NYC-Versary

This date crept up on me like the G Train, but it's true: I've officially lived in New York City for one full year. I've officially been a college grad for one full year. Crazy crazy crazy. To celebrate this exciting milestone, I'm paying a visit later tonight to the place where it all began: Junior's Cheesecake. But I first wanted to look back at this last year and remember all the amazing adventures I've had so far.

For example...In one year living in NYC, I've:

• Done just about all the touristy things. Top of the Rock, Statue of Liberty, High Line, Brooklyn Bridge, Coney Island...I got all of these out of the way early. 
• Eaten my weight in pizza and cheesecake and pastrami and halal
• Biked around Central Park
• Gotten lost in the Met, the American Museum of Natural History, the MOMA, and the Brooklyn Museum
• Traveled on the subway at three in the morning with two homeless men as my companions
• Fallen asleep on the subway and woken up at Brighton Beach
• Heard every rendition imaginable of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" 
• Been networked with on the subway
• Been proposed to by my taxi driver
• Been propositioned in the South Bronx
• Been to a jazz concert in Harlem
• Participated in film festivals, television festivals, and music festivals
• Seen 14 Broadway shows
  
  
• Had my name in a Playbill (off-off Broadway, but still)
• Attended the cherry blossom festival at Brooklyn Botanic Garden
• Gallery-shopped in Chelsea
• Been to a Yankees game and a Mets game
• Attended a live taping of SNL
• Gobbled up the special concrete at each Shake Shack location
• Ridden the Cyclone at Coney Island
• Experienced the weirdness that is the Village Halloween Parade
• Attended various free concerts and plays in Central Park
• Warbled my way through Korean karaoke
• Learned all the Jewish holidays in September
• Read a book in the Rose Reading Room at the Schwarzman Library
• Become best friends with the security guards at Grand Central Terminal
• Devoured all the things at Smorgasburg
• Taken a selfie with Zachary Quinto
• Taken stalker photos of countless other celebrities
• Marathoned movies at the Tribeca Film Festival
• Sat on the Iron Throne
• Learned what 100 degrees without air conditioning really feels like
• Learned what taking public transit through a polar vortex really feels like
• Lived in three different boroughs
  
• Changed my personal definitions of "expensive" and "far away" and "smelly"
• Learned how to place an order with Seamless in less than 30 seconds.
• Hardened my heart towards tourists in Times Square
• Felt inner pride when a lady asked me for directions and I knew what to tell her
• Made some incredible friendships and memories to last a lifetime

Greatest friendship of them all

That's only a small list of things I've done this past year. You can click on the "New York" tag at the bottom to see some of my other posts I wrote about my time here so far.

However, there are still so many things I want to see and do. I plan to live here for a while, and I still don't feel I can fully call myself a New Yorker, at least not until I:

• Discover more obscure, delicious restaurants to impress my visiting friends with. This includes completing the 196 Challenge (visiting one restaurant for every country in the world) 
• Knock another girl to the ground at a sample sale
• Attend an art fair at Roosevelt Island
• Get a bicycle and bike around Prospect Park
• Visit Greenwood Cemetery 
• Go to a Knicks and a Nets game
• Attend a taping of The Colbert Report before it's too late
• Play chess in Washington Square Park
• Visit the real Little Italy in the Bronx
• Kayak on the Hudson River
• Sing along at a drag show
• Bowl and jam at Brooklyn Bowl
• Find Brandon Stanton and get on Humans of New York
• Get yelled at by Billy on the Street
• Meet Amy Poehler at the UCB
• Find myself saying "Fuhgeddaboutit" unironically

Please let this happen to me. 

Looking Back at 2013

Each year has it's ups and downs, but 2013 has by far been one of the craziest. Here are some things that happened in the world that stuck out in my mind:

Edward Snowden helps aid sales of 1984

The government decides to take a little break

Marriage equality movement makes huge strides, even in Utah(!)

Nelson Mandela remembrance

"Twerking" and "selfie" officially become part of the everyday lexicon

Sharknado

Also the Harlem Shake and goat videos were a thing once

BATFLECK (never forget)

Game of Thrones. Breaking Bad. Downton Abbey. 

Stephen Colbert got Daft Punk'd

Doctor Who celebrated 50 years of existence

Veronica Mars becomes the first feature film by the people, for the people

And in my own little world:

I graduated college (and spoke at that graduation. Whaaat?)

Took a risk with an unpaid internship in New York City

Fell in love with NYC

Moved from one borough to another

Visited Boston and D.C. for the first time

Got a big-girl job in the industry I love

Attempted to be a responsible post-grad adult

Started a dieting/getting healthy vlog

I've written a lot about the things I've learned these past 12 months. It's certainly been a roller coaster of a year; one that I was really excited for. Now it's over and I genuinely have no idea what to expect in 2014. Guess we'll find out. 

Thanks to all who for some reason chose to read this blog from time to time. Please let me know if you have one as well--reading about people's lives and thoughts is my go-to time waster. 

Happy New Year, friends. 

I Think I'll Go to Boston

Yes, we did hear that song a million times on the radio while we were in Boston. Nuance isn't really their style.

Jenny and I went to Boston this past weekend and we had a blast. Seriously guys, New England is the prettiest part of America. The green, the sea, the cute architecture, everything is wonderful.

We stayed with my one of my favorite old Young Women's leaders, Bekka, and her adorable family. They have the cutest New England house and were so gracious to let us crash for a couple nights and show us around the city. Here are some of things we did:

I'm obsessed with the architecture of this city

The fabulous Joner family!

King's Chapel Burying Ground

The wharf

My main man Ben.

Mike's Pastry has the best cannolis on this green earth.

Gorgeous.

These clam shells were EVERYWHERE on the beach.

Mikey's burying my feet. Though I'm not sure where my legs end and the sand begins... #pastywhite

Mmmmmm.

After the city we chilled at the beach for a couple hours. It was perfect evening followed by an even more perfect meal, LOBSTERS and CLAMS. If you know my love of seafood, then you know I was in heaven. Jenny scored some life points by cracking open her very first lobster. It was a proud moment.

The next day we went to Salem to see the witches. We checked out the Salem Witch Museum, which showed the history of the 1692 trials and the changing perceptions of witches throughout the ages. Interesting stuff. Even more interesting is just how much this town embraces its witchy history. There is literally a witch trail, potions shops, people in costume, and several psychic readers. And yes, I did get a tarot card reading where I was told I need to keep on my current path to be successful. So there's that.

Here are some pics of Salem:

Puritans!

Not tacky at all.

Embracing my inner witch. I didn't have to try too hard. 

Seriously. Obsessed. 

Basically it was a perfect weekend and I need to go back. Here's a video I made about it. Enjoy some more fun facts about witches.

Week Tres

Another week of fun in New York City. My computer just died and the computer lab is only open for another half hour, so I'm gonna do this post quick through pictures. Sorry.

Monday Jenny and I stalked the Arrested Development banana stand and geeked out hard.

Tuesday we became full-on groupies as we found the banana stand again, this time with Terry Crew manning it.

Tuesday night we went to the Yankees game, which was fun, but I have to admit...I was not impressed. They didn't have lids for their drinks or offer ranch for their chicken fingers (which also wasn't super great). And no one came around to peddle frozen lemonades. Very disappointing. Go GABP!

Wednesday was class, and I treated myself to this absolutely delicious waffle from a stand.

Thursday we ate at Gray's Papaya...which was ok. At least is was cheap.

Then we saw CollegeHumor Live at the UCB, which was hilarious. I just love comedy clubs.

Friday I saw Star Trek (Go see it! Now!) And on the Subway ride home I saw this amazing ad. It's kinda blurry, but you may be able to notice that the before and after pictures feature human beings of completely separate genders.

Saturday was a pretty full day. We started off with a Staten Island Ferry ride.

Where we saw a beautiful view of the city.

And the Statue of Liberty.

We ate lunch at Katz's, famous for its mouthwatering pastrami sandwiches, which was so freaking good. And huge.

nomnomnom.

Next was the World Trade Center Memorial, which was beautiful and chilling and now one of my favorite places.

Just so many names. So sad.

The Guggenheim!

From the top.

The lake at Central Park.

That's about it! Work is still going great. I'm applying to all the jobs right now, so we'll see where that goes. I'm starting to hit panic mode.

CRISIS ALERT CRISIS ALERT CRISIS ALERT

Ok I'm good now.

Here's the vid: