NYC, finally!

After my miserable night at the airport, I was on the 8am flight and I was in a cab on my way to my apartment by 9:15. Once I got there, I finally got to meet Mary, my roommate for the summer. From what I can tell so far, I am lucky - she seems great and I'm looking forward to getting to know her better. She is an actress, and works at a restaurant in Times Square that is owned (in part) by Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane. This place is frequented by celebs, and Mary has an opinion about just about anyone you ask her about.....
I spent the day napping, unpacking, and waiting for my friend's sister Wendy to call me. Wendy lives in the same neighborhood I'm living in (Astoria, Queens) and she had my keys to the apartment since I was supposed to get in Wednesday evening while Mary was at work. I met up with Wendy, and she showed me around the neighborhood a bit. Apparently, Astoria (or maybe Queens in general?) is the most diverse place in the country - there are people from anywhere and everywhere to the extent that there is no majority of any kind of people.
Today, I bought some groceries....there is almost no food in the apartment....I'm not sure if Mary doesn't eat (she is an actress after all) or if she just eats elsewhere. Then I hopped on the subway to figure out where I will be going to work on Monday. I took the subway to Union Square (maybe 35 minutes?) and my office is about a block away. Sweet! I can see the Empire State Building just up the 5th Ave from my building.
Once I found where I would need to go next week, I just wandered more or less aimlessly. Among the things I saw were the house from the Cosby show, the first building that ever had an elevator, a mice dying in a mouse trap on the sidewalk (where did that come from??), and various other things in the Village/SoHo area. One of my goals for the summer was to buy a pair of silver shoes to wear in my sister's wedding, and I already achieved that goal. I also bought a pair of Havaianas (flip flops that I've always seen in InStyle magazine), some sock yarn, and a book.....a very successful day. I also had my first celebrity sighting, I think. I saw a guy that I think was Gael Garcia Bernal, who was in the Motorcycle Diaries and The Science of Sleep.

Pictures - I have attempted to figure this out a bit more, but hopefully I'll figure it out as I go along.


This is looking up 5th Ave from my office, you can see the Empire State Building in the Background.

















This is the entrance to the building where I'll be working, 90 5th Ave.
















This is the famous arch in Washington Square Park....it was recently restored and the whole park is a construction area.


















This one's for you dad - I was walking through the Village and saw a firetruck being backed into the firehouse on a teeny tiny street.
















This is the apartment building where I'm living in Astoria. Not much to look at from the outside.


















Here's my bedroom - I am more or less surprised at the size of the apartment - its not too small at all. I love that Gustav Klimt's 'The Kiss' is on the wall - it makes me feel at home.