Random things I notice...

In the Midwest, it is common for people to hold the door for you. It is especially rare when a man does not hold the door for a woman. Well New York is different. I can't count how many times the door has slammed in my face. Subway doors, elevator doors, doors to work, Starbucks, etc. Every once in awhile you encounter someone who does hold the door open for you and it is nice. So being the nice Midwestern girl that I am, I say, "Thank You." It is just what you do. There is a type of individual in NY that I have noticed that does not seem to exist in the Midwest. The older, nicely dressed gentleman. He will hold the door open for you but when you thank him, and I am not kidding, he looks at you like, "This is a complete waste of my time. You thanking me is actually taking more time than I planned and I totally regret holding the door for a few extra seconds." It is the oddest thing. What is even funnier is that the other day as I was leaving the gym, I heard this awful squawk. I looked behind me and there was this old lady. I am assuming she was mad because I didn't hold the door for her but I honestly didn't see her. She is a fast moving blue hair. But seriously!

That reminds me. Old people in NYC are a whole other thing. I can't decide if it is all of New York or just the Upper East Side. The other night I was at the grocery store and there was an older man in front of me with a couple of things. I started to grab the partition thing so I could start putting my groceries on the conveyor belt but he grabbed it out of my hands and put it back! I just stood there stunned, unsure of what to do. Which what I wanted to do was grab it again and beat him with it. What the hell? You don't grab things out of stranger's hands. So I was like, well I am just going to start putting my stuff on the belt and if he gets charged for some of my stuff that will teach his social security ass to grab things out of people's hands.
They finally took the scaffolding off of the front of my building which is nice. I almost don't recognize the front of my building! But unfortunately, the two holes from the construction workers are still here. There is one on the wall in my bedroom which is the front of the building. The front of the building is patched up so air isn't leaking out or in but there is still a huge hole and I am afraid they will charge me when I move out. There is also a hole near the ceiling in my bathroom. Any time someone shuts a door anywhere in the building, pieces of wall and debris fall. There is a constant mess that I have completely given up cleaning except for maybe once a month.

Still dealing with Maverick's anxiety that has significantly gotten worse from moving here. He has really good days and then he has days that he just shakes and there isn't anything I can do. It doesn't make any sense. There isn't a lot of noise on my street. I bought the Thundershirt. Hopefully that helps. The vet prescribed anti-depressants but they don't work once he is already in an anxious state and I don't want to keep him constantly medicated. Will let you know if the Thundershirt works. I am hopeful.
Dad and I leave for Italy in 18 days. I am taking him on his first overseas trip to Italy for his belated 60th birthday. It is where our family is from and I can't wait to show him Italy. He has no idea. We are going to Venice, Rome and Sicily. I haven't been to Sicily before so I am pretty excited about that.

For some reason, my mind really wants to be running but my body has been so tired lately that I just can't make myself do it. It sucks. Can't wait for the weather to get nice again and so I can run in Central Park.

I finally signed up for German class. I speak German conversationally and it has always been a goal of mine to become fluent. Here is the first step. It feels really good to make the first step. Classes don't start until April. I have a busy couple of months anyway.
-S
P.S. I love cake.

Sorry I have been absent. Please forgive me.

I promise I have definitely been out and enjoying my life and not being boring. :) Let's see. I still have nights where I go out and it just starts out watching a Mizzou basketball game on a Saturday afternoon, drinking a couple of beers BUT crazy Sarah rears her ugly head and gets me into trouble. She always does. So I was out with Trisha and her roommate who is from St. Louis. We were watching the Mizzou game last Saturday at Blackstone's, the Mizzou bar. Started out just a couple of pitchers of (yuck) Bud Light but of course we can't go home after the game. We decide to move the fun further south. We try to go to McSorley's which seems like a good place but waaaaay to crowded. We go to the St. Mark's Hotel bar which was LAME! Then we find this place called Phebe's (Bowery at E. 4th St. ). The inside of this place seems pretty cool. We sit and have a couple of drinks even talk to some cute guys. Now here is where the night gets a little dicey. We decide to leave, this I know but I have no idea why or how it was decided that we went to the next place which I am pretty sure was the 13th Step. We head to the back of the bar where there is a second bar. We found a beer pong table! We kept having people either say 'Go Blue!' or Ohio fans were mad at us. (Because they don't realize that we are wearing Mizzou shirts.)
Then I had a total douche say to me, "Mizzou didn't play today."
I was like, "Uh, yes we did. I watched the game."
He was like, "Football?"
I was like, "No, Basketball."
And he was like, "But you are wearing a shirt with a football helmet on it."
What a total douche.
It wasn't like I was wearing a Yankees hat to a Giants game. Some people. Then we decide to play the next game of beer pong. Trisha and her roommate played while I came up with the plan to distract the guys we were playing by dancing seductively while they were throwing the balls. It worked pretty well.
I also found a large group of Indian people. I decided to text my friend (who happens to be Indian) and let her know. Which obviously is of the utmost importance and riveting information that she probably had no idea that other Indian people lived on the island of Manhattan and being the good friend that I am, I had to alert her to this fact. By this time, clearly I am very drunk. I decide to walk up to these people and tell them that my friend is Indian. Not my finest moment, I admit. Again it was decided to leave. I have no idea whose idea it was. It could have been mine. I made it home to my dog who most likely was thinking, "Oh here is my drunk and disorderly owner, AGAIN! I am so proud." I am pretty sure I took him outside but I don't remember.
Unfortunately, I am getting older. Evenings like this result in taking about 1.5 days of recovery.
Another time I will have to share the night my coworkers and I went to a little hole-in-the-wall called Subway. We are all still laughing about it and it happened back in December. We are hopefully going out tomorrow night weather permitting. Also thought it would be fun (for anthropological reasons) to do speed dating. Will report. Over and out.
-S

Add another crazy night to my belt

So I hadn't hung out with my friends Bryce and Tracey for awhile. They invited me out Friday night to a place in Greenwich Village called Fat Cat. This place is interesting. It has pool tables, shuffleboard, ping pong tables, chess, $3 PBRs and a live band. Fortunately (or unfortunately) nights out with these two ladies always ends in complete and utter craziness and Friday was no different. All of us started out warning each other that we were in crappy moods and didn't want to have a crazy night. But as the PBRs kept flowing and we vented, we all felt better. I ended up meeting a french guy who I am pretty sure was appropriately named Jacque. I also met a german girl called Alena who I spoke german with and she told me that my pronunciation was pretty good. :) Let's just say I left with Jacque and we will leave it at that.

I also joined a book club and we had our first meeting last week. It went really well. Everyone seems really nice. We are now reading The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. Everyone seems cool and it was nice for a bunch of 20 something people to sit around a bar and have intelligent conversations. Not stuffy or pretentious but still very cool. I also met a german girl there named Irma who offered to meet up with me to practice my german. She offered before I could even ask her!! How awesome is that??? We are meeting this Tuesday at the german restaurant in my 'hood that I have been wanting to go to forever. Things like that would never have happened in KC. Another cool thing about the book club is the point of it is to read classic books while eating good food at great NY restaurants. :)

I am also meeting up with a friend from college tomorrow night for dinner. I found out through facebook that he lives in the Lower East Side with his boyfriend. Super excited to see him and catch up. Haven't spoke to him since junior year of college at least. Plus he recommended a really great sounding asian fusion place.

I have been hanging out with my new friend, Olisa, a lot. She is awesome. She lives in my neighborhood. Randomly, she went to Park University back in KC and she had classes with my sister, Anna. Her and Amiran are friends too. She is from Greece and really easy and fun to hang out with. She also promised to take me to the bars that the foreign dignitaries hang out in. :) Meeting up with Amiran in a couple of minutes to purchase ballet tickets. Can't wait to actually go to the ballet! I get to dress up and everything.

Lisa will be here in exactly a month!! Can't wait. OH yeah for her bday which is this Saturday, my family is all getting together like normal. This will be the first family function that any of us have really missed which makes me a bit sad but i will be fixing tacos with peas (don't ask) on my end as well. I will also be enjoying a cupcake. And they will put me on skype so I can "be there." I am excited about that. Just wish they could pass me a piece of cake through the computer.

OH yeah. Also, on Mav and my's walk this morning, we met these two cute older ladies named Francesca and Cecilia. They loved Mav. They were happy to know we had just moved to the neighborhood and said they hoped to see me around again soon. See New Yorkers aren't that bad.

Love to everyone back home but if this post is any indication, I highly doubt I will live in the midwest again.

-S

Second Set of Visitors and Settling In...

So my parents came up last week and stayed for about 5 days. It was pretty awesome. I couldn't take as much time off of work to spend with them but I think they had a good time. I had fun just hanging out with them. It was a pretty big surprise that my dad could get time off of work to make it up here so I am really grateful. We had all kinds of mishaps and adventures that are normal for our family vacations such as my dad buying souvenirs for everyone, carrying it around all day and then leaving it in the cab. Not sure if it will get recovered or not. Still working on it. Also, on the way up here, my dad accidentally went in the toll lane for the EZ Pass instead of the cash only lane. He managed to get through and is still awaiting the ticket or fine in the mail. Of course we just kind of explored my neighborhood and enjoyed each other company. Didn't do any much different than if we would have all been back in Liberty and of course, Maverick liked having the house full of people to pet him. When they left on Sunday, it was much harder than I thought it would be. I cried and was pretty sad for a good hour or so. I called my friend Steph because she has been out here for like 6 years so I am sure she has been through it and wanted to know if it gets easier. She said it does get easier but you never stop missing them. It feels weird at 28 to miss my parents so much. I didn't even have that hard of time without them in college. Oh well.
So this pay period, I am broke so nothing too exciting. Must stay in and eat the food my mom cooked for me. I know HUGE hardship. ;) Things will be better after the next paycheck. And of course this is when there are mistakes with fandango taking too much money out when I purchased mine and my sister's midnight showing of breaking dawn. Hopefully, the money will be put back in my account by today or tomorrow. It is also helpful that I have plenty of tv shows to catch up on so I am not bored.
Found out a friend from college lives here in the city too. Can't wait to meet up with him and his boyfriend. Haven't seen him since college. Was supposed to meet up with him tomorrow night but I already had made plans with Amiran (my mom's friend's adopted/foreign exchange student). He is going to introduce me to one of his friends who lives in my neighborhood.
Weird to have conflicting plans. Hasn't happened so far in NY. Signs of an actual social life to come?
My sister comes to visit in like a month and half. Can't wait. Going to be exhausted because of all the plans she is making but it will be fun. And less pressure because she knows exactly what she wants to see and do.
Broke down and joined a gym that I can't really afford but I hate the extra weight I have gained since moving here. You would think with walking everywhere that wouldn't happen but the bagels are the devil. I think I need a bagel intervention or aversion program. So hopefully by the time thanksgiving comes around I will be back or close to where I should be.
Steph came up last night and stayed because she goes to school in Manhattan once a week. It was nice to see her. I need to make her a set of keys.
Oh yeah, I joined a book club and our first meeting is next Tuesday night at some restaurant. Supposed to read a short novel before then but I need to finish the book I was already reading. Only about 60 more pages to go but so little time in the day. Maybe I need to start reading it on the subway.
And I had my first subway groping experience yesterday. It was creepy. I was about to turn around and yell at him but I chickened out. Next time...
Two days ago, a guy hit me with his umbrella and I yelled at him but he didn't even turn around.
A couple of possible flirtations in the works but nothing concrete yet and since I am wary of relationships anyway not going to act on anything. Just going to let them happen or not happen. Maybe more next time.
-S
Tip: Don't give crazies the benefit of the doubt of shouting coherent, rational thoughts. If a crazy starts talking in your direction: ignore, keeping walking, look the other way, etc. No matter what. You will just be frustrated when you try to make sense of the nonsense coming out of their mouth.

I think Maverick might have more friends than I do...

So Maverick and I are starting to develop a bit of a routine. I guess according to Caesar Milan (the dog whisperer) you are supposed to walk your dog at least twice a day for at least 30 minutes each. So that is what Mav and I are doing. He, of course, has to stop at every tree, try to pick up every crumb that someone has dropped, and jump into the fenced in flower beds.

He has so many admirers around the neighborhood. We can't walk without getting stopped and told what a sweet and adorable dog he is. He is also a big hit with the children.

But I am intrigued by the number of people (children AND adults) who seriously swerve to get away from him. Like he looks like a remotely viscous dog. I know some people have been traumatized and all but I think they are being a bit dramatic. He doesn't even go towards them. Weirdos.

He also sometimes takes so long to pee on one tree, that a pigeon pooped on my shoulder the other day. Yes, it finally happened. My big fear of being pooped on by a bird and it is a pigeon. I kid you not, it actually burned a little. Like acid or something. I have heard that it is a good sign when a bird poops on you, so maybe it will bring me good luck. Or at the very least, increase the odds that it won't happen again anytime soon. Sort of the like lightning, right?

Got through my first cold by myself up here. It sucked not being able to go home and have my mom take care of me. She usually fixes me homemade chicken noodle soup and toast. I had to fend for myself. I actually think I got better in record time. Pretty much just slept a lot and drink lots of OJ.

Fall shows are starting again. Thank goodness. I am so glad to have something to watch. :)

Also, very exciting my cousin, Chad, and his wife just gave birth to their beautiful baby girl. I am sad I wasn't there and I won't get to officially see her until Thanksgiving. It is so weird seeing my cousin holding his daughter. I am so proud of both of them.

First chilly day and I turned off the air conditioner. Can't wait to save money on the bill but I am not excited about it getting cold. AT ALL.

No plans for this weekend yet but I did find out about a Mizzou bar on the Upper East Side so I might go watch the football game and maybe make some friends.

Oh yeah, recently a friend from high school starting messaging me on facebook. I have always liked this guy (as a friend) and was happy to hear from him but now he is texting me all the time and wanting to hang out when I come home for Thanksgiving. I don't want to sound like a selfish bitch but I am probably not going to have much time. There are so many people I am going to need to make time for. Plus, I just don't want to do the whole text message conversation all night. When I am watching a movie, watching a tv show, out doing something, I don't want to constantly be getting messages or having to come up with nice and witty remarks. I know this sounds ungrateful and mean but I just don't have it in me. I don't mind sometimes but if I respond, it NEVER ends. Not kidding. And he was planning on cooking me dinner. Already thinking of the recipes. Too much pressure. So I just suggested we get together for coffee or something.

Here are some tips from me to you:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch Concrete at Shake Shack. GOOOOOOD. Also the burgers are really great too.

Street meat, more specifically a lamb gyro with tzatziki is even better cold the second day.

Crazy night out and being my own handywoman...

So Thursday I went to see Follies on Broadway for my first Broadway experience. It was awesome. Reminded me of being in musicals in high school.

Last night I met up with my new friend Bryce who was meeting a bunch of her former coworkers. We went to this place in the West Village called Wicked Willy's. It was awesome. Some of the cheapest drinks I have seen in NYC. Like $3 miller lights. Hell Yeah! They had real beer pong tables set up and a band was playing. It was a really good time. Did at least two tequila shots. Ended up making out with a guy who was pretty cute. Looked kind of like Taylor Lautner. But after awhile, and I do this a lot, I just don't like having someone following me around constantly. So I started talking to another guy. And of course, the first guy was like what is going on. He actually handled it pretty well and was like, do you want to be talking to him now? I was like I am just talking to him. I just was not in the mood to be glued to anyone. It was fun for a little while but I wanted to talk to people. Then I guess Bryce liked the 2nd guy who I had talked to so I stopped talking to him. Then I was trying to get the first guy to stop hanging on me but he didn't get it.

Then one of the other girls had to catch a train to connecticut at Grand Central which is a stop on the green line that takes me home. So I took advantage and was like I am going to go home too. The guy was all like can I come home with you? I was like no sorry. I want to be alone and go to sleep. He asked several times. He did ask for my number and I was like I am not going to give it to you if you aren't going to call me. But he said he would. Whatever.So I just shared a cab with that girl and got out of there. Another thing that is funny is before this guy showed up, his brother's girlfriend told me he was coming but also warned me that he is a player. Why are the players always attracted to me???

So I made it home and it was a fun night out. There were lots of cute guys and I talked to several of them. :)

So this morning once I slept in, I figured I need to build my couch that I bought from target and that was delivered yesterday. So I included pictures of the process for your viewing pleasure. At first I was afraid I would need real tools and then it didn't seem to come with instructions but I managed to get it put together and I finally have a place to sit besides my bed!!! And it is a futon too so more sleeping places for people who visit!!

My tiny apartment seems huge now...

Maverick says, "Hi!"

So my mom left today. Not on a plane but on a train. She is crazy. But I guess at least there is a mode of transport that will get her to visit. So glad to have Maverick here. Would definitely be very lonely without him.

Her visit was good. Started very frantic with losing out on a couple of days due to the hurricane but we got soooo much done while she was here. My couch should get here by this weekend and then it will be almost done and I will post pics. I am pretty proud of it. Not too much decorating done yet but I have ideas. So Sunday we took the ferry to IKEA (because it is in Brooklyn) and that was an experience. Mom and I were only a couple of blocks from where the WTC towers were but she was too tired. Again, my mom is interesting. Well, IKEA was an experience too. One of the most crowded places I had ever seen. THe kind of crowded that just drains any kind of energy you have. I will have to order from there online. YIKES. Or go during an off peak time (if they have one). I took her to Times Square yesterday and I think she really liked it. She wasn't so impressed with the East Village but I was! They had lots of bubble tea places!! Now, I love my neighborhood and everything but I really should have researched the bubble tea ratios. :)

So I think Mom really liked New York. While I was at work most days, she took Mav on several walks and got to know more people in the neighborhood than I do. Like there is a little coffee shop just down the street that these cute Asian girls run who LOVE maverick. They even let him in the store. My kind of place. I think she really liked having the freedom to walk anywhere. She did drive me crazy on how slow she walked. In NY you need to walk pretty fast to avoid multiple things such as being trampled by cars, taxis, busses, bikes, people, hoverrounds, etc. I was so afraid on multiple occasions that she would get lost and/or trampled but she made it through unscathed.

Also, I heard from "Bart" today. He emailed (and texted) saying he got tickets to a broadway show for Thursday, if I was interested. Part of me says, "RUN!" but the other part says, "Well, you have always wanted to go to a Broadway show." Decisions. If he tries anything, or didn't quite get the message from last time, then it will be the last time. I promise. :)

Mom and I also tried this cute little bakery in the 'hood called, Two Little Red Hens. If you are in the area, hell the tri-state area, please try them! I had the Brooklyn Blackout cupcake and mom had the carrot cake cupcake. The most moist and delcious cupcake ever. Must limit to once a week.

-S

Random Revelation of the Day: The subway smells like Worlds of Fun.