while i'm at it...

just to prove that not the whole weekend was about needles in a chihuahua:

mugshot 1



mugshot 2



posing in front of death star?



i like bears



doe in middle is jealous



we probably spent the most amount of time playing in the gift shop



hung like a whale?



bang a gong



lots of posing



and just for good measure, the last picture pre-needle:

oh what a night

a glimpse into my weekend:

started off fun. had dinner at the restaurant. played rock band and crashed at debbie's. nice breakfast. oodles of fun at the museum of natural history. pizza. trip the emergency vet.

back up there, i think i missed something. oh yes, put "kimchi swallows sewing needle" between "pizza" and "vet."

that's more like it. and finish with "in the hole at least $4500."

seriously, it was an enjoyable weekend until the last incident. arthur was visiting and we were eating pizza at my place, discussing kimchi's stomach o' steel. cheeky me was bragging all about how he has eaten everything from plastic to metal to unidentifiable objects.

9:45 pm: i look down and kimchi is chew chew chewing away on something, giving me that "i'm chewing something i shouldn't be, what are you going to do about it?" look.

i recognize the sharp metal object dangling from his mouth as a sewing needle that had been left on the coffee table. he was rather enjoying the pink thread it was attached to.

attempt to retrieve 1.) i said in a cheerful voice "want a treat?"

no success.

attempt to retrieve 2.) i got the high pitch corrector and hit the "no" button many times.

no success.

attempt to retrieve 3.) arthur and i cornered him. every time my hand went in i was afraid he would bite me or try to swallow it whole to keep me from getting his newfound prize possession.

no success.

attempt to retrieve 4.) i put kibble in his bowl, assuming he would drop it from his mouth to eat.

what does he do? SWALLOWS IT WITH THE FOOD. it disappears. we looked all over for it, thinking "he seems fine, but it's definitely nowhere around, which means he must have swallowed it."

i obviously knew a vet was the next step but the following thoughts crossed my mind:

a.) how do i find a 24 hour vet?
b.) how do i get to said vet?
c.) this is brooklyn, how the hell do i find a taxi?
d.) i have 0 dollars. how do i pay for it?

so i called celeste.

q. what do i do if i think kimchi swallowed a needle?
a. call the vet now.

miraculously the internet, which hadn't worked all week, was working and we located the vet emergency group. they said all i had to do was come in. they gave me the price for the visit fee and x-ray. eep.

it took us forever to find a taxi - arthur went outside to flag one down while i googled taxi services in brooklyn (p.s. i don't think you can call for a yellow cab in brooklyn. seriously, they need to fix this problem).

arthur finally flagged one down, and the nice man actually waited on busy eastern parkway for arthur to run back and get me. the only problem with yellow cabs in brooklyn is they don't know where the hell they are, and they probably unluckily got stuck picking up a brooklynite in manhattan and had to return him to his native land. so we used the shoddy gps map in the back to direct him to the place.

on the bright side, i HIGHLY recommend this emergency vet group. located in cobble hill, the place is large and immaculate. he staff is VERY friendly. lots of doctors on staff. a + service.

they took him in right away to x-ray him, and then called me to the back to take a look. with my superior photoshop skillz, this is roughly what it looked like:



yes, that shit was straight up and down in his stomach. the doctor said the first step would be an endoscopy. given that things could be slimy and they didn't want to waste too much time trying to retrieve it before it moved to the intestines, the next step would be surgery.

with the 2 hour wait time and the $1300 estimate, we went to the chocolate room where i got wound up on coffee and arthur enjoyed a chocolate mint float. bonus points to the place for playing a beatles mix.

after leaving at midnight and walking for a bit, i got a call from the vet. endoscopy unsuccessful. he will be held until monday. go in for another estimate. yikes. $3000. arthur wins the prestigious "friend of the year award."

we go home (in yet another lost manhattan taxi), arthur crashes on the couch, and i fall asleep around 2 am. the doctor calls at 2:10 am and says the needle is out, and the surgery went fine. i wake up at 8 am and call my mom. we loaf around for a bit. i call for an update at noon. everything is still good, kimchi is sedate but wagged his tail when the doctor came in to say hi. they will feed him at 1 or 2 am tonight, and depending on how it goes, i will pick him up tomorrow, elizabethan collar and all.

what have i learned from this weekend?

- do not leave sewing needles laying around (actually i knew this one but it's worth pointing out if your or someone you live with has a dog).

- if you have a credit line attached to your bank account, make sure you actually get the card and activate it. don't just think "some day i'll get it."

- get a part time job. and finding an apartment in october is going to suck.

a message to all of my fans

after many emails, messages, and random comments, i have decided it was time to update this blog so you, my loyal readers, would no longer be subject to the atrocity that is simon cowell's man boobs.

and now, i invite you to a very special viewing of a very cute puppy:

i know i have to stop watching american idol when...

i have a dream that i'm spooning with simon cowell. simon cowell. the one that i find absolutely repulsive in real life. and i was enjoying it.



what a hunk of man.

what is it about april?

i feel so completely content with life right now.



not that i was depressed over the past few months, but my annual change in psyche as soon as the weather warms, the flowers bloom, and the birds chirp away never ceases to amaze me.

i'm enjoying my job, the weather, the city, the apartment, and everything else in between. i had an amazing walk through prospect park today, while chatting away with erik on the phone, and came back content to just sit in the window and watch pedestrians and traffic.

i went to dc last weekend to hang out with kate, steph, and katherine. this was the first time since college that the four of us have been together in the same city. i also got to see some other faces i haven't seen in a while AND got an awesome sunburn while enjoying the sunny 85 degree weather on saturday.

sidenote: the meat loaf at&t commercial is on. i can't help but think it was created just for me.

and now we return to scheduled programming. debbie's wedding is this weekend, where i will be seeing a ton of college people again. excitement. celeste's wedding is getting closer, and we are now planning for her shower at brown's pub. more excitement.

i think that's about all i've got for now.

affidavit: at no time during this post was i on any sort of stimulant.

update: 7 days later. 7:30am and still no hot water.

keyspan did finally come friday evening to turn everything back on, but apparently it's not so good when your boiler emits carbon monoxide.

we do have heat and gas, but it turns out the boiler is completely busted. no set plans on getting the new one anytime soon (the landlord is still in nigeria).

i'm high-tailing it home tonight for a weekend of proper hot showers and stank erasing. and perhaps some parental pampering.

the heat is on

can't. get. warm.

my story begins on a dark and stormy monday night. and by dark and stormy, i mean it was fair weather for the final day of march. i was super excited to come home from work and make my archer farms frozen spinach and goat cheese pizza.

i preheated the oven and proceeded to do some things around the house.

ten minutes later i threw the pizza into the gas-powered oven. correct me if i'm wrong, but aren't these oven things supposed to be some source of heat?

melissa came out of the shower about an hour later and announced that we had no hot water.

we both sent texts to our super (aka guy who lives upstairs) and received no response. the next day came, and still no heat. i tried calling him, but his phone told me it was sorry, but at the request of the owner it was not accepting incoming calls.

then i had to go upstairs and ask if he's had any heat or hot water. "ohhh, it's happening to you guys too? i noticed it this morning in the shower but didn't have time to check it out. yeah, i haven't been able to cook, either."

i hinted that we were on to the fact that they probably haven't paid the keyspan bill (or, i flat out said "my thinking is either the bill wasn't paid or the heater in the basement is busted.")

he said he would check it out tomorrow.

turns out we were right, they didn't pay the bill. on wednesday, he called and said he had the check and would pay it thursday morning. i got a text from melissa thursday afternoon asking if one of us could be in the apartment until 6pm on friday so they can come and turn the heat back on.

and so, here i am working from home on this rainy friday morning, alternating coffee cup hand to hand to keep warm, hoping that they come to turn on our heat. our landlord best not be expectin' a full month's rent from this.

at least it's not february.

in other news, i'm also anticipating celeste's arrival today. she'll be getting in this afternoon and i'm really excited for our agenda:

tonight we're going to the sushi place my boss owns to meet up with my cousin eric, who i've seen a total of once in the past ten years. it will be good to see him, plus the sushi place is a lot of fun and drinks are half price until 9.

tomorrow will be the tartan day parade. nothing like a good excuse to drink beer and watch men in kilts.

we'll also grab some brunch tomorrow morning, pre-parade, and who knows what the rest of the day holds for us. hopefully a hot shower will fall in there somewhere.

건ㅂㅒ!

packing, packing, and more packing.

minneapolis was exhausting. and fun. and boring. wait, i'm confusing myself.

after getting majorly messed up on sleep last weekend, i think my body has finally caught up with things. loss of sleep started thursday night-- i was sent by my boss to one of his bars to do some bar spotting. because it just so happened to be a gay bar, i dragged jude with me, along with the guy i mentioned before (how's that for a second date?) we were totally busted when i walked in and the bartender and i looked at each other and asked simultaneously, "what are you doing here?" as it turns out, he works at both the gay bar and the restaurant i work from. knowing there was no way i could do a fair report (not to mention he found out why i was there), we decided to just stay and have drinks. to sum up the night: i drank a lot, stayed out too late, and i'm not interested in pursuing a third date.

after only three hours of sleep, i was already off to a rocky start to the weekend (and work day). imagine my delight when my 9:30 pm flight was rescheduled to 11 pm! not only that, we didn't board until after 11, and we were then stuck on the runway until 12:15.

thankfully, erik picked me up at 2 am when i finally reached minnesota turf. the good old apartment couch was a beautiful sight to behold, and i slept soundly until salsa picked me up for day one of the gift show battle.

ok, "battle" isn't exactly the right terminology. long story short, the day was long and uneventful. and cold and snowy.

we met al, chris, and erik for dinner that night at wasabi. delicious.

salsa peaced out to get some sleep like a good little girl, and we ended up meeting alex and two of his friends at a game bar. caution: do not play balderdash if you aren't really in the mood to think. it can be painful. aside from that, the game was a blast.

not a lot of sleep was followed by another day at the show was followed by my flight home. end of trip.

and so, on this fine thursday evening, i've packed yet again to go home for the weekend. on the schedule: the st. patrick's day parade, starring the schenectady pipe band, and some bar hopping.

but the travels don't stop there, folks. erik is vising a week from friday, and it's his first trip to the city. too bad we've got to skedaddle to get out of the way of salsa's visiting family. i managed to get the day off, so we'll do a bit of sight seeing and then head down to visit katherine in philly. i'm sure we'll end up drinking wine and watching flight of the conchords. and all will be well.

i <3 mpls

this day was just destined to be awesome. i stopped by the little market on my way to work this morning to get my cheap ass coffee. i also wanted to pick up some breakfast because it's monday, which means the restaurant is closed and i'm left to fend for myself.

turns out the little deli inside had lox, which made my stomach do a dance in anticipation. for all those who are counting, a bagel with lox and cream cheese is the way to win my taste buds, which indirectly leads to my heart.

that in itself was enough for my monday to be successful. imagine my surprise when miss salsa called from the great mn asking if i wanted to come to minneapolis this weekend. thinking we were playing a game and she wasn't enjoying her stay, i said "of course, if you pay for my plane ticket."

and who's got a free trip to mpls? this girl!

good ol' p.b.loco is short handed for the minneapolis trade show, so salsa and i will single-handedly rule the roost and force peanut butter onto the palates of unsuspecting consumers. it will be a short stay (friday night-sunday)... of course i am excited to see alisun and erik, but i think what i'm most excited about is THE APARTMENT. i'm staying there whether they like it or not. it was a great apartment. i miss it. fin.

nicessness and ramblings

first of all, i want to be him. it's been a while since i watched this, and i happened upon it the other day. if i could have one job in the world, it would be that (is it even a job?)

i became very excited for spring today. for the most part, i detest february and march and wish it would skip right from valentine's day to prime spring weather. today was on the warm side, and the smells of streetcar barbeque invaded my senses while i was out walking. i'm definitely yearning for the days of no jackets, cook outs, and beach trips.

on the other hand, i'm really sad that i won't have a yard to sleep in whenever i please this year. that's one point for you, minneapolis.

i also realized it has been eons since i last ran. it's time to get my ass into gear. prospect park is about the same size as lake calhoun. what have i been waiting for???

resolutions: i will save enough money to buy a grill AND i will start running this week.

spring awakenings, indeed.

ow my body

note to self:

you are a stupid girl. if you go out when you are sick, you will only get sicker. you are not eighteen anymore. or even twenty-four. don't make me warn you again.

on that note, this weekend was oodles of excitement. or something close to it. amy and mike got in on saturday afternoon. i dragged them first to macy's (naturally, why would they want to go anywhere else?) to get a gift for debbie's wedding shower. hello, marth stewart spice rack.

we ate dinner in koreatown, where mike experienced korean food and sake for the first time. happily, i think he enjoyed both. that night we went to crocodile lounge, where high school colin works (and was shocked to see amy in his territory). we ate pizza, consumed beer, and decided it was too crowded to stay. also, amy just wanted to dance.

i google texted the nearest karaoke bar and we were off in the direction of sing sing karaoke. convinced i could actually get amy to sing, i requested a few tried and true songs. she rejected them all, which left me stuck on duetting on summer nights with the karaoke bogart guy sitting next to me. mike was a trooper, though, and sang all songs that i demanded.

somehow i managed to be in bed by 4am, a record thus far. sunday morning i was up bright and early, minus one voice, traveling the long island railroad to debbie's shower. i will not mention the fact that lesley DITCHED ME at penn station and i went all by my lonesome. damn you, lesley's boyfriend, for thinking sunday morning is a perfectly reasonable time to drive down to the city and surprise her.

the rest of the day was filled with chinese food, movie trivia, chinese food, phil trivia, chinese food, presents, cake, and chinese food. when i got home i somehow had enough room left to order food from saje with amy and mike.

i finally got around to eating at the spotted pig on monday. definitely worth the long wait.

and, alas, my company stayed an extra night because amy's car was towed. bummer, but i was happy to have people around for an extra day. to keep amy upbeat, and to atone for the fact that we didn't go out the night before, we downed some drinks and headed out once again. my expectations for the night were exceeded with a two-hour noraebang song fest. amy channeled her inner diva and did not put the mic down once.

after my own personal body smackdown, i'm pretty sure i got me some laryngitis. it's been a fun past couple of days, but my body disagrees.

the train is getting way too loud

happy valentine's day to all you schmoes out there.

though the day was uneventful, i did get a gold star by giving jude and melissa each a red rose (and being the only girl in a random west village flower shop was a funny experience in itself). it isn't too horrible being alone on valentine's day, considering i do have a "post v-day" dinner planned with a guy who is out of town at the moment.

the rest of life has been for the most part enjoyable. my internship is over (hooray). after working with p.b.loco for a bit, i got a new job working for an alcohol inventory company. the job is low stress and a welcome change. plus, i work from a restaurant in the village and lunches are free. i'm pretty sure i will save crazy sums of money this way.

i'm feeling good about living in the city. i still have those "korea pangs," but i have to admit life in nyc is pretty rad. now that i'm making a bit more money, i'm scheming and dreaming more. not to say that money is the be all end all, but it is certainly helpful in reaching goals. ultimately, i'd like to get back into the music world. i'm not necessarily looking at music as a career, but i'd like to take flute lessons (and piano if possible) and get back to the level i was once at to teach privately.

i'm also excited for what the coming year has in store. more than ever, i'm at a phase in my life where i feel like anything is possible. i've gotten to know some pretty cool people and have had some great nights out meeting random people. i figure it can only go up from here. plus, minneapolis greg is moving out here in a month, so a reunion is definitely in store. though i'm a little sad that mike and his keyboard aren't making the move with him.

i have failed to mention the happenings over the past month. our very own alibaster abbott visited and we got to see the rick-meister(!!!)'s buckets and taps tap tap tapping away. after the show we went to dinner at a ho-hum italian place in the village and then al, rick, dan, and i noraebanged it away until the wee hours of sunday morning.

things memories are made of: during rick and dan's rendition of play that funky music, the korean bartender comes out of nowhere with a sax for a jam session.

i really think i have a sick addiction to microphones. and tambourines.

perhaps the biggest highlight of the past month was celeste and chris' visit. which coincided with al's visit. saturday night, the four of us were merrily walking through central park. al and i turned around and noticed we were minus one set of lovebirds. of course, the ring chris showed me the night before was more than a hint of what they were up to, so we hung out for a bit, wondering if we should keep walking or wait for them to catch up. a few minutes later, celeste emerged with the rock on her finger.

hooray, they are engaged! the wedding is in october, and they already have most of it planned. how's that for being on top of things?

to continue the fun, amy is coming this weekend. and i demanded that she (and her new beau in tow) bring a digital camera so i will once again have pictures. one of these days i'll get my camera fixed. pictures of our shenanigans soon to follow.

celebrity sighting?

i think i've had my first official nyc celebrity sighting.

i boarded the brooklyn-bound red line subway like any other day. it was the typical busy thursday, and i ran car to car to find one with enough room to fit one more weary worker. after assuming the "not enough room to hold onto a pole" stance, i looked up and saw none other than anthony rapp standing (facing) me. he was reading his book on poker, and i was reading... and i swear i am not lying... his brother's novel, the year of endless sorrows.

honestly, i'm still not 100% sure it was him, but i'm pretty damn sure. because i was standing so close to him, i tried to lift my book as high as i could hoping it would garner some sort of attention or reaction from him. he got off at 14th street, and that was when his eyes met my book.

i, a once freak-ish (and still slightly obsessed) renthead, considered saying something to him, but decided he'd probably rather be left alone. with that, he left the train. he may not be a celebrity everyone knows, but for someone who: can quote dazed and confused in its entirety; can sing the entire soundtrack of rent without the aid of music; grew up watching "adventures in babysitting" repeatedly; and read his (slightly indulgent) autobiography, it's pretty effing cool.

it's gonna be a happy new year

what a way to start 2008. i'm feeling very refreshed after the weekend. having four days off in a row was a much needed routine change. all said and done, i'm happy to say it was one of those times when i enjoyed every minute. and yes, this is another one of those self-serving posts where i write about everything i did. i promise, it's not meant to bore you. it's more for my own good when a year from now i want to remember what i did on new year's and can access it at the click of a button. oh technology. i love you and i loathe you.

jeni, amy, and scott came in on friday night, so we got up bright and early saturday morning... to sit around for a few hours before going out to a leisurely breakfast at sage. after that, we headed into manhattan. we wandered around midtown, first looking at the ridiculously priced engagement rings at tiffany's, then visiting jude at work next door at the trump tower. after getting some free coffee, we headed over to central park just in time for a street show. lo and behold, i was dragged and they made me bend over (what?) in a line of people so the ridiculously skinny jumper (have you ever seen him?) could somersault over us.

after that, we grabbed a quick lunch at a cafe and wandered all the way down to bryant park in search of an unlocked bathroom. after waiting in the longest line ever, we went back to see the christmas tree. i've never seen rockefeller center as busy as it was... and i thought it was crowded the night i went with my parents, which was the weekend before christmas. at one point, i think we were all just kind of lodged into the crowd and couldn't move in any direction, because everyone was heading toward us. we were the black hole of the christmas crowd, sucking in all people who dared go near.

finally we got out and wandered around some more until it was time to meet jude and go to dinner. we had reservations at the elephant, which was pretty good. everything was going really well until scott and i decided to each get a scotch on the rocks for dessert... somehow the bartender thought we wouldn't notice if he put a bit of vodka in the drink to save some money. of course this would not slide so i very politely went to the bartender and said something tasted off and perhaps the ice sat in it a bit too long. he automatically got defensive and said he only put scotch in it. he did give us two new drinks, though, with ice on the side this time.

after that, we headed back and played fact or crap. i've discovered that i'm a pretty solid player, even when i have some scotch in me and hold up the opposite answer that i want. i won, which is all that matters... at games and life.

we got up again on sunday morning and lazed around the apartment until jude had to go to work. then we went to target and amy bought us a garbage can. thanks, amy.

finally, our adventure had to come to an end and it was time for them to leave... just in time for arthur to get in that night. we played catch up while playing scrabble (i won) and headed to bed.

which brings me to... my birthday. we got up rather early and went all around the city. first we went to midtown to look at the restoration on the hearst tower. we visited both jude and debbie at work and went down to greenwich village for some lunch. we ended up continuing south (past the ghostbusters firehouse, hooray!) and ended up seeing the world trade center site. i hadn't been yet, and it is pretty amazing. definitely one of those places that takes you immediately back in time.

we realized soon enough that if we didn't leave then i would be late to my own party. after getting some snacks at balducci's and some alcomohol, we got back to my apartment only to find alex waiting outside of my apartment. and soon enough, one person showed up after another... megan, katherine, margaret, phil, and kevin. we spent so long sitting and drinking that we missed the first dinner reservations i had made. luckily my cancellation at the second place never went through thanks to them putting me on hold, so we made it to dinner at two boots (we also met deb there, who was held up at work).

i actually think it worked out for the best, because the place definitely had crazy energy. the jazz band was absolutely amazing. not to mention that i won a stuffed duck for making the best car alarm noise. but i'm not bragging... it was a fixed contest. and i couldn't keep the duck.

we were thinking of going to see the fireworks at midnight, but when we ordered a bottle of champagne to take with us, the waitress started to pour it for everyone. of course we decided to just stay and drink it. so, we stayed for the new year and danced and drank and drank and danced. eventually we figured it was time to head out. half of the group went back to my apartment and the other half (including me) went to loki bar. at first katherine, deb, and i were the only ones dancing. but all it took was a little song called jump around to get the dance party started.

long story short, the crowd dwindled out, and eventually it was just katherine, kevin, and me getting kicked out when the bar closed. at 5:15 am we were home safe and sound, eating stale french bread and thawing out from the cold. most people left early that morning, so katherine and i went out for brunch and then lazed around watching flight of the conchords and friends.

and now it is january 2nd and i am basking in the glow of having great visits with great friends. and now if they would all be kind enough to move to nyc my life would be complete.

the restaurant experience

my parents are visting this weekend. today is also my mom's birthday. to celebrate the occasion, i gathered opinions on restaurants to find the perfect place for dinner. when people at work suggested i drop the magazine connection to secure a table i decided it wasn't a bad idea. i made reservations at centro vinoteca, a west village restaurant i heard good things about.

i mentioned to my parents that it would be great if they seated us in a nice section because of the name drop. sure enough, they led us upstairs to the more private dining area, took our coats, sat us down, and gave us the menus. we decided amongst ourselves that we'd try two of the piccolini before our entrees: the truffled deviled eggs (which i'd heard great things about) and the eggplant cakes. i was unsure whether or not the portions would be big enough or if we had to order a dish from each course.

but before we could say cipolline, they had placed four dishes of piccolini in front of us: truffled deviled eggs, pate, arancine, pumpin cakes with goat cheese, and a gorgonzola cake (i think). all compliments of chef anne burrell. it was then i realized "oh shit i hope they don't think i'm that important." we ate everything and placed our orders. my dad decided to get the oxtail cake as an appetizer after i mentioned the rave reviews i'd heard about them. in addition to the cake, they brought the seppioline salad. i'm not huge on seppioline, but the squash, pumpkin seeds, and salad underneath were amazing.

as if that wasn't enough, after clearing the antipasti, they brought two first course dishes: ravioli with sage butter (by far the best thing i've had in a long time) and pici pasta with sweet and spicy sausage ragu.

finally, FINALLY, after finishing the pasta, we had something we actually ordered-- my dad the rabbit involtino, my mom the rosemary crusted baby chicken, and i the tortellini (though i think it's funny i didn't order anything from the secondi menu).

we all agreed that, while we consumed a lot, none of us were stuffed. enough room for dessert. my dad had the hazelnut cake with nutella mousse, i had the green apple and crystallized ginger prosecco float, and my mom had some flavored gelatti (complete with a birthday candle).

i will most definitely send the chef a nice thank you note on magazine letterhead come monday.

and the funny part is, i can't even begin to tell you how much i had to reference the online menu while writing this to get the terminology right and to figure out what i was eating.

dear subway gods

why is it that 9 times out of 10, when i sit on the subway, the person next to me decides that it's nap time and i make a perfectly good pillow? the awkward game ensues: do i tap this person on the shoulder? move abruptly? or just go with it, hoping the next stop will jerk them awake?

i thought this was normal, but apparently this has never happened to melissa and jude. should i take it personally? am i that boring of a person?

eat, drink, and be merry

(insert oh-so-typical "i haven't written in my blog for so long" comment here).

yes, it's been a while. time here in new york city has been a paradox of fast and slow. the days are flying by, but i still feel like i haven't been here for very long. my internship is almost over. it's been difficult, but i can say that i'm learning a lot about the magazine industry and my strengths and weaknesses. truth be told, financially, i'll be very happy when it is finished and i can seek a higher paying job. working for p.b.loco full-time, or even part-time along with another part-time job, will be a welcome change.

i'm extremely excited that it's december. i've been looking forward to this month more so than any other year. my month has been booked right through, though it hasn't exactly gone according to plan. last weekend i went to dc to do some p.b.loco demos. the days were long, though, and the only dc/friend time i had was in the form of meeting kate and the clarks for lunch. unfortunately, the timing was off yet again and i only ended up with about 10 minutes... just enough time to order my food to go and take it back to the bus.

celeste and chris were supposed to visit this weekend, but the snow ultimately got the better of us and they stayed home. luckily, when celeste told me on friday morning that they weren't going to make it, i was too hungover to fully process and it didn't hit me as hard. thank you, sales day party, for getting me drunk enough to numb the pain of my sister not visiting.

this weekend instead was spent wandering around the west village, consuming irish cream and egg nog, and reading. i haven't had a weekend with no plans in a while, so it was a nice change of pace. i also purchased the snl christmas special and a random christmas movie (noel) to watch in the living room, all nice and cozy with my fiber optic tree.

as for next weekend, my parents are finally visiting. i'm excited to show them around park slope (not to mention my apartment). this weekend won't come fast enough.

after their visit, i will work half a day on christmas eve, take the greyhound home, spend the night/day with my family, and take the bus back on christmas night. definitely a short visit, but i opted to work on christmas eve so i could take off...

...NEW YEAR'S EVE. this is the most excited i've been about new year's since... well, ever. a bunch of people are coming to visit including, but not limited to (in alphabetical order), alex, arthur, deb, katherine, kevin (?), jeni, joe, margaret, matt, and phil. some people have yet to determine whether or not they will be there, but we will hope for the best.

the evening will commence with a cocktails soiree hosted by my apartment. afterwards, jeni, joe, and matt will remain behind with jude, and they will cook dinner and play games. the rest of us will proceed to dinner and drinks in park slope. at midnight, we will watch fireworks at grand army plaza. and who knows what the rest of the night will have in store.

city of brotherly love

last weekend marked my first visit to philadelphia. kate was planning on visiting katherine, and we thought it would be a good idea for me to surprise her. the plan worked out rather well, despite the fact that i accidentally got on the chinatown bus an hour early. kate's bus got in an hour late, and katherine, who is working in dc (don't ask) got in right on time. since i was early, i headed to a restaurant to get some dinner. kate told katherine to meet her there, little did she know she was meeting me instead. then i got on one knee and popped the question-- can i crash on your couch tonight?

but the joke was on me, because katherine doesn't even have a couch.

it was a lot of fun, even though we didn't get to see the rocky steps. it's always really refreshing to see college friends. whenever i see one, i go home feeling sad that we don't live in the same city anymore. in a perfect world, my friends and i would all be in the same area and getting together would be no problem. the weekend was too short, but i left feeling good about the realization that visits to dc and philly are really easy and cheap (just like me. wait...). i will throw out this invitation to whoever is reading right now: you are cordially invited to crash on my couch/bed/mattress/floor for new year's eve. no birthday presents necessary - hosting a bunch of people on my first four-day new year's weekend in a while is a gift in itself. katherine for one is already signed up.

and now for the apartment situation. the heat and hot water were a false alarm. we have a mess of wires downstairs at the gas tank in the basement and still no electricity in the basement to run the crappy old boiler. to remedy that, the construction worker and broker had the brilliant idea to run a cord from our apartment all the way down stairs via a bunch of exension cords. it's amazing we haven't had a fire yet.

we filed a complaint to the housing preservation department last week and someone came last night to check it out. for once i feel like the apartment heavens aligned, because all three of us were there and the inspector was the first person we've encountered in a long while that actually listened and didn't seem in a hurry. according to him, people like him are few and far between. he said his coworkers all do their visits in a rush... which explains why, when no one answered after ringing our broken doorbell after the first two visit attempts, the inspectors left. we couldn't have asked for a better examiner- this one had the brains to wait a few seconds and then tap on the window. apparently, after the third visit attempt, the case is thrown out if no one answers. we were lucky. he was very thorough, took the time to answer our questions, and understood what a crappy situation it was. he had a sense of humor and felt for us. when he left, we felt like he had taken pieces of our hearts with him. robert, wherever you may be, we will miss you.

in reality, it was a nice change of pace to have someone empathize with us. between our landlord, construction worker, broker, electric company, and gas company, it's been hell. he cited four emergency violations to be repaired immediately, plus smaller things to be fixed. we also sent a certified letter to the landlord. we shall see what comes of it.

squatter's rights

life in the apartment has been less than ideal. we just got hot water two days ago. we have yet to get heat. since when are heat and hot water considered luxuries? the construction still hasn't been finished. melissa is still staying at her friend's because her bathroom still has no shower wall or toilet seat. after having a pow wow tonight, the roommates decided they are banding together to pursue some sort of landlord ultimatum. wish us luck.

on the bright side, we did get a new refrigerator (a huge step up from the unusable old one with a cut cord and mold growing inside). my room is coming along, i got a 5-shelf bookcase (taller than me) at target for only $30. let me remind you that a bookcase has been on my wish list since minneapolis. this is a big deal for me.

also on the noteworthy list is my $200 brand-spankin-new couch. i'm sure that anyone who has ever been in a crummy apartment situation can testify that having a couch is a serious silver lining. even more, we got it delivered for cheap that very same day (not to mention a free ride back in the delivery truck).

i've also ordered a new bedspread (no more country quilt motif) and some curtains for the giant living room window. i'm determined to make this a real place, as opposed to a cheaply-furnished apartment, because really, an awesome home may be the only thing to keep me from deciding to do tokyo or korea again at the end of the internship.

i'm really looking forward to being settled. in all, it will be a great place to live - it will be a nice apartment once everything is finished. and prospect park is amazing.

in my previous post, i failed to mention what i had been up to outside of work and the place. celeste visited two weekends ago, and it was more fun than i'd had in a long time. we walked all over the city and even stumbled upon bon jovi's new video shoot. we got some food with melissa that night in korea town. that sunday we drove back upstate for my cousin dylan's wedding. it was a lot of fun and we danced a lot. and by "a lot," i mean we danced the first two songs and realized it was time to get me back to the bus station. we won't talk about the buses running late and me not getting home until 3:30 am.

the weekend before that i also went home to gather the rest of my things and drive back in a huge u-haul (side note: successfully driving this into brooklyn is definitely one of my prouder moments in life). i also got a new tattoo. my mom, celeste, and i thought it would be a good idea to get one on the same day while i was home. my mom got a celtic band around her ankle with a (prepare yourself) scottish deerhound profile in the center and thistle at either side. celeste got the mackenzie clan coat of arms on her hip. i got a lotus flower on my back/left shoulder. thank god for needlewurks, because they really do an amazing job. all three of the tattoos turned out incredible. eventually i want the artist to get the flowers going all the way down the left side of my back. the colors and design are perfect and i'm glad i finally got a korea-inspired tattoo, considering i had been waiting about two years to get one.

with that said, it is time to unload more books onto my bookcase.

live from new york

guess it's time for an update. life has had its ups and downs lately, to say the least. i'm writing from my apartment, but we are far from settled. miraculously, jude and i discovered that we have a wireless signal and are both currently lost in internetland. it's especially amazing considering the fact that we don't have power.

that's right. when we moved in, i was aware that the apartment would still be under construction. i was aware that i would have to call to have the electricity set up. i WASN'T aware of the fact that we don't even have a meter. apparently, according to the electric company, the last tenants were so behind on bills that the marshall ordered the meter to be removed. it isn't just a simple matter of flipping a switch and turning the power back on. i had to fax some paperwork, which they have to review to make sure we have nothing to do with the previous tenants. after that, they will send someone to install a meter. the lady on sunday told me that because cases like this aren't common, we would be given priority.

this in itself has been an endeavor. after trying to fax the paperwork last night (not to mention a whirlwind of phone calls and meetings with the broker to get the lease to fax), the fax machine failed. i arrived to work early this morning to try again and called the electric company to check if any of the faxes were received. more tears ensued after the lady this time told me that they can only track back to faxes received on 10/9, because those were the cases currently being handled. she claimed she couldn't even get into the files to see if my fax was successfully sent. having a hard time believing that this was the answer, that i would have to wait days for a fax that may not have even gotten there to be reviewed, i called celeste in tears. she took it upon herself to call the company saying it's ludicrous for three young girls to be living in brooklyn without power. the guy she talked to this time said he found the fax and would expedite it, and maybe they would be able to install a meter tomorrow. keep your fingers crossed.

that being said, life has been stressful and i feel drained in every way, shape, and form. there has been one problem after another and i'm getting to the point where i'm just ready for everything to be done and settled.

in the meantime, jude, kimchi, and i are staying here while melissa stays with a friend. jude and i decided it's just easier to stay here, construction, no hot water, darkness, and all, so we just go to her friend's to shower. the broker did bring a cord connecting to the basement along with a power strip, so we are able to charge things, hook up our lamps, and watch tv. and the internet is a nice little surprise.

my job is getting there. basically i have two bosses so things can get kind of hectic, which is what i expected from a magazine job. i feel in over my head sometimes, but that goes with all new jobs. it's definitely a nice environment to work in, and i'm learning a lot about publishing, food, and (you guessed it) wine.

i think i'm spent for the night. time to turn out the light(no s).