Birthday girl

Yay for birthday weekends! Thursday was my last day as an 18-year-old and I didn't have work and Devin did...so I started the day with donuts (duh) and ended up at the Museum of Arts and Design in Columbus Circle. The main reason I went there was because the museum offers free admission for 18 and under and I wanted to commemorate the fact that that wouldn't be an option for me in 24 hours! I just went by myself in the afternoon, but that might be my favorite way to tour museums. I love reading all the little info plaques and watching the movies and just going at my own pace. I feel like I miss half the museum when I'm with someone who rushes through in an attempt to see the whole thing. Which is yet ANOTHER reason I feel so lucky to live in the city. One time is just not enough!

Anyway, I had to work on Friday, my birthday day, but Devin picked me up on 77th and Lexington and laid out a wonderful plan in which I got to pick out a brand new outfit, plus shoes. What an adorable boy he is...he even let me stop at the puppy shop by the train station because he knows it's my favorite. Someday when we have a cute little apartment and a cute little life, we will get a cute little puppy to go with it.

We went to Soho, one of the places we spent the most time at when we first started dating (we even saw our first movie together at a perfect little Indie theater on Houston called Sunshine Cinema) and I found some mint green lightweight skinnies at the Pacsun pop-up store. Then we went to Uniqlo, which I originally wasn't excited about at all, but turned out to be great because--I don't know why I didn't realize this earlier--all their clothes fit my Asian-wannabe body perfectly since they are designed for and by Asians. Go figure. I got a salmon and cream pinstripe oxford shirt to be twins with Devin since he has one just like it, and a great black maxi dress. I've been looking for a decent maxi dress that didn't require hemming for FOREVER so I just couldn't pass this little number up! $12.90, can you believe it?! After Uniqlo we went to Shoegasm, where I almost exclusively shop for shoes for three good reasons: their service and decor is stellar,  the European brands are unique and high-quality, and the prices are too good to pass up. How I love options like these! Gone are the days of K-Mart and Famous Footwear. I think I've found my favorite shoe brand, called Chelsea Crew. They're European, generally made of real leather and incredibly stylish. I already have one pair of Chelsea Crew shoes and bought two more for my birthday presents...I'm obsessed!

When we got back to Devin's that night, his sweet mom and sister had gifts and a cake waiting. What gems! Its hard to miss home too much when I'm so well taken care of here.

The second part of my birthday weekend was bike riding on Saturday. The day started off disastrously and it took a very long time to figure out how to use the new CitiBikes installed in docks all over the city. I think we called Customer Service about 5 times trying to figure the dumb things out, but once we got going it was a blast! We rode a loop through Central Park, walked down 6th Ave through the huge annual street fair happening that day, and than went all the way down Broadway to Houston and back up to Union Square to see World War Z at our favorite Regal theater there. We stopped to eat at Subway along the way, which probably wasn't the best idea because I was so hungry from all the activity that I downed an entire footlong...thank goodness for those bikes. All in all, A+ to my wonderful, sweet, thoughtful, patient, adorable boyfriend and one million kajillion thanks for a great birthday away from home!

My family also sent me gifts. For some reason, getting things by mail is so much funner than in person. I don't think I'll ever stop sending postcards to my family just because I get excited thinking about receiving one. Devin and I also send postcards back and forth, which might be my favorite thing in the whole world.

Now, I'm a newly-19-year-old very much in need of sleep for tomorrow, my last day to get ready for my sister coming on Tuesday!! I'm excited beyond words.

P.S. you'll have to subscribe to my instagram, bigcitylittlegirl, if you want to see pictures of any of this stuff. I'll probably always be too lazy to post any here!

Policemen play unfairly

Today, while I was waiting for Devin at Bryant Park like I do almost every day, I saw a taxi pull over another taxi. My first thought was, "Who does that taxi driver think he is?" And then, "Since when do taxi drivers obey other taxi drivers?" And then, "Why does that taxi have a siren and flashing lights?" It wasn't until two policemen climbed out of the noisy taxi that I realized the deviousness of the NYPD. How do these poor taxi drivers have the slightest chance of making any money when they're always watching their backs for other taxis...who are actually POLICE CARS.


If the NYPD was to really play fair, they would disguise themselves as civilians and arrest people for jaywalking. Because people jaywalking is about as common as taxis committing traffic violations in Manhattan. Just food for thought.

In other news, I'm becoming a Ping Pong Playa master. (If you haven't yet, check out the movie Ping Pong Playa on Netflix. It's a gem.) Currently watching Martin and Devin throw down some moves on the table at the weekly Plainview YSA volleyball night. Someday, maybe, I'll be good enough to give them a good game. It will be at the top of my list to practice my table tennis while Devin is on his mission (I'm secretly hoping he will lose all his skills and I will own him...)

Anyway. I wore a maxi dress and sandals today because my original plan of skinny jeans, button-down and wedges was foiled when my skinny jeans started to meld to my skin from the sweat and humidity as soon as I put them on. It just wasn't gonna happen. But maybe sandals weren't such a good idea either...I'm staring down at my feet in horror of how filthy they are. Because here's the thing about New York: it's beautiful, but it's filthy. All the shiny parts are at the tops of the buildings and not where you have to put your feet. I completely understand why closed-toe flats are so popular here and I gotta say, I've been converted!

One last thought before I sign off...what is it with old gentlemen in the park feeling like I am a great person to start a conversation with? What the heck is it about me that makes me so approachable? I look literally exactly like every other loner girl in the park--headphones, scowl, the whole shebang. And yet, almost every time I'm waiting for Devin to get off work at Bryant I have the pleasure of being harassed with innocent I'm-lonely-and-you-look-nice questions by some old guy who just happens to sit at the little table next to the one I have already occupied. This means pausing my movie or looking up from my book and taking out my headphones to even hear the question. Sometimes I ignore them, but the persistent ones are hard to avoid. And clean tables next to outlets at this midtown park are hard to come by so it's not like I can just abandon my spot for another. Today I spent twenty minutes with my movie going pause-play-pause-play as some Indian guy complained about the weather, quizzed me on the state capitol, gave me some mundane college advice and lamented about the Arizona heat. It's so annoying, and I feel as though I've already done absolutely everything I can do to avoid these encounters, but they continue to happen. Maybe plastic surgery?

Confessions of a Blogging Failure

Well, today I'm sick with a cold. And on a sick day like this one, the best way to handle the boredom is to catch up on things you always find excuses not to get done. This blog just happens to be one of those things...

I feel like too much has happened to even try to put down in a post. That first silly one way back in October was yet another attempt by my ever-far-reaching self to be deep and interesting. Ha! I always forget that to most of the people I know live several thousand miles away in Arizona and, I hope, even my NYC-average life may just be interesting to them. So I suppose the best way to try and keep up with this thing, and begin to catch up on recording my life here, is just to start.

Right now I'm sitting at the laundromat waiting for my clothes to dry. It's right across the street from my house, thank goodness, because I have been really lazy about getting it done and now have about three loads to look forward to putting away. I am literally on my last pair of underwear, and that's basically my only motivation for even making it over here today. Laziness at its finest! You never realize how spectacular having your own washer and dryer is until you're stuck paying to use someone else's every week. Just another hidden cost of striking out on your own and abandoning the sheltered existence of your family home. ;)

In other news, it's 90 degrees today. I'm not sure when it became acceptable for me to complain about 90 degrees (I grew up in the land of 1,000 suns, for goodness' sakes) but boy does it feel HOT. I guess not having air conditioning in a top-floor apartment does add to the feeling. But still...I'm starting to sound like a New Yorker.

And my last tidbit for the moment, because I just heard to beep indicating my clothes are done, I am looking for a regular job in the city! Devin's friend (and now mine too) works at the Met and so, hopefully, I will have one soon! If my resume does me justice, that is (: