moriath

For those of you who are just dying to know what life in New York is like...

So far my biggest impression about living in New York (well, in Queens): it doesn't feel any different. Not yet, at least. Even when I've gone into Manhattan, it's like it hasn't sunk in yet that I'm in a completely different place. For good. This isn't a vacation where I'll return to the confines of Michigan in a few days.

This is Home.

Maybe the initial shock of "OMG I'm in New York!" got worn out in the two trips I took out here earlier this summer. I know the first trip, when we were in Manhattan every day, was a bit overwhelming at first, and simultaneously awesome.

Or maybe...this feels like home because I've always wanted it to be. I was freaking out earlier this summer about the prospect of moving out here. And then as soon as I got all of my stuff in the apartment, all of the stress melted away.

Even the cats are comfortable here now. They've discovered that pigeons like the perch on the fire escape outside of our window.

So, things that I've done so far in New York:
-Walked all around my neighborhood (not exactly something I did in Ypsi! Certainly not since Freshman year)
-Bought donuts or bagels almost every morning (there are two Dunkin' Donuts on my street. And a new donut shop just opened on the corner)
-Slowly but surely began organizing my apartment (the living space is 11'x17', so it's not TINY - and in fact, the more time we spend here the more I think this could be a nice apartment for more than just a year)
-Visited the huge mall that's just a Subway stop away.
-Gone to Manhattan twice (once on the afore-mentioned trip to Central Park Zoo, the second time yesterday to hang out with bridesmaid Rb)
-Realized how weird (but cool) it is that the bridesmaid/friend/twin I've only met once is now the closest friend I have out here
-Survived a tropical storm (Rb and I had the BRILLIANT idea to go ahead with our plan to meet in Manhattan in spite of the tropical storm)
-Quite possibly almost got my purse snatched (when I was coming home in the afore-mentioned tropical storm there was this guy who was sticking WAY too close to me - and always on the side that my purse was - as I was crossing the street. Very freaky)

My overall impression is that I'm definitely going to like it here. Now if I could just get a job!

My mom is coming tomorrow to move me back to Holland (~adds calling Mom to find out WHEN exactly this is happening to my massive to-do list~) and I don't think I've packed up even half of my crap.

To make matters worse, Billy is sick (insert VERY frustrated sigh/grumble here) so he's not any help at this point. Which leaves packing the entire apartment up to me.

If I weren't such a loving woman, I would pack up just my stuff, and do minimal cleaning so he was left to do the rest on Tuesday/Wednesday (the day we HAVE to be out of the apartment).

But no, I'm going to be a good wife-to-be and pack up everything I'm physically capable of.

Okay, enough bitching ~crosses it off to-do list~. Here's what still needs to be done

• Bitch on IJ
  
• Call Mom; when is she coming tomorrow?
  
• Call towing company to take away my car
  
• Clean/patch walls
  
• Clean bedroom
  
• Pack up kitchen
  
• Pick up crap in the entry way
  
• Clean around the computers
  
• Vacuum
  

If only I had words to thoroughly convey how much is actually involved in this short list....

Good news and bad news today:

Good news: BILLY AND I SIGNED THE LEASE ON A NEW YORK APARTMENT!!! We're living in Rego Park in Queens, which totally isn't glamorous...or big...but it's a little place not too far from NYC that will enable me to actually get a job out here. We're so excited!!! And yet, a little lost: we gave ourselves two full days out here...and we had our apartment by 2pm on the first day. What do we do tonight? And all day tomorrow?

Bad news: Michael's has discontinued the vase that I really wanted to use for our centerpieces. I know, it's on a totally different scale than our apartment, but it's still a little disappointing. They were purple!

So Billy, James and I drove to New York yesterday. According to our little GPS-thingy the trip should have taken nine hours. Between stopping to switch drivers, going to the 24-hour Arby's in Pennsylvania (lol, as if it were the only one in the entire state), and having to stop at half of the stop lights in New York City, it ended up taking eleven.

Oh well. We had fun.

Especially when I drove in Manhattan :-D That may be one of my crowning achievements in life so far.

I didn't drive far (roughly 23 miles according to Google, but we took a slightly different route. And that's just what I did in New York; I don't remember when exactly I took over but I drove for a fair amount of time in New Jersey as well), but I was still impressed with myself. My dad apparently thinks it wasn't very chivalrous of the guys to "let" me drive in New York, but a) I volunteered b) Billy volunteered to take the first leg of the trip, which was highway night driving (aka bane of my existence) and c) after sitting through almost an hour of James driving, I never wanted to be in a car with him ever again. I didn't think anyone could actually be too cautious of a driver, but he definitely fits that description. After about 5 minutes I was itching to take over the wheel, but ultimately let him handle PA and NJ until the traffic started to pick up in New Jersey. Then I conveniently needed to use the restroom so we switched drivers at a Starbucks.

And then I drove in Manhattan.

Saw one apartment yesterday in Queens. It was a fine apartment, and definitely had the plus of not requiring 15 forms of identification + our first born in order to rent it, but I wasn't so in love with it that I felt the need to put down our deposit right there. But I'm sure there are worse apartments out there. We're looking at another one in Queens today, and after that I'm making the boys look up apartments. I have done 99% of the planning for this trip, from researching hotels to apartments to look up, to being the de facto navigator (I'm the only one who has any experience with being in cities on their own). Someone else can take charge (of everything except navigation) for awhile).

Summary: I'M IN NEW YORK CITY. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!