time. i just had to spell check this thing

69. i love writing letters, and still do to this day. a handwritten thank you note means more then one would think

70. I went skydiving once then dated my instructor. his boss took this picture for me while i was in the air


71. i think sarcasm is an excellent quality when used properly.

72. when he was little, my brother had bunk beds. we use to jump off the top bunk pretending to be superfly jimmy snooka of the wwf

73. sometimes i wear my ring with my grandmother's stones on my left hand if i don't want to be bothered by men, or feel skeeved out.

74. i don't get hit on that often.

75. my first concert was the beach boys at the garden state arts center. i was kind of upset when john stamos wasn't there
76. one of my favorite things about the north is that we have 4 solid seasons.

77. when i was little i wanted to be exactly like my cousin caren. i don't think i've ever told her that.

78. i love when men wink at me in that sweet hello/goodbye way. not the sleezy 'i want to jump your bones' way

79. knock on wood, but i've never broken a bone

80. though i sprained my ankle badly in the last game of my soccer season in 8th grade, a week before i was confirmed. i went down the aisle in my confirmation gown ready to be sworn in to catholic adulthood...on crutches.

81. i was 13 when i had my first alcoholic beverage without my parents knowing

82. i use to skip school and hang out in nyc during the day, then call my parents from manhattan mall in herald square and tell them i was in red bank. they learned of this last year

83. i've only driven in new york city once. i was 16 and didn't have a license yet

84. it bothers me when people over-quote movies

85. i have a black thumb. i kill plants. i'm trying to work on that
86. when i stayed at my aunt and uncle's house before finding my first apartment in atlanta i could hear a train pass by nightly. i miss that.

87. i still think my dad can do anything. it's a thought i hope to never outgrow

88. one of my favorite desserts comes from a college roomie. graham crackers slathered in funfetti icing.

89. i refer to moles as beauty marks. i have 3 near my nose that I love. when i got my senior high school picture back i was sad to see they retouched them out.

90. i have type 0 negative blood, and am a universal donor. i've been doing so since i was 18.
91. i'm a ny giants fan and have been since i can remember. LT #56 was my favorite player growing up

92. i'm decent at flag football. the last game i played i scored 2 touchdowns. one on an interception

93. i had mono when i was in 6th grade and was out of school for three months. it was not as fun as it sounds

94. i like when people compliment my lips or eyes. it's endearing

95. i love peanut butter. this kind is my latest favorite

96. i have one tattoo. a small blue flower on my right toe about the size of a quarter. i don't plan on getting anymore

97. i have a somewhat unhealthy obsession with dayplanners. the more the merrier

98. yet i still think i'm spontaenous.

99. when i hear a ringing sound in my ears i still believe the old wives tale that someone is talking about me and hope they are saying good things.

100. i hope you enjoyed reading this as much as i enjoyed writing it.

strange, strange ny

i have a super long post in the works, that will take me some time. i hope you will all find it interesting, i am definitely learning a lot writing it. but onto the strange occurrences of last night

well, i guess not plural, since there was only one. but needless to say, weird.

a friend from atlanta is intown for a couple days so i met up with him for drinks last night. just as i was finishing up dinner and ready to leave, my door buzzer rings. i hit the talk button and asked who it was. all i heard was "Police Department."

and cue stomach drop. i responded back with "okay. hold on." then "i'll be right down." what else do you say?

those two flights downstairs were very slow. every horrible, God awful thing went through my head beginning with death.

i get to the door, 2 officers in suits stand outside and show their badges. i pause and open the door and they look confused. confused??? and what do they say? "i think we paged the wrong apartment, we needed 2F" i told them quite brazenly to never do that to me again. hehe

building is okay, as are my fellow neighbors. who knew what the issue was. so, i calmed down, walked a couple blocks and met a pal for beers. from extreme nerves then reassurance to a tipsy calm. it was a good night.

bear with me

i've had a few glasses of wine. i got out of work at 5:00 and met my ol' hoboken roomie for wine & aps at houston's on 27th and park. good times.

so my parents came up this weekend, we had a great time. we walked around, attached a shelf to the kitchen wall, saw a broadway play, enjoyed nyc bagels, did it all. we had such a great time. mine is a very small apartment, upwards of 425 square feet, but it felt very homey with my folks visiting. I got the 'mom decorating approval' and all was good.

we saw "Company" - luckily we got tickets from TKTS (which use to be in times square, but is not at the marriot off of times square while the T sq. location is being renovated) so, we got ticktes 5o% off, and booked the 8:00 show. it was good, marginal. not great. but i was glad to see a show on broadway. we don't recommend it though.

okay. i am not feeling extremely sentimental, outgoing or open tonight. woke up in a mood, rain maybe? and don't worry, i didn't smell the nyc gas.
have a good one.

you can make fun of me now.

just a short post to enlighten you on the current state of my slowness. we've decided on costa rica as the destination for sarah's birthday, so i just checked the time difference. so what did i just say aloud?

"ooh costa rica is only an hour behind us. it's like being in alabama"

hmm... no, not really.
point and laugh, go on.

fresh direct is my friend

as of 8:00 am, I have all my groceries. and the "estimated total" was only $3.00 off, which is good. They also took 10% off my first order, because I'm new AND gave me a box of homemade fresh direct candy in an adorably branded orange accented box. I LOVE it, and it tastes good too. (why is it that i went to first taste the chocolate instead of say, the lettuce?)

dumb question. bring on the chocolate.



it's on top of the scale on my kitchen windowsill. They even call me out with a new first customer sticker. i feel so loved. anyway, out the window can see its still a bit gross out this morning, so i tipped the guy a little better.

this is what he had to bring up 2 flights. (and 2 cases of diet coke that immediately went in the fridge to be chilled. priorities, people)



and one more, and a bag of frozen stuff that went into the freezer. I can't tell you how good it feels to have a full fridge again. i slacked and ate out a lot all thorough december, which isn't like me.



there's a shot of my kitchen. for ya. tiny, but bigger for nyc standards. well. time to go prep the place for the parents arrival. after doing some errands and possibly a small scale museum my dad and i are going to make meatballs & sauce. YUM. can't wait, more good for me food to have around the joint for a while.

have a great 65 degree day.

don't get me started on global warming.
all i want it snow.

the streets are lined with evergreens.

or douglas firs.

It's that time of year where Americans nationwide haul the ol' Christmas tree to its final resting place on the curb. new york is no exception. my walk home was piney fresh. i enjoyed it.

back to work to this week, feels good to be back on a schedule that does not include waking up at 11:00 am with a first meal around 4pm. who knows, maybe i was in part reliving my teenage years.

tomorrow morning sometime between 7:30 am and 9 am marks a major milestone in my new york inhabitance. i ordered groceries online from fresh direct, and that's my delivery window. haha. still cracks me up. now, for those of you who know me, know i love to cook and even more so food shop. i swear i could roam the aisles for hours --especially in Publix, such wonderful branding. so, i miss that. but i'm sure as hell not lugging 2 12 packs of diet coke and various other foodstuffs home 5 blocks then up 2 flights of stairs. call me lazy. i'm okay with it.

so i think, once a month i'll partake in the whole online shopping experience. i'll update you as needed.

for the love of God i wish my upstairs neighbor would not repeatedly throw things across her apartment then run to fetch them in her stilettos. if anyone needs to wear heels that often, they have a problem. or more so, will have a foot/arch problem later in life. my downstairs neighbor must love me.. hmm. wonder if he does

well. my night consists of winding down, a glass of wine, some whole foods dinner and cleaning to mark the visit of my parents tomorrow. what a terribly exciting life i lead.
(and i'm okay with that too.)

a new start

Happy New Year! Looking back on 2006, I have to say it was a mighty fine year, that passed by so quickly. My resolution last year was to move, but I guess you can't really resolve to do that, so I planned it instead, an open-ended plan. Probably one of the only resolutions I've kept. So, new years in the big apple. I didn't see the ball drop in times square, they don't let you toast in the new year and to boot, there's no where to pee. 1 million people needing to pee is more like a nightmare for me then a way to ring in the new year. "i resolve to have a smaller bladder next year."

But, as by my last post, I started early on my resolution. I vowed to try to meet more people, and I have. I also need to add "be better at remembering names" to my resolution list. (i suck at this!) Being new in a city you give yourself time to get acclimated, set up house, apartment, find the best deli, closest coffee shop etc. Most of that is done on your own, and before you know it, you've spent most of your new city time exploring solo. Which personally, I don't mind, but it'd be nice to have company once in a while. So my new years eve was spent with a couple of work acquaintances, who I can now call friends. I hopped a bus uptown met them at the bar, and had a great time. Glad I spent it here.

It was a bit strange though, not being in Atlanta. For the past four years I've spent New Years with the same group of people, family & friends. I missed them a lot that night, especially when a couple of southern rock songs came on and blared through the speakers, Skynard, Charlie Daniels, etc. -David Allen Coe didn't make the play list, shame, really.

But, there was a ton of Bon Jovi, and let me tell you, my new pals and I share a similar love for that jersey boy.

So my vacation is coming to an end. I accomplished a couple of things over my 12 day break. I finally bought my wellies! I wore them last night for the first time. I love them. well worth the search. I outfitted my apartment with a new rug, and I slept like a teenager. Up until 2, asleep until 11. Sick, really. I kind of hate that I can sleep this way, but maybe it is my body telling me I need the extra hours? Possibly gearing up for what is to come in the following weeks at work. -Which i sheepishly admit I'm looking forward to. I miss the routine. I know. I'm a nerd.

shall we walk?

I grabbed a bus uptown this afternoon to pick up my new years ticket at 76th and first. It was so nice outside I decided to walk home, well, not actually home, I stopped to get my nails done on 16th. That's a whopping 60 blocks. It really wasn't intentional, I just didn't have anything else to do. I'm not very familiar with the upper east side, so i was a great time for exploration. Walking at near dusk is one of my favorite things to do in this city. It's amazing the way the oranges, pinks and violets of the sunset reflect off the buildings.

I'm not quite sure why tourists take the double decker "see Manhattan" bus tours. I know the guides point out important buildings, etc. but you can see it all on a ny transit bus for $2 and save $38 for a nice dinner. On my walk home I saw a lot of the city, the UN, Tudor City, and a bunch of shops and coffeehouses I never new existed. One section of town that I caught my eye was a tree lined cobble stone walk on 47th between 1st and 2nd. Its a part of an area in midtown east called Turtle Bay. This one section of the walk caught my eye, sadly all I had was my camera phone, so here's the best shot.

the quote reads as follows:

"Never 'for the sake of peace and quiet' deny your own experience or convictions"
-Dag Hammarskjold

Smart man. I love the quote. Here's another one from him that I found online and like.

Pray that your loneliness may spur you into finding something to live for, great enough to die for.
-Dag Hammarskjold

Who knew you can find philosophy on 47th? Anyway, great walk home, skirted past Bellevue quickly but overall great walk. anyway. after the quick manicure I bought a little new years dress. I'm excited. My first new years in the big city, and it's with a bunch of acquaintances, so I'm starting on my resolution early...meet more people.
good times.

hmmm. where to go?

Let's see. Some of you know I've been planning a trip to Barcelona to travel over the Easter holiday with a friend from work (Sarah) to celebrate her 30th birthday. She's traveled the world already, so our destinations are limited. It'll be me, Sarah, and some of her pals from her home country (which is Sweden). Looks like Barcelona is out, so we're up for any suggestions. On the table so far we have:

1. Costa Rica
2. South America
3. ???

Any suggestions are welcome. We'd like a relatively warm destination, and keep in mind some of the girls will be flying out of Sweden to join us. Regardless, I'm leaving the states over Easter break, and could not be more excited.

Toto... don't go back to kansas.

because Rutgers just blew kansas state out of the water, or plains for that matter. 37-10. winning never tasted so sweet. I'm so proud to be a Rutgers Alumni
here's a tid bit of trivia regarding the ol' scarlet knights, care of a fella named Chris Duncan, at the AP.

"Rutgers outscored its opponents 103-28 in the first quarter this season."
here's the full article.

Unfriggen believable. Thank you Texas bowl. Texas now has a special place in this Yankee heart o'mine.
...how many days until next season?

cheater.

as i was poking at my post holiday belly pudge this morning, i thought of a little conversation i overheard at a christmas party a few weeks ago.

I was in line to get a glass of wine with a friend, and overheard a girl tell her friend that she'd be back at the bar later, she had to pick something up. Her friend asked what she was picking up, and since she was pretty drunk at this point she responded pretty damn loudly with 'coke'. (now, if you're like me, you'd think, ooh, i'd love a 20oz diet coke right now) well, not the kind of substance she was talking about.

so this got me thinking. cokeheads are cheaters. the girl was early twenties, very skinny, pretty girl-- the kind you hate. One of the apparent side effects of coke, (think Kate Moss now) when regularly used is weight loss. Listen folks, you cheat. you're cheaters.

Can't you just try to lose weight by diet, exercise, stress and diet coke like the rest of us? For all the money you're wasting up your nose, hell, you can join jenny craig. Now I know that the people who use coke don't rely it on soley as a weight loss drug. but you know its in the back of their burnt out little minds.

alas. time to go back to examining the pudge.

Eve at the Met

I woke up late this morning as planned. Tooled about the apartment for most of the morning, caught up on some news then pulled myself together to venture out for the day. i made sure to stay away from herald square, macys, bloomies, or any other federated department chain due to massive amounts of people who don't realize in new york, we walk 2 x the average person's speed.

I made my way to the Met and saw the Cezanne to Picasso: Ambroise Vollard Patron of the Avant-Garde exhibit. They had a painting of Picasso's on display that is one of my favorites. it was at the high in atlanta, but sadly i never made it to the museum in time to check it out. So, I was very happy to see it in it's true live form today. Here it is.


The painting is called: The Two Saltimbanques (Harlequin and his Companion), it's on loan from the Pushkin State museum in Moscow. I just really like the colors, and i think we can all relate to the expression on the woman's face after a long day of work.

There was also another painting ( a Van Gogh) that I'd never seen before. Van Gogh painted most of this man's family. I liked his somber expression.

The series was good, apparently Van Gogh stayed with this Man's family while in France. I forget the other details, my little audio player was having some technical difficulties at that point. Needless to say, the painting is called Armand Roulin. If you want to check out some of the other works I saw today, click here. The exhibit closes January 7th, if you're up here, i highly recommend it.

Anyway. I'd better get going. I need to clean house a bit since I'll be meeting my brother under the schedule ticker/board thing at Penn Station in exactly and hour and a half.

Merry Christmas to everyone.

I survived brooklyn

I made it. and God was it nuts. I'll go back, but way after the holidays. Loads of people, Target & Marshalls lines 100 shoppers long. I'm not one for crowds, so I made my return to the Marshalls service desk and hit the road. well... subway

On my ride back, I sat next to a family. 2 brothers, late twenties and their parents. Here's what I heard.

Mother: So, can we have a wrapping party tomorrow morning? Coffee, the New York Times and gifts?

Son #1: Sure, I'll pick up bagels

Father: After that we can make a plan on where we still need to go and what we need to pick up.

Son #2: Sounds good to me.


...and then there's me. I looked over at this happy family. Son #1, clearly gay. very nice looking an dressed to the nines in the latest casual male fashion. son #2, not a new yorker, or maybe a past new yorker. he had a calm about him that screamed not of the city. ( i envied his calmness) but most of all, I wish I could be there. grabbing coffee and wrapping presents with an everything bagel and cream cheese, surrounded by a big family, carrying on about how the paper is too thin, or how this one present wouldn't fit a certain family member.

My family is spread out over the country this year for the holidays. I knew in my heart of hearts that I've move to NYC in 2006, but I wasn't sure dead-on sure until i got the job offer, so I never booked a flight. Who knew where I'd fly out of.

So this year, I'm home, in nyc with my brother visiting, I'm really looking forward to it, but i'll miss being surrounded by family and the little ones.

On a lighter note, I bought my first big purchase since moving here (aside from renting the apartment), a rug. I'm still not sure, I'll post a picture soon, and take a poll.

The purchase put me in such a good mood, I was ready to spread some holiday cheer so I met up with Di, my former Hoboken roomie, had a bunch of beers a burger and then some wine back at the old place. Around 12:45 I thought it was time to head on home back to the city. Now, this time of year, there are plenty of tourists around mingling, shopping, sight seeing at all hours, but sometimes it can be a little scary riding the trains late at night.

You know a good pal when you can call them at any hour just for a walk home. I'm lucky to have one. So there's a history there, but I think we're both past that. It's usually just one of us rambling nonsense, reliving old memories and laughing about them. It makes the walk from Union Square shorter, and I sleep better knowing that someone cared enough at 2:30 am to keep me safe regardless of what city either of us are in. call it chivalry, kindness or what have you, but it warms the heart either way.

on that note. I am going to tuck into bed, and sleep late tomorrow. I have a date tomorrow afternoon with Picasso at Met that I would not want to miss.

Quest to another borough

Okay, I'm heading out soon, venturing off this island of mine. Destination: Brooklyn. I've been there only once before, needless to say, I'm a bit nervous? Strange, I know. I'm going out with a mission though, Marshalls & Target. I don't know what it is that makes me question my sense of direction, probably just the unknown streets/buildings etc, lack of known landmarks. Then again, i don't know the upper west side too well, but figured that out quickly when a broker made me waste my lunch hour trudging uptown to tell me he didn't have anything in Gramercy for me, but would I consider the UES? No. for the thousandth time no. Thank God for Mel the broker, he's a life saver. Gramercy fits like a glove. Sidetracked again.

So, i can navigate new york, even parts of I'm not accustomed to, easily. I'm not quite sure what it is, but maybe moving north of the mason-dixon fixed my internal compass. But Brooklyn scares me, it's massive, it's huge. There are tons of separate towns, areas, etc. If it wasn't for HopStop I'd be screwed. Seriously the best website for transplants, natives and tourists. I highly recommend it. I use it daily. Looks like I have a short trip on the R and a 3 minute walk. Let's hope I make it back in one piece. If i don't' post in coming days, I'm hiding in brooklyn, somewhere. Park, heights, slope? try one of them.
but at least the bridge is super pretty.

gather 'round children. a story from my youth

There is a homeless man who pulls his shopping cart up beneath an awning across the street my apartment and settles in for the night around 11:00 every evening. I just walked into my kitchen and caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of my eye, and it reminded me of a story.

I was lucky enough to grow up in the NY metropolitan area, close to massive amounts of culture, museums, broadway shows, you name it, it's here. My father brought me into the city a lot to expose me to things outside your A-typical jersey shore town. In the fall of 1993 the MoMA was featuring the works of Henri Matisse- one of my favorite artists, so we planned a father/daughter outing one Saturday.

I'd been to the MoMA many times before that, but something about Matisse's "The Dance" took my breath away. The shear size of the oil painting was enough to baffle me.


The painting measures 8' 6 1/2" x 12' x 9 1/2". That's feet people. feet.

I'm getting away from the topic at hand, back to the story. So, we were heading back on the subway to have a late lunch around Rockefeller Center. When we got on the train, I sat across the car from my dad -i felt like such an adult. One stop later, 2 men boarded our car. Dapper, 3 piece suits with hats to match, and one carried a cane. I knew by looking at them they were homeless, or panhandlers but they had this aura of confidence about them. I must have stared a bit too long because the man in the blue suit caught my eye. And this is where it begins.

They started singing.. to me, at me.. on bended knee. I wish I could remember the song they were belting out, in tune, in perfect harmony. At the next stop my dad stood up, and nodded that I follow. He laughed a little bit as the train pulled away and mentioned that I turned ghostly white.

But it gets better. About a month later, my dad and I were making lunch on a Sunday afternoon. Sitting at the table with a sandwich piled high of Italian meats and a side of Lay's potato chips reading the New York Times was a typical Sunday lunch for us. I remember opening up the paper to pull out the New York Times Magazine, then nearly choking on my food. The magazine was doing a cover story on panhandlers in the city. The cover looked like the opening credits of a Brady Bunch episode, a picture in every corner, 3 x 3, 9 in total. The lower middle picture stunned me. It was them.

2 black gentleman, one in a blue 3 piece suit, one in brown complete with matching hats smiling as if they'd just won a Grammy for the subway performance. We laugh about this story to this day. Every time I see a duo of older panhandlers singing, I check for a familiar face.

They certainly made their mark on this city.
I hope to do the same.

No, tell us what you really think Ms. Lauren

I have a problem. I'll admit it. I have a very hard time controlling my facial expressions. One of my dear friends has the same issue, she, like myself, must buy dark colored sunglasses so no eye rolling is caught by those involved in conversation. The said problem is what brings me to the subject of my current post, stress.

I'm stressed. And at this point, only 3 months into a new job, it's something I feel nobody should see. I've always been one to ask for help when I need it, but now it's a completely different story. I'm not sure if it's some undying need to prove myself or just a different set of conditions to work under. I'm not in over my head, but I'm in definite need of a snorkel.

Which brings me to my current state. Last week was a shit-show, and has seemingly carried over into this week. The agency's closed from Dec 22- Jan 2, so you can imagine everyone wanting to get their campaigns off to a roaring start before the new year. Since I am one of the only folks not spending my holiday out of state or country, I've got a full plate, and then some seconds. Which normally would not be a problem, but as many of us know who still hold onto our 'skinny jeans' fitting massive campaigns into 4 days when the original schedule allots 4 weeks, is a bit of a tight squeeze. And apparently, my face said that for me. great.

So a semi- early night at work, 8:15 or so, with a doggy bag of estimates to do upon my arrival home left me a bit uneasy as I was walking out of the office. Then, in a city of thousands of cabs, you think I'd find one. No luck. So I settled for the bus, the 101 to be exact. Now, I'm not a bus person, I prefer the subway, but tonight's ride changed my point of view.

I get on, find a seat near the driver because God knows what stop I should get off on. We start chatting and he tells me of his hellish day. Turns out he is off tomorrow, and with 3 routes left to go for the night, he just wants his vacation to start without trouble. Then, a bike messenger had nerve to jump in front of his bus, stop, pause, then slowly pedal off.

Quote the driver, "Sometimes I get so stressed, I want to hit them. Run 'em over with my bus. The dumb f'ers."

Now, normally this would scare me a tad. But 2 points popped into my head in the following seconds. 1. This is New York. and 2. Regardless of a your occupation there are stressors, they just take on different forms. And the sad part about it all, when I first jumped on the bus, I thought to myself. Wow, great job. driving, see all of New York, what is there to be stressed about?

Silly me to underestimate my 101 driver.

So. better get cracking on the estimates. Maybe I'll spend some time in front of the mirror practicing being stoic.

do your ears hang low?

or are your shoulders just too tensely high?


completely tense today. Not sure what exactly threw me for a loop. maybe because i don't know a damn thing about buying/scheduling media being that my expertise lies in production. ugh. what runs and picks up from when. not sure how cymk (that's the 4 color process of printing for all of those non-ad people Cyan Yellow Magenta and K, and yes, Norton, the K means black...) fits into pick up rates etc. so you can imagine my frustration today when the 2.5 hours i was available and not in meetings revolved around figuring out media issues. bleh

today is bbdo's holiday party back in atlanta. I'd love to be there. I love JWT, ours is on thursday night, and I'm raring to go & looking forward to it. it'll be strange this year, being the newbie in a big class. at bbdo, just under 4 years in i was a old timer. Sad the turnover rate in advertising. I miss the people. what a good group. they'll have an excellent time tonight.

as will i on thursday. it all takes time. everything. and as you of know my timing, it sucks. I'm also one of the most impatient people. aren't we all though...

***I do want to give credit where credit is due. Today is Edvard Munch's birthday. He painted The Scream, also known as The Cry, above. Good ol' Edvard. This is one of my favorite paintings by him:
Click here to see it in large format.

slow motion

Many of you know I'm a wimp, not in all aspects of my life, but definitely in some. well I'm queen wimp today. My full on cold has made me take residence on the couch with a limited number of channels to watch and a depreciating supply of OJ.

I braved the aches and stuffiness to walk down to Duane Reade to pick up the "quil" combo pack of day/night. I hope it's worth the $9.99. I'm not a big medicine poppper when i have a cold. i think it's mainly because I never know what to take. My head feels like that moment when you realize you just drank too much, when all of a sudden an entire night's worth of alcohol hits you and you think, "damn I'm a little drunk." Everything is kind of moving in slow motion.

hop your days are more fast paced and fun.

10k, possibly a marathon

My nose is running faster then the guy who won the Peachtree this year. Doc, looks like we have a full on cold here. Hoboken dinner plans were cut short after the entree, sniffling took over.

and I really need to get some sleep.
sweet dreams

c'mon Sam Champion

predict me some snow. This is complete BS. it's 24 degrees outside. wtih a wind chil of 17. where's the white stuff? if it is going to be this cold, at least tease me with a slight chance of frozen precipitation. pretty please??

I walked out of the office today and swore it was snowing. Unfortunatly it was just a lot of fuzz. It looked like someone ripped their down jacket and teeny tiny feathers were floating around down the avenues. God i can't wait for snow.

So it's 9:00 pm on Friday night, I'm on my couch bundled in pj's watching the end of Rudolph the Red nose reindeer and writing to you fabulous people. Poor girl you think? Heavens no. There are very few places I'd rather be right now. This week took its toll on me. The 72 to 24 degree swing in temperature has left me sniffing and achy. (quote, me). The past three days at work I've vowed to leave early, no such luck. Isn't it strange how you usually feel so crappy in the morning but in the mid afternoon when your internal clock is fully awake, you feel a tad bit better only to fall into late afternoon slump of sneezing and a scratchy throat?

ahh the comfort of my big green couch.
time for a cup of tea and long overdue snuggle with my quilt.
Good Night.

I care. and so does JWT

Today was JWT cares day. Which means the agency closes and everyone is off volunteering in the 5 boroughs. I picked "literacy & arts" with most of the production department. It was a good time, and the first time I've ventured off to Brooklyn. Seems like a cool place. Reminds me a bit of Hoboken. -- I know, Brooklyn is huge, and I can't tell you which part we were in. I just know that we too the L train to the first stop inside the borough.

We read books and did craft projects with 1st and 2nd graders. It was fun, made me miss Trouble & superchunk back in ATL. I'm counting down the days until New Years, that's when my three weeks of vacation kick in, can't wait. And if you'll remember my previous post, you'll remember that I plan to go abroad this year and visit the mother country. So it may not be Itlay, it may be Barcelona with a work pal, but hey, it's abroad.

Anyway. off to drink more beers after our "after volunteering celebration." Just thought I'd mention my random (well, planned) act of kindness for the day. Which reminds me. Remind me in the future to tell the story about the bum, coffee and Rutgers game.

In the meantime, there's much more to do up here I'd say. So if you're bored, move to New York. It truly is the city that never sleeps. Good times.

a cat or 2. and a roach.

I felt things were getting a little heavy the past few days, so I'm bringing it back, humor that is.

About now you're wondering hmm...what does the title and this movie have to do with humor. Here's how my mind works.

The above clip is the the latest commercial from A diamond is forever, DTC- Diamond Trading Company. They are my main client at work. I love this commercial for many reasons:

1. It came out of the agency I work for
2. The song in the background sung by Cat Power. Her voice is amazing, you should check her out. Her vocals are also on this spot. Funny, isn't it.
   
3. It makes me think of an event that happened 3 weeks ago where I laughed so hard i nearly peed my pants. (that's APMP for you -A)

...but wait? 2 cats and a roach? The song is originally sung by Cat Stevens, but covered by Cat Power for this spot. Unfortunately I don't think a full length version will ever be released. Not sure if they did one. But seriously check out her music, she's great. but on to the funny story...

So by now you've seen the spot above. When she picks up the necklace off her chest she looks a bit confused. Me, i'd think it was a bug and probably would've thrown it across the room. But I'm lucky, I had that necklace on last week It's nice. Maybe I wouldn't have thrown it.

On to my story. So the day before moving into my apartment, my dad was so kind to pack the truck for me while i was out driving all around Monmouth County looking for a microwave and a decent toaster oven. Well, the rails of my sleigh bed blend in to the wood our barn is made out of, so they were forgotten on moving day. quote reader... wait... did she say barn? Yep barn. wish i had a picture. anyway.

So my dad came up with the rails a week later to help with my apartment, drill stuff, hang stuff, you know dad stuff. So when it came time to put my bed together we had to move the mattress and box spring near the couch (small place...) So, as we lifted the mattress off I saw something black near on top of the box spring near my dad's foot. Needless to say i freaked out. "ahhhhh roach!" My dad looked at the 'black thing' then looked at me then started laughing--hysterically. My first repsonse, out loud, "this is not funny." ---at least it wasn't yet.

Here's the kicker, I get laughter from my father. He laughs until he cries as well. So while doing so he picks up the said roach and shows me the culprit, a wadded up black hairband. Oops.

I nearly peed my pants.

and.
I miss Helen.
<-----that's Helen.

Excuse me, do you have the time?

my timing sucks, but I'm grinning like a school girl. Do you ever get that news that makes you smile so much people around stare, ask if what meds you are on or smile back because your grin is infectious? I vote the third, because I had a good day, more or less a great morning.

I've never had good timing. I moved to Atlanta on a whim after thinking about working in New York right out of school. Two months after graduation when I had been just over 3 weeks into settling into my new city my old internship boss calls with a position. Timing.

Don't even get me started with guys. They're all over the place, across the country. Not that there's many, very few actually. But those counted, even though they never lived stayed in my home city long. I'm not necessarily referring to NYC or my time in Jersey either, I chalk most of my timing problems up to the South

These guys have never been in the same place as me. There's the old coworker, things finally broke/started 3-4 weeks before he moved to Jacksonville, FL. I hear he's engaged to be married now. Great news, he was a good guy. Another one's a skydive instructor who lived over an hour away in a small town outside, way outside, of Atlanta. That never worked. Another, pretty much everyone knows those details, never in the same state for more then a week at a time. We're in the same time zone now so that's a plus, and he's always the one i tipsy text, or one I call when I need company on my city walk home. At least that goes both ways, he's probably the friend who will stick with me. Timing, nonetheless.

Which leads me to my current situation. Did you ever reveal information just a little too late, because you were just a little too scared? I've been feeling I may have let a good thing go, so I spoke up, regardless of it being too late. But I'm a big chicken, so a friend exposed it with my blessing. I quote Bill Murray from What about Bob... "baby steps." So, my words are the ones out there for the time being, but we'll see if there's any response. And sure, I'm one the most open people you may know, but when it comes to matters of the heart, I'm as Bashful as the dwarf . It's sad I didn't become good friends with this one earlier. 6 months or so I think. He's a gem. It doesn't take long for good people to make big impacts.

So without wearing my heart too openly on my sleeve, (i've shared a lot, and deleted a lot of lines-- the anxiety comes close to hitting that send button today) I leave you with a cheesy moral to my story.

Even when it is ridiculously uncomfortable, say it, or get a friend to.
otherwise you can blog it up to bad timing.
I'd take company over discomfort anyday.
but that's just me.

My weekend

Lots to tell about this weekend, now that's it's winding down. Let's start with Saturday, shall we?

Saturday:
Woke up, tried to meet a friend for brunch, arrived too late so errands were in order. I walked all over the west side, trying to find Kmart for some cheaper-then-the-Container-Store storage options. I'd left my to do list with store locations at home, so you can imagine the site of me kicking myself on the street after walking around aimlessly for over an hour. At which point I realized I hadn't eaten, and it was early afternoon, so I stopped at Starbucks.

I got in line to order a grande sugar free vanilla skim latte and a low fat cinnamon swirl something or other and I notice the man in front of me carrying his adorable son, struggling to gather a dozen bottled frappaccinos onto the counter. The little boy was probably about 9 months old and was just picture perfect in his little fuzz ear flap hat. I was making faces at the Little guy when his father turned to me nodded and handed him over to me. So there I was, standing in line at Starbucks, read to pay for my order holding a random child. Do I have a maternal aura about me or and do look trustworthy enough hand your child over to? Fathers of little ones are funny, hand the babe over to just about anyone. So as i was bouncing Junior on my hip, and getting my wallet out (babysitting Bryce prepped me for multi-tasking while carrying a child) the father paid my bill. My going rate per 4 minutes of babysitting? $6.29. hehe. made me laugh.

So I finally got to over to Kmart, bought my goods and went home. I even had time to hang a few pictures. What do you think of the mirrors? They hung in my last apartment in Atlanta, but the spacing is annoying me a bit. OCD never lets you down.


So after updating the blank walls, I met Diane and headed down to the east village to meet some old college pals to catch the game. You know the results, we lost 41- 39. But if there is a way to lose, we did it gracefully and with skill. They gave their best, up until the last seconds of the 3rd overtime. Good Job boys, Can't wait for the bowl game.

So after the drinks were finished and our voices had gone hoarse, it was time for our collective walks home. Now this is the point in the night, after we've all drank countless beers, were we find the need to text & call our exes, "that boy" or "that" girl. Hysterical, those of us walking out, it was like 1,2,3.. type your message leave your voice mail and open up old wounds. makes me laugh thinking of it again. Lucky for me, my phone connected and I had a 'Past' to talk to averted their eyes took that extra step away from me. I went to bed in a good mood. They you'll wake up the way you went to bed, not sure who "they" are but it's a saying, which leads me to Sunday.

Sunday:

Today I decided to be a tourist, the city around me and my warm rich home brewed coffee this morning put me in a mood for a long stroll. I walked through Times Square, down to 34th/Herald Square finally ending up near Washington Square Park. Lots of squares eh?



Shopped a bit on St. Marks Place where i bought a pair of aviators of which I'm sure I look completely ridiculous in, but fun nonetheless. Oh, I took my camera out with my today because I wanted to show you my favorite street sign on 19th (my street). It's at 19th and Park and each time I pass it i think someone should have their picture taking in front of it, arms crossed and pouting. hehe.



Well... that's my weekend in nutshell.

For once it's greener..

on my side of the grass.
check the time. I'm still at the office. and you know what? Many of you may think... what in the hell, who can work 14+ hours in a day and still be somewhat sane? or willing to sit in front a 20" mac screen and not pout?


the grass is greener over here at this three initial agency. Who knew dropping a character off the end of your place of business would bring such respect, confidence and overall better way of life.

lady luck is on my side. along with a bunch of elbow grease.

I'm releasing a campaign this evning that is my baby, more so then the cingular rokr art. I'm proud of it, it's grace and beauty on a black background. I know it's a tease to not copy in a PDF for you, but you'll have to wait until the end of January when the February magazines come out. I'll give you a list, not to worry.

diamonds, diamonds everwhere. One would think I'm about to be engaged by the way I can speak the language of facets and bezels. Far from the truth. My date this evening is Mac, mentioned above. Mac mini to be exact. Good times.


When I left Atlanta I vowed not to change, but that's a broken promise. I've changed for the better, I'm sure I'd be better in your company now so more then ever. I smile often, laugh harder and can smoke you in a long block (avenue to avenue) walk.

well.
back to the studio, time to check on my babe.

good times

I can't express to you how refreshing it is it be in new york, or how I'm at ease amidst chaos.

I can't tell you how wonderful it is to see old friends and share drinks with them, reminisce about old times. For those I raised a glass with this evening, I'm so happy to be in your company once again.

Listen Mister...

a letter...

Dear Disgusting Excuse for a man on the 4 Train this morning,

You are lucky.

You are lucky I slept well last night, had an extra 45 minutes to get ready this morning and enjoyed my entire cup of coffee on my sofa while watching the Today Show. Otherwise, when you so blatantly grabbed and groped my ass you would have felt the heel of my hand thrusted strongly into your genital region instead the hard hand slap and demeaning remark I directed your way instead. Lucky, capital L.

Signed,
a piece of ass you'll never enjoy again.


gross right? I've become adept to throwing an elbow to the sternum of the man behind me who lazily grazes my tush with his knuckles. I mean, seriously? Are you that ridiculous that you try the express train for a piece? Unbelievable.

I had a good day, aside from the nastiness of the 4-train groper. Everything was handled, multiple clients, multiple retouching sessions. I was on top of it all today. I hope I continue in snyc the rest of the week. Off on friday, catching up with old friends from Atlanta, more then excited.

but not groping excited.

live on the 20 yard line...

I've been to a handful of Auburn home games during my tenure in the South thanks to my cousin Jason and his very giving friends who always threw a ticket my way (as long as it wasn't Auburn v. Georgia, or the Iron bowl). I screamed, chanted, decked in Orange and Blue and shook my shaker. (That's a pom-pom on a stick for the Northeners). I had so much fun blending in with the students, pretending for a second I was still back in school and a 65 hour + workweek wasn't ready to meet me come Monday.

But yesterday, yesterday took the cake. On the north side of the Rutgers stadium I sat with a large group of friends including 2 of my best college pals. We cheered, screamed, decked in Scarlet Red and black, ate hot dogs (see previous Post: countdown to Turkey) and had that general warm feeling of respect for our school. It all came together on the 20 yard line. So much so that I had to text one the Auburn boys to let him know I finally understand.




I know now why you have to buy 4 area newspapers just to see who said what about your team, and how sports center becomes a ritual, as does the BCS rankings. Funny, coming from a female's mouth you think, or even more so, a Northerner? These times are a changin', and I am amazed of how many college women and alumni can rattle off Brian Lenoard's stats- and I'm not talking about eye color or height.

The final score was 38-7, we were all hoping for a shutout but Rutgers if any team knows what's it's like to put just one number on board when you are on the losing side of the game. Maybe I'm too sensitive, but Syracuse, take that 7 points with pride, you just scored on one of the top defensive teams in the nation.



After the game we went back to Laur's brother's house who's still a student. We drank cheap light beers, ordered pizza and argued who's takeout was the best. (Sadly, king's pizza is no longer the shrine to mozzarella and sauce it use to be). I felt like we were all back in school and New York was a place of my internship, not my life. It was a strange but good feeling.

At a favored bar around the corner from my old college house, I met up most of the old roomies. How far we've all come, progressing in different areas of life, marriage, children, career, socially. All stable in our own ways. It was the kind of night that when you get home your cheeks hurt from smiling.

I'm not quite sure where to end this post, because it's he kind of day that you can deconstruct and pick a part every memory, a paragraph for each. You'd end up reading web pages, upon web pages of my college years. And some of that I hold to sacred to share.
So I'll end with this...
the 20 yard line made my cheeks hurt.

another holiday down

and I'm exhausted. So I've taken to an old college t-shirt a comfy pair of pj bottoms and a warm cup of coffee. I'm about to polish off the non-thinking chick-lit book I picked up at the train station and call it a night.

Families get to you, they exhaust you but underneath it all, they're you blood. I'm sure one day when I'm a parent I'll realize that when you raise strong independent children, they come equipped with strong independent opinions. But there is a big difference in being opinionated and saying everything iota of thought that creeps into your mind. Listening to a relative's running commentary for 48+ hours straight could irk a nun, let alone a 20-something daughter. I could think of one question only while counting to 10 inwardly, "Can't we just give thanks?" Apparently, I am not alone in my ramblings of Thanksgiving meals, and the pressure to make the holiday perfect, check out this article that was in yesterday's New York Times.


Well, I'm going to call it a night, veg on the couch and enjoy the silence of my apartment accompanied by the noises of 1 st avenue. Tomorrow's black Friday, and I'm gearing up for some early shopping.

Best wishes to you and yours today, above all, give thanks and try to find some silence of your own.

Epiphany...

I don't travel enough. I've been watching a Jamie Oilver special on the Travel Channel for the past 2 hours now. He is traveling Italy on a quest for Italian foods, my heritage.

In 2007 I vow to save and take 10-12 days off and see the mother country. Granted I'm a split 50/50 Polish/Italian. Let's start with Italy first. I'd love to see Poland, don't get me wrong, but I've grown up with Sunday Italian dinners since birth until the passing of my Grandmother, known pubically as Mae, but formally as Filomena.



It's a different upbringing, my history, with turns and families hidden, tucked away. But it's what I know on the surface, Italian. Sauces, gravys if you will, fresh ingriedients: tomatoes, basil, lemons, olive oils, etc. Unbelievable. I want to see it all. I'm at the position in my life where I have to act on my dreams. Now or never, right?

and quick question. why do people argue on holidays? seriously. give thanks.

LL In the house

just a quickie post. but LL cool J is 'da house at JWT now. just saw him. my 3rd star sighting of the week.
On Saturday night in Soho I saw Bridget Moynahan: --- this one I'm 80% positive it was her, if not the girl should model or invest her time in celebrity impersonation. The third celebrity was a guy who's name I can't remember and it's killing me. (suggestions gladly accepted.) He is a fashion commentator for E, Style network, etc. Does red carpet stuff- not like Joan Rivers but more "best/worst dressed" kind of after shows. He's about my height, icy blue eyes, dark hair, has a thin mustache and I'd say he's in his late 30's, early 40's. Anyway. he's the third. oooh. He's also on VH1 from time to time.

anyway. back to work, thought i'd share.

countdown to turkey!

Yum. turkey is one of my favorite foods, next to hot dogs that is. Ask my family what some of my favorite foods are and they'd probably name the aforementioned along with a few Italian dishes in the top 5. My "last supper" in Atlanta was turkey, basically a Thanksgiving meal.

I'm a bit sad though, over the past 4 1/2 years I spent every birthday, Easter, Thanksgiving, one or two Christmas' , Mother's Day, Father's Day- you name it, with more then a half a dozen family members, and a few little ones added along the way. It'll be the first time "Aunt Ro-Ro" spends a holiday in "Apple City." ----Kids crack me up.

I'm happy to be home, with my brother and parents, but I'll miss the noise of a big family. It would be fun to get us all together again soon, before the little additions get too old.

so. upon this Thanksgiving, I'm channeling my 'southern relations' and making Paula Dean's pumpkin pie. Check it out here, YUM! It's probably 8 bazillion calories, but it's Thanksgiving. No one should count calories, Points, Carbs etc. on this day. The Pilgrims didn't.

well. time for this Pilgrim to get some shuteye.

playing with the computer

(and someone else's wireless....shhhhh)

I LOVE photobooth. It's fun. My mom stayed the night to shop yesterday and we played with the random settings you can use. Think fun house mirrors. cheeky. literally.



I'll post a funnier one at some other time. so i've been thinking, about new york mostly.

I can say it's the best city on earth, but I haven't been to every city, nor have I explored all parts of the cities I have visited. But, it blows Boston, LA, Paris, DC, and sadly Atlanta, out of the water. Traffic? none here, well not for me at least. Sure I have to deal with a packed 4,5 train or some random guy grabbing my ass on the L (shortly after he got a sharp elbow to the sternum) but it's new york. Having a bad day? You're having a bad day in New York. Depressed about your job? You work in New York. It's the solution for everything. Feeling Fat? Your fat in new york. You not fat in Tupelo, Mississippi or Kittybunkport, Maine.

I've been on this high since I arrived. After one drink that turned into a handful on Friday night with a work friend, I finally admitted to her my worry. I'm worried about the fallout. I'm sickly happy. Where's the twenty-something roller coaster of emotions? I mean, I'm not welcoming a broken heart or huge trauma, and or sure I'd like a pair of pants to fit a bit better, and I'd like to arrange my apartment to resemble a room in New York Home, but those aren't "big deals." She said quite simply "it's all what you make it." There is this quote in Ray LaMontagne's song "Empty" that gets me every time, here it is: "I never learned to count my blessings, I choose instead to dwell in my disasters."

I do that, we all do. Don't get me a wrong, a pity party complete with girlie movies, wine & pizza is definitely in the only prescription for some pains. But I want to stop dwelling. The dwelling stops here.

geez this post is heavy. that stops here as well. instead, here is a picture of my new lamp over the left side of my "living space." haha. it looks like a boob. I hope to never lose my childish humor.


boob..hahah

c'mon boys

I am not giving up on them. I won't. i want 10-0, but if it's 9 -1, I am still very proud of the RU boys. maybe it's what we need, a little scare to get us ready for WV.
c'mon boys, c'mon.

blogger problems

hmm...
i can't seem to see my blog. can you guys see it? anyway. here's my to do list:
1. laundry
2. laundry
3. laundry
4. laundry
5. laundry

yep, completely procrastinating. and I'm lazy and I don't want to do it. Should I to send it out? 75 cents a pound I think is the going rate. then again, I may be pissed off if they shrink my pants. I can rarely find anything the right length so it may be a gamble.

I need a book to read whilst laundering.
open to suggestion.
now let's see if this works. for viewing.

ouch

I just bought a computer. a brand new computer. and It pained me to click the "purchase" button, but with the way the job's been going, I think i'll have some working nights at home. But at least it's at home right?


Here she is, the one in the front, ain't she a 'beaut? See me in a month or so when I get my bill. yikes. But it does mean one good thing, I can talk to you good people more often. I get so cloudy-headed at the office worrying about purchase orders and color moves I can't write anything smart enough that's worth your time reading. There, perfect example, I'm not even sure that last line made sense.

Okay. well. since the rain seems to have let up a bit and the piles on my desk have gone down 1/8", I think I may have to call it a night.
until tomorrow.

A good pain.

Unbelievable. UNBELIEVABLE!!! Last night's game had to be one of the best games in college football. It is amazing how much my body hates me right now due to excessive drinking, screaming and celebrating, so if I stop making sense somewhere throughout this post, please excuse me.

So, let's start off with this. The Empire State building, in Rutgers Scarlet Red. They don't light it up for just anyone. That is some real metropolitan area pride. Then, there's this:

Before Thursday's victory, Rutgers had only five wins over ranked teams -- none of them against a team ranked higher than 15th in the AP poll (Penn State was 13th in the UPI rankings). It should be noted, however, that the Scarlet Knights did tie No. 3 Florida 28-28 in 1985.

I went to PROOF near my place in Gramercy to meet up with Rutgers Club of NYC. The bar was a sea of red. I yelled, screamed, hi-fived my fellow alumni and even made a few new friends. okay. I'm trying here. but i'm losing steam. I leave you with this.

can I get a nine?

RU, Rah, Rah;
RU, Rah, Rah,
Whoo-Rah, Whoo-Rah;
Rutgers Rah

Up Stream Red Team
Red Team Up Stream
Rah, Rah, Rutgers Rah


Let's make it 9-0.
go RU

Pink is the new bathroom.com

Pink bathrooms do not rock, but the rest of the apartment does.

Lots of light, amazing window sills, door buzzer and a little fire escape ready to be equipped with a small herb garden...give me 6 months, after the frost and I'll be ready to make homemade pesto.

Oh the Italians. Being 1/2 Italian myself, it's one of the things I missed most when living south of the mason-dixon. The breads, sauces, cannolis --everything fresh and homemade. so good.

Here's an update on the few neighbors I've met in my building. Anthony (I think that is what his name is, his accent was think and mumbled), has a lived in 4R for the past 45 years. Forty-five years...I've been alive 26, I can't conceptualize living in the same city for 45 years let alone the same apartment. He knows the neighborhood like the back of his hand and will be my go-to person for all things Gramercy. The man in 1F blasts his television. He was watching what I took to be a "talkie," old black and white. --Think Home Alone when McCauley Culkin uses the gangster film to distract Joe Pesci from entering his house, and that's what I opened the door to the other day. I laughed up two flights of stairs.

there's a couple in 2R, another single girl in 2F and then there is my building nemesis in 4F... Not quite sure what she looks like but she sounds like an elephant on stilts. Stilettos on hardwood floors at 3:30am are for hookers only and I'm pretty sure I don't live in a brothel. We may have to meet on bad terms, I'll give her a week. Or him... It's New York afterall.

Everyone else remains a mystery. I wonder if they think the same thing about me, the newbie. "Must she drop her remote continuously while watching TV?" or perhaps "Does she have to sit out on the fire escape while the building is not burning?" hehehe.. who knows.

Speaking of the fire escape, I'll give you a little peek. This shot was taken at night, looking East. The avenue you see is First, on the left side of the street there is a pub called MJ Armstrong. I'll be there on the Thursday night for the Rutgers game. On the right side there is a small wash & fold, the counter attendant waves at me when I walk past, can't wait to meet him.
And that's my hood. More to come.

You can take the girl out of Jersey..

but you can never take Jersey out of the girl.

It's my last night in NJ. As of 8:42 AM when my Long Branch train pulls into Penn Station, I'll be an official New Yorker. I'll overpay for my small studio apartment, groceries --just about everything but stamps. But it's the Big Apple, the greatest city in the world. It never sleeps, you know.

Ever since I was a little girl I've always dreamed of living in New York. I skipped countless days of high school to sit in Washington Square Park with friends. We'd smoke cigarettes and drink street corner coffee while watching the street performers break dance and try their best at spoken word. With every inhale I'd come to the same thought: this is a place I could call my own. Looks like the city is mine now.

I picked up the rest of my belongings from Hoboken this morning it was super clear out and a great day to be on the road. Driving down the Turnpike I passed good ol' Lady Liberty and said hello. She's so welcoming.

She's welcoming you to visit, once I am settled and all the boxes are unpacked. Maybe we can sit in Washington Square Park and you can dream of calling New York your home city one day.

See you next to the sword swallower.

so much more then metal

I got my keys yesterday, ready to open a whole new world. I was going to take a picture of them, but I thought you'd enjoy a shot of my building instead. The building looks like of ethereal, doesn't it?


My place is the one on the right, I have the third floor (3 windows). I am so excited. Can't wait to put a little window box on the fire escape with flowers and an herb garden. My own little fire escape. how new york.

2 flights of marble stairs. I'm a tad clutzy, well, more then a tad, let's just hope I don't trip...to often.

So here's to a new apartment, new experiences and Starbucks & Dunkin' Donuts around the block.

I can't say the same for the parking authority...

but let me tell you, the Hoboken Police Department, those are some quality individuals. Frankly, I don't know how the Parking Authority workers sleep at night. They must dream of booting and towing as I dream of good cheese and bread. (my mind rarely drifts from food...)

So, here's what happened. Friday night (10/23) I went out downtown with a couple of friends. The weather was getting nasty but we celebrated good times anyway. We had a couple of drinks, then a couple more and then were collectively in that happy-buzzed state. It got a little late so after a few hot dogs at papaya dog we parted and I caught a cab to the PATH. Once in NJ the rain and wind had gotten ten times worse and my poor little umbrella was not having it. The cab line was forever long so I thought I'd brave the elements.

The umbrella kept flipping inside out, the headphones pulled out of the jack on my ipod and it was raining sideways.... and then a cop car pulls up next to me. First thought? Crap. I've never gotten a ticket for public drunkenness, even considering all those times in college when we'd stumble down Easton Avenue singing at the top of our lungs. The policeman rolls down the window asks if I'm okay and as the umbrella shivers in the wind, I chuckle and say "it's just a little windy." So the nice policeman tell me to "get in, I'll drive you home."

unbelievable. (mind you I was in the front seat) On the short 5 minute drive we talked about how I am new to the area, what I thought about Atlanta (his boss spends a week there every 2 months) my soon to be NYC home---he even put the lights on once to pass a car. As he pulled up to the house he wished me a good night and said if I ever needed anything to give the department a call.

Now that's the kind of policeman a first grader wants to be when he grows up.
Hoboken PD? I salute you.