A Spectacular Weekend

So just now, Daisy noticed the virtual fish at the top of the page, decided one of them was a bug and tried to smoosh it with her nose.

I love this dog. She is a constant source of entertainment for me.

Last Week:

Read 200 query letters in one sitting on Friday. Quite an experience. Actually felt my eyes bulge out at one point.

Also on Friday, Chris flew in from Chicago to stay for his three day weekend!

Saturday:

Finally made a belgian waffle that didn't stick to the roof of the waffle iron.

We went to union square. I love it there! Even their subway station is different than mine. There's always some offbeat musician or group playing. Last time there was a drummer; this time there was a choir!

The Agenda
1. Go to Bed Bath and Beyond to get a toaster oven. You can only eat so much pasta.
2. Go to the Strand: 18 miles of Books!
3. Go to Max Brenner, a dessert restaurant that serves chocolate soup. That may have been my decision.

We ended up skipping Bed Bath and Beyond and went right to the bookstore. There are three stories of books, and the whole third floor is for rare books! There were modern first editions, signed copies of major books, and old books. I would only let myself by one, so I made myself choose between three books.

1. A signed copy of Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri. Because she's my favorite author.
2. A signed copy of Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses. Because it's Salman Rushdie.
3. An old copy of The Spectator.

I chose number three. And when I say old, I mean really, really, really, really old. Are you ready for this?

MDCCLIII

More commonly known as the year 1753.

Chris bought a beautiful copy of Tennyson's complete works, dated 1902.

We spent two and a half hours on the rare book floor, so we skipped the chocolate place.

After that, we went to the Chelsea market. Home of THE FOOD NETWORK! It's so cool, and it's only a block from my apartment! They have an italian grocery store, a thai grocery store, and a general grocery store! There are at least 4 bakeries, a lobster store, a tea place, a coffee place (generally acknowledged to be the best in manhattan, with the least pretentious baristas in all of Chelsea. Hard to find, actually), two gelato stands...I don't even know what to do with myself. It's too much deliciousness under one roof.
Also got this hot chocolate called 'wicked hot chocolate' at this chocolate store. It tastes like peppery, spicy hot chocolate. Best hot chocolate I've ever had.

Sunday:

The water in the shower is officially no longer warm enough to endure for the amount of time it would take to maintain proper hygiene. Bad start to the day.

Chelsea Market again.

We went to the best pizza place in New York! It's called Lombardi's, and it's in Soho. Because we were just a party of two we got seated right away. I felt so important! And to answer the burning question: New York pizza is better.

Monday:

I conquered my biggest remaining fear of New York today. I went to the laundromat. Not so bad.

As the laundry was being washed, we walked to Cafe Grumpy to get their espresso. I don't know why I liked them before. They're really snobby! Even if I was wearing my laundry day clothes, that doesn't mean I'm not worthy to drink their amazing espresso...which was SOUR. Ugh! 9th street espresso at the chelsea market exclusively from now on.

So...Chelsea Market during the dry cycle.

Week One

At this time last week I had just woken up after my first night sleeping in my NY apartment. This morning I woke up a seasoned New Yorker. Only not really. But I'm WAY better off than I was a week ago.


THE LIFE

Things I have learned since my last blog:

• Chelsea is not a borough. It's a neighborhood. I live in the borough of Manhattan, in the neighborhood of Chelsea.
  
• Peppermint tea is decaf after all.

I seem to be experiencing a bit of "life-change shock." After all, in the span of a month I interviewed, got accepted into and started an internship, found an apartment, and relocated to a city I'd been to only twice before (both times to interview for this internship) and where I know no one.

Actually, I know one person, and I had dinner with that one person, Meredith, last night. I hadn't seen her since she graduated in '07, so it was a lot of fun catching up! She's heading down to D.C. for her next semester of law school though, so I wouldn't see her again until May.

I had never seen Daisy so happy to see someone. And she's a happy dog.

At least I'm going to see Sharon this weekend. She's taking the bolt bus up from Philly as I type. I want to go to Hale and Hearty, this great soup/sandwich lunch chain, and try Cafe Grumpy, which reportedly is the best coffee in Manhattan. 6 blocks from my apartment. Yes.

Two things that terrify me:

• Laundromats. I'm getting dangerously close to being in need of one, and I am intimidated.
  
• DSNY (Department of Sanitation: New York). Gross.

THE JOB

Tuesday: I went to my orientation and met 2 out of the 4 other interns that will be working there for the next 4-6 mos. Both interns seemed very nice, and I'm excited to get started.

Wednesday-Friday: Got started.

There's this weird guilty feeling that won't go away when I'm reading books there. I know I'm supposed to be working, and that my job is to read, read, read all day, but there's something way too cool about reading AS work.

When I'm not reading manuscripts, I'm going through query letters.

My First Weekend as a New Yorker

Dear Readers,

In order to give everybody interested in my life a means to find out exactly what IS going on in my life, I have decided to start this blog documenting my exploration of New York City, the beginning of my publishing career as an intern at a literary agency, and my first time living alone (with my dog Daisy, of course).
I haven't decided whether this is to be a daily, weekly or sporadically updated blog as of yet, but figured that it would be the most fun answer to requests by several friends and family members to keep them up-to-date (those who know me well know what a challenge that is for me).

So here's to start:
Friday: driving...driving...driving...ARRIVING! My parents, Chris and I finally stood on New York City soil (concrete) at approximately 10:30 p.m. eastern standard time. Final destination: Chelsea, the borough of Manhattan known for having, among many other things, great nightlife, the best food in the world, and the best people in the city. I may be starting off my New York adventure a little biased.

Saturday: Unpacking. 'Nuff said.

Sunday: I am left to fend for myself, with just my trusty fur ball of a dog beside me. Dramatic? Perhaps. I knew they had to leave some time, and today was the day. My parents drove off to Philadelphia to visit Sharon and Murat early afternoon, and Chris was raced to LaGuardia around 4:30 by the craziest taxi driver ever to be unleashed on the streets. The rest of the evening went as follows:
1. cleaned the entire apartment
2. brushed Daisy
3. Realized step 2 should've come before step 1
4. cleaned the entire apartment
5. ate leftover Manti (delicious Turkish pasta stuffed with lamb and covered with yogurt sauce)
6. drank tea and watched the one Gilmore Girls disc I brought with me
7. Made a mental note to request that all my TV on DVD collections be sent from Schaumburg as fast as possible.
8. Realized that just because peppermint is natural does NOT make it decaf.
9. Read 3% (Kindle doesn't organize their books by page #'s) of Wuthering Heights
10. Slept like a baby despite all the caffeine.

Overall, a very nice 'settling-in' evening.

'Til next time,