The Arepas Bar with Bianca

I did NOT want to wake up this morning. But I prepared myself for a long day and off I went to pick up the keys to our apartment. The super let me know that the top lock needed to be changed. Boo. So tomorrow we're going to move in our stuff at 6pm. He also told me that we might want to get bars put up in our window to the fire escape, but that cost $250. I went to look at the apartment and the tub was dirty. Did some homeless person come take a bath? Idk.

Got to work and ate my oatmeal. Then I finished creating some excel files. Had a lunch meeting with my supervisor and then group meeting after that. My boss said that she's happy I am working for her and that she might have some upcoming projects she could potentially have me work on, which is awesome! Finished up some more work and then left to meet up with Bianca. I read some proposals on the way, something I wouldn't have been able to do in Cali.

I got to the restaurant ("Caracas" in Manhattan) and was happy to see a familiar face. We talked about our adventures as we waited to be seated in the cute & tiny arepas bar. She told me about her upcoming work, getting ready to leave NY, and I told her about me getting settled in NY. We were finally seated and ate delicious food! I got a chicken avacado salad arepa and she got a chrizo chicken chimi churri arepa. We also ordered tostones with some salty cheese. As Rachel Ray would say it, "Yumm-o!" It was really nice to hang out with Bianca and hope to do it again soon!!

Now I'm on the train back home.. about to read some more proposals.

G'night, New York.

Tostones

Arepa!!

On the train :]

The Lease Signing

Woke up super groggy, but got over it. I packed my lunch and ate Special K cereal (with 1/8 of a banana, Keity's leftovers) for breakfast. Got to work 5min late, again! Public transportation isn't quite reliable, but I guess I should leave early and just get to work early. We'll see. Things will change wen we move and I'll probably walk to work.

I was happy to again get most of my work done, but at one point in the day there were about 7 people in the office and it was hectic. That may not seem like a lot, but for our office it is! Then I had a meeting with my other coach, which went well.


Today I got my Lehman ID, only to figure out later in the day that it was a student ID. This occurred even though the employment letter clearly states I'm a part-time staff member. I guess I look too young for them to care. Oh well... I didn't return it hoping to use the perks of a student (haven't used it yet though).

Left to set up for the 1st year faculty seminar and attended the event. I realized today that these events are very telling of the higher education environment. I am learning so much about the guts of an institution like this and I think it is extremely valuable for my career. It really makes me want to continue with my research & evaluation efforts within the school system. I am grateful to have this opportunity to develop foreign skills and knowledge that can potentially benefit me in my future scholarship.

So after work I signed the lease. It was interesting to read the contract. Apparently if we want to install an AC unit, we need to notify the management company first and pay $5/mo. But that's not too bad, especially considering that they went down to $950/mo from $975.

After the signing, I had to go into work at Columbia. Alex and I attempted to eat dinner quickly, but we ended up in Time Square and it was way too expensive. Got to work and didn't stop for a good while. Made it home around 9, tried to order Thai but we were too far for the 2 places I called, made fettuccine alfredo, talked about Bonnie's bday with the rhombus, watched True Blood, and went to sleep too late. :(

The Productive Monday

I'm finding a theme with my Monday posts. They're definetly not as memorable, but I tend to do a lot to prepare for the week. I think its reflective of most people's schedule?
I got to work and finished many of the necessary tasks ahead of schedule. I had my mentoring meeting at lunch, where I got a salad for $5. I attended (because I planned the event) a 2nd year faculty workshop. It was very nice to meet them and to learn all about their research this summer.
After work I had time to relax, which was very much needed. Bonnie's cousin came to visit and brought her very cute daughter. I watched another episode of True Blood (I'm running out of shows to catch up on) and then played the name game, whichs fun to play and funny to watch people have their teammates guess the character/person.
Then Keity & I went to the gym. 30min of cardio and 20min of abs and arms. When we got home for some reason we started talking about our eating/exercise habits and decided to make some healthy commitments until November 13th. I will work out at least 3 times a week and eat a healthy breakfast. We will all try to eat more fruits & vegetables. Also, I will continue to drink 8 cups of water. It was funny how we kept saying we would go to sleep, but ended up talking until about 1am. I was tired in the morning :( so another healthy habit should be going to sleep at a decent hour.

 

The Bikram Yoga

This time I woke up to get ready for bikram yoga, which is yoga in a sauna type room. Keity & I had a not so light breakfast, but I don't think that affected me during the class. It was a $5 donation and mat & towel rentals were $1-2. There were a lot of people at the session. Even though I've tried this type of yoga, it still was extremely challenging. I kept feeling light headed, but I pushed myself as much as possibl, especially at the beginning.

I've never sweat so much!

Then we ordered Dominican food: carne a la res, arroz y frijoles, y papas fritas. It reminded me of lomo saltado and it was yummy. We later bought some ice cream ($6 tub) and some groceries for the glampad.
Watched some True Blood (miss watching it with Becky!) Planned to go to ground zero, but it was too crazy and it was time for families and friends who were directly affected. We plan to go to the memorial soon though.

Saw this on our walk home from yoga. "From Lima to New York"

Thought of Craig when I saw this!

The "Work Day" with Hensleigh

Today I woke up around 8:30 today go to a free yoga class at a church with Hensleigh. Turns out, it's just a block away from my work at Columbia. The majority of the yogis where older, but the class was appropriately challenging since its been a while since I've done yoga.

Afterwards, we had breakfast at a bagel shop. I had a delicious blueberry muffin. Next, we went shopping. Got to Sephora and I did my make-up for the day, :] got free samples, and took pictures with a dog that had on little booties. It was funny; I pointed out the dog (as I was doing all day) and Hens suggested we ask to take a picture. The lady said, "Sure. Do you want to hold?" I'm thinking of course! So I do and then she ask if Hens wants to hold the othe dog and here she pulls out a second pup from her purse. Crazy. But super cute!

Went to TJmax next where I got a Steve Madden rain coat, Nine West winter coat, grey boots, a gift for Bonnie & green tights. It cost $150, much more than I was willing to spend, but I guess it was necessary. I'll still look for deals elsewhere and see if I can find coats for cheaper. If not, I'm sticking to my buys. We finally got home around 4; I had a really good, relaxing day with Hens :]

The Approved Apartment (that we didn't apply for)

I had a hard time waking up this morning, but I got to work on time. I brought my lunch this time, but forgot my water. Luckily I found out that we have a water jug in the main office. I got a good amount of work done again and had to delve out tasks for a new research assistant. This weekend I plan on coming up with a systematized way of organizing all the data. I think this is important before we move forward with data collection, that way we stay consistent, efficient and accurate with our research.

Found out that the manageent company for apartment we applied for has yet to respond to our offer. So the real estate guy we're working with applied us to another apartment down the street and we got approved. I'm on my way to go see it. Meeting Alex there. I hope it's amazing that way we can move right away!

Yesterday I noticed that most younger public transportation passengers tend to have head phones on. Here I am on a subway train typing on my phone.. blogging. It's interesting to observe this type of behavior. I'm comfortable sitting on the train not doing anything linked to the outside world, but I do have to find something somewhat produtive or I feel wasteful. I usually take this travel time to work out my schedule or blog. I use to think of my to do lists in my head while I drove in Cali, so I feel like this is definitely a benefit. Although, I am spending double the time to get to work and such.

So we saw the apartment and it was practically perfect! We will sign the lease on Tuesday and then it's ours! It's almost 100% so I'm excited!

Bathroom

Bedroom (fire-escape & 2 windows)

Living room (2 windows)

Kitchen

There's room for a small table!

 Then we had some McDonald's, I bought some MAC Hello Kitty mascara & eyeliner for $10 (going back tomorrow for some cheap nail polish.. thanks to the guy on the street) and now watching The Wire :]

The Taped Up Sandal

Woke up an hour later than normal, which was nice. Keity left me a banana strawberry shake, yay! Did a little work and then left for Columbia. The moment I got on the train I realized I forgot my lunch :( Oh well, I'll bring it tomorrow!
It was nice having the office to myself. Feel like I can get more work done. I organized the cabinets and then started on the data. Had a panni for lunch from the TC cafe. It was actually really good. I watched PLL on my break and found out who the killer is! Can't wait to talk about it with Cindy. As I threw away my lunch, I broke my sandal. Ugh! I don't know if I should get new ones since fall is just round the corner, but I figured I might need them at some point so I think I'll get some. I went to an HR orientation and found out I can transfer money from my check to get a metrocard, which is before taxes taken out and therefore not lose as much money. Pretty excited about that. The advantages of living in a city with proper public transportation. After the orientation, I went back to work and met with my supervisor to clarify my tasks. As I left her office, I asked the receptionist for some tape and taped up my shoes!! Finished my work and now I'm on the train.

I find it strange that it still hasn't hit me I'm in NY. It's definetly different from home, but... I don't know what it is that makes me feel comfortable. I miss my family and friends and when I think about them it makes me sad. Sometimes I feel like I'm missing out, especially for important things like Nick's 2nd birthday and brunch with Craig, my mom and Chris. But I'll see them soon and cherish the moments I'll have when I visit. I hope they can visit me too. I'm expecting Giovannie (& maybe Nancy) for thanksgiving break!! Pretty excited about that :]

Got home and did some more work. Then ate some bomb tacos Keity made. Watched Jersey Shore (idk why I'm still watching it.. haha). Then got ready for bed. I'm happy to hear that we will be getting a care package soon!! Thanks Becky <3