"You Certainly Are Different From What They Have Back Home"

One week in! I am a resident of New York City! And I know people have been anxious to see what's been going on, and now I finally I have internet so I'm able to update the blog! It has been a difficult few days not being able to get online to check email and Facebook and all that jazz. I felt like I was back in the 1990s with a computer with no internet;) But back to the city...so far, so good! The transition has been a lot easier than I ever imagined it would be. Of course I miss everyone like CRAZY, but fortunately moving in with friends from home really helps the transition! So I'll just start from day one and go from there!

Day One: September 1st. My parents and I got up at 4 a.m. to catch a 7:30 flight. Grace and Madeline both wake up to bid me a very tearful farewell. It was probably one of the most pitiful things I have ever seen. But I had to be strong and not let them see my tears. It was wonderful to know how much I would be missed by them, and of course I will miss them like crazy, too. So we got to the airport, got Gimpy (aka Mom) a wheelchair and wheel through the airport. The flight left on time and we got to the city early. We had reservations at Hotel Reserve, which was a hotel directly around the corner from my apartment. We checked in and then went exploring. We found the apartment, however, we weren't able to get in since I didn't have keys. Bronson, Aundrey and B.J. arrive with a U-Haul at about 7:00 p.m. and we start unloading. And of course, the elevators don't work. Just our luck! We finally got them working and had quite the assembly line going getting things off the truck, onto the elevator, off the elevator and into the apartment. Everything is in the apartment, so we decided to call in a night. I went back to the hotel with Mom and Dad.

Day Two: Unpacking and cleaning, unpacking and cleaning, unpacking and cleaning. This is pretty much what the entire day consisted of! Mom, Dad, and I went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to get things I needed for my room. I felt like I was going back to school, getting all kinds of stuff for a dorm or something. And since most people in Manhattan walk, BBandB have same day delivery. Thank goodness for that! So we came back to apartment, did more unpacking and cleaning, the BBandB stuff arrived, and got that put away. Went back to the hotel to spend one more night with Mom and Dad.

Day Three: I had lots on the agenda for the day since Mom and Dad would be leaving at around noon. We went to the bank and opened up a new account, when to the market, and got it all back to the apartment. We had just a little bit more time to talk, and then Dad said it was time to go. That's when Mom and I lost it. (And as much as Dad won't admit, he teared up, too.) I walked them to a cab, and said our final goodbyes. It was so hard watching them drive away, and that's when I knew everything was really happening, I had really just moved to NYC and Mom and Dad just dropped me off. Ahhhh!!! Well, I had a good cry for about 20 minutes, and then picked myself up and tried to keep myself busy. Well, Bronson came home and wanted to go get some lunch, so I went with him. We went to Cosi's right over by NYU, and you would not believe what I saw when I was in there: a man wearing a Bowling Green Hot Rods shirt. Not one hour after my parents leave do I see a BG Hot Rods shirt. SMALL WORLD! So I ask him if he's from BG. He said no, but he almost took a job there and they gave him that shirt. I swear, anywhere you go in the world, you will find someone from BG or some BG connection!

Day Four: I wanted to go exploring around my "neighborhood." I live downtown in the Financial District so I'm surrounded by skyscrapers and beautifully architectured buildings. Well, I find everything I need within a block of me: my bank, a grocery store, a pharmacy, a Catholic Church, restaurants around every corner. And then Bronson (who came exploring with me) told me about South Street Seaport that he knew about. Little did we know, it is directly down our street on the river. So close!!! Everything is!!! Well, this place is full of little shops and restaurants. It is so cute! And the big bonus...it has a GAP! My favorite store in the whole world, right down the street from me! Life is GOOD! Later that night, Aundrey wanted us to go see a movie, so we went to see Halloween II. If you haven't seen it, don't. It was awful. But I think the worst part about the whole thing is that the move cost $12.50! WHAAAT?! So going to the movies has now become a luxury! Oh the cost, literally, of big city living!

Day Five: I was DESPERATE for some internet, so Bronson invited me to go up to NYU with him so I could check my email/Facebook for 3.5 seconds. After I got my slight fix, we went right over to Washington Square Park where there is a newly renovated fountain. It is so pretty there and it was so artsy with all the NYU kids there...I felt at home. Later that afternoon, I decided I wanted to go to Saturday night Mass at the church I had found (Our Lady of Victory). I guess being a Saturday night, they didn't have any music. I have only been to one other Mass that had no music. Obviously it isn't what I prefer, but next week I'll go on a Sunday to have the music. After that, Bronson was going to meet up with a schoolmate and go see a show and had me along. We went and saw an Off-Broadway show called "The Toxic Avenger." I wasn't sure how I felt about it when we first got tickets, because I had never heard of it. But we got student rush tickets for $25 so I couldn't complain. But it ended up being a FANTASTIC show! You never know what will surprise you! It was so funny and clever and I laughed the whole time! My first show as a NYC resident!

Day Six: Movie marathon all day long. All of my roomies and I did absolutely nothing and just vegged out, relaxed, and watched like 6 movies. And now they all run together, I can't even think of what all we watched! But we had no cable or internet still, so movies for us were it!

Day Seven: Yesterday. My friend and sorority sister Emily Alvey came into town!!!!!!!!!! It was SOOOO nice to have a visitor one week into my move! We went back down to South Street Seaport, then to ChinaTown, then walked down 5th Avenue. I can't even explain how great it was to have someone from home be up here! It was a great day!

Today: WE GOT OUR CABLE AND INTERNET!!! Finally!!! It has been so nice to be reconnected with the world! So now that I have internet back, my job/audition search has begun. It's a bit overwhelming! Well, more than a bit, but it's what I came here for!


So please, keep the prayers rolling because I need them! And send mail! Letters, postcards, money, whatever! I would love it! My address is 12 John Street, Apt. 7, New York, NY 10038. I apologize for this being so long, and I'm sure there are plenty of grammatical and spelling errors, but I'm not going to go back over and check haha! Continue to read, because I know I'll be updating rather frequently!!!