Little Surprises

I have been inadvertently exploring different parts of the city lately.  Since finding my apartment, I couldn't wait to start looking for things to put in it.  When I moved here, I pretty much sold all my possessions and came here empty handed.  Since the apartment I am subleasing is fully furnished, I haven't bought a whole lot since moving.  I am actually a little surprised that I was able to make it this long without a microwave.  Although, believe it or not, I think I might have been eating more as a consequence since I knew that I wouldn't be able to easily heat up my leftovers.  Any excuse,  I know. 

Anyway, I have been exploring parts of the city because I have turned into a Craigslist junkie and have been running all over the place buying little odds and ends for dirt cheap.  I bought a pretty little chandelier down in Soho. (It's so cute!) I bought a red individual coffee maker in East Village.  I went to buy a shoe rack and a wine rack and somehow managed to get a nice little surprise in the form of a free digital photo frame from the guy selling his stuff.  On top of all that, both racks cost me $10 total, and while walking there, I surprisingly found a $10 bill on the ground.

My walk down to East Village yesterday lended its own set of surprises.  I was thinking to myself as I was walking down the street how weird it is to ponder all the people in this city. Every street is filled to the brim with many-storied apartment buildings, each holding their own set of tenants in large numbers.  In a way, I guess you could say we are packed in like sardines (hence the space issue), and the thought of how big and populated this city is was really boggling my mind. At that moment, I turned to my right and saw this...

This was a free, small garden where people in the neighborhood can go to relax.  There was a larger sized family sitting at a table in the back enjoying each other's company.  And the lady in the picture was hanging out with her pet snake hanging around her neck.

A few blocks down I saw this...

This was a random botanical garden that was just gorgeous.  I am not sure who is invited to this garden, but it was very pretty.

Then lastly, I saw this...

This little garden was full of mini gardens in which people in the neighborhood were growing things.  So although we live in this concrete jungle, I guess everyone finds ways to encorporate nature into their lives. 

So now for the big surprise. I went to complete my application for the new apartment yesterday and quite literally almost had a panic attack.  If I thought the real estate market was intense before.  I. Was. Wrong.  I thought that I was merely going to fill out an application, and quick as a split, I would be out of there and free to return to work.  Oh no. Not even close. 

I filled out the application, which was followed by the broker looking up my entire credit report.  We went through all my debt (going through one's debt with a perfect stranger can be disconcerting), and he seemed a little freaked out about the amount of debt that I have, which then got me freaked out.  He asked me how much I could pay up front.  I knew that I was going to need to pay some up front, so I had discussed it with my dad already.  He agreed (like a good daddy!) to help me wherever I needed help.  However, I didn't expect that I would need to come up with the number myself.  The broker explained that he was going to have to "sell" me to the landlord.  Huh?  In my prior experiences, I was usually on the other side of the equation and having an apartment sold to me.  No, not here.  We came up with a number, and then he had to call the director of the real estate agency.  After selling me to the director, I had a 25 minute phone interview with the director myself during which he asked me everything from where did I grow up to what does my dad do to how am going to pay rent to where did my credit card debt came from...so on and so forth.  This was followed by the director selling me to the landlord while the broker and I sat in a room and waited for the director's call with the landlord's answer.  I wasn't even sure I would get the apartment, much less my contigencies.  In the end, I ended up with a lower than advertised rent, a compromise on my move in date, and I had to pay less in prepaid rent than I thought (this is on top of my dad being a guarantor).  Here in NYC, the norm is that the tenant has to make 40X the monthlly rent in yearly salary.  Given the high rent rates, this is pretty substantial.  If you don't make 40X the rent, then you have a guarantor and you have to pay some rent in advance. 

After all was said and done, I ended up having to pay $9,500 up front, including security deposit, prepaid rent, first month's rent, and broker's fee.  No, I did not say $950.  I said $9,500.  I should consider myself lucky given that one of my colleagues was told to pay $25,000 up front for an apartment that he considered.  Still, this amount of money (which was surprisingly less than what I was originally told) stopped my heart and sent me into a minor episode of hyperventilation. 

The surprises just kept coming when my broker told me that I would need to provide this money in cashier checks either the next day or the day after.  My poor dad spent an entire frustrating day on the phone working on making this happen.  We managed to get the money into my account today but couldn't use it to write cashier checks until tomorrow.  Ugh.  But the broker was fantastic about it.  He made sure I knew that he wasn't upset, and hopefully I will be able to get the checks there by tomorrow afternoon.  Cross your fingers. 

Seeing as how I have not had to ask my parents for any hugely substantial amount of money since I was 18 years old, this was not a pleasant experience.  Thank goodness I have such loving and giving parents or I might be homeless (or at least living with some psycho roommate in a cave)!

I am really excited about moving in and decorating my new place.  Luckily, there is SO MUCH STUFF on craigslist here.  I am not talking crappy stuff.  I am talking nice, cute, fun things at dirt cheap prices.  I'm already thinking about the housewarming party I will be having.  Yesssss!

Lauren and I came upon another lovely little surprise.  We attended the NYC Texas Exes (the alumni association for our alma mater, UT Austin) happy hour the other night where we were informed of a little bar called 3rd and Long.  What drew us to this oasis of a watering hole was that they serve $1 beers on Monday and Tuesday nights.  So, it being a Monday night, there was nothing else to do but set out to find if such a place existed in the city.  Alas, we hit treasure, me maties.  After 6 weeks of paying $7 or $8 a beer (or even $20 for a cocktail), we were pleasantly surprised to find that our informers were correct.  Whilewe  did not go crazy in indulging in this new find, it was nice to be able to have a beer that doesn't cost more than lunch and possibly even dinner. 

Ok, so New York is obviously getting to me.  Today I was crossing the street (not in a very good mood, mind you) when some poo poo head decided to run a red light after our ped crossing light lit up.  This is not a small thing in NYC where pedestrians begin crossing the street when the opposite light turns yellow.  We all had to stop dead in our tracks.  I happened to notice that the perpetrators had their car windows down.  So what do I do? I yell.  I yelled right into their window just like all the crazy middle aged New York women I have been observing these past few weeks.  I was kind of surprised at myself.

One last thing to leave you with...

I passed the doggy gym today on my usual route, and I was surpised when I saw this.

I don't know if there was something in the water or what, but the puppies were la-a-zy today.

That's pathetic.  Cute. But pathetic.

And of course, there is the obligatory bulldog in the rest area.

And I overheard an employee behind me say that this is the Tiny Tots area.  That little Yorkie's name is Tinkie.

Ok, I gotta get to cleaning since I am heading to Texas tomorrow on vacay.  I have to do something about the squalor in which I live before inviting someone over to help me take care of the cats. Otherwise, no one will want to be friends with me.

Oy.

Sweet Success

Today was a good day...

It was a good day in clinic.  I got to do a lot of steroid injections today, which made the day go by quickly.  It wasn't a hectic day...a nice, steady pace.  It started out a little rocky since I woke up 1.5 hours late.  I jumped up at 7:57 and was at work on time by 8:15.  I barely, barely made it, and I had to take a cab to work.  Phew!

Then I found an apartment.  Yes, that's right.  I found an apartment.  The anxiety level in regard to the apartment search has been very high lately.  I just wanted to get it over with.  I held off on the big apartment because it was 5th floor, and I didn't like how far it was from the subway.  I was hoping it would stay available until after August 1st so I could negotiate an August 15 move-in and save some money. I thought that might help me make a final decision.  I soon found out that it went off the market over the weekend, and I lost my chance.  I started looking online again, and I was getting a little discouraged because every apartment I saw just didn't have the space and wasn't as nice.  I began to feel like I really made a mistake, and remorse was setting in.  However, the same broker that helped me with the big apartment said he had a railroad style apartment, same size, one block up.  That meant it's one block closer to the hospital and one block closer to the subway.  It is also on the second floor rather than the fifth. To put it in perspective, it is just a tiny bit farther to the subway than what I walk every morning to my bus stop.  It is half the distance to the subway from that apartment than from where I am currently living.

So I went to look at it over my lunch break and was very happy.  It was the same lay out as the other one.  However, it has more closet space, more storage, a bigger bathroom, a bigger living room (another one of my concerns), and the same size kitchen.  Granted, the appliances aren't brand new, but the oven/stove is full size and has knobs with the temp on it (yay!).  It also has...drum roll please...a dishwasher.  With the kitchen being as large as it is, I can easily fit in a ventless washer/dryer combo, and I checked the outlets to make sure they are three-prong so that the washer/dryer is a possibility.  Overall, I would say that it's not as updated as the other apartment, but given that it resolves the issues that concerned me and is the same size, I am happy.  The broker also said that the landlord is his best landlord and that this fact is definitely a much overlooked asset.  This apartment is, unfortunately, going to cost me a little more, but I think it's worth it in the long run.  I see it as a place I can stay put for the next three years if it all works out.  What's even better is that I have plenty of space for people to stay when they come to visit! Yay! So it will certainly save my guests some money.  Now to find some furniture.  Luckily, a Target opened just 10 blocks up in East Harlem on Sunday.  This thing was a huge deal!  It's the first Target in Manhattan, is 150,000 sq ft, has it's own Harlem-inspired clothes line, and has been in the making for 13 years.  They had a red carpet opening last Tuesday (I'm not kidding) that brought in celebrities as famous as Jerry Seinfeld and model Tyson Beckford (why the heck didn't I go?!?). 

Anyone know a quick way to make some cash?? This apartment is going to stretch my budget, but after looking around, I think it's a good value.  I had a hard time finding decent 1 bedrooms or even studios for the price I'm paying.  I will just have to learn how to manage my money very frugally.  Think I can do it?  Any tips from those of you who are smart with money?

And to top it all off, my haircut was a success! Thank goodness since it's going to have to last me a while.  My budget just won't allow frequent haircuts.  I went to a salon called Alice Hair salon, and it was adorable.  All the girls that work there are Irish or from Northern Ireland and have those Irish accents that I love.  They certainly all looked Irish as well (if you've been to Ireland then you know what I'm talking about). I was a little apprehensive since the salon had fantastic reviews AND horrible reviews on Yelp.  It could go either way, although overall it was rated 4 out of 5 stars. My stylist's name was Emma, and she finished every sentence with "my darling."  She was actually from Northern Ireland, and I had a nice time chit-chatting with her about my travels to her side of the pond.  I sat down in her chair, and she immediately asked me what I wanted.  Half the time, I didn't even have to tell her.  She just kind of guessed.  She perfectly estimated the length I wanted cut off.  She wanted to know if I wanted her to add more movement and make it more voluminous.  She knew exactly how I wanted my layers.  I am very happy with my cut, and it wasn't near as expensive as I thought it would be.  It was washed, cut, and blown dry in 45 minutes or less.  Overall, it was a lovely experience.

That's Emma with the red hair in the background.  Her hair is actually blonde now.

So there ya go...successful day.  Work, apartment, haircut.  Check, check, check.  And if it wasn't enough, someone told me I look like I've lost weight.  Awesome, awesome, awesome.

New Discoveries

Ok, so I took a little hiatus from my diet...which may end up being a fairly permanent hiatus...and tried a couple of new restaurants that need to be reported. Even though I am on a diet hiatus, I am still attempting to eat somewhat healthy with small portions.  So my first recommendation is Hummus Kitchen.  Jodi, one of my co-residents says, "Hummus Kitchen is my crack."  We decided to make a little stop there on the way to the movie theater the other night (and never actually made it to the theater).  I tried the "Super-Healthy Salad" as it was listed in the menu. It consisted of quinoa, apricot, cranberry, walnuts & yam with fresh lemon juice topped with mint dressing. Yummy, yummy.  It had a nice light lemon, mint flavor.  And because I am obsessed with hummus, Jodi and I split a small order (I had to try the hummus at Hummus Kitchen).  It was nice as hummus should be.  Of course, the restaurant was tiny since nothing in NYC can be large.

Ok, this one is the big one. I went to look at an apartment near Laura's place, and since it was looking like it was about to rain, I called to see what she was up to.  It turns out that her friend Lacey from Texas was visiting, and she invited me up for some hang out time.  I had a great time! I don't know if it's that the three of us are all Texas girls and on the same page, but we got along beautifully.  We spent some time blabbing (of course!) and then headed up to Laura's rooftop garden to have some wine. Her rooftop is impressive.  There were tons of trees and little winding paths that end at different sitting nooks with comfy sun bathing lounges and chairs.  There were also stainless steel full size grills for community use, and she had a nice view of the city and Empire State Building. After our rooftop excursion, we ordered in from Buddha BBeeQ.   I had Peanut Lime Tofu BBeeQ. 

Uh, wow. 

I wasn't sure I would like the lime, but it was subtle.  The sauce was a little creamy, a little spicy with a nice bold peanut flavor and lovely earthy green color.  You could order it with any meat/protein you wanted including beef, chicken, shrimp, tofu, etc.  My rice was nice and sticky and cooked perfectly. The other girls couldn't keep their chopsticks out of my plate! It was definitely the star of the meal, and the prices were very reasonable for New York.  I will certainly be having this one again.  I had a hard time keeping the portion small because it tasted SO good. Yum. The actual restaurant looks cute and trendy so it may be a nice place to eat in as well. 

And after watching the most recent episode, the three of us ended our night having deep conversation about the philosophy and obvious social importance of the show The Bachelorette.

I made a few more new discoveries that did not involve chewing.  Lauren turned me on to Groupon.com.  This website features deep discounts on all things New York (there is groupon for many US cities!).  Everyday there is a new featured deal that is at 50% off or more.  I signed up one night  and was already using it the next day since the deal of the day was 72% off a year membership to Zipcar and $50 credit.  I had already been looking at getting a Zipcar membership anyway but was afraid to spend the money in case I didn't use it as much as I expected. 

Zipcar, by the way, is a car sharing alternative to car rental. Bascially, you get an assigned card.  This card opens up cars all over New York that you can reserve and rent for a few hours or an entire day.  Gas and insurance are included as are 180 miles with every reservation.  I will definitely be needing this when I am moving here in a few weeks and/or when I want to take a day trip. So this deal was great for me! It saved me a ton of money. 

Back to Groupon...since the deal was so discounted, I felt comfortable buying the year membership without fearing that I would waste a lot of money.  Awesome!

Tomorrow is going to be a little bit nerve racking for me.  I have set up an appointment to get my hair cut.  Many of you know that I have been getting my hair cut by my favorite stylist Barry since I was 2 years old.  Even when he was gone for a little while, I still couldn't wait until he came back, and I immediately went back to him once he became available again.  This included driving from Galveston to Austin just to get my hair done sometimes.  Soooo...you can imagine how difficult this is going to be.  I will let you guys know how it goes.  Wish me luck!

She flies through the air with the greatest of ease...

The daring young girl on the flying trapeze. 

Ok, so maybe not with the greatest of ease, but I certainly flew on the flying trapeze.  Literally.  When my friend Julie asked me to join her for trapeze class, I'd be lying if I told you that I wasn't a little aprehensive and almost flaked out on her.  However, I figured I would never have another chance to say that I flew on a trapeze, and you're only young once, so, eh, I went. 

I was pretty nervous.  I promised myself the whole way to Brooklyn that I wouldn't let my fear of looking ridiculous get in the way of having fun.  First thing, we had to have a belt put on us.  It is an understatement to say that the belt was tight.  I felt like I was having a corset put on.  This little blonde thing that worked there was yanking and pulling on it.  I think she tightened it three times before buckling.  I wasn't sure I was going to be able to breathe, but I didn't pass out or die, so I guess I was wrong.

We started on a static bar and learned how to do a knee hang.  Basically, you lift your knees to your chest, thread your legs on the bar, and then let go to lean backward in an arch.  It's kinda hard to explain, but I have video so you will see.  Doing it on the static bar was pretty difficult, I was really afraid I wouldn't be able to do it while flying through the air. I was SO nervous.  My heart was pounding, and my  hands were shaking.  The hardest part was actually just setting up to fly.  You put your toes over the edge of a board, and then you have to lean back with your hips jutting out.  Every instinct tells you to bend backwards to keep from falling. You'll see the instructor in the video push my hips forward so that I am leaning the way I am supposed to.  Then you have to grab onto the bar with one hand, and the weight from the bar pulls you forward (or the direction you are jutting your hips and also the direction where you would free fall over the edge).  Then on top of that you have to remove your hand from the scaffold and grab onto the bar with both hands while jutting your hips forward and leaning back. Then they tell you ready, which is  your cue to bend your knees, and then they say "Heht!," which is your cue to jump! It is scary!  I didn't let Julie film me the first time, but here I am on my second attempt...

Ok, obviously that's not me.  That is one of the frequent fliers (har, har no pun intended). But the next one is me on my second attempt...

So far so good...

So we did that a few times.  I was feeling pretty good because I was one of about 3 or 4 of the first-timers that got the knee hang down. Poor Julie lost her grip on her second attempt and ripped her hands, so she had to sit out the rest of the time.  I know that was driving her nuts.  She was itching to keep trying. I promised her that we would go back again so she could try again.

And then they tell us - very nonchalantly, mind you - that we were going to try a catch.  In other words, one of the employees would swing from another trapeze, we would do the knee hang, and when we arched backwards, he would reach out and catch us.  We would then let our legs go off of our bar and go flying through the air while hanging from the employee.  My first attempt was a dud.  I was so nervous about doing the catch and trying to remember and focus on when he would grab me that I couldn't even get my knee hang down.  I was so disappointed.  But they let us try again, thank goodness.  I told myself to just focus on the knee hang, get that down, and then worry about the catch.  And I did it!!! Here is my second attempt at the catch...

This was definitely a colorful experience with some colorful language.  One of the first-timers was a Dutch girl who yelled some things in Dutch during her attempts.  She did divulge the meaning of some of the words and they were...well...colorful.  It was terrifying at times, but so much fun!  I know my muscles are going to be screaming at me tomorrow, but I am so glad I went.  I hope you all get a chance to try this some time.  I will let you know how it goes if we go back.

To space or not to space? - (and a little bit of a soapbox)

Well, the apartment was nice, but I am still a little stumped.  As you have probably gathered by now, space is not really in excess here in the city.  Most people live in boxes.  While I am sure it just takes some adjusting, I have been really missing my space lately, hence my draw to the apartment I looked at today.  It is 850 sq ft, has a huge kitchen with new stove/oven and refrigerator, and has six rooms, and somehow I can (just barely!) fit it into my budget.  So I wondered, "What's the catch?" 

In the price range that I would need, it seems there is typically a trade off.  Space versus amenities.  This apartment had the space.  It just didn't have the amenities.  Is it worth it to me, for instance, to walk up 4 flights of stairs everyday to a fifth floor apartment with no elevator?  Or do I mind that there is no laundry in the bulding?  Would it bother me that I am a 10 minute walk from the subway? (I know this seems short but when it's hot, or even cold for that matter, minutes make a difference).   It is very close to the hospital, which is nice, and there is a laundry right down the block.  Would I be able to adapt to these things all in the name of space?

Argh, I am just not quite sure!  What do you guys think? Would you rather have space or amenities/comforts? Comments are always appreciated.

While you're contemplating this, I have a couple more things to discuss.  First, I promised you guys a picture of our Emergency Room sign that was featured on Seinfeld.  I am keeping my promise...

Now when you watch Seinfeld, you can keep an eye out for this sign in the show, and it will be more meaningful for you.  Ha.

Second thing is just a small plug/recommendation.  My family friend Kristin recommended a documentary in one of her blog postings this week, and I downloaded it from Netflix tonight.  It is called America the Beautiful and addresses America's beauty obsession by, amongst other things, following the storyline of a young 12 year old girl who gets thrown into the modeling world as a child. It was a pretty good documentary.  I liked the creator, and I do think it was fairly mild compared to how ugly it could have portrayed these issues.  He was generous.  Having done a VERY short stent in the modeling world, I realized that, contradictory to what most people believe, modeling does not help your self esteem.   I only kept myself in that environment for a very short time before realizing that it was not good for me.  Sadly, some of the girls with whom I worked were 15 and 16 years old, and I just can't imagine the damage.  Here I was in college with at least some halfway sense of myself, and a few months of trying it really did a number. I can't even imagine what it must do to these young girls who are still trying to figure out who they are and where they fit in the world.  I had a friend who sought it out shortly after I had removed myself, and I, again, watched it damage him pretty badly. Then again, maybe some people flourish, but I would think you would have to have some of the best, most solid self esteem in the world not to let it make a dent.  I would advise caution to anyone who knows someone who wants to do this.  Sigh. Move on.  I am now off my soapbox.

Ahhhh. Another weekend off.  I still have to pinch myself to believe it.

Are you The One?

Well, I don't want to get "anyone's" hopes up, but there is a possibility I found my apartment.  I won't tell you all about it just yet because I don't want "anyone" to be disappointed.  And by anyone, I mean me.  I am going to be looking at the apartment tomorrow.  Everyone wish me luck.  Kiss your fingers.  Cross your rabbits foot.  Wait. What?

I will tell you this.  I have decided that 2 bedrooms might be a good idea.  This comes after spending 3 weeks with 2 cats in a small apartment with no door on the bedroom, especially when one of the cats (as I've told you) thinks 4 AM is a perfectly reasonable time to play, walk on his mom's head, attack his sister, and knock things off of tables. 

Anyway, in case you have noticed that there hasn't been a lot of posting about food lately, it's because I am officially on Day 4 of a diet.  Yuck.  I hate it.  But a girl has gotta do something to fit into her clinic clothes when she doesn't have the money to buy new ones.  It just comes down to a matter of necessity.  Plain and simple.  (Living in a city full of skinny people does not help...by the way). And again, I would hate for "anyone" to be disappointed with my results, so I won't say anything else about it.

By the way, does it make me a total nut job if I am tempted to grab some of the furniture items off of the sidewalk?  I have a very hard time watching perfectly good furniture get thrown away, especially when some of that furniture is exactly what I am planning on buying once I get my permanent place.  I do see people who look like bag ladies hanging around the sidewalks on trash days putting microwaves and whatnot in their little shopping baskets and trunks.  I am afraid I just might end up being one.  If anyone sees or hears of me getting to this point, please smack me and throw some trash in my face.  In the meantime, I will try to resist the always present temptation to grab stuff and run down the street. 

Work continues to be great.  I have been getting my work goodies in the mail, including my new digital camera.  I've never had one, so I feel kinda grown up. 

And there it is.  I didn't think anyone else would have a brown camera and thus thought it might be a good idea to have one that would not be easily confused with someone else's.  Naturally, I took it to work only to find that Laura also has a brown camera.  Go figure.  I also am getting my textbooks in the mail, including my two-volume 400 lbs (and $400!) Bolognia textbook that I hauled to my apartment today from the package room.  Just a little light reading.  No biggie.

I found out a nice little fact the other day.  As some of you know, I have a particular attachment to Seinfeld because I did my medical school honors research project on the effects of Seinfeld (and thus an example of popular television) on the public's view of health information (particularly dermatology). It turns out that Seinfeld used our hospital's ghetto Emergency Room sign for the Emergency Room sign in the show.  I will have to take a picture of it sometime in all it's neon glory.

Speaking of Seinfeld, I REALLY want to take Kramer's Reality Tour, hosted by the "real" Kramer.  Basically, Kenny Kramer, Larry David's across-the-hall neighbor and the man who is the inspiration for Kramer on the show, gives a 3 hour theatrical multi media tour of all the places made famous on the show.  It is supposed to be hilarious and a really good time.  Anyone want to go?

The woes of apartment hunting...

Dear NYC,

It would be really, really great of you if you could provide me with a broker who is moderately honest and doesn't forget what I told him/her two seconds after I said it.  A broker who doesn't try to show me every nasty apartment in the upper east side except for the one I asked to see would also be much appreciated. 

While I am asking, could you provide me with an apartment that has at least one bedroom (preferably two) with at least one of the bedrooms that might actually hold a queen size bed?  A door that allows me to shut out the cats would be awesome, and I would also like a decent kitchen with things such as more than one cabinet and temperature gauges on the oven knobs. 

If you were feeling particularly generous, you might consider a building with an elevator and laundry and maybe even a diswasher thrown in there for good measure.  A doorman isn't necessary, but wouldn't it just make you feel good to know that you are keeping a girl safe in your streets?  Some of my friends have really cool rooftop decks, and I would just hate to not be able to keep up with my colleagues.  It would be a shame.

Oh, and one last thing, can it be priced at least under $1700 a month? Oh! And near the hospital and subway station too.  That would be just so great of you, and I would forever be indebted. 

Please, please please??!? In the meantime, I will be waiting patiently.

Kinda.

Ok, not really.

Your new friend,

Jennifer

Yes!

Hallelujah! It's windy today. Phew!

That's all.

Humdrum

Not much to report here.  Just more heat and more walking around and more hanging out with friends.  I have kept myself pretty busy the last few days.  I saw a concert on Thursday night with Farron and his girlfriend and friends.  I have learned another hard lesson about the heat.  I am not sure if they are just not used to hot weather here, but I have noticed that many of the buildings don't have sufficient air conditioning.  I am pretty sure we all sweat a gallon at the concert, especially with everyone stuffed in right next to each other.  Some girl decided she and I needed to get really friendly by standing RIGHTNEXT to me the whole time.  I did a few of the sideways glances over my shoulder to no avail.  But overall, the concert was fun, and I am very glad I went.  Again, it's always a pleasure to spend time with new friends.  We were all starving afer the concert and headed to a little place for some pub food.  We split almost all of it amongst each other, and someone ordered a hamburger with egg on it.  It was so good.  Just so good. And there was a consensus among us all that eggs generally make things better.

Friday night was again another good night with good friends.  The first year residents (Katy, Robert, and I) had a little get together at Katy's house with some snack foods provided by Katy's very domestic fiance.  Then we went for dinner at a place called Nick's that had great pizza and returned to Katy's for some Kerplunk, Apples to Apples, and Jenga, all of which seem better after a few glasses of wine. 

On Saturday I truly, honestly meant to get a lot of reading done.  I packed up all my stuff and headed to Beanocchio's, a little coffee shop down the street that was rated pretty highly on Yelp.  However, I wasn't very impressed with the food or service, and I ended up staring at people and/or nothing for a good 2 hours before heading back to my house to try reading there. They do serve Cafe Du Monde lattes.  Yum.  At home, it didn't really go as planned either since I watched 3 episodes of Intervention and congratulated myself on having the life that I have after watching those people. Subsequently I got ready to go to Laura's boy's birthday party at a pub called Red Lion in the Village.  It's a pretty popular place from what I could gather with live music 7 nights a week.  Of course, I resolved myself to wear a dress last night, which took a little self-imposed pep talk prior to leaving, only to realize when I got there that the place was casual and jeans would have been fine.  Sheesh. I give up.

Today consisted of watching the World Cup Final with some of the folks from work at a place called Ship of Fools.  Very nice pub with good food, but again with the crappy air conditioning.  I was sitting next to the thermostat, which read 89 degrees.  Yikes.  I have sweat more in the last 3 weeks then I usually do in a summer.  Oh well. Maybe it's good for me?

Other than that, I have just been on the hunt for an apartment.  I have a few places I am interested in seeing, but I do have to say that I am not a huge fan of the brokers.  I am sure I will get into more detail regarding this in the future.  For now, I think I have done enough complaining. 

On a brighter note, tomorrow is our first surgery clinic, which means more hands on acitivity! Yay! I like working with my hands, and it makes the day go by. 

Argh. What a boring post! By the way, anyone know of any good salons in NYC?

Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot!

103 degrees.  It's been 103 degrees here.

??!?!?!?!?

How is that even possible?  This is New York.  If I wanted The Sarahan, I woulda stayed in Texas...except it is very humid here also so the heat index is actually 105 degrees.  Again...

?!??!?!??!??!?

I poked fun of the news station here because I thought they were sensationalizing the heat a little earlier this week.  They repeatedly spoke of this "heat wave" for which the city was preparing because temps were going to be in the 90's all weekend. The city was setting up cooling stations for the elderly, etc.  I thought, psssh, that's Texas all of the time.  Yeah, I got served up yet another lesson on what it is to be a New Yorker.  I had to learn it the hard way that yes, even though it is hot in Texas, no one walks outside for miles on end.  Today after work, some of the other residents and I went on a little shopping tour with Laura as our guide.  Laura is one of the senior residents who I believe, genuinely, is an angel.  Not only is she a very nice girl, but Laura is pretty much the reason I am here.  Although we didn't know each other in medical school, I do know her brother, and she put in a good word for me at the program here, which landed me an interview and established a good preceding reputation.  I owe her so much.  It's funny, though, I was told by people at my old program that she and I were very similar to each other, and the residents here refer to me as Laura Version 2.0.  I think it can be said that we are going to be great friends.  Not only did she help me before I came, but she is now my unofficial tour guide and broker all in one.  In one felled swoop, she took us all around the neighborhood today showing us the good places to eat and shop, and she showed me her favorite apartment hunting website and immediately began pointing out potential places to look.  So today (and yesterday!), I went on a walking/shopping tour.  I calculated it, and I walked approximately 3 miles in the heat today as well as yesterday.  It is miserable!  I had to find a bench to rest on my way home because my back was killing me from carrying all my goods and work stuff, and I was sweating like a pig. 

So there I am on my bench- dying of course- when this little old stooped lady walks by me with her walker, stops to look at me, and playfully says "Is it hot?"  Yikes.  I am getting shown up by New Yorkan biddies now.  Anyway, I made it home.  I have to keep two full 1 L bottles of water in my fridge at all times.  I drink tons of the stuff.  And my wardrobe is having to adjust as well.  Everyone here wears dresses, even during the day just out and about, it's all dresses.  If you know me, then you know I own only a handful of dresses (as in, like, 3), and those only come out of the closet approximately only 2.5 times a year.  And forget it if they are short. These legs don't come out of hiding without a good spray tan and shave and some motivational self encouragement for a few hours.  So yesterday I bought a nice long flowy dress, and I have been wearing some of my other shorter dresses with tights (much to my fashionista friend Lauren's dismay because "come on, Jennifer, its July."), but I have some more shopping to do.  NO ONE wears jeans out on the town here unless they are skinny jeans, which, if you paid attention to my comments about my legs, you know that ain't gonna happen either.  I will have to work on making things a little more, ahem, presentable.

I did see a few funny things during my walking that I figured I would share...

Remember, what I told you about specialty stores?

I don't know about this next one.  Uhhh, gross kinda?  I've been told this is "so upper east side."

I didn't get a picture because my phone died, but I wanted to take a picture of a mattress along the sidewalk that said "Become Your Dream" in black permanent marker. I keep seeing these signs all over the city written on pieces of trash on the sidewalk that say "Become Your Dream" and various other messages. I figured that it was just a person writing it on the trash around his or her apartment, but I began seeing it in every neighborhood.  In wanting to find a picture to show you all, I just now googled Become Your Dream to learn yet another interesting story.  It turns out that the Become Your Dream is a campaign by a young artist here in New York named James De La Vega.  De La Vega grew up in Spanish Harlem (also known as East Harlem or El Barrio), the neighborhood just north of where I live.  In fact, the hospital where I work lies on the cusp between upper east side (my neighborhood) and Spanish Harlem, two places which might as well exsit on different planets.  The artist spreads this message around New York as a potential inspiration since he, himself, became his dream. 

Here is a link to a synopsis of the campaign

http://www.harperdesigninternational.com/html/delavega.htm.  

I am including a few lines from the article:

Fish trapped in separate glass bowls, staring longingly at each other. Fidel Castro, wearing a Che Guevara shirt and a New York Yankees baseball cap, with the caption Even Fidel is a Yankee. “The Last Supper” in chalk, featuring skeletons as Christ and the Apostles. A tiny bird, chirping, with the blocky legend This Moment is More Precious Than You Think. Disparate as these messages are, they all exist somewhere on the streets of New York City as artwork created by street artist James de la Vega, described by the New York Times as “a hybrid between a street kid and an Ivy League guerrilla performance artist.”

And here is a link to another blog called The Upper East Side Informer (I might have to start reading this), in which the author describes why the artist's work is so meaningful to her and what it was like to have a personal enounter with him. http://uppereastsideinformer.blogspot.com/2010/03/become-your-dream.html

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

This is one of De La Vegas' murals located at E95th street between 1st and 2nd Ave.  I have passed this mural before not knowing, again, why it was there.

 

And what would a blog entry be if I didn't include a section on food.  So here is the designated section called

 

FOOD

 

I want to reiterate again the goodness that is the bakery called "Two Little Red Hens."  I have been avoiding that place lately despite many tempting moments passing it by, mostly because I am trying to reduce the size of my rear end.  These are not rear-end-reducing snacks.  But today, a colleague wanted cupcakes after work.  "Have you tried Two Little Red Hens?" I implored,  to which his answer was no.  I told him these are the best cupcakes EVER. He was skeptical, as he has established his loyalty to Corner Store Cafe and their reportedly delectable Red Velvet cupcakes.  However, I believe I proved myself as a worthy source, since he and I both are not impressed with Crumbs Cupcakes (or the supposed IT place for cupcakes in NYC - cupcakes are kind of a big deal here).  He agreed to try it and informed me that I would be beaten if I failed.  Alas, I succeeded in my quest.  We tried a sampler of their mini size cupcakes consisting of Red Velvet, Strawberry Jam, Boston Cream, and Fudge Iced Yellow Cake, and he had to admit that he was impressed.  Although this place is tiny, it is an adorable old fashioned bakery where the girls behind the counter wear bandanas around their heads tied up old style.  We also had some yummy iced lattes.  Next time cupcakes are in order, however, I will be visiting his place of choice.  Not that I really mind, of course.

 

 

Another place that is quickly becoming an obsession is the Good Health Cafe.  I told you guys about this place in a previous blog.  I never thought I would be craving vegan food.  The day after I had it the first time, I wanted to go back to try some more of the menu.  This time I had the Vegetarian spring roll for appetizer, the Crispy Soy Chick'n Bacon Burger (described as "Gourmet in Flavor. A crispy meatless soy chick'n burger, topped with crispy vegan bacon, pepper-onion, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and vegan mayo), and the vegan chocolate mousse cake.  All of it was delicious, and I cut it all in half and had plenty for two meals.

And then I couldn't help myself.  I got home from my exhausting day of shopping yesterday (yes, I know...life is hard), and I didn't feel like cooking anything.  I went for delivery but all the greasy ethnic food or pizza just sounded like too much.  I ordered Good Health Cafe for the third day in a row.  I wanted to try something new, but I was compelled to get the Black Bean Bacon vegan burger again.  It's amazing.  I realize after yelping this place that this choice is a favorite of many people.  I am glad it was the first one I picked.  It was as delicious the second time as it was the first, and I tried the soy chicken nuggets with honey mustard as well.  Again, I cut this all in half to split it over two meals.  Who knew vegan and veggie meals could be this great?

Last but not least (and I promise I am wrapping it up), I tried a new place this evening that naturally turned out to be fantastic.  Lauren cabbed it up to my neck of the woods to bring me some end tables, and she wanted to stick around here for dinner.  So of course, I asked my tour guide Laura what she suggested for two girls looking for some good grub.  She suggested Uptown Lounge.  Ohmygoodness.  I knew my trusted tour guide would not let us down. We both loved it.  Not only was the atmosphere kind of chic and hip, but the food was great! We split the goat cheese and spinach quesadillas and the rosemary and goat cheese stuffed chicken.  Yes, I know.  We are goat cheese freaks.  I also tried the white wine sangria.  I usually am a red wine kind of girl, but with the heat, the white just sounded more refreshing.  It was good of course, nice and sweet with a hint of peach flavor and not too heavy of a drink for a hot summer evening.  I am keeping this one on my list of places to re-visit, and their sign out front reported a very tempting brunch deal including sangria.

 

This is a picture of the place during the day.  Once night sets in, the ambience is maintained and possibly even improved.  What a find. It's amazing to me how thin everyone is here when there is so much food around.  I could eat at a different restaurant every meal in the upper east side only and never run out of options, I don't think.  Let's not try it and say we did though.

Alright, that concludes this marathon of an entry (not that any of them are really all that short).  I have to report that I went wandering about yesterday and discovered two important things.  One, I have laundry in my building located just the next block over on the other side of the building, and two, there is a pool and park right behind my building as well.  Woo hoo.

Good Fun, Good People

This weekend was full of good fun and good people.  Friday night, we had our Graduation/Welcome party for the outgoing senior dermatology residents and the incoming first year residents.  The party took place at Hooman's (our outgoing chief's) apartment. His apartment was incredible! It's located in the Flatiron District right between 5th Ave and 6th Ave.  Here were the views from his rooftop garden.

That's a long way down!

This is the outgoing chief's wife, Cindy, and their little one Kai. He was dancing to the music and sporting his NY Yankees cap.  Such a cutie!

The other residents in my program are awesome! While I enjoy many things about my new residency, I have to say my colleagues are the best part so far.  When I interviewed with the program, I just felt like I cliqued with them.  I get the feeling that they felt the same way since I am now where I am, but there were a lot of programs where I interviewed and that just wasn't the case.  Sometimes it felt too tense, too competitive, or like they were doing anything they could to find something wrong with me.  I went to my interview at this program in January and came out feeling like I had fun! In the end, everything worked out, and I think I ended up where I belong. I am looking forward to working with everyone for the next 3 years.  However, I might have have a talk with Laura about her margaritas she served.  They pack a punch, and my excursion on Saturday to Bed, Bath, and Beyond was not very pleasant.  I did manage to buy some things to help me get this apartment in order, and I did find another jewel of a restaurant in the meantime. 

I woke up on Saturday feeling like I needed a big greasy hamburger.  That's all I wanted, just a big, juicy, "grease dripping on the paper wrapping and a slab of mayo" hamburger - don't forget the pickles!  But in my attempts to not feel like the Shamu of New York City, I tried to find something healthier and stumbled across Good Health Cafe.  This place had numerous Vegan and Vegetarian options (I am neither vegan or vegetarian, but I don't indulge in meat as much as some), and their entrees are supposedly known for being healthy.  I tried the Black-Bean Bacon vegan burger which was described as "an earthy flavor burger with crispy veggie bacon strips, pepper Portobello, onion, guacamole, dairy free sour cream and vegan mayo BBQ sauce." I wasn't entirely convinced that I wanted my burger to taste earthy, but I figured why not?  It was wonderful! It satisfied my craving for a hamburger and cut down on the calories.  I am going to ignore the fact that I likely recovered those calories by ordering this...

The Banana Cream Pie

This was described as being prepared with dairy free cream cheese and sour cream.  However it was prepared, it was good.  Denial is a girl's best friend (or enemy depending on how you look at it).

My Fourth of July was equally full of fun and good friends.  Lauren and I met my friend Farron and his girlfriend Julie out at Central Park with a group of their friends.  We just sat under some trees on blankets on the Great Lawn and snacked on picnic food and beverages.  We met a lot of new people, and we thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed it.  It was great to see Farron, whom I have known since I was in middle school, and I always enjoy making new friends. 

From Central Park, Lauren and I headed to a rooftop party on 5th Avenue...a completely different scene from earlier in the day.  We ended up missing the fireworks (dangit), but the view from the roof was nice.  And the weather was nice.  It didn't really take us long to grow a little weary of it since we didn't see our waitress for an hour and a half, our other friends kept us waiting for two hours, and some obnoxious British guy (who I think was using a fake accent) seemed convince that rude comments are the way to pick up girls.  So we headed to the Green Kitchen cafe up in my neighborhood.  We picked this place because Lauren had very fond memories of it from a previous trip to NYC.  She told tales of this earth shattering goat cheese omelet, and she needed one.  Oh yes, she needed one.  We hopped the subway and headed up to the Upper East Side to indulge on our egg white goat cheese omelets.  These babies were filled to the brim with creamy goat cheese, spinach, tomatoes, and onions.  Such a treat.  I think Lauren took everything in her To-Go box with the exception of the plate, but including part of her food, part of my food, the leftover toast, the jelly packets, and the butter packets.  Yeah, she likes food too. 

All in all, I had a great July Fourth in the city.  I would have liked to see fireworks, but there is always next year.  I also considered going to the International Hot Dog Eating Contest down on Coney Island yesterday morning, but figured it was too crowded.  This would have been an interesting year to go since the legendary eater Kobayashi (who didn't compete due to contract issues) went postal and stormed the stage only to be arrested while holding on to the barricades.  That's some hot dog drama right there.  I hope you all had a great July Fourth too filled with food, fun, fireworks, and of course some hot dog drama. 

The Daily Stroll

For the last few days, I have been riding the bus to work in the mornings and then walking the 1.5 miles to my apartment in the afternoons.  The weather has been wonderful lately, not as hot and humid as the first few days.  The temp has been in the 70's, and there is typically a nice light breeze.  As I've been making this walk, I try to soak it all in the things I see along the way.  A lot of these things are specific to New York, and I thought I might share a few of them with you all...

Of course there are the stereotypical places.

The News Stands

The Fruit Stands that you find every few blocks- really cheap and usually good fruit!

Subway stations

Then there are the more subtle places.  New York has a ton of stores and shops that sell often odd and specific things.  For example...

I've been told Pickles and Olives is pretty awesome. Since I love pickles and olives (and cheese!), I should be covered. Let it not be mistaken, they sell both Kosher and non-Kosher items per the sign on the door. Speaking of pickles, does anyone know how to open a really stubborn jar? I've been trying to get this pickle jar open for almost a week. I need some help! I've tried hitting the side on the counter, hitting the side with a spoon, running it under hot water, and someone today overheard me telling a fellow resident about it and suggested I hit the bottom of the jar on the counter. All of this was to no avail, and I still have no pickles. Any ideas?

I digress.

New York is also known for having as many if not more dogs than people. At any given time, there are hundreds of dog owners taking their dogs of all sizes for walks and bathroom breaks.  Granted, there is always pee on the sidewalk, but at least the majority of people clean up the poop.  I wanted to take a picture of one of the dogs on the way home, so I asked a girl if I could take a picture of her French Bulldog.  As soon as I whipped out the camera, this little cutie began showing off.

While on the subject of dogs, one of my favorite parts of my walk home happens on the First Avenue route.  I pass a doggy gym called Biscuits and Bath.  People here are serious about their dogs.  I remember a lady I used to work for lived in NYC for a while, and after she moved here, her friends asked her one day to which school she was sending her dog. Wow.  Anyway, the doggy gym, I have gathered, is a place where people take their dogs for play dates, exercise, and old fashioned fun.  They put all the dogs in one big room, and this is what happens...

You have what I refer to as the Active Area.  These puppies are the ones that are currently running around and playing with each other.  They are usually hanging out with the staff getting a good rub, running from side to side, or play fighting with another dog. 

Then you have the Rest Area.  These dogs have either been playing and are taking a short break or are the breed of dog notorious for laziness.  There is usually at least one bulldog in this area (like the one on the right).

Finally we come to the Nap Area.  These dogs are just plum worn out and are usually passed out on the side.  Now whether they eventually join the rest of the crowd, I can't be sure, but these puppies are definitely down for the moment.

Of course, there are always the proud puppy parents waiting to see if their dog is playing nice with the other kids.

Now, if I decide to take the 2nd Avenue route with a stop along the way to the post office, one of my favorite parts of the walk is watching all the nannies in the park.  New York surprisingly has a lot of greenery and landscaping along its streets.

And there is a very small park along 2nd Ave where I see nannies of all nationalities hanging out with their strollers and charges.  I didn't dare take a picture because I didn't want to upset anyone, but you can try to imagine it.

To reiterate the delivery phenom, I took some more pictures.

Drugs

Liquor

and Salad of course

Space is always an issue in the city and therefore parking is an issue.  Cars will line up right on top of each other to make room.  Because of this, the typical means of parallel parking is to continue bumping the car in front of you and behind you until you are snugly in the parking spot.  Consequently, you would be hard pressed to find an unprotected car that doesn't have dozens of dings and scratches on the bumper. To counter this, people have become creative.

You have the Bumper Bully (a variation of this is the Bumper Badger).

The Bumper Blanket

And the Bumper Bar (which in my head I have named the Screw You Bar - NYC style). 

Trash is not just trash in New York.  Surprisingly, the city seems pretty good about recycling.  On certain days of the week, there are huge bags of trash lining the streets for pick up.  You have the bags full of cardboard and paper, which I am assuming go to their own specific spot.  You have the bags full of plastic and glass.  And then you have really strange things like furniture.  I guess it is so difficult to move here that people just throw away their furniture.  I have seen perfectly good couches, dressers, beds, mattresses.  And today I saw this TV. It was sitting on the sidewalk along with some other large furniture pieces and the rest of the trash bags.  I think today must have been a regular trash today because the bags were all black.

I have been trying to do my part.  I keep my trash separated.  The plastic, paper, and cardboard go in their respective bins.

And the rest of the trash goes in my "trashcan."

It's kind of fun to watch all the trash go down the little chute.

Well, that's all of my material for now.  I am sure on my many more walks home over the next few years, I will probably see more and more bizarre and noteworthy things.  If I find anything else particularly interesting, I will be sure to share it. 

And don't forget, I need ideas about the pickle jar! I need my pickles!