Getting to know my hood ...

Since I had to deliver my security deposit and December rent cheques to Manhattan Apartments on 7th & 57th Street I decided to make the trek to my new hood.

As I was nearing Park Avenue I noticed two fairly flashy people in front of me. One of them looked really familiar -- took me a bit to realize it was Russell Brand wearing high boots, leather scrunched pants and long coat. He was with a woman that was wearing A LOT of makeup, 6" heels, fish net stockings with leg warmers. They quickly walked into the Four Seasons Hotel. Hmmm.

I walked to 2nd avenue and up and down a few streets to my new apartment. Below are a few photos of my place and it's surroundings ... with commentary of course.




Front door of my building. It's cute.











The building from the front. I am on the third floor, the first two windows on the right is where my kitchen is and the last window is the living room which I am going to use as the breakfast nook/ pantry. You can sort of see the bedroom on the side of the building after the black strip (they post advertising in that space).








The river is a block away, it was really gloomy out today and is probably a nice view when it's sunny out.








This little cafe has no name but when I walked past it was packed and the desserts looked amazing (and I don't even like dessert!).






Precious Pets. Shyloh's future daycare. When I went in to inquire about their services I was greeted by THE nicest man, who was also the owner. He told me that this area was full of Sheltie's! He had two sheltie's in daycare today so I was allowed to go back and check it out. So cute!

What's even crazier about this place? His sister-in-law is from Regina, Saskatchewan ... crazy. Shyloh will definitely be coming here on my way to work as a treat!







Just thought I would throw this one in ... Jeffrey's wine and liquor shop - 2 doors away from my place and a cheese shop right across the street. Can't wait for Joanne to visit!







This picture isn't from near my place but was laughing at the misspelling of cigarettes.




Well, move in date is November 28th! More pics to come!

Shock Top Belgian White

After work, Audra and I decided to stop by the pub for a few pints. I asked the bartender for a light beer and was served Shock Top. It was served with a slice of orange and was surprisingly good ... and Budweiser to boot.

One pint in we were interrupted by a very intoxicated 70 year old woman who was drinking by herself. She decided to let us both in on a few beauty secrets ... for Audra, she would like her to try using a medium brown pencil on her eyebrows, rose blush and nude lipstick that would really bring out her eyes. She went on about how much she loved her hair and was pleased with how Audra styled it this evening - such a beautiful girl, she said.

Then it was my turn.

She made note of my beautiful eyes and how it was rare to see eyes that actually have a sparkle in them - she said it meant something but I forget what that was. Apparently I also have a nice nose and smile but my hair was all wrong. She went on and on an on about how it needed help, that with my features it was such a shame they were wasted on such a poor haircut. Not kidding, a shame.

I have never laughed so hard in my life. Night over, going home to search for hair salons.

Does where you live really define who you are?

It's quite sad that when someone finds out which area of town you live in you are immediately judged based on the neighbourhood.

Some New Yorkers will say I live in Corporate Midtown, Lovely Beekman, or on the border of the expensive Sutton Place. I say, I live on 52nd & 2nd Avenue (353 East 52nd Street) in a renovated two bedroom apartment that the landlord took $100 off a month of and am very excited to move into.

It's an eight block walk to work and a four block walk to the subway over to LIC. Although the rent is $800 more a month than my mortgage in Toronto, I am only locked in to a one year lease and once I get a better idea of the hoods in New York, I can move next November if I so choose!

So excited to move in and will post better pictures when I am settled.

Shyloh Day 2 & Apartment Hunting Day 1

Shyloh had a really rough night so I woke up really early this morning to take him out. After 20 minutes he just wouldn't go to the bathroom so I gave up and came back to an overwhelming smell in the apartment. Sick. How did I not smell this when I woke up? Shyloh was not well in the evidence was all over the carpet - i gagged repeatedly while cleaning it up. Sick.Sick.Sick.
I hope this wasn't going to be a daily occurrence and was just due to the fact he had a really crazy day yesterday. He slept the whole morning - poor little guy.

I ended up shutting down at work around 2:30pm in order to make it over to Manhattan Apartments for 3pm.

Let the apartment hunting begin!

The first place I saw was on 55th & 2nd, complete gut renovation on the first floor facing the 2nd. It was small but the renovations were gorgeous. Soft lighting, exposed brick, new kitchen with a dishwasher and stainless steel appliances. The bathroom was nice too and there was a washer & dryer in the closet!

The bedroom had french pocket doors but there was literally no closet space anywhere. Listed at $2,500/ mth and it was really close to work but I don't think I could get all my stuff in it?

The second & third places were at 52nd & 2nd, a brownstone walk-up. Unit 1B was really run down and nasty but a steal at only $2,400. I was really disappointed with this unit - the appliances were old, the bathroom was gross and it sort of looked like someone had been squatting in it. It was a one bedroom with a small living room and larger step up kitchen. No dishwasher or washer & dryer.

We decided to check out the higher priced unit on the third floor to compare against.
As soon as I walked into 3A I was excited. It had been completely renovated and had two bedrooms, nice dark walnut coloured floors, with a new kitchen, bathroom and an alcove eating area.

The main bedroom was definitely big enough to put my bed, night tables and dresser in it. The closet space was fantastic too. The second and third rooms were smaller but could envision using the second bedroom as my living space and the third room could house my kitchen table. Both rooms also had great storage plus, if you looked out the window and down the street, you could see the river. The bathroom had good storage and a really deep tub too.

The kitchen was brand new with good cupboard space (no less than what I had in my condo in Toronto). No dishwasher but I didn't mind 'roughing it'.

I really like this place but at $2,700 I could literally afford a 4 bedroom house in Calgary! Renting vs. owning was really starting to get to me - I felt sick over the thought of forking over that much money a month - investing in someone else's property with no return. Ugh.

Now the rationalizing begins.

I could save $600 a month on a dog walker/ day care for Shyloh because I am only 7 blocks from work. Would I actually walk home at lunch though? I guess for that kind of money, I would.
There was no microwave ... I should be eating healthier anyhow ... anything that needs a microwave to cook is usually crap. This type of thinking went on and on and on.

I really want this place. Camera's dead ... damn it.

We headed down to the 30's & 2nd to look at four places in a 'luxury' style building. First place was huge, $2,600 and had a big balcony but was right next to FDR drive. My view? Citi Group on Long Island to the right and a water plant directly in front. All four apartments we looked at were being fully renovated (and floors were all seriously shellacked) but this type of building just wasn't for me. 37 floors of cookie cutter style apartments and completely removed from everything.

Next.

On to 29th, another large building with a doorman. Apartment 1Z looked more like a dance studio. The living room was bigger than my entire condo in Toronto but the kitchen was so small, the bathroom was disgusting and the bedroom overlooked the garbage area. Nope, this wasn't going to work. Let's move on.

Madison and 21st Street, that would be cool to say "I live on Madison" right?

Great building. The kitchen had literally 20 cupboards, dishwasher, full range stove, microwave, huge fridge and mini island. The living room was a good size and had a wood burning fireplace. The bedroom had old french doors and was a good size with a small closet. Very cute but I couldn't stop thinking about the place on 52nd plus there was no storage in this unit, only one closet by the door and in the bedroom.

We jumped on the 6 subway and headed up to the 70's, upper east side. We were supposed to see two units in the area but they were being renovated and the workers locked up the apartments and our keys didn't work. Oh well, I had enough - we had been walking for 4 hours now and I could feel a golf ball sized blister forming on the heel of my left foot.

Back to the office to fill out an application for the place on 52nd. My broker was going to see if we could get the building management down $100. They took my deposit and said they would call me Saturday to let me know if I got it. I really really really really want this place.

Well, it's 8pm, time to make my way back to apartment to see what destruction Shyloh has made. He's been alone for 5 hours.

Nice, what a good boy - no mess ... off Dewitt's dog run!

Subway Conversation Eavesdropping and Shyloh Arrives!

Today was the day Shyloh arrived in New York. Poor little guy ... he is 3 yrs and 1 month old (nearly to the day), this is his third home. I decided to take transit to the LGA, it was really easy ... caught the express subway a block from my building to Astoria, Queens and hopped on the M60 bus to the airport. Nice! $2 transit ride vs. a $40 cab ride ... CM will be please with that expense report.

Question. Have you ever pretended to listen to your iPod only to eavesdrop on other conversations? That was me on the subway today. There were three people beside me talking about how MTV execs were coming to New York next week and they thought it might woo them to let them sit in on Beyonce rehearsing for SNL at 12:30pm. Apparently, SNL is trying to work a deal with SNL to buy one of there cartoons? They even referred to conversations they had with Lorne. It was kinda cool to eavesdrop on this one. Then they moved on to Penny Marshall, she wants to come in to pitch a show but Lorne wants them to be honest, if the show sucks then don't lead on that it was good. He doesn't want to get her hopes up ... they said it is something too similar to Chevy Chase's character in National Lampoon's Vacation. They got off one stop before mine ... I sort of wanted to stalk them ... I wanted to know what their jobs were.

That's where the ease and fun of this trip ended. Although, in my opinion, La Guardia airport is really ghetto, it is very spread out. They dropped me off at what they said was Air Canada but was actually Northwest. After walking back 5 bus stops earlier I found the Air Canada special baggage claim, where I was told Shyloh would be. No go. I had to hop the Route A free airport bus to Air Canada Cargo at the Marine Airport Hanger - sounded good - but no Marines were there ... just mini vans loading crappy clothing and junk for what I can only guess to be for their $1 stores.

After speaking with a rather ignorant Continental cargo handler an Air Canada helper came to the rescue. Shyloh's plane was delayed an hour ... I hope he was ok, he had been at the airport since 11am this morning to go through customs and board the plane. They told me I might as well bus it back to the main terminal because there are no bathrooms in the cargo area and by the time he cleared customs it would be 1.5 hours.

I didn't feel like hopping back on the bus so I walked back to the main terminal to grab a snack and read a weekly magazine Catherine gave me called Time Out New York. Great magazine! Timely tips on rentals too like how to sound proof your ceiling, updating the crappy cupboards and how to mask ugly walls while still getting your security deposit back. At only 78 cents an issue I will definitely sign up for it once I find my place.

It was now 5pm, time to head back to AC Cargo. Shyloh still wasn't there ... I was feeling sick with worry and hoped he was ok. After about 20 minutes of brick breaker on my BlackBerry (which I am addicted to), Shyloh arrived. Once he heard my voice he let out the cutest howl/cry!

We played for a bit on the grass, he took THE longest potty break ever and we headed back to the main terminal to catch a cab.

After I dragged Shyloh's crate into the apartment and got him some water we decided to go to Riverside Park so he could get a good run in. A lady in my building suggested it because they have a fenced in area where you can let them off leash. One of the other dog owners started up a conversation with me .. a really nice older gentleman that gave me some great tips on dog parks and things to see in the neighbourhood. One 'landmark' that he told me about was just down the street, Larry Flint's Hustler Club ... told me that if I had any men come visit me that would be the place for them to go. Nice.

As soon as we got back to the apartment Shyloh laid down on the provided dog bed and he has been sleeping ever since.

I am going apartment shopping tomorrow ... can't wait to see how much double my mortgage payments gets me!

New bank account, new credit card and a new bed!

Great morning at LIC, I always enjoy the HBX weekly status meeting. Tried to meet with a few others but everyone was behind closed doors so I headed back to the office. Thankfully my pay stub was on my desk, that was the last piece of the puzzle I needed to finally open a U.S. bank account. Off to Citibank I go!

When I got back to work I had a surprise in my inbox ... Corporate Living Inc. caved and FINALLY bought a new bed for my apartment. So excited to have a good night sleep, the first one since I moved here.

Send and receive ...

Hmmm - that didn't last long, next email is from Calgary to ask if it would be ok if I moved to the 6th floor on November 18. Seriously?? My response, you ask? "Sure, but the bed is coming with me". I thought it was kind of funny ... they however did not. It what I believe was a deadpan tone via email they wrote me back to assure me that the bed in the new suite is better than the one I currently have.

While I was on a roll I decided to call American Express and get them to complete a global transfer of my Canadian account to help me qualify for credit here. Done and done. My card will arrive in 3 business days ...

Time to shut down, day is done. It was raining so I decided to take the subway home. Stopped to watch the dancers doing there 'thang' ... very cool.

Better quit while i'm ahead ... off to bed ... Can't wait!

Election Night 2008

After my first full day of work at the clients office I was really happy to finally be home. Turned on the TV and watched a bit of the election and realized that they were filming down at Times Square and Rockefeller Center.

The Rockefeller set up is pretty awkward and always crowded so I decided to walk down to Times Square. It was pretty quiet ... everyone was really focused on watching the two large screens. A few teenage yahoos were next to me ... was I that annoying when I was young? Chances are I am still that annoying sometimes.
Cheers started as results began rolling in and NBC & CNN cameras kept the people entertained with the possibility of being on TV.
It was a little tense during periods of the night and then there was chanting and a little bit of booing when McCain took a state. I couldn't take it anymore - these teenagers were driving me bonkers, they were making some of the most ridiculous comments, clearly they didn't understand the importance of this election. Anyhow, I decided to move to the other side of the street. Just as I got there CNN moved in and had the camera on the crowd I used to be a part of - SNAP! Were they waiting for me to go? Oh well, I looked like crap anyhow ... the air quality in this city is killing me and my eyes are always blood shot!

The crowd counted down to the polls closing on the west coast and then on all the screens it read that Obama had won. Everyone went CRAZY - like New Year's Eve crazy! They were running around hugging each other, everyone had their buddies on the phone and some were even crying ... I am a pretty sensitive person so yes, I had tears in my eyes too ... the emotions were running so high it was hard to keep it in. Every cab driver was honking and yelling out their windows. So glad I decided to go down there to watch it all happen.

After about 15 minutes I decided to head home and watch the speech from there. At one point I muted my TV and could still here the speech from Times Square. The honking and celebrating lasted until about 2am (or at least that is when I finally fell asleep) but I didn't mind.

Bowling & My first celebrity sighting

Thursday
Thursday night was a CM NYC Social Club sponsored bowling night at Bowlmor Lanes in Union Square. I wasn't gong to play but had no choice once my name was on the score board. Our team lost to the MB team, by quite a lot, but it was fun. After bowling we went over to Pete's Tavern for a few drinks.

Friday - Holy Halloween in New York
Wow, I can't believe how hungover I was and had to be up really early to meet my relocation girl at the social security office at 8:30am. I was the first one called, application submitted and made it to the office by 9:45 ...

On the way to the subway Dennis Rodman walked by me with a camera shooting his every move. Looked like he was doing some sort of reality show - god i hope not! He is quite good looking in person, too many piercings though. Ended up leaving work at 2pm to sort out a bank account and sign up at Verizon.

No go on the bank account, need to get a piece of mail with my address on it first - argh. Did get my new cell and didn't want to wait until the middle of November for the Blackberry Storm so I settled on the Curve.

Halloween is crazy here, they even have a parade that you can walk in. I was supposed to go check it out with the girls but opted out - just not a big fan of the day and was very very tired.

Sunday
On my way out for shopping trip try #2, going back to 34th to finish what I started last week. The NY Marathon is on today so if I get done shopping early I may head up to the Central Park finish line.

UFC right on the corner of 3rd Ave & 44th Street!

Sunday Update
Quick update on Filene's Basement that I visited on Sunday ... not worth all the hype in my opinion. Mendis mentioned I should check out Century 21 department store ... it's definitely on my list for this weekend. I also made it through DSW (discount shoe warehouse) and decided to walk from Union Square (14th) to Macy's on 34th. So many accessory stores on the way there ... I will have to remember to come back and take a closer look when I purchase a medi-chair.

By the time I got to Macy's I was spent. I was on hour 4 of shopping and for anyone that knows me well that's a long time for me because I am not a shopper ... I did my best to browse through all the floors but by the time I made it to the 9th I was done. I took 6 narrow wooden escalators and three updated escalators down to the first floor and off I went to find the closest metro station home.

Monday
Time to take a crack at getting to the new office. I decided to try a new route and took the subway on 50th to Times Square and the shuttle across to Grand Central ... what a relaxing ride - LOVE the shuttle.
I managed to get turned around outside of Grand Central and headed the wrong way (in heels) to the office ... about 30 minutes later I found the office through landmarks I had remembered seeing on Thursday. I'm getting used to being turned around so I didn't bother getting frustrated. At least I was able to get through the subway system without a problem so all-in-all it was a good morning.

Today was my first day visiting the client at LIC. It was a gorgeous day out which meant the subway would be sweltering (or so I have been told - which was true!). By the time I made it four flights down the tunnel, across a two block long sloped walk way down one more flight of stairs I was at the #7 train to Long Island ... and sweating as if I just ran a 5k marathon (not that I have ever ran a 5k but just assume that's what one would look like ... sweaty and red faced). I can't imagine what it is going to be like in the summer! Thanks to the air conditioning on the train I was able to cool down before walking a few blocks to Citi. The meetings went well and looks like I will officially have my cubicle set up next Tuesday ... I definitely will find a better route to LIC before then.

On my way back to the office about a block from Grand Central a fight between two young guys broke out on the corner ... in front of a perfume shop of all places. My first NY fight. I could barely look at them on the ground punching each other ... I kept having a flashback to the movie American History X when that guy got 'curbed' ... gag! There were a few people standing around and one older gentleman called the police. I had to keep walking to the office ... I didn't want to see how this fight ended.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful and ended up leaving work late. I was going to walk home but my feet had enough walking for the day and wanted to get out of my heels.

I should note that I felt a little sad yesterday ... I'm missing Toronto, my friends and the CBOL team :(

Tuesday
Made it to work early! Crazy how quick it is to get around when you start getting comfortable with the subway system. Have I mentioned how much I love our new office space? I will take pictures on Friday since it's supposed to be sunny out and can post them this weekend.

There was a huge crowd in the subway after work - a few guys were dancing (or at least I think they were dancing - after the mini UFC show I saw, who knows). I stopped to check it out but could barely see anything through the crowds ... the music was good and everyone was clapping. Down the hall and to the right was a woman singing opera with a small stereo playing music ... she was REALLY good. I wish I had money to drop in her bucket but I just got my new debit card fedex'd to me this afternoon and hadn't been to the bank yet. Mental note to carry a few bills to support these talented people.

weekend update

Where did I leave off? Right, it was Wednesday and Catherine and I did head to Pete's Tavern, the oldest tavern in New York to have a couple of pints then I decided to try and make my way home on the subway.

Yes, you guessed it, went the wrong way again and ended up downtown with no money left on my metro card and wondered the streets looking for a bank. My bank card wouldn't work at the Bank of America (which TD ended up reporting as fraud and shut down my access to my account ... found that out on Saturday night) but was able to take cash from my credit card. Made it home safe and sound with Food Emporium take out in hand.

Also, I was introduced to the best falafel place called Maoz Vegetarian Restaurant for an amazing lunch.

Thursday
At work early today - which can only mean that I finally have the subway system worked out. At about 11am Amanda asked if I would like to check our our new office space in midtown. We hopped the express to Grand Central and walked a few blocks to the new space on 44th & 3rd.
CM NYC is located in the same building as Adage, Cingular, UN and across the street from Rachel Ray's studio (if I hear her voice my ears might bleeding). I was just happy the elevators were working (one of the two elevators at our old place has been under repair for a month now). The new space has a little bit of all our offices. Chicago's colours, Toronto's windows and Calgary's bistro space. I think it's nice but a few people in the office don't like it due to the new commute time.
Big bonus of the space is the windows actually open plus it looks out to Tudor City and the Chrysler Building. The lunch room is great with booths and tables to sit at ... I may only work out of LIC 2 of the 5 days instead!

In the evening I went to look at a place in Audra's building, her landlords (the cutest old men I have ever met) let me look at the place before it went it went up for rent.
It was the smallest apartment I have ever seen in my life - there was no way that I could get my stuff up the narrow staircase to the second floor let alone into the unit. My bed was bigger than the bedroom, the kitchen was smaller than the bathroom with the fridge in the living room and it looked like if I actually set up my furniture near the wall I would end up in the restaurant below! The big selling point of this $2,000/ mth place was the HUGE terrace out the back, which was bigger than the actual apartment.

It's too bad this place was so small ... it was in a really great neighbourhood on 38th & 2nd Ave and was a great price ... I am really getting nervous about apartment hunting now.

Audra and I decided to go to the corner pub where the fire fighters usually hang after work (none today though). Also, I am really having a hard time finding a beer I like ... ended up having a Budweiser Select - that would be the first and the last one I would have during my stay in New York ... it's like eating McDonald's here when there are so many great restaurants ... sick.

After my 'pint' I decided that I should walk home ... it would only be about 20 blocks - no big deal.

1.5 hours later ... I finally made it home ... not smart to walk while looking up the whole way, I ended up getting turned around and back tracked to nearly where I started. It was a nice walk though, I passed a great outside bar at Grand Central, Madison, Park and 5th Ave shops, the Waldorf Astoria, Rockefeller Center (btw, the skating rink is a lot smaller than they make it out to be on TV - about 1/4 the size of Nathan Phillips Square), NBC Studios and Radio City.

Friday
Worked from home today due to the office move and meeting with the Mulberry Group in the afternoon who would be showing me around New York. I made the huge mistake of thinking they would be picking me up and touring me around in a car! I have been walking a minimum of 1-2 hours a day for 6 days without a good pair of shoes .. not sure how long I would last during this tour on foot.

She took me through a welcome kit booklet of things I should know to get settled in New York. One that sticks out is that you should never rent an apartment, even if you are on the 19th floor, above a restaurant, market or convenience store due to the cockroaches - you have nearly a 97% chance of having them in your place. Hmmm - thank god the 1 bedroom above the restaurant in that building didn't work out.

She showed me the quickest route to Grand Central on the S train, we toured around the terminal and she showed me the Campbell Apartment Lounge where they apparently serve the best cocktails ever made. The terrace bar I passed last night ended up being the overflow area of the Campbell Apartment - the drinks are about $25 each but it is said to be worth the experience.

We headed to the office and over to 5th Avenue to Central Park, walked to 76th and over to 2nd Ave ... she pointed out the Frick House which was an absolutely beautiful house which you can take a tour of (no children allowed) and admire his collection. I definitely will be back.

She also pointed out a brownstone on 72nd that has all the original interior restored to when it was built and was very much how I pictured all brownstones to look like (of what i could see inside and out) in New York. You can get a better look at night from across the street and she said it is definitely worth coming back to see.

All in all it was a great afternoon ... I realized that I wouldn't be able to afford anything in that neighbourhood but it was nice to see.

After limping home, literally, my feet were killing me, I was able to relax for a short 20 minutes until I had to get ready for happy hour with Catherine. She was taking me to the lower east side to meet up with a friend from work.

We started out at the Crocodile Lounge in Gramercy where you get a free pizza with the purchase of a pint. Nice pub and great beer ... I tried the checker cab blonde ale ... very good! We had a couple pints there, Catherine had the free pizza and off to the lower east side (Houston and Allen Rd).

While we waited for Catherine's friends to arrive we had a drink at a bar called Pianos where the drinks are 3/4 hard alcohol with a splash of soda. The CMJ music festival was on in the neighbourhood and we checked out a band upstairs but ended up leaving shortly after our drink.
We headed up to a place called One on One Irish pub where we could sit and have a few drinks. When Jackie arrived we had gone downstairs to the bathroom and noticed a brick lined club in the basement with some great music. We ended up moving downstairs for a couple drinks but ended up getting kicked out because it was someones birthday party. I ended up leaving shortly after - I was really tired, it was 1am and wasn't up to checking out the next bar.

I was glad Catherine took me to see the lower east side, I was able to determine that it wasn't going to be the neighbourhood for me. Although they have some of the nicest boutiques I just didn't feel like I fit in there.

Saturday
My feet were killing me - I ended up napping/ relaxing at home all day ... what a week!

Sunday
That brings us to today ... all caught up now and am off to get a cell phone, check out Filene's basement (discount clothing store) and to get a nice pair of walking shoes!

Garbage day is every two days?

Beep beep beep, crash, slam ... that's officially the sound I hear every second morning - garbage day is here again. Maybe it's the hood i'm in?

Little tired today - the new mattress i was promised by corporate living was in fact not new but a cheap feather bed on top of the board i am sleeping on. Very deceiving though ... it looked SUPER fluffy and comfortable when I got home last night so i 'sort of' threw myself on it in exhaustion and nearly winded myself. It was the same crappy cheese clothed covered spring bed. What a princess I am? No - it's that bad.
Apparently they are bringing me another foam piece to put on top of the mattress tomorrow ... but i question why they don't just take the nice pillow top mattresses from the hotel suites on the other floors? Looks like tonight will be another date with Nytol.

Clearly, I am grumpy so I will change the subject now.

Today I took a different exit out of the Union Square station and was pleasantly surprised by the organic food market off 14th and Broadway. Too bad it shuts down on October 25th - will have to keep it in mind for spring.

Having a tough time at work today, can't wait for the extra large pint at Pete's Tavern down the road that I plan on ordering after work with Catherine ... t-minus 2 hours.

Taking the Redeye - Grill

Tonight was dinner at the Redeye Grill across from Carnegie Hall with the CM team - had the chicken - it was ... ok i guess? Wouldn't suggest dining there - service was horrible. I am definitely going to check out the tribute to Leonard Berstein next weekend - Catherine went and said it was fantastic.

As for my report on NY - here's a walking tip for y'all:

walk signal = walk
flashing hand = walk
solid hand = walk

Not much else out of the ordinary happened tonight ... shutting down now to go continue reading my IDEO book on New York that Mendis picked up for me!

Correction & Update

Could not wake up this morning! Crawled out of bed at my usual 8:15am and could of made it to work on time but was wary of taking the first train that stopped. Damn, should of taken it - it was the express to Union Square - made a mental note to not miss that train again.

Need to write a brief correction notice to tourists regarding yesterday's post. Apparently, they do announce stops on some trains, the newer trains that is. Had a great ride into work today - we even picked up captain crazy at the 28th street subway stop. He entertained me two stops to Union Square.

It's 10am. Starting day two.

Day one at work

It's weird how in Toronto I couldn't drag my ass out of bed before 8:30am ... today I was up at 7am, bright eyed and bushy tailed. I even made coffee ... I sort of feel like I am on vacation?

WTF it's 9am, ok, that's ridiculous - I woke up at 7am ... I am going to be late ... vacation over - it's like any other work day in Toronto ;)

Off to the subway. I'm fairly confident I know what i'm doing/ where i'm going because Catherine carefully explained exactly where I should go and get off the subway.

What really happened?

Went down the wrong subway stairs ... should of trusted my gut and crossed the street. Tried to buy a $20 metrocard but it wouldn't take my $5 bill ... bought a $10 one instead. Back upstairs to try this again, crossed the street to the subway going the right direction. Note for tourists, they don't announce the stops during certain times of the day. Needless to say, I missed my stop and had to backtrack via foot to where I should of got off 8 blocks earlier - it's weird that you can't get to the other platform in case you got off at the wrong stop?.
It's now 10am, the people at the office were so welcoming, met everyone, caught up on my travels ... time to get down to business and check my email from the last four days - and that's where I will leave the work talk.

It was Audra's birthday (Happy 30th!) and Catherine, Anna and I went for dinner at a restaurant called the Spice Market in the Meat Packing district. The area looks and feels a lot like Vancouver's Gastown district. Dinner was amazing, I had the squid salad and mussels.

After dinner the ladies decided to go for a night cap and watch the game with Audra's friend. I definitely wanted to go but knew that 'a night cap' would not just be a night cap for me so I decided to walk home. It was a nice night out and thought it would give me a chance to get acquainted with the city.

I was at 13th and 9th and walked 37 blocks home, passed some great little restaurants, stores and the U.S. Post Office building. Such a nice city and it only took me 40 minutes to walk home.

Net net - I have decided to walk home from work for the rest of the week (we move into a new building on Friday) ... I would walk to work as well but know that won't happen until we are in our new office and I have a better pair of walking shoes - officially on my to do list.

Easy like Sunday morning

Woke up at 8am, I thought I would go west on 50th today.

Scratch that, it's 2pm. Crap. Oh well, I live here now ... I can go exploring next weekend and decided to unpack -- Catherine and her mom are picking me up at 6 for dinner at Uncle Nick's Greek Restaurant down the street.

I had a great time at dinner, Catherine's mom is a sweetie. Thanks so much for the welcome dinner Catherine!

Ugh, not looking forward to going to bed ... the mattress in this place is horrible. Time to pop a Nytol and read! (kidding, well not really ... the bed is really that bad)

Touchdown

Made it to New York in one piece!

After the movers packed up my condo in Toronto on Friday I was left with two suitcases, a fridge full of various condiments, cupboard full of dry goods and a couch. I looked around my empty condo and was really sad. I love Toronto and have met so many amazing people here why am I moving AGAIN??

Little background on that last statement:

• Grew up in Regina, Saskatchewan, moved three times
• 1994 - moved to Vancouver, BC, wasn't there long enough to move around
• 1998 - moved to Calgary, AB, moved nine times
• 2006 - moved to Toronto, ON, bought a great condo, never thought I'd move
• 2008 - just moved to New York, in temporary accommodations, definitely will be moving in a month

Anyhoo, back to my night. After meeting my good friend Joanne for a goodbye pint w/ clamato at the dodger I decided to rent a movie and chill at my empty pad. No TV equals lights out early!
In the morning, I woke up late, the clock was ticking -- fast -- so I packed the rental car, dropped off a bag of clothes to goodwill, dropped off my dog at the kennel (fyi - he doesn't travel well and puked in the car and drooled the whole way to Burlington - joy).

Made it to the airport by 3pm, boarding my flight at 5:30 and the line up at customs is ridiculous. I quickly scanned my travel documents from the lawyer in the line, trying to memorize everything in the package and anticipate any questions the immigration boys may have for me. I had a wave of sickness every 10 minutes ... had the same feeling in school when I would decide it was ok to go out the night prior to an exam, I would just get up SUPER early and cram for that test. The same thing happened then as it did now. Nothing was sticking ... I felt ill.

Now I am sitting in the immigration area waiting for an officer to 'interview' me. Poor girl beside me was grilled for 45 minutes and had her bags torn apart... long story short - she was denied.

Vomit.

For some reason the immigration guy kept putting my file at the back and letting everyone in front of me - what the hell? Finally, my name was called ... but only because I was the last one in the waiting area. I handed over my 50 page document from the lawyer, he asked me a few questions and was sent back to the waiting area. As he snacked on cheese and crackers flipping through my papers I was getting faint ... not because I was nervous anymore but was reminded that I had a muffin and coffee at noon and the clock just hit 5:15pm.

So, cheese and cracker boy calls me back to the desk. He asks me to explain what I will be doing in the U.S., hands me a paper with the fees I have to pay, and prepares my Visa for entry. Done and done.

Visa in hand, I struggle to get through the double doors that should automatically open, but of course aren't working when I go through them and off I go to put my bags on the belt and high tail it .... to duty free ;-).

The flight was quick and painless - the pilot did a tour over Manhattan - it was amazing and the first time in two months I finally felt excited about my move!

Touchdown LGA. Grabbed a yellow cab and off we went to my temporary digs on west 50th street. Glad I landed late in the evening and on a Saturday night - I was able to determine where I was not going to look for apartments. After I checked in and dropped my bags off at my place I had to go get something to eat - it was now 9pm and that muffin was no longer with me.

Off I go down 50th heading east, two blocks later I am already at Times Square - looks a little like Vegas without the Casinos. Then a procession of two NYPD motorcycles, security, escalade, towncar, security, NYPD motorcycles pass me and stop a few blocks up the street - hmmm - time to be a tourist and pick up the pace to do a little celebrity stalking!

By the time I got there, whoever it was, was no longer there but all the cars were. I asked a couple who it was and they said it was Sara Palin ... interesting, I know she is supposed to be on SNL tonight ... maybe I will wait it out. I immediately noticed two swat like guys with huge guns guarding the town car - does Sara Palin really require this kind of security?
Fast forward 20 minutes - I am getting a little tired of waiting ... then one of the swat guys walks across the street with his huge gun and looks like he is going to stop traffic ... nice, something is definitely going to happen now ...

and

.... walks into Starbucks across the street, picked up three coffees and off they went. Wow. Won't stop for that again, nor will I venture to Times Square on a Saturday night.

So, after walking the 'strip' I decide to pick up something from the deli and went back to my place to finally eat just in time to watch SNL.

Day One NYC - done.

P.S. I really miss my dog!