Going Home Again

After much deliberation and many indecisive moments, I have decided to move back in with my parents. This was not an easy decision, and I am extremely apprehensive about it, but as of right now, logically speaking...it seems to be my best option.

I have not lived with my parents steadily since high school. Sure, there were a couple of years after high school when I was going to college and living at home, but I was always spending time elsewhere. There were summer vacations spent here, there were intermittent periods of unloading all my belongings just to pack up again and leave.

Comings-and-goings of that nature, I have found, amount in an excess of...stuff. Years and years worth of junk. I would post some pictures of the clutter...but it looks like a hoarder has been living there. My bedroom was demoted to a storage closet about two years ago, amassing not just my junk, but my family's junk as well.

My mission for the past couple weeks, which will span into as many weeks as necessary, is to get rid of EVERYTHING that hasn't been touched in over a year. So far I've parted with three garbage bags full of clothes (2 closets and 2 dressers, and I still can't fit everything I own? Give me a break.) One bag of shoes, three bags of things stuff for the trash, one bag of books...And I'm maybe halfway through the trenches.

BUT!! There is a light at the end of the tunnel, and it is this:

Tempaper is a company that makes removable wallpaper. It's similar to a contact paper, made of vinyl, and goes on as a decal.










The wall behind my bed is flanked by 2 closets, making it a perfect candidate for some snazzing-up. I've chosen the Honey Jade Marrakesh pattern, and am yet to choose a wall color to go with it.

I want to avoid a Moroccan theme, so I plan to keep the rest of the room pretty neutral (Orange? Purple? No thanks.) I'll update as the project progresses. Heres hoping it goes well!

Holiday Gift Buying

Well, it's about that time again. Thanksgiving is a few days away (delicious) and then come the other holidays. The present giving holidays. The ones where you bestow beautiful gifts on the people you love, all in the hopes of putting a smile on their face and giving them something new and wonderful to use/wear/play with/love.

What could be better, you ask? Well, apparently when you're me, going shopping for yourself is better than shopping for other people.
Now hold on before you go getting all judgy on me.

Every November, (ie: the beginning of the cold season, ie: no more summer clothes, ie: WHAT AM I GOING TO WEAR?!) All the stores go into holiday mode with ridiculous sales. 30% off my entire purchase? Yes, I will be buying that sweater, a pair of pants, scarf, and ohh look at those necklaces!

November feels far too early to do any holiday gift shopping. Perhaps that's the procrastinator in me, but until December rolls around, I can't seem to equate shopping with buying gifts for people. So I end up going into stores, lured in by their sales (you tricky marketing people, you!), rationalizing (as I mentioned before) that I need new winter clothes, and spending money. On myself. Am I the only one who falls into this trap? I can't possibly be. Or maybe I just suck at not shopping. hmm...

Now, don't get me wrong, I certainly do love buying gifts for people, especially when I think it's the PERFECT gift and know they'll adore it. But...until December rolls around...

So with that in mind, here are some things I've been coveting:

This fabulous Jcrew sweater with pink sequins. Practical? No. Affordable? No. Beautiful and fun and perfect and I want to own it? Yes.

Really now. A sweater that sparkles.






Can you ever really have enough plaid shirts? I mean, if I'm going to potentially possibly maybe ever live on a farm, I need to stock up. 8 is not enough. I need 9. actually, theres a blue one similar to this that I probably need also, if we're being realistic...

This watch. Now, I already have a really awesome Marc Jacobs watch, so I'm having a rough time figuring out a justification for this one, but boy is she perty. 

Confetti Ornaments. I LOVE CONFETTI! wait a minute...perhaps this could be a gift to give someone else! Aha! 

Anyway, I suppose my point in all of this is...well, i'm not sure I have a point. But shopping has been on my mind, and I've felt (mildly) selfish for only wanting to shop for myself...so I figured...I should probably write about it.

In other news, (AKA: why I haven't been blogging very often) I've been getting A's on all my school assignments. woo-hoo!

30 by 30

30 by 30. A list of 30 things to accomplish by the age of 30. I have 5 years to go.

In no particular order, I present my list:

1. Leave New York

2. Graduate College

3. Earn a Masters Degree

4. Run a half marathon

5. Go to Asia

6. Go to Australia

7. Buy a car

8. Ride an elephant

9. Drive cross-country

10. Cut my hair short

11. Go to Mardi Gras

12. Own a bicycle and ride it often

13. Start my career in interior design and NEVER WORK IN A RESTAURANT AGAIN

14. Be a vegetarian for 3 months

15. Get Married

16. Support myself financially

17. Live in a house

18. Keep up with friendships

19. Buy a Louis Vuitton bag

20. See the pyramids in Egypt

21. Visit Berlin

22. Settle into a home I love

23. Pay off all my credit card bills and achieve good credit!

24. Save $5,000

25. Enjoy yoga

26. Learn how to use a camera. properly.

27. Be proud of myself

28. Be a good daughter

29. Spend all the time with my family that I can

30. Be happy with who I am

So there you have it. Some of them are more important to me than others, but all of them are things that I want (or wanted and achieved). Perhaps my list will change as time goes by, perhaps not. But as it stands right now, this is my list. And if you happen to have the means to help me achieve any of these...DO IT! TAKE ME TO GERMANY! TEACH ME TO USE A CAMERA! ENLIGHTEN ME ON THE ART OF YOGA!!! 

The State of Things

This is my drafting table. That is a floor plan and reflected ceiling plan of my classroom. 

This is my desk. Those are watercolors and a color-matching project.

These (and my crap job) are the reasons why my blogging has become so intermittent. But it's a means to an end. And...pretty enjoyable, for the most part, so I really have no complaints. That is, aside from the lack of free time. And sleep. But those come with the territory.

Sometime soon I'll write about my whacked-out professor who doesn't actually teach us how to do anything, just sort of explains what each project is in the most confusing way possible. It's as if he sits at home contemplating how he can make as little sense as possible. He also sort of resembles a hobo. I'll try to snap a pic of him tomorrow tonight. It will enhance everything else I write about him.

Till then...

Inspired By:

I find inspiration for my style from almost everything I come in contact with. The most tangible and easily accessible way for me to reinterpret this inspiration is through clothing. It would be fantastic if I were also able to apply my ideas to the space I live in, but unfortunately it's just not feasible. (ie: furniture etc. is expensive, thrift store finds risk beg-bugs in NYC, I'm not the only one living here, and there's the small issue of the 5 story walk-up.)

So for the time being, I stick to clothes.

I just attended an awesome Housing Works event called Buy the Bag, to which I was invited by NLP (one of my friends and old Managers from The Palm). Housing Works, apparently, has a warehouse full of donated clothing that never has a chance to make it to one of their brick and mortar locations. So, for this aptly named event, you go into the warehouse, rifle though thousands of items of clothing in what is similar to a sample sale on crack, fill up as many of the provided paper bags as you wish, and then buy the bags. Each bag cost $25, and I walked with two of them, stuffed to the brim with label and non-label clothing.

My favorite item, albeit slightly difficult to find a wearable purpose for, is this amazing sweater:

Sure, it's a little juvenile/ christmas-esque/ welcome to the 80's, but I love everything about it. From the sparkly bows, to the princess shoulders, it is perfect. Actually, I almost put this gem back because of it's impracticality, but NLP encouraged me to take it. Good call, NLP, good call.

Another great find were a pair of flared Citizens of Humanity jeans that I also have on in that sweater photo, although you can't see very much of them. I love the jeans, but I've been having a hard time figuring out how to wear them in a casual outfit. I haven't purchased a pair of bell bottom jeans since...let's see...my first year of college, seven years ago. I think it's safe to say that my style aesthetic has evolved since then, as has fashion itself (Skinny jeans?). So, not wanting to look like a high school version of myself, I needed a little inspiration on how to wear these. But where to find it? 

I was perusing What I Wore this morning, and came across this fantastically wearable outfit:

YAHOO! I'm not intimidated by these jeans anymore! And I'm also not in high school! I can totally reproduce this outfit in a way that is my own, and I am muy excited about it. I don't love every little thing about the look, but it feels accessible and, overall, looks good. Mission accomplished.

Now I just need to figure out a way to wear that sweater...

WI

It's been a while, I know, I'm sorry.

It seems that since I last wrote, the entire format of Blogger has been updated (ie: CHANGED! WHAT'S GOING ON! FIRST FACEBOOK AND NOW THIS! AHHHHH!!!). I suppose I'll get used to it. What other choice do I really have?

So, in the weeks (months?) that have passed, I've been knee deep in school, work, school related work, and everything in between. I really find that things are either stagnant or moving a bajillion (yes that's the technical term) miles a minute in my life. All or nothing, all the time. It's hard to manage sometimes, but, just like dealing with the new blogger format, what choice do I have? It is what it is.

I happen to be sick today, laying in bed with a gross cold. Stuffy nose, sore throat, the whole deal. It's not fun. But it's given me an opportunity to write, so write I will.

Last week, BF, who's from the Mid West, proposed a potentially life-altering idea to me. His uncle and grandfather both own a great deal of farm land in Wisconsin, where they have dairy cows. BF wants to (potentially) move out to the cow farm and expand it, turning the business into a high profit dairy cow milking farm.

Thing is...

The farm is in the middle of n-o-w-h-e-r-e. As in....

that red dot.

Now, I would love to have a farm. I'd love to have horses, cows, chickens, a garden, I'd love to wake up early and care for animals, I'd enjoy it...I think.

I've lived in a city for my entire life. 

Yes, I've spent time on various farms, and yes I loved it, but I have no real way of knowing whether I would still love it if it were my only way of life. Could I cut it being a farmer? being so far away from everything and everyone I hold dear to me? Will anyone care about my cute outfits? Will I be able to design? Do I want to be surrounded by the literal opposite of a melting-pot? Will the lack of culture destroy me? Are people intelligent and open minded out in the middle of Wisconsin? Will there even be other people out there in the middle of Wisconsin??

I've been stewing over all of this since he mentioned it. I've been thinking about it too much, most likely, but what can I say. It's exciting and scary and different and new. Of course I'm thinking about it.

I also just really like that picture showing where Greenwood, Wisconsin is located, and I wanted to use it for something.

If I'm still writing this blog five years from now, I may be writing from a cow farm in Wisconsin. Giddyup. I mean moo.

Project I

Last week I began my classes at Fashion Institute of Technology, a.k.a FIT. I'm taking three classes: Drafting, Survey of Interior Design, and Presentation Techniques.

In drafting class, we're learning about what life was like before the invention of a lovely little thing called autoCAD, which is a computer program that assists in creating floor plans, layouts and such. In other words, I am learning how to hand-draft.

Here's my almost finished first project:

To create this, I used vellum, a drafting board, architectural scale, T-square, circular template, lead holder, drafting tape, a steady hand and a LOT of patience.
No idea what any of those things are? Yeah, neither did I until last week.
I still have a couple of squares left to finish, but so far so good.


In other news, it's been raining for three days straight, and the subways are still in service. Maybe...if we give this week of rain a name...Bloomberg will shut everything down again. After Irene we'd be on J, so let's go with...Joan. HEY BLOOMBERG, JOAN IS HERE! LET'S SHUT DOWN THE CITY SO NO ONE GETS WET!

A Hurricane Irene list

this is a list of things I have done so far during this "Hurricane" weekend:

1. wine
2. cooked pasta and meatballs
3. looked out of the window 20+ times
4. watched tv
5. wine
6. listened to music
7. slept
8. played/ watched bf play video games
9. cooked eggs
10. ate ice cream
11. WENT FOR A RUN OVER THE MANHATTAN BRIDGE THIS MORNING BECAUSE THE "HURRICANE" WAS STUPID
12. i kid you not, number 11 really happened
13. read a good chunk of the book The Help. So good, if you're wondering.
14. Spent an obnoxious amount of time on facebook, pinterest, and a number of other time-waster websites
15. showered twice
16. ate chips
17. migrated between BF's living room and bedroom
18. wine
19. blogged about the "hurricane"
20. this brings us here, to my list about the "hurricane"

And now I'll drink more wine and be bitter about the "hurricane" some more.

p.s.
still no subway service.

Girls and Their Bedrooms

I am fascinated by bedrooms, specifically ones that show character and personality. This morning, I stumbled across this, which is Rania Matar's photography portfolio entitled Girls and Their Bedrooms. It is truly fascinating, and I found myself mesmerized.

Lilly, 15,  MA

Some of the rooms I loved, some I detested. Some were neat, some messy, and some were even filthy, which was a little gross, but props to you for letting someone take a picture of your filth.
The pictures are taken mostly in Massachusetts and the Middle East, and it is interesting to the see the comparison. Aside from the clear contrast in structural surroundings and clothing, I think the biggest difference between the nations were stuffed animals.

Sarah, 17, Beirut

In the middle east, they were on almost every bed, despite the age of the girl. Perhaps they are left over from childhood, perhaps they offer some sort of comfort, perhaps childhood toys are hard to come by so they hold on to them, or maybe it is just a cultural difference: Teenagers in the Middle East like gigantic stuffed teddy bears.

Regardless of the reasons behind the rooms looking the way they do, the project struck me as intensely personal, a peek into the life of a girl alone in her world.
And come on, who doesn't want to see how other people live? It's like looking into someone's window without having to worry about being caught.

Hello Irene

New York City is officially in Hurricane mode. All of the subways and busses have been shut down in preparation for hurricane Irene, currently a category 1 storm that should be hitting us any time now. Stores are closed, banks, Universities, restaurants, super markets, everything. The few places that remained open either have "X marks the spot" tape across their windows or are completely boarded up on the outside, like the Petco by my parents' apartment.

I want to say that this is a bit drastic, but the storm still hasn't hit. I do think, though, that boarding up to that degree is a bit extreme. After all, this is the Upper West Side we're talking about, not some po-dunk beach town.

Update:
8:35pm- lots of rain, but still no sign of a hurricane...

Sunday, 10:12am- What a monumental overreaction by EVERYONE. 

Chocolate Chip Cookies

As you may or not not know, and as I may or may not have previously mentioned, I detest chocolate. For my entire life, (my mother can attest to this, as can many other people) I have been entirely grossed out by all things chocolate. Sugar cookies that shared the same box as chocolate chip cookies? Sorry, not eating them. The flavor and smell of the chocolate rubs off onto anything it touches. A smudge of chocolate frosting on my vanilla-vanilla cupcake? You must be kidding.

My point in telling you all of that is this: today, for the first time in my life, I baked chocolate chip cookies. That's right. I BAKED CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES and hell did not frozen over. Woah.

Before he left for work today, I told BF I wanted to bake cookies and asked him what kind he wanted. He countered that I wouldn't want to make the cookies he wanted, I assured him I would. So he left to go to work, and two grocery stores later, (the first one was out of flour.) I had my ingredients to make chewy chocolate chip cookies. I followed the recipe exactly, braving the chocolate-ness of the whole thing, and here are the the resulting cookies:

I must say, it was not the worst experience. And if I liked chocolate chip cookies, I'd think these look pretty damn good. Of course, I don't know how they taste, but I'm clearly assuming they're delicious.
Here is the recipe I used.

BF isn't home from work yet, but when he tastes them, I'll add an update on what my first chocolate chip cookies taste like.

experiments in Nail Polish

As you've probably gathered at this point, I always have my nails manicured in some way or another.

These are not my nails. This is a picture of someone else's really fantastic multi-color polka dot nails. When I was a baby, I had a blanket that was covered in polka dots of all different colors, which is what I think drew me to this idea. I also like that it's almost as if something has been created on a blank canvas. Nails as a canvas, imaaaagine that. And also, how hard could it be to put dots on your nails?

Well...these are mine:

So, that's how hard it can be to put dots on your nails. 

I won't be quitting my day job to become a "nail technician" anytime soon.

Daily Outfits?

Today, I came across a website that provides you with outfit options based on your current location and the weather prediction. (via SmartPrettyandAwkward)

This a screen shot I look of it.
Great concept, I do really like it, except...if it's supposed to be 85 degrees and rainy...WHY would I wear leather booties, knee socks, and a blazer??? Why would I wear jeans on 3 out of 5 of the mid-80 degree days??
Wouldn't shorts or a skirt or...anything but jeans make more sense? and really, this is missed Hunter Wellington opportunity.

I think you get wear I'm going with this. Good concept, poorly executed. Rethink your strategy, dailydressme.com, because as of right now, you've missed the mark in a huge way.

Also, I just noticed that Saturday and Monday have the same outfit. Great.

DIY?

Whenever I see bracelets/jewelry like this, I always think to myself that it looks like a fantastically easy and fun DIY project. I decide that I will totally make it, and I feel really thrifty and unique and wonder why anyone would ever waste their money on something they could make so easily. Then...I never, ever follow through and make anything. And then I understand why people (like me) spend money on these things.

via Design Crush

Oh well. Maybe someday I'll get around to being thrifty and unique...

Soap Rings

Soap Rings!

I never, ever would have imagined anything like this. As you lather up with these babies, they slowly disappear into nothing. What a cool, cute idea.

Wash Room

Lately, feeling very inspired by Pinterest, i've been looking at a lot of photos of great bathrooms. I never realized (perhaps because I live in the equivalent of a homeless shelter?) (no, I don't really, that's a joke, mostly) that bathrooms could be awe inspiring. I mean, I know great big beautiful expensive houses have great big beautiful expensive bathrooms, but I'm talking about pretty standard bathrooms that are amazing because of the colors, patterns, and stylistic details that they embody.

This one, for example. Yes, it is a large, open space, I'll give you that. but nothing in this bathroom is over the top. The pink bursts of color against that gorgeous shade of grey give it a fantastic energy. And honestly, who thinks of putting a chandelier in the same room as a toilet? I certainly wouldn't, but in this bathroom, it works. The high ceilings accommodate it very well. Simple, elegant. ohh-la-la.

This next one, although very different, shares a lot of similarities with the first one. Pops of bold color against a muted palate, with not overly fussy appliances. Also, another thing i've just noticed is that both of these bathrooms are distinctly feminine but in a very subtle way.

Coral and blue are one of my favorite color combinations. I find myself continuously drawn to them. As I spend more and more time looking at pictures of different rooms and color combinations, I find that I like almost exactly the same things over and over again.
But I mean...I guess I shouldn't really be surprised...we like what we like, right?

Architectural Digest

I opened my bedroom door to find my mail sitting on the coffee table. Amongst it was an issue of Architectural Digest. My first issue. Elizabeth Taylor is on the cover. I guess she contributed something of worth to the architectural world...

Oh, no? she was just famous and rich and had a gorgeous house? Got it. Sorry. My mistake.

Regardless of the "cover model", I'm still excited about it. I'm sure you can tell that, though, considering I chose to devote a blog entry to it.



In other news, I have attained a coveted Spotify invitation. That's right boys and girls, TC is a spotify member. If you are too, let's be friends. If you're not, hahahahaha. Oh, sorry, was that immature?

Unusuality

Today, in keeping with my newly developed obsession for Pinterest, I stumbled across a picture of a beautiful kitchen.

Perhaps it's just me, but I feel like blue is a rarely used color in kitchen schemes, and I'm not sure why.

It is absolutely beautiful. Maybe it's this specific shade of grey-blue that i've fallen in love with, maybe it's the fact that i'm a big fan of white cabinets and light granite counters. Or maybe it's just...everything. I have kitchen envy. WAAAAHHHHH. (that's me crying like a baby because this is not my kitchen.)

I think this picture originated from a magazine, but I'm not entirely sure. The only reason I say that is because I just noticed those printed words over yonder that describe what the homeowner was able to do. (Dear Homeowner: I am jealous of your kitchen. Sincerely, TC)

Shall we talk about my apartment for a moment? Yes, let's. I currently have no hot water, which means I can't brush my teeth or take a shower before going to work.

In the apartment above mine, the super is doing some sort of repair/renovation. At about 8:30 this morning, HA and JP knocked on my bedroom door to inform me that as a result of this atrociously loud reno/repair, our bathroom ceiling fell down. FELL DOWN. The super came to take a look, decided it wasn't so bad, and went back upstairs to continue working. To be fair, the ceiling did only fall in a small area, and He said he'd come back tomorrow morning to clean up any mess...but seriously, give me a break.

You truly get what you pay for. Yes, our rent is dirt cheap, but no, they did not skimp on the 'dirt'.

One of these days (10 year plan, people!) I'll have that gorgeous blue kitchen...

Are YOU Pinterested?

Happy Summer.

Here's a list of things that have happened since I last wrote. They are in no specific order aside from the order in which they pop into my head:

1. I cut my hair. For the past 13ish years, I've had long hair down to the middle of my back. I've had different versions of bangs and layers, but the length was always, for the most part, the same. Last week, i went into a hair salon and had it chopped off. It now sits right above my shoulders and grazes the bottom of my neck. I also got it highlighted, but that's less of a drastic change than the haircut.

2. I turned 25. I'm not going to get into this one, because to do that would lead to a diatribe of the pro's and con's of being old. (I know, I'm not old. But in my defense, this is oldest I've ever been, so CUT ME SOME SLACK.)

3. I sprained my ankle. I have absolutely no clue how it happened, but if you've ever injured an ankle/foot/leg and you are an athlete/athletic/enjoy running, you feel my pain on this one, literally and figuratively. I haven't gone running in over 3 weeks and it is not fun to be so stagnant. It makes me feel gross.

4. The last Harry Potter movie came out. I laughed, I cried, Voldemort died. Let's leave it at that.

5. BF and I celebrated our 6 month anniversary. We went out for an impromptu dinner (we didn't realize until half way through the day that it was our anniversary) and the hostess took the WORST photo of us and put it in a little paper frame. It was actually a very sweet gesture, aside from us looking sweaty and, honestly, pretty shitty. The food was great though!

6. It is summer and I am tan. Mission accomplished.

7. Ah yes, getting to the title of this post. MM (my friend who lives in L.A. because she's too cool for the rest of us) introduced me to the website Pinterest. It is a virtual pin board "that let's you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web." See something, pin it, choose which of your categorized boards you want it in, give it a title, and boom. you've pinned something you love to your virtual pinboard. I am OBSESSED with this website, so much so that I was excited to get home from work yesterday to pin things. You can also "re-pin" other members' pins. See something of theirs you like, re-pin it onto your board. It's really a genius idea.

Check out my Pinterest page. If you like it, make your own, and we can be pinnies. (That's the name I made up for my pinterest friends. I only have one friend right now...maybe it's because people sense that I want to refer to them as pinnies...)

This deliciously glittery cupcake is one of the pictures I have pinned in my 'food is food' category.

I've also got a 'Randoms' category. This little pink and gold pony came from that one.

He sort of looks like a pink eraser dipped in gold paint, no?

The more time I spend looking around on Pinterest, the more awesome websites and blogs I stumble upon. It really is worth checking out.


8. Um...I think I'll wrap it up for now. Until next time...

What happens in the Hampton's...

...is this:

and this.

That is a man holding a cat on the beach, followed by a giant beaver chillin at the bar we were at. No big deal, just an average day in the life of LUNATICS.

Uvas Congeladas

If you don't know about this, now you do. Frozen grapes are amazing and you should go buy some and freeze them RIGHT NOW.

BF's room mate had a container of frozen grapes recently, which is how I discovered this amazing treat. Apparently other people knew about it also (I was just left out of the loop, clearly) because when I raved about it to JP and HA (room mates) they seemed to already know. Why did no one tell me about this until now!?

Last night we went on a roomie grocery shopping trip, and I bought a bag of grapes with the sole intention of freezing them, and freeze them I did.

So JP and I are sitting on the couch munching on grapes, she's watching tv, I'm looking at this weeks New York Magazine, when what do I see?

Frozen grapes. Guess me and the editor's over at New York were both late on the memo.

Better late than never, though, right?

TC: Interior Designer

Don't get confused. TC are my initials.

This past week has been quite interesting for me. After years of not knowing what career path I want to venture down, I've finally settled on something that seems so obviously right for me that I wonder how I missed it for so long. I've always been interested in fashion, but in the sense of matching colors and fabrics, figuring out what textures and patterns work best with each other, and then finding other things that compliment those combinations. I was never able to translate that into wanting a career in fashion, because everything about the fashion industry is entirely unappealing to me. The people, the culture, the lack of eating...

Those things, combined with my semi-recent move and enjoyment of decorating my bedroom, led me to interior design. I want to make your house sparkle. Literally. (Don't worry, I won't throw glitter all over your living room. I'll confine it to a basement bathroom.)

Thinking about it now, it seems so incredibly obvious that I'm not sure why it has taken me 25 years to figure out that this is what I want to do.

Whatever the rhyme or reason, I've figured it out. AH-HA my friends! Ah-ha. An interior designer I shall be.

sorry, no pictures in this post. But you can be damn sure that when I start going to school (hopefully in September) I'll be posting plenty of pictures of my projects.

And the beat goes on

Hi there.
It's been a few days (weeks) since I've written, I know. Sorry. Before I get to what I'll be writing about, I feel I should update you on the shoe situation I was experiencing the last time I wrote. The shoes WERE, in fact, for me. They were left in my room by HA, my room mate who has funny initials. They were given to her by a friend who was clearly mistaken or entirely uninformed about her shoe size. bad friend.
So anyway, HA figured they would fit me because she knows my shoe size (good friend) so she left them for me as a gift in my room. THANKS HA!

After thought:
I don't actually have a clue which friend of HA's gave her the shoes, but she's probably not really a bad friend. But she might be. But maybe not. It's hard to say.


On to the next:

I spent three GRUELING days at Jury Duty last week. I don't want to get into the details of it, because I tried writing about it last week and everything I wrote ended up reading like an angry rant in an op-ed piece about how lackadaisical our justice system is.

So instead I'm writing about what I saw after I was dismissed from day two of Hell.

I spotted this first. It piqued my interest not only because I am a horseback rider and it is (clearly) a horse-drawn carriage, but because, well, what the hell was a 1920's stage coach doing on the streets of TriBeCa?

That's when I looked over and saw this:

It's a mock 1920's New York City street, set up in an ally. A woman standing next to me inquired as to what was being filmed. Turns out it was Boardwalk Empire, The HBO show about Atlantic City in the 20's.

It was quite a sight to see, almost a glimpse into what life would have looked in New York at that time. Although it wasn't real, and aside from the camera's and crew, it was a convincing scene. So...I guess it's a job well done for the set stylists.

Here's another picture that I took:

Seeing this was by far the highlight of that week. Not too shabby, eh?

Things that make you go "hmm".

These shoes make me go "hmm" for a few different reasons:

1. They were in my bedroom when I got home this morning from BF's house.

2. They are not mine.

3.They look like the type of shoes one could purchase on the street in Asia, but have a rubber sole with an American seeming brand name imprinted on the bottom, which is contradictory to Asian authenticity.

4. Both of the girls I live with wear a size 7. I wear a size 9. The shoes fit me.

5. They are facing away from the wall (which is directly behind where they are resting), which implies that someone placed them there, as opposed to sliding them off their feet. If they slid them off, they would be facing toward the wall.

Which brings me to my final conclusion:

6. They must have been placed here on purpose, and are intended for me to have (how nice!). But it still begs the question...WHERE DID THEY COME FROM?? Hmm.

Another lesson in Manicures

About a week and a half ago I got a gel manicure, which is apparently the best new thing since sliced bread. OPI Axxium is what the product is called. I work with a girl who loves these gel manicures, so hearing about someone's first hand adoration (and not just reading about it in a magazine) convinced me to try it. They say it's supposed to last for over 2 weeks, which is a feat when you work in a restaurant, especially a bar. I'm lucky if I go chip free for 2 days with a regular manicure.

So I get the manicure. The colors are slim-pickings, and I end up choosing a demure pink that under no other circumstances would I ever voluntarily put on my nails. Maybe if I was attending a wedding or meeting a significant other's parents for the first time, but aside from being appropriate for those instances, this color sucked. I feel pushy and rude changing my color choice halfway through the manicure process though, so I stuck it out. Whatever. After an hour, I have a shiny new manicure.

Fast-forward a week and a half...

My index and middle finger are entirely lacking in polish. This is because the gel PEELED off. Literally, in one big piece, peeled off. And as you'll notice, my pinky nail is in severe danger of losing it's polish also.

Remember being a little kid (girl) and having that plastic-y nail polish that was non-toxic? it would come with those little make-up kits. And it would peel off as soon as it was dry. THIS IS THAT.

Ok, it's not the same as that non-toxic junk kids play with, but the result is the same. And now, instead of just being able to wipe the rest of this disaster off with nail polish remover, I have to go to a nail salon and soak it off in acetone.

I will not be getting another gel manicure. Ever.

Rainy Day(s)

It has been raining in New York, non-stop, for the past 4 or so days. Yesterday morning, at about 7:30, there was a crack of thunder so startlingly loud that it woke me from a deep sleep and, excuse my language, scared the shit out of me. I'm not generally fearful of lightning and thunder, but this was just ridiculous. Along with the deafening thunder, the sound of the heavy rain pelting against my open window made me feel certain that my room was quickly filling up with water. Why did I leave that window open so wide!?

My room was not filling up with water. My blinds were barely even drizzled on. But in that discombobulated 7:30am moment, death by drowning seemed plausible.

This is a screenshot of the weather forecast for the next week. I took it with my phone about 10 minutes ago. It entails rain, clouds and oh, thunder storms. Fantastic. I'm so excited. The few days prior to this looked exactly the same. I wonder what the rest of next holds in store for us.

As luck would have it, I own a fabulous pair of Hunter Wellington rain boots. I adore these things and wear them often enough to have made them worth the $100 I spent on them. It rains and snows often in New York (if you're not familiar) so they come in handy. Usually, though, we don't get two weeks straight of rain. But, because we are in the midst of it right now, it should come as no surprise that my rain boots have been at BF's house (waaaaay out in Brooklyn) for all of it.

I'm at his house today for the first time in a couple of weeks. We usually opt for my apartment. (To avoid being waaaaay out in Brooklyn). And this is what my sad, lonely, dry, deprived of rain boots looked like this morning:

Sorry boots. But I promise with every ounce of my being that there is plenty of rain ahead in the next week. You shall be worn, and soaked until you make that little squeaky noise you so enjoy making.

Oh, what's that I hear?
Just the sound of the rain starting again.

One Night in Atlantic City

Atlantic City. BF and I went this past saturday. He's an avid poker player and goes there fairly often, but it was my first time ever going, and I was extremely excited about it. Saying that luck was on our side this weekend would be a stretch, but it was a great weekend none the less.

To start with, we figured we'd borrow my parent's car to drive down there. No big deal, I use it all the time, they rarely use it. I called my mom at 8am Saturday morning (while BF was on his way to my house) to run it past her. And, oh, what's that? No? You're going to visit Grandma? Great. No car for us.

But it's ok, we make it to an early bus and get there by noon-ish.

BF usually gets hotel rooms compensated by the casinos since he plays poker there. Not this weekend. And what do you know, the hotel he likes the most is fully booked. Figures. We dole out $350 for a room at Harrah's. I can tell he's not too excited about this. I mean...would you be? 

We check in and go to the room to find this:

And this:

Ok. Maybe it's a little worth it. This hotel room is amazing. Do you see that shower?? And that king size bed??

BF showed me around the city. The boardwalk, the beach, the outlet stores. The weather was a bit gloomy, but it was a nice change of pace to see something other than NYC. And come on, it's Atlantic City!

It was a bit gloomy though, I must say. It was sort of like a watered down version of Las Vegas. All the same stuff, just slightly less...good. The sad underbelly of the casino and gambling world was more apparent here than it is in Vegas. The geriatric men and women sitting at slot machines are a fantastic example of this. So are all the over-weight, under-dressed woman with too much makeup. Ok, maybe they're more tasteless and tacky than anything else, but still.

Anyway.

Late in the evening, after playing in a poker tournament, BF and I went to a craps table and he taught me how to play. It was the quickest $100 I've ever lost. oops.

Soon after that, we headed back to our fantastic room to call it a night. Collectively, we lost more money than we were happy with, and we were drunk on wine from dinner and drinks from the casino cocktail waitresses, so calling it a night seemed like the best plan of action.

The next morning, after a fantastic shower, we packed up our stuff and headed toward the bus back to the city. A few dollars poorer, but a wonderful weekend to show for it. 

All in all, totally worth it.

Morning Coffee

Without coffee, is a morning really a morning? or is it just that crappy, bright, early part of the day when you first wake up?

For me, coffee is integral to starting my day. Generally I drink it throughout the day, not just in the morning, but that's a whole different story.

Sitting down at my desk in the morning with a cup of coffee makes everything a little bit better. So far I've written a to-do list which is so cumbersome it obviously can not be completed by the time I have to get to work at 4:00pm. (Right now it's 9:18am.) But then again, I like to add entirely unnecessary tasks to my lists to make it more fun to cross items off. For instance, 'blog' is an item on my list. CHECK! That was a toughie.

Also on my list is 't-shirts from gap'. The Gap has the best white t-shirts. Yeah, ok, there are better ones out there, but I'm not willing to spend more than about $15 on a t-shirt that's lasting one season and getting demoted to a workout shirt by next spring. White t-shirts are not built to last, purely based on the fact that they are white. But I live in them during the summer, so new ones must be acquired. My favorites have a little pocket on the front, but I don't think I can be that picky. I've been searching for those for a while now, and apparently they've stopped existing.

Well, I'm gonna get moving on my list. Next up: change sheets.

Mama's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope that everyone had a lovely one and got to enjoy some time with the people (mothers) they care about. Mine was quite enjoyable.

Early in the day, JP (my roommate) and I went for a jog in central park. After that, we walked around a street fair that was happening in our neighborhood. BF came along also, and snapped this photo of us in our snazzy new sunglasses:

We're awesome, in case you can't tell.

Also, check out the background. Yes, those are the projects. No, we do not live in the projects, let's just clear that up.

The Fair was surprisingly lacking in vendors. There were long empty spots (such as the one behind us) that were unoccupied. Seems silly, it was a beautiful day. Perhaps no one wanted to set up shop in front of the projects. For that, I can not fault them.

This picture below is an attempted shot of the actual street fair. Not sure how much of a success it is, but you can't blame a girl for trying. And hey, at least there are no projects!

After the street fair, I met my family for dinner at an Italian restaurant in Midtown. The food was delicious, and my loud, unruly family was tame compared to most of the other disastrous families there.

After that delicious dinner, I took a cab home, got in bed, and napped away my fullness. I'm still extremely full from eating so much yummy pasta and chicken and salad and calamari and cheesecake, but it was well worth it. Mother's day was a success.

Slimer!

I'm sure you've all seen the Ghostbusters movies. If you haven't, you've clearly grown up under rock. My sincerest apologies to you if this is the case.

The Ghostbusters took residence in an old New York City firehouse. Below is a paper model of that firehouse. A doll house, if you will, but...not quite.

Now the picture you're about to look at is one that I took while walking with PB. She actually pointed it out to me.

Look familiar?
Well, it should.

This is the actual firehouse that was used for the outside shots in the Ghostbusters movies. It's located in TriBeCa.













On the sidewalk in front of this famous firehouse that i've walked past a million times and not even thought twice about is a giant emblem giving recognition to the Ghostbusters.

Pretty cool, huh?

Is a good deal ever really a good deal?

Judging by the Mani/ Pedi/ 10 minute back massage for $25 that PB and I went for today, no, a good deal is not EVER a good deal.

Yes, the price was right, but there was a reason for it.

The pedicure chairs had wooden covers on them, like the kind taxi drivers put on their seats. And the nice bubbly tubs that your feet go in? no bubbles. no soap. just scorching hot water.

PB opted for just the pedicure and back massage portion, while I was planning to do just a manicure and pedicure. By the time PB was done with her massage, I was still getting my shoddy manicure (aren't you supposed to cover my nail with polish? no, not my finger...my whole nail? isn't that what you do everyday? how can you not achieve this yet??).

PB offered up her credit card to pay for her pedi and back massage. $27. Eh...What?
Turns out it would be cheaper for her to get the manicure in addition to what she already had.

She got the manicure. Mid-way through her manicure, I relocated to the massage chair.

The green, 20-87 year old massage chair was dragged into the center of the shop, a little paper towel was put on the face piece, and I was instructed to sit down. This is what ensued:

1. The paper towel slipped and my face touched the green leather that probably hadn't been cleaned in a decade. Ew.
2. The chair was rickety. Like, really almost about to fall to the ground.
3. The massage was barely a massage. It was a set of hands going at my back as if they were trying to kill a super fast ant that was racing all over the place.
3. While trying to kill the super fast ant that must have existed, the body attached to the set of hands was HUMPING me. To reach my shoulders and neck (which she basically just prodded at) she straddled my back and leaned into me. Personal Space? Not during this "massage".
4. Don't think it can get any worse? You're mistaken. Directly under the face piece that my cheek was touching, there was a metal bar. Every time the woman touched me in her jerky way, the bar slammed into the space between my bottom lip and chin. At one point my tongue was rested between my teeth. I promptly clenched my teeth together after the bar smacked me and made me crunch my tongue.

DING! finally, the bell went off and I was done. I get up and sit down next to PB at the nail drying area.

"How was it?" PB inquires. I look at her and smile. The woman who performed the torture is still standing within earshot.
"Then you must have had the good one, oh my god mine was so awful. She didn't know what she was doing and there was a bar digging into my face the whole time." This entire sentence escapes PB's mouth before I can manage to explain that I had the same loathsome experience. We spend the next half hour or so comparing the crappiness of all that happened.

Cheap is not always better. And here, the icing on the cake:

Disaster

We dried our nails in a foot dryer. Note the words "Pedicure Dryer" clearly stated on the machine. Oh, and see that little wooden thing? That's what all the chairs were covered with. Guess they were going for a theme. Um...mission accomplished?