two by two

I'm a little late on my blog update, but I attribute it to the crazy week I had. Where do I even begin?

As mentioned in my previous post, I picked up a new job. So this past week has been spent finishing out the old one while training for the new one. While the work itself isn't too difficult, putting in all those hours per day certainly is. I was working 13+ hour days, with a one-hour break in between shifts/jobs to get myself a quick bite to eat and travel across town to make it in time. Rough. I made a little extra cash though, and I'm going to try my hardest to make it go as far as possible.

Two sets of two friends came to visit. First off, I had two people come to find a place called home. Marisa was in Miami for business, and she made a trip up the coast to visit home before going back to California. She took me over to Google in Chelsea for lunch. Holy crap, that place is amazing. I wonder what life would have been like if I had landed my very first job interview post-college, which was with Google. Anyway, it was a fun afternoon filled with unlimited food, good conversation, and Razor scooters zipping along the hallways. Later that night, I met up with Lexie, who just moved to New York City from Alameda. We bar hopped in the East Village, where we seriously couldn't stop guys from talking to us. Seriously. It was ridiculous. I've never had so many free drink offers in my life. Needless to say, we had a great time out. And it is so nice to have a recent California transplant to explore the city with me.


Lexie and Me at Doc Holiday's in the East Village

This past weekend, my two best friends from high school, Danielle and Michelle, came to visit. It was Michelle's first time in New York, and I felt bad that she had to experience it during a torturous heat wave. It really was unbearable - 100-degree heat with intense levels of humidity. Awful. Though the thunderstorms at night were way cool. Our itinerary consisted of simple New York-ish things: Yankees game, shopping and dining in Times Square, bar hopping in SoHo. I got to show off my quaint apartment, which received less than stellar reviews. But I think that was attributed more to the fact that I didn't have air conditioning rather than anything with the physical character of the apartment. I bought an air conditioner yesterday, actually, so my next set of visitors will be comfortable in the summer heat, for sure.


At Yankee Stadium - The view from the bleachers


The girls and me

The most exciting thing that happened last week - and all month, probably - is that I went on two dates each with two different guys. What?!? Stuff like that never happened to me back in California. I don't want to divulge too much here, nor do I want to get my hopes up, but what I can say at this point is that things are going very very well.

Aside from that, things continue to get settled. I've updated my wardrobe to accommodate for the scorching summer I am about to face; I've gotten some more of my belongings organized and am looking forward to painting my apartment this weekend; I bought a new computer and got a free printer and iPod Touch to go along with it - I love the Apple store!; and most importantly, the city is starting to feel less like a stranger. I've only been here a month, but the changes in me are evident. I'm more independent, resourceful, open, discerning, and smarter about my surroundings. All in all, I'm really starting to like it here.