Farewell Michelle, Tanya & Kate, Hello Calum

It is that season where people start moving.
Michelle Dunn, one of my co-publishers at Aperture, has left us for a publishing position in San Francisco. We had a going away celebration at a local restaurant on the pier 66. We were put at the front of the float pier and had the most beautiful sunset. And yes, I am again wearing a scarf. It was a chilly night by the water.

Click on photo for description.


Tanya and Kate have both been living at the Web, aka the Webster. I overheard another resident use this abbreviation and am now adopting it. Tanya is heading back to her home in Canada and her cat Frank and to school. Kate is heading home to Kentucky to head back to school as well. Tanya has been her for a month internship for a photographer. She has been assisting her in her latest project working for USA Network's "Character" marketing campaign. Kate has been interning with the soap opera Guiding Light. She is in school for digital filming or something like that.

My other co-worker Susan had her baby! A beautiful healthy baby boy. They named him Calum.

Mani/Pedis and Wine

The week started off wonderfully. Monday's work day went by very quickly. The development assistant was away visiting family and so there was more work for the interns to do. On my way home I picked up a bottle of California wine for after dinner. A handful of us met on the roof and enjoy a glass or two and talked about everything and nothing. It was a chilly night. We had sweaters and summer scarves on. We also decided to take some fun photos...


On Tuesday, we decided to get manicures and pedicures. This decision came from some free nail polish Mariam had received from a Webster girl who was moving out. It was Victoria Secret brand so we all put some on. The next day, it had all ready started to flake off! We decided it must have been a fake one and came to the conclusion that we just needed to get our nails done professionally. Non of them had gotten a mani/pedi before, so I researched the Internet, high and low mind you, to find the best bang for our buck. Clover Nails was the winner with $31 for mani and pedi with vibrating chairs and later hours. When we arrived, there were six women waiting for us. They spent the next hour doing all our nails. These ladies were SO nice and efficient and the owner, Soon even remembered my name when I left. Well, she either remembered it or looked back in the reservation book to see what it was. Either way, I was impressed by her effort. Everyone loved their nails, especially Sabine who could not believe how nice her toes look. It was great and I'm so glad they enjoyed the experience.


Now it's Wednesday and time for some quite. Ruth and I are sitting in my room writing in our journals. Although hers is actually with pen and paper. I'm quite impressed with how much she has written these past two months. Much more dedicated than I.

I've been hearing stories about people starting school this week. The freshman who are experiencing their first days of college, the seniors who are having their last first days, and the graduate students who are in new places. With me not partaking this year, I have to say, it doesn't really feel odd like I have imagined. I think it was finally time for me to be done and I'm grateful that I feel that way now as I'm experiencing it. Granted, I do miss my classmates and "being in college", but I am ready to move on. It was time to change that chapter and start this one and it feels pretty good. I appreciate all I had in college, the friends I met, the memories I made, and even the education I received. However, the thought of all the waits me is far more exhilarating.

Last Week/end in Photos

Thursday:
Baby shower! My coworker Joanna is pregnant and will soon be on her maternity leave so we had a surprise baby shower for her. Including some AMAZING homemade brownie cakes from a lady named Diana. I had three.






The lady in the middle with the black tank top and dark hair is Joanna.










Saturday:
Visit to Chinatown and Little Italy with Petra (stripes) and Sabine (German friends)
















We saw this fruit called Loghans everywhere. They look like large brown grapes or like small potatoes. Non of us had ever heard of them before.
So we asked a very nice Chinese man what they were, he gave a free sample. When he handed one to each of us, we looked at each other, then back at the man. "How do you eat it?" You would have asked this a well because the brown part is a rather hard shell. So some very nice bystanders proceeded to also take a sample and show us how to break them open....
The fruit inside is kind of clear and white with a black seed in the middle. I thought it looked like a large fish egg, but I had to at least taste it. So we all bit in. The verdict...




It was actually pretty sweet and tasty. However, I couldn't get the impression that I was eating a fish egg out of my head and I couldn't finish mine.

More photos of Chinatown:


Little Italy:


Just so you know, Chinatown is very wide and long with several blocks. Little Italy is only one long strip of about two blocks. We ate a yummy lunch in Chinatown and we will be returning to Little Italy sometime for some dinner sometime.

We also walked all though the village, Soho, and Noho. For those who don't know, this stands for North of Houston and South of Houston. And in NY, it's pronounced house-ten. Don't ask me why....


This is the house used for "I Am Legend". Where it is located is the spot where "Sesame Street" was "located". (was eavesdropping on a walking tour)


Is it just me, or is this squirrel smiling at me. And yes, I was that close. I think he was almost ready to jump on me...










Monday:
Three of us went to check out the last movie of the summer in Bryant Park....SUPERMAN!

This is Ruth from Scotland. She doesn't know it yet, but Sebine and I have decided to have a Webster reunion at her place in Scotland in two years. A week in Scotland with her then a week back with Sabine in Germany. Yup, sounds good.

A thought I wanted to share...

I have been meeting a lot of new people lately. Undoubtedly, everyone asks what I am doing here and after I tell them I'm on an internship here till December, the immediately ask what I plan to do afterward. Well I still have no idea, so I tell them, "I have no idea". So they ask, will you stay here or go back home? Again, I don't know and respond with such an answer.

With having this line of conversation coming up more recently, it started me thinking, "well why don't I know yet"? "Why do I still have no idea?" This of course led me to more questions about why God sent me here and what I am supposed to learn and if I'm really getting what I'm supposed to be getting out of this experience etc. etc. etc. Then, I had an epiphany.

I was preparing a surprise gift for a friend back home and I was so excited because I know she's going to love it when she finally gets it. I thought about telling her to look for it in the mail, but then I thought that it would be such a better surprise and she would enjoy it much more when she got it, if she didn't know it was coming. Just as this thought finished, it occurred to me that maybe this is how God works.

If He told me now what He has planned for me after these six months, would it be as exciting as if I found out when I'm really supposed to? No! Of course not! It's like knowing about a Christmas present early. Sure you're excited when you first find out about it, but then you can't have it till Christmas. Then, when you actually open it, the surprise and most of the excitement is gone because you already knew what it was.

And, furthermore, I know my friend is going to be so surprised and so excited and love it so much, so why would I do something that would take that away from her? Why would I tell her something now that would cause her less joy in the future when she just doesn't really need to know now? Why would He?

I guess my point is, I can wait for the surprise. I trust it's going to be more exciting then I can imagine.

Updates!

Wow, I'm getting a bit behind on these entries. My apologies, but I have good reasons!!!

Friends:
I have finally met some ladies in my building. To make a long story short, I went to a UN party with one of the ladies in my building (not in the actual building but the German House in UN square). A few of other ladies, who are here from Germany, went as well. The next night, we all ate dinner together and we met more ladies; one from Canada, Kentucky, and Scotland. Yesterday, I went with five of the German ladies to Korean Way and we had an authentic Korean dinner. Yum! It was hard for the Germans to understand the Koreans when they spoke English, so I had to translate. It's so nice to finally have people to eat with and talk to during meals.

Work:
The past week I have had to travel 45mins each way to go pick up these letters at a residence off of Park Ave. I had to go three times because the first two times, the papers were not there. The address of the building is 740 E Park Ave. Why am I telling you this? Because this place is so ritzy and lavishing, it had a book written about! I was not aloud to take pictures, but man,you should have seen it. Google it and you will see. Here is a link to a New York Times article about it: ARTICLE
We are preparing for our re-opening in September. The walls are all done and now the templates for the pictures are going on the walls. They put up actual size papers of the pictures with a sticky back on the walls to see how everything will look. And to make adjustments where necessary.

Play:
One of my new favorite things to do in NYC is run in the rain. It's a like a whole new place during the rain. No one is on the streets, the lights all shine even more because they reflect off the water, and the noise drowns out a bit from the sound of rain falling. I ran all the way down to SOHO and Greenwich Village a few days ago. This is where I would live if I could. Such cute homes and brick laid streets. I absolutely love it.
I finally got a chance to hang with my friend Erin (she moved here from AZ just a few weeks before I did). We went and saw The Goonies at Pier 46(same thing I did for Wizard of Oz). Then we walked down to Batty Park. It is so amazing at night with all the tourist gone and the NJ city line in the distance. Then we took the Long Island Ferry across the Hudson. It is free and goes in front of the Statue of Liberty. We spent the night at her place and slept till 11am. It was soooooo nice to finally sleep in and still be able to have breakfast! We made pancakes and coffee. It was a lovely lazy Saturday.

Filming on the NY Streets

Today was a rather dull long day. The air did not work in the office for the morning. To me, this was music. I sit right in front of the AC unit, and get the most air than anyone AND I get the breeze of the air out of the gallery. So this morning, I was only get the gallery breeze and loved it! Then they fixed it. And I froze again. And I barely had work to do. So slow day. I did, however, get a chance to get to know one of my other interns better. And we haven't really connected, but she really opened up over our lunch brake. So that was actually a great part of my work day.

After work I went to go check out this boutique that makes button down ladies shirts that are personally fitted. They were have a massive sale to were even I could afford a shirt or two. I got there and it was packed. I'll have to try again tomorrow maybe. The best part was though...that I saw the set of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit!!!!
I saw Christopher Melone (Det. Elliot Stabler) from a distance. I walked around the set to see if I could get a better look. It was even worse. I was meeting a friend for dinner so I decided to take out my map and see where I was. When I looked up, Mariska Hargitay (Det. Oliva Benson) was walking right pasted me. I smiled really big and said hi. She smiled back and said hi. It seemed like she was in a big hurry to get on set. But it was way cool!
Since I'm going back to the store tomorrow, maybe they will still be filming and I can take my camera for better photos, instead of these from my camera phone.
I walked the 20 some blocks home today from dinner. It is just so beautiful outside today and tonight. The breeze is actually chilly. I needed to put something on over my tank top. So nice! It's supposed to rain tomorrow....but we'll see :)

Blessings

A Week Behind

Hello All!

Last weekend Ellena and I went to visit some of our friends in Philly. (In case I forgot to mention her, I went to school with Ellena. She was offered an apartment for a month for free in NYC so she decided to take it. And who wouldn't?!?) We left on a 2:30 bus. Two other girls we went to school with were/are in Philly. Korbi is in an internship there over the summer and Caitie was visiting her for the week. We met-up with Caitie while Korbi was working. We grabbed some food and then went to a bar where Ellena and Caitie got champagne and Pop Rocks. It was the funniest thing I've ever seen. The Pop Rocks would pop out and hit Ellena in the eye. We also played some Jenga.
We met Korbi back at the apartment where caught up a bit. It was good to hang with old friends from home. It felt like a just another evening back in AZ. Soon after we headed out on the town. We hit up a few clubs and bars and finally ended up back at home around 3am.

Since we were out so late, we slept till noon. Once up, we were starving. We grabbed a cab and went to the Italian district for some authentic Italian food. It was amazing! And, it was actually a place where the real Rocky used to eat. They had stuff all over the walls about him. We walked around for a bit, then decided to grab some coffee and french toast at a very cute local place. It was soooooooo good.
By this time, most of the day was gone. We hopped in another cab and headed back by the apartment were we met up with my friend Genevieve!

(Gen had business in Delaware and New Jersey so she decided to pick me and Ellena up and drive us back to NY and hang out with me before she needed to go to NJ)
We all went and got some cheese steaks at one of the most famous places, Jim's off of South street. We waited for 30mins then took our food on the road. Gen is now in love with cheese steaks and cheese whiz.

We went to NJ first and dropped Gen's rental car off at the hotel she was staying at on Sunday night and took the train into the city. Gen stayed with me at my place. It was fun showing her where I live and all the fun features of my place. Good to have someone new to share it with.

Next morning we went to a church that I am starting to attend and then we met her friend Sharon for brunch. We went to this very popular place off of Amsterdam. The food was amazing, but we had to wait a little while to get seated. We popped into Sharon's place then headed to Ground Zero so Gen could see it before she left. We went to St. Paul's Chapel and the walkway were you can see the construction. It was sad to finally take Gen to the train station to head back to NJ, but we had such a great time together.

My weekend, however, did not end there. Monday night, Gabe was back in town. Ellena and I went over to his brother's condo for dinner. Gabe brother is in construction is currently working on the new bulidings for Columbia University and Ground Zero. His company is paying for him and his wife to live in a condo on the 34th floor of a high rise. Great view of the Hudson and sunset from up there. For dinner, Gabe handmade lasagna. It was really really good.
Afterward, we all went to a famous jazz club called Bird Land. Many well known names have played there, like Dizzy, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, and Lester Young to name a few. On Monday nights they have what they call, Jim Caruso's Cast Party. This is when current or past or future Broadway singers come and sing. All you need is sheet music to give to the musicians (or just a napkin with notes on it) and you can get up on stage and sing. If you are currently on Broadway or off Broadway, this is great time to plug in your play and network with other professionals. There was incredible talent there on Monday night. One of my favorites was a man who is currently playing the chef on the Broadway production of The Little Mermaid. He was also in The Producers. He was funny.

It was such a fun night/weekend. :D

There is a slideshow of pictures from the weekend below, but you can also go here: http://www.castpartynyc.com/ and click on Pix to see more photos of Monday night's Cast Party (7/28/2008)