Day 3 - New Job!

Today was my first day at my new job! I got up early to get ready, take the subway and give myself time to grab breakfast before. I spent $11 at Starbucks...then found out we were given breakfast at the orientation! (I bet you if I hadn't bought breakfast, there wouldn't have been breakfast offered. That's how these things work, right? Haha.) After watching a PowerPoint with a few others new hires and getting my badge, I finally went to my building. Apparently I arrived earlier than they expected, since my manager wasn't around and I didn't have login credentials for my computer!

Of course, there were a lot of other technology issues throughout the day (par for the course, I went through the same thing on my first day of my previous job!) but I did get some training in with one of my new coworkers. Everyone else seemed to have their own lunch plans and I was working with IT on some stuff, so I bought lunch ($4.30 for a soup) and then trained for most of the afternoon. But I also twiddled my thumbs quite a bit since I couldn't log in to ANYTHING relating to HR and only a few applications by the end of the day. Oh well, such is life and it's a good thing I had my Kindle in my bag!

Also, my coworkers also seem fun and outgoing. Such a change from my old job and they are all actually in my age range, late 20s to early 30s! This is definitely an environment I needed. And I'm ready to be fully trained even though they warned me that'll take about 6 weeks. After work, I headed back to my friends' place, replenished my subway pass for the week ($20), picked up a package my Mom had sent me (the rest of my work clothes that I couldn't fit in my suitcase - yay!) and then bought some overpriced groceries for $20.64. I picked up mini bagels, cottage cheese, a greek yogurt, frozen edamame, two of those 90-second rice-in-a-bag, and a bag of chips - just a few things to tide me over.

Well, it's already way past my "new" bedtime, since my job starts an hour later here and my commute is shorter. Tomorrow I'm picking up the keys and actually seeing my sublet which I'll move into later this week! Can't wait to stop living out of a suitcase/on a couch and actually have my own room!

Day 1.5 in NYC

I'm finally in New York!

The last few weeks have been crazy but thankfully I got everything done that needed to be, including selling my car two days before I left. I never want to sell a car again after that experience!

The day of traveling was a little crazy since it started with getting up at 4:30am to get rid of the final few things in my room and head to the airport. Once I arrived at JFK, it took 50 MINUTES to get my suitcase and then an hour and a half to take the SuperShuttle ($25) to get to the Upper West Side. (I'm staying with friends until I move into my Midtown West sublet on April 1.)

After feeling a bit overwhelmed with everything, I went out with friends last night. We went to a club in the Lower East Side which was a BLAST (I spent $38 which included my share of the cab rides, cover charge, coat check and a drink) and got home at 3am. I crashed immediately and slept until almost noon! That was an easy way to get myself used to the time difference. ;) After bagels with my friend ($8, I paid for both of us), the rest of the day was spent wandering around the city on my own as my friend wasn't feeling too well. I went shopping and splurged on a gorgeous B. Makowsky bag ($146 after sale and Macy's 10% tourist discount!), figured out where I need to go tomorrow for my New Hire Orientation which is in a different building from where I'll actually be working and just walked around. I popped into the gorgeous New York Public Library which I had never visited before, found some cute coffee shops on various cross streets to check out in the future and hit up a small farmer's market for some apples as snacks. I'm living out of my suitcase and still feeling a bit like this is an extended vacation instead of my new life, but I'm loving it so far!

My finances are in a bit of a disarray. I'm trying to keep track but it's a bit difficult! I've had a lot of money going in/out from various things...definitely looking forward to a regular (and larger!) paychecks starting next month. On top of my finances are my eating habits and working out habits...which basically disappeared over my last two weeks in San Diego save for a few bootcamp classes and very few meals cooked at home to use up the last of my groceries. I've basically paid for every meal out for the last 4-5 days, which is not normal for me at all! But hey, I guess that comes with a big move. I'm hoping April will be better once I'm in my sublet where the kitchen is huge, fully stocked and where I don't feel like I'm taking over my friends' space.

By the way...it's COLD here! My body was so acclimated to the amazing San Diego weather after 6.5 years that this will take a while, but I do have all the right clothing for the chilly (but sunny!) weather. Just have to make sure I stay bundled up when I'm outside. ;)

Time is Flying!

My last few weeks in San Diego have been flying by! I can't believe I only have 8 days left... My Mom came down from Saturday through Wednesday to help me pack and purge. That helped me get rid of a LOT of stuff! (Who knew I was a card hoarder?!) My life got consolidated into 11 small boxes, a duffel bag suitcase from Costco and a large backpack. I'm taking the suitcase and backpack with me to NY, and everything else will be shipped once I get settled and find a place!

My to-do list is very close to being done. I got through so much with my Mom and I can't thank her enough for her generosity/love/support during all of this. I'm not the most competent packer and she definitely turned me into one over the past few days! (She also gave me $100 to be used as "NYC spending money" for the first week or so while I'm there on cabs/lunch/snacks/etc. LOVE!) The big items I have left from my list are selling my car, finding a sublet in NY (might be easier once I'm there but I'm waiting to hear back from a few places) and canceling my car/renter's insurance. I also made $153 from selling various furniture items on Craigslist which will definitely help me out over the next week or so, including covering a hefty dry cleaning bill. And to top it off I'm throwing a dinner party/potluck this weekend and am really excited about it! Almost all my friends are coming and I plan on making this because, well, I want to try something new and delicious.

Just for fun, here's a picture of me and the 10 boxes that went into storage! (The 11th one is my small flatscreen TV which I'll put in on the last day.)

Really Big To-Do List

Ever since I accepted the job, I've been coming up with an incredibly long to-do list of what I need to get done before I move!

• Give 2 weeks' notice - DONE!
• Book a one-way flight (EEK!) - DONE!
  
• Get American citizenship - DONE!
• Get car passenger mirror replacement (it was stolen last weekend, JUST the mirror piece!) - DONE! $20.32 for the part, they didn't charge me labor because it took less than 2 minutes :)
• Notify landlord of departure - DONE!
• Apply for a U.S. Passport - DONE! (Had it expedited and just waiting for it to arrive.)
  
• Accept a lot of lunch invitations from coworkers - DONE!
• Plan a goodbye party - DONE!
  
• Find a sublet/temporary housing in NYC - In Progress
• Clean my car inside & out - DONE!
  
• Sell my car (EEK!) - In Progess
  
• Sell the few furniture items I own - DONE!
  
• Donate anything/everything (books, clothes, etc) - DONE!
  
• Pack what I'm keeping but don't immediately need into boxes - DONE!
  
• Cancel: car insurance, renter's insurance & AAA membership - In Progress
  
• Forward my mail (to my parents' house because I don't have a set address in NY yet!) - DONE!
  
• Transfer $$$ from my savings to my checking to prepare for security deposit, first & last month's rent, potential broker's fee, etc - The money I get from selling my car will help with this.
  

There are probably more things that I haven't thought of yet but they will reveal themselves as time goes on! It's a daunting list and I'm glad I have two weeks in between my last day of work and when I fly to NY to get it all done. :)