Entry Four

I can’t remember the last time I have really slept in since living in New York. There is so much to do here, there’s really no need to sleep in. Justin and I have been taking advantage of the nice(r) weather that we’ve been having here in the city. A couple of weeks ago we went to High Line Park which starts in the Meatpacking District. It’s located behind the infamous Standard Hotel and it is above ground. The neat thing about the park is that it is built on an old subway line and the tracks are still visible. It’s probably the cleanest outdoor place I have encountered here… so much so I think the five second food dropping rule could still apply. The park has an urban touch. If you have ever been to The Lab or The Camp in Costa Mesa, CA, it is quite similar. The park goes on for a couple of miles, but it was still being renovated, so we made our way out shortly after the first section. The sun rays were breaking through the stacked concrete… we took advantage of the short lived warmth for the weekend and walked to Herald Square. I personally enjoy walking more than riding the subways, because you can discover so many things you never realized were around.

That evening we called it an early night, because the following day Justin, our friend Jeri, and I snuck into the Five Boro Bike Tour. Let me just lead with 42 MILE RIDE!!! Oh such rebels we were, because they sold out of entry spots, so we snuck in. How hard could it be right? It really wasn’t very hard at all, but we stuck out like sore thumbs. Helmets were required as well as wearing yellow vests featuring your biking number… The tour took us through the five boroughs. It started in lower Manhattan through Central Park into the Bronx, then Queens, Brooklyn, and finally Staten Island. The first time we got caught they weren’t so strict we just had to back track another route. The second (and final) time we got caught they wouldn’t let us in to Staten Island to finish the race. I would just like to say that even with that… I’m pretty sure we still biked the same amount of miles… so I feel incredibly accomplished. I could hardly take a nap when I got home, my body was buzzing with energy I thought was all used in the long ride. So I know they say overcast days make for greater sunburn days, but its New York… who burns in New York? I can’t even remember the last real bad sunburn I’ve had. I tan like a bronzed angel (teasing!) or I turn a dark shade of yellow as Justin sees in his mind ;). I felt and looked just fine. I woke up less than an hour later to a burning itchy sensation on my hand. By natural instinct I tried to scratch the feeling away… WOW that was sensitive. I heaved my sore body out of bed and hobbled to the mirror. OH DEAR LORD. I have morphed into a lobster. I’m still peeling to this day and I think I have learned my lesson.

A popular treat in the city is the Shake Shack. It is all outdoor seating and when the weather is nicer the line gets much longer. We waited about twenty minutes for our food which I hear is nothing. The wait is longer in the summer. The burgers are amazing and they have their own version of custard and it was decadent. Let me describe the simple deep paper bowl of goodness: peanut butter, pretzels, and smooth chocolate ice cream all swirled into a little taste of heaven.

Last Friday one my favorite comedians Anjelah Johnson was performing at Gotham Comedy Club. Justin surprised me with tickets! If there is anyone out there that hasn’t seen her Nail Salon skit, please look it up on Youtube. She’s hilarious!!

Saturday afternoon we joined an outrigger group on the Hudson River. The first thing we did was learn how to canoe on dry land. Spear the fish, turn the ignition, left side left leg out (vise versa), and share the same rhythm. The first couple of minutes seemed overwhelming applying all the rules, but it didn’t take long to learn to breathe and have a great time. I think we will definitely do it again. They also teach paddleboard classes, but I’m not too keen on being immersed in the dirty water with possible human floaters! I think I need to build a stronger immune system first. That night we took the Staten Island ferry to see The Beatles cover band, The Fab Four with some friends. The show takes you through the albums in order. They are amazing!!

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day weekend! Be safe, God Bless, and I’ll be seeing you in all the old familiar places.

California in a little over a month!!

Entry Three

It has felt strange not going through my normal weekly routine. My body immediately wanted to roll out of bed at 7am to be at the bank by 8:15am to clear the branch, so I could start my day with my colleagues. With Justin going back to work after the New Year, I was wondering how I would fill the time before I found a new job.

Over the course of the next few weeks, I had my own new little job. We had boxes being shipped in from California with the rest of our clothes (at such a great rate; courtesy of my former client) as well as our Ikea furniture. I can officially add Super Woman to my resume (or at the very least, handy with screw driver and allen wrench), because I put the majority of our furniture together and in place. The apartment was beginning to look like a home! Bessim (our superintendent at the time… he’s no longer with the building management team and you will soon find out why) was in and out of the apartment for the next couple of days to “spruce” the place up. The closets didn’t have shelves, or rails in it yet, so he came to install those. He put the rails so close to the wall that our clothes were hanging at an angle. Our oven also needed to be brought back to life. Bessim couldn’t tell us what was wrong, so they brought in someone from the outside a couple of days later. They were in and out of the apartment in less than five minutes. The main pilot light was out. Ha!

Prior to getting the apartment situated, Justin and I ate out frequently. We had a mouth watering, lick your fingers experience at White Castle, different authentic curry places, to a unique Venezuelan meal at Cara Cas. I would like to elaborate on Cara Cas, because this restaurant is Ah-MAY-zing. The main dish they serve are Arepas. Essentially it is served kind of like a taco there. The “shell” is made of cooked cornmeal. They stuff it with different meats, sauces, and cheeses. The perfect pairing is plaintain chips with homemade guacamole. We haven’t really been to any restaurant more than once yet, except for here. I quickly learned that it’s also easy to order online in NYC and a lot of places offer free delivery. Even though it was chilly outside, I manned (or womaned) up and explored the city to pick up my lunch. During the day being new to the city, this was my way of being amongst humans instead of communicating insanely to our cat all day (Just kidding…love you Pootie) I remember one time I was on my way to grab lunch and there were icicles hanging off the awnings just ready to fall! I danced around the hazardous area to safer sidewalks. When I reached the place I chose to dine, people were drinking beer on their lunch hour like it was water. Am I missing something here?

During this time I have been MIA to blogging, we have accomplished many tourist-like things that we’ve had on our list. We have checked out The Natural Museum of History, The Met, The MOMA, Statue of Liberty, and have seen on and off broadway plays. We have gone to hidden gems, like The Burger Joint and other neat little bars/clubs. I had a wonderful birthday WEEKEND thanks to Justin. For my birthday present he got me fabulous Burberry rainboots. He took the day off to take me iceskating, got lunch at The Soup Nazi (featured in Seinfeld), and saw The American Idiot play. That Sunday we also saw The Lion King on Broadway. Critics really nailed the reviews right on the head. It’s the most stunning live show I have ever been to. I think everyone should see it at least once!

January came and went so quickly and I have been applying for jobs like it was a full time job. I got a call from Chase for one of their interview days. I was hired on the spot! I was relieved to no longer be searching and Chase was my first choice. Just before my start date, some of my favorite girls (Hanieh and Janie!!!) came to visit me for the weekend! Our fake British accents came into fruition once again! I had fun being a tour guide. We went to Empire State Building, Central Park, rode the Staten Island ferry, and partied our behinds off in the Meat Packing District.

Last month Justin and I ventured to Brooklyn to get vintage hybrid bikes from a man that repairs them in his basement. He has over 200 bikes… it’s the craziest thing I have ever seen in any backyard/basement area. He does well for himself though. I would recommend anyone looking for a bike to see him. The following weekend we enjoyed some sun and went on a biking adventure through Central Park, to Pelham Bay Park, and reached final destination in City Island. I was wearing my Bronco sweater that day going through Harlem. BIG Mistake. Had I said anything back to the mystery person screaming profanities at me in their car, I could have been in my first fist fight. Or I could have seen what I’m really like in flight mode… I think the second being the latter.

A couple of weeks ago we had the pleasure of having Justin’s friend Drew over and we went on a lot of little adventures, one being an annual pillow fight in Union Square. Yes, a pillow fight. There were several hundred people grouped together with limbs flailing and feathers flying in the air. My heart began to race; I don’t know what I was getting myself into. Well, we decided that maybe I could see better if I was on Justin’s shoulders. I instantly became a target to the masses. I came out unscathed so it seemed, but the bop to the nose didn’t feel so good. Never again.

I apology that my blogging has been very behind. I am working towards being more on top of it. Please stay tuned, because there are a lot more fun adventures to report!

Lots of love.

            Justin and I awoke bright and early on the 31^st of December. We were getting our shiny golden ticket of approval; our keys to the apartment. Hello New York City, we’re finally moving in! Before we left the luxurious W Hotel, we stocked up on hand cream from the supply cart. One might find this move to be tacky, while I thought, “Convenient purse sized relief… the weather dries you out faster than beef jerky.” We went on the floor above us to try another maid’s supply cart, but the front desk manager happened to walk by, so we took the elevator down to the next floor. Surprise! He was inches away from us. Our journey for more lotion was at an end before it started.

            One last impromptu decision from Justin was that we needed to grab the toilet paper rolls in the bathroom, so we would have them readily available in the apartment. The only room left to stash away the toilet paper was Pootie’s carry on case. While we were waiting outside for a taxi, our receptionist at the hotel wanted to look at Pootie inside her carry on. We just hoped she didn’t see the toilet paper roll we hastily shoved inside with her. The taxi arrived promptly. We were off in a haste of yellow and screaming horns.

            We ran all over the place to run errands and to also start our attempt at getting settled in. We ordered our mattress which wasn’t set to arrive until New Years Day, so we also went and got an air mattress, which doubles as our current couch where I type blog two (we’re still in search of the perfect couch), but also a more comfortable place where our guests may sleep. Before we knew it, the sun had settled and I was beginning to understand why a New York minute is so precious. Although walking to and from the subway provides daily cardio, it also needs to be tacked on to our everyday schedule until we learn how to get to where we need to be efficiently.

            When we got home we took a nap and didn’t wake up until later that evening. We attempted to go down to Time Square, but it was so overcrowded we weren’t on a street where we could see anything and we couldn’t push forward. I was feeling cold and cramped and my friends boyfriend told us if we stay down there, we wouldn’t be getting home until 6am. I didn’t like the idea of being stuck, or standing next to someone’s make shift toilet (frozen urine…disgusting!) we decided on a more intimate scene.

            I think it took us about an hour to get out of the area, and we had to sneak through a blocked off part of the subway, but we were finally on our way to a fabulous time. We looked up five star bars in the area based on Yelp! reviews and made our way in. It was close to midnight when Justin’s friend from work decided to meet up with us. Five until midnight they reached the entrance of the bar and Justin was helping them in. Three until midnight and I’m getting asked if the stools next to me are taken. One until midnight and I’m thinking, “Am I counting down alone here?” 30 seconds… did he fall in a man hole? 20 seconds… my silly prince charming is by my side laughing. He was in line trying to order champagne. 1 second…. Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!! We were starving after a while and walked a few paces to a ramen house. Delicious! That definitely hit the spot.

            We knew we had a lot more to get done the day of new years. Ikea was open and we ordered most of our furniture except for the couch. They didn’t look all that comfortable there. After that we did a little more exploring and we ended up eating in Little Italy… I think. Forgive me if I am wrong, I can’t remember if this follows later. Anyways, we ran into one of Justin’s friends there. It was just like the movies, what a small world!

            The following day Justin took me to Central Park. It was beautiful. Adorned with patches of snow and people walking there cute little dogs, I couldn’t think of a happier picture. We walked along a path that took us to The Met.  Again with my jaw dropping expressions, I might need to see someone about getting it wired shut! I found the museum to be incredible. I loved the Andy Warhol pieces. I spotted them immediately as he is one of my favorite artists and his pop art Beatles poster once decorated my apartment. I would like to go back one day when we choose the rooms we like most and we can enjoy the art for everything it has to offer. Briefly after that we checked out Century 21 so Justin could find a coat. A girl can never resist shopping!

            We made a quick stop at the apartment before joining fabulous friends Karen and Mike at the Exchange Bar which was down the street from us to watch the Giants game. For those of you that don’t know, I have known my lovely Karen for over ten years and we have been through EVERYTHING together, so naturally I was super excited to spend some time with her in the city. Mike is a native of New York, so together they showed us a great time. Exchange Bar has a really fun ambiance. It’s a long oak bar and on weekends above the array of liquor there is a ticker that goes by to display drinks and prices to give the idea of stock exchange. Along the bar are several flat screen TVs that give a subtle sporty feel; liked by both sexes. After the Giants unfortunate loss (Sorry Mike!) we went to a place in Chelsea called, The Cafeteria.

Karen and I have a silly love for Sex and The City. In high school we dreamed of living in New York amongst the fashion and urge for adventure. The Cafeteria was like the luncheon place they went to… a perfect spot to seal the best evening out! I’m counting down the days that you guys move out here ;) Then our Charlotte/Carrie adventures will come in to fruition.

            The night may still have been young in New York, but Justin had work and I would be waking up early to await the arrival of our furniture.

            Stay tuned! As I will be catching you up to date on our latest adventures very soon.

Always,

Maya

Hmm… who stands out the MOST in this picture? ;)

Barely made the countdown!!

2011 <3

Steps of The Met

Warhol

Sweet N Petite Takes on the Big Apple

Entry One

Trying to evenly distribute my weight on a damp moving box, I sit next to Baggage Claim 2 starting to type the first entry of my blog two hours after Flight 404’s arrival to JFK Airport.

The idea of my blog title came from the later days of driving my tiny little coupe. If you have seen the license plate frame, I hope that you find the same humor in it as I do.

A lot of my friends, as well as Justin’s, said that we should pull an all-nighter before our flight and just crash and burn on the airplane. Wisdom. I would soon find out that the advice would help me in the long run.

A few minutes prior to leaving, we had to drug our cat Pootie with a sedative. It was humorous and sad at the same time. For most of the trip she appeared to be high as a kite.

Our shuttle arrived promptly at 3:30am. It didn’t take very long to reach LAX airport. Upon arrival, it was pretty easy to check all the boxes in. After that we had almost an hour and a half to kill before they started boarding the plane. We took the time to enjoy Burger King’s breakfast (Mmm… ;/) and tried to get a few minutes of shut eye. The flight wasn’t bad at all (Thank you Dramamine, you are a wonderful invention.) I have never flown Virgin America and it was quite the experience. I watched old episodes of Keeping Up With The Kardashian’s and I thoroughly enjoyed myself before I fell into a deep slumber. According to the young lady in front of us, Bruno Mars was on our flight. I couldn’t help but feel terribly excited! When the plane started to descend I was feeling nervous, because the whole city was blanketed in snow. In California I always claim that I am freezing and my friends are telling me I don’t even know what cold is until I have made it to New York. When we stepped outside of the airport two hours later, I am excited to say that I survived the wind chill in fashion thanks to my North Face 600 down jacket. Even greater thanks to Justin’s parents, Thad and Sharon for being so generous at Christmas.

The drive into the city was a memorable experience. I lost track of the number of times our driver honked the horn. I know that it was more times than I’ve honked the car horn since I learned to drive. I don’t find it annoying though, to me it’s a part of NY’s charm, their melodic lullaby if you will. I also found myself constantly picking my chin up off the ground, because I was floored by the incredible architecture.

Justin and I arrived at the W Hotel in Union Square where we stayed the night until we could get our keys to the apartment the following day. As always, the W Hotel was a Wonderful experience.

We had a bet going back in California… I can’t remember what it was, but I lost, so I bought our first meal in NY together. We ate at a pizza place a few doors down from the hotel. It’s true what they say; the pizza is the best here. It was delicious.

We went and got our monthly Metro cards and started exploring the city. Thursday night we saw Times Square, Rockefeller Center, and the site where the World Trade Center buildings were.

Times Square kind of reminded me of Vegas, because of the signs and everything in bright lights. The vendors kept telling us to check their little odds and ends that they were selling. On our behalf, I kept apologizing and said no thank you as we were moving on. Justin told me I need to not be so polite to them and keep on trekking, because that’s how they pull you in.

Rockefeller Center looked like it would be a fun place to ice skate, had the line not been several miles long. I am hoping it won’t be so bad after the New Years crowd makes their way back home.

Our last stop before we turned in was the Financial District. I saw a girl that looked like a character from Desperate Housewives. I wondered if she had the familiar mole near one of her eyes. SHE DID. It was definitely her. She plays Bree’s daughter in case you were wondering who I saw. I found it pretty funny and mildly exciting. Once I stopped staring and giving her the creeps to confirm it was her, we saw the spot where the World Trade Center buildings once were. It was eerie and quiet. Still delirious from the Dramamine, I think I would have appreciated it more after a good nights rest. We did want to go see the Statute of Liberty while we were down there, but we were lost and decided to head back.

We took the subway back to our hotel and called it a night. I had the best first day in the Big City. Thank you Justin!

Always,

Maya

My fabulous down jacket that will save my life!

Boarding the plane. See you later California!

My first subway ride

Over dressed compared to the other New Yorkers. Hell, I’m cold!

XOXO

Purrrrrrrrriiiiiiitooooooooooo!!!