Clap Your Hands

I work for The North Face now! Almost 6 months. It's really truly a great company and I have the best coworkers and I really enjoy going to work! This is me and some of my coworkers (Full Circle Group) at the beach (Jersey Shore, actually!):


I also have new roommates and a new apartment. I live with Lauren (23 yr old grad student from North Carolina) and Kathleen (24 yr old, works in advertising, from CA!) in a neighborhood called Stuyvestant Town. Our apartment is wonderful. I really love coming home to these ladies and I think I'll raise my kids here. JK. Californians always go back.

I also have a new bike!
It's pretty awesome and I ride it to/from work as often as possible. I use it to get across and uptown. I love it!

I also just ran my first race! I lost 10 pounds training for it and I feel great! It's awesome to challenge yourself and know you can do something you never thought you would. All week I've been so excited about my finish time (58:58 for a 10k/6.2 miles) but today I realized "whoa! I ran for an hour straight!)My friend Laura trained and ran with me:


I get to go to the Sales Meeting in a couple weeks. It's a week long at a Tahoe Resort with amazing North Face people. NBD. Then Halloween in LA with Laura. Then home in November for grandma's bday.

Maybe

It's been forever! I was feeling down for a while and didn't want to write. There was another snow at some point - so beautiful.



News with me:
1) Still looking for better employment opportunities. It's been a month of hard-core looking and my hope is on the upswing. Let's go Anna!
2) Learning to knit and going crazy with the variety of yarns available. Crafting is a drug. The first picture is of a little clutch/bag/purse thing I'm not quite done with. These things are fun, I'm planning to do a few more.

This one is a hooded scarf. I didn't follow a pattern for this one so it's pretty sloppy. I'm going to use that green stuff to line it or soemthing because it looks like a burka when I put it on.



That's what's in my purse today. I went yarn shopping at lunch at some AMAZING discount yarn place! --->>




3) Going to CA in a week (!!!) Going to hurt family's feelings for only spending a day in Bakersfield but, you know what? If I pay for a flight to California, I'm going to the frickin' beach. Roadtrippin' from Burbank to Morro Bay with mom! (Why am I flying into Burbank you ask? Because I'm an idiot.)
4) Despite the horrible cold and rain about to come down on NYC, I firmly believe Spring and Summer are on their way. Don't believe me? Well, then why have they announced the first half of the Tribeca Film Festival line up? That's what I thought.
5) Going to DC for Easter/a friend's Birthday!
6) Did I tell you I'm knitting now?

Hope all is well!

Son's Gonna Rise

This weekend was super nice. The weather was AMAZING and I spent a couple good daylight hours outside enjoying the city. From my apartment I walked up to Central Park and read for a while, then I went to the Barnes and Noble in Lincoln Square area, then I got some groceries and made myself a nice little taco dinner :) Sunday was just as fun. I spent the entire day with Jarling wandering around and people watching. I'm thankful for her friendship here.

Jarling and I went to a Citizen Cope concert a couple weeks ago:
We were FRONT ROW!
It was awesome because last time I saw him was a couple years ago with Monica in LA and we were in the nose bleeds.

Mom sent me an AMAZING Valentine's Day package!!! So I'm almost done with all the candy, have watched 2 of the 4 seasons of Will and Grace that she sent and have posted up the pictures she sent of the Navarros rockin' the 2010 glasses! I also got a wake up call on Vday from a flower delivery company! My friend Joe sent me flowers and made my day! Monica, my love, also sent me a card! This pouring of love really boosted my happy level. I was having a rough time with the NY winter.

I'm trying really hard to find a new job and improve my situation here. Kady and I think this will really improve my happiness and my life in NY. Better weather would be nice too.

Home

Hayo!
What a frickin' week. For those of you on the Best Coast, you didn't get a taste of the Snowpocalypse that hit the North East this week. It ruined last weekend for me because 1)I didn't make it to DC to see Andrew or to get in all that snowy-goodness and 2)No snow came to NY so it was just cold and sad. I'm coming home.

My DC trip being cancelled was the steamy dog crap on top of a Chinatown-dumpster-like week. So...I went into work this week really bummed still. Monday was ... a typical Monday I guess. But Monday night sucked as much as anything can. I tried to do my taxes online. Suffice it to say I spent a couple hours on the phone SOBBING to mom and went to bed with a cold compress on my eyes. Mom "kicks me back up when I'm down" and tells me exactly what I need to hear to realize I need to sop crying and make changes or accept what's done. Serenity prayer like.

Tuesday was better. My eyes were puffy, I was tired, but non of that mattered when the mailman told me about the snow day declared for Wednesday. Naturally I convinced the boss that it's not safe for us to come in and scored myself a holiday. SKILLZ!

Today, "Snowpocalypse," "Blizzard 2010," "Snowmageddon," was awesome. I slept in, went strollin' around town. Met Kady for some more strollin' and rollin'. The snow was beautiful. I threw snowballs at people from up on the roof.


So to finish I want to put some things out there. It seems I've made up my mind this week to return to CA this September. I don't know if this decision will stick until then. I'm hoping I'll find a job worth staying here for but as of today...I need more breathing room, sunshine and beach. Stay tuned...

California Dreaming

I went to DC again - this time to see Andrew who's there for work. It was awesome. It dumped snow on Saturday and I tried to be out in the downfall as much as possible. Andrew - the southern Californian resident who boasts of wearing shorts and sandals to work in December - was inadequately prepared for the snow but he only complained occasionally. We met up with Rose and John for brunch at a nice place in Dupont Circle - the walk was slow but it was awesome. Then we went out to see Avatar 3D in Chinatown. (I really liked Avatar ... and I was trying not to.) On the way home that night it was still snowing and I tricked Andrew into walking by the White House. It was so peaceful and beautiful! I stopped to make a snow angel! I think it might be my first one ever.


As I lay there in the snow waiting for Andrew to figure how to take a picture on my phone - I had one of those "right before you die" moments where everything was silent and peaceful and it made you realize how fast you've been going and how much you've been missing. I laid there a little longer than necessary staring up at the brownish purplish sky watching the snowfall and hearing nothing but the sound of my own breathing. I've thought about that moment a lot these last few days...
I'm tired but can't get to sleep at a reasonable hour. I stare at the computer most days and my eyes are killing me but I go home and make rings or knit (exercising my eyes even more). Every where I walk I speed walk - I'm always rushing to get somewhere. I am running at full speed (most of the time) but not accomplishing much except keeping a job and paying bills. I wonder if I'd be happier/healthier if I moved to a warmer, more open and spacious place. Like LA.

I'm going back to DC this weekend and CA in March sometime. I'm in a lease in NY until September so I have plenty of time to change my mind a million times. We'll see.

Countdown

I'm free! I have a life again! I can come home after work and do whatever I want! Lately all I want to do is make rings and learn to knit. I got a starter kit for knitting and crocheting for Christmas and have been to Michael's twice in the last week. I'm obsessed. The starter kit was a book, needles and a couple skeins of yarn (thanks, Carey) and after reading the first 30 pages or so I took to YouTube (Google: "How to knit") to get the hang of it. I managed to knit about 10 rows before making a mistake (I had a movie on and got distracted). Unfortunately I don't know how to "go back" yet so I ended up unwinding like 5 rows before I put it down for the night. The goal is to have at least a scarf knit by Mom's birthday at the end of the month.

Another obsession right now is making rings! When I started making earrings at home in 2008 one of the girls at our friends' bead shop was always making simple wire wrap rings and I always said I'd buy the tool and start making my own but...I never did. So once mom left New York and I had to think of things to do to entertain myself I decided to bite the bullet and go get the tool and wire. 15 rings later...I can't stop thinking about making more. I've got three basic designs going on and I'm using up all the single stones and beads left over from earring making.

I'm really thinking about starting an Etsy page. Do you know about Etsy.com? You should! It's a website where people sell their hand made stuff.

Look at some of my rings: mostly I just use left over beads from my earrings but once in a while I get stones at the bead store or buttons from the flea market! (The big square black one is a button from the 1940s)

New Year!

Happy New Year!

Mom and I celebrated the New Year at Times Square (did I tell you already?) anyway it was awesome. Cold too. Cold with a capital "C." I mean I live here. I've adjusted to the cold but standing in it for 3.5 hours (and we were not the early ones) with no refuge but the barrier of people surrounding you - that's cold on another level. But we survived! And although it rained THE ENTIRE TIME, it wasn't so bad. They do a 10 second countdown to each hour starting at 6 p.m. so each hour I'd put on a little more clothing. We were at the front of the barricade at the north side of 51st Street and 7th Avenue. So we couldn't hear any of the entertainment you guys all saw on TV. Luckily this group of 20-something tourist d-bags were right behind us yelling the entire time. What would they yell? Oh stuff like "F*#% Toshiba." (On repeat) Why Toshiba? Because the big TVs in Times Squares are Toshiba TVs. They also liked to shout "I f*&^ing hate America." Why? Oh why not?
Back to the countdown. Midnight came and it was kind of amazing. Everyone counting down together. Blocks and blocks of people who were all out there in the rain and cold for one reason, counting down to a New Year. I've watched it on TV for years - you know how exciting it is with family or friends and pots and pans...well...this was so much better. I'd bet there weren't many New Yorkers in the crowd but the countdown and revelry after was the perfect kind of New York moment that I live for, here. Those moments when everyone's on the same team. When everyone is elated for the exact same reason you are. New York is big. Lots of people with their own schedules and agendas. When you can share a moment with someone/anyone/a crowd of people - wow. So we did it and it was a once in a lifetime experience. And I'll never do it again. (Love you mom.)

Happy New Year :)

p.s. How bout dem Cowboys? ;) Superbowl bound?

Past in Present

Back in NY after a week at home for Christmas. It was pretty awesome. I left 16 degree weather in NY for 70 degree weather in LA and 60 degree weather in Bakersfield. Andrew and I met up with Laura and Troy for dinner in Santa Monica and then I spent a couple days in the Inland Empire with Andrew and the boys. We had lunch with Sandra and her family; it was so great to see the kids (I had to look up since they're both so tall now). Then Mom came to Pasadena and we went home the Sunday before Christmas.

Christmas week was a lot of shopping and prepping...and napping as much as possible. I was really tired. I guess working 13 hour days for a month and a half will make you sleepy. Christmas time was fun. I was nervous that mom's family would be split up but they were all in one place and grandma delivered a great Christmas Eve dinner. There are four little kids in mom's family that really made Christmas special. I spent Christmas day with dad's family. The kids make it fun, you know? They got a Wii and I thought I'd beat them at bowling at least (have played it once and I rocked it) but Meagan whomped on me. (BTW she got a cell phone and we text all the time. She's 11.) I made out pretty well this Christmas. I got 23 pairs of socks. It's kind of insane, I know.

So now I'm back in NY and you know what? I'm happy to be home. And having mom here with me is pretty great. We'll be doing Times Square NYE :D

Happy New Year!

Year One

I've been in New York for a year! I made it, woo-hoo! This is what I've learned:

I like: (in no order)
~The cold. I smile to myself when I say "It's warm today...45 degrees."
~Snow. Oh em gee. I love it.
~My neighborhood. It's quirky and I love everything about it. Even the occasional pee smell.
~Times Square. I was warned that I'd get sick of it. Ha. I walk through it every day and I. Love. It.
~My iPhone. Only relates to NY because I'd probably would be lost in some outer borough without it.
~Fort Greene, Brooklyn. It's home and it's beautiful and it's full of all my NY "firsts."
~Nicknames. I've acquired a few this year and it's a nice way of hearing you've made your mark somewhere new.
~Growing up. It's been tough but kind of rewarding. Responsibility is only nice when you've remembered you have them and live up to them. Luckily no one is depending on me to feed them.
~Driving in the city. I may occasionally run a red light but it's exciting.
~Todd's apartment. Smells like home. Every time I walk in it's like - *sigh* home. ~Crossing the street on a red light. Especially in front of a group of tourists who all gasp as soon as I set foot on the black street. Haha. Simple pleasures.
~Walking the wrong way down the middle of an empty one-way street. It's so empowering! Dumb, right?
~Eating at restaurants in Brooklyn. I'm not rich and so I love that restaurants in BK are reasonably priced and dee-lish.
~Ordering coffee. You can say "light and sweet" and they make it just how I like it. How great is that?!
~Crying in the street. Once during a rain storm I was emotional and just started sobbing. I walked 20 blocks along 8th Avenue just sobbing. I might have been bothered that no one asked if I was OK but...the city gave me just what I needed at the time.
~Cabs. I most like the SUV cabs. Not sure how good my hailing has gotten but I manage.
~Starbucks. On every corner. I only really like their specialized drinks but I love that the option is there. On every corner.
~The Q train. It gets me to Brooklyn quickly. And I like the yellow and orange seats on the Q trains. I have a favorite spot to sit :)
~The Brooklyn Bridge. I know. Everyone likes the Brooklyn Bridge. But - the first time I walked it, I got a history lesson from Todd and now there's just this extra appreciation for it and it's existence. Same can pretty much be said for almost anything in Brooklyn.
~Bryant Park. It's definitely not given enough credit. Also - I think its Christmas tree is much more beautiful than the one at Rockefeller Center. Just sayin'
~The buildings, the streets, the people. Like no other place I've been and I don't want to ever leave it. (Most days.)

Don't likes:
~Queens.
~Growing up. It's been tough.
~The A,C,E trains. I don't know why. I just don't. Stems back to my summer on S. Oxford street. The C sucks.
~Working two jobs. I'm tired and it's cold. Send money. In large quantities.

I think this is it for now. Huge thanks to Mom, grandma Carmen, Dad and Todd. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for each of you.

LOVE

Sweet Disposition

Most of the time my post and my song match up. Like there was somthing about that song that made me want to write a post. But not this time. This time the song just needed to be posted. And I was due to write a blip. So...I am working 2 jobs now. I have my regular 8-5 job and my new nights/weekend job at Bryant Park holiday market. We sell and personalize overpriced ornaments to tourists and I love it. I like the girls I work with, I love flirting with tourists (I love the Spaniards bc they're the nice-dressed, beautiful ones, not that Eurotrash smoking ones) and I love being creative with my handwriting and paint pens. We also personalize piggy banks (do you know how piggy banks started? Basically there's a clay called pygg clay.) So I'm tired. Really tired but I'm getting used to it and I'm loving the money I'm making. It's so nice not to worry about money every single day. I can buy a coffee if I want one. I can get lunch if I want. I can buy a new sweater if I feel like it. And you know how I like to do what I want. So it's great. I'm hoping to get another part time job after this one ends in January.

Seems like I'll be having lots of visitors in the next couple months. Laura and Andrew are coming pre-Thankgiving. (I'm staying in NY for Turkey day...working...movie going.) Then mom's coming after Christmas. Then Toni's coming in January! I'm so excited. I'm also pretty freakin' excited to go home. I'll be in CA 12/18 to 12/27. Holla!

Empire State of Mind

I've started this post like 5 times. (Could I have typed that without "like?" Yeah, but it wouldn't be true-to-Anna.) I must be under the impression you guys are as eager to read what I have to say right now as I am to type and publish it.

Anyway I was super sick three weeks ago. Like was sleeping 20 hrs a day and couldn't breathe/eat normally. It's cool. I survived. I called Grandma and got her albondigas recipe and it really pulled me through. I kinda wanna say it was swine flu just to top that with "I beat it."

(old stuff) So the Yankees are playing in some big game today and I've been a bigger baseball fan these last few weeks than I have in my whole life. For a while I was thinking I could really get into it (mostly because I liked how much they showed ARod on camera) but then I watched some football last weekend and decided that baseball doesn't have enough contact for me.

I've always thought I'd love to put on some pads and hit someone. I mean I am a huge sissy and cried when Andrew tried to teach me snowboarding but I could really use a good throwdown sometimes and football seems great. This may surprise you but I'm pretty emotional and most days I'd trade my crying habit for some painful physical contact. Maybe I should just blast some music and run into tourists.

Young Pilgrims

One thing I really love about it here is how quickly my mind changes about things.

I work on the first floor boutique office of a 9 floor very industrial building. There are no windows to the outside. There are glass cut outs between offices and glass windows between me and the hallway of the building, through which a horde of high schoolers walk(very loudly) everyday to the cafeteria down the hall. There are 3 cafeterias to the side of our office - we all usually go there for lunch, bring it back and sit at our desks or the break room. My area of the office is cozy: my desk is awesome and large and all cherry wood. I get a sweet conference-room chair. I turn off the flourescent lights and work by the six spotlights above that illuminate the company logo (that I got to pick out). I really like my space. But I'm disconnected from 1)the rest of the office staff and 2)the outside world. At any given time there can be a global meltdown occurring and I wouldn't know unless someone Tweeted about it. So I have a lot of time to myself to dwell and fester on anything and everything. I leave at 5 p.m. upset about something that happened at 8:15. Not often - but the chances of a problem blowing over (while I have all day to think about it in my small space) are very small.

But then something amazing can happen and turn that mood completely off: I walk out of the building with John Mayer or country music blaring in my ears and I see the Empire State building. Yes! The city is only a train ride away and then I'm home free. I don't know how to explain it in words you would relate to but I know that once I come out of the train station at 47th street and Broadway - the tip of Times Square - I'll be the purest and most fulfilling kind of happy. It doesn't depend on someone else or something happening. It's just me, standing where I'm standing, thinking of how much I wanted to be standing in that spot a year ago, thinking about how I came to be standing there and that I'll be able to stand there again tomorrow. And although I'm standing ALONE on this crowded corner pushing my way past tourists and Elmo, I look up at another after-work-tired New Yorker and I feel a connection. Zing!

Manhattan

New address, new roomie. 530 West 47th Street #3C NY, NY 10036. Send me stuff.

Living in the city is much better for me. I love that it's just steps away. What's just steps away, you ask? Well - everything! I walk home through the very north of Times Square everyday and I. Love. It. Love it! My apartment is little and cute and comfortable and my roommate is awesome. She gets me and still lives me. We can watch LoTR and Aladdin and Brothers and Sisters. I'm a lot more broke and taking my lunch every day but I. Love. It.

My job is getting better - I've been given a lot more work and now I do about 3 times the amount of stuff I used to do. I am not bored but sometimes I'm so stressed and I wonder if it's worth it. I hope so. I try to comfort myself with the infinite options that await me outside of the office but I remember that a new direction would require me to be decisive about my future. And my indecisiveness isn't news to anyone. So - just staying the course for now. Hopefully someday I can live more comfortably.

I went home a few weeks ago - I was really worried about the whole bittersweet emotional rollercoaster that I feel everytime I go home but it wasn't so bad this time around. Which is also bittersweet. I used to cry as the plane left JFK. And then I'd cry on the way back until I saw the NY skyline. I hate coming and going. I hate that "home" is so far away but that "happy" is here. There's a little of both in CA and NY I guess ... Anyway going home this time wasn't so emotional.

I've been thinking about how most of my relatives ask why I like it here - no family, such extreme weather changes, so many more strangers and dangers. I can't really explain why I love it here. It's just something you feel when you're here or not. Todd and I will be walking around town and I'll say "I love it here." It's a very packed statement and he says "I know" and I know he totally gets it. Mom gets it too I think.

Revelry

It's been a month! Every time I write one of these updates I think I will update again soon but I never have much to say. Well who are we kidding - I always have LOTS to say but I don't always want to put it out there on the internets. So some updates: I got an iPhone and it's amazing, I took part in writing another thesis, I've seen some movies, I've seen some new places, and I turned 23!

I'm sure you've heard plenty about the iPhone so on to the next thing - Todd's thesis! It was an experience for me to relive school work through someone else. It was really a good thing firstly because Todd is so smart and his thesis was so interesting. Most theses are because it's a chance to explore something you're very interested in and in researching it you become excited about it and you can't wait to tell everyone EVERYTHING you know about it. So it was fun! But it was also good because it gave me a chance to really think about getting back into school - I want to go back for my masters and I will...but not yet - I'm not done with being free from schoolwork just yet. Soon though.

So I saw Harry Potter 6 a little later than most because even after 2 weeks NY theaters were still packed at showings. Kady and I got to the theater about an hour early and it was filled a half hour later. So I thought it was great. I mean I was really upset at HP4 because I had read the book like a week before and was disappointed in the consistency between the book/movie. This time I read the book a few weeks prior to the movie release and while I was quick to notice the discrepancies I was still very satisfied with the movie! The first hour or so was so awkward it was hard to watch - which also made it hilarious! Can't wait for the next two!

I've been trying to go with the flow a lot more which means I have been going along with things I would normally pass on. Instead of saying "no," "I'm tired," "I can't," I just go with it and I ALWAYS have a good time. My friends here are really amazing and good and I can trust that I'll have a good time in their company. I went to the top of the Empire State building again - on a clear day - that was nice. I also went to a couple different rooftops, a pool hall, a karaoke bar, parks, and restaurants in the last few weeks. It's amazing! I love the city.

My birthday was last Friday and it was great! I spent most of the day with my friend Jarling playing hookie. We started early with a concert at the Today Show. Kings of Leon were performing so we woke up at 3:30 to get out there by 5. Unfortunately there were people there at 4 so we weren't first in line! But it was great anyway! Then we went to lunch and a movie. We met Todd around dinner time and from there I had dinner and went to a bar with friends! It was a great day! I am thankful for the friends I have and the family that loves me :) Thank you for remembering me!

Overall summer in the city is great! There's so much to do and you want to be out and about! I'm having a great time :) I'll be back in California in September (19th - 25th). I can't wait for some time at home.

Independence Day

So: NYC fireworks are usually on the East River. Makes sense because 4 of the 5 NYC boroughs share the East River. 2009 is the someteenth anniversary of Henry Hudson doing something so the fireworks were on the Hudson river this year. As a Brooklyn resident I was a little saddened by this because we could hardly see the show and Jersey got a great show! But! Jersey City put on an awesome show for us Brooklynites so we're all moving to Jersey. No just kidding that'd be sad.
The 4th of July was all about BK! Started off at a few different bagel/coffee places with Candace, Julie, Todd. Then we went to the Coney Island Nathan's Hot Dog eating contest. CA native Joey Chestnut won and set a world record of 68 hotdogs in 10 minutes! (I think - I dont know really.)
Then we walked around a pretty empty Park Slope and checked out some new places for me. Then we watched the show from an awesome rooftop. Then we watched the leftovers from Todd's rooftop. The weather was great - the first time in weeks maybe - that the whole day was beautiful! I was equally homesick and excited to be a part of NYC. Seriously guys - it's like living the dream here and I'm thankful everyday for the love and support I get from home.

p.s. the Independence Day song by Carrie Underwood is a remake of Martina McBride's 1994 single. I remember singing that outloud at my babysitter's house. People here are surprised when I know of/sing country songs. Anyway I hope you like it!

Kids

I have had some adventures!
Andrew visited! Our times together are so nice! We don't even really bicker like we used to. I got to take some time off but the weather was yucky(Joone Gloom) so we mostly stayed inside and watched movies and some cartoons. He got to meet Kady - we went out with her a couple times - and they both seemed to like each other! Not that it's hard. I surround myself with people who can put up with me for long amounts of time and since that's such a rare quality these people tend to get along very well. He arrived with a fro and left with a very respectable buzz cut (?). We tried a mexican place, saw The Hangover and checked out a few bars to which I had not yet ventured. I took him to the airport and coming back was soo sad! Since neither of us have a camera there are not pictures. Oh well.
That next Sunday Todd and I biked all over Brooklyn since my roommate's letting me use her bike while she's in Europe! It was fun - I miss having a bike and Brooklyn's the best place for it. We went to a neighborhood I've never been too and then through one I'm familiar with (in the pouring rain.) Being able to connect a new place with a familiar place is nice because it makes the city seem less daunting! A building collapsed in our neighborhood so we checked that out, too. Crazy! Four stories gone!
This week has been pretty eventful also. Jess moved out, Candace moved in! I got some new furniture in the process! Julie and Kady finally came to check out my apartment. We had some dinner in Brooklyn. Todd and I hit up an exhibit in Chelsea then a Mexican restaurant in Chelsea - delish! (La Esquina) BTW we biked the whole way. It was so much fun. The thrill of dodging NYC traffic was exhilarating!

Trouble Is A Friend

I had a really horrible experience a few weekends ago and I lost my wallet! Well I maintain that it was indeed stolen but I can only blame myself for allowing it to be stolen so we'll call it even at "it's lost." In it were my social security card and my debit card. Managed to get most things cleared up by now so it's ok. This is the second time I've ever felt that vulnerable (the first time was when my car was stolen right from the front of mom's house) and let me tell you - it's horrrrible! Especially for someone like me who analyzes things way more than they should be and dwells on mistakes/bad feelings. It was a dark couple of weeks in my world. There were many phone calls asking mom to come hold me. I know.
I also lost my iPod and as one of those New Yorkers (that's right I said it!) who lives for my own personal soundtrack through the streets - it's been quite an adjustment having to be so involved in strangers' conversations.
Raquel and Rebecca were in the city for a few days and it was SO great to see them. Raquel's really a soul mate of mine who I never have to waste awkward minutes getting "back" to wherever we left off. I am so glad I got to share my new life with her for a few days and catch up. Raquel was just the feeling of "home" I needed to get through the dark times. Here's a picture of us at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Rooftop Garden. There was a really neat installation and Todd gave us a tour! Not pictured: their dad Jose and Todd.

I had a wonderful weekend! My friend Julie invited a bunch of friends to her parents' lake house about an hour away from the city. It was gorgeous - such beautiful scenery and clean air! There was a great group of kids who made getting away for the weekend a really amazing time!
And...Andrew's coming! So excited! A whole week with the best part of CA in NY!

You Don't Know Me

A month has passed and I changed my song thinking I'd write about NY anonymity a few weeks ago and about how I really don't connect with a lot of people but now I'm in a different state of mind so - the song can stay but onto another subject.

I'm doing well - I'm very tired this week but I'm convinced it's just that I was spoiled by the three day weekend and waking up at 6 (ok 6:30) is taking it's toll. I ended up seeing The Girlfriend Experience and I thought it was OK. Todd liked it a lot though. We spent Memorial Day mostly wandering around Battery Park City in Lower Manhattan. (You know - where you take the ferry to the Statue of Liberty or Ellis Island?) It was a beautiful day and we ended up at a friend's house in Brooklyn having an impromptu barbecue. Great day.

Raquel is visiting with her sister! It's been great to catch up with her and Becca (who is getting married!) and wander around the city - for once being the most familiar. They stayed at my place one night and they're staying at a hostel in Manhattan so I'll be meeting them in the city after work. They'll be here through the weekend so I'll be able to spend a full day with them and their dad, Jose!

Apartment life is much the same except a friend from CMC is moving in! Candace will take Jess's room when Jess leaves for DC mid-June. It will be great!Work is also going well - I now have health/dental benefits and a 401k. I feel like adulthood has me backed up into a corner!

Not sure when I'll be back in CA again but in my head there will be 3 more trips to CA in 2009. Christmas being one hopefully I can visit in June and then again in one of the fall months. Who knows!

Ain't No Rest for the Wicked

Yo

I just wanted to stop by and say what's up. I went to see a "drive-in" film at the Tribeca Film Festival on Friday night. The movie was Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. I'd never seen it so it was a great experience. The rest of the weekend was really warm so I spent a lot of time around Fort Greene, Brooklyn. I even tried Ethiopian food for the first time - I liked it!

Also - I read a good book this week called My Name is Jason. Mine Too. It's written by two guys who came to NY as artists and struggled with rent, eating, and doubt. One of them is an artist and another a poet so the book is pages of poetry on art that sum up their journey. I recommend it. Sometimes I think I must be the only one doubting every move I make but these guys made me realize I'm not alone. We all have those constant doubts. (I hope...)

I'm going to see another film at the TFF tomorrow night if we can get tickets. We're trying to see The Girlfriend Experience - due out in theatres later this year. I'll let you know how it goes.

I wish I could be outside - it's so warm and the humidity has not set in yet :) but alas - I am staring at this computer.

Peace out playas!

No Woman No Cry

Yo yo yiggity yo :)

Lots to talk about. I'll be short (ish) and put pictures. First a blog about goings-on in my life. I went to LA. It was spur of the moment kind of trip. Saw Mom, Grandma and the Jimenez family. And Andrew. I was very very grateful for my time in CA. It helped to replenish my stock of happiness. I miss the sun and the weather. A lot. I realized how torn I am between NYC and the Best Coast. Here's a picture from our beach trip:

Then Mom came to visit! We had a whole week together. I worked...sometimes...we ate, shopped, walked a lot!, visited with people, and spent a lot of time together. I was very happy to share my life (and bed) with her for a week and am sad that she's gone :( I am very thankful to have a mom who is supportive of my life-choices and who loves the city like I do. (or at least understands why I do.) Here's one of me, mom and Todd at the new museum:
Since mom left I've been getting back on track with friends, work and sleep. It was beautiful last weekend - Springtime is really here. Saturday everyone and their dog was at the park so on my way home from the store I woke Todd up and stole a blanket - he came out and we did a crossword in the park. This weekend is going to be just as nice - warmer even so I'm excited to go out and enjoy the weather :)

On another note: am thinking that I'm going to move into the city in the late summer. Probably August. My friend Kady is looking for people to fill rooms in her apartment since her current roommates are heading out of the country. I think moving into Manhattan will be a really good change for me. Living in the outer boroughs makes me really homesick. It's not until I make an effort to go into the city that I remember why I moved here! I love the energy of the city - the beauty of all the different sky scrapers. It will be a good thing for me. Kady is a New Yorker who went to Pitzer and I know through a fellow CMC '08er. She's awesome.

I'm in the process of going permanent at work and am gelling very well with co-workers. Over all I like my job. I just wish the office wasn't located in such an industrial area of Queens. Queens - not a place I really feel excited about so it makes my work place that much more blah.

I hope you all are doing well. I hope to hear from you :) Thanks for caring and take care of yourself.

Love, Anna