New Yorkers Go Out In Fast Forward

It’s safe to say I’m no stranger to a bar or a party. I like to go out and luckily, I’m good at it. So, when my long time friend who also resides in NYC asked me to go out I thought, great! The only thing holding me back is going to be my budget, let’s go. The plan was to meet her at her East Village apartment about 9pm for a little pre game session and to the bars we would go. Let’s remember when I moved, I brought whatever I could fit in 3 suitcases – I mostly brought work clothes. So, after piecing together an outfit that didn’t look completely like I just fell out of the boardroom, I was off. I got inside, she poured me a glass of wine and I settled in on the couch next to her boyfriend. We stuck around her apartment until at least 11pm before finally heading out to the bar which I learned was just a pit stop; our final destination was a house party. The bar was trendy so you can imagine it was ridiculously crowded but I could handle it, the 2 hour pregame left me feeling tickly and fancy! About 12:30am the team was ready to move on to the main event, the birthday party. After getting in an argument with a psychic, stopping at a liquor store for some Stella and walking up about 10,000 steps we were at the party – 1:30am. You know how there is always a point in the night you look back on the next day and say, “Yep, that’s where I made the wrong turn.” Well, this is similar at this point in the night the party gods hit the fast forward button on the evening and looking back, my memories of the rest of the night literally appear in fast forward. After knocking over the contents of the home bar, it was declared that we should head back out – with the entire party in tow. After a lot of fast forwarding, I poured myself into my little twin bed at The Pod Hotel and as I drifted off to sleep, I tried to convince myself I only stayed out so late because it was my first weekend in town.

Items I may have missed while in fast forward

• Inside the Birthday apartment, in an aquarium was a huge pet snake
• At some point in the evening a friend from high school got engaged – I asked her if I could be a bridesmaid, I’m still awaiting her response
• Multiple cab rides and destinations I will never again recognize
• Dancing – it wasn’t as fast as I remember it.

Home Sweet Home!

I've lived in a big city before but I never worried about bugs or germs the way I obsess over them here. I don't know if I'm older so I'm just more in tune to it all or what but I'm fully obsessed. I've finally moved out of the hotel and into an apartment and I've got to say, it looks like a set of Law and Order. Not the fancy victims apartment but the slum who's being questioned. The pictures below really don't do it justice. I chose to live her for 4 reasons.

1. Irene, my roommate is wonderful!
2. It's the first floor of a walk up
3. The evening I toured it was freezing and rainy and I couldn't meet anymore freaks.
4. Irene, my roommate is wonderful!

I haven't actually seen a bug yet but I'm sure they are here. Let me be honest, I'm sleeping in a bed someone left here and I'm putting my clothes in storage drawers someone left here. There are air fresheners everywhere, cracks in the floor, stains on the walls. It's completely unkempt. If there AREN'T bugs, I'm going to be shocked. Irene informed me, no one cooks in the kitchen. Who would? It looks like a kitchen found in a prison cell, complete with a chipping, iron sink with caulk from 1965, linoleum tile from a serial killers bathroom, an oven that I'm certain roaches have nested in and when I go to bed they come out and feast and a dish towel from the 40s, never cleaned. Welcome home. Let me also ad, the door from the street to the building locks however the safety door right after the street door into the building does not lock. We don't have a safety intercom with lock buzzer, there is a dark and suspicious stairway leading down to no where right outside my door and the stairs going upstairs are narrow and slanting as though they may fall off the wall. Please, no visitors.

Below find some tips I've learned from research roaches and household bugs in New York City.

• Putting steel wool in the cracks of the floor keeps roaches from coming in your apartment.
• Spraying bleach on constantly wet surfaces keeps bugs from showing interest in the standing water.
• Don't smash bugs with your shoes, if it's a female, her eggs may survive and hatch from the bottom of your shoe. {REALLY? Really.}
• Roaches can live in your microwave, not in the cooking part but in the walls of it. Vomit.
• "Sleep tight don't let the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _!" New Yorkers NEVER finish this phrase

Pictures, for your viewing pleasure.

Warning: Pictures don't match description, you just have to trust me.

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{Kitchen}
I know it looks cozy and cute, not in person though.

{Our Bathroom}

Where serial killers go to the bathroom and clean their hands.

{Looking into the Kitchen from the Living Room}
The dwellings of a serial killer but the potential to be so much more.

Directly Opposite of the first picture. This apartment def has
potential. Great high ceilings, exposed brick.

Hotel, Motel -- Holiday Inn ...

Living in a hotel is a dream built on a feather top bed that is made to perfection by unseen members of housekeeping every day while you are out seeing to sites of the city ... unless you are relocating for a job ... I have been living in The Pod Hotel on 51st which is really cute and would be absolutely fantastic if I were able to charade about town all night and into the wee hours of the morning like my neighbors!

The Pod Hotel seems to be modeled after the trendy design of the Apple iPod. The rooms are completely white with vibrant accent colors on the bed that make it pop! Each room is equipped with a flat screen TV, an iPod alarm clock and a tiny desk. The room is no bigger than my bed room in the dorm I lived in while attending Columbia in Chicago.

The Pod Hotel offers a different type a room for any traveling need you might have! For the solo and frugal traveler, book a single room with a community bathroom. Big groups can rent room on a higher floor that can hold up to 9 people. There is also a great option for double travelers, they have bunk bed rooms and double bed rooms. I know most of you haven't made it past the community bathroom part -- it's not bad at all! As one of the more frugal residents I mean guests I can tell you first hand the community bathrooms are not the same as a community bathroom you will find in your state school dorm complete with Jimmy and Tina thinking they are being sneaky by saving water in the corner stall -- we know what they were doing. I have never once had to wait and a little known secret is, each floor has 3 bathrooms, 2 tiny ones and one that is like a spa bathroom with a rainfall shower head and it's fantastic!

On top of the youth friendly environment of the buildings interior, the hard to beat location and the perfectly affordable price tag, The Pod Hotel has a roof top deck with the most spectacular view of New York City but you have to stay there to see it!

While enjoying my two week stay at The Pod, I discovered this fantastic market that has a hot buffet of all of the most wonderful foods you could ever imagine, there is even a guy who will make you an egg sandwich on a fresh baked roll the only flaw this market has is the lack of fountain sodas but don't worry, there is a McDonald's next door and they have the best fountain soda in the world. If it were presented as an option, I could stay in The Pod Hotel forever, but the housekeepers are starting to ask when I am leaving ... Lucky for them, I found an apartment. Even though I have a home base now, I will miss the hotel where I spent my first nights in New York and my 25th Birthday which was made complete with a delicious delivered Birthday Dinner complete with chocolate cake, compliments of Mike Russell and GrubHub.com, what a team!

The View from the Roof Deck

The Room --I told you it was small!
The room from the other side.

Caution: Rooms do not come with a mini fridge -- travel during winter and use the window sill. The rooms that do not come equipped with a bathroom do however have a sink in them!

Where I am and How I Got Here ...

So, it's been a little over a month now, I think it's safe to make the announcement. I moved to New York!

I know what everyone is thinking, didn't she just move to Kansas City? You're right, I did but I moved again! It was very fast so I apologize to those of you who are feeling neglected that I didn't tell you personally.

Here's how it happened...

I was sitting at my desk, in Kansas City. Staring out my window watching the IRS workers when I got an email from Brady, my former work spouse. He was passing a long a job tip that he found on LinkedIn -- please note, although it sounds like we just daydream and catch up on social networking while on the clock, we are actually very productive workers who just happen to be very efficient multi-taskers!

The job in question was in New York I contemplated ignoring the post, who would hire someone from KC to work in New York? Brady would not let me ignore it so at 11:30 am on January 29th, I submitted my resume -- at 12:20, I got a call for an interview. My first interview would be the next Tuesday and last only 15 minutes with a second phone interview scheduled for Friday, I was getting nervous this might actually end up being something! Sure enough, late afternoon Friday I got a phone call from HR offering me the position here is the catch, I needed to be in New York for a 2/17 start date which was only 10 days away! I not only had to coordinate a move but I also had plans to spend valentines day weekend in Miami. What did I do?

I did what anyone in my situation would do, I took the job AND went to Miami. So, here I am making my way in New York ... stay tuned for updates as I explore the city and figure it all out!!