Things I don't like

People with BIG umbrellas make me angry!

New Jersey!

Things I learned about New Jersey:

1. It seems so close yet is so far away

2. The road signs are NOT always right

3. The road signs are sometimes missing

4. The speed limit is a variable and changes frequently, making it very confusing for drivers from normal states (lets say California) to abide by the law; resulting in a speeding ticket... I wonder how much it will cost me...

5. The whole toll thing is just annoying

6. Middle aged people drive as if they were in their 80's... hmmm maybe they should look into lowering their age limit for driver license holders

... to be continued...

all in all I drove out to Jersey today for work and got lost and got a ticket and was a little upset with the state... off to celebrate October 1st right! Bar hopping in Brooklyn! woo hoo!

Sober September Update #3

So last weeked I had a little bit of trouble with the "sober" part of September... I believe it all started with a tequilla shot! hehe but no worries i felt fine the next day and had a fantastic time! Piotrek, Ania and I went to BB Kings to listen to some jazz and then booty shake for Tiffany's birthday! Then we went to Brass Monkey and bumped into Mike and his friends so we finished off the night there and were pressured to leave due to Peter's hunger! Damn, that boy is not happy when hungry at 4am!

Got some studying time in on Sunday, it was such a nice day so I took my book and read by the Hudson River. Very pleasant!

Habrat!

Anna is officially in NYC! so fun having Cali people in the city! makes it that much more funa nd interesting. now lets hope she stays longer then 30 days...

Sober September Update #2

Have been doing pretty good with this whole sober thing! I have had a few drinks here and there but very minimal. If I go out then I limit myself to two beers, and so far its been pretty good. Mickey Gajewski is in town this week and he is a huge beer enthusiast so I tasted some beers with him at the Blind Tiger my favorite was this pumpkin flavored beer. it tasted and smelled like pumpkin pie! mmmm...

I have been more active! Last weekend I went to the gym on both Saturday and Sunday. This week has been a little rough since I have worked pretty late and had guests. I haven't committed to studying as much as I would like but I have done some reading. I think I am going to try to go to Columbia University next fall for masters. I have great connections through work; all my coworkers are somewhat involved with the university and said they would give me recommendations. Now I just have to figure out which direction I would want to go: technical or managerial.

Ants, Genitalia, Chinese Art & the Rockefellers

Had a very cultural weekend went to the MoMa on Saturday and to the Rockefeller Estate on Sunday.

Things I learned about Dali at the MoMa on Saturday:

1. His main passion was film

2. His drawings and paintings were mostly used to conceptualize ideas for his films

3. He liked ants 

4. He liked ants crawling out of body parts (esp. hands)

5. He liked to paint/draw things out of genitalia

6. He was into guys on bikes with orbs/rocks on their heads

7. He must have taken many hallucinogenic drugs

Things I learned about the Rockefellers:

1. Ridiculously Rich

2. Liked to golf

3. Collected lots of Chinese Art

4. Enjoyed Tiffany glass

5. The senior Rockefellers where strict baptists and didn't party AT ALL!

6. Grandson (Nelson) changes the whole not partying thing

7. Had lots of money and time to make tree branches grow up (not to the sides) in order to preserve the views of the hudson.

Sober September Update #1

So far so good! I haven't drank any alcohol since Sept. 1st! woo hoo! Its actually easier then I thought! I went out after my soccer game (I play for FC Stantec!) with the team and i drank water and kicked ass in shuffle board! it was fun times!

I have yet to start studying for the LEED AP test though... maybe I will start that tonight. Tomorrow OG and I are going to go check out the Dali exhibit at the Moma and go shopping after... its supposed to be shitty weather tomorrow so it will be nice to do indoor activities.

Sober September

I am not drinking alcohol for the whole month of September! DON'T TEMPT ME!!

Things to accomplish this month:

1. Be more active

2. Prepare for the LEED AP exam

3. Figure out things to do in the city that don't involve alcohol

4. Start thinking about Master programs

Spontaneity

I could have not asked for a better labor day weekend! Right before leaving for the game (Pats vs. Giants) I checked one last time to see how much a RT ticket to Cali would cost for the weekend. This time I went to www.travelocity.com and SHOCKER only $278 ($327 w/ tax and fee)!! So with a shaky hand I give Mariusz a call and tell him to arrange for an airport pick up and a ride to Mono Hot Springs as I fill in the empty boxes and provide my credit card number and click SUBMIT!  Next thing you know I am in my apt slightly buzzed from the game doing laundry, cleaning and packing! 

I shocked the hell out of my mom! I really did! She had no idea I was coming home! We went down to Main St. got ice cream and walked the HB pier. It was so nice to see her and be able to spend those few hours with her! 

Mono Hot Springs = Tim

e of my life! every single trip to that place has never left me disappointed! No matter how many romances sparked or heartaches endured, time in Mono is a m

agical thing that only leaves you wanting to cry as you drive down the beautiful mountain back to the reality that is life. I will at some point, and I will make sure I stand to this promise, spend two weeks to a month exploring the area and falling in love with it all over again! I will first have to recruit at least one more person to take this mini life break preferab

ly someone that can make splints out of sticks and a husta and who isn't opposed to drinking iodine tablet water, oh ZHP how I miss you! 

Coming back to the city after being in Mono left me in a bit of a funk... don't know if it was just my liver trying to recoup or if the crazy of the city was a shock to my system after the serenity of it all. Though once Sunday came 

along I was back to "happy Asia" not only was football back full force but the day was gorgeous and I was able to sneak a bit of a tanning session and get some color before the cold starts to creep in! 

Football!

Football season is almost here!!! Can't wait! Tonight I am going the the Patriots vs. Giants game! Soooo excited! I hope the Patriots win and redeem themselves of what happened at the Superbowl earlier this year!

in a daze

I just spent 15 minutes at the wrong subway station waiting for the wrong train never once thinking about my destination until it was time to get on the train.

mental note...

... check blogs for errors before posting.

Now they are gone...

They came and went so fast! Just a month ago I was helping Aggie and Ewcia carry their ridiculously huge luggage to the Lexington Palace and now they have moved back home. I wanted them to love it here so much! There were so many things that I wanted for us to do together! Its a bummer I wish they tried harder, but then again it shouldn't come forced I guess. We did get to have a few crazy nights together and saw Mario Lopez in A Chorus Line which was awesome! It was my first Broadway show and I can't wait to see more!

I wish them all the luck in their further ventures! Aggie is going to look for jobs LA and Ewcia is back in Portland trying to plan her next steps.

Now I wait for Anna to come! I hope she will find New York more enchanting then the other girls and stick around a little longer!

I just think back on when I moved and how weird it was to adjust to being alone and to experience these new things and places by myself. I guess I was hoping that since they had each other it would make it easier for them to adjust. They did make me second guess my reasons for sticking around here. But I really can't see myself anywhere else at this point in my life. I want to get as much out of this experience as possible. I am going to start getting really serious about getting my masters and preparing for the next adventures to come once this one is over!

Birthday Weekend

Last weekend I celebrated my 24th birthday! I organized a brunch at Essex. After wards we went bar hopping in East village. I don't entirely remember which bars we went to but I did have a great time. The night before I went out to sushi with Olga and that was insane as well we met fun people at the restaurant and ended up having birthday champagne back at their place and then appearantly went dancing afterwards... I don't quite remember the dancing part of the night...

I hate to make a big deal out of my birthday. I think it is because I don't quite know how to handle attention. I don't like to plan big things because I then feel it is my obligation to make everyone have a great time. I would rather just randomly do stuff where there is no pressure to have a good time. I enjoy celebrating others birthdays but my own... I am still working on that.

Meetings

So I have come to realize why it is that after putting in a 60hour work week I only have about 20 hours of work to show for it: MEETINGS.

This week I have had over 10 meetings that I had to attend, all which took up mostly all of my days. Then I come back to the office and have to turn the items discussed at the meetings into reality; this usually happens outside the 8am - 5pm window. Its so interesting how people who are in the meetings with you all week will have the audacity to ask you if you have finished the thing asked of you at a previous meeting when they clearly have been with you the whole time since and know that you have not had the opportunity to even start on the task!

this is just me venting! Though today I got to meet with the CFO and CEO of our client. Had a little bit of sweaty palms for a couple minutes but got the results my boss was looking for so go me! Its awesome to have an opportunity to get to work with such higher up people being so new to this "working world".

back in the NYC

California was really nice! It was great to see my family! Though the whole trip was quite stressful and not at all a true vacation because the whole time I wanted to be at the beach sipping a margarita and sun bathing... but i did get to squeeze in seeing lots of people and even got to go to Ramona for one night! so all in all it was a fun trip!

The rest of the month is really busy lots of work stuff, fun stuff, and my birthday. I was thinking maybe a trip to Boston or a birthday brunch... i don't want to do anything crazy just enjoy the day!

They're Here!

They're here! This is crazy and still unreal! Aggie and Ewa have officially arrived in New York City with a ridiculous amount of baggage! I found them on the street corner yesterday and they were practically taking up the whole sidewalk! If you've ever been to NYC you know the people on the streets were NOT happy!

Today I fly back to Cali for the weekend to visit my parents. Also my godmother, her kids and my ciocia are visiting Cali from Polska so it will be nice to see them as well! My brother is picking me up from SNA and then we are going to Chronic Cantina to meet up with the boys. On Thursday I get to get my hair done by Dyanna! I am so excited to see her and I've been needing a haircut for the past 6-mo!

roller coaster

What a week... it sure had it's ups and downs. Yesterday I was prepared to quit my job but the second half of today has definitely made me realize that its all part of the learning process and I can't get frustrated once something goes wrong. 

I got to see the New York Phil Harmonic perform at the great lawn in Central Park followed by fireworks! AMAZING! i was very happy! I went with some people from work and we had a whole wine, cheese, and fruit party on our blankets, there is another one July 15th and I am already looking forward to it!

Today was the last game of the Spring Volley Ball season i have been playing all spring on the Jacobs Engineering team (my old company) we did OK overall we had a tough couple of games in the beginning but we pulled it through in the end. We won 2 out of 3 and I am looking into signing up for Zog sports for the summer season. it's a great way to meet fun people and get exercise!

Inspiration

K-Rad came to NYC for the weekend and has inspired me to write in my blog more often then I do... I am going to attempt at least 2 entries a week. One to sum up my weekend and one to sum up my week. So here's a shot at the first entry of the week...

Friday night the plan was to stay in and sleep... around midnight it turned into a bar hopping, beer and Jager bombing frenzy followed by spicy hiccup inducing falafal chow down for Konrad and then finishing up with a slumber party in my living room with a showing of "Blades of Glory." I now will have to invest in a copy of "Talledega Nights" for Konrad's next visit!

Saturday I experienced my first tanning session in central park with Renatka followed by drinks and chips & salsa on the upper east side. I was invited to a "Beer and Sausage Birthday Fest" to celebrate Konrad's and Marcin's (K.Rad's childhood friend) births! it was on Marcin's rooftop... my first rooftop party and it was a hit but then again mix beer, kielbasa and vodka and how can that not be fun?

Sunday I brunched it up with new friend Olga at Essex and walked around town and then just parked it on my couch and caught up with the Weeds season 3 and chowed down on Ice Cream and Guacamole... I don't think Sundays can get better then that! Oh and Olga and I have decided that we will have to start looking for dates through out the week in order to raise our new city adventure level! I'll let you know how that goes...

summer is ALREADY here!

I can't believe that Summer is practically here! So crazy to think that exactly one year ago i had just graduated college and was anticipating my move to New York City!! I have lived in NYC for 8 months already! And I am enjoying every minute of it! This week Aggie officially stated she is coming out to New York in July and looks like Ewcia is going to be joining her as they both venture out to find jobs in the city. I am so excited to be able to spend my summer with the girls from back home. There is so much to do in the city in the summer time! There are countless concerts in the park and also every once a week at Bryant park they show old movies! I can't wait to experience this with my good friends!

Mary, one of the roommies organized a girls brunch and movie in order to celebrate Sex and the City! It was definitely the best way to experience this fantastic movie. We all got dolled up and had brunch! After some eggs benedict and a few martini's we headed to the theatre and laughed and cried! Aggie and I used to watch whole seasons in one night so the 2.5 hours i sat at the theatres went by in a breeze! I loved it! I think now a days I appreciate any movie or TV show that accentuates the greatness of the city i live in!