Sitting in my NYC apt with my mom having some wine.

Greenwich

My folks and I have arrived at my Greenwich Village apt!!!
4 story walk up, bringing up the luggage was fun.  :-)

It's a very cute apt in a great location.  The windows in the bedroom look right out over Bleecker and MacDougal.

Ahh...home for the next month.

About to go over the George Washington bridge.

It's just before 8am and my folks and I are just about to hit the road down to NYC.

One of my favorite places

Overlook Park in South Burlington, VT. The view is amazing from here.

Where I will be living for the month of January...

The Lighthouse on Nubble Island "Nubble Light"

 

While in Maine my family took a walk on the beach and then ended up at the Nubble.  I took the above pic.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Neddick_Light

http://lighthouse.cc/capeneddick/history.html

Off to Maine for Xmas with my mom's family.

Vermont

Thank you Eric for waking up very, very, very early this morning to take me to the airport.  :-)

So I am in Vermont right now before I head to NYC.  I had a 7:30am flight out of LAX and got into Burlington just after 6pm tonight.  My dad picked me up at the airport and then we went straight to Al's French Frys, a staple in town.  Al's is always a mandatory stop at some point of any visit.  Mmmmm...2 hot dogs, a lemonade and french fries.  :-)

At LAX waiting to depart on my NYC adventure. Bags are checked and through security. ;-)

2nd checked bag...OY!!!

OK, well I am just about packed.  I just have to finish packing my backpack.

I wanted to just check 1 bag but then after thought, advice, and too much stuff I began packing a 2nd bag.  Thank goodness JetBlue lets you check the 1st bag for free.
Well bag choice #3 ended up being the bag of choice.  I ended up going with the largest of the 3 bags, LOL!!!
At least with these 2 checked bags I can move things around if one is to heavy and it also allows me to bring a few things back to LA if I buy some new stuff.  I am hoping to unload a few sweaters with the parents before I come back though.  I haven't worn some of the items I have packed in ummm....years.

So it's my last night in LA.  I am at home right now and it's raining outside.
I leave in 12 1/2 hours.


First stop VT (and a few days in Maine) and I hope to/want to...

• Cross country ski
• Hit up Al's French Frys
• Walk Church Street
• Sit by a fire
• Enjoy some Magic Hat
• See Alison
• Eat fried dough and bacon...mmmmm
• Enjoy time with the family
• Play some rummikub
• and much, much, much more.

Then it's off to NYC on the 30th.  Trying to figure out what to do on New Years Eve.  I am staying away from Times Square that is for sure, besides the view is better and warmer from a TV.
I am kind of hoping to see fireworks if I can.

Ok wish me luck peeps.  :-)

To my LA friends...

Thank you for being supportive.
I will miss you.
But remember I am only a text, email, or call away.

As I go to NY I take your love with me.

2 days left in La La Land

Thank you friends for a great evening last night.  --  Last night I went out to dinner with some dear friends here in LA before I start my adventure in NYC.  Good food, good sangria, good laughs, good stories....warm, loving, amazing!!!

Oy...so I am in the middle trying to pack my bags.  I am almost there, kind of.  :-)  I think I need to swtich suitcases and end up checking 2 bags instead of just 1.  That may make things a bit crazy when I swtich apartments in the middle of my stay but damn it's cold there I need all the clothes I can use.  :-)

This last weekend here in La La Land has been wet, very very wet.  I guess it's one of the worst series of storms we have had in the area in the past decade.  I wish it had been a bit sunnier and warmer but oh well.

Ok so NYC here I come.  I am looking forward to layers, to exploring, to working with my New York co-workers, walking in Central Park, to walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, to wearing my leather jacket on a more regular basis, to having fun, to seeing old friends, to making new friends, to it all.

A month in Greenwich Village

Ahh, relief, my apartment in LA is rented and I secured a fabulous apartment for the month of January in Greenwich Village.  :-)

ahh...LA Apartment is rented!!!

Yes!!!  My LA apartment is rented.  One piece of the puzzle solved.  Today I confirmed that I have someone who is able to rent my apartment while I am in NYC.

Next step...maybe, possibly, securing an apartment in Greenwich Village for January.

The pieces are all falling into place.

4 weeks from today...am I nervous?

So 4 weeks from today I will be traveling to VT, starting my 2 month adventure in New York City.

Some people have asked me if I am nervous.  Yes I am, but probably not for the reasons people think.

I am nervous for what will developed after I get back from New York.  I am nervous about how I will feel.  Nervous about what decisions I will make upon my return. 

• Will I have loved NYC so much and want to make the move at the end of the year?
• What will that decision mean for my relationships I have here in LA?
• What will it mean for my future?
• Will I have realized that NYC just isn't for me? 
• Will it be to cold, to crazy, to far away from the life I have created here in LA?
• Just not what I think it will all be?
• Where does that leave me?  Here in LA?  Looking at other places to consider?  SF?

Just a few thoughts that make me nervous.

I am excited for trying something new for sure.  Trying NYC for 2 months, not just a week or two visit.  Being on the east coast.  Going home for my parents 40th anniversary.  Shaking things up a bit for 2 months.

Apparently I can blog via text message. Lets see if this works.

If it does then this will come in handy when I am walking the streets of NYC.

5 Weeks

I depart LA 5 weeks from today.
First stop VT then it's NYC for 2 months.

Excited...Yes
Nervous...A little

What to expect...growth, learning, fun, sadness, excitement, new experiences, crazy times, etc...

Anne

I was talking with a friend today and he had a tip for advertising my LA apartment.

He thought I should mention to the potential subletter that they will get the "The Anne Frank Experience".


Thoughts?

• Funny?
• Cruel?
• Hillarious?
• Tacky?
• Will anyone get the reference?
• Will I get hate/fan mail?

Things to do...

• See a Rangers game
• Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge
• Take the 6 train and see the City Hall "secret" subway stop
• See a few broadway shows
• Explore Brooklyn
• Explore Astoria
• Get lost
• Drink Magic Hat
• Have Sunday brunch
• Ice skate, fall on my ass, have fun
• Have dinner with Mama T's family
• See Aunt Dot
• Explore and learn with cousin Stevie
• Get fallafal and sharwma at the place Ian took me to
• Have a snowball fight
• Walk in Central Park while it snows

Just a few things I want to try and do while I am NYC

A “Secret” NYC Subway Stop

Hidden deep under New York City, a "secret" subway stop is drawing visitors. The Big Apple's City Hall station, a beautiful structure that opened in 1904, but has been out of use for decades, can be seen by riders ... if they know how to make the journey. Check out these photos below, courtesy of John-Paul Palescandolo.

Jalopnik writes that if you want to check out this long-forgotten station, one of the "most gorgeous gems in the world of mass transit," you'll have to take the 6 train and then stay on board. Jalopnik elaborates, "The 6 train used to make all passengers leave the train at the Brooklyn Bridge stop, but no longer. If you have a little extra time, you can stay on the train and view the City Hall station as the train makes its turnaround."

So why was the station closed so many years ago? Motobullet explains that the station's curved tracks played a part in its closure. When subway cars moved their doors to the center, it "created an dangerous gap between the exit point on the train and the platform." There were plans to make the stop into a transit museum, but security concerns, especially following the events of 9/11/01, put the plan in limbo.

Now, though, folks who take a little extra time amid New York's hustle and bustle can spy the station with their own eyes.

2 hours in

6 weeks from exactly today I will have been on a plane for 2 hours heading to Vermont!!!

free vs $500...hmmm

FREE RENT:
Living with a good friend of mine.
Near 122 St and Amsterdam, by Columbia.
Nice area.
I have stayed there before, so I am a little familiar with the location.
Staying in the living room on the couch or good air mattress.
Cute pug lives there.
Kitchen: veggie. No meat, at least can't cook any meat there. Take out is ok.
Free rent with the exception of paying for doggie care a few weekends so my friend and I can explore without having to come back to the apt and walk, feed, chill with the child.


$500 RENT:
Further north on 147 St and Broadway.
Harlem
2 roommates - 1 a former co-worker, the other unknown
$500 plus gas/electric
My own room, twin bed, drawers, shelf....so a little more private then the other location
Possibly more of a real experience of living in NYC then above option....it might give me a better picture maybe.
Further away from the action. One friend told me that I might not be up for walking around in that area. But the subway is extremely close so I can hop on there very easily.


Both of these offers have the pros and cons for sure.
---For the price both are good, far better then $1,000 a month with a stranger
---One option provides for a space of my own, while the other is basically free but I am in the living room.
---In both I know at least one of the roommates.
---If I stayed at either place it would mean I would not have to worry about subletting my place in Los Angeles. I would not have to worry about someone living in my place and being a good and/or bad tenant
---One reason for trying out NYC for 2 months is to try and get a better feel for the city, a more real feel like the everyday New Yorker. Does one of these options offer a better feel then the other? Does it matter? Is just being in NYC enough?


What do I need to make my stay in NYC enjoyable, comfortable, safe, fun, real, easy, hard, the best possible experience possible. LOL!!!
I need everything at my finger tips. I need everything to be as easy as pie. I need a penthouse apartment with a hot, loving, sexy, romantic, amazing man.
LOL!!!

Decisions to be made.
Different possibilities to think about.

Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, or an Island in the Pacific. Every place has its pros and cons.

6 weeks left in LA

Entry #1

I have about 6 weeks left in La La Land before I start my NYC adventure. For those of you reading this blog I am taking a test run of the Big Apple for 2 months. January and February 2011 I will live, explore, work, experience, enjoy, love, cry, learn, grow, be, take in life in New York City.

I have been in Los Angeles the past 9 years of my life. I may end up staying here for another few years, 10 years,, the rest of my life. However right now I find that hard to imagine. Hard to picture myself in 10 years living in Los Angeles. So in order to see if there is some other place out there for me, be it just a temporary stay or something long term, I am giving NYC a shot.

I have been to NYC numerous times in my life. I have climbed to the top of the Statue of Liberty with my father...then hurried quickly down due to a fear of being all the way up there. I have seen the Radio City Rocketts, even have a picture with one of them. I have seen Broadway shows, RENT, Cats, Miss Saigon and a few others. I remember as a kid going on a buying trip with my dad. I have gone to Ellis Island, hung out on a roof top building on the east side, attended a wedding in Brooklyn, strolled through Central Park, been to Ground Zero, explored the village with the World Trade Centers as my landmark guide, worked there for two 2 week stretches.

I have visited but have not lived in NYC. I think I want to try. I think I want to try living in the city that never sleeps. The city where there is theatre, where there are seasons, where dreams are made of. I think I want to find love there. I think I want to try and find my career path there. I think of a lot of possibilities that NYC could hold in store for me.

Back to LA for a moment. Well this has been my first big city. In the last 9 years I have grown so much. I have learned so much. I have made so many wonderful friends. I have created a family here. I have many great memories. A few sad ones too. I have gone up and down. I have been employed and have been unemployed. I have come into my own here in this crazy city. For sure it is a love/like/not like/hate relationship with this city.
I love going to Runyon Canyon and hiking up there.
I love the fact that a few of my best friends in the world are right here in this city.
I love my apartment.
And there are so many other things I love.
Not thrilled about the fakeness that we sometimes experience in this city, due in part to the entertainment industry having such a hold over this city.
I am not a fan of being almost 3,000 miles away from my parents and the home I grew up in.
I miss the seasons...at least the change of season...the 4 seasons of Vermont. I miss the fall, the colors of the leaves, the coolness in the air.


Ok so looking ahead. I depart Los Angeles on December 21, 2010. On that day I leave LA behind for just over 2 months to experience a new perspective on my life.

I am not sure what this adventure has in store for me but I have to have faith that whatever happens will be. I am putting my desire out into the universe and seeing where it takes me.

I had the idea today to start a blog about this adventure today. So come along with me on this adventure. I hope to share my experiences with you all.