Just some Brooklyn Fleas

I started writing a post about Saturday and clearly got distracted by one thing or another...but the day was worth writing about.

We woke up early(er than 12) and made our way to Brooklyn thanks to directions texted to me (filling 4 txt msgs) by our wonderful Brooklynite Jake.  We went specifically to visit the Brooklyn Flea and see what there was to see.  The flea market was in Clinton Hill, which is conveniently where he lives so we could walk the few blocks to his place afterwards and marvel.

I was a bit unsure of what to expect of Brooklyn, I think it's one of those places that has extremely high points and extremely low points...Clinton Hill was definitely a high.  Tree lined streets and lovely brownstones with mini garage sales outside went on for blocks and blocks as we made our way to the market.

It was just what I had hoped for, lots of nick nacks and vintage goodies to inspect, and the sun was beating down on us just the right amount.  After mulling over most everything there I made my way to the back where the food market was located.  There were about 10 booths offering everything from organic ice pops, (I got a ginger rhubarb one) to fresh scones with homemade buffalo mozzarella and olive oil (also had one of those...) to home made quesadillas...yes...one of those as well.

Our next venture was to Ikea...THE hot spot of Brooklyn, hah.  From Jakes AMAZING apartment, we took a subway into the not so 'high point' area where we then hopped on a city bus and continued on our journey.  After about 10 minutes on the bus my stomach was a bit tight and Ikea couldn't have come soon enough!  We pulled into the giant haven and spent the next hour picking up this and that, very fun, very tiring.

The whole day I took pictures on my amazing Diana mini, a cute little film camera that takes some cool pictures.  But it is FILM so immediate uploads is not an option.  I do however have some pictures from my digital camera so I will post those soon!...They will be totally unrelated to the future post but OH WELL...

Next I'll post about my 1st day at work!...It was today!...Get excited!!!

2 Oak to Cinco de Mayo

Yesterday was a dreary rainy day.  I had to run a few errands that I've been putting off though like groceries and bank accounts.
I ventured out into the rain grabbing an umbrella that the landloard had left  as I rushed out the door.  As I opened it up I realized it was COVERED in multicoloured cats...just my luck.  I looked like a bit of a fool but I just accepted it and carried on.
I went to Chase bank to figure out my banking stuff and I would HIGHLY suggest going there if you ever need an american bank account.  No social security number needed, just a visa or maybe even not.
We went out to 1 Oak which was around the corner from Avenue, it was a very fun spot, very very busy because Bruno Mars was there...he's pretty short.
After the bar we went to 'Artichoke' a pizza place next door and had slices of their very famous artichoke pizza, delish...but can't happen every night out, please.

Today was a sleep in day, but once we hit the streets it was sunny and warm and lovely.  The three of us walked over to meatpacking, to scout out my route to my internship.  We took Bleaker st. all the way there and I can't wait to walk it every day!  Tons of cute shops and restaurants, and restaurant shops ugh I'm going to be so broke.  We met up with our dear friend at Meatpacking and grabbed a gourmet vegan all natural gluten free lunch at the convienence store...only in trendy New York is this an option.  We ate outside in a public little benchy area right at 14th and 8th.

Once we were recharged with vegan soba noodles and sun, we walked our way east with an end goal of 'Fabulous Fannys'.  No, not what you'd think, it's a glasses store with hundreds of thousands of pairs of new and vintage glasses.  The walk was long, but I hadn't explored this far east yet and it was just lovely.  (just got a txt saying there's a Comme de Garcons sample sale 70% off, gotta wrap this up, seriously. broke.)  We found the store and I'm seriously debating screwing up my eyes somehow to get to wear glasses, I don't care what anyone says they are a great accessory and I can't handle just wearing them with fake lenses.

After mulling through all those glasses (and walking 10 miles) we were starving and exhausted and it was CINCO DE MAYO!!!!So we were all craving some mexican food and happy hour drinks.  We ended up at this restaurant called Devil something something that had 1$ Tostados and half price beer, and went to town. We stumbled home at 8:30 and stopped off at the liquor store where I got a 60 of rum for 20$, god bless America.  We went out to a local bar down the street from us called Naked Lunch, it was busy enough compared to other bars in the area.

Now it's today and I'm going to go and try not to blow my budget on this sample sale...wish me luck!

Thompson

I arrived around 3pm on Monday, the cab driver couldn't drive fast enough for me to get to my soon to be apartment!! As we drove closer and closer the streets got nicer and nicer; we are at the epicentre of all that is cool (and EXPENSIVE) in SoHo.

My roomates met me with Coffee in hand and let me into the place...nicer than I could have hoped, we are some lucky girls.

Before unpacking we ventured out in hopes to find the necessities...American cell phones and clean sheets/towels.  In preperation for coming I/my family looked into the best plans with no contract.  If you are cheap like me and are fine for a few months without a blackberry I would strongly suggest going to Best Buy and choosing one of their pre-paid plans.  I went with Virgin and am paying 30 a month for more than enough of everything.

By the time I was en route home hours had passed and I was starving.  I chose from one of the many adorable small bakeries and sandwich shops a place called 'Olive' which had a line out the door earlier in the day.  I paid my 9.80 for a sandwich and enjoyed every bite.

by about 8pm, I was exhausted I had unpacked and mostly settled in.  My roommate's friend who is a native New Yorker (well not really, she's from Toronto but has lived here long enough to seem like a native) told us where we were going off to that night.  The bar was called Avenue, a very upscale lounge/club around 17th and 10th.  Our cab there was a whole $7.00 (one cheap thing about New York...)

We got there at 12:30 and it started filling up by 1, we had some celebrity spotting...Vin Diesel...All in all an amazing night.

Take Off

I made it to the airport!  I flew out from Buffalo, so I had to do all my visa stuff at the border, it went really smoothly, just made sure to be organized and have all my papers (visa papers, rental agreement etc)

I had 2 bags that I weighed at home and were prettyyy close to 50 lbs, if the bags are 51 pounds you pay 50$ extra and I wouldn't have been happy if I had to part with a pair of shoes.  One bag was 47 lbs and one was 47.5!! That's what I call professional packing.

My parents and boyfriend took me to to airport and while all morning I felt pretty fearless and excited, as I walked through security my stomach sunk...gunna miss em.

Now no more boundaries or obstacles (as long as the plane doesn't crash...cancel!) I'll be in NY so soon!

Ok well 8 minutes till boarding!

Cutting it Close

I'm leaving tomorrow, time just creeps up when you have so much to do!
Cutting it as close as we possibly could, we signed our sublet contract on Wednesday.  It was nothing short of fate.  All the negative things that happened with every other apartment we had our eye on ended up being one big positive with the place we got.  It's in the heart of Soho and it has 3 rooms for us to live in! What more could we ask for?!
We all accounted for spending a week homeless when we arranged our internships so we have until the 9th to play and learn the city, then off to work!

My flight is tomorrow from Buffalo so I get to all the fun visa stuff (not) at the border instead of at the airport.  I JUST got off skype with my roommate who is all settled in and I can't wait to join her! The place looks incredible I can't wait to make it my own.  She just found out there's not microwave anymore, so that'll be interesting..

Other than that everything is in place!  24 hrs from now I'll be unpacked and ready to go.

Until then...

On The Hunt...

It is the easter long weekend, and I am NOT hunting for easter eggs. In less than 10 days I will be on my way to New York City to spend the four glorious months of summer interning and playing two of my best friends.  And yet...we are still without a home.
We started house hunting soon after we started job hunting...lucky for us all the jobs fell into place (have to stay optimistic) but still...no apartment.  A word of advice to anyone who is reading this for that purpose...START EARLY and BE DECISIVE!
We use Craigslist and www.sublet.com to search, sublet.com has a 40$ fee for 3 months of access, but I'd say it is worth it, lots more listings.  We also contacted a broker (who initially we had no intention of using as the fee is stupid) but it's coming down to the wire and we may have to give in.
Las week we almost got a place, but in New York things go fast, within the hour of our decision making process (at 10pm on a Friday night I may add) the place was gone...wasn't meant to be.
I thought we found the perfect place this morning..and then again...slipped away.

A friend of mine who lives in New York is going to see a place for me tomorrow...600sq ft for 3 pple?...that's New York!

My fingers are crossed for it.  Sorry to all the people who wanted to come stay with us, you may be sleeping in the sink.

Ok, so that was my 1st post, hopefully of many!

10 days and counting!

-Mercedes