sarah_hair

Originally uploaded by FunCupcake.

pedicab

Originally uploaded by FunCupcake.

One of the highlights of the weekend was spontaneously hopping into a pedi-cab with Rose. This crazy guy is the pedicab behind us, that’s actually my shoulder in the photo. I think they were trying to race. I wouldn’t want to go to far in one, because what if the poor guy’s legs fell off or something? Other highlights of the weekend include a cosmopolitan at Baltazars, a $5.00 Psychic reading near times square (I paid her $5.00 to have her tell me that I am psychic. But every psychic I’ve ever seen has said that.) Another highlight was a trip to Bloomingdales in which Rose and I looked at every single handbag in the store, and I tried the best ones on in the full length mirror. Ooh lah lah. And what would the weekend be without some sort of grooming or pampering? I got my hair done, colored and cut and… got a blow out! haha! But the color I wanted, and the initial color I got, were not the same. Which entailed 3 more processes to get it just right. But I like it now! No, I really like it! It’s a strawberry blond redhead sorta bright color. I will get a photo for you. Rose reminded Nicholas, our hairdresser, that I am a professional colorist who stares at Pantone books all day and color corrects leathers and lays out the color palette for the season for our department. So, if there is anything I’m fussy about, it’s color. Anyway. I also had a nice lemoncello martini at the Temple bar in Soho. Rose and I toasted to Daniel, our co-worker, who was simultaneously getting married in Boston and having lemoncello martinis at their cocktail hour. Also after the pedicab ride I ate a grand meal at a nice Italian restaurant near work (dare I say, times square, but it was a very nice place that came highly recommended by a very nice Italian at work.) It’s raining now. I think it might be Fall. And the generator is gone, so guess we’re all back up and running with regular power!

pilar_maria_davide

Originally uploaded by FunCupcake.

Look at this photo! We’ve got Pilar on lead vocals to the left, that’s Maria in the middle, partly back-up dancing and partly back-up singing nevermind without a mic, and then there’s the star, Davide, belting out some serious lyrics. People. I am shy next to these extroverts! Love it!

grandcentral_bathroom

Originally uploaded by FunCupcake.

rose_bryantpark_lunch

Originally uploaded by FunCupcake.

We’ve been heading to Bryant Park at lunchtime, grabbing a bite and taking it with us and sitting in the park to enjoy the nice weather and city life. It’s great! Rose is a very good muse and agreeable fixture in my photos. I think she gave up telling me to put that camera away, last summer after about a thousand relentless shots with her in them, and now she just lets me snap away as I will, and mostly, I don’t even ask, and she just let’s me entertain myself and create more fodder for my flickr.

chase_sign

Originally uploaded by FunCupcake.

I liked walking by these massive letters, that would eventually be installed above a Chase bank, just sitting on the sidewalk. They are big! Just look at them next to the huge tire from that massive truck to the left. Nice! I wouldn’t take a second look at these letters all arranged, hung up above the bank. But seeing them there laying on the sidewalk, I noticed them.

The things you see on the street, so unexpected, a true sign of our vertical East Coast living. So much going on going upwards, that eventually, it all spills out onto the streets. There are no quiet parking lots to arrange these in, so it’s done where people walk by. There is no convenient time of day when nobody is frequenting the bank, as people are doing things at all hours here. It’s just such an East Coast thing and I think I’ve realized that being here has made me much more resilient. I’ve just never had to be resilient, to expect ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING. I like that very little shocks me now. I’ve become tougher, but I don’t think in a bad way. I’m more adaptable, resilient, and forgiving. Yah, I admit it, more cynical too. But let’s face it, I was kinda spoiled (not in a bratty sheltered way, but in an insulated, protected way) and I don’t think you can AT ALL be spoiled or naive, when you are on your own in New York City! So! For the friends who jab me about not being a cupcake-baking, knitting, animal caretaking housewife anymore, just know, you can throw me anywhere and though I may dislike it, I CAN deal with it. I can manage it, without letting it manage me, or my infamous mood. I’m still a softie in all the good ways, hello… anyone read my sappy posts lately about cute things? But I’m tough in the important, survival ways. I still weep when I think of kittens playing with a ball of twine. How sweet! However when I see the saddest thing imagineable on a walk to the subway, I sort it out. And yeah, I have. Seen the saddest things imagineable in my life here. I have seen a very young, pregnant, homeless girl, sitting in the torrential pouring rain with her head down, begging for money while people shop at Whole Foods. Sad. I’ve seen people treat each other like what enemies at war might do, right here, right next to me, where I walk, sit, stand, eat or ride. You watch the news, you see the violence in the world, well I think that level of stress is brewing all over this tough place. But I’ve also seen some of the most amazing, creative, beautiful things, ever in my life, here, amidst all the sad. Sometimes, yeah, it’s just historic architecture, other times, it’s people caring for each other. But most times, it’s the constant reminder that in a big, diverse place, where anonymity is the status quo, exists the freedom to express oneself honestly and completely, without any reprecussions.The depth of life runs high here, the sad is really, really sad, and the good, is so amazing. It can be. But you have to open your eyes and look for it.

So these days, when I experience either of these depths, I do not fall apart. Not that I used to “fall apart” but I had a certain protective space to over-analyze and feel every current of emotion around me, and take it home. I’m not different than I was before coming to NYC, I’m just, I guess, more seasoned about navigating through life and admitting some startling realities. Yeah, I am less patient than I ever have been. But I’m but also more evolved, and at the risk of sounding cliche, more grown up. There is no time or energy or space to wonder here, to imagine or waffle on decisions. You cross the street, or wait. But know it, and know it NOW. Sometimes both decisions suck, and sometimes you find yourself thinking “It’s like voting for the President, you just pick the best of two evils.” But you have to choose something, and do it with conviction. In this life, there is rarely time to consider and then reconsider the choice one made 10 minutes ago. You need all your focus and strength to cross the next damned Avenue and deal with the next freak and go to the next place.

Hey, I’m 30, with more gray hairs and wrinkles than I’ve ever had, but my babyface spirit live on. Life is too short not to appreciate what’s great, like giganctic illuminated letters laying stagnent on a disgusting poo-filled sidewalk. Okay not much inherent beauty in this particular sight to some of you, but to me, yet another reminder of irony or contrast. And the opportunity to experience something out of the ordinary, is something that makes my world go ’round. If you don’t find something to appreciate, or even just to distract yourself from the rigors of all things serious and tough, you are just another drone in this robot world. Sometimes, droning out sounds fabulous. But most of the times, it freaks the hell out of me. To go through any sort of programmed motions. So yeah, I’m saying for all the things I hate about NYC, I also realize, it brings me to my knees and makes me feel, really feel. And that, is pretty inspiring.

Not many people reckon with having to absolutely know who they are or where they stand, on a continual, daily basis. But thank goodness for that I guess, because we might all be chain-smoking, alcoholic, angry, pinch-faced assholes. I guess I say keep on truckin’ regardless, without adopting a dismissive attitude, cuz you just NEVER KNOW, who, what, where, how or why.

So am I the only one who appreciates seeing giant letters laying on a NYC sidewalk?

19thfloor

Originally uploaded by FunCupcake.

mywindow

Originally uploaded by FunCupcake.

Here’s the view from my little work area. Although I spend much of my time working at the larger product table surrounded by shoes, this is the view out of my personal workspace. Click on the photo to see more photos of our newly renovated floor, we were still unpacking on Friday when I took these, but we’re pretty much put together now! The commute is so amazingly different. I find that not having the stress and anxiety of relying on three forms of transportation is so great. If my subway was delayed, sometimes even just 10 minutes, I’d miss my train up North and then bus, and so a 10 minute delay could seriously mean a 45 minute or more delay to getting to work. Stressful! But no longer! Now there are several people doing the reverse commute up to Connecticut or White Plains, however the company is reimbursing them and most of them drive from the train station so they are not subjected to the awful bus and subway rigamaroll. Anyways. Peaceful, relaxing weekend and lovely commute into the city today. And I’m going to London for Labor Day weekend! Can’t wait!

queens_bar

Originally uploaded by FunCupcake.

It’s over! People! My 20+ hour a week commute to White Plains is over! Our product development office has moved into Manhattan! So after spending 480 hours commuting in the past 6 months, which translates into spending 20 full (24-hour) days commuting, I’m done. Sure, maybe we’ll go back for a meeting here or there, but our home base is now a mere 25 minutes from my subway stop here in Queens. I will take the 7 Subway straight to work. No bus, no Grand Central, no commuter train. While running through Grand Central every morning had it’s certain allure, really it translated to a rat race and if I never have another person shove me out of the way or step on my shoe in that place, I will be happy.

I will save over $300 and 80 hours a month. I feel like I just moved to NYC today, even though I moved 8 months ago and have actually lived in NYC for 11 months total, counting last summer. So last night I went out and got drunk. I celebrated. We packed all day at work, went out with the combined Manhattan and White Plain team for margaritas, and then I met Pilar and Stacy and had $3 beers into the a.m., right here in Queens at a little bar with an open mic night. It was pretty much exactly what I needed to do. To give an outlet for 6 months of frustration, impatience, anxiety, and stress to leave my being. I’ve never had such a happy hangover, signifying something so exhausting being so over. Okay well maybe after I finished college finally after 10 years, I had a nice hangover too. But anyways.

This is the beginning of the rest of my life in NYC, the life I really moved here to live, and now I can begin! What will I do now that I don’t have my “20-hour a week part-time job” of commuting? I’ll continue to work full time, but now I can make plans in the evening. Take advantage of all the classes at any of the fabulous schools, meet friends, take Yoga, go the bank, dry cleaners, drug store, or shoe repair after work or… even on my lunch break! I can cook! I can grocery shop! I can knit, sew, draw, and enjoy life. No more running after a bus that almost always makes us miss our train back to Manhattan. No leaving work at 8:00 p.m. only to get home at 10:30 p.m, too exhausted to cook, and after much has closed around us. We can sleep in an extra hour in the morning, and gain several more hours of our evenings.

And no more sad, suburban cafeteria staff shoving wilted prepared salads or salty meaty school-style hot dishes or stale sandwiches in our face. Now we can eat lunch… NYC-style! Everyone knows that one of the best things about NYC is the wide range of food available, at any price, for any taste in any neighborhood at any time. And the fashion… just oozing off the sidewalks, styles that you could never find in any suburban landscape. Inspirational style. I mean jeez, our office is across the street from Parsons! You guys watch Project Runway, you know what the people look like walking around the fashion district! Crazy, cool, ridiculous, over the top, and interesting. Hey. I used to get sad watching movies filmed in NYC, because I would be jealous of people who had access to the life everyday. Even though I live here, I really haven’t been living here much, because of my work situation.

So. Needless to say I am beyond excited, and feel like I can and will be sharing more about my life with you than ever before, because folks, I will have one now on a regular basis! Please raise your glass with me and celebrate this amazing moment. But, uh, I think I’ll stick to drinking water today in my glass. Make that a water with Emergen-cee. I’m a bit parched. But it was worth it…

graf

Originally uploaded by FunCupcake.

Last Saturday, before Karaoke-athon, I wandered for hours around the Lower East Side and East Village. Just walked and walked and walked for so long my ankles hurt from improper (yet stylish) footwear. The temperature has dropped about 15 degrees here and it is amazing. The evenings have a nice breeze, you don’t feel like you need a shower just 5 minutes after taking one, etc, etc.

I snapped this shot because I thought there were so many interesting textures, shapes and colors going on, and the lighting was good too. I try not to use the flash on my camera, because natural light is so much better, casting appropriate shadows, etc. It wasn’t till later that I realized this photo also contains a nice contextual message.