Wait- I've only been here for 3 weeks? What.

I know I haven't been here all that long (and still feel fresh off the boat most days), but this week felt normal. I don't feel like I'm on vacation anymore; I feel like I'm settling into my life here on the East Coast.

While this week was fairly uneventful, there were still some awesome adventures. Here's a highlight reel for y'all:

• I got around to doing my laundry (SUPER exciting, I know). Fortunately, our building has an in-progress laundry room. Unfortunately, I do not have any fun laundromat stories....

• I did go to Central Park on Tuesday. Fall weather is finally here!! The days are crisper and chillier. It's been excellent sweater weather :) AND the leaves are slowly but surely changing colors. I feel like such a little kid sometimes: stepping on crunchy leaves, looking up at the trees... I REALLY want to rake a pile of leaves together and jump into it, but I think I've going to have to wait a lil bit longer for that to happen. My iPhone camera did not do the beautiful afternoon light streaming through the trees justice... But here's a picture anyway.

• I just about died with excitement when I saw this pop up on my twitter feed:

And then after a little internet research, and nerding out with Michaela, I found this and did die with excitement:

Now, I don't know if y'all have seen the YouTube video "Marcel the Shell with Shoes on," but I'm a little obsessed with it. He's just so stinkin' cute!! Watch it!! 

• I bought my plane tickets home for my visit in December! I'll be Santa Barbara from Dec 10-17th. Yay!!

• On Thursday I went birthday elfing since Kelsey's birthday was on Friday. I had quite the adventure wandering around the city looking for things. It is so difficult to find crate paper streamers in this city!! I went to like 5 different stores before I found some at the Rite Aid in the West Village. I wrap her gift and decorated the apartment with orange and black streamers, as well as some cheesy green spider webs. Our apartment looks ready for Halloween now (minus the carved pumpkins) :

• Also on Thursday I went to see Master Shakespeare's Loves Labors Lost with Charlie at The Public Theater in the East Village. I met him at his work and we decided to eat there since they have apparently have excellent Mac n Cheese and when have I ever turned Mac n Cheese down? Never. I must say, it was pretty darn good. Not quite as good as Mama Michaels' nor quite as good as Hollister Brewing Company's either, but easily the best I have had in a restaurant in New York City. The show itself was much better than the last production Kelsey and I saw (in Santa Barbara at the Granada) and WAY better than the last play that Charlie and I saw (We Live Here). It was a more concise version of the script and I enjoyed the actors performances. The set was very minimal, which I always enjoy more when it comes to Shakespeare, and the costumes were great. Overall, a very pleasant evening of theater. After the show we decided to have a few drinks and went to the Queen Vic, a very chill English pub in the East Village. We grabbed a table by the windows and saw some interesting street activity: a man yelling at another man (who was standing on the sidewalk, dealing drugs and not being discrete about it, at all) who we later learned was a former employee of the bar and the man yelling at him was the owner.... it was crazy. Then there were the not so subtle guys who would literally stop in the middle of the sidewalk and stare at me through the window... Now, I usually never notice when people are looking at me (which my mom finds incredibly amusing) but that was just ridiculous, hard NOT to notice, and I found it to be quite silly. Anyway, it was a fun night: great conversation, great beer, great company. What more could you ask for on a Thursday night?

• FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21ST WAS KELSEY'S 23RD BIRTHDAY!! YAY!!! I got up earlier than I had been all week to go see her co-lab midterm in the West Village at 9 am. Co-lab is a class where the first year actors, directors, and playwrights work together to create new work (at least, that is my understanding of it). The playwrights were given an area in the West Village to wander around, find a space and assigned to write a 3-5 minute play to take place there. Then the directors were assigned a playwright once the plays had gone through their first draft. Then the directors were given actors. You get the picture. So I grabbed a cup of coffee and wandered over to the Hudson River park until I hard heard from Kelsey where they were starting. It was chilly and windy but still a beautiful morning! Kelsey told me that they were starting at the Highline Park (which is AWESOME!) so I headed over there and stumbled upon her class. It was cool to see the work and meet a lot of the people in her class. It reminded me of the outdoor movement piece we did sophomore year with Jeff. After the last piece I headed back to Midtown, stopping at TJs to get eggs since I had forgotten I needed them to bake Kelsey's funfetti birthday cake. I got home and started baking, worked on my acting resume a little bit, read, cleaned, decorated the cake and then passed out. I woke up around 5:30 and got ready to meet Kelsey at the bar down the street from her school. It was great meeting her classmates and chatting with them. Good people. Around 8:30 we decided dinner would be an excellent idea before we headed to the haunted house. Kelsey, Nicole (one of Kelsey's classmates), and I made our way to a restaurant called The Riviera Cafe; Kelsey's other classmate Kyle joined us shortly after we got there. We talked about grad schools and grad school auditions among many other things. It was really fun. After dinner we met up with a few more of Kelsey's classmates and headed to the haunted house Kelsey wanted to go to on the Lower East Side, where we met up with Dom and Maggie. It was so good to see them! We bought our tickets and stood in line for what seemed like FOR-EV-ER! It was a tad bit ridiculous. Now- I do not do so well with haunted houses. I love working in them, but for whatever reason the waiting in line for them (the anticipation of the terrifying unknown I know is immediately in front of me) causes mild panic attacks. Luckily, we were going to one based on fairytales and had two-dimensional sets (like a pop up book) combined with the Brazilian Bamboozler silliness (Velson is one of Kelsey's classmates, things get lost in translation) kept my mind elsewhere. The actual haunted house was well done, and a pretty cool concept. I wont lie, I had my face buried in Kelsey's back anytime we walked from room to room (it was guided) but it was still good haha. The second part of it was dumb. They had you go up to the second floor of the building and had you participate in an "experiment on fear." They showed a video, tried to make the crowd believe this really was an experiment by telling us we were being videoed, and asked stupid questions. Then they had us walk through single-file through a claustrophobia simulator (which if anyone was claustrophobic they would have freaked the fuck out and died) which, in my opinion, was dumb and they should have explained what it was before sending anyone through it. The tunnel lead us to a poorly devised lab set. We sat in a semi-stadium seating formation and they demonstrated some common fears... like stage fright (they shined a special on Kelsey, had her come up on-stage, do a clown dance, and answer a few questions in front of everyone. Clearly they should not have chosen an actor.) By the time we got out of the haunted house it was 12:45/almost 1 am. We adventured to the Upper East Side to a bar where Tristan, one of Kelsey's classmate's, works. We took the subway from the Lower East Side up to Midtown to catch the 6 train. Unfortunately for us the platform was under construction so we had to exit the station and walk to another entrance to catch the train. I can't tell you how many stairs we climbed and how many escalators we road on to reach the surface. It was like we had been in the bowels of hell, the center of the Earth, chillin with the dinosaurs. It was ridiculous. Anyway, we made it. And when the 6 train was going to be 17 minutes we decided to cab it the rest of the way. It was closer to 2 am by the time we made it to the bar, but lots of people were still there and burst into "Happy Birthday" when Kelsey entered. It was great! Charlie was there and we talked for a while, I met more classmates, sat at the bar and talked to Kels... It was fun. At 3:30 Kelsey and I decided it was time to go home. We hailed a cab, came home and ate cake while Kelsey opened the rest of her presents. It was a MIGHTY long day, but man was it fun :)

• SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22ND I don't know how Kelsey made it to work before 9 am, but I certainly slept in until 11. I worked on my acting resume some more with the info that Kelsey has been passing along to me from her casting workshops (which is SO INCREDIBLY HELPFUL!!). I signed up last week for this thing called ActorFest 2011, which is put on by Backstage, so I had to get my headshots/resume ready for the real acting world. Once I had a finalized draft I made my way to Kelsey's cafe and hung out with her for a while. She gave me a few more suggestions for my resume, we ate a delicious veggie quesadilla, and looked at the gossip magazines the owner stocks the cafe with. I headed home around 8 and finished up my resume, printed it out, made sure my adjustments fit the 8x10 picture and headed to the FedEx Office that is across the street. It's open 24/7 and is awesome. Printed and cut my resumes very easily and headed home to staple them to my headshots. Around 1 am I decided I should get some sleep since ActorFest 2011 started at 9 am.

• ACTORFEST 2011: Oh my word. I am really glad I went for the free option because this place was a ZOO!! I got to the block the pavilion was on around 9:15 and the line to get in wrapped pretty much around the ENTIRE block. So I hopped in line and waited. And waited. There was a lot of good people watching, which was nice. There were a lot a little kids/younger kids/teenagers there with their stage moms.... yeah. I finally got into the building and it was sheer madness. I snagged a free bag and wandered around the entirely too small showroom, got some info about classes, met Kelsey's Alexander Technique teacher (small world), and dropped of my headshot/resume with 20 casting directors/agencies. That part was pretty cool. Then I left, haha. I walked across the street to Old Navy and took advantage of the sale they were having. Yay running pants!!

So there you have it. Week 3. Hopefully next week I will have some new job stories. I'm currently in negotiations with the tiramisu shop. I have the job, we're just figuring out the hours/week situation. 

Hope all is well wherever y'all are!

love,

jen

Still in the honeymoon phase...

Week #2, and what a week it was!!


SUNDAY, OCTOBER 9
Spent the morning recovering from the creepers of Saturday night. Hung out with Curtis the Cadet in Central Park and Kelsey joined after she got out of rehearsal. We walked around for a bit, looking for a snack but we never stopped for anything. We made our way to Rockafeller Plaza, hung out in front of the GE building entrance and decided/figured out how I was going to causally bump into Andy Samberg, have him fall madly in love with me and propose. Our plan was elaborate and silly, and would totally work if my life was a romantic comedy or sitcom. But alas. It is not...

After plotting, we meandered over to the Magnolia Bakery and bought some mini cupcakes. They are delicious!! If you've never gotten a cupcake from Magnolia I HIGHLY recommend it :)

Then we all decided we were hungry/wanted to grab a drink. So we walked back to the apartment and decided to eat at Langan's (the Irish pub Kelsey and I live above). We got some beers and ordered our food. I got their Mac n Cheese (shocking, I know.) and wasn't impressed. Mom: yours is still the BEST EVER. When we realized it was almost 9 (aka Dexter time) we tried to flag down our waitress but she had apparently disappeared. After briefly contemplating dining and dashing, we got our bill, paid, and ran upstairs making it into the apartment right as Dexter was starting! Whew!

After Dexter I went on a little mini adventure to Duane Reade to buy a hat for my first day of training at Bonsignour. The one closest to our place didn't have any, so I ventured to the Times Square one.... and they had one. I love living by Times Square, but good God there are ALWAYS a ton of people out there who don't know how to walk in a crowd! Move to your right people! It's not that hard!

MONDAY, OCTOBER 10
I got a very early start today, New York is pretty peaceful at 6 in the morning! I needed to be at the cafe at 8, so I hopped on the 7 am F train and walked to the cafe from the 14th St stop. I was 30 min early. So I wandered around the sleepy West Village for a bit, I finally have my bearing there. The roads are chaotic but it is quickly becoming one of my favorite neighborhoods in this city.

Now, the vibe I originally got from this place, when I dropped off my resume/interviewed, was chill. Boy was I wrong! Not only did they throw me to the wolves of customers without walking me through any of the correct prices, but all they "taught" me how to do was make coffee drinks (thanks but I already know how to do all that...) Once the coffee/breakfast rush was through the manager kind of explained lunch (not very well) and the madness really started.... They had me train for 8 hours with only one 10 minute break. I'm not sure about labor laws here, but back in California you are required to provide a 30 minute break for an 8 hour shift. Not cool, man. Things finally slowed down around 3 and by the time 4 rolled around I was SO ready to go home. The manager seemed to really like me and asked me to come back and train for another 8 hrs Tuesday. Then she handed me $40 and I said sure!

I walked my weary bones down to Kelsey's cafe and collapsed in a chair, suddenly realizing that I never wanted to go back to that job ever again and kicked myself for saying I'd go in tomorrow. $40 is nice to have in your pocket but that's only $5/hour and it's just not worth it. Kelsey gave me some Creamy Tomato soup and a cookie and life was MUCH better :)

I walked to the subway station and when I got home I passed out. Kelsey texted me a bit later saying that she was talking to the couple that owns the tiramisu place across the street. They were talking about the hiring process and that they wanted to hire someone else and Kelsey (being the AWESOME best friend she is) of course dropped my name and that I had experience working in a bakery, to which they ran across the street to get a business card for Kelsey to give me. How awesome is that?! So I let the manager at Bonsignour know that I was not going to be come in anymore and thanked her for the opportunity. Dolce Vizio Tiramisu here I come!!

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11
Oh the Post Office.... how I love/hate thee. So last week some of my boxes arrived while I was asleep and our doorman/super wasn't around so they couldn't deliver them. I tried to get them to redeliver (which they said they would on the sorry we missed you card) but it turns out they don't redeliver to my building. So I adventured.

I walked to our Post Office on 42nd St. It was quite a nice walk. The sky was overcast and looked like rain and it wasn't hot. So I get to the Post Office and explain that I can only take one box at a time but that I would be back to get the others later that afternoon. The guy gave me a hard time at first, telling me I should rent a car at Avis down the street and a bunch of other bullshit to which I said no. He smiled and got me one of my three boxes. I walked down the block to the Port Authority Bus Terminal to hail a cab, having some construction workers ask me if I needed help. Hailed a cab no problem. The cabbie saw my box and opened the hatch so I could put it in the car and drove me no problems. $4 well spent.

I opened the box, made sure my stuff was ok (since the box was pretty beat up) and headed back to the Post Office. The next box the postal worker gave me was the heaviest box I mailed- 45 lbs. I struggled to the bus terminal, but I made it without the help of the same construction guys and hailed another cab. This one didn't open his trunk when he saw my big ass heavy box and rolled his eyes when I asked him to pop the trunk. This should have been my tell him to move along and hail another cab moment, but did I? No. I got in and told him I wanted to go to west 47th between 6th and 7th, very clearly. He repeated correctly and I confirmed, west 47th between 6th and 7th. The asshole drove the wrong way, and when I corrected him fairly quickly he started to yell at me, saying that he though I said west 27th st. To which I politely said "No, I said west 47th and you confirmed that." To which he yelled at me more and muttered things in a language I couldn't understand. Twice the price I paid the first time I was on my block. He told me the price, I paid that exact price, and asked for a receipt since I paid with a card. Instead of giving me my receipt he yelled at me "WHY NO TIP?!" To which I calmly said,

"You took me in the wrong direction, then yelled at me when I corrected you. I don't feel that service deserved a tip."

"But I got you here!!" he yelled some more. At this point I am flabbergasted. He yelled some more and I said FINE and went to hand him a dollar. To which he said, "NO!!"

So I said "Look, I'm sorry, could you please just open the trunk?" getting sassy at his angry. He opened the trunk and yelled "Sorry doesn't pay my bills!!" To which I responded "Don't I know it!!" as sassily as I could.

He drove away. People were looking at me in a concerned, are you ok, that guys is a total douchebag kind of way. I walked into my building, got into the elevator, and silently began to cry. I am too nice for this city. I held my own against that asshole, but man!! Did it get me...

I decided that was good enough for one day, took a nap, and then unpacked my boxes.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12
I went back to the Post Office and walked my last, lightest box I shipped home. What a workout!! After unpacking the box, I made my grocery list and headed to the West Village to drop off my resume at the tiramisu shop. This place it so stinkin cute! And clean!

After wandering around the Village I headed to TJs and got my groceries. I love Trader Joe's. I am so happy they have it here in the city!

I went home, put away groceries, made some dinner and watched Wednesday night TV. Gotta love Modern Family, Happy Endings, and Revenge back to back... even if the main girl in Revenge is a horrible actor.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13
What a day, what a day this day was!! It was so nice to have a productive day after the last 2 days.

I ordered more headshots from the photo shoot I had with Emily Hart-Roberts before I moved. I think I found a winner :) What do you think?

After I finalized that big decision, I submitted myself for an audition for a regional theatre company in Colorado. Pretty cool. One step at a time.

I then decided to walk to the Bed, Bath & Beyond on Broadway at 65th St. It was overcast again and misting a little but it was quite a pleasant walk up 7th Ave, through Columbus Circle (saw Anderson Cooper filming up in his studio...), and to the 3 story BB&B. I spent so much time in there! It was a little dangerous. Thank goodness for coupons and a gift card (thank you Parker Family!!).

After making my purchases I found the subway station and headed home. It was a little tricky since the subway was packed but I made it work.

The best news arrived later that afternoon!! The box that I had shipped the week before I moved, that was now almost 2 weeks late FINALLY arrived!! I now have my towels, sheets, pillows, blankets, and DVDs!! Woohoo!!

I also received an email from the owners of Dolce Vizio Tiramisu and we set up an interview for Friday afternoon!

Good day!

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14
I spent the morning cleaning up my messes from unpacking boxes and such.

I ventured into the West Village for my interview at Dolce Vizio Tiramisu. It went really well!! The owners are a very cute, young Italian couple and they were so excited about my interest in working there. They opened in Mid-August and are now wanting to expand to do small breakfast pastries and expand their espresso capacity. One of the owners is going to Italy for a week so they aren't going to start me right away.

After my interview I decided to celebrate with a latte and enjoy a book at a coffee shop. Unfortunately there weren't any seats available so I decided to walk around the Village for a bit. And then it started pouring!! I ran into the nearest store, which happened to be Rite Aid, and spent the time looking at horrible birthday cards. When the rain passed I walked to the subway station and took the train to Bryant Park. I walked around for a bit, chatted with my mama, and then realized I should go home to eat before the show.

I met Kelsey outside the New School for Theater building. It was cool getting to see the spaces. We saw Master Shakespeare's Henry VI. It was one of the best history plays I've seen. The set was very simple, as were the costumes, and the lights. OH MY GOD the lighting design made the show! Here's a link to a stop motion video of the production: http://vimeo.com/30473723

After the show, Kelsey, Curtis (who met us at the show), and I made our way to the subway and headed home. We watched Clue, which neither of them had seen before. It was silly as always.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15
Kelsey had class and work all day. Curtis and I got breakfast at Ellen's Stardust Diner. All of the waiters and waitresses sing. It was a little loud for breakfast but the food was good, as was the singing.

After breakfast Curtis and I made our way to the American Museum of Natural History!! It was awesome! We started with the dinosaurs and then wandered around the entire museum. I think we saw just about everything.

Instead of taking a cab back to Midtown we walked through Central Park. Soaking up the fall sunshine, listening to musicians, wandering around the landmarks. We stopped at the Boathouse for some hot chocolate, which was delicious, and people watched for a while. Quite a pleasant afternoon.

I went home and napped. After some food I started working on this weeks blog, and watched TV. Kelsey got home from work around 9:30 and promptly passed out. As I was flipping through the channels I saw that The Shining was on. It made me think of my Elements Theatre Collective peeps, so I started watching it. I didn't watch for very long. Too scary to watch by yourself, in a dark apartment.... So I turned on Saturday Night Live. I got a text from some friends from high school around midnight and we decided to meet up for some drinks. It was so nice to see a familiar face in this city! Curtis texted after he got out of a film he saw at the New York Film Festival and we went to a bar called Fat Cat. It was pretty cool. It kind of reminded me of Isla Vista; there were couches everywhere, ping pong tables, pool tables, shuffle board, and live jazz. We played ping pong. I got my ass kicked, but I've realized I'm a little better at it when I'm drunk.

We headed home when the bar closed at 4 am. It was a grand day, but a very long day.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 16
Oh my was Sunday morning rough...

Spent the morning watching WALL-E and rehydrating. I love that movie, so very much. Kelsey had rehearsal until 2 and then we met up in Bryant Park. Hung out there for a while and decided to brunch. She told me her director for the directing scene she was in had an extra ticket to a play that night. She was going to a play with her aunt so I said "Sure! I'll take the ticket."

I walked to the theater, which was a short walk from our apartment and met her friend Charlie in front of the theater. We saw We Live Here By Zoe Kazan. It was an odd play, left a lot of loose ends, but the set was incredible! I wanted to live in that house. After the play we walked to a restaurant for dinner, talked about the play a bit but mainly got to know each other. Kelsey texted me when they got out of their play and we walked over to the restaurant they were dining at. I got to meet Kelsey's aunt, who is a book agent, and one of her clients. It was fun getting to meet them. After a bit, Charlie and I walked to the Playwright's Tavern on 8th Ave and grabbed some drinks. I told him about the honors project and how I wanted to keep working on it/focusing on Annie's life story. He seemed really excited about the project and encouraged me to write it. That was pretty cool.

Kelsey met us there and we hung out and talked for a while. Around midnight we decided it was time to go home.

It was a very pleasant end to the week :)

Bright Lights. Big City.

Week One: Complete.

And what a week it has been! A pleasant mix of relaxing, catching up on some much needed sleep, and wandering around the city. I can't believe I live here!!

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30

My last day in beautiful Santa Barbara, CA. Went out to breakfast at Cajun Kitchen with my parents and one of my best friends, Sydney. Syd's heading to Panama for 2 years with the Peace Corps in January!! So exciting! Then it was off to the post office to ship the final boxes. The rest of the day was spent organizing my room and putting things in boxes for storage, having a few cry sessions with my mom, cuddle time with my puppies, driving to my old high school to say goodbye to Logan because he couldn't come to the airport due to an away football game, saying a few more "see you soon!"s to a few more people, giving Spencer the keys to my car... and getting one last burrito for the road.

My family (minus Logan) drove me to the airport. After we got my bag checked we decided to walk around the new terminal. We all couldn't go very far, you have to have a boarding pass to get to the restaurant that is upstairs, BUT there is an observation terrace that we hung out at until the very last second. They put the ball machine, the one that was outside the old terminal that my brothers and I loved to watch whenever we had to pick someone up from the airport. It was fun sitting there, watching and listening to the machine chime away, not thinking about the looming goodbyes to the people who mean the most to me...

And then it was time. The moment I had been dreading for weeks. Well, let's be honest, the moment I had been dreading for months. Saying goodbye to my family. I'd done a pretty good job keeping myself pulled together all week, but it all came flooding out once I realized this was it. I was a mess, which made going through security SUPER fun. Especially the part where they thought my burrito was something other than a burrito and had to go through my backpack, find the burrito, realize it was a burrito, and then run my backpack and my burrito through the scanner again. So fun. Anyway, I was a silent wreck sitting in the airport waiting for my delayed plane to LAX. Luckily, I had a traveling companion.

Marcel was SO EXCITED to see the big city! Which in turn reminded me that I was SO EXCITED to be moving to the big city, that I was going to get to see Kelsey and Domonique, and that this is what I wanted to do. When else was I going to get the chance to move to New York with my best friend and actually get to live my life and try to achieve my dream?

The flight to LA was short and uneventful AND I had a window seat, so that was awesome. I got to see the Colosseum (it's kind of hard to miss the huge USC's), and the clouds were simply majestic. Once I landed, I jumped on a bus that took me to the terminal I would be departing from. It was a little crazy driving on the tarmac next to gigantic planes taking off and landing. I found my gate and realized I was starving!! So I cracked open my delicious burrito and was going to watch some things on Hulu. But I was thwarted by LAX and their lack of free WiFi...

So I pulled out a book and read for the rest of my layover.

My flight to New York was pretty uneventful. I had another window seat (YES!!!) so I had something to lean up against to sleep :) I passed out pretty quickly and slept for most of the flight. About an hour out from JFK we hit some turbulence that woke me up. I couldn't go back to sleep after that because I realized how close I was to the epic reunion with Kelsey, so I watched the in-flight entertainment and looked out the window at the scattered cities, wishing the sun would rise so I could see more than just spots of light... 

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1

My flight landed at 5:30 am, I got my checked bag and headed to where I was suppose to be picked up by Super Shuttle. They said it would be 20-30 minutes, so I had a nice conversation with my mom about the flight and texted Kelsey with my ETA. My shuttle didn't come until 6:30... and then the real adventure began.

We took the Midtown Tunnel into the city and dropped some passengers off at their hotel on 42nd St. So I thought, because I live on 47th St, that I would be the next passenger dropped off. Boy was I wrong!! There were 11 people in this van and I was the second to last person dropped off. I got a nice driving tour of the East Village, the West Village, the Hudson River... and then at 7:30, after an HOUR of driving around the city, I was dropped off at my apartment. And the Jen and Kelsey reunion was EPIC!!

Kelsey is seriously the best roommate and friend EVER. She had gone out and gotten Dunkin Dounts (jelly filled munchkins, pumpkin spice coffee, bagels and cream cheese, and a blueberry muffin). We filled each other in on our lives since July while I unpacked and enjoyed the breakfast goodies. And then Dom came by before she had to go to work :) The three of us watched the Sex and the City movie, Pretty  Woman... it felt like home. Then Dom had to leave for work and Kelsey and I promptly passed out.

After an epic and much needed nap, we decided to go out for a celebratory dinner. I love that you can go out to eat at 10 pm in this city. It's awesome. We walked to the Mercury Lounge, enjoyed a glass of wine and a delicious meal, and then decided we need to go out. We took the subway to the Village and went to a bar Kelsey had gone to a few weeks before. We got our first round and the bartender gave us free shots. He was adorable and a firefighter. Yum!! Then some guys bought us more drinks and the cute bartender poured us more free shots and by 2 am we were ready to go home. I'm really going to have to boost my tolerance to party in this town, what with bars staying open until 4 am and all...

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2

After waking up around noon (something I haven't done in a VERY long time) and while waiting for Kelsey to get out of rehearsal, I adventured to Duane Reade (which is like CVS or Walgreens) to get some essentials. When she was done we met in Bryant Park, grab some salads and enjoyed the sunshine. Kelsey needed a book from the Drama Book Store so we adventured to find it... and it was closed. So we walked home through Times Square because oh it's at the end of our block - what! Yeah, it's pretty crazy how close we are. It has it's pros and cons (pro: cops every where all the time so when you're walking around at 3 am you feel a little more safe, con: tourists, EVERYWHERE).

We stayed in for dinner and watched Dexter and Homeland, which I'm pretty sure is going to become our Sunday night routine. It's awesome!

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3

My first day by myself in the city. I adventured to Trader Joe's. And man oh man, this Trader Joe's is HUGE compared to the one I use to go to in SB. After getting some basics I tried to get home via the subway... which turned into an adventure, of course. Being new to this city and still trying to figure out the subway system, I couldn't find the uptown trains at the stop I got off at. So I walked from 21st St to 34th St. While it was quite the walk to do with 2 bags of groceries it was still fun to see a part of the city I had never been to. At 34th St I was able to find the uptown trains and got home just fine. Feeling silly but whatever. After I put my groceries away I napped. Again. As I would many more time that week. For dinner I decided I should get some New York pizza. So I walked up the street to Rays. And boy was it delicious!

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 4

Dom had the day off so she and I decided to adventure to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. OH. MY. GOD. I was blown away by everything that I saw and the fact that I could see it for as little as I wanted to pay!! I love pay what you want museums!! We saw so much and I'm sure it was only the tip of the iceberg. It was the perfect day to go, the air was crisp and it drizzled a little bit. Gah, I can't wait to go back! 

After several hours we went to Dom's boyfriend's grandmother apartment on the upper east side to get Dom's coat. Another OH. MY. GOD. I've never really wanted to marry an incredibly wealthy person until I was standing in that apartment. They have a view of Central Park. Ugh. It was beautiful.

Then Dom and I decided to walk back down to Midtown (where I live). Along the way we stopped at FAO Shwartz and saw the giant piano from Big, walked down 5th Ave and all the designer stores, and then were sucked into the H&M... I can't explain how much I love this store. And I needed a cold weather coat. I ended up walking out of there with not one but two beautiful and warm coats... it happens. haha

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5

I ventured into the West Village to apply to a few bakeries/cafes that Kelsey had been telling me about all week and to visit Kelsey at her job. I applied at this place called Bonsignour on Jane Street (super cute) and at a place called Doughboy on Hudson. After dropping off applications I found my way to Kelsey's Cafe, CC's Cafe. It is adorable and they make the best soups. Win K.Foltz!!

I hung out there for a bit, enjoyed an iced coffee, and then headed to Trader Joe's to finish stocking our kitchen. Made it back to our apartment on the subway, no problem :)

I gave a virtual tour of the apartment to my Aunt Katy via Skype and chatted with her for a bit. It was good to talk to her and get an update. My family is the best.

And then Steve Jobs died.

:(

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6

I spent the morning researching how I could possibly get a toe in the door in this business. And then I decided I needed to get out of my apartment and get to know the city. Right as I was about to walk out my door I got a call from the manager at Bonsignour. We set up an interview for the next day :)

I decided I needed new headphones for my iPhone since I couldn't find the ones that came with the phone before I left. So I walked up 5th Ave, past Radio City Music Hall, Rockafeller Plaza, the entrance to the Rainbow Room Observatory and up to the 5th Ave Apple Store.

There was a huge memorial in front of the store for Mr. Jobs. It was pretty moving. There were people and news crews everywhere. Now, I don't know if that huge store is always crazy busy or if Thursday people decided they needed as many Apple products as they could possible afford, but it was a mad house. I finally found the headphones I needed, paid for them, and walked to the entrance to Central Park. I sat on a bench for a bit and people watched. That was fun! There are so many interesting people in this city. I love it.

I decided to walk down 6th Ave to get home so I could get a better idea of my part of town. It was a good day.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7

I made a point to get up at a normal hour so that I can get off west coast time and fully adjust to this time zone. I took the subway to the West Village for my interview at Bonsignour and I start training on MONDAY!! Marisol, the manager, is starting me with an 8 hour training shift. I'm really excited about this place. It's very similar to Anna's in that they work the line the same way and have a lot of regulars, but less pastries and more breakfast meals.

After my interview I walked to Dunkin Donuts for a celebratory coffee and donut. I really need to go on an adventure to find a quality raised donut, none have been anywhere close to as good as Anna's donuts. So I took my coffee and donut to Washington Square Park, found a bench in the sun, and read. For a few hours. It was amazing. I love how many parks there are in this city. I walked back to the subway and went home for lunch.

I decided to keep with the park theme of the day and walked up to Central Park to see all the places you see in movies. I walked past the giant rocks, down the lane of trees and benches, and to the fountain.

There were so many wedding parties and engaged couples taking their pictures there. It was fun to watch. I stayed there until it started to get cold, then ventured home, stopping by Starbucks to get a Pumpkin Spice Latte to warm myself up. It felt and tasted like fall :)

After dinner Kelsey and I got pretty and went out to the East Village to meet up with some of her friends. On our way to the first bar we saw a film crew set up on a street that we almost got an apartment. We decided it was a big deal and not a student film so we stopped to watch. We watched Edie Falco throw something into a dumpster, then dumpster dive for said object, then climb out and keep walking down the street. We decided we should start watching Nurse Jackie. 

We stopped at a bar called Common Ground, talked to some financial guys about acting and how much they hate their jobs. It was fun, a few of them were cute, only one was creepy, the rest were nice. Then we met up with some West Point cadets Kelsey knows at a bar called Professor Thom's, another chill bar. We hung out there for a bit then took a cab up to a club called the Cellar. It was pretty cool. The DJ was horrible but we danced for 3 hours anyway. It was so much fun!! :)

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8

Kelsey had to work, so I lazed around for a bit then went to visit her and get some coffee. I ended up hanging out there until she got off work. We got some soup to take home (I can't even beginning to explain how good this soup is, you just have to experience it for yourselves). We both passed out and woke up around 9, thinking it was the next morning. haha

That's when the cabin fever set in. We decided we needed out. So we got ready for a relaxing girls night out. We went to a bar in Midtown called Valhalla. I'm in love with this bar. It has a great vibe, reasonable prices, lots of beers on tap, AND really good pumpkin ale! :) We decided to find another bar and that where things got creepy. Every place we went to/every time we stopped to figure out where we wanted to go next these creepers came out of no where and didn't understand that "No, I'm not going to give you my phone number or go to this club with you" really meant no, get away from me. So Kelsey and I decided that we would get a pizza and beer and have an dance party in our apartment. This was the best idea ever. We got some Ray's Pizza, some beer from the deli across the street, and danced until we were tired.

It was a great way to end a very creepy evening.