It's snowing!

It's funny, but I've always associated snow with Christmas. The gorgeous lightly falling, snow that turns everything white. But it's nearly March, and it is snowing. It's so gorgeous.. I'm loving it.

Also. .the Oscars are about to start and we're having a partay in my room.

Ok I'm turning my attention to the food, friends.. and watching all the pretty people :)

Hooray for snow!! :)

Ponderings and activities.

Does it make any sense that you should get annoyed with people who are immature, when deep down you know you, yourself, are not quite to that epitome of maturity in which you envision yourself? Or when you are such good friends with a person, but one things leads to another and suddenly they annoy you.. and all you can see are the poor qualities.. How does this happen? Or better yet, how can it be reversed? Life is so strange and, oddly, never without drama. Friends create drama. You lose touch and they are upset, but dont bother to contact you. They make poor choices, you make poor choices, you irritate each other. Too much time is spent together, or too little time. Personalities differ so much, neither can fully comprehend the other. Sometimes.. I just wonder why it's really worth it. The only friendship that I can ever understand and always fix when broken is that with my sisters, even if I talk to one much less than another. They'll never go away... and that's good. So with the others.. is it really worth telling them how their actions make your heart hurt or irritate you? Or that your sorry when you know they dont care to forgive your actions? Or call them when you know they havent been calling you.. for whatever reason. The pursuit. What does it come down to in the end.. a friendship to shallow to matter or a life-long friend? I guess that's why you have to keep trying, so you will know one way or the other.. I guess.

I havent blogged in awhile because I really dont have the time. Like right now, it's 3:25am. I should be asleep. But I'm not going to church for another 12 hours and I may or may not go to lunch with the group tomorrow... I should get up and do homework.. but that's not happening... Anyway, here is what I have been up to.

Last weekend was a lot of movie watching at the dorm and some drama (long story). Then Sunday was Chinese New Year - to ring in the year of the pig. We went to Chinatown to celebrate, it was great :) First we walked in a few shops, then we heard the drums.. soon a dragon came out to the beat of the drum, then a second, and finally a third. They danced and we watched, then we moved on. All throughout the streets there were these small parades which the masses gathered round. At everstore you could buy confetti throwers -- they are launchers about the size of rain sticks that throw confetti into the air when you pop it open. The confetti is constantly flying in the air and whisking its way back down. Plus, if one of the throwers releases a toy parachute it's apparently good luck for you to catch it... For lunch we stopped at an amazing place just off the main road, then we headed down to the 100-year old ice cream factory -- it was amazing. The day ended with coffee in Korea town. Man I love the melting pot experience here!

Monday was errands.. and sending my poor camera to the Canon doctor. The rest of the week was school, homework, and working (a lot). Friday was the Nuyorican Poetry Slam -- it was amazing. True, a bit vulgar, but still.. the kids had talent. Today we spent a large part at the Metropolitan Museum of Art where I fell in love.. a few times.. with men such as Degas, Picasso, Manet, Monet, Renoir, Matisse, Rothko, Pollock and so many more, I could hardly name all that I saw. But the one Jackson Pollock.. well that made it all worthwhile. The man was amazing.

This afternoon we headed over to a theater by NYU to see the Oscar nominated, animated short films. They were great and very enjoyable, there were two I wasnt too keen on, but overall I liked it. Then I got home and moved next door to my first room. That's right, I currently have a new residence. No hard feelings with my roommate, but one of the girls left the program earlier this week, so I took her bed and my old bed is now empty.. how odd. Anyway, my roommate Erika is great.. though hopefully not annoyed that I'm still awake and typing away... Ok I should go to sleep now. Hope you enjoyed the quick catch-up. I apologize to any and all that I have not called or been in poor contact with. I miss you and love you all!

Take care.

Subway...

The subway is an interesting form of transportation, full of dichotomies.

Tonight, Natalie and I got on the subway at Union Square. While we were waiting for the train there was a guy standing to our left wearing headphones plugged into a cassette player that seemed to have a voice recorder. He looked a little odd, so I hoped he would step onto another car.. but no. He stepped on just behind us and stood with his back to us, facing the door... then it started. He sang with a rap then a deep voice into his recorder. What was he saying? No one knew. Slowly the whole car was watching and laughing. It was great. True, the poor guy was the center of our humor, but he was probably crazy and either didn’t care or didn’t notice. The odd thing was how quickly the people were bonded together by the strange event. At first everyone had that look of "what is going on," then some awkward laughing and finally out-loud laughter. Kids, adults, the grandma nearby.. all were laughing, or they had the look stuck to their face. No one could figure it out. Just as we reached our stop.. an older lady, a girl about my age, and a teenage girl each pulled out their cells and snapped a photo. It was a perfect ending to an interesting performance.

That is just one interesting encounter. Each day is full of good, bad and typical occurrences. This morning started off pretty great as the train driver wished everyone a great day as we reached my stop. Last Saturday, two men began playing as we made our way to Queens. One had an accordion and the other had a guitar.. then they began to sing. I was taken back to Mi Tierras and began to miss home.. and Mexican food! Can someone please ship some homemade tortillas to me?? Man.. I miss it...

I won't share the ugly, it exists. Even the inconsistency of the trains, constant contruction, trains running behind, having to switch from one train to another and finding new routes home. Oh the joy of it. I do miss knowing that when I'm five miles from home I'll be there in five minutes.. not so here; five miles is typically half an hour.

Well there you have it. Not a whole lot has been going on. Just stuff here an there. Yes, yesterday was Valentines. Oddly, it turned into a girls night out and not completely on purpose. But Jason and Austin gave it a sweet touch by giving each of the girls a pink rose.

Ok I have to get to bed kiddos.. Goodnight :)

Meeting the rich and famous...

The past few days have been amazing, not perfect but still great :)

On Thursday four of us decided to try to get tickets to Wicked. Each theatre has a lottery a few hours before their night shows in which you place your name -- more like a raffle really. Well, after work D and I met up. If we both won the lottery then we would be able to buy expensive tickets, cheap -- two each, which would be enough for all of us. Well it was early so we had sometime to walk around. We then stopped by the Neil Simon Theatre to see what time the Hairspray lottery was at. We had missed it.... but..... the guy at the ticket booth gave us 4 front row seat for only $25, instead of the typical $110. It was great :)

The show was my first Broadway musical.. well my first Broadway anything... And I loved it. The music was fun, the storyline was fun and intriguing. I truly enjoyed the whole experience. Jere Burns played the dad - he's really not "famous" persay, but he's been in episodes of some of my favorite shows throughout the years. I think he's a fabulous actor. One of the girls from 3LW played a younger girl -- and proved Natalie right when she started singing -- it was wonderful. Plus... Ashley Parker Angel (from O-Town) was the male lead. Hunter definitely laughed at us girls, but Nat, D and I were loving it. We kind of acted like school girls at a concert, but I promise we didn't embarass anyone!

The next morning a group of us met up at 5am and headed into Manhattan. We first stopped at Dean & Deluca (being a Felicity fan... I was excited about that stop) just by the Rockefeller rink, then D, Nat, and I headed to Good Morning America. We were outside for maybe 10 or 15 minutes before the media coordinator came out to tell us that they had decided against filming outside and asked us to join everyone inside. Well of course we said yes! By then we had made friends with a group of girls and their moms from Houston, plus an older mother and daughter from Pennsylvania. Everyone was excited. At first we had to stand in the back, but by the end we were able to meet Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts. Plus, Charlize Theron was there for an interview with Diane and we were just inches away as she walked past us. She is gorgeous in real life.

It was truly and experience to be at GMA and it's quite possible that you saw us if you watched the show that morning, but I'm not positive.

That night was a fun night of dancing with some friends. Saturday we slept in then a few of us headed over to Ground Zero. It may have been 6years ago, but it's still not an easy thing to see.

The day was ended with a trip to the Tea Lounge -- officially our favorite coffee shop in all of New York... it was study time and a great place to... lounge ;)

Today I went to church.. and now the Superbowl BABY!!! Go Colts!!

Surviving..

Being away from my family isn't easy, but I think I can handle it... Well, I think I can as long as Bri doesn't write anymore blogs that make me cry and I see her before May. But honestly, so far it hasn't been hard. I can make it.

My job -- not always the best, but it's an internship. I take the highlights and I hold onto them, knowing this is going to help get me wherever I'm going. It's all a part of life and even if I want to throw the phone out the window, I'll push through and be the southern girl that I am to the person on the other end.. it's about the only time that part of me comes out -- New York is not a place to be happy and make random friends with the people standing next to you... So I'm going to make it. I'll treasure the experience I'm getting here.

I say New York isn't happy, but that isn't quite true... it just isn't friendly. I enjoy the time that I get to spend with my friends, even if it's goofing off in the subway on our way to class. But I miss the fact that back home, if you were standing as close as I was to some people this morning, you would know their name and where they were from by the time you reached your destination. If I tried that here (and trust me I havent) people would be searching for my angle, while blowing me off. It's just the way things are here. I understand it, but I dont really like it. I know I would do the same though.. you can't trust anyone in a big city..

So what's the hardest part so far?? Staying sane when all of the little things here and there come crashing in on you and a kid in class says something that tops it off and there is nowhere to go because.. you all live and breathe together... *sigh* But my RA is awesome. She has sound advice and listens when I just have to blurt out how I'm thinking of screaming or throwing that phone out the window... She may not always understand and I might not always seek out advice, just a sounding-board. Someone to listen and not gossip or get annoyed with how annoyed or frustrated I am.

Plus I have a few pretty great friends here. I mean, all in all, each of the kids in our program is great. I love our group and I'm happy for the time spent together. But I'm glad that I have those few who will go with me to see the places that are in my favorite movie, or venture off to some random food spot that is supposed to have the best-whatever-in-new-york. That's what I am happy for.

I'm going to survive. Slowly I'm finding my balance. It's kind of been like riding the subway. Some day you get a seat and you are completely relaxed, other days you have a rail and you are steady but have that possibility of slipping, others you are slipping around though you have a hold.... and like today... there are days when you are stuck in the midst of the crowd, with nothing to hold onto, praying that you will be able to steady yourself with your own weight.... It's unpredictable, but safe, nonetheless.

This is my life.
I will survive ;)

Notes about work

Today I worked on a new product -- Squid Soap. It's the coolest thing; when you use the pump it inks your hand and if you dont wash your hands for long enough (15-20 seconds) the ink stays on. It's the new way to teach kids how to wash their hands. Check out their video: http://www.squidsoap.com/video.html

I also learned about VNRs today -- Video News Release -- it's a pretty neat way to get a free commercial/free advertising.

Oh and I keep forgetting.... My boss received an AeroGarden as a gift from some client. It's the strangest thing. It sits behind me in my office, growing herbs. Well, just check out some pics I pulled off the web.. We're only in the first stage, but I suppose it will be overflowing by the time I leave, right now it's just got the weird plastic things covering the seeds.

Ok that's my random information for the day :)

Have a good evening!

Famous People

I've found a new favorite diner, it's just down the street from my work and across the street from St. Patrick's Cathedral -- Prime Burger (http://primeburger.com/). I walked down there for lunch my first day of work. The other night I realized it was on my list of places that I wanted to visit because I had read it was a famous place to eat and many celebrities stopped in. Then today H and J met me for lunch and we walked down again. When we were paying out the owner or manager let us know that when Sarah Jessica Parker stops in she enjoys a burger covered in chili... also she apparently shot a scene there for Sex in the City (according to a flyer hung up by our seats).

Dinner was another experience. Five of us headed into Manhattan to check out Peanut Butter & Co. which is near NYU on Sullivan (http://www.ilovepeanutbutter.com/). Mmm it was good. I had an Elvis sandwhich: peanut butter, honey, and bananas grilled on wheat bread -- aaamazing :) The honey could have been sweeter....but it was good all the same. The owner was nice too.

So there's my almost brush with celebrities. I think I'm off to bed. Night friends :)