Perfect NYC Day

AF is still here visiting with me so we spent the entire day around the city. Except for the sunlight being so bright that I could barely keep my infected eyes with the swollen corneas open, it was a pretty-perfect day.

We went to the MOMA where we saw Tangled Alphabets which I thought was a great exhibit. Totally not what I normally like, but if I ever have money these are the type of things that I want in my mansion. Then I finally got to see Into the Sunset and honestly, I really didn't like it. It was curated by theme, not chronologically and it just didn't make sense and it was difficult to follow. I was not impressed.

Then we went down to Soho and ate at a fantastic Cuban restaurant that I love and then did some shopping. Eventually we met up with AF's high school roommate who briefly went to MHC with us, and that was nice. This girl is a little nutty, she's ADHD, but she's a good person. I guess she's kind of lonely in the city so she kept saying we should hang out. I like her and all and it would be nice to have someone to do crazy stuff with, but I'm not sure how long I could handle her. Evil as that sounds.

Tonight we had dinner at Rose Water, the place I went in April for restaurant week with LM. It was amazing again, their food is beyond. I had the spring onion soup as an appetizer and it was brilliant. Plus I even found a Chardonnay that I liked.

I'm Back

I'm back from reunion and when I'm not exhausted and grumpy and my friend isn't here I'll do a longer post. But I had a fabulous time. It was great seeing all my friends and being on campus again. Pictures and video to come.

However the best part was a realization I had when I was driving down Route 116 from Amherst on my way back to MHC. I just thought, "I'm so happy I don't live here any more." And all weekend I had that realization more and more. I'm happy I'm not around the people in my class any more, I'm happy I'm not in school, and more than anything I'm happy with the person I've become in the last 2 years. And that's a really cool thing. I still miss my friends and I still struggle with the responsibility of a job and the "real world" but all in all I'm pretty happy.

Bad thing: there's something wrong with my eye again. I have a 9am doctor's appointment on Tuesday.

Looking Back

It's almost exactly two years since I graduated college, I can't begin to tell you how weird this is. We'll see how it feels once I return from reunion, but just thinking that it's been two years since I was in college, since I lived in MA, since I was around my friends all the time, since I wrote papers and went to class, and since all the other things, is just absolutely insane. It feels like yesterday.

Which is good and bad. Sometimes I feel like I'm just killing time until I go back for the next semester and other times I feel like my life is just headed downhill from my glory of being so active and successful and such a leader in college. Ultimately I don't think that's true, but the adjustment of starting a job where I'm at the very bottom, moving to NYC, and making all new friends, is a hard one and it's easy to look back at what used to be.

Feeling crappy enough yet? Don't worry, ultimately I feel very optimistic about my life, especially now.

Reunion

It's Friday so I am up at Mount Holyoke at reunion. MHC loves their traditions and I'll be honest, that was one of the things that drew me to the school and I'm very excited to go back.

Here's the deal with reunion. This is our first one, our two year reunion, and we all go back and stay in a dorm and live like we're in college. On Friday there are (were) back to class classes with MHC professors that mostly contain to current events or broad topics and then socialization opportunities. On Saturday there is the Laurel Parade. The Laurel Parade is really cool because you get to see all the older alumnae, people at their 25 year reunion, 50 year reunion, and even later. The old ladies dressed all in white with their class color accents are adorable. Then, after the Laurel Parade there is an alumane association meeting which is also nice because you hear from old alums.

Some pictures from my Laurel Parade and alumnae association meeting:





Then there's a BBQ and more socialization.

All my friends will be there so I'm very excited.

Random Conglomeration

While I'm up in MA at reunion I'm not sure if I'm going to have access to the internets so I'll have some generic posts going up...

I email myself stuff I think I should post all the time, but then I never do. So here's two of them:

Irony from a daily publishing newsletter I receive:

Tomorrow morning on the Today Show: Christine Avanti, author of Skinny Chicks Don't Eat Salads: Stop Starving, Start Eating and Losing.

Also on Today: Paula Deen, author of The Deen Family Cookbook.

There's really nothing I can say for this.

This is week two of the Couch to 5k. Wednesday night we did the first workout of week 2, jogging for 90 seconds and walking for two minutes. I wasn't sure if I could do it, but I did and it wasn't even too bad. The only thing I wish I had is a bottle of water with me, but it's so annoying to carry. Anyway, so far, so good.

NPR

I am pretty obsessed with NPR. There is nothing about NPR I don't love. I wake up to BBC World News, if I do weights in the morning I do them to Morning Edition, I have Morning Edition on in the kitchen when I make breakfast and my lunch before work, and again when I'm in my room eating breakfast and getting ready. Then I listen to All Things Considered, Marketplace, Fresh Air, etc. in the evenings if I'm home.

One of my favorite commentators is Frank Deford who does a commentary on sports every Wednesday morning right before 8am. This morning's commentary was about Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal and the French Open and I had a few issues with what he was saying. A month or two ago one of the publicists at work had emailed him about a book we did, and, remembering this, I asked her for his email. So I wrote him this morning and I got this response:

First of all, thank you very much for your kind words.

Secondly, with regard to this morning's commentary, I'm afraid you misunderstood me. Far from suggesting that Federer's win in Madrid should be taken to mean much, I said that Nadal was exhausted and hurt and that power –– ie, Nadal –– still rules. So we're quite in agreement. Much as I like Federer I can't imagine that he has a prayer in Paris. Alas.

I just about died, I feel so special!

Parties

So my two consecutive nights of parties have ended.

Monday night's Urbanstages benefit gala was fun. It was a very monied crowd, I'm not quite sure if I've ever been in a crowd like that before. We arrived during the auction and I had never been to a real, live auction before. It was fun to see really rich people bid insane amounts of money for pretty mundane things. But it was fancy, fun, and there was good food. And actually a good crowd of people. It would have been nice if the weather was warmer. The party was in the Central Park Boathouse so being outside would have been nice, but it was still good.

Tonight's party was the opening of the Mannahatta exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York. I had never been to a museum opening or the Museum before, so it was a night of firsts. My roommate E came with me and we tagged along with my work friend W and his friend. It was a really nice party; good wine, nuts that tasted like fruit loops (really!), and good breadsticks. And I managed to take some pictures at this one...

Springtime!

Although the weather in NYC today reached a high of 61 (and it felt like a high of 50), it's springtime. In fact, some (like me) even consider Memorial Day, which is this weekend, to be the start of summer.

One of my favorite things about spring is the signs of color at the Greenmarket. And my favorite vegetable of all, the asparagus. It's just the perfect vegetable. It's so tasty and crisp and can be put into almost anything. I've been eating it at 2 meals a day for the past week or so. Today I also had the pleasure of finding strawberries, the first of the season. And they were only $4 a carton!! In the peak season they're usually more.

Tonight I'm off to a charity benefit at the Central Park boat house. I'm excited, although it doesn't start until 9:30 and it ends at 11 so it's a trip for an hour and a half and I won't get home until late. And it's freezing!! We'll see how well I hold up in my outfit.

Street Fair

Unbeknown to me there was a street fair in Park Slope today. So when I went to meet my friends for brunch at Moutarde, one of my favorite brunch places (the French toast is to die for), I came across a world of interesting things. A Park Slope street fair is like nothing I've seen before.



The view south on 5th ave, I couldn't believe the number of people, where did they all come from?



There were a whole bunch of vintage cars.



And like any good street fair, lots and lots of junk food (but I didn't eat any!).

And then there were the funny things...



The painless hair remover stand,



the 7-11 stand,



the spider bouncy house, and



the Dr. Pickle stand.

Part of me wished I hadn't carbo-loaded at brunch, but I resisted temptation and didn't get any crap, fried or otherwise. LM and I finished week one of the Couch to 5k program today. Week 2 involves 90 seconds of running, I know it doesn't sound like a lot, but it's a challenge. Weigh-day tomorrow and I'm excited.

Netflix

I decided to stay home tonight and after doing nothing I thought I'd check out what I could watch instantly on Netflix.

First up:



I loved this movie when I was younger. I thought it was so funny and sweet and entertaining. Well, when I started to watch it this time I didn't really think it had the same vibe, it just didn't leave me wanting to know what came next. And Steve Martin's character is so annoying. And then the daughter is 22 years old!! She's two years younger than I am! And that was just disturbing. So I stopped watching.

Then I watched:



I remember being interested by the previews when it first came out, but not interested enough to pay $12 to see it. Right away it caught my attention and kept me interested. It was such a sweet story. I really liked it. Christina Ricci is great and so is James McAvoy. I would definitely recommend it, it's fun, a bit sentimental, and really well-done.

Fatass No More

Even though I don't want this to be a blog that sounds like that Big Fat Loser TV show, I do occasionally need to post about my weight loss. So far I've lost 8.8lbs, go me! Minus my cheeseburger and fries tonight I've been doing really well. Exercising every morning, eating well, and the only difference in my life from when I was a big fatass is that I have more energy, I'm happier, I'm sleeping better, and I feel great all around.

One of the things I'm doing is the Couch to 5k program. I've never been a runner, I've never been able to run for a sustained period of time. It hurts my knees, it hurts my ankle, it hurts my toe, I can't breathe, blah, blah, blah. So I'm hoping this will work. I'm doing it with my friend LM for extra motivation. We've done the first two workouts and while it's certainly challenging, it's not impossible. And it's almost starting to feel attainable. We'll see. Maybe in 8.5 weeks I'll be posting pictures of me crossing the finish line of a 5k.

In the meantime I'm going to savor the fact that it's the weekend. I made it.

At a Loss For Words

I'm not sure what to say. I had a post planned for today, but then I went to this party. I didn't mean to go to a party, I meant to grab a quick drink after work for a co-worker's birthday. But that turned into 2 drinks and an appetizer at the bar and then going over another co-worker's apartment to hang out on his roof. That was fun, until we went downstairs to go to the bathroom and all of the sudden this guy we work with randomly slapped this girl we work with. Then another guy chased the slapper into the bathroom and beat him with his shoe while he was using the facility. Then the slapper came out and the slapee slapped him and his glasses went flying across the room. Then he slapped her again. And then we went upstairs. Where we heard about how this other guy we work with, also at the party, almost picked up a prostitute last weekend. And then the slapper threw his empty 40 of Bud Light off the roof. And then we all went home.

It was weird.

A Random Conglomeration

Another random post because I'm too tired to put my energy into a real post...

- I went to the doctor for my yearly physical yesterday, she did an EKG and when she got the results back she said, "It actually looks like everything with your heart is fine." And I said, "Excuse me?" I'm 24 years old, what would be wrong with my heart? But apparently that's just what she says normally. The rest of my test results came back today. Everything is great, I am very healthy. My cholesterol is 156, which is apparently quite good.

- Bad thing about the physical. I need to go to the dermatologist. She recommended this to me last year, but I never went, so I need to go. I made an appointment for Tuesday morning. My boss scared me by telling me the first time she ever went to a dermatologist they cut something out of her face. At the FIRST visit! If anyone comes anywhere near me with a knife I'm going to have to have been heavily sedated. Any way, finger's crossed!

- I'm reading a great book:



Quite enjoyable on the subway in the morning.

- At work today, in our weekly marketing meeting, we had a contest to see who could name all the books that in this season have netted over $100k. I tied with 2 other people to win. We each get use of the CEO's Kindle for 1 month. I will report back. I'm intrigued by the Kindle, I'm excited to see what it's like, but I'm also afraid I'm going to break/lose/have it stolen while in my possession. Which would not be good.

- What else... how about this disturbing NYT article? This guacamole is delicious. I can't wait to see this movie. Part of which was filed in this restaurant; one of my favorite brunch places in Park Slope. Speaking of restaurants, I am intrigued by this one. And for when you're finished eating you can brush your teeth with this; forget the electric ones, this is what I'm using from now on.

Phoenix, Part !I

And now for the second part of my two part series on Phoenix. This section will focus on the (few and far between) interesting things in Phoenix.

Picture time!



In the cheesy tourist trap known as Scottsdale there was lots of this crap. I found this one particularly funny.



And this wasn't bad either.



Then there was the one redeeming feature in Scottsdale, and possibly all of Arizona, this amazing Mexican restaurant with crazy architecture and interior design. And the best Mexican food I've ever had in my entire life. Why doesn't NYC have anything like this?



This was our booth at the conference. Where I spent 12 unfortunate hours.



And then there was the Pheonoix Art Museum, perhaps the one redeeming feature of Phoenix. Unfortunately I didn't write down any of the names of the artists, but they did have some cool stuff, like this sculpture (note some of the only grass in the entire state).



I just liked how odd this is.



And this is even odder. It was a video and it talked in this creepy voice.

But the coolest thing at the Phoenix Art Museum was the exhibit called Fireflys by Yayoi Kusama. It's a black room with mirrored floors, walls, and ceiling and then there are all of these strands of LED lights that change colors and blink. So you're totally disoriented, you have to hold on to the wall to walk through, but it's about the coolest thing ever. The first time we went through we were with a whole bunch of people who talked the whole time, but then we went back, just the two of us, and walked into the middle of the room and stood there quietly and it was amazing. It was like staring off into the abyss. Apparently the installation is owned by the Whitney, you can see a pretty pathetic preview of it here. But be assured it does not compare AT ALL to actually being there. Anyway Kusama is represented by the Gagosian Gallery and there is currently a dual exhibition happening in NY and LA.

Phoenix, Part !

I know I've been neglectful so here's my the first part of my two part post about Phoenix.

Part one will deal with the city of Phoenix and how lame I found it to be. Downtown there are no:

bars
restaurants open past 7pm
delis
grocery stores
convenience stores
drug stores
and god knows what else.

The best way I can think of describing it is like being stuck in a giant office park and there's no where you can walk, you need a car to go anywhere and it's just buildings.

I didn't mind the heat, but the fact that everything is the same color really got to me. Also, it doesn't appear that anyone lives in the city. And there were a lot of homeless people.

Basically I just found it depressing. Now on to the pictures!



View from my hotel room, those are mountains in the background



A cactus, which there were not really THAT many of, much to my disappointment.



The tourist hell known as Old Town Scottsdale



By the somewhat ok Scottsdale art galleries

And that was my impression of the city of Phoenix. Tomorrow I will showcase some of the more interstings things I saw and did in Phoenix.

I've Been Bad

I know, I know, I haven't been updating as much as I should. I've been bad. Here's a recap of what's been happening...

- Sales conference at work on Friday went well, this week should be one hell of a stressful week, not excited about it.

- When I went to work out on Friday morning I couldn't find my iPod shuffle. Now I love my Shuffle, it's little, it's functional, it clips on, I can use it while I work out, I can use it walking around in the summer when I don't have a coat pocket for my big one, and I don't need to use my headphone attachment with it. So when I couldn't find it I was devastated. But I came home tonight, continued the search and finally found it in the bin where I keep my magazines.

- For the sneakers my parents bought me for my birthday the company sent the wrong size. They sent a men's 9 rather than a women's 9. So I reordered. Hopefully they'll get it right this time. Pictures tk.

- I just finished reading American Wife, I had had it for a while and never got around to reading it. I started it on the plane to Phoenix and I really enjoyed it. The end was a little tedious and self-righteous, but overall I really enjoyed it.

Isn't it weird how the HC and PB versions of the cover are just slightly different?



Hardcover



Paperback

It's the same picture, but the PB one is so much brighter--her dress is whiter, her arm is whiter, it's odd. I get why they changed the color of the title and other text, but the lightening is odd.

- Oh and I think I might have pink eye. My eye lid and right under my eye have very dry skin and just tonight my eyeballs started bothering me. I really hope it's nothing, I don't want to go through something else with my eyes.

I'm Not Dead

I survived Phoenix. Barely mind you. A post about Phoenix is upcoming.

Just wanted to make sure to write. As I've been too exhausted the past 2 nights.

My birthday was lame. It rained so no botanical gardens. I just slept, worked out, went grocery shopping, got lunch, watched TV on my computer, updated my Grey's Anatomy playlists, watched TV, went to bed.

The past two days at work have been utter chaos. Today was especially bad. I don't know if it's the weather or the stress of Sales Conference being tomorrow, but holy hell, it needs to stop.

More tomorrow from my parents' house.

My Birthday

Tomorrow is my birthday. May 5, 1985 is the day I was born. I've always had mixed feelings about my birthday, like everything else I usually build it up to be something better than it is and then I'm left feeling disappointed. But I think I've gotten better about that as I've gotten older. And I'm certainly not expecting too much from my birthday this year. It's a Tuesday, I'm off from work, and everyone I know is working.

So let's remember some previous birthdays...

4th birthday: I had a cake with Barbie on it.

6th (I think) birthday: Held at a really delicious ice cream place.

7th birthday: Ceramics painting place

8th birthday: Chuck E. Cheese. They had a cake I hated and I cried. My mother bought me a stuffed elephant, this is after I watched a show on the Elephant Man a few months before and had terrible nightmares about the guy. I always found that odd.

10th or 11th birthday: Laser tag

16th birthday: My grandparents paid to rent out a room at a nice Italian Restaurant and I had about 15 friends. The food was good, we all sat around a huge table, and we just had a really nice time. I think it was one of my favorite birthdays.

17th birthday: Went to see Spiderman 1 and got ice cream with friends

18th birthday: Bad day. Took my AP English exam and then went home and was depressed. That was a bad time.

20th birthday: Got Dominos, grape soda, and watched the OC in my dorm room with friends. Dominos was so late that we got the food for free.

21st birthday: Went out to dinner with 5 friends and then got to the liquor store right when it was closing. I snuck in the "out" but they kicked me out.

23rd birthday: Spent the day at work collating stuff, the VP of sales suggested we get Mexican beer and tequila for Cinco De Mayo so we did shots at work. Then went out for drinks and dinner with a bunch of friends.

I think I've had some pretty great birthdays.

Summer

Seeing as it reached 90 degrees in NYC this past week I thought I'd do a little post about all the amazing things that summer in NYC involves, the things that I forget as I'm enjoying, and then hating, the winter.

- How sunny it is when I wake up at 6am

- The smell in my apartment, it's a different smell than the crisp, just getting warm of spring, it's a hot, summer smell

- The smell of the subways. I know, this one is odd. But there's a very recognizable smell, and it's the same as the Washington, DC Metro summer smell, so maybe it reminds me of the summer I spent there? I don't find it at all disgusting, I actually like it.

- How late it stays light out. I can come home from work and go to the park or walk around or anything.

- The dirt that accumulates on the bottom of my feet from wearing sandals. I'm always shocked by this when summer comes around again, but its a very summer thing.

- That point at night when it gets a bit cooler and there's a nice breeze and maybe you need a light scarf or sweater.

Things that I've Recently Found Interesting

Since I often sit at my desk all day reading blogs here are some of the things that I've found that are interesting...

Quote from a book blog about Phil Spector's son's book idea:

Following yesterday's conviction of Phil Spector on second-degree murder in the death of actor Lana Clarkson, agent Sharlene Martin of Martin Literary Management reports she is shopping a proposal for a "tell-all memoir from adopted son Louis Spector," THE GINGERBREAD HOUSE ON LA COLLINA DRIVE: My Life Caged Behind Phil Spector's Wall of Sound. Louis and his twin brother "were adopted at the age of five by Spector and presented to Spector's then unsuspecting wife as a surprise Christmas gift."

This sounds like a very cool exhibit

I also need to go see this

These are a few of my favorite things...

So while I'm in Phoenix, and have no access to the internets, there will be some posts that go up that I've written in advance. This is the first one.

Some of the things I'm currently enjoying...



Vintage Seltzer



Vitamuffins



SPRI Ultra Toner (used for my arm workout, in case you're wondering)



Aveda Confixor Gel, aka the only thing that's ever made my hair look semi-normal



These bullfighting brothers from Spain. Crazy, crazy people. But really attractive.



Eucerin Everyday Proection Body Lotion



This song, which is in this commercial, which I hear all the time, but I never knew what it was for before I looked up the song.