oy.

Let’s face it… I’m over this city.

Obviously, as a New York City native, the city will always have a special place in my heart.  I will always appreciate everything this city has made me – how it has shaped my personality, and accent, since I was a little Deva.

I’ve been borderline obsessed with leaving NYC since… well… January.  Maybe.  I think about moving all the time, but I’m not sure how much of that is due to my innate mobility/non-settling nature and how much of it comes from the fact that NYC is one big city of mayhem and foolishness.

About 15 minutes ago, I took the “Do you belong in New York” quiz from Time Out New York.

My results:

DO YOU BELONG IN NYC?
No. No. No!
What are you still doing here? You don’t take advantage of what New York has to offer, and you’re clearly irked by all the sacrifices you make to live in the city. Go on-the open skies and low rents of Montana await. But there’s hope for you yet! Click here for suggestions about how to really enjoy NYC. Who knows-maybe you’ll change your mind.

Do you belong in New York City?

Clearly, I should book the first flight out of here – and never return.

roommates galore

I would not recommend living with 5 other women in a tiny 3-bedroom apartment.  It’s such a bad idea. 

Think: syncing periods, hair EVERYWHERE in the bathrooms (we had two – but it didn’t help much), out of control estrogen attacks (aka. mood swings), etc.  What a nightmare. 

It made for an interesting (sorta) 3 years at UVA.  But I made some really good friends in the process. 

May is the month of 4747 (my UVA address for 3 years was 4747 Lambeth) roommate visits.  Get excited. 

This weekend, Emily and Melissa are coming.  On very rare occassions do I see one without the other.  And very rarely do I say “Melissa and Emily” – it just doesn’t flow.  It’s Emily and Melissa.  They’re cool and they’re coming to Astoria to see my smiling face.  

The last time all of us, including Linh and Jihye, were in NYC was back in 2003.  We were on our way to Lake George after completing our first year at UVA.  Of course, we stopped in NYC to visit Jihye’s family – but the visit was so short, it was kinda hard to have a good time.  It was hot, directions were confusing, and no one was happy.

Anyway, it’s time to enjoy NYC… 6 years later.  Unfortunately, Linh and Jihye won’t be joining us, but maybe one day. It will still be a good time.  

Two weeks after Emily and Melissa stop in, I’m flying to Miami to visit Linh.  Hooray for a short vacation :)  It’ll be my first trip to Miami, and apparently we’re already making plans to take a day cruise to the Bahamas!  Obviously, lots of fun will be had.   

Hooray for good times with (part of) the 4747 crew.  It’s hard to believe we’ve been friends for 7 years.  Now I feel old.

i love this movie

Have I ever mentioned how much I love the movie, When Harry Met Sally? 

Well, I love it.  A lot. 

I just spent my Friday night alone watching that movie, and I’m okay with that.  Hell yeah. 

It all started with my boss making a comparison between my Wednesday tap class and the scene in the movie when Sally is in a tap class.  I didn’t remember the scene at the time, so I had to watch the entire movie in order to find it. 

True enough, Sally was in a tap dance class.  That scene lasted approximately 10 seconds.  I have no idea how my boss actually remembered that. 

Anyway, I love that movie (have I already mentioned that?).  In a way it reminds me of my own life – well, maybe just the fact that a) I live in New York City and b) a couple of my closest friends are guys.  

Yes, I’m refering to Adam and Peter.  I talk to them a lot.  They talk to me a lot. 

I guess my relationships with them are kinda similar to Harry and Sally’s relationship (pre-sex), except: 

a) Sally only had Harry.  I have Adam and Peter.

b) Harry and Sally were always conveniently single at the same time.  Only Peter is single (Adam has been in a relationship for 2 years).

c) Harry is straight.  Between Adam and Peter, one is straight and one is gay. 

d) Harry and Sally lived in the same city.  Adam is here in NYC, but Peter is in Atlanta. 

Okay, so maybe I don’t have much in common with the movie.  Whatever.  I still love it. 

And my favorite part: 

i have no home

9.5 years in NYC + 9 years in Roanoke = I don’t have a hometown.

But what is a “hometown”, exactly? Is it the place where you’re born or the place where you grow up?

Here’s wikipedia’s answer:

Hometown is primarily used as a generic term for the city or town in which someone was born or grew up, or the place of someone’s principal residence.

I guess I’m still kinda homeless. Every time I return to Roanoke after being gone for 5+ years, the city feels more and more foreign. And gosh – NYC still doesn’t feel like home. It’s been a super long time since I’ve lived there…

Can a state be someone’s hometown? If so, I’d probably have to claim Virginia as my “hometown” since I’ve been there the longest.

And don’t even get me started on my accent… that will also lead you to nowhere. When I was still in Charlottesville, someone said I had an Arizona accent. I’ve never been to Arizona. I didn’t know there was such thing as an Arizona accent, but apparently, I have one. I don’t sound like I belong in NYC or Virginia.

Maybe Pennsylvania is the place for me (or not). Or upstate New York.

complaints

How do you know when you’re fed up with something?

I’m so, so, so, so sick of this apartment. I really want to kick myself for agreeing to live in this place; I totally should’ve passed this one up. My rent is super duper cheap ($600) but I’m getting what I paid for, which is unfortunate. There are so many problems with this place – I’ll list a few:

• The bathroom is slightly bigger than my full sized bed. That’s pretty damn small.
• I already can’t tolerate hair all over the bathroom (most of it belongs to my roommate), but since the effing room is so tiny, it really grosses me out.
• I don’t like small bathrooms. I didn’t realize this until after I moved in.
• The stove is “impossible” to clean (according to my roommate – who I will call “J”). So there are a few roaches.
• The kitchen cabinets are ridiculously unorganized – and since it’s not my stuff, I can’t really move things around. J is not good with change.
• J doesn’t own a bottle Windex – or any other modern cleaning product. Maybe Ajax is kinda modern, but that’s all she’s ever bought. I have my own modern cleaning product stash.
• The living room is insanely boring looking and my roommate is not good at negotiating.
• I’ve been here for over a month, and there are things J has promised to do… and she hasn’t taken care of them yet. I don’t think that’s fair to me. When I try to bring them up in a quick conversation, it turns into a 3 hour discussion – and she’s missed the point.
• There are only 2 closets in this entire apartment. One of them is in my room. There isn’t a lot of storage space.
• The landlord is not at all professional about his job.

Okay, okay. I’m done. Basically, I want OUT of this place. I would prefer to move as soon as possible, but I don’t think that’s a good idea at this point because I’m kinda poor. I have to get my money issues together before going through another move. I absolute can’t imagine living here until next summer if J stays. Adam would have to check me into a mental institution – I would go crazy. Unfortunately, many of my issues are because of J.

I need my own apartment. Or a normal roommate.

If anyone knows of someone (quasi-normal) in the NYC area looking for a roommate, pretty please let me know. I’ll probably try to move around February/March.

***Note to self: When I change jobs, I might have to leave NYC and find a city with a more affordable cost of living. Of course, where I go depends on the salary of my new job.

Ugh. Am I jumping to conclusions too soon? I’ve only been here for 40ish days, but I am not liking this place at all. Should I try to wait it out for a little longer?

still tired

I’m still tired from last weekend.

I think the last time I did that much walking was while I studied abroad in Spain. I walked about a gazillion miles a week.

Yeah – so, Patrick and Emily 1 came to visit Adam and I, and it was good times. As stated earlier, we did a whole lot of walking. Lots. For hours and hours.

Unfortunately, they only spent around 36 hours here, so we had a lot of places to visit in a very limited amount of time. We didn’t get everything done, but we sure as hell crammed a lot of into those 36 hours.

The picture version of the weekend:

bienvenidos al bronx zoo

adorable pig/hogs

peacocks were all over the zoo

mama gorilla

Then:

Asian snacks

And:

crowds in Little Italy

Brooklyn Bridge

Eventually, after walking into and out of a couple of weird shops and eating dinner at an Indian place with terrible service, we made it here:

lower-ish Manhattan

I apologize for the blurriness of my pictures. Unfortunately, you have to be perfectly still to use the night shots on my camera – except the bridge wouldn’t stop shaking.

That was all on Saturday.

Sunday we slept a little later, had some brunch, then walked through about 1/7th of Central Park. At 2:30pm, we left Patrick and Emily 1 at Penn Station to return to VA/MD.

All in all, it was a successful weekend. Emily 1 visited NYC for the first time, everyone went to the Bronx for the first time (except for me – I lived there until I was 7), Patrick tried eggs benedict for the first time (and liked it), Emily 1, Patrick and I “discovered” a mouse in Adam and Ryan’s kitchen cabinet while trying to fall asleep, and the weather was great.

Hooray.

Next weekend: my parents come to visit. More good times to come.

my first nyc photo adventure

It was okay.

It started out as a flea markets walk (thanks to Time Out New York), but with Ryan’s allergies acting up and the flea markets not being up to our expectations, Adam, Ryan and I just ended up roaming.

My one purchase was this CD:

with Tito Puente on trumpet

It was $5. It’s not much, but I’m excited about it.

Today’s excursion was still a photo adventure, so here are my newest pictures:

This probably cost $100 +

the story of my life...

umm... no clue.

a ceramic lizard in a ceramic bowl

After the roaming, our flea market outing turned into a “search for apartment stuff” outing. Adam really wanted to buy either a) a mirror or b) some type of large piece of art. Ryan wanted to buy a rug and a coffee table.

I hate this store

bad idea

How would you feel if you walked into a friend’s apartment and they had this painting on one of their walls? For starters, I would definitely have to question my friendship with that person… Luckily, Adam had no intention on buying that white tiger for his walls.

THANK GOD.

Around 5pm, I became extremely cranky, so I cut put an end to the guys’ apartment shopping trip. Adam left empty handed, but Ryan bought a rug and a lamp – and I left with some goodies from CB2. All was not lost.

Anyways, to make a long-ish story not so long, we had some dinner, then went out for drinks with other friends.

$4 girly drinks

All in all, it was a very long, but fun-ish day. I really do enjoy walking around Manhattan on the weekends.

And I promise, my photo adventures will improve. I can do better than this.

a little more detail

THANKS to all for the congrats on my new job :) I’m super excited – and nervous – about this new endeavor.

Good bye, grad school*. Hello, the rest of my life… yikes.

What I’m most excited about is the fact that I’m working for an organization whose methods and ideas I fully support. My unofficial title is “Recruitment Associate Extraordinaire”. I’ll just call myself an RA – like in college; except not. Anyways, I haven’t started yet, but I’m pretty sure my job involves the recruitment of their fellows (I love self-explanatory job titles) among many other tasks. Fun stuff.

I start on Monday. We go to North Carolina on Thursday to meet the new 2008 Fellows. Then, who knows…

I am so ready to start making money. I’m also looking forward to vision and dental insurance.

AND, on top of that, I can start saving for my move to New York City. Booya.

——–

* My grad school still hasn’t mailed out diplomas (I only graduated almost 2 months ago), so I guess I’m not really done with it.