Photo Dump!

 

I need/want this T-shirt from Old Navy. Ever since I moved to NYC, my mom and sister refer to it as Living the Dream. For example, if I complain about the subways or the people or the smell of the trash on a hot sunny day, they respond to me by saying: Well Laura, You're Living the Dream. It's quite poetic and annoying.

 

This would be some of the delicious food I have eaten this week.  The bowl is full of delicious falafel from Maoz. I piled it high with coleslaw, chickpeas, cauliflower and broccoli and their signature garlic sauce. It is crazy good! The next picture would be a heart attack inducing ice cream sandwich from Cool Haus, an ice cream truck that specializes in homemade cookies and ice cream in unique flavors. This would be brown butter bacon ice cream and chocolate chip cookies. I could seriously only eat half, which was a waste of money, but so tasty!

  

I love the fact that I live in a city where I can walk around and happen upon amazing sights like these!
 

 

My new apartment! I love it and my roommate and I get along so much better than the last! The first picture is our shoe wall, which is located in the extra bedroom that we use as a giant walk in closet. The next two pictures showcase my awesome painting skills and the new jewelery hangers I put up. I love the clear door knobs against the teal. The last picture is my new dining room table! I have been swooning over this table for quite some time from IKEA and I happily found it for half the price on craigslist. Moving on up!

GUR

Last Saturday I participated in The Great Urban Race. The GUR is a scavenger hunt throughout the city, complete with brainteasers, puzzles, trivia, and random physical tasks to complete. The entire race is supposed to take under five hours to complete and you work in teams of two or four. As a team, you have to dress in a theme or dress alike to race and you also have to stick to gether because most of the clues required a team picture as proof. My team decided to dress in theme and since we are fantastic, we chose Games as our theme.

We have Candy Land, Connect Four, Trivial Pursuit, and Twister!

When the race began at 12, we quickly got our clue sheet and headed to a grassy patch of land to plot our route. We took about 30 minutes to figure out the addresses of locations and determine which route to take. We started the race and I felt like we were making decent time. Some of the things we knocked out in the first hour were: we had to head to a Duane Reade and buy two items to donate to a charity that was waiting in front of the store, then we had to take a picture with two Yankees fans, we also had to take a picture with a food cart, we visited he American Folk Art Museum to count the windows on one of their sculptures, and we had to get a wrapper from a McDonalds. Then we headed across town and during the next few hours we visited a cupcake shop, a toy store, completed a task with a pedometer in Bryant Park. There was one clue that wasn't making sense to us and we spent a lot of time trying to figure out where a certain book store was because the book store we thought was the answer was not at the address given. After checking with a few other teams we figured out that WE were right and the GUR staff had made a mistake on the sheet and put Eighth Street instead of Eighth Avenue,  which makes a huge difference in NYC.

We then hit another roadblock when we couldn't find a yoga studio. We eventually decided to skip the clue and just move on (you are allowed 1 skip). On the way to the next clue we happened to stumble upon the yoga studio, so that was a happy accident. 

 

 

We then made our way to a magic shop where I ate a meal worm and broke my favorite flip flops (unrealated events, but both happened in the magic shop). Check out this awesome picture of me and my mealworm skills:

 

After a stop at the show store, we then got on the subway and headed to the book store which was the book store we had thought of from the beginning but thought we were wrong about. We completed the puzzles there and then headed for the finishline because we were able to skip the last clue due to not skipping any before hand.

We arrived at the finish line is 4 hours and 33 minutes. After crossing the finish line we got bananas, water, and a medal! Then we had to wait in the checkpoint line for the staff to check in our pictures and business cards. We ended up having one incorrect answer and they give you a 30 minute penalty for that. However, since they made the mistake on the book store question they gave everyone that clue whether you had figured it out or not and did not give us any extra credit for realizing their mistake and still getting to the correct location. Thus we technically finished at 5 hours and 3 minutes which means we don't even get told what place we were in because we went over the 5 hour mark.

 

 

We still finished, got our medals, and didn't die in the 90 degree heat. It was fun and I think I am ready for next year, now that I fully know what to expect!

Fourth of July

I have lived in New York for two Fourth of Julys and have yet to see the fireworks in this city. Ironically, people say that this city has the most magnificent firework show, so maybe next year, I'll get to check it out.

This year, I traveled down to Washington, DC to see my sister. In order to make it work with my work schedule, I had to bring the little girl I am "nannying" with me. This was her first time in DC and it was my first time traveling with a child and no parents. We had a blast seeing the sights, watching the fireworks, and taking a little vacay away from the city.

It's one thing to go on a vacation, but it is a whole new thing to go on a vacation with a nine year old. I have become even firmer in my decision to not have kids in the next few years. I love working with them, I love teaching them, but I am not ready for my own.

Please forgive me..

but I am about to be rude.

I have spent the last 11 months in roommate hell.

I agreed to not blog about this person while we lived together and I honored that, but I no longer live with this person and I am now going to blog about them. (oh and it feels so good!)

First, I found this person on craigslist (people say don't do it, but it is really normal in New York). They were moving to New York from a city in the Midwest and I was moving from Florida. I clearly remember the day I found their ad online. I was sitting in my apartment with my mom and my sister packing and organizing when I read the ad out loud. I remember thinking that this person and I sounded like twins. We had similiar work ethics, similar work schedules, we were both going to be new to the city, we were both bringing a cat, we were close in age, etc. I emailed them, we went back and forth, we skyped. Everything seemed legit.

I moved to New York before this person and I was subletting in Brooklyn (with amazing roommates!) and this person came to New York to visit and apartment hunt. We looked at some places and then we settled on this place. After about a month, they moved to New York and I moved from Brooklyn to Harlem.

This person moved here with all of their belongings. (Living room furniture, pots, pans, dishes, etc) They opened their stuff to me and thankfully I accepted. (I want to point out that when I first moved here I was broke. I used practically every penny to pay for the deposit on the apartment and I was barely keeping myself floating. I worked odds and ends, babysat here and there, thankfully had a Summer birthday, and finally got a regular job in August. I slept on an air mattress, moved with only two suitcases, and had nothing. I don't deny any of that, in fact I am pretty proud of where I am now in comparison to then.) At no point during the arrangement did I ever neglect my portion of roommate expenses. I bought paper towels, toilet paper, and cleaning supplies as needed.

After about a week of living together, we sat down and signed a roommate agreement. I should have known then that this year would be tough. The agreement was 3 pages long with over 20 clauses. I signed it anyway.

Then the crazy started to pour out. I was given rules to follow, a cleaning schedule to adhere to, and a constant and endless amount of notes and lists taped to my bedroom door or kitchen counter. I only wish I could share with you each and every story, but I'm saving specifics for another project. Here are some highlights:

• This person demanded eco-friendly cleaning supplies and chided my use of non eco friendly beauty products. 
• This person used back handed compliments to try and be friendly. 
• This person once tried to use this blog post to get me kicked out of the apartment because they assumed it was about them. (Guilty much?)
• This person hated my cat because she has claws and I refused to declaw her.
• This person made it clear that they felt teachers were lower class members of the workforce and deserved the pay we got because of our vacation schedule. 
• This person really likes recycling and chose to sort through my trash and leave me notes about my items that were not properly recycled. (yes I know it's a law in NYC and I tried my best to remember)
• This person used a note left by some of my visiting friends to accuse me of theft.
• This person went bonkers for a few months when the apartment was robbed. I'm talking leaving lights on a timed switch, playing a radio when no one was home, and bringing all prized possessions with them when they left each day. 
• This person completely disregarded all rules of respect between adults. There is a way you speak to another adult and it usually involves being civil, not rude.
• This person makes a ton of accusations and thinks they know all. 
• This person constantly liked to remind me of how I was poor when I moved in and had to use their stuff. 
• This person prefers to send rudely accusatory emails at 3 am than waiting to talk face-to-face in the morning.
• This person signed a lease with a new tenant for July 1st, when my lease wasn't over until the 31st. 
• This person is honestly the worst human I have ever met.

There is so much more I could write about this person, but I am choosing to instead use it as the inspiration for a novel. I joked last Summer when things started to go sour; I kept telling friends and family that it was all for the novel. Now that I have spent 11 months with this person, I have so much that I can use for a novel and I fully intend to do so.

 There is almost nothing I regret about moving New York, except having wasted 11 months of my time being roommates with this person. I will, however, give them credit because I had plenty of conversation starters that began with "Guess what crazy did this week..." The entire table would listen, laugh and then feel a bit of pity before giving me a countdown of how many months I had left. It became a joke and I honestly did my best to not think about it when I was out of the apartment. When I would exit the subway station near our apartment, I would get the anxious feeling of having to talk to them, deal with another note about something I had done wrong, or maybe listen to them go on and on about something. It got so bad that I would say a little hope that there would be no lights on in the apartment when I climbed the last flight of stairs and could get a peek under the front door.

Now that I am out, I had to go and get my security deposit back from this person.  I knew it wasn't going to be easy and I prepared accordingly. I had the roommate agreement, I had copies of the check I wrote them last July, and I brought along my friend who is a lawyer. (Yeah, it's that crazy!) This person handed me a ridiculous list of charges including towels that they say I stole, the cost to replace a knife block because I misused the knifes, a shelf organizer that the gave me so I assumed I could take it when I moved, etc. After arguing for close to 30 minutes on the stoop (because I wasn't allowed in the apartment, which I am assuming is because the new roommate was there and they didn't want to show their crazy just yet) we settled on an amount that I am content with. I also agreed to wait until the 5th to cash the check because they asked me to and I being a normal civil adult agreed.

I cannot even express how excited I am to almost be finished. I am so ready to cash that check Thursday and never see this person again.

Source: imgfave.com via Kennady on Pinterest

To be a fly on my wall

As I have shared during the last few posts, I am moving June 30th! I am excited about my new neighborhood, I am excited about my new roommate, I am excited for a fresh start in a new borough.

I have not started packing. Why should I? I moved here 12 months ago with two suitcases, how much stuff could I possibly have to pack, I plan on giving myself a few hours.

Here is my timeline of this evening:

5:00 - off from work, need to get boxes. Plan for tonight: PACK

5:30 - acquired packing tape, but still need boxes.

6:00 - found boxes at grocery store (FREE!) and stumbled home carrying boxes.

6:15 - It's 95 degrees outside and I just walked up 5 flights of stairs with five boxes (and a gallon of ice cream) into an apartment with no AC....let's take a breather.

6:45 - Kinda hungry....too damn hot to turn the stove on.

7:15 - Wow it's been an hour and I haven't done anything, I should start packing, but I need food for energy.

7:45 - Eat dinner. Energized to....finish watching this week's episode of The Client List.

8:30 - OK, packing will start....right after I unload the dishwasher, reload it, fold some clothes and pluck my eyebrows.

9:00 - Seriously, packing starts.

9:01 - WHERE DO I START?

9:03 - Wow, I have more stuff then I imagined.

9:07 - It's hot in here. I need an AC. 

9:31 - Have a text conversation while doing something on FB and get distracted from packing.

9:35 - Back to packing. Thought: How did a girl who owned 0 nail polishes when I moved here just pack 14 bottles?

9:50 - Write a blog post, because this stuff is genius.

9:59 - Need tunes to pack. Firefly playlist to the rescue.

10:04 - Get nostalgic about every item that goes into the box. Look it's the ticket to my first Broadway play, look it's the picture I took that one time I was with those friends, look a penny. 

10:11 - Box #1 is full. Books, office like supplies, and pictures.

10:13 - Feel a little sad to be packing up my 1st NYC apartment, but then remember why and not feel so sad anymore.

10:29 - WAY MORE STUFF THAN PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT! WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN?

10:34 - Box #2 packed (half of my shoes) and bookshelf empty.

10:40 - Sounds like it might be shower time.


I have to admit, this may sound like not much was accomplished, but stuff got done. I no longer have any decorations on my walls. I have packed away all winter wear and shoes and I emptied my bookshelf. I have a few more boxes of clothes and shoes, but it's hard to do that with 9 days left. The rest of the stuff is pretty daily: hair stuff, make up, accessories. You know essentials.

Happy Friday.

Weekend Schmeekend

Holy Hot Weather, batman!

It is officially Summer in the city and Memorial Day weekend is the perfect way to set it off.

This weekend I was busy (not much different than last weekend, or the weekend before, or next weekend) but it was fun!

On Thursday, I was running errands for my dinner party on Saturday and while at Home Depot, I dropped a 2x4 on my foot. OMG! It hurt incredibly bad! It took everything I had to not break into tears like a 4 year old, but I knew it would not be pretty. As I waited for the guy with the saw to cut the lumber, I could see two of my toes slowly turning purple. By the time I got the lumber cut, checked out and home, my foot was throbbing and my two toes were a crazy collage of purple, red, and black. After a few hours, I knew one of the toes was broken. It had swollen up and become a nice shade of royal purple. My big toe also had a great bruise on it, but it was not broken. Who knew such a small bone could hurt so much! This city is made for walking, but not for walking with a broken toe!

On Friday, I took my first ever LIRR trip into Long Island and spent the night with my Mom and her husband who were in town taking care of business. We spent 18 hours eating, drinking, and catching up. It was a short visit, but it reminded me of the weekends when I would come home for a day or so from college just to get away and see family.

On Saturday, I hosted a dinner party for one of my book clubs. A few months ago, we read The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and we all loved the idea of having a midnight dinner based on the book's dinner parties. So we did. I am not the type of person who hosts a party and basically just opens up my apartment; I go all out. I decorated, I made themed food, and I tried to keep things close to the book.

Here was the invitation:

Midnight Dinners are a soon to be tradition at la maison Roberts! Dress in your black and white (red scarves optional) and come on up to the snazziest dinner to hit Harlem this year.

“Always precisely at midnight, at the moment the grandfather clock in the foyer begins ...to chime, the first plates will be placed on the table.”

It's true. Dinner will happen at midnight. It was discussed and decided that if we are going to have a midnight dinner, we should try to keep it authentic. Feel free to bring a sleeping bag and spend the night; you are trekking all the way to Harlem and it will be late.

“At dinner, which begins promptly at midnight, each course is styled in black or white but bursts with color once pierced with forks or spoons, revealing layer upon layer of flavors.”

This would amazing, but I don't think any of us have this much magic up our sleeves. Just bring something delicious, fun, and enough to share.

“But the Midnight Dinners have an air of nocturnal mystery already, and Chandresh finds that providing no menu, no map of the culinary route, adds to the experience. Dish after dish is brought to the table, some easily identifiable as quail or rabbit or lamb, served on banana leaves or baked in apples or garnished with brandy-soaked cherries. Other courses are more enigmatic, concealed in sweet sauces or spiced soups; unidentifiable meats hidden in pastries and glazes.”

It was also discussed and decided to make the event a potluck style dinner, but we are keeping with The Night Circus theme and going in with a blind eye. We ask that you tell the group if you are bringing an appetizer, side dish, drink, or dessert, but keep the specifics to yourself. It's more fun that way!

Keep in mind that there are a few food allergies amongst the group: berries, apples, hazelnuts. The main dish will be meat free to cater to the masses, but I wouldn't say meat is off the menu. If you have any additional allergies or requests about the food please let us know and we shall add it to the list :)

Please feel free to bring guests, games, & music playlists. Magic tricks and sleights of hand encouraged. 


Everyone who came had a decent time even though the apartment felt like an oven because it was hot outside and we had food cooking all night. Here are some pictures:

Living room wall decorations

Candles, lots of candles.

Clock on the wall (You have to read the book!)

Appetizers!

Desserts!

 

Fancy Jello Shots!

The group with a self-timer camera.

Me and the photographer

No one got any pictures of the main courses because it was midnight and we were pretty hungry! We may have also used my fire escape as a means of cooling down, but I am not saying that we did, because that might be illegal.

On Sunday, I cleaned up. I napped. Then I went to work. Then my friend Jenny and I went in search of fleet week festivities, but instead of finding them we ended up at a bar in Greenwich Village called Blind Tiger. They had decent food, an excellent beer selection, and an all around cool atmosphere.

Hooray! It's Friday!

Source: hellohellodesign.tumblr.com via Katie on Pinterest

I'm so ready for this weekend...











plus a few other things. Bring on the weekend!

Happy 1 year to us!

 

Today is my blog's birthday. It's been 366 lovely days of writing to share my adventure with all of you. Thanks for reading, thanks for commenting, thanks for giving me a way to remember this year.

I can't believe that 1 year ago, I had made the decision to move to New York. Sometimes it feels like an eternity ago, but other days I can't believe I have lived here for over 10 months.

I have a pretty fun job.

I have some awesome friends.

I have an interesting living situation.

I've met celebrities.

I have walked more in the last ten months then my entire 24 years before.

I have tried new foods.

I have stayed out too late for my own good.

I have seen crazy people on a subway.

I have laughed.

I have cried.

but I have stories for life.

I hope that this time next year we are talking about my second year of writing, because I love sharing my stories.

What I Did This Weekend: Cinco de Mayo Edition!

 

This past weekend was a lot of fun. It was one of those weekends where I didn't have to accomplish any major tasks, I wasn't traveling out of the city, and I could just hangout with friends and relax.

On Friday:

I went to a book signing by Jen Lancaster, who is an author that I have been a fan of for quite a few years. Her blog was one of the first blogs I added to my reader and I have read all of her memoirs and her novel. She is snarky, full of stories, and can always make me laugh while I'm reading. It was really nice to see her in person, listen to her read a chapter from her newest book, Jeneration X, and  get my book signed.

Then I went and had an early Cinco de Mayo dinner with two friends. We ate tacos, shared guacamole, and could barely hear ourselves think over the live mariachi band playing three feet from our table.

On Saturday:

I woke up with a mariachi headache but quickly got over it as made my way to the DeKalb Market in Brooklyn to meet up with some other friends. I blogged about this particular market last Summer when it opened and it still surprises me to see stores inside shipping containers every time I go. We walked around, ate lunch, had delicious cupcakes, and then headed to a movie theater to watch The Avengers.

I had the Mint Julep cupcake from Robicelli's in honor of The Kentucky Derby: Mint-bourbon cake and buttercream with a hand candied mint leaf on top.

I ate this delicious bacon mac & cheese for breakfast and lunch. It was so worth the crazy amount of calories.

We also stopped for a midday beer to kill some time before our movie. It was delicious, I had the Smuttynose,  and really helped wash down the 3,000 previously consumed calories.

I also happened to rock these 3-D glasses in the theater. I do want to mention that this weekend was the first time I have ever gone to a 3-D movie and I was not a major fan. The glasses are difficult to wear over my current glasses, the idea of having things pop out of the screen is not ideal, and  I don't like that they cost 33% more than regular movies.

After the movie, my friends and I headed over to another friend's birthday BBQ in the East Village. It was really nice to spend the afternoon in a garden with friends and Cinco de Mayo inspired food. After a few hours, we got chilly hanging out outside and headed over to a bar where we knew that it wouldn't be crazy with tequila shots, pinatas, or tacos. It was a german restaurant with a grand menu of beers. More beer was had and a few more hours of talking and laughing. Sidenote: A few of us decided that since so much Cinco de Mayo festivities were happening we wanted to celebrate the Kentucky Derby with some Mint Juleps, and they were tasty.

Apparently, there were ghosts in the bar because every picture we took had orbs in it. Creepy. Overall, it was a long day, but very relaxing and fun.

On Sunday:

I napped, did laundry, caught up on some TV, went grocery shopping, and worked for a few hours. It was the most glorious day!

Bring on Monday, I'm actually ready this week!