US Open

Last night GVR and I journeyed out to Queens for the US Open, courtesy of Chase Bank and the 2 free tickets they gave me for opening my new account. Pretty sweet deal. I don't know a ton about tennis and I don't really follow the sport closely, though I do enjoy watching it when I happen upon it. And I mean, who can pass up free tickets?
Let me just say- it was awesome. The sheer size of the complex where the Open happens (15 courts spread around plus 2 large stadiums, stores, food, merchandise, big screen tvs, massive brackets up on walls, etc) is somewhat unbelievable. And let me just say that tv does no justice for the speed at which these athletes can serve a tennis ball. You think MLB pitchers can throw fast? Oh no, let's talk about the 100mph+ serves of people like Andy Roddick. He was playing last night. And by the way, he's really attractive. Wow. Even from up in the nosebleeds. And he happens to be 23. Or Maria Sharapova, who was also playing last night. First of all- 19. Secondly- 6' and 132 pounds. Thirdly- wow. She is NOT messing around.
And the culture of tennis is just so unlike anything else. First of all, you don't talk during matches. Thousands of people in a stadium not talking. Then there's the sponsors. So for events like the Superbowl sponsors are Budweiser, Tostitos and Hummer. US Open sponsors include Ralph Lauren, JPMorgan Chase, Evian, and Lexus. At least half of the attendees had clearly come from work and were dressed in business attire. Among the remaining there was an abundance of polo shirts, salmon colored pants, and sweaters tied around shoulders. To top it off, the view of the Manhattan skyline at sunset is unbelievable. All in all, an awesome night.

Just say no

I have always been the type of person to say "yes" to most any social event- concerts, dinners, hanging out, dancing, etc. This is both because I (as most people) enjoy doing such things but more importantly because I have always placed a priority on spending time with people and building strong and deep relationships. I also love experiencing new things and am always up for a good adventure. In college I was generally able to do all the fun things of which I could conceive and still get my work done in concentrated bursts of shutting myself up in my room... and still get at least 8 hours of sleep a night. Senior year is a prime example of this.
Flash forward to now- New York City and life in the real world. Now, if I thought there was a lot to do in Philly, I was grossly underestimating the vast quantity of, well, basically anything and everything one could possibly want to do that exists in NYC. There is so much that I want to do, and opportunities to do so knocking at my door every day. Take today for instance- I could have gone to a Giants preseason game through two different people, gotten $1 yuenglings at the Penn Club with coworkers after work, and gone to stand along the red carpet for the MTV VMAs. Adding to that the concerts, musicals, sporting events, festivals, restaurants, bars, tours, social events, neighborhoods to explore and friends with whom I want to catch up, I could easily find something to do that I would genuinely enjoy and would in many cases be entirely novel every day. This is just a fact of life in NYC and is not at all specific to me. It's just all here and that's oart of what makes NY the great city that it is.
The tough part is finding the balance. Because I now find myself working 8-9 hours a day with a 45 minute commute on each end. None of this 12 hours of class a week business, where you can skip at least a few hours and all the buildings are within 10 minutes walking. No sleeping in a few extra hours if you had a little too much to drink the night before. No emails to professors asking for an extension on the deadline. Now I find myself having to pay rent and bills, for all my meals, and no bursar for those incidentals. No Penn Cash, nothing. No more working for an hourly salary on which I live week to week and can just spend on whatever the heck I feel like it, cause hey, why not? Budgeting? What the heck is that?
So nothing has really changed about me- I'm still the girl people come to cause they know I'm totally in to get those awesome tickets to x concert or y sporting event, or I'm entirely up for trying a new restaurant or wacky enough to just drop everything and set off on a random road trip. What has changed is my circumstances. Saying yes still means spending $40 here or $20 there or eating out instead of eating in or staying up a little later than I should, but it's no longer really ok if I want to function well. Because I now really only have a certain amount of money, and there is a finite amount remaining after health insurance, taxes, and rent. And I now have to get up at 7:00, regardless of whether my nightly activities keep me from coming home until 8 or midnight. And so it is my choice to figure out how to handle this. I know that I need 8 hours of sleep, every night. And so I shouldn't be surprised when I'm exhausted at work after 3 nights of getting 7 hours. I know that I can't go to every concert/restaurant/event that is offered up because I simply do not have the money for it. And it's also not a big deal to say no. But I don't always really feel this nor have the ability in the moment to see the bigger picture. But I'm working on it. Stay tuned for more "what I'm learning in the real world" entries.

Take a bite

Last night I had a letter in the mail from Lance, a friend from high school with whom I keep in contact via snail mail, as we both feel it is (in his words) "a sophisticated art that is passing away to an age of convenience." I love Lance's letters, and I'd like to share one section from this most recent one: "Liz Spangler in the big apple. But that apple doesn't realize you have it in the palm of your hand. I bet you cannot decide whether to eat it, rub it, put it in your pocket or throw it at some hobo. Hehe, yes sir if it was me I'd eat that ole apple right up and only throw out the stem!" Kind of a silly metaphor in one sense, but oddly perfect in another. Thank you Lance for making me smile.

My parents new acquisition...

My parents hated cats until one showed up on our back step last year and they started feeding it and eventually decided to keep it. They named her "Kitty." Really original. Apparently another cat had kittens in our yard recently and left a little black one behind, which my parents felt bad for and decided to save. Three days old. My mother drives home every day at lunch to feed it milk with an eye dropper. 30 minutes each way. Seriously, my parents never even took care of ME that well when I was sick. I asked my dad the other day what they had decided to name it. Shaniqua.

Monday Morning

So after a nice enjoyable weekend, it's rare that one is extremely excited to start into a new week, get up early, work all day, etc. I mean, I like my job a lot, but man, Mondays (especially rainy ones like today) just kind of make me want to curl up under my down comforter and hit the snooze button. This particular Monday the subway was especially crowded, but such variations are to be expected. At Bergen St. (a random stop in Brooklyn where there aren't usually many people) the conductor informs us that the train is no longer an F train, but switching to a G train and therefore not going into Manhattan. It's 8:25am. Seriously?? So we all herd off the train and stand in a large mass on the platform. Behind me is a large Chinese family with many children, and every member of the family is talking loudly in chinese (or maybe they thought it was a normal volume?). Everyone is starting at them. It's really really hot. I continue reading Sense and Sensibility, because, what else can I do, right? The next F train comes after what felt like 20 minutes but was probably 5, and we all herd back in, of course cramming in hundreds of people into an already crowded train. Then this guy, clearly not from NY, starts complaining to his friend, clearly from NY, that they should've driven into the city and he was not a fan of the "nut on butt" action. Full voice, talking across several people. He then says, "Man, I can't handle this, I feel like I'm in a gay club." Seriously?? I put in my iPod to avoid hearing anymore of his truly delightful commentary. I love New York.

Little League

This is the first year that I have not been home for and/or attended a Little League World Series game. Every year I can remember I have attended at least one game, and many times the championship, sitting with upwards of 40,000 fans to cheer on 12 year olds playing baseball. All the games are free, and all the workers are volunteers. One time President Bush even threw the opening pitch. Kentucky won that year 1-0 with a solo home run in the first inning that landed about 10 feet from me, as my brother and I were sitting on the hill in the outfield. Tonight is the final- Georgia vs. Japan, and I know nothing about either team. I have watched a few games on tv though, since they're all on tv now (it didn't used to be so commercialized), but it's just not the same as being there in person and seeing these kids pour their heart and soul into this great american game of baseball.

User (un)friendly

It took me all of 24 hours living in New York to realize that it's not a user-friendly city. And by this I mean, if you don't just KNOW what you're doing, good luck figuring it out, cause there is very little (structurally) that will aid you in this process. First of all- finding a place to live. I fortunately didn't really have to deal with this, because I just moved in with Lindsay, but if you've ever talked to anyone who tried to find an apartment in NYC and/or dealt with a broker, they invariably have a story that involves stress, anxiety, and a complete sense of frustration with the system. Check out "Housing Virgins of Manhattan" for futher evidence of this.
Riding the subway is another one. It's not such an intuitive system, especially when comparing it to... ANY system in european cities. Which trains are express or local? And why are some express sometimes and local other times? And if you don't happen to know that brooklyn is south of the city, how would you know which way "To brooklyn and Coney Island" means? And there may be one map somewhere in the station, if you're lucky. But it's likely not where you are.
Or try driving around this city, especially South of Houston- forget about any attempts to figure THAT out, cause it's just nuts with streets going every which way and no signage. Want to get to a bridge or a tunnel? Nope, sorry, no signs. Or say you're in Brooklyn driving and want to find the highway, nope no signs... oh wait, there was that one tiny small one hidden by a tree...
And to further complicate this situation, everywhere you go there are hundreds and thousands of people around you going in hundreds of directions, all of whom appear to know what they're doing. Take any of the major train/subway stations- man I would HATE to walk into one of those places if I had never been to NY, or worse, was travelling from a foreign country and didn't speak much English.
You are simply swept up into the hustle and bustle, and you better be ready for it... 5 minutes ago. Know what you want to order before you even walk in the door of that deli, have your money out 3 people ahead of time in line, and heaven forbid you don't know which way to swipe the Metro Card, cause there are 5 people waiting right behind you who are late for something.
However, despite this lack of user-friendless as far as the structure of NYC goes, I will say that New Yorkers themselves are more than willing to help out anyone who needs assistance or has a question. You may not know how to get somewhere on the subway, but there are 10 people standing around you who do. Or you may not be able to figure out how to get on the I278, but the fireman who has lived in Brooklyn his whole can tell you an even better way to go.
And that is at once the beauty and cruelty of learning to live in New York City.

Starting from scratch

So I decided that I wanted to have a blog. I mean, everyone's doing it, right? And now that I'm living in "the city," I feel like it's a good way to post all the random adventures that I will inevitably have. From life in Brooklyn, working in the real world, and commuting on the subway every day, to cool restaurants, concerts, and other events I happen to check out, this will be my way to put it all out into cyberspace. And plus, transitioning into a life entirely my own is kind of a crazy time anyways, so I'm just taking it all in and hoping to grow and change for the better.