Real Adventures

It's been more than 2 weeks since my last post and I apologize for that. Internet at my apartment was out b/c of a storm in NY and then the power cord to my computer broke. But I'm back now and ready to update le blog.

When I left you last I was extremely bored in NYC. I went to work everyday and then home, rinsed and repeated. But my how things changed! Being in advertising in NY has PLENTY of perks, and I for one am not the kind of person to turn down free stuff (shoot, I still take cool pens when I find them), but for some reason these past 2 weeks have been stuffed to the brim with cool, semi-free stuff.

Where Soul Meets Body: There are rare moments in this gals life that actually cause me to get "dressed up" for anything. And due to the nature of my randomness "dressing up" can take on several different meanings. The media team at T3 has been really great at inviting me to all kinds of events around town and I can definitely say they are the ones keeping me from totally hating NY, Tuesday June 10 was no exception. The friendly folks at YAHOO! treated us to a concert in Brooklyn...DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE!!! It was awesome - and I even knew some songs. There was an extra ticket so I invited my roommate along for the fun. Typically I'm the girl who likes to run down to the front of the stage and be in the middle of all the action, but given the number of Chucks and skinny jeans down there I figured it'd be best for me and my BCBGs to chill in the back with some locally brewed beer. Toward the end of the night a storm started a-brewin'. It was seriously just like in The Wizard of Oz except I don't think Dorothy got a mouth full of dirt and grass at any point. I half expected to see a munchkin. The band announced that they were going to head out due to the monsoon-like nature of the storm and my fellow concert-goers and I followed suit. We made it to the subway just as the fattest raindrops in the history of man began to fall. ***NOTE*** This is the storm that took my internet and cable service out for a week.

First Fruits (of the Feminine Sort): Yet another advertising perk! The media team invited me along to this place called FemmeGems. It was awesome. We drank wine, ate sushi and quoted SNL while obsessing over our designs. My necklace was green and gold and really fancy if I do say so myself. After that, a co-worker and I went to a party hosted by WebMD. The party was just like you imagine an NY party to be, huge expensive loft, funky techno beats rockin in the background and a rooftop deck with amazing views of the city. There were even ladies giving manicures and back rubs. It was pretty close to crazy. And like any media hosted party, there were all kinds of WebMD-centric facts on the wall:

3 of 4 women use WebMD!

WebMD is AWESOME!

9 of 10 doctors consult WebMD when diagnosing their patients!

I made that last one up...Anyway, later in the night there was a drawing and I won a 3 month membership to this SWANK gym called Equinox. The website makes it look kinda like a brothel, but I hear it's actually very nice. Like seriously celeb-worthy. As soon as my membership at the YMCA is up, I'm upgrading...I'm gonna be so fly.

On my way out of the WebMD party I grabbed a parting gift...it had an iPod Shuffle in it. I gave it to my cousin because it matched her fingernail polish.


If You Like Pina Coladas!: Last Saturday I finally made use of the world's most elaborate picnic set. It was given to me by Rachael when I graduated from college. I love it and have been dying to use it for 2 years. When I suggested a day in the Central Park to my friend Taylor, she agreed. I told her I'd bring along my picnic set and we could pack it full with wine and other goodies. We also found out that the summer concert series was kicking off in the Park that afternoon and the first show was free. Our afternoon was going to be perfect!

I met Taylor in Union Square, grabbed some groceries, threw everything in my picnic cooler and headed uptown. We found a nice shaded spot in the park, called a friend to meet us and set up our spot. We figured since we could hear the music from where we were, there was no need to move later.

Then it came...the sprinkles...

At first it wasn't so bad, and considering we were under several trees we felt like we'd be able to wait it out. I prayed every few moments "Jesus, please don't ruin my Saturday." I wanted so badly to enjoy a Saturday with a friend and not have to spend another weekend in my room checking Facebook over and over.

Then there was thunder...

We hastily threw everything back in the picnic bag and tried to make it to the subway before it began to pour. We had no luck and were forced to set up camp at the corner of 72 & Madison Ave under the awning at the Ralph Lauren store - it was very taboo.

***NOTE*** The extra clean sidewalks and gutters

We entertained ourselves by laughing at the soaked concert goers and throwing olive pits into a bush about 10ft away while hollering things like "THREE POINTS!" and "NUTHIN' BUT NET!!". Two bottles of wine, a container of marinated olives and a wedge of cheese later the rain finally stopped. All three of us dripped back to the subway and headed home. Turns out Jesus didn't ruin my Saturday (not that He would've), He just had His own plans which were more fun and had a lot more laughs.

Wreckless Love: Gerald was offered an opportunity to help film a pilot for a reality television show (or something like that...I don't really understand all the details). As part of the filming, the cast and crew went to several different cities along the east coast...including NYC!!!!!! I was so happy to see Gerald! He said the minute they mentioned New York he said yes (LOVE HIM!!). We finally got to see each other after a month and a half of phone conversations. It was great. Tuesday night we hung out and had dinner with the cast and crew. Wednesday I needed to pack for my family reunion in Atlanta, so I had to be logical that night and say no to any hangouts.

He called me mid-day and said he got tickets to the Alicia Keys concert. I was so jealous!! Later that afternoon he called back and asked if I wanted to go. I said no...after all, I had to pack for Atlanta and I had to leave plenty of time to get to Newark. I wanted NO room for error in my first NYC solo airport experience. Can you blame me? He said he was glad that I was being "rational" (I'm usually the one saying "hey...you wanna go jump off some cliffs while we wait for your oil to be changed??"...something outlandish and a little crazy).

He called AGAIN and begged me to come. Why in the world was he encouraging me to be wreckless??? I had responsibilities and my mom would be really disappointed if I missed my flight to Atlanta.

I said yes anyway...I couldn't resist one last night with Gerald while he was in the city.

I met him at Madison Square Garden where he was waiting with VIP passes and our tickets. We stopped in the VIP room for a little bit, had a little grub and then went down to the concert. We had missed the opening act (Jordin Sparks & Ne-Yo...Rihanna even joined him for his last song!) but Gerald assured me that we had great seats. I asked the usher where to go; he pointed and said "walk down those stairs and go all the way to the stage". I nearly pooped myself. Part of me thought "surely this man is joking". After we got to the stairs I asked another usher, she said "go down these stairs and all the way to the stage". WHAT!!! I asked a third usher "You'll need to talk to that man next to the stage". HOLY CRAP!!!! At this rate I was sure I was going to be able to smell Alicia's breath. Our seats were RIGHT NEXT TO THE STAGE! I could've reached out and touched it had it not been for Ronaldo the security guard.


See...blockin!!!

I still got some great pics though! :)

After the concert we went to Times Square and the The Empire State Building, which is really frightening once you think about how high it really is.
















Next time I'll tell you all about my family reunion, my summer book club (there's only one member) and my best friend (hint, he's plastic and can be kinda dirty)...