Labor Day Weekend

I hope you had a fun and relaxing Labor Day weekend! Work let us leave early on Friday, so my coworker and I did some shopping for makeup. I ended up spending $81 which was more than I had intended to, but all completely items were ones I use on an almost daily basis that needed replenishing! I'm not good at doing my own makeup but am trying to get the tools to get better. The rest of the weekend consisted of:

Rooftop party

Errands ($2.99 wine at Whole Foods wine store! Gasp, it competes with Trader Joe's?!)

Wine/college football on Saturday night

Friend's birthday brunch/drinking/board games/card games all day Sunday

Relaxing and reading The Help all day on Monday (finished it tonight - SO GOOD! Cannot wait to see the movie this weekend!)

Continuing to settle into my new apartment :)

Definitely a great weekend and a great start to Fall! Cannot wait for the leaves to start changing soon.

Earthquakes & Hurricanes

Yes, it's turning into quite the week here in NYC!

First, an earthquake in Virginia which we felt (and caused the native NYers to freak out slightly - granted, they don't know about earthquakes over here while the Californian in me just laughed a bit).

Now, the possibility of Hurricane Irene on late Saturday/most of Sunday. The lines at Duane Reade/Trader Joe's/Fairway are out of control. I've never been in a hurricane or even a tropical storm...so why am I not really worried? (The friends I'm staying with and I stocked up on essentials: booze, snacks and flashlights. We should probably get water and bread, too.) Hope everyone stays safe and crossing my fingers that it won't be as bad as everyone seems to be anticipating.

In other exciting news...I'm moving into my new place next Wednesday! My new roommate is setting up his work schedule so he'll be home to let me and the movers in. I cannot tell you how excited I am to be settled. I can't wait to unpack, set up my room and get back into an actual normal routine with a place to call my own for the foreseeable future. Oh yeah, and I can't wait to cook again! (My list of must-do's is long...like get my act together and make dr/dentist appointments. Seriously.)

Also, today is my 5 month mark of moving to NYC. Crazy, frustrating at times but it has been completely and utterly worth it. My friends are amazing and I'm making new ones every month. Best. Decision. Ever. :)

Apartment: Found

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Yes. You read that right. I found an apartment! Or rather, an apartment share in Manhattan.

Let's rewind a bit. By last Friday (July 29th), I had seen almost 10 places that week alone. From places with one-year leases to even a few one-month sublets since nothing else was working out. Again, the ones I wanted immediately never got back to me and I even missed out on one by 10 MINUTES. (Yeah, I don't want to talk about it.) Over the weekend I gave up and found a moving+storage company since I was completely out of options. They came on Saturday and moved all of my belongings: full bed+dresser given to me by the girl I had been subletting from, and 12 boxes. I made a plea on Facebook and was incredibly moved by all the offers of awesome friends to stay on their couches! I cannot thank them enough for their generosity while I'm "homeless."

So after taking a four day break from Craigslist which had been the bane of my apartment hunt in July, on Monday during my lunch break I couldn't resist going back on to see what had popped up over the weekend. I ended up emailing five places and then dove back into my work to have a few hours where I wasn't focusing on the fact that I didn't have a place to live... However, before I even left the office for the day, one of those places had replied to my email. We set up an appointment for that night at 8pm. I didn't have any expectations and I knew to avoid giving off an air of desperation this time around.

And then of course everything worked out exactly how it's supposed to.

I saw the apartment and fell in love with it instantly! And I met my now-soon-to-be (male) roommate and we clicked right away as well. The place is a 2-bed/1-bath with an open kitchen and living room plan. The building is on a very busy avenue but the apartment itself isn't on the street and faces other buildings which means it's very quiet. The location is also amazing! It's on the same corner as one of my favorite restaurants in the city in a bustling neighborhood, it's one avenue from Central Park and one avenue from the subway. As for the finances, my portion of the rent for the larger room with a closet is $1,200. Utilities run around $100 per person for cable, internet and electricity. Altogether it's more than I wanted to pay, but I'd actually set my max rent amount at $1,250 not including utilities so it still falls below that. Plus there's also the one month security deposit and the $75 credit check (ripoff!) fee. You know what? This place is WORTH IT.

I'll be signing onto the lease for a year. I am so excited, but most of all relieved. This is a huge weight off of my shoulders after all of the frustrations and emotional breakdowns I'd been going through! I'm so ready to be somewhere permanent instead of living a semi-nomadic lifestyle.

Life works in funny ways. Just when you least expect it. :)

Going Mac

When I moved to New York, I decided it was time for me to say goodbye to my PC and get a Mac. I absolutely love my iPhone which I've had since February, and over the years I've owned two iPods. Apple devices are fantastic and the best part is that they seem to last quite a long time!

A lot of my friends are already pro-Mac and have been for a long time. I've done my research, talked to friends and co-workers and basically anyone. I've been loyal to Dell for as long as I can remember...but my current laptop is 3 years old and it's getting to the end of its days. It's slow, the battery is dying and the charge lasts for less than an hour unplugged. It's getting clunky! My college laptop lasted me 4.5 years but even that was pushing it. (The battery had been replaced twice!) I figure even though technology basically falls all over itself with consistent and frequent upgrades, it would be nice to have something that could last double what my current laptop has!

Per suggestions from friends, I waited a few months for a much-expected upgrade to the MacBook Airs. And today, they were announced! I plan on heading to one of the four Apple stores in the city tomorrow after work to hopefully get one. The best part? I can use my Employee Purchase Program option to get 6% off! Not quite sales tax, but I'll take any savings I can get. (The money for this purchase has been earmarked since I sold my car prior to moving.) I can't wait to finally make the big switch! :) Oh, and it might help me feel a bit better about my apartment hunting frustrations...haha.

Are you Mac or PC? Have you made the switch? Any suggestions for a new Mac user?

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Frustrated

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This is exactly how I'm feeling right now. This round of apartment hunting in the city is not going well for me. I've sent out over 30 emails and so far I've only seen four places. I've had appointments that got cancelled last minute, or ones that suddenly wouldn't reply, or sounded great but then the people would tell me they lived above a noisy bar...

Of those four, I fell absolutely in love with the most recent one I saw which was located in the Upper West Side. After expressing my interest, they finally informed me yesterday that the room had been filled, which I figured when I didn't hear back from them right away. Darn.

The listings for August 1 are not plentiful in the areas I'm considering. I've even expanded my search parameters and even then, not much is coming up. For some reason, there's something about September 1 that is already managing to be more a "I should move then" point: I have an acquaintance moving to the city at the end of August who needs a place for September 1, I have two friends who are currently roommates that will need a third as of September 1 and I have a coworker on another floor who is moving to the city and needs a roommate for September 1. To top it all off, there are ALREADY listings on Craigslist for September 1, which is unheard of in the city as turn-around is generally 2-3 weeks out and never over a month!

Since it's getting later in the month, I'm starting to toy with the following ideas:

• Sublet or sleep on friends' couches for the month of August and see about moving in with any of the people I know above (and yes, storing most of my stuff for a month)
• Find a 2-bedroom for August 1 and pay the full rent while looking for someone to move in on September 1 (again, possibly the two who need roommates from above)

Obviously, the first option would be the cheapest, even with storage facility costs. The second option...would require a lot of money: full rent, security deposit, potential broker's fee and then sharing the costs of furnishing a place (though I know this can be done cheaply via Craigslist/Ikea). My parents have expressed the fact that they would be happy to help me out if I decide to go that route, which of course makes me incredibly grateful.

The hardest part about this is the fact that I really do not want to have to move TWICE in the next month. I already moved across the country, crashed with friends for a week and have been in two different sublets since the end of March. However, if all this headache and frustration leads me to a fantastic situation with a long-term lease...I think I can manage. Right?

I'm still crossing my fingers that something will magically appear and I'll be able to sign onto a lease in a share for August 1.

Summer Love (and Ramblings)

So I've been rather M.I.A for the past month. I blame summer in this glorious city that I'm still completely enamored-head-over-heels-in-love-with-can't-get-enough-of! I just passed my three months of living here and this place continues to feel like home every day. :)

My social calendar is still crazy and on top of hanging out with my new friends a few times a week as well as now-weekly happy hours with coworkers, June also included a trip to Atlantic City/the Jersey Shore for a girls' weekend, dog sitting on the Upper East Side (for free in exchange for staying a block away from Central Park...I had NO CLUE how many people own dogs in this city, those 7-8am walks definitely opened my eyes!), my Dad visiting twice on business and my Mom visiting for an extended weekend! July is already turning into a similar busy month since my brother is coming to visit this weekend, a girlfriend is coming on the 22nd and my Dad's coming for business again on the 28th. No complaints here, though, because I love visitors! (I also got the pleasure of meeting and hanging out with the lovely Single Filez during her NYC vacation...we had a blast walking across the Brooklyn Bridge and eating amazing pizza at Grimaldi's! I totally agree with Jon Stewart, by the way. I must be turning into a real New Yorker.)

The plus side was that with my parents visiting for a handful of days during the month, they paid for all our meals out and gave me a bit of spending money (mostly for expensive groceries) so I was able to send $200 to my Roth IRA, $100 to my Travel Fund, $100 to my Gift Fund and still have a bit of leftover to be used as I wish. Yay for still being able to save!

I also just had a fantastic July 4th weekend where three of four nights were spent on rooftops. I will admit, however, that the lack of a grill is just killing me. I miss grilling, let along being able to do it ALL year 'round in San Diego! Oh well, small sacrifices for living in New York.

On another note, my current sublet is up on July 31st so all too soon I'm about to embark on yet another apartment hunt. The hardest part is that I really, REALLY want to stay in my current neighborhood, Hell's Kitchen. A 15 minute walk to work? A bajillion restaurants around the corner? Only 2-3 avenues from almost any subway line? Ability to get on the roof of the building and see all of the fireworks on the Hudson? I love it so much more than I ever expected to, especially since I knew next to nothing about the area before I moved to the city and just happened to get my first sublet here. I've already started sending out some emails to ads on Craigslist and all my friends know that I need a place for August 1st, so we'll see if anything comes from that. I just need to heed all the advice I previously wrote about and try to be patient with this crazy process again. Oh, and keep an open mind about possibly moving to a different neighborhood. Even though it hurts my heart just thinking about moving away from here!

How's your summer going? Also, shout-out to a sweet reader (hi, Dee!) who emailed me and made me realize how long it's been since I posted. :)

Being Social

When I moved to NYC, I only had one very good friend in the city. I've met a few new people through blogs and got back in touch with acquaintances. Most of my weekends, however, had been spent on my own since a lot of people I know go home (New Jersey) for the weekends or already have very busy lives...

Then I joined a social sport league. And it literally change my life! I got incredibly lucky to be put on a fantastic team where I literally had immediate friends. I've spent all of last TWO weekends in a row hanging out with them. It's been absolutely fantastic! :)

However, of course, all of the social engagements add up quickly. Trust me, you don't even want to know what I spent over my 4-day Memorial Day weekend. I was here on Saturday and here on Monday. But you know what? WORTH. IT. Such a blast, and I'm developing better friendships! All I can say is...good thing my Dad's coming to visit/on a business trip for the next 5 days! ;)