I don't have a New York I.D. but I've yelled at a stranger. I'm legit.

I’ve gotten past the first month, first job and almost through my first summer in New York. It’s been tough at times but I now officially consider myself a New Yorker, I can point to an apartment and say, “See that gray building? That was my first apartment here in New York.” I noticed when I moved here; everyone likes to talk about where they’ve lived, where their first apartment was and how they decided where they live now. I’m officially a part of that club!

Riding in a cab past 26th st. on my first day as a permanent employee of Agency Rx, I excitedly pointed out that Grey brownstone I called home for my first 6th months to the new, Vice President of Account planning who pointed out almost immediately the first apartment he lived in as a married man. It was also the apartment where his first baby came home to and it was also his last home in Manhattan. We share more than a cab that day, on our way to the midtown office of CDM, two strangers from 2 different generations and 2 different rungs on the corporate ladder were able to share one common thread and one moment of reminiscence. Obviously, our career paths were already and would remain similar but that’s not so much personal, what we shared in the cab was personal and an cherished detail of each of our lives. Both apartments marked beginnings and in a way ends.

Driving past 244 e. 26th st, I was reminded of the first day I walked up those stairs to check out the place. It was February and the city was being drowned with freezing rain. It was my second week in the hotel and I needed to get out. I trudged up 2nd avenue from a 6th floor walk up in the East Village that was absolutely not where I was going to live all the way past Stuy Town (pronounced Sty) Park almost a mile in this freezing shower, my umbrella quit working about a half a mile earlier and I was a wreck. The tips of my hair were icicles and I remember thinking to myself, if this girl is even half normal and close to my age, I’m moving in tomorrow. I walked in, looked at the room. It was small and furnished with a twin bed and a floor lamp, the apartment itself was a tad on the un kempt side – there were cracks I was constantly terrified roaches would crawl out of and I spent most nights there thinking bugs were crawling on me but I took one look at Irene who was laid back with a relaxed demeanor and I just blurted out, I’ll be your room mate if you want to be mine – we agreed and 2 days later, I moved in.

It was a great first apartment and not nearly as scary as I just described it – honestly I only encountered a few bugs and only one crawling on me. What, it builds character and will give me bargaining chips just in case I ever end up having kids!

And the Asian Saves the Day ...

I consider myself fortunate to not have to be one of the tourists who look at their maps and try to navigate the city in 4 days or less missing many of the great and interesting sights. New York is there for my taking! I can spend an entire day getting lost on just one street or one avenue walking in and out of all the little shops. I do find myself envious of those time crunched tourist in a way. They have the vim and vigor I lack. Just like anywhere you come to call home, you have those Saturday’s where you wake up, look out the window and think, “Leave me alone, today I’ll stay under the covers and watch ABC Family, eat a 3 Musketeers Bar in bed and stalk the same 30 people on facebook.” That was me just 3 short hours ago. After moving to a new apartment and interviewing for a permanent job all in the same week, walking around in 90 degree weather was not written after “Eat 3 Musketeers bar in bed” on my to do list, which, was already crossed off. It was time to get out of bed and do something.

The first 30 minutes of my neighborhood exploring made me realize, if we had a couch, today would be the first of many where I would declare to hate it. It was hot, none of the eateries I was coming across appeared to serve fountain diet coke and I felt like my entire body was built of lead. First, I walked south 4 blocks then west 2 blocks, then south again where I found a store called “Surprise! Surprise!” I hate surprises. More than surprises though, I hate not knowing what the surprise in question is so of course, I went in. “Surprise! Surprise!” is literally a store filled with overpriced crap during my visit I noticed a selection of lamps, none of which were the same, already built cheap furniture and a huge selection of glassware. As I walked around this ridiculous store, I was hardly surprised to find most of the merchandise for sale appeared to have fallen off a truck headed to a respectable retail location that doesn’t have a hand painted sign. Browsing around this store just filled me with more hate and confirmed the fact that my original plan of candy, bed and facebook was the winner. However, the thought of backtracking unhappily to my apartment and climbing the 3 flights of hot stairs only to shower again and wait for my room to cool back down seemed more daunting than continuing to walk south and further explore the area. So, I continued to walk south …

I stumbled into Cooper’s Square which I declared on the phone with my brother to be stupid and vacant except for a bar called, “The Asian Pub”. I walked past “The Asian Pub” 3 times thinking about how much of an oxymoron this was. On my 3rd walk by I noticed they had a fantastic little garden draped in grape vines, a fountain in the center and a charming brick patio. The enchanting patio and the fact that they had $3 Lychee martinis was enough to coax me inside. I saw ‘day saver’ written all over the little Asian Grandmas face that greeted me when I walked in. Even though Saturday’s are not their day to serve brunch Grandma agreed to make an omelet for me, my bill turned out to be $10 - for brunch and 2 martinis, the tables around me offered excellent eaves dropping and the patio offered an escape for all my early morning hatred. Thanks to the Asian Pub for turning my day around!

My hearty brunch served up by the Asian grandma!

Chips and Salsa at an Asian Pub ...