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!