A New Jersey Home

It was move off of the air mattress and on to a queen size bed kind of weekend. Not only do I have my own room, I have my own BATHROOM! I understand these pictures contain no excitement for you, but it was definitely the highlight of my weekend!

This is my lovely yellow bathroom; complimented with a giant candle and fake flowers.

My Grandma Paas painted this. Every bathroom needs a little humor!

Ahh... this is my glorious bathroom storage. The top two pictures are from my favorite running path in Columbia (The MKT Trail). The photos were taken by yours truly.

I managed to cram all of my clothes in this closet, which is already about 100 times more space than I had in New York.

Really exciting top of my dresser...

My walls are a little naked right now. (I had to abandon a few posters/pieces of artwork at home).
But I didn't leave them all! (Brady Quinn will be hung up soon!)

The Queen Size bed! With a picture of the Brooklyn Bridge above it.

Please note my New York Taxi Cab mug sitting on my desk.

New Beginnings

After a quick two week stint back in my hometown, I hit the road for my next unpaid adventure in life. I'm already in love with the work ethic and vicinity I will be spending the next three months in. The entire building is truly a football museum. Throw in a room built to hold an 80 piece orchestra, insane theatre room with surround sound, flat screen tv's that coat the walls.... and you have the place I work at!

I still can't believe that my job includes watching football all day. The fact that I get to talk about sports every single day is incredible, but what I really missed more than anything was editing, writing, and interviewing. Using the Avid editing system today (it's a non-linear video editing system) was a sigh of relief. I knew I made it back to what I spent four years working towards. Granted, I'm not hired, but I do have important responsibilities.

I wish I could share all the cool projects I'm working on right now, but there's a confidentiality agreement that I fully respect. I will however tell you some of the things I have learned so far though.

• Everyone has met someone who is an incredible athlete/coach. Sometimes these people even walk around the building. I'm hoping Brett Favre shows up soon.
• You cannot judge someone by their alma mater. I worked in a producer's office today who is a Michigan Alum. The library is ran by an OSU alum. Interns come from all over. The whole building would be chaos if rivalries continued on in the workforce because everyone has posters up.
• You will get LOST, because the place is a complete maze. I have figured out that if I find the SIGNED Paul Hornung poster I'm getting close to the coffee area. (Don't worry Dad, I'm sure they won't notice if they take it with me)

So life is good right now. I'm headed to Philly tomorrow night with my roommate for dinner and drinks with her friends (seeing as I am new to the area). I plan on posting some pictures soon of where I am living. As of right now I'm still sleeping on the air mattress in the living room (the other roommate moves out on Saturday). My excitement level for having my own bathroom skyrockets every day!

Julia and The Burbs?

Now that I have moved out of NYC and am currently spending two weeks back in Michigan, I've been contemplating whether or not I will be able to continue this blog. The internship will be very exciting, but the city..... well I guess I can't knock New Jersey quite yet, but I am banking on the fact that every city is a downgrade from NYC. I certainly had a good run out there, and I can't wait to go back ASAP. For now I will prepare for NJ and see if my adventures out there are worthy and funny enough to blog about. For now, here are a couple of pictures from my last night in NYC.

Cupcake Cafe

I wasn't feeling audacious enough to take a picture of all the delicious cupcakes that were in this cafe, but I did take a picture before I ate it! I got two of this little critters, one for me and one for my boss as a thank you. They surprised me with a little going away party today at work. It made me really sad to leave :( I'm packing up things tonight so I can relax and enjoy my last weekend in town!

I don't want to leave!

It's getting painfully close to my departure day. The people I work with and hang out with are not making it an easy transition for me..... they keep reminding me that I am leaving and that I should just stay instead. If I could transport my next internship to NYC I would do it in a heartbeat. No day is the same here in New York, and if you are ever bored than you are clearly doing something terribly wrong.

I spent last Friday in Long Island with Katie. How wonderful it was to sleep in a bed (I will NOT miss my air mattress!). We ate in a place called Port Jefferson for both dinner and breakfast. It was an ADORABLE city. It reminded me of Grand Haven and Breckenridge combined. Just a cute little town with shops and restaurants surrounded by water. Katie and I commented on how both our Mom's would love all the little shops. Specifically the Christmas shop for my mother (I have no doubt she would have stopped in there). Breakfast was insanely amazing. We ordered the fattiest thing possible on the menu.... Graham Cracker French Toast this includes the following: Graham Cracker encrusted toast with peanut butter and bananas inside topped of with caramel drizzled delicately on top. We decided against the syrup they gave us to go with it (wanted to save on the calories).

I mixed up my usual Sunday activities (mostly grocery shopping, Central Park, and a museum or touristy thing) with the ever popular brunching. Brunching in New York is more like a sporting event. People gather at one of the many restaurants that offer unlimited Mimosas and Champagne (I'm not kidding, almost every breakfast/lunch place on the UES offers this on Sundays. Becky, Elana, and I headed to a place called Blockheads and spent a total of $12 on brunch and mimosas COMBINED. NY is insanely expensive, so a deal like this is a treasure to all. We then proceeded to watch the Jets/Colts game with some very happy....then unhappy Jets fans. I am most definitely not a Jets fan but it was so much fun being in such an electric atmosphere as New Yorkers are desperately cheering for their team to make it to the Super Bowl.

This all leads up to last night (Tuesday) where I went out with some co-workers and co-interns after work. We started in Union Square where we work. This area is one of my favorites in New York. There are so many great places to eat, shop (or stare lovingly at unattainable items is the more appropriate wording), and hang out. It's going to be really hard not to come to this area 5 days a week. After consuming are very uniquely decorated Duke-a-ritas we proceeded to a different Union Square bar and then back up to the Upper East Side for some Karaoke at Dorrians (a popular preppy/trust fund baby lacoste wearing shirt bar). It should not be surprising that I did not go up to sing. As my roommate from Mizzou always told me when I would walk around singing, "Please stop".

The picture is of Jaymelee and I at Dorrians. I'm going to miss her along with my other co-workers. It's been a really sad week!

Updated To Do List

1. Top of the Rock- I WILL do this, but it will probably wait until I can visit during the warmer months.

2. Madison Square Garden: CHECK

3. Radio City Music Hall: no check

4. Mama Mia: no check, but I've already seen 7 musicals in NYC so I can't really complain

5. Lombardi's Pizzeria: This will happen before I leave!

6. Brunching: Even though I didn't eat "brunch" last Sunday I did go out....essentially the same thing, and will be going out again this Sunday (I can't fake being a Jets fan, but it still is fun watching the playoffs!) So this is a semi-check

7. Staten Island Ferry: CHECK

8. The Guggenheim: THIS WILL BE DONE BEFORE I LEAVE!

9. The Village: Hopefully next weekend....

10. International House of Photography: CHECK

3.5/10 I have work to do!

Time is Ticking!

It was such a great weekend with Katie in town....unfortunately there isn't much documentation. We ate a delicious meal at Blue Fin in Times Square on friday night. The best part was a delicious upside down chocolate cake with vanilla bean ice cream. After devouring it in about 2 minutes we decided next time we would have to each get our own...it was that good. We capped off the rest of the evening at a dive bar in Times Square (yes, a dive bar does exist in Times Square). Upon entering we were both pretty hesitant. The bar was extremely narrow and clearly filled with regulars. Too say the least, we were a bit out of place....especially when the only seating we found at first was located next to the toilets.

The night was hardly a bust. Despite the fact that we looked pretty out of place in a bar filled with boxing posters and older locals (Jimmy's Corner is the name of the bar....owned by Jimmy Glenn who himself is a former boxing legend), we managed to make some great friends. Katie even managed to bond with Jimmy himself. It was a late night for the both of us...making Saturday a loooong day. However, we managed to make it to the Staten Island Ferry. This is a ferry that you can ride for free to Staten Island (lord knows why you would actually want to get off the boat at Staten Island), while taking in some great views of the city. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, and despite almost getting attacked by killer seagulls on the ferry, it was a great experience.

Next stop was some Canal Street bargain shopping. I'm proud to say that neither Katie nor I bought anything. We did get to see the inner workings of some illegal purse shops (Katie's friends were on the purse-hunt). There is really nothing more comforting than having people sneak us into backrooms then use their walkie-talkies to make sure it's safe for us to leave again (safe as in there are no cops around). From here we ventured around SoHo and then made it back to Times Square for some food. O'Lunney's is a great Irish Bar that offers amazing cheeseburgers and beer/cider (my Dad and I actually have been to both here and Blue Fin beforehand). At this point in the night, we were both dragging pretty bad so there was no convincing either of us to go out again....

Sunday I experienced the "New York Sports Fans". I went with a couple of friends to a nearby bar to watch the Jets playoff game... let's just say Jets fans don't have the most clever of chants. J-E-T-S JETS! JETS! JETS! (insert chest-bumps here). The sports theme continued into today when I took a half day to go see the Pistons lose to the Knicks at Madison Square Garden with a friend. It's too bad the Pistons are absolutely terrible this season (much like many of my sports teams....). So it's been a busy weekend! Scratched two things of my NY to do list. I believe I still have 7 more to go, eek!

Side Note: I saw those footprints and "cliche photo" sign spray-painted on the sidewalk when I was walking to Madison Square Garden and thought it was hilarious.... however the background was just of a Subway so I don't know if that really is something people actually take pictures by...