Why I Joined Greenpeace

So, I'm coming back today from lunch, walking with the sunglasses on and my super baggy-boyish pants. And those Greenpeace guys are outside trying to grab random people to talk to on the street. Why not, I thought, I'll listen to what this guy has to say. I mean, I am in a nonprofit, too. SO! This guy (who's kinda cute) is talking talking talking to me about what they're about. So I'm just listening, but he's nervously shifting his weight and moving around, so I start smiling because I think it's cute and slightly funny, in an obnoxious way. SO! We're talking about where we go to school (as I'm signing up for the membership haha), what my organization does, the peace corps and our aspirations. Just joking and talking. And I mean, I can tell he's flirting with me, but I don't mind because it's part of the job. And he has stopped moving around and is leaning on the scaffolding to talk to me. Then his working partner comes over to watch and finally says, "He wants your number." Which proceeds in the guy I'm talking to saying "Shut up, Man!!" In that nervous middle school boy, desperate voice. And I look at his friend and give him the French shrug and continue talking to him. Then the guys finally says, "Well, since my buddy has officially embarrassed me, I'll let you go on with your day. Thanks!" And I go away, say bye, and scoot out. I mean, if he WANTS to, my name and number are on the membership form, right?.................

Busy-ment

Oh so busy. I can't talk about a lot of it.
The job is still as it was when I started: frustrating and ungratifying.
I'm still being a hermit with Deejay in the apartment.
I am still running outside, although I am suffering from shin splints.
Dating is complicated and scattered.

I went to Michigan for my grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary. Sadly, Grandpa's been not going too well, and we're afraid how much longer he has. Nevertheless, he was mostly in good spirits while he struggled to do his simple tasks in the home.
I was completely exhausted the entire trip. It was hard to do much, and I napped as soon as I sat down in a car or chair anywhere. I probably looked ill or something.
I did enjoy myself a bit, though. Joe (and later on with Mom and Aimee) and I went to UMich to the huge Art Fair! It was wonderful! The art there was simply stunning! And I fell in love with a lot of (extremely expensive) works of art that I had to unfortunately say farewell to in the end. BUT Mom did happen to buy me a few pictures that I adored for my early-Christmas gift. Thank goodness! And we went clothes shopping a bit, too. Mostly to keep ourselves busy.
When Joe and I were there, we got stuck in a Tornado Warning! I've never been in a tornado, so I was really excited. But then it turned out just to be a bad storm for us, so our seeking safety in the school's basements were in vain. And the cheesecake on a stick I bought was of monstrously huge proportions and a terrible, yet rather good, idea.
And I ate food that I should never eat. Bob Evans and Lonestar are evil!

There was a cocktail party that M4H hosted on Monday. I had to wear white and work 12 hours, but the party was actually pretty good. That's all I have the energy to say about it. Lots of drunken older (and some younger) people. Lots of pleasant circumstances, and not so desired ones too, came up.

Otherwise...hmmmmm....reading, working, running, sleeping. Busy busy busy, tired, and not willing to write much about how my life unfolds right now. Sorry, Deej.

Happy Belated Bastille Day!

Wednesday was a change of pace at work. We went for a tour at The Explorer's Club, which is this highly elite club where you can only join the club if you've traveled to the ends of the earth for some scientific reason or studying. It was fascinating, and they have so many interesting artifacts and other assorted facts throughout the entire building! The guy basically thought that Emily, a co-intern, and I were these future explorers/know-it-alls because we knew a lot of the things he was telling us about. That means he would ask us questions to test our knowledge. Usually we had an idea for the question, but no definitive answer. I enjoyed myself immensely.

Thursday I did nothing.

Friday was the day I FINALLY got my IKEA furniture. But, much to my ignorance of their mission statement, I had work all day on building my bed frame that I bought from them. But it's finished, and I sleep on a real bed now! Propped it up with raisers, and I have storage space under it that could fit a few people. I was so excited to have my bed done with, that I went to KMART to buy myself a bookcase. Assembly required once again, so another few hours went by in a flash. The funny thing is that the bed came earlier than said, AND the Verizon guy (who was scheduled to come 2 hours after) came at the same time, as did 2 packages for me! It was like a zoo in my apartment! But after about 5 hours of complete chaos, the internet was still broken, my room was completely squared away, and I was exhausted. 6pm meant naptime for me, and I even slept during a conversation with my mom on the phone. Talent, I must say.
Then Deejay came home, and we wanted some flavored beers; there's this great beer recipe called a Monaco I experienced in France, and he took to it kindly. Too bad we bought pale beer instead of the correct lager beer. But it was still alright. He came with me to Celina's birthday party in the Lower East Side at SkinNY Bar. It was alright, but I knew no one except Deej and Celina, so we left after an hour. We walked around for a bit before we went back home.

Saturday Deej and I just walked around for a little bit before we made a terribly impulsive buy of canvas and acrylics (on discounts, of course). The thought was to paint paintings that meant something to us for our rooms. The dead is done, and it wasn't such a bad idea, actually.
Danielle came over and we ordered some thai food while having some fun on my dating account (that has turned out to be a lot more entertainment than we ever dreamed it would be). Deej left, and we ended up watching Pan's Labyrinth, which was absolutely intense! I could not wait to see the next scene, and yet, I was totally dreading it! It's left a bit of an imprint on me right now.

Sunday I went to Bastille Day hosted by FIAF. It was not very French, and I was disappointed in it overall. But I was actually on a date with this guy I've stumbled across named Lee. He's pretty deadpan, so we had a fun time making jokes for a while. We paid $5 each to go wine tasting at the festival. Here's the funny part: the French wine tasting WAS French, but the manner at which they did it was American. They wanted us to taste 3 different wines, about half a glass each. BUT they had a lot of people to get through, so they encouraged you to finish quickly. We ended up drinking about 1.5 glasses of wine in 10 minutes, and we felt pretty spacey. We grabbed a crêpe and talked some more. A great guy, I enjoyed his humor.
I got home to paint more with Deejay. The paintings actually turned out pretty great. I'm excited!

Yesterday work was frustrating as all hell. My boss doesn't know much about business at all, and I was writing a pretty professional letter. She's a journalist, and was trying to make it like an article, and I was trying to tell her the entire time, "No, that's not how you do it." About 3 hours we finished with an alright product, but I was ready to slug something, that's for sure.
Andy and I ended up getting dinner at this little Japanese place on St Mark's Place. It was great, and we stuffed ourselves silly. We then topped it all off with a jaunt to the west side for Tea & Sympathy: this FABULOUS British shop full of imported treats! I bought some great tea, and chocolate, and other treats. It was like being 2 little kids in a candy shop for Christmas! The guy probably thought we were truly nuts!

Alright, It Is Done

Yeah yeah yeah, Deej. I know, I haven't updated in 5 days. You know, patience is really a virtue...SHEESH! It's alright, I still adore you.

Things I've done lately? Well, Mariam and I met up (ah, my brown friends are coming back to me now) and we bonded and talked about our male mishaps while eating at Around the Clock. This was shortly segued into a trip to GORGE on rice pudding over at the infamous (and high in fat) Rice to Riches that everyone goes to so they can die of happiness. And I did, as well as gained 2 pounds from that indulgent stuff. Man, was that good. And so close to my apartment!

4 flights of stairs really get to you when it's all of 95 degrees outside...After the 3rd, the sweat trickles down your back, and you feel like you might have to invest in a space suit to avoid the disgusting outcome of NYC summers.

Deej's mom came. She's quirky, just like us. She made me join this online dating site, like any good Jewish mom. It's called Plentyoffish, and it's plenty of fun. Deej and I have had quite an adventure with this site, let me tell you.
His mom also cleaned our apartment sparkly clean. RIDICULOUS! And in this heat!? That's love. But she has a strange and severe case of dysmorphia, and sleep walks WHILE sleep eating. It's SO WEIRD to see!

During her stay, I had to make a trip (or shall I say, voyage?). I like to call it the Battle of IKEA. Basically, IKEA messed up my online bed order, and told me it'd be better if I took the shuttle on Saturday to their NJ store and order it from there. Oh, boy...
My trip starts with a longer bus ride than expected, in which I had to remain standing in the aisles the entire time due to lack of space. I walk into the IKEA, where I hear voices on intercoms, am shoveled to the top floor with the rest of the cattle, and overwhelmed with a warehouse full of different types of rooms and showrooms of furniture. I just wanted a bed, and I could have spent days just trying to decide whether I wanted a blue-hued bed frame or a metallic frame with flowers on the side. Overabundant. I ended up finding my bed about an hour after my arrival, and informed (after purchase, of course) that it will take a week for it to get to my apartment anyways. Thanks, IKEA.
I then wallowed my sorrows in a plate of Swedish meatballs and a shrimp tartine. It was tasty, but I must admit it was very Disney-ish. A swarm of tired parents and grumpy children fighting over economic sizes of meatballs to get a taste of Sweden. I doubt they taste like that in Sweden, anyways. How many of you really know where Sweden actually is?
Then Jeff and Chris came from DC to visit NYC for the day. One of their friends had a 21st birthday, so they came to celebrate...but not without me!!! They called me up, and I gladly joined them in their gallivants. I even met some of their other Harvard buddies. We went shopping, where Jeff was FINALLY convinced a new pair of jeans and a shirt. Thank goodness, it only took him all of 5 years or something.
After a long (and distant! those Harvard kids really don't understand the city's geography) shopping excursion, I led them to Cafetasia for dinner. Followed that up with a walk to Chelsea to visit a bar or two. We hit up Gaslight and had a few drinks, where Chris and his other friend and I bonded over Jeff's future and our travels. I love these boys. I just can't verbally explain how much I adore them. After a while, we headed out to meet someone at Magnolia Bakery. That means I bought a cupcake and tasted some of Jeff's banana pudding. The cupcakes really are that good, but I dare say the pudding was more worth while. I left right after that for sleep.

Pierre sent me pictures of him at French boot camp. And of course my response is: WHAT?! They always get hotter! Life's hard.

Work is ok, but it's not a billion laughs. I stare at my computer and look for grants all day. All. Day. Making friends, at least. The other interns are pretty fun, we enjoy each other fine.
Did laundry yesterday, and it cost me $4.75 total. Expensive, yo.
And it's HOTTER THAN HOT. But Deej and I just make surprisingly delicious Green Tea Cupcakes!!!!! That is all.

Busy First Week

What have I been up to since I got back?
Well...
The party went alright. All of 12 kids came or something small like that. But my thoughts are that those who really care that much will come, or at least tell me why they can't come. So, at least I know who thinks about me.
I just feel bad for Mom, though. She bought enough food for 40 kids, and only 12 of us (though hungry and excellent eaters) could do so much.
Eric and Joey decided to raid the basement and ended up finding some of Aimee and my old (and hideous) dancing outfits. They put them on, and I got pictures, but they stole the camera and deleted them from existence. We all watched a haunting show on the Discovery Channel, which was fun and interesting. Overall, a very chill day.

I drove back to the city with Dad. We had a nice talk. The traffic was excellent, so we got in ahead of schedule (which is a rarity, I assure you).
Got into my apartment in the East Village. It is a 4-flight walk-up (in US terms, the 5th floor). Thunder thighs, here I come!
When I knocked on the door, Deejay opened the door to me with a plate full of brownies. A perfect way to start a year-long living arrangement. Dad took us out to lunch, and then he was on his merry way back to Massachusetts.
The apartment itself is super small, but we don't need a lot, so it's just right. I moved in all of my stuff and have been strategically planning my room for optimal space usage.
Now if only I had furniture...
Lauren and I literally ran into each other on the street, so she joined me on a quick trip to Bed Bath & Beyond. Of course, we talked and indulged about men. And other super female topics that Lauren and I always talk about.
Met up with Nate, which was highly exciting. I made him go for a walk, which he didn't seem to be too wild about. We just joked around for a while, and I pulled him around the Village until I led us to Spice for dinner. I think I may have freaked him out while I was goofing off, but oh well, he should get over it.

The next morning I started my job at M4H, which is truly less-than-fun. But I got a shocking beginner's day, that's for sure...while in my Biz Cas, and my bout of jetlag, they lead me to a hospital? Where they tell me and other interns to play with the kids with behavior disorders and abusive pasts for a few hours? Woah, hold on there, Sally...
Apparently that wasn't a normal day, but still....WARN THE NEWBIES, ok!?!?! Luckily, the kids liked me and played with me quite a bit despite my sarcastic exhaustion.
Afterwards, us Grants/Research interns had to go to NYPL to research...something. My jobs and projects keep changing, and I am wicked confused as to my purpose here...but whatever.
That night, I made Lauren go for a jog around WSP. I am surprised as to how slowly we went. I kept up conversation most of the time. 4 miles in 1.5 hours? Very, very slow...But still a workout, right?
Deejay and I wrote our roommate contract late after. And I ate all of my Peanut Butter Panda Puffs.

Tuesday, work was boring. Stayed in the Foundation Center with the other Grants kids, and we just read and wrote. No noise. I could have fallen asleep the entire time. The one girl that I work closely with, Calista, and I get bored fast. But at least for lunch, we went out to Republic, this Asian fusion place. Really good food, and FUN! Reminded me of Wagamama's. Must go back sometime.
Work happened some more, then off to a big group intern meeting over by Grand Central (not so close by). It really wasn't that great of a meeting, and I am beginning to realize just how unorganized this organization is. It is RAN by the interns! I doubt any real employees do much for it at all! Anyways, I left early to go get a bistro table from Craigslist for our apartment.
Danie called me up and came over to help us grocery shop at Trader Joe's. I love us three together. We had a great time, and just food shopping!
We got home and ended up listening and dancing to middle school (aka really terrible) music until late.

Then, Happy Fourth of July. I slept in, made Deejay go on a run with me around (3.9 miles ain't bad). He's super tall, and damn, can that boy move! I felt like a crawling midget behind him the entire time! I think that was a successfully beating run for me.
Afterwards, we just stayed inside most of the day. Lazy rainy day. We must be boring people, because we don't do much really. In our defense, we needed the relaxation for once. He's so tolerant, I wonder how much he hates me yet. Insert awkward laugh here.
Around 8pm, Lars' other German friend called me to meet up. She just got in the city from Montreal, and I promised Lars I would show her around the city. I told her Houston and Broadway, but somehow she ended up on WEST Houston and VARICK!?! On the other side of the city. Off I walk to the other side, where I ended up taking her to my favorite café, Cornelia Street Café. I ate my bouillabaisse, and hummus, and we played with some adorable puppies. But she was exhausted, so I walked her back to her hostel in Chelsea. It was a long walk home.
I should be working right now, so that's the update for the day.
Sorry for the boring recollection, I just don't have much time...