accidental exlporation!

i officially began my journey to "discover new york, one borough at a time", on monday in the financial district, but the day before i did some impromptu exploring in the upper west side:

chris and are awake at 7am to go to a church called redeemer. a few of his company mates attend that church, so after service we are at brunch with them at mermaid inn. (makes getting up early so worth it). it is such a sunny, gorgeous day, we sit outside on their patio. i'm having the steel cut oatmeal (dee-licious) and green tea (one lump or two? they have sugar cubes at this place), they're discussing (and tasting) the difference between frittatas, omelettes, and egg casseroles.

they all have two shows afterward so, at the suggestion of their stage manager i make my way to the 77th street sunday flea market! now, i don't have the patience to look through racks of random clothes, but if i had my own home right now (i'm subletting) i would be in heaven. they have the most amazing home goods for a great deal. and a little haggling never hurt anyone either. (i too was nervous about haggling until i read this: http://www.womenshealthmag.com/life/bargaining-skills)

after dreaming about the day i can fill my home with baskets and mirrors and antiques, i am wandering, looking for a place to print out more resumes, and babysitting flyers. go-go-gadget blackberry map, and i decide that i can just walk to a fedex office. i start out and get distracted by this shop called therapie. difficult to describe, but i think i'm in love with it. you walk in and there's all of this beautiful stationary, but they also have a large selection of high and low end hair and beauty products. (including devacurl a few dollars less than you'd find it at ulta; a curly girl's dream). they have a little loft area with undergarments and their accessories, i buy what is called a "comfy bra" for $9, ( my regular bras give me acid reflux, and this has worked wonderfully for that) they also have an overwhelming basement toy area. i'm not going down there.

after this, i say "tia focus!!!" and i continue to walk toward fedex office and find myself in a very familiar space. "i've seen that urban outfitters before" i say to myself. i text my pal andrew " i think i'm in you neighborhood" he texts back "stop! what? don't lie... it's not funny... wait for real?" i don't think he knows i moved here. we meet up for about 5 minutes, until he has to run off to a meeting. sigh.

it was nice to see a familiar face.

more on monday's adventures to come. it's time to get up and make someone hire me.

what i've learned about my fiance; ms. frizzle and julie and julia.

chris (or ck in some circles) and i have been together for almost 3 years and we have been long distance the entire time, until a week and a half ago. now we are a 10 minute bus ride away from each other. which is amazing and wonderful, and a whole lot of other adjectives. best of all, it just feels normal. i have always believed, and even more now, that distance is the perfect test of commitment. things have not always been rosy for us, (we have had miscommunications, heart-wrenching fights and taken breaks) but the bottom line is that i'm supposed to be with him. he's a dream come true! that said, i am learning new things about him everyday, for example:

the kid can NOT relax: he teaches on his days off, (after a week of 8 very physical shows) and his idea of relaxing is watching a show that makes my heart race more than ryan's bootcamp, "24"; and playing a very disturbing video game called "modern warfare". very bloody. not relaxing.

while i'm not relaxing with him, i'm looking for a job a bit more vigorously. today, i'm sitting in starbuck's making a flyer for babysitting, trying to make my text vertical for those little rip-off tabs at the bottom, and a nice lady stops and asks for my card. gotta love people who look over your shoulder at your computer screen. (i mean that with all sincerity because i do it all the time).

***

my true-blue-friend-til-the-end Lindsay gave me this amazing guide book called the Columbia Guide to New York 2007. So yesterday I dig it up and find some very interesting information! for instance, did you know that the island of manhattan was "bought" from native americans for the equivalent of $24! and also there is a magical bus in china town that will take you to boston for $15! yowzers! (as i'm typing this i realize that i'm picturing ms. frizzle and the magic school bus taking me to sensational, yet educational destinations)

anyway, i decide to be very "julie and julia" and make my way through this guide book, visiting each burough and neighborhood. dining, visiting museums, seeing the sites and blogging about it along the way! i will get through it by the end of the summer! i start monday in the Financial District! which i hope is more exciting than it sounds.

purging, and why i'm doing nothing right now.

there comes a point in the moving process when you just start to throw away everything. (that tiny sewing machine that i used for making small purses out of placemats one Christmas - trash; that bag of old cassette tapes, including hanson's mmmbop single - trash; old notes from jr. high and high school still in their fancily folded glory.... hesitation... deep breath... trash!) after you've been to the salvation army a couple of times, and just really don't think anyone will have use for the recordings of your old voice lessons, the only place for it is the trash. i've never been a minimalist, but i must make room for blessings to come. i've even parted with my shoes that i bought in prague (the soles are finally so worn that i slipped on concrete.) and i've even cleaned out my e-mail box, unsubscribing from hanes.com's weekly e-mails and other guilty pleasures.

here's a quick replay of march:
week 1: friends over for "packing sessions" (note: when these sessions involved wine, they did not involve much packing)
week 2: more vigorous packing waylaid by a sneaky cold that attacked my voice... and redbox movies.
week 3: a farewell cabaret composed of my favorite chicago voices (pictured below), including a wacky medley of my favorite audition songs.
week 4: working, wrapping up my glee club, sneaky cold morphs into coughing up blood, packing, selling furniture, community group farewell karaoke vegan party, cleaning, loading up car, driving to michigan, cleaning out my old things from parent's basement (to make room for the things i can't take to new york with me), driving through the night to get to brooklyn by morning (getting a speeding ticket in ohio (don't tell my mom)), getting mad lost in new jersey (at the very end of my journey when i'm starving and i've been up all night), and finally settling into my new neighborhood in Brooklyn's delightful Cobble Hill.

so, i'd like to say that i'm anxiously looking for a job, but i'm not. i'm exploring and sleeping, and i'm okay with that.

don't tell my mom though.

I'm blogging again!

It's been a long time since I have blogged. But, I think this is the best time to start since I'm
a. engaged which makes me extra reflective
b. moving to new york in a few months which makes me extra reflective
c. it's the new year and that makes me extra reflective

so hear are my present tendencies; my present adventures:

my birthday was yesterday! this is me doing some of my favorite things:

1. get up and notice that the sun is shining just for me
   
2. make a delicious tofu scramble with fresh asparagus, tomatoes and peppers
3. have a dance party in sunshine yellow pants
4. change pants and head to my massage (courtesy of my fiance), which is a dream come true
   
5. have lunch at aladdin's eatery (rolled dawali pita and hummus)
   
6. walk over to world market (if you join their explorer club they give you $10 on your birthday) and buy dark chocolate, stationary, a sympathy card and a bag of little candles.
7. walk over to borders to pick up "letters to a young artist" by anna deavere smith.
   
8. contemplate whether i can rightfully consider myself "young" anymore, while waiting for them to look for it. they don't have it
   
9. decide i could still consider myself young
10. drive over to anthropologie. (if you get an anthro card (not a credit card) they give you 15% off on your entire order in your birthday month, and a necklace with a little birthday candle on it.)
    
11. smell all of their candles. (it comes down to almond biscotti and white chocolate mousse)
12. buy the white chocolate mousse candle.
13. drive home.
14. sing some songs (i'm trying to find a good pop ballad)
15. go to community group where we talk about dreams (we're reading Genesis 37 and "go go go Joseph" keeps looping in my head)
    
16. celebrate my birthday with my community group and two vegan cupcakes from Fritz! (I didn't even know they had vegan cupcakes... trouble)
17. drive back home
18. find a perfect parking spot!
19. skype with faraway fiance, while burning my new delicious candle
20. fall asleep looking at his handsome face...
    

26 is gonna be awesome!

Frozen Lemonade

It is freezing today, literally!  There is ice everywhere and here I am grumbling about it.  Stepping carefully from my apartment to my car, grumbling.  Tip-toeing from my car to the bank, grumbling, even further to a voice lesson... etc.  'If I fall, I'm gonna sue everyone!'  I continue on like this stiffly looking down at the ground, balancing my weight on the balls of my feet, glancing up occasionally.   On my way to Green Grocer Chicago, I glance up and see a man in a black suit and long black coat with a brief case in his hand taking a running start to slide across the long patches of ice.  He does this repeatedly, and I laugh out loud and think, 'when life gives you lemons'...

How have you made the best out of bad situation?  I really want to know!  Please share in the comment section!

some things about me...

some days i go without combing my hair.

when people flip me off while driving, i like to counter with the peace sign.

i wear make-up just about every day, mostly to remind me that everyday is a special occasion.

i am passionately against using shampoo. (well, at least not on hair).

2 out of 3 of my house plants have died a slow and painful death.

i am not ashamed of my love for real simple magazine and other magazines that stay-at-home moms enjoy. 

i like to pray in my closet

investing in laser hair removal is in my 5 year plan.

i start Christmas shopping in september.

after i get out of the shower i wrap myself in a towel and hug myself for a bit.

i am obsessively early for appointments.

i will eat avocado on anything.

i'm actually ok with the recession.  (i'll blog on that later.)

i enjoy [talking to, hanging out with] little old men. 

i unplug everything if i'm leaving for more than 12 hours.

a whirlwind of change.

breathe....

i don't do well with change.  

but it's coming and this time i am holding onto the moment.  this very moment as i'm sitting in my bed in my very own apartment in chicago, in logan square.  i am happy, well rested and trying not to think about the coming months.

i decided to move to new york next fall.   so to start saving for that i need to get a roommate and a new place.  and though i know that this will be a good thing.  i'm already starting to mourn my solitude.  i really enjoy living alone, but it's impossible to save money when i am paying rent and utilities on my own.  

i am making a promise to be positive about this.  i love chicago, so i am committing to enjoy this year in this city and the people in it.  enjoying the time with my new roommate, and even the crazy kids that drive me insane.  see, i'm smiling. 

by the way, i can still change my mind about this.  just so you know.