NYC part 2

So I had a wonderful last 3 days in NYC, but parts of it were a bit bittersweet. This trip involved my first official goodbyes, and at times I was a complete mess. Let's start where I left up with the day after my birthday.

Friday was a fairly low key morning and afternoon, since I had a lot of plans with friends in the evening. First, I went to the Roosevelt Hotel for cocktails with a few of my friends and other mutual friends. It was a nice, relaxing lounge and I had a great time chatting with people. One of my friends, who is in law school at Penn State, was in the city and showed up (I hadn't seen her since graduation) so we had a great time! After the drinks, I split off to meet up with some of my other friends from Columbia for some birthday celebrations. We went to this really fabulous bar called "Tippler" - it was underground and had a speakeasy feel to it. They had tons of interesting drinks - a lot were spicy and very unique. After Tippler we headed somewhere to dance, and then of course had to go get late night food - something I have missed SO MUCH living in Florida. We went to this adorable late night place called Cafeteria. It was just a wonderful night out and I had a great time catching up with all these friends I hadn't seen in ages. It also snowed that night, so I got to see snow one last time before I left!

Saturday was another fun day and night. After a late night, I had to recover some. Once I was awake and moving, I had a few errands to run. most notably, I went to get some new skinny jeans. I had discovered that in Florida, they only sell light color skinny jeans. I prefer dark skinny jeans, so I headed down to express to get a few pairs. I also managed to find some nice button down shirts that I can pair with tank tops to look professional for Peace Corps! After that I ran up to get a bite to eat with Laura near Columbia. We got ready for the night, and I spent another night hopping between bars and people. It was my last official night "out" in NYC, so I wanted to make the best of it!

Sunday was the sad day of goodbyes. I got up early and went for a walk in Central Park with my friend Meghna. It was absolutely gorgeous with snow on the trees. We walked and chatted for about an hour, and then went our separate ways. I got to be that girl crying on the subway after our goodbye! I then headed back up to Columbia to see Laura and Kal for a bit before heading back to get dinner with my Grandparents. I hadn't seen them in about a year, so it was wonderful to catch up and see them again before I leave. I headed back up to say my official goodbyes to Laura before she left for her flight. This was a really tough goodbye. Even though she lives in London, me moving to the DR makes me feel like we are even further apart. after those tearful goodbyes, I went to see Lili, Melissa, Megan, Matt, Mike, and Peter for dinner and goodbyes. By that point I was so overwhelmed with goodbyes, I couldn't even feel that sad! They kept making me laugh, so that made me feel a lot better.

And that was that. Monday I had an early morning flight and back to Gainesville. It was sad, but I keep reminding myself that I have an adventure ahead of me that I have wanted for almost 2 years!

NYC

Current Location: NYC

I haven't done that current location thing in AGES! I suppose mainly because my current location has been Gainesville so long, and I try to forget about that. I am currently in NYC enjoying a lovely vacation before heading out to the Peace Corps in less than 6 weeks (oh my god, is it really that soon?). It's been a great trip so far, and I have several more fun days ahead of me.

I flew in around noon on Saturday and headed to my sisters apartment on the upper west side. I got settled, and we then went to the Museum of Natural History with two of her friends, Amanda and Steven. I had been there before, but we spent some time in wings I haven't seen recently - specifically the Central American wing with the Mayans! It was a lot of fun seeing stuff about the area I was supposed to move to, but also a bit bitter-sweet. Seeing replicas of the Copan Ruins made me a bit sad that I won't be able to take a trip there. We went out for Italian that night and called it a fairly early night, since I had woken up very early for my flight.

Sunday I spent the afternoon with my wonderful friend Meghna. I am sadly going to have to miss her wedding while I am in the Peace Corps - it will be around my 4 month mark in country, and I am not allowed to leave for the first 6 months, so it won't be possible for me to attend. It was great to have a long brunch with her to catch up and drink some bloody marys! After brunch, we decided to go to a movie and watched "My Week with Marilyn." Michelle Williams was so wonderful in it! It was appropriate that I watched it, since that night, I watched the Golden Globes with my sister! The movie was nominated for several awards, and I loved that I had seen it and had an idea about it. I finished the night off with a few drinks with some of my wonderful friends. All in all, it was a great Sunday!

Monday was the day that I planned my birthday dinner with my sister and Nate! We went to this divine restaurant, Buddakan. The food was amazing and worth every penny!

Wednesday I got to celebrate my early birthday by seeing a show I have been DYING to see - How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying with Darren Criss! The show was amazing! Very fun to watch. Before the show I went to a tasty restaurant called Bar Americain, and after I headed up with Laura to go out around Columbia. It was a nice day for sure and a perfect way to ring in my birthday.

Yesterday was officially my birthday!!! I can't believe that I am actually 23 now - it seems bizarre. I don't really feel another year older, and the whole celebrating is kind of strange. 23 isn't that exciting of an age, but I know for sure that it will be the most adventurous year of my life so far! I had a lovely lunch with my Peace Corps Recruiter, Kimberly, and one of her friends who also served in the Dominican Republic. Having the ability to ask questions about Dominican culture, dress, and language really helped me feel more prepared for packing and leaving the country for 2+ years. I now have an idea about make up to bring, shirts to wear, and how to prepare. That night, I went to Dovetail for dinner, which was so tasty. I am loving all this food, though I definitely have gained a pound or two!

Now it is Friday, and I am down to my last few days in the city. Making plans to see friends, family, and have lots of fun! Will definitely update soon with the rest of my adventures.

Surprise Trip - NYC!

I just took one of the craziest trips of my life! Basically, my work has been really slow and for the week September 26-30, I was originally supposed to have 4 days of work, but it got cut back to 1 day, only Friday. Obviously, I was rather disappointed and down in the dumps, considering I am getting really bored and frustrated with living in Gainesville. Well, I decided on a whim to look at plane ticket costs to go to NYC for the weekend. It was my sister's birthday on Saturday and I really just needed to get away from Gainesville. After checking a few airlines and different days, I found a direct flight from Jacksonville for only $270, which is super cheap last minute (the same flight is about $200 booked in advance). After clearing it with my family, I booked it!

It was a really lovely trip. My sister was completely surprised - she had NO idea I was going to come up for her birthday, and since it was so last minute, no time for anyone to give it away to her! We cooked all day for her party that night, which was a huge success. Tons of people came! After that I headed up to Columbia to visit my friend Kal and have a drink. it was o strange being back at the old bars from college not as a student!

Sunday was mostly cleaning and relaxing. I introduced my sister and Nate to Doctor Who, a british sci-fi show I have recently become addicted to.

Monday was a really great day in NYC, and it reminded me of why I love the city so much. I woke up early and went to get breakfast up by Columbia with Nate at my favorite bagel place in the city, Nussbaum and Wu. The guys that work there even remembered me! After being a regular for 4 years, I guess they still recognize me. I then wandered around Columbia's campus. I took some pictures with my new camera, working on focusing and framing. I definitely need some work, but it's fun to mess around with. Also stopped by the Citibank up there and canceled my account. No need for a bank account in NYC when I don't live there! After I finished up around Columbia, I headed down to Madison Square Park to relax in the park for about an hour. Sadly, the lawn wasn't open, but It was nice to just sit and relax in the park. I left around 11:30 to head over to Google, where I met my friend Meghna for lunch! I hadn't seen her in about 4 months, so it was so nice to get to catch up in person! I only wish it could have been longer. Afterwards, I met my sister for some light shopping. I didn't do much, considering I don't have much money! Took a short nap that afternoon, grabbed dinner with Dana and Nate, and then went over to the east side to meet up with a few friends from college: Lili, Megan, and Melissa! Had another small bite to eat, grabbed some frozen yogurt, and just caught up with everything. It was so nice to see my college friends - I've been missing them so much while here in Gainesville!

Sadly, the cheap flight I found had a return on Tuesday, so I couldn't stay longer, even though I don't have work until Friday. I'm just so happy I got to get up there and see some people. I want to see as many people as often as I can before I leave for Honduras. I will for sure be returning to NYC once or twice more before I leave, but it was nice to have a weekend up in the city!

Coming next: Hawaii in 10 days!!!

Yet Another Week...

Hello world! Figured it's been about a week, so I am due for another blog post! I had quite the exciting weekend with two different visitors - needless to say I am very exhausted from the busy weekend!

Well first things first - to all my Peace Corps applicants out there, still no word on Medical. They haven't even had my paperwork for 3 weeks, and I'm not expected to leave until August or September, but I want to know ANYTHING! The waiting seriously is the worst part of it. March 4th, I'm letting myself email the person who is my medical assistant, just to see if there is a timeline for anything.

Well, this past weekend, both my friend Nick and my Mom were in the city! Nick came up to visit me after I went to Tennessee last semester. We had a really great time. I don't always get to go out and do a lot of things in the city, and we went to a comedy club one night and a jazz club another night. It was nice to do a few of the things I wish I had more time and money to do. My mom was up with Nate's mom to see my sister and Nate, but I got to see them a few times. It was unfortunate that both trips ended up on the same weekend - it let to a lot of Jenni running around trying to do things, and then a lot of exhaustion. I'm really glad both of them got to come though. I won't see my mom again until probably May, so it was nice to see her, even if it's only for a little bit.

I am really getting excited for my upcoming trip to Nicaragua. I just now realized that it's less than 3 weeks away! It should be a lot of fun - we are hoping to maybe go canopying, and maybe visit a cool historical city there. Eve if we don't do a ton of excursions, I will be happy to get some sleep and a nice tan!

It's also scary to think that there are only about 10 weeks left until my graduation. It really seems just like yesterday I was moving up to NYC, and now I'm going to be done with 4 years up here. It's bizarre, but I am so excited to see what this next part of my life brings!

Last of all, I changed the name of my blog! Thoughts?

The End of the Semester

Current Location: New York, NY

I know, once again I fail at updating. This past month has been a whirlwind of work - lab reports, group project, problem sets galore. I always thought my senior year would be a time for relaxing and partying, but no such luck.

Exciting thing in the past month? Well first of all, I had a fabulous Thanksgiving. I actually have two different thanksgivings with two separate and extremely important groups of people with me, and I wouldn't have had it any other way. My first thanksgiving was with the girls - Lucy and Laura, along with myself prepared a FABULOUS vegetarian Thanksgiving feast! Anyone who says you can't have thanksgiving without turkey most certainly has not had our thanksgiving food! I made my mom's bourbon sweet potatoes, because it most definitely is not thanksgiving without them. Laura made some delicious mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie, and the two of us helped out with the rest of the feast Lucy had planned out - mushroom red wine gravy, the most amazing stuffing EVER, a rice and cheese loaf, and brie and cranberry sauce mini quiche things. I think there was even more - I'm getting hungry just thinking about it! After stuffing ourselves, it was time for the obligatory thanksgiving nap before I headed downtown to Dana and Nate's for Thanksgiving part two. Down there I got to eat mac and cheese (the best recipe ever, both Dana and I make it, though I made it first hehehehe) green beans, and potatoes! They also had meat turkey and gravy, which I obviously didn't eat. They made quite the feast! After stuffing myself so full, I crashed in Brooklyn for the night before heading back up to Columbia.

Another exciting thing was I had my Peace Corps interview! It went really well. I was rather nervous, because they told me the interview could go between 60-90 minutes. Well my interview went over 2 hours, but it was GREAT! My interviewer was so nice, and it felt almost more like a conversation than an interview. I felt very much as ease and thought it went very well, and I was rewarded just a few days ago with the news that I have been nominated for service! The next step is an extremely thorough medical clearance - Physical, ObGyn, Dental, and Eye exams all required, I think. I can't wait to continue moving forward with the process - maybe in a few months I will know for sure what I could be doing and where! It's nerve racking, because I could not find out until as little as 6 weeks before I leave for my service, which would be July. But it is also so exciting, and I can't wait to continue to learn more!

I am not going home for Christmas this year, as many of you already know, I decided to do a little bit of decorating in my room! Gotta get into the Christmas spirit after all! I haven't done much yet - I got myself a little Christmas tree that I decorated and made a few little paper snowflakes to hang around the room (yes, I know I am a total nerd). It makes me happy, since I can't be home with my usual Christmas traditions to at least have a little bit of festive cheer in my room. Hopefully it will help me get through exams!

In other news, the semester is coming to a close. Monday is the last day of classes. It's really flown by - I can't believe it's actually my senior year. I guess with all my traveling I didn't really see the weeks passing by me. Only one more semester and then I'm off to the real world - I don't know if I am quite ready to be there yet! I actually don't have a ton yet - for our group project, we have our final report, we have a 5-6 page progress report for senior design, one final lab, a GIS assignment and the take home final, and 2 sit down finals left. Wow, when I list it all out, it sounds like I still have a lot to do. Less than two weeks left, and I will be done with everything! My parents and grandma come up on the 23rd for Christmas in the city. And then on January 1st, I leave for my two weeks in Chile! I cannot wait for that - we got some more information, and I think it's going to be a really amazing trip. They only accepted 16 students out of a large group, so I feel so honored to be able to go!