i must confess...

i am a self proclaimed foodie!  i love food.  the end.  i don't have any pictures but on my usual sunday stroll thru central park, i stopped over at the shake shack and got a pineapple upper east side cake concrete (basically a shake with frozen custard instead of reg. ice cream.  the trick is you should be able to hold a concrete upside down without it spilling... it's thick and delicious).. vanilla custard/fresh pineapple/shortbread cookies/caramel/maraschino cherries.  well because that was SO good, i decided to go the next day to shake shack on the upper west side and get another one.  this time i got a diagon halle concrete.  sounds a little like diagon alley from harry potter, right? haha! that's why i got it...  this had vanilla custard/chocolate truffle cookie dough/fresh raspberries.. also DELISH.  i'll probably try all of them before too long ;)  right now tho, i'm on a cookie quest.  to find the best cookies that nyc has to offer.  i have a top 10 from a website online but i hope to try and discover my own.  stay tuned...  also coming up, nyc restaurant week!  i'm already so excited!  basically, tons of different restaurants across the city have a set 3 course meal for discounted prices.  good food at a good deal!! can't beat that! 

take me out to the ball game.

we went to the yankees game! it was so super fun!  i love baseball games so much, especially night games.  poor christi was sick so it was just me and heather.

we were HIGH up there... 4 rows from the very top

go yankees!

i got a cotton candy for ya, mumsie bear :)

we ended up leaving after the seventh inning because the yankees were killing the milwaukee brewers and it was pretty uneventful by that point.  plus, if my grandma knew how late we were going to get home, she would be mad at me! haha!  i'm just kidding.. i only wrote that because i knew she was going to be reading this tomorrow :)  LOVE YOU GRAM!!

B.E.A.UTIFUL.

oh how i love this apartment so much! and this is the best part...

this is the view right outside our window...

leo loves to be in things! he be very silly

where daphne be??

oh HI!

these kids are so silly and keep me laughing :)

attitude switcheroo.

alright, now that we've moved out of hashi's and have our own place i promise to quit being a debbie downer!  it was just really hard to stay positive knowing that any night you came home there was a good chance you could be locked out... she was CRAZY!  so, now we're in our own apt., life is good and i had an interview at the place that i originally LOVED!  i'll keep you posted on that one... just keep your fingers crossed :)  i am so thankful 1. for my AMAZING boyfriend who has supported me through this crazy adventure. 2.  for my family who has also supported me and helped me out so much.  (i know that most of them were not thrilled about the idea but i appreciate their love and support) 3.  my awesome friends who decided to let me join them on this amazing time in our lives.  without them i would've been on a plane home before we even set foot in our original apt. and i can't wait to have so many fun memories with them.  so, with that said, i am starting to absolutely love this city!!  i mean really, it can't get any worse than being homeless, right??  i've survived being chewed up and spit back out of this city so, BRING IT ON, NYC!!

we got our OWN apt!!

oh let me count the ways i'm going to miss living in HELL aka hashi's house (where we've been staying for the past 3 weeks

• the oh so clean kitchen, free of mice and other creepy crawlers
• the mop that i've showered with twice a day
• the year round christmas decor i.e. wall hangings, all of her dishes, the blanket covering the couch but best of all the "all i want for xmas is u" written on the wall in sharpie marker
• living out of a suitcase
• opening my eyes to hashi just staring blankly at us sleeping
• hashi watching me while i work out
• hashi's soothing ringtone of mozart ringing EVERY morning and her talking ever so quietly as not to wake us (HELLO HELLO HE HE HE HELLO!? CAN YOU HEAR ME!!?? HELLO!)
• hashi staring out the window for hours on end
• the air mattress
• the fiesta that begins promptly at 11 o clock every night right outside our window
• people speaking in every language other than english
• the Jesus saves door with 5 different locks (at least we were safe IN the apt)
• the no outlet situation in the bathroom
• getting locked out frequently
• the sweet aroma of urine in the elevator
• heather's plastic covered mattress that hardly made any noise at all when she tossed and turned all night

dear ol hashi was definitely one of a kind, she got weirder and weirder every day.  i'm glad she let us crash there but i honestly can't decide if the subway would've been better... on a better note, i LOVE our new apt!! it's a really nice building and the view is just amazing!  there's a bridge right outside our window that crosses over to new jersey.  and we have kitties! leo and daphne, they are SILLY and they make me miss my babies at home even more...  i got to finally make a good home cooked meal, steak and veggies that was so super good.  i've been missin my veggies :)  anyways, i'm absolutely exhausted after lugging luggage 3 times today... glad we aren't moving until sept!!!







where we slept

hets on the awesome christmas blanket covered couch

our DISGUSTING kitchen (the pics don't do it justice)

this cereal was sitting out when we came home.. nothing is more disgusting than warm, rotten milk!

moppy, my love :) showered with me faithfully twice a day for 2 weeks

annnnd now our new apt!!!

our living room, we have a tv!!

our room, with daphne

lazy sunday.

my favorite day of the week, sunday, a day to be lazy... no makeup, no doing of the hair, not much of anything, really.  i went to central park and found the conservatory garden.  it was really pretty.  i kinda felt like i was in the alice in wonderland movie, it was kind of maze like.  i relaxed in the garden for a while and decided to explore central park some more.  i walked from 103 st. all the way down to 59th.  so pretty much i walked all of central park minus 7 blocks or so...  i walked along the reservoir, along the east side on fifth ave., i went and watched where they have remote control boats, i walked some more on the east side..  it was a really nice day, sunny and 85 :)  i got myself a cupcake which wasn't all that great :(  it sounded really good, trick or treat which was a pumpkin cake with orange cream frosting but i was sadly disappointed.  i went to another place on my list called e.a.t. to get a grilled cheese that ina garten recommended but it was $16!!  i decided to hold off on that until i get a paycheck but when i do finally eat it, it better be the best damn grilled cheese on the planet!  i'll have to let ya know... for now i'm going to call it a day and relax and maybe sneak a nap in :)

the garden

coney island.

we went down to coney island for the mermaid parade.  when we got down there, i don't know who was misinformed but i was watching a nudist/belly dancing/hippy parade, definitely NOT a mermaid parade.  needless to say, that was a total bust.  we walked down to the beach and just chillaxed there for a while.  it was so nice to put my toes in the sand and think about nothing.  on our way home we got hungry, of course... hets was craving mexican food so she looked up some places.  we decided to go to one on the east side called cascabel taqueria, it's a place that has fresh mexican food inspired by the markets of mexico.  when we got to the place where we thought we were going, we sat down and started looking at the menu.  it was definitely not what we looked at online and they also told us that they had just opened the day before.  we were so confused!  well apparently this is a new addition to cascabel but this place was more or less a bar that happened to serve food so we left and went to the REAL cascabel.  it was AMAZING!  i know that i say that everything is amazing (because it is) but this place definitely tops my list.  we ordered guacamole.. best ever, for dinner i had carne asada tacos and elote asado which is grilled corn on the cob with mexican aioli/lime/cascabel chili/queso cotija.  it was SO GOOD! i want to go back right now just thinking about it...  one funny thing, the place had pictures everywhere of the wrestler, nacho libre but i couldn't think of his name so i asked the girls.  christi said "isn't it nacho grande?" haha! somebody loves taco bell a little much! :)  i'd say it was a pretty darn good day.  beach and mexican food... it's hard to top that!

mermaid ave! how cool is that!?

mah deener :) YUM

got. a. job.

hallelujah! praise the lord! i am officially employed!!  i'll be an esthetician at the spa at equinox fitness.  woopity woop!

pampering and brooklyn bridge.

after being on our feet more than we ever have in our entire life (and for the sake of our sanity), we decided it was time to get pedicures.  we found this cute place on the lower east side and pampered our poor little tootsies.  it felt wonderful and my feet have re cooperated, slightly :)  of course the day wouldn't be complete without a treat, so we got a red velvet cupcake from this little bakery called crumbs.  it was delish!  while we were down on the lower end of town, we decided to go to the brooklyn bridge.  that. was. cool. annnnd we even liked brooklyn, surprisingly! at least what part of brooklyn we ventured to...  we went to a place called graziellas, best thing i ever ate... pizza.  it's an authentic italian restaurant known for their wood burning pizza but ALL of the food was AMAZING!  i was going to get what was actually featured on the show but i decided to get the pizza vito (ground sausage, mushroom and caramelized onions) because i was craving some MEAT!  it was SO good.  the pizza sauce tasted so fresh and yummy and i also got a side of veggies (zucchini, squash, carrots & snow peas.)  the pizza was so good, i decided to also get some dessert :) haha! i've been really wanting a cannoli so holy cannoli, i got one!  it was good (sweet ricotta cream stuffed into a wafer like shell) BUT i was wanting to steal christi's dessert.. affogato (vanilla ice cream with a shot of hot espresso poured over it.) oh. my. gosh. i don't even love coffee but that combo was so freakin good!  imma be getting me one of those next time.  oh ya, the best part about this restaurant was that it had a roof top patio that we sat on and the weather had been absolutely perfect ALL DAY! 

me and hets getting our toesies did

rooftop at graziella's

pizza vito

bobby flay.

today we went to bobby flay's restaurant, mesa.  i've been to the one in vegas before but you know how i love my food network, i had to go to the one in nyc too..  we got there and had about a 15 min wait so while we were waiting i was looking around and wondering what exactly the theme of the restaurant was.  there were like airplane looking fans, flame stained glass, horses on the chair coverings, great big pillars in the middle of the restaurant painted different colors, weird, random black and white pictures, etc.  when we get seated at our table, i say "i'm gonna have to have a word with bobby flay about his choice in decor.  this is awful and he needs to hire me to redecorate for him."  not but TWO seconds later, christi looks back into the kitchen and says "oh my gosh! it's bobby flay!"  for a split second i thought she was just kidding until the man himself walked right past us!! oh my gosh! i then immediately regretted saying how bad the decor was and hoped that he didn't hear me!  i would've felt like a huge idiot...  so ya, turns out he's sitting at the table NEXT to us, eating lunch with his daughter and one of her friends.  i still cannot believe that we saw him!  i'm not gonna lie, i was a little star struck :) i wanted to take a picture with him so bad and some people were but i didn't want to interrupt his meal so i just stared at him like a big fat creeper instead :) haha! better, right?  it was a pretty good meal... heather and i shared a steak and for dessert i got a toasted coconut layer cake that apparently bobby won on his show, throwdown.  it was tastey, thats for sure.  glad to know that bobby actually eats at his own restaurant.  i'll definitely be back hoping to catch another glimpse of bobby, only this time i hope he's the one cooking my food :) 

what to do??

i finally broke down.  i just couldn't handle one more setback.  here's how my day started.. i went to my first interview, i got to the front desk and told them i had a interview with the spa.  they called whoever was supposed to be interviewing me and she didn't answer.  they then called the reception desk and they told them that she wasn't there either, so they told me that they would find her.  15 minutes later, the front desk girl came up to me and asked if i could fill out another application because they had lost my first one.  umm... strike one against this place.  10 minutes after that and half way thru filling out my SECOND application, this lady finally comes up and says "oh, you don't have to fill all of that out, just sign it." gee, thanks for telling me that AFTER i've already filled half of it out.  so we go back into an office and she says "ok, i hate interviewing, i don't even know where to start and i don't even know what to ask you." great.  just great.  strike #2.  anyways, the interview goes as well as it could, given the circumstances.  she asked if i would come back for a second interview tomorrow with her boss.  guess we'll see if that goes any better... i'm very unimpressed so far

onto interview #2.  this one went a little smoother.  i did a hands on while i was there and she said it was amazing.  she said she would look at the schedule and give me a call tomorrow.

yay! done with interviews, i have a potential job so i think i need a treat... a toasted marshmallow shake, in fact.  this was another place on my food network list called stand.  i walk in and they have a to go counter that i ordered from but since i'm there i decide that i'll just sit on the patio and enjoy myself.  15 mins pass and i'm wondering why it's taking so long so i go up to the counter and ask if someone could check on the shake for me.  FINALLY my shake comes out and it looks chocolatey.  i've never had one before so i don't necessarily know what it's supposed to look at so i take a sip.  tastes like a chocolate peanut butter shake, looks like one... it must be a chocolate peanut butter shake!! for the love!  bad customer service and to top it off, my orders wrong... i'm just like whatever at this point and eat it anyways.  it was good, just not what i wanted.

next up, my fabulously long adventure home.  long story short, something was going on with the trains so they were all off schedule.  the train that i usually take was far and few between so when it did come around people were literally shoving people into and off of the train.  i decided i didn't want to deal with that so i just took a different route.  well because this wasn't my usual routine,  everybody got off the subway at the stop before mine and i thought "hmm... this is weird, i've never been the only one on the subway train.."  so i sit there for a few minutes until i see the subway driver walking passed! haha i was stuck on the train!  he was so mad at me, he had to do like an emergency unlock on the subway door... whoopsie daisy.. at that point i honestly didn't care,  it took me a freaking hour and a half and i still had to walk 6 blocks home so i decided to stop at a little irish pub/restaurant on the way home.  it was decent... i got a shrimp salad but the best part, i got a beer AND a mimosa!  just what i needed for the day.  so as i'm walking home, i'm already debating whether i should stay here or not.  i mean, nothing has gone right for me here.  we've been doomed since we stepped off the plane so why do i keep trying to make it work.  i get home and i'm freaking locked out! for the 3rd time!!!!  i was so tired and so frustrated that i just started bawling.  after crying and rocking myself for 40 mins, hashi finally comes strolling in... i wanted to strangle her.  christi and heather got home and sweet lil christi rubbed mah feet and made me feel better :)  for now i'm staying but trust me, if one more thing happens to me, i'm freaking on a plane back home.  tomorrow better be amazing.. we're going somewhere for a nice dinner, some big fat juice steak :) 

PS i've decided that people in this town suck at responding to you and pretty much just suck in general with their work ethic. the end. 
on a side, side note, the locals have been very helpful and not all new york attitudey :)



 

week one, done and done.

woo hoo! we've survived the week of hell and amazingly it has gotten better.  yesterday (friday) christi and i went to the harry potter exhibit.  it's an exhibit of real costumes and props from the movies.  it was pretty cool, i got to try on the sorting hat and was placed in gryffindor, i got to pull out a screaming mandrake and i tried to take some pics but there was absolutely NO photography.  i tried snapping a pic and not but two seconds later some guy came up to me and said "are you the one that took the picture?" me being the honest soul that i am said "yes" he then said "you're going to have to delete the picture." i yelled at him basically telling him that i paid $30 for this exhibit and i'd do what i wanted but in the end, i deleted the freaking picture.  when we were done with that, we went over to juniors and got some authentic ny cheesecake! t'was delish!

i got some good news! i'm going in to a salon that i applied to as a receptionist and giving it a "test run" just to see how well i do and if i like it or not.  yay! i'm almost officially not unemployed.  i also have 2 interviews on monday, both esthetician positions and both at spas in gyms.  double yay to that! spa and gym... can't get any better than that!

today (saturday) it's a rainy, slightly cold day.  i decided to go to one of the spas i'm interviewing with so on monday i didn't get lost.  while i was down that way, i wanted to go to a place on my foodnetwork list of places to eat, best thing i ever ate... sweet tooth.  i went to a place called the doughnut plant.  i'm not even a huge doughnut fan but these are AMAZE!  the doughnut they had on the best thing i ever ate was the pb&j doughnut.  it's a square doughnut filled with blackberry jelly and topped with a peanut butter glaze and chopped peanuts.  ummm... YUM! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pJG5tItQ0M  i also got a coconut filled doughnut with coconut glaze but i'm saving that for later :)

and let me just say..TGFS (thank god for starbucks) all 255 of them in manhattan.  we haven't had internet at our place so i've spent a good long while here lately.  free wifi! yay!
that's all for now, i shall let ya'll know how it goes on monday. cross your fingers, say a prayer, whatever you do... i need it!

strollin in central park.

tuesday we went job searching all freakin day.  i made it to about 5 different places and each one of them looked so cute! crossin my fingers that i get something... so today, wednesday, we finally had a day to do whatever we wanted.  it was a HOT 96 degrees today (at 5:00 pm, mind you...)  i actually got myself a little sunburn goin on on the shoulders :) i shouldn't be so excited about that except for the fact that when i was in UT i had made up my mind that the sun and i would never meet again...  we went to central park and laid on the grass and took a little cat nap, then we'd walk a few feet and sit on a bench, then we'd walk some more and lay down and take another cat nap.  it's almost too hot to do anything besides that.  we went to a little italian places called nizza for dinner.  i got myself a delish pizza with spinach, mushrooms and artichokes. mmmm, mmmm, mmmm them italians sure do know how to cook! for dessert, the search was on for some sprinkle ice cream cones christi and i had been dying to get!  best part of the day, by far! it was probably the most delicious ice cream cone i'd ever had.  ice cream makes me SO happy especially when i'm literally melting from the heat. YUM O. 

us girlies

wish i lived here... east side of central park

mmm pizza

not a day goes by that we don't get lost somewhere... so of course, when we went looking for a bed bath and beyond, it proved to be hidden! i swear, we walked around in a huge circle for at least 45 mins before we found the place... but we did find it and now i have a pillow to lay my head on :) 
my feet are hurting like they've never hurt before.  i've tried to wear a different pair of shoes everyday because each pair that i have seem to blister my feet in different places.  so, now i have blisters pretty much everywhere... i may have to go barefoot tomorrow... 
PS i apologize for how fugly i am... it is hot and humid and so i can almost guarantee you pics will be few and far between of me :) at least until fall :)

HOMELESS.

hmm... where to begin?? we arrive here in nyc at about 6 pm, wait in line for an HOUR to get a taxi and when we finally do get a taxi, it's one of the van taxi's which should be plenty big for 3 girls with 8, yes 8, pieces of luggage, right?? apparently WRONG! the taxi driver initially told us no because he didn't want to work that hard but eventually we squished us and the luggage into this van. as we're pulling up to our place where we're staying for the month, the taxi driver informs us that us girls need to be careful in this part of town, we are in harlem after all... ummm... HARLEM??? well it's actually not the scariest part of town, although we are most definitely the minority. so we get our luggage to the curb and heather knocks on the door annnnd nothing. finally the landlord lady comes out, apologizes because "she's got a lot going on," and opens the door telling us to put our luggage in the first room up the stairs. as we're lugging our stuff up the stairs, this guy comes in yelling "where you guys from?" "how long are you going to be here?" i'm just completely blown away, confused, where did this guy come from? etc.. finally the landlord says "a month, they're staying for a month." and heather says "ya, we're staying for a month". mr. loudmouth then says "oh, is that what she told you to say?" so heather says "we just got here, what is going on?" long story, shortish, this guy is a cop and it is now against the law in ny to rent out your place for less than one month (which we were there for ONE month) but because this lady had been renting it out for a day or 2 at a time, if the authorities could prove that, we would be evicted at any given time. well we can't have that happening so christi calls her friend and asks if we can come crash at her place. she says yes but by this time it's about 9 pm, a car service to take us over there would be $150 and so we just decide to stay at this place for the night. come morning, we pack up and head over to her friends place. we get here and it's absolutely adorable except for the fact that it's a studio apt. which now has 5 people, 8 bags of luggage and all of their own stuff! needless to say, it's CRAMPED. so day 2 of nyc we are HOUSE HUNTING!! who knew that house hunting could be so freakin hard!! well, really none of us have jobs yet, so i completely understand renters concerns but still, we're homeless people! by the end of the night, we had a place to sleep, a place to stay for the next 3 weeks, and another to stay until sept. i have never been more mentally and physically tired IN. MY. LIFE. so in the last 3 days, we've been homeless for 2 and moved 3 times.. i just want to stop living out of my suitcase :) come monday, we'll be more settled and the job hunting begins, wish me luck! man oh man, when i said i wanted an adventure of a lifetime, i never, EVER imagined it would be looking for a place to live and worrying about being homeless on the streets of nyc.