little fish, big pond

by the lapsing frequency of these posts, i'm sure you can tell that the speed of life in nyc has picked up a tremendous deal. i'm currently writing this after having worked a 13 hour day at good ol' jwt. i left at 10pm. then took my hour commute home. madness. i find myself staying late (granted, not usually this late) every day, because i get so caught up in the projects we're working on and can't seem to tear myself away. the other interns i work with are great - five of us sit in one tiny room, with one tiny fan that does nothing to fight the heat. i wouldn't have it any other way though, they crack me up. i am the only non-hebrew, and i have learned more about the jewish culture in my three short weeks here than in my entire southern lifetime. i've learned all about shabbat (weekly sabbath), noshing (snacking) and shmattas (ugly clothes) - i even said "oy vey!" in a club last friday.

in other news, i have a few more things to cross off the nyc list:
3. go to a club - the roommates and i tagged along behind a birthday party to get into the lap of swankitude at mansion. drinks were $16 a pop, there were three floors, lots of laser lights and a pakistani rap troupe. everything i expected and more.
4. eat at serendipity - delicious, check out the signature drink "frrrozen hot chocolate"

4. buy jewelry at a flea market - went to the one in hell's kitchen (apparently the hot and upcoming "gayborhood" of manhattan, according to the queer issue of the village voice, and i can see why because it was adorable) and bought a bracelet i am now obsessed with.
5. see a concert in madison square garden - this was originally a stretch due to finances, but i lucked out in a huge way... more to come on that in a minute.

i'm feeling good about the way the list is progressing. the more touristy things will come in the next couple of weeks, especially when my parents roll into town. bob and t, just a couple'a kids in the big city. i can't wait to see how that turns out...

but back to madison square garden! last monday, i had a coniphany - a word i have just created to describe a concert experience so sublime that it bestows upon the viewer a feeling of euphoria and nirvana (but really it's just concert + epiphany). i saw coldplay, the band with the number one album in our fair land at this time, perform at what has been called the best venue in the us... for free! it was their kick-off concert for the "viva la vida" tour. no tickets were sold, they were only auctioned off online. of course i was completely clueless that it was even happening, but a friend of mine in the dorm knows a sound guy there and got two free tickets. chris martin danced like a little elf and i fell in love. here are my attempts at pictures:

glowing orbs that descended from the ceiling - this was during my favorite song, "lost!"

taken when the band walked halfway around the venue to perform an acoustic version of "yellow" in the middle of the crowd - awesome

definitely in my top three concert experiences of all time, contending with 4th of july dave matthews and house of blues ben harper.

i'll end with a random collection of pictures from various adventures:

dylan's candy bar, huge candy store aka candyland come to life

view of the inside

after poor hil's defeat: "hillary for vp... or else. she's gonna be a salty bitch along with alot of disgruntle women. have mercy on them." made me laugh because of word "salty" and grammatical errors

two men at target buying hundreds... literally... of pillows for no explained reason

a brand, new york

i think one of my favorite parts of new york city is the stark contrast you can find in lifestyle in a mere matter of miles. for example, a few subway blocks north from me, you hit harlem, the bronx and beyond. a few blocks south, and you're right in the middle of the posh upper east side. i wonder how there can be such socioeconomic differences in just a few blocks.

i have checked another item off the list:
2. visit the met.

it was all i could have asked for, and i'm sure i will be back. they were featuring an exhibit on superheroes and fashion, so i saw the original superman, spiderman, batmam and catwoman costumes. high fashion designers like d&g, versace and armani also created couture interpretations of the costumes, forming them into incredible dresses and suits. my fashion major roommates were in heaven. as was miss alice riley-ryan, who i had the pleasure of grabbing lunch with and who also joined us at the met.

classic pollock

my favorite of the day

smirnoff black

after a week in the city, i feel like i'm starting to know the ropes. i can sum up new yorkers in a couple of phrases: people have no concept of heat (i.e. they walk around in three piece suits in the 100+ degree heat wave without breaking a sweat), they do not remove their sunglasses (no matter how light or dark it is, outside or inside), and they love tropicana (i have seen three people on the subway chugging cartons). i'm sure there's more to them than that, but these attributes have fascinated me the most.

update on the nyc list i made: i have accomplished 1.5 things on my list so far.
1. bought a stuffed puppy at fao schwartz
.5. become a regular at a local shop (i have found the location, but becoming a regular takes a while)

in the past couple of days, i have done a lot of roommate bonding and shopping. i also visited central park, where katie, my friend across the hall, and i wandered lost for hours. but it was beautiful - an oasis in the middle of organized chaos.

you can rent paddle boats and ride them around the lake - i've definitely added that to my nyc to-do list.

i also started work today - and i think i'm going to really enjoy it. the building is huge and, in true creative industry style, decorated to a tee with bright walls and mod white furniture - tre' chic. there are four other account management interns and we have all been assigned to different clients. i scored a sweet account. when the human resources supervisor announced that i would be on the "diageo account," i thought it was designer clothes or something. however, no. diageo is the distillery that produces such college and club faves as smirnoff, jose cuervo, guinness, red stripe, dom perignon, hennessy, tangueray, baileys, captain morgan, goldschlager, ciroc, and crown royal. in the first meeting with my supervisor, judson, he pulled out a fifth of smirnoff black and gave it to me as a "welcome to the team" gift. welcome indeed! needless to say, that extra weight was super fun in the subway at rush hour, but worth the hassle :)

disco balls, jorts and roller skates

tonight i saw my second broadway musical - xanadu. if the name sounds familiar, that is because it is also an eighties film starring olivia newton john. it is a spin on ancient greek mythology, but set in venice beach, california during the year 1980. you can imagine the genius. to aid in the visualization, some imagery:

my favorite promotional phrase? "xanadu: on broadway. seriously." it was actually entertaining though, and the tickets were free. so no complaints here.

bright lights, big city

my twin long, with the puppy i purchased day one from fao schwartz

angle #2

angle #3

and my lovely view :)

i got a hundred guns, a hundred clips

yeah, so also... i am in new york city! forgot that little piece of this puzzle. this was my first glimpse of its majesty as my parents and i drove to our new jersey hotel last night.

tonight is my first night, and i am settling into my tiny, quaint room in plimpton hall on the upper west side. it's eerily similar to moving into gifford freshman year - but without the instant comfort of having helen with me. but my roommates seem great. three of us have moved in so far. there's april, a financial planning major at texas tech from lubbock, texas, who will be interning in the financial district. and there's hillary, a fashion merchandising major at colorado state who hails from the great state of nebraska. she'll be interning with diane von furstenberg, a high fashion designer. i'll go ahead and admit, i have no idea who this designer is - but the group of girls we were chatting with earlier ooh'ed and ahh'ed with jealousy when hillary mentioned that she would be working there, so apparently my fashion awareness is slipping...

i was a little overwhelmed by the city at first, especially after boarding the wrong train and ending up in the heart of harlem with good ol' bob and t-bone, the whitest of all white tourists. but after a really solid get-to-know-you conversation with april and hillary, i'm feeling better. the girls both start work tomorrow, so i will be on my own to make the most of this city. problem being: no clue where to start. i need something that will not be totally lame to do alone. and i just realized how ironic it is that i'm worrying about being lame as i'm watching the movie "clueless" alone.

i think i'll just ride around on the subway, looking like i know exactly where i'm going and that i'm in an enormous hurry to get there :)

bruiser

i am recently obsessed with bikes, more specifically this little gem. bruiser, as he'll hereby be known, makes a lovely addition to the cote household - and just in time for me to leave him for eleven weeks :( walking the streets of new york today has already made me miss him.