There's No Place Like Home

Wow I'm not doing very well at keeping this thing updated am I? Guess it's been a busy few weeks..

Fortunately I was able to escape to Sarasota for some much needed family time and pampering over the weekend. My brother and I both got to be home for Mother's Day, which was a huge surprise to our amazing mother (my ears are still ringing from her squeals when little bro snuck in late Saturday - she wasn't expecting him home until this morning). Somehow in the less than 48 hours I was home I managed to soak up everything amazing in Sarasota and unwind a bit from hectic city life.

Siesta Key Beach

100+ SPF sunscreen... who even knew this existed?? What's the point of even going in the sun?

After minimal sleep the night before (who was I kidding about calling it an early night on a Friday?), I wasn't too thrilled to be up at 5 a.m. to catch my flight home on Saturday but it was definitely all worth the lost sleep. First stop was lunch at a cute little cafe, and next stop was definitely the beach (no I didn't use the 100+ SPF, and yes I'm sunburned). After a mini nap on the warm sand, Mom and I headed off to mani pedis, and then I was off to the massage that I managed to schedule at the last minute. With my newfound food obsession in mind, Mom and I decided to check out a "new" restaurant in downtown Sarasota (well new to us), Mozaic. SRQ friends, you must go. The menu and service was absolutely amazing.

Sunday morning we had a yummy Mother's Day brunch with my grandparents and aunt (Mom even bought Lox after I took her for the most amazing bagel of her life at Ess-A-Bagel). Great to see extended family in my quick trip and catch up a bit.

Brother/Sister love

After a little quality time by the pool, Dad took us out sailing. I have to say, I expected it to be much more relaxing then it ended up being... I think when I hear sailing I picture myself lounging on a huge boat, margarita in hand, watching the palm trees go by. Sailing is apparently much more than that, as I've now learned, and I managed to add a few new words to my vocabulary in the process (winch, tack, keel - who knew sailing had its own language). All in all, still fun to be out on the water with the fam.

The weekend ended with a delish Mother's Day dinner at our favorite (well mine and Mom's anyway) restaurant in Sarasota, Roy's.

As much as I love life in New York, it's always great to get away for a few days - especially when the getaway involves home and family. Despite getting up at 4 this morning (I'm on my flight back now, gotta love that in-flight wifi), I feel so refreshed from the weekend and ready to take on the week! Thanks Sarasota, always a pleasure. And it's exciting to know the next time I see my family will be in Buenos Aires! Counting the days until that trip... Until then, it's back to city life for this girl.

"If people read your blog, they would think all you do is eat"

Yes, that was a recent comment from my Dad... and I really can't argue with him (he's referring to my picture blog, which by the way does feature a disproportionate amount of food pictures). I think what he really meant to say is "you're using that gym membership we got you for Christmas right?"

I can't really nail down whether it's a result of living in New York, having the job that I have (which involves a lot of great food/food related events), or hanging around with a group of girlfriends that are equally obsessive, but I've somehow managed to become a bit of a foodie. I guess I can't fully claim it, since being a true foodie in this city is a bit out of my (and many people's) price range, but as one of my darling friends said this weekend... my friends and I are "ballin' on a budget." We're all constantly sending eachother e-mails about the latest restaurant we have to try, latest bar, etc. Yes, we even have a Google Doc of all the restaurants we want to try so we can cross them off the list as we go (our "restaurant queue" if you will).

Anyway, my foodie friend Lauren recently told me how she has a Zagat guidebook and highlights each restaurant that she's been to - I love it! Soo I ordered mine on Amazon, should be arriving any day now, and I can embark on my goal of trying every restaurant in NYC. We'll see how my wallet (and waistline) handle this...

NYC friends, any must-try restaurants? I have a few that are top of mind, and we have quite an extensive google doc started, but always up for suggestions!

I'm on a Boat!

How I've lived in New York for almost a year (and technically two summers including when I interned here in college) and NOT gone to Frying Pan until yesterday completely blows my mind. For those of you who haven't been, it's a huge bar/restaurant comprised partially of an old pier in the Hudson and partially of several random boats (one of which looks like the Titanic inside.. more on that later).

It's a completely genius concept that really makes you feel like you're on a cruise/living somewhere much more tropical than the city. Since I moved here I've complained that I miss the water (and cringe when people snarkily inform me that Manhattan is an island... yes, I've noticed). Growing up, I've always lived on the water and had boats. Granted I rarely actually spent much time on the boats (sorry Dad) but having them in the backyard and knowing they were there if I wanted to take advantage was enough. And after 18 years of living in Florida, I definitely fell in love with all things beach/ocean related.

So yesterday being the first real day of summer (not officially, but in my mind yes), it seemed like the perfect day to finally venture to West Chelsea and check this place out. Oh, that and the fact that about 15 people we knew were having birthday parties there. And I can see why.

As much as I love being outside on days like yesterday, it ended up getting cold and some point and we drifted over to the pirate ship/Titanic as we were calling it for one of the aforementioned birthday parties. It's literally a sunken ship (or its expertly made to look that way) that is docked and available for private parties. Knowing only a few people at the party, we took it upon ourselves to explore rather than socialize...

Oh the things you'll find on a pirate ship... Anyway, the last thing I have to say about Frying Pan is props on having your very own foursquare badge.

New Yorkiversary

So after my post yesterday I did a little research (via google, duh) on various opinions about when you become a New Yorker. Obviously there is no correct answer, however I did stumble upon this article on Examiner that kind of rained on my parade of celebrating a certain number of years in New York (but doesn't the fact that Sex and the City 2 comes out on my One Year New Yorkiversary seem like fate??)...

I guess it's true that you can't arbitrarily pick a number of years and decide at that point you'll become a New Yorker, and I'm sure it varies from person to person how quickly they adjust to life here. I guess I have to agree with the author of the Examiner article that there are just moments that you realize you've become a New Yorker. This is my favorite from the article...

“...it's the little things that really make you know you're a native... I decided I was a real New Yorker, when my friend Reid drove me home from dinner one night and, upon arrival, I instinctively reached into my purse to pay him. As though he were a taxi."-- Lara Naaman, quoted in the New York Post

Even after my mere 11 months (and 1 day!) here, I do feel like I have these moments where I really feel like a New Yorker rather than a tourist, like when I'm visiting my family in Sarasota and I can't sleep because it's too quiet, and when I come back into the city after that weekend in Florida and am comforted by bright lights and honking taxis. And I definitely feel like a New Yorker when I'm shocked that my friends in other cities pay "only" $800 for rent, or a Cosmo is "only" $8. I know you can't become a New Yorker in less than a year, but I do feel like I've adjusted to life here much better than I would have expected...

I'm curious about other people's "I know I'm a New Yorker" moments though, any to share?

One Month and Nine Years to Go...

They say you're a real New Yorker after living here for 10 years... Who is they? Great question. I feel like that's a relatively widely accepted statement, although I'm sure native New Yorkers would disagree... Regardless, I like to think it's true because one day I can really claim to be a New Yorker, despite growing up below the Mason-Dixon line (although let's be honest, most Floridians seem to be blissfully unaware that they're technically in the South).

Well, I've been here 11 months. That means I have 1 month and 9 years to go... think I can make it? I guess only time will tell :)

Street Fair, Tim Burton and Naked People

My favorite thing about living in New York is there's always somewhere new to go or something new to see. I was talking with a friend today about how I feel like you could spend your whole life in this city and barely scratch the surface of trying all the restaurants, and visiting all the galleries, museums and landmarks. Having a "9-to-5" job (do those even exist anymore?) makes it even harder to get out and experience all the city has to offer, but since moving here I've tried to squeeze as many fun activities into my little free time as possible. This weekend was the perfect, filled with interesting experiences...

Saturday we went to the Hester Street Fair, which just opened this weekend and is filled with vendors of all kinds - food, coffee, smoothies, art, clothes - you name it, it's there. Apparently this area was once the home of NYC's oldest and largest pushcart market, who knew? Anyway, it was fun to roam and around tasting everything and checking out the art and jewelry... They're open for the next few months so stop by and check it out if you missed the crazy opening weekend!

Unlike Saturday, which was a beautiful spring day in the city, yesterday was completely miserable and rainy. Fortunately a friend and I had already snagged tickets to the Tim Burton exhibit at MoMA, which was in its last weekend after being sold out basically since it opened so we spent the day indoors and quite entertained.

The exhibit was really interesting, and definitely made me want to go watch all of Tim Burton's movies immediately. Must finally get around to signing up for Netflix...

We also wandered through a few other random floors (I've been to MoMA a few times and can never manage to see everything), but the exhibit we still needed to see was "The Artist is Present," by Marina Abramovic. I use the word "by" loosely, since the artist actually is the exhibit. You can read all about the idea behind it in this article from the New York Times, but essentially she's sitting at a table staring at whoever is next in line to sit across from her. Based on the picture on the Times article, she seems to at least wear different clothes day to day... it's a pretty bizarre exhibit, and continues upstairs with people in various positions, some clothed and some not.. I won't go into all the details, but it's definitely worth checking out. If nothing else, it seems like it'll be something everyone in NYC will be talking about soon so it's worth knowing what all the fuss is about. New York just may be one of the only cities in the world people will pay and stand in line to see someone sitting at a table and staring straight ahead..

PS, if you're a Sex and the City fan, you may recognize the picture with the ladder from the episode where Carrie meets the Russian... remember the crazy woman on exhibit not eating, drinking or sleeping? Same as the one we saw today :) Who said Sex and the City isn't cultured?

I'm Baaaaaaack

Okay, just kidding on the whole "retiring the blog" thing... who was I kidding? This stuff is addictive.

Those of you who know me (hi Mom & Dad) know I've been semi-active in the blog world with my post-graduate picture project, 365 Days After Walking Under The Arch. Since the day I graduated from UGA, I've posted a picture a day to chronicle my adventures of apartment hunting, moving to NYC, landing a job, and just life in the big city. I've had a blast keeping up with it, and even better time looking back on it - which is why I started it in the first place, so I would have it to reflect back on. Now as April comes to a close, my 365 days are about to come to an end (nostalgic "OMG I've been out of college for a year" post to come, don't worry)... but I've really enjoyed the experience and don't want the blog to end! Sooo through an informal Twitter poll and conversations with friends and colleagues I've decided to bring this guy out of retirement. I thought about continuing on with the 365 days after that year was up, but that blog had a theme and a purpose and it will be over after May 8th.

So here I am, back to the original, since "The Next Chapter" can really still be applicable for the rest of my life (or however long I keep the blog around..). Being young and still figuring out where I belong in this city and in life, there are sure to be many changes for me in the next 365 days and beyond, and I want to document them. I'm doing this for me, so I'll have something to look back and reflect on (although I love comments so keep them coming!). Yes, I've been made fun of by some friends for my nerdy blog, etc. but I'm just going to embrace it... because I've decided I really am a bit of a nerd and that's okay :) Expect rambling, random posts about whatever I'm interested in at the moment. Hopefully I'll be able to stick with it better this time, but who knows...

Here's to seeing what the next chapter will be!