Day 1 (6.16): The weeks are sprinting and I’m not sure I’m keeping up. I can’t believe one month has come and gone. I love it here more than I could ever have imagined. I haven’t gone ‘out’ as often as I thought I would have… I haven’t seen as much live music as I thought I would or visited as many museums, but I’m happier than I ever thought possible. I’m generally a very happy person – no matter what. I like to see the good in the bad and the best in the better. Life has always treated me incredibly kindly, but now I find myself in this unreal state of perpetual happiness. Sure, I was a bit bummed out last week – for like a second. I am human after all. The moment I take a second to reflect on my surroundings I find my insides firing off fire works. I live in New York City.

Remember that goal I had last week (to run 4 times)… well I ran 0 times. The weather was crappy and the two days it played nice the scent of sugary baked goods took priority. Today, I ran. I’ve thought about running somewhere else, but I’m in love with Central Park — there is so much life going on that it’s impossible for me to choose another running location.

Even though it’s Monday, there was excitement and activity everywhere. People jogging, walking, strolling… children playing soccer, giant bubbles blowing up to be popped by a tiny girl in a pink hat, a youth orchestra rehearsing, upper Manhattan mothers performing lunges with strollers by their side, and a group of tourists snapping shots of the ‘IMAGINE’ hallmark in the Strawberry Fields.

 

The park’s eclectic soundtrack is always incredibly entertaining for me, so I leave my headphones at home.

Children’s giggles and playful screams as they play tag, the shuffling of running shoes, the beeping sounds of tourists’ cameras, the occasional groan of a saxophone being played in the near distance, the distant honking and roaring of engines, the click-clacking sounds of horse hooves hitting the asphalt as they make their carriage rounds around the park, the attempts of cart workers to engage the park goers, and the endless changes of tones and languages coming from the stew of cultures brewing in this city.

Tonight I finally returned to enjoy some soup dumplings. I’ve had them once before sometime last year. They were as delicious as I remember. I had forgotten how to eat them properly (they’re a bit tricky), but after a couple of tries we figured it out. As with most food adventures, I like to share with others — so today, my buddy Greg joined me for some slurping and catching up.

I’ve personally never heard of Soup Dumplings until last year when a friend introduced me — Joe’s Shanghai is the place to eat em’. It gets crowded and you’ll likely sit at a table with a bunch of strangers – welcome to Chinatown. As soon as you’re seated the waiter will automatically ask if you’ll be having the soup dumplings… just say yes.

[iphone photos]

After getting stuffed with soupy goodness we decided to mosey over to get some bubble tea– I’m a big fan, if you haven’t noticed — at Vivi Bubble. This place is super cute… with lots of weird cartoony looking dolls and a giant Homer Simpson sitting right outside.

 This week’s goal: Run 4 times.

I got so caught up in the yummy food that I forgot drinking milk is a terrible idea. 

Day 2 (6.17): Today I really miss air conditioning. The first thing I did this morning was purchase an AC unit. It should be here by Thursday. Seriously… I haven’t really needed it until last night. I dreamt about wind blowing through my hair. It was hot. For some reason, weather here just doesn’t make any sense — I think I’ve mentioned that. It was like 75 F outside and I was feeling pretty toasty. Anyway… by Thursday I will have my very own air conditioner!!!

I went on another run today. Day 2!

I’m adding another goal to the week/month… no more meat for the rest of the month.

Tuesday nights are now Michael Davis nights. Every week. So much Awesome.

I had to purchase my second unlimited Metro card today. Time is flying.

Day 3 (6.18): It’s a great day to live in NYC. I feel like the city swallowed me today… I planned on applying to more jobs (I did apply to a couple… it takes like 45 minutes to apply to one) and take time to work on my Etsy shop (Click HERE), but instead the city was calling me (that and the lack of an AC is preventing me from doing anything useful at home).

A blue blanket covered with a small array of finger foods matched with lovely conversation made for the perfect way to spend a Wednesday. It was 92 F today, but we sat by the Hudson and in the shade; it was cool & breezy.  Time passed quickly… before I knew it our conversation took us away for hours. I had planned to return to do some more work, but it was time to get ready for dinner once I got home.

Angelica Kitchen – a lovely vegetarian restaurant. I thoroughly enjoyed skipping out on the meat. A lovely stroll through the East village (my favorite part of Manhattan) with an Almond expresso (I’m not sure that’s what they called it) in hand. We decided to make our way to Williamsburg where there’s no shortage of bars. I discovered my new favorite drink — Whiskey & Cream Soda – in a small bar in Williamsburg that serves a bowl of cheese puffs with your drinks.

On the not-so-awesome side of things… I discovered that all the resumes I have been sending out have the right margin cut off making me look — I would imagine — incompetent to all my potential employers. At least now I can fix the issue.

 All in all… today was a great day in NYC. I still can’t believe I live here. 

Day 4 (6.19): This morning went something like this: The AC is here; commence happy dance! The bars on my window are screwed in with security screws (which makes sense) designed only to be tightened (getting them undone is really difficult). Commence uncontrollable sweatiness from semi-panic mode. I need air.

Seriously? This would happen.

I was able to get one of these suckers undone with some pliers, but the other ones are on really tight :[

Hopefully someone can help me soon before I roast in my sleep. Thankfully today is a gloomy day with no sunshine… I’m not roasting at the moment.

I had another phone interview today which lead to a face-to-face group interview.

I left my apartment about 40 minutes earlier than I thought I needed. I was dressed nicely, hair pulled semi-back and carefully placed behind my ears. By the time I reached the subway station my hair was half-way undone and I was sweating profusely (the train station had no air whatsoever). By the time I was about mid-way there I began to panic. The subway was getting delayed and I thought for sure I would be late. When my stop was nearing I quickly tried to fix my hair using my reflection in the train’s window and jumped out of the train. Luckily, I was 10 minutes early — exactly the time I wanted to get there.

Let’s see if this one went any better than the last. 

Day 5: (6.20): I slept with my AC unit sitting on my window sill since I haven’t been able to get the bars out. It didn’t cool the room since the window was open, but laying in front of the unit made sleeping totally bearable. When I went outside this morning to get some groceries the weather was nice — not hot at all!! I wonder if I’ll ever get used to Spring weather.

I haven’t been cooking nearly as much as I’m used to… as you can imagine there is an unlimited amount of ‘OH MAN! I’ve got to try this place!’ My usual daily cooking adventures have turned into not-so-daily cooking adventures. I’ve been doing a lot of eating out so I figured it’s time to make something at home.

 Roasted cauliflower, brown rice medley (brown rice, wild rice, and daikon radish seeds), and a spicy garlic kale spinach and tempeh medley.

One thing that has changed for me since I’ve moved here… I’m a lot less motivated to start projects. Very weird considering I’m so incredibly inspired every single day. I wonder if I’m just secretly overwhelmed or something. I don’t know. But I’ve still yet to really start on a photo series (even though I have a million series ideas). It sounds weird, but I feel guilty focusing on anything for myself until I find job… every time I start to think of a cool project to work on I begin to think of loosing my life here. Before I can do anything I need to find income — however small… I just need to know that my time here is not temporary; I’m not simply visiting. I know I have time, but at the back of my mind all I can think  of is loosing my life here. So, I’ve put all my efforts into finding something. I’ve spent the day camped out on my couch –  sizzling – in my warm living room, writing cover letter after cover letter and re-typing my resume a million different directions (I fixed the previous issue). Tomorrow, I try again. Operation Regina Needs a Steady Income Commence.

 On the brighter side, I re-discovered my old TV favorite while applying today… Charmed is now back in my life ❤

Day 6 (6.21): I hope I never loose this insane amount of love for life in the mornings!

After breakfast I headed to Central Park for another run (#3 this week). I stood on a bridge and stared at this view for about 30 minutes… I couldn’t look away. The only thing that broke my viewing meditation was a German couple attempting to take a picture of themselves with a timer camera; I thought I’d help them out and take the picture for them.

Today I decided to go off the path I’ve been taking and see what other parts of the park there are… After getting a little lost I discovered a part of the park with little evidence to suggest it is located in the center of the busiest city in the world. I could just barely make out the muffled sounds of engines roaring, but for the most part it was quite calm and quiet. The trees and rocks obscured any signs of skyscrapers.

My neighborhood is kind of boring. There aren’t really any good bars or restaurants (with the exception of latin food). I wouldn’t venture to walking around at night anyway. The park is kind of blah. There’s really nothing all that exciting that ever happens. Only, it definitely has it’s charm. I mentioned the latin songs that are sang on a daily basis outside my bedroom window — that is pretty great. Every Friday there is a saxophone that is played right outside my living room window and on Saturday nights you can hear a jazz jam really going at it — although I have no idea where they’re playing. I really love these little quirks. A lot. They remind me that I get to live in a vibrant community. After my run this morning I went to eat my lunch and watch an episode of Charmed… I got so far as to place my food on the table when I heard a very loud sound system playing old school hip hop. Right across the street from my apartment on the corner stood a dude wearing a red Mario t-shirt with a matching hat. He was standing behind a table with a giant boom box/DJ set up. I’m not sure what it was for, but the teen girls from my neighborhood had already migrated towards the tunes and a funky old homeless man was getting his groove on right next to the makeshift DJ. Apparently, they were celebrating summer time– it feels AMAZING outside today. I filmed a bit of the ongoings, but I can’t figure out how to edit the video on my computer just yet… I’m working on making a few mini-films when I figure out how to edit them I’ll share.

Later today… Me – at coffee shop – writing. The weather is remarkable.

I always love walking through Park Slope, but today my walk was exponentially delightful. I walked into a block party (or so that’s what I’m calling it anyway). I felt like I was in a movie — I have this feeling almost daily here. The families of 5th street were all outside — sitting on the steps of their front doors, crowded in circles around a makeshift table with a menagerie of food laid out, a father-son duo playing ball, a group of pre-teens playing a game of putt-putt they clearly engineered for themselves, a group of kids ranging from what looked like 5 to 14 year old playing a game of war with water guns (I happened to walk right through their cross fires and could not have been happier), a few others were playing in their bathing suits by the spurting water hydrant and a couple toddlers playing with bubbles. I’m telling you it was straight from the movies. I walked the one block between 6th & 5th ave and it felt as though every single household was outside enjoying life. I was both delighted and overwhelmed. They were all so happy!

I snapped a quick iPhone photo as I was at the end of the block.

This city is full of live music during the summer. It’s amazing. Tonight I spent the evening enjoying some cold beer, pop-y tunes, and great company!

 It’s true… Time really does fly when you’re having the time of your life.

Day 7 (6.22): Holy smokes! Another week!! Today I’ll be applying for jobs, working on my Etsy Shop (Click HERE), and hopefully getting my AC unit permanently locked into my window. Nothing all that exciting. Thanks to the constant life going on right outside my window, I’ll never be bored.

This week was marvelous. Tomorrow I have my 3rd interview and plans to explore the West Village. I’ll be sure to post some photos.

Happy Sunday, NYC!