GG

After having less than half of a working phone all day, I just realized how close I am cutting it to deadline! Just got home from watching Gossip Girl at Torrey's in Soho, with a swift run back from Grand Central. Not too much else to catch up on today, except Torrey and Beth's friend informed me that their friend here in NYC lives in the same building as Ed Westwick. How cool would that elevator ride be?! I'd make a fool of myself just staring thinking of something intriguing to say. Well I'll cut it short tonight because I have 4 minutes to submit so I can keep my resolution...

Toodaloo...

Dear Friends

are one of life's greatest blessings. Genuine, effortless friendships. They make life so much lovelier. I got to spend the whole night last night with my friend Allison, which was a blast to catch up with her. And I spent the whole day today with my friend Ashley, who I stayed with the first couple weeks I was here. She has been such an amazing friend to me since I've been up here, and I've been blessed to be able to spend so much time with her and get to know her. Even though she is a bit older than me, we treat each other as "equals" :) We just love and respect each other. Our personalities go together so well that often joke that, "if you were a guy, I'd date you.." "I would too!"

No one was kidding when they said that the probowl is not fun. It looks like a ECS junior varsity schrimmage out there. Well, I am looking forward to a phenominal upcoming season and watching my brother play! You know, if there is a season, and let's hope there is because no matter what you're paying them, we want to see football.

We've got a big week ahead of us, troops. Better get on in bed so I can get my full 8! I keep putting off blogging about a few things but I'll catch  up with it this week I promise. So please stay tuned....

8

Trader Joes....

WHERE have you been all my life?! This is the most wonderful establishment ever. Well I shouldn't say that, because Whole Foods is pretty wonderful as well. Anyway, I got a week's worth of food for about $30 and the food is delicious too. I fixed pot stickers and broccoli for din and it was so tasty. The closest one to me is in Union Square, so it's not a trip I could make daily. But it was fun getting out of the house and going down there. I took the subway from Grand Central, the closest station to me, down to 14th and walked around. I'm looking forward to making that a weekly habit. I wish you could have seen my face when I was walking around this place. Cheap, delicious food...all I need in life.

Well the reason that I said last night that I had such a successful day at work is because I cold called at a consulting company and came across a HUGE opportunity. It's been a tough month getting adjusted to working at a big girl job, so I needed a big victory like that. My manager was ecstatic about it, and I also received an email from the VP of our office telling me what a tremendous job I did. Nice little pat on the back, I'd say!

Mo Mo and Lauren are in Hawaii, Memphis is in the upper 60's. Not something that I'll get used to saying, but I was wishing I was not in NYC today haha! I'm kidding, I adore living here. But summer is going to be so wonderful, and I cannot wait for it. 

Got to catch up with my beautiful, wonderful, loving best friend Emily. She's been reading the blog as well, and was mad I haven't name dropped her yet. So there ya go, Emmie. I LOVE YOU, and miss you so much!! Makes me so sad that we are hundreds of miles apart, but it made my day to be able to catch up with her for like an hour and a half!

Ah, and I just checked the stats on the Blog and the pageviews are offically over 2,000. 2,186 to be precise! So happy to know people are reading (and hopefully enjoying) reading about my experiences here. I really do hope that I am providing you a bit of entertainment :) I'll keep writing, you keep reading!

ciao

Had a big/successful day today at work which I'll have to finish explain tomorrow. But until then.. A short on the go post because my hands are cold and I can't type fast enough.

This is a car buried underneath snow... What a joke!



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a snow, a fire, and will ferrell

Waking up this morning was a joke. Well, in the sense that I woke up and looked outside at what I had to walk to work in:

Six INCHES! Just playing, I have no idea how many inches it snowed last night, I just wanted to drop an Elf quote in there because that's what kept running through my head this morning. Well anyway, the benefit of me living ten minutes from work is that I can potentially wake up at 8 am and be at work on time at 8:30. Well, that is all hypothetical, because although I do get ready in the mornings unusually quickly (dating back to my ECS days), I didn't take into account that although I was not using public transportation, I would walking behind ridiculously slow individuals who did not want to slip on the ice. Which made me arrive at about 8:45-850. And yes I realize that the sentence before last was very much a run-on. Sorry, mom and dad, at least me and my years of education got me up to NYC. :)

Street view from my apartment:

River view from my street:

 A couple more street views on the walk to work:

Ironically, my roommate ran out to the Duane Reade on our street tonight and I assume most of the snow from our street offed after this:

yeah that's the street on fire.

Can you please tell me any other city that you would ever see that in? Geez I love this city. It's wonderful for my ADD, because it is NEVER boring.

My big brother (who is headed to HAWAII for the ProBowl?!?! grr...) sent me a link today to try and brighten my day. Well, let's just say... it worked:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/41283652/ns/today-entertainment/

That's not the actual article he sent, but you get the idea. It was like the joy I get every time I open a Coke Zero, except times like FIVE MILLION. Yeah, I'm a Will Ferrell fan. I laugh at fart jokes and inappropriate humor. It's just the way I was made, and I was made in God's perfect image, so go ahead and throw the first stone.

Ok I think I am getting delirious, because I'm now talking about Will Ferrell and glass houses. Time for some sleep. 

One more thing: PopChips. If you haven't tried them, you should. They're not fried. They're not baked. They're popped. Chips are, to say it mildly, a bit of an extreme addiction with the Cox family, and these are the answer to my get-skinny-and-stay-skinny-while-still-eating-chips-daily diet. Loves them. If you're looking for a very filling munchie snack, look elsewhere, but these are a delicious guilt-less chip indulgence that I have no shame eating openly at work in front of all these skinny little chicks.

good noche. 

an early night to bed

I'm not sure why I'm so tired tonight, but I've been in bed for thirty minutes. And I'm looking forward to falling asleep by ten, cross your fingers.

I got my room-divider today, so I finally don't feel like I'm living in the kitchen/hallway/entryway.  My friend Ali is considering shacking up with us for a couple months and living on the couch that I am buying for my room hopefully this week. I hope she does move in; it would be a blast! But if now not, then definitely this summer :)

Really ready for friends to come visit soon. I love the friends that I have made up here, but I do miss my friends at home so much.

I discovered tonight that my stove top is pretty crappy, but it WORKS. And it COOKS. I decided to cook asparagus and turkey bacon for dinner. Interesting combo, but it was actually beautifully delicious.

Anyway, long day, straining for words. More to come for tomorrow.

Peace.

Terrific Tuesday

All the wonderful ladies from the Hope Kitchen made my blizzardy day here so much brighter when they each decided to put on my apron and hold up a sign that said "Miss you" and send me pictures. That made me miss being at home with them so much. Some of the greatest friends I could ever ask for.  I love you all so so much, and miss you nearly as much! Looking forward to a summer visit to NYC from all of them!!!

Lulah and I are hanging out in the living room/my room/the kitchen/lulah's playground. She likes to lay around with me and rummage through things such as purses and piles of clothes and trash bags. She's curious like a cat. 

Had a really great day at work as far as numbers go. I finally feel like I'm contributing. I hate that I give most all of my energy to 8am-7pm then have nothing left for the rest of the day. Though I'm glad I'm finally able to contribute something to my team. Boosts the morale, eh?

I really need to carry around an idea book of things to include in this blog, because great thoughts keep springing in my head during the day. Then I don't write them down. Then I forget them by the end of the day because I'm so tired of thinking!

Once the weather gets warmer around here, this balcony is going to be money. I think I may even be able to lay out on my balcony from 8 AM-11 AM on sunny days (anyone who knows me or has ever experienced me at a beach or in a "layout" situation knows how much of a joke that is). I do not lay out. I play. Or I sit, and watch. Or play at the pool. Or in the water. Anyways, that's off topic. Let's get down to the most important issue of the night...

Why does Serena have to be so annoying? I swear she gets more annoying every episode. Don't get me wrong, I'd trade lives (AND BODIES) with Blake Lively right now, this instant. But she drives me absolutely insane. But, hey, the show is based around my city so holllaaaaa!

Please don't judge me forever on that last paragraph. I swear I have some depth to me.

After hearing a friend of mine talk about a certain word in French today, it inspired this in me...

Bonne nuit, ma chérie!

Rock Steady

"I will always cherish all those days gone by! I thank God for the good times every moment of my life!"

My precious Uncle Dana (of Degarmo & Key) was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame tonight, such a huge and very well-deserved honor, although he passed away this past summer. I do wish he could have been up there to receive it (receiving far greater rewards in heaven right now, I can guarantee it). My aunt, Nino, accepted the award in his absence alongside Eddie Degarmo. Makes me miss him so much every time I watch that video, and smile at the same time because I know he is singing with the angels for eternity now! But, man... I really do miss him a lot.

Degarmo & Key weren't the only ones being inducted tonight... Johnny Cash was, too. The Johnny Cash! A real testament to the prestige of this honor. Cash was a true rock star, but still not sure he rocked as much as Uncle Dana did. What a life he had. If you had known him you would know what I mean. He dedicated his life to making sure everyone he touched knew the love of Christ through the gifts that were given to him. 

Others in the GMA Hall of fame: Elvis, Al Green, Amy Grant, Dolly Parton

If you get a chance- watch the video I posted. It is one of my favorite songs by D&K.

Read more about the GMA Hall of Fame:

GMA Hall of Fame Site

Gospel Music Update

Memphis Means Music

Balancing out my lazy day yesterday...

...with a very productive apartment shopping day today with Mom. Bed, Bath, & Beyond to get a few essentials, Torrey's Soho apartment to get two tables she wasn't using, checked out a couch and TV stand off  and the grocery store to stock up on food for the week/year. This giant bottle of Olive Oil better last me a few months. The apartment is finally starting to fill out so much more and is beginning look like home.

Let's get back to Torrey's (and Beth's) apartment downtown. It was fantastic. Exposed brick, small space with huge character, wonderful neighborhood of course, and had such a Homey-feel to it. I still love all the room that I am getting in my apartment in Midtown, but I really do adore her place. She made a great choice to live there, and I already told her that I call her couch for the year whenever I stay with her. It's interesting to see the contrast in amount of space you're getting in different areas of town. Selling real estate here has got to be an art. This apartment, I am in love with though. I get to go to sleep and wake up to an amazing view of the East River, and let's be honest - we could all use a little beauty in our lives.

Well I've got a long week ahead of me, so I'm going to get my beauty sleep. So happy to have an entire day spent with my mom. Those kind are very rare nowadays, and mother-daughter time can be very medicinal. Thanks for spending your weekend with ol' me, Mom.

Love.

Mom's here!

Mom was still in Baltimore helping with Morgan, so she decided to take a little trip up here to hang out with me till Monday morning when she has to fly back to Memphis from Baltimore.

Today was a rather lazy day.  To my defense, though I did spend the entire day in bed watching various shows on my laptop, there really is no other place to sit in my apartment right now. So Lulah (Ashley's pup) and I cuddled all day and munched on my delivery order from the Kips Bay Grocery. Yes, I do mean that we both munched on it, because while my mom and I went to dinner, Lulah decided to get a little bite for herself out of trash. I'm almost positive that it's not best for her to eat french fries, but just a few won't hurt I guess. She helps fill the void in my heart from missing Owen so much.

Mom got in at around 9 tonight, so I made a late reservation for us at Rosa Mexicano's on the East Side. She had the shakes from hunger, so we dove right into some guacamole dip. If you have ever heard of Rosa's, you of course have heard about the guac dip, which is made in front of you at your table. I mean this stuff is unreal. I paid close attention to how they were making it so that I could possibly take a stab at making some. When my family (brothers, parents, cousins) were in NYC a few years ago, we went to the other Rosa's here, and it has stuck with me ever since. I was very pleased with my Dad's suggestion to take my mom there. I think she enjoyed it as well:

TTFN

I have to write this from my phone so it's going to be short winded. I'm at the official TransPerfect holiday party which officially makes me a grown up kid.

Ill update more tomorrow, but work was so much better today. Getting the feel more and more of how to approach my potential clients, and I've got a little momentum going. It's the small victories that just taste so sweet. Especially when ya been losin' for a bit.

Much love.


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Location:Holiday work party

a walk past grand central down to times square

If I haven't expressed this enough yet, I love our neighborhood. Ashley and I went for a long walk to explore around our new home tonight and had so much fun. Ate at Shack Shack for dinner and it was delish...UH-MAZING.

ashley with our NO-fat (i swear) meal

do not tell me otherwise

I've been here for almost three full weeks and have not seen one celebrity.  Ashley's been here for a total of two days and spotted Alan Cummings off Times Square last night. I guess I live in a cloud. I did dream I spotted Andy Samberg on the street the other day. Wish that at least counted. Continuing on, Ashley and I walked through Times Square, and discussed plans to do the NYC touristy things for the next year. Just because I live here now, doesn't mean that I don't still want to go to Broadway shows...and SNL tapings (front row?!)...and take pictures in Times Square...

Have you watched the new Modern Family yet? If you have, have you finished laughing out loud yet? Watched it tonight and could not contain myself as usual.

I got to wake up to the sun coming up over the river this morning, as I had anticipated. It was absolutely beautiful. I am in love with where I live: the neighborhood, the building, my apartment, my view. Everything about it, I literally cannot believe how well this worked out in the end. All the frustration and headaches through the whole search process was all worth it in the end:

ahhhhh so nice...

But I do really miss this guy...

i know he'd love it up here.

my owie, come see your mom!!

Finally home

Let's make this short and sweet: I am home. And what a wonderful feeling it is.



Goodnight home...

And thank you Lord.

It wasn't just the ny sky that was grey today

I apologize for such an emo title! But my sky was all shades of grey today, with a slushy, cold rain to add onto it. Just one of those days.

But I will begin with good news: we finally have the keys to our new apartment as well as beds/mattresses. And I will say that I thought I loved our view during the day, but it looks twice as wonderful at night! Why am I not posting pictures of the new place you ask? Because, big surprise, I'm not sleeping there tonight, again! Not because of paperwork; that is all cleared up. Ashley C. confirmed tonight that she does in fact have the flu. So I'm staying at Ashley D.'s tonight again because 1) it's just too hard to leave her...and 2) because fever and ralphing (sorry, had to say it) is really not a good pairing on me.

All drama aside, it was a successful day, though immensely frustrating as it was. At one point during the day, I had to take a long breather (not to mention, shed a couple tears) in the bathroom then recoop and head back to work. Cold calling is very difficult for me right now. It is a natural response to take rejection personally when cold calling, and I am just praying hard that feeling wears off soon. Because it really does shake you up a bit when someone gets upset at you then hangs up on you. On days like this, it is always a blessing to have your mom sending you encouraging texts throughout the day reminding me how much I am loved and how blessed I am. Because I forget that way too often. Especially when people are so mean to you on the phone all day. Trying my best to stay positive, though! Because as my brother likes to remind me, I'll be good at sales because I never accept no for an answer (i.e. - finding a job and moving to NYC by myself). Just ready to be good at my job, RIGHT NOW! Patience, my child...

Dream sweet...

I had a dream

last night that I was sleeping in my new apartment.

But it was only JUST A DREAM....

Apparently, NYC is the place where no apartment buy has ever gone smoothly. Nope. Not once, not even mine. Yup, that's right...Didn't move in. Yet again.

I know what you're thinking. I'm making all this up. I'm not even really in NYC. I was just joking the whole time. I've been google search images on the internet to make you think I'm here, but in reality I'm still upstairs at my parents house.

I really tried not to get my hopes up today about the move. And, to no surprise, our broker did not check the paperwork again before sending it to the management, and they didn't accept one of the forms. Not like it made a difference anyway, but they weren't even in the office on MLK.

My tone may sound like I'm annoyed, but in reality I'm totally ok with it... it kind of works out.  I get prorated for the days that I actually move in. So I'm pretty much saving money by them not letting me move in yet. They're losing money by letting me move 4 days later than anticipated. I'm fine with that. My bed's getting delivered tomorrow, too, so all's good in the hood.

Poor Ashley (new roommate) is sick on Ashley's (current roommate) pull out.  I think it's the flu or strep. Grrrrreattt...right? Thankfully I'm living with a doctor who can cure homelessness AND the flu. She's quite a special one. Man, I'm just hoping and praying and hoping and wishing that I do not get sick. Because I don't get PTO yet and that just would not be fun.  I'd probably just have to pay my mom to fly up here and do her thing and make me feel better. She's always been pretty good at that.

True Life: I'm 22 and homeless.

Let's just say that I do not have my hopes up to move in tomorrow, even though they said everything is good to go. But until I have keys in hand and I'm carrying myself across the threshold of my new abode, I'm not even going to have expectations. Much easier to live life that way.

dad bought this for me... and just when I had begun to think I couldn't love Coke Zero any more...

Happy MLK, everyone. Celebrate and remember that we were all made uniquely wonderful in God's eyes! Love to all!

I thought I'd change it up a bit and do the font purple. Gettin crazy wit it.

Today was not too eventful: church, chill with ashley d., clean, laundry, chill some more with ashley d.. Tried picking out a mattress from Sleepy's, a super cheap mattress store. I'm going into the store tomorrow to finally pick out the mattress and order it for Tuesday.

Now this may be officially my last night at ashley's apartment.  Ashley C. & Lulah are arriving in the big city tonight, so I am stoked to see them FINALLY.  Very sad to be leaving this apartment though.  I've been here for a little over two weeks, and this place has become home to me!  I live in a apartment building full of doctors, so I will like the feeling of not being the least educated one in the building anymore. Although it does feel pretty cool to be able to play off like I'm a doctor.  While in the elevator with people, I'll be like, "Yeah just got off work...tough shift. Gotta catch up on some sleep." Then they respond with an eager, empathetic answer, and I feel super intelligent. And I didn't even have to go to medical school. Man, I need a life.

I'm going to love living in my new area of town.  About a ten minute walk to Grand Central, and easily accessible to the whole city. Can't wait to officially call it my home tomorrow (if all goes according to plan LORD WILLING!!).

I've also planned out a way to situate my bed in my room to face the East River view off of the balcony windows.  "When the sun comes up BRIGHT AND BEAMING!" (Friends reference, if you didn't catch that) Though, on work days, the sun's not even up when I wake up. But Saturdays & Sundays will be like a glorious morning awakening. This is all idealistic to think about, because in reality I'm going to be wanting to sleep in on those days and sun is not ideal for sleeping in till 9 or 10. But the thought of it is nice, and I'm going to take that thought and run with it.  

I'd love any ideas for decorating my apartment from my HOPE GIRLS back home, so if you guys are reading this, prepare for for pictures to be sent your way and start brainstorming cute ideas for me :) love you guys.

Going to have some last night quality time with my current roommate Ashley...

And catch up with my girl Alicia.

Pretty nice little Saturday

It's late so this will again be short and sweet, but I'll tell you about my nice little Saturday:

Breakfast: cheese omelet at The Barking Dog...delicious. A place right by work in Murray hill.

Then went to check out my new apartment, though I can't move in till Monday. It's going to be KILLA.

Lunch: Cafe Habana in Soho. The Cuban sandwich and ear of corn. One of those meals I'm going to be thinking about for the next few months. I mean, really, Asian food may now have fallen behind to Cuban food for my favorite type of food after this meal. YU-UH-UM.

Got to see my Vols get a W by 3 points in today's game against Vandy. Always great to see the boys in orange win.

And what a year to be able to say that I am a Raven. A fantastic, exciting season to be apart of. These guys have played with an unmatched amount of energy in every single game this year, and it has been such a joy to watch! So blessed to be able to watch my brother go out there for most of the season and rock it at long snapping. Can't wait to see what next season holds in store for him and the rest of the Ravens. Make sure to watch the proBowl January 30th to see Morgan's kicker, Billy Cundiff, tear it up for the ACF!

Time to catch some sleep before another day of football tomorrow...

Oh yeah. Sushi for dinner of course. Got to love NYC.



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tired after a long day

Due to paperwork issues, I was not able to move in today, and have to wait till Monday now. I'm tired after another long, tough day, so this will be very short.

I did get to spend some time with some special people tonight, and was able to fit in some laughter in the day. Always good to be with ones you love.

Till tomorrow.

dear friday, are you here yet? love, genna

It was a long one to say that least. You know when you day just get off to an awful start and it set a tone for the entire day? That was mine today. First cold call I made, the guy yelled at me, and asked how I got his number and said was I was doing was illegal by calling him. I got his name off linkedin.  I'm not going to lie to you, I definitely teared up. It took me a good little while to even get back on the phones, and even once I did, it seemed that every one I got on the phone with was very annoyed to be talking to me. Disheartening to say the least, but I keep reminding myself to say with it and keep truckin' through.

The day was highlighed by lunch special Sushi at East Pacific. Spicy tuna & alaksa roll with miso soup and salad for less than 9 dollaz.  That made me feel much better. Then I got back to cold calling more and the day got even more frustrating. So after work, I decided to resort to this much needed therapy session:

fresh vegetable section

You have no idea how much relief this gave me, seriously. I picked up a handful of fresh basil that made me melt. Another thing that made my day much better...two friends of mine, Kelley and Chad, called me today asking for a truffle recipe that Chad liked...I called them back and explained the recipe to them.  Cooking really does make me feel so much better.  I'm thankful for that today. After a long day, I stopped off at the grocery to grab a frozen pizza because I didn't feel like putting any more effort into the day.  Then it hit me that tonight is the last night I'll be staying with Ashley at her apartment. While I realized this, I was inevitably standing in the cheese section drooling over the fresh mozzarella and chunks of parmesan. So I decided to grab up a few things to do something special for Ashley. Anyway, cooked up some spinach & ricotta tortellini in a parma rosa sauce, and asparagus with hollandaise sauce on top, with slices of delicious apples on the side:

Can you tell that I love talking about food yet? It's a bit obvi. I'm just looking forward to the recipe book that Luscious Lisa is put together for me to cook in the new kitchen.

Tomorrow for breakfast: espresso & apple.

I've packed up most of my bags for moving tomorrow. Though I don't know if the doorman will even let me up with all the luggage I know. I don't know, I feel like they may be weird about that sort of thing. 

Ashley D., baby girl, I'm going to miss living with you.  It's been such a fun, chill last couple weeks and I can't even start to say how thankful I am for you and how you've welcomed me into your HOME. I am blessed to know some very fantastic, loving, amazing people.

AND Ashley C., please get here sooner! I'm not going to like spending the weekend alone in our NEW apt... This is going to be such a fun, wonderful year. My new roomie is the greatest in da world. She was sending me some pretty hilarious texts today when I was down about work which made the day go by much quicker. I can't wait for her and Lulah to get here!! 

Anywho, I'm going to try to watch Grey's Anatomy (stop making fun of me.) online somewhere tonight. And it is already really really late, geez.

what was that for a blizzard?

False alarm on the massive snow storm.  That was a pretty poor excuse for a blizzard. Probably not the best idea to challenge the weather, because as soon as I say that, it's going to be winter wonderland outside.

Any one have any suggestion on how to partition off my room from the living room? Right now it is one big room... It needs a wall that is 14'9".  Every place we've checked that puts up walls are at least $800. Anybody that can throw out a better, cheaper idea than that, I will personally buy you dinner because I'm loaded with cash and fresh out of ideas.

I'm all set to move in on Friday, even got a little helper to assist in moving my things from Ashley's apt to my apt.

Work is starting to pick up substantially.  I'm learning more and more about how to tackle selling this kind of product and the smartest way to approach my set of clients' needs.  I've gotten my feet wet, now it'll just take me DIVING IN to get good at this stuff!! Which my amazing, hilarious, fabulous manager is helping me do. I get frustrated with it frequently, but if I'm good at one thing.... it's persistence.

It's been a long day & it's time for sleepys...night

Signed in blood!

Officially signed the lease for the apartment today, so I hope there wasn't a hidden clause about me having to kill a baby goat because I'm just not cut out for that kind of thing...  Now after much demand (I'm kidding only two people asked)...A few snapshots of the apartment pre-move in:

 view from balcony of the east river

 lobby of the building

 view from "my room" into the kitchen

 balcony/my room once a temp wall goes up/living room

 kitchen

 another balcony shot

another view from balcony

Alright so there ya go.  That's where I STAY. Yeeah! Ashley C. (new roommate not current) gets here Sunday so we might have a little house warming party, you know, to show off all the fancy things that we have in our place.  A blow up mattress and a few suitcases... So you better show up because it'll be the party of the year, man.

Follow my famous brother on twitter because he's famous and handsome and likes to tweet a lot lately: @cmorgancox He's trying to get his follower count up to at over 1000; said he'd finally introduce me to Joe Flacco if he does.

Ah I almost forgot, I'm famous now, too!!! Not really, but I do have real life, big girl business cards... see for yourself:

too legit, right?

(I was going to say too legit to quit but that probably isn't the most appropriate thing to say when referring to my new business cards)

Baked Ashley D. (my roommate right now, not the one that I am living in the new apt with) a delicious (ehhhemmm...frozen) pizza for dinner tonight...burnt it. Fail. It's not good for me to take hiatuses from cooking. But she still ate it hahaha.

Apparently it's going to blizzard between 7-300 inches tonight here, so that'll be interesting tomorrow morning.  And for those of you ATL/MEM folk... a few inches of snow occurs and literally mass panic has arisen, and the entire city shuts down. Jerks. I'll be thinking of you while you're snuggled up in your bed at home after work got cancelled and I'm attempting to march to work in snow up to my face.  This should be humorous...

One last shout out to new roommate who decided to be, in her own words, a princess and not let us settle for this apt that I saw:

"stop looking at me swannn"

I can't stop laughing at that toilet.

cutting it close!

24 minutes to deadline and I'm still keeping up the resolution.  I have been watching the national championship all night with coworkers so I left early of course to get back to my computer and check in  with the blog!

Skipping the part where I complain about how everything is unfair and expensive in NYC, let's get on to the most important thing:  I found an apartment today!!!

Once again: I HAVE A PLACE TO LIVE!! Although it is not perfectly fit for what I wanted, it is as literally close as I could get to it, so I am more than ecstatic.  Hopefully, I move in by the end of this week, at the latest the beginning of next week.  My broker has been amazing and helping me with every step of the way so having to go through an agency has been completely worth it.

I hate to cut it short and leave everyone in suspense, my friend Torrey (who got scammed out of moving into her apt for another night tonight) is staying here with Ashley and me, so I do not want to keep either of us up for another day of work tomorrow.

On a side note, I began cold calling today, which is a HUGE step for me.  I am getting more and more comfortable in my shoes as a salesperson, so I am loving it more day by day, and living it more day by day!!

whadda day

Big day. Made an offer on an apartment today, woo woo!!!! 15F is hopefully my new home by tomorrow morning.. I won't tell you what building because I don't want no stalkers, mayne. When I say we made an offer on the apartment, that means that the management still has to approve everything then as long as no one made an offer before us, then we are good to go. Balcony with a beautiful view of the east river. Not too shabby. Going to have another look at the place tomorrow at lunch then, hopefully we are good to go from there. It'll be nice to finally be settled into my own place!! Even though it'll be small, it'll be my own!

Got work tomorrow, and I am worn out from a looong, exciting day. I'm going to watch some Lonely Island video shorts with Ashley. And chat with my cute friend Janie Brooks.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/16388/saturday-night-live-surprise-party
Should I get balloons? YEEAASSSS!!!!

Also, Poppa sent me some restaurants that he found on nytimes that look fantastic, so drool along with me now....
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/29/dining/29yearside.html?emc=eta1

so close to a place to call my own...

Another day of apartment hunting... One day closer to finding a place of my own.  FINALLY! I definitely have no room to complain though.  I've only been here for a week and will hopefully have my own place by tomorrow.  Torrey's been here for over a month now and still working on moving into the place she signed for this week, poor woman... Hoping she gets to move in this weekend though! But don't want to get my hopes up too much though on this place, but we are, Lord willing, making an offer on a place in midtown tomorrow.  Walking distance to work, central to everything, including the subway.  Good sized apartment.  Don't want to pull the trigger too soon, but I've got a good feeling on this. I did look at East Village apartment today, too, but the size and location just could not fit. I am absolutely in love with that area though.  I could definitely see myself living in the East Village neighborhood. Such a fantastic vibe.  Young, vibrant, eccentric...basically perfect for me.  Just wish there were a place as spacious and lovely as the ones in midtown.

Getting back on the subject moving into a new place.... I don't at all want to take away how much I've loved living with Ashley here though.  It's fantastic being here with her because we both love each other's company and get along so great. I will be very sad to leave her, but at the same time it will be so nice to settle into a place of my own.  Ashley has an all-night shift tonight at the hospital tonight because she's a baller like that and they just want her there as much as possible.  So to do something nice for her, I'm staying in to clean her kitchen and have one less thing for her to have to do. Even though I'm not the tidiest person by nature.  But that is one of the things I'm working on being better at this year. Being more organized.  Those who know me when are probably laughing at that resolution.  But it's a new year, why not?!  Anyway, I'm cooking some ravioli and about to watch some football.

Yeah, it was a nice little Saturday. No bed bath & beyond, though.  I didn't have time.

week one, ova & done

Yes, I've officially made it to Friday.  It's been quite a week to say the least.  Work is going swimmingly.  Like I had guessed, I love the people I work with and cannot wait to get to know them better over the next few months.

Me, Ashley, her brother, and his GF are jamming to some Bieb's right now.  Should this start getting embarrassing soon? Feel like I should already be feeling a bit ashamed...nah I can't deny I love the occasional Justin Bieber session.

Today was my first official blizzard storm in NYC:

view out of office during blizzard....

view from office on a ordinary day... I cannot complain!

Pretty standard, eh.

Couple others:

more blizzy. snowflakes the size of cupcakes. not as delicious, I made sure of it

trash. on the street. we are not in c'ville tn anymore...

I'll wrap up by telling a quick story.  I've been thinking about writing about how my uncles were messing me about how all the people in NYC are mean, and that I think it's completely false because everyone has been so kind so far. Then, yesterday morning it hit me that I'm not in the south anymore.... While I was on the subway on the way to work, I was in a bit of a rush so I just grabbed a bagel on the way out to work. I was munching on my delicious raison brain bagel with my headphone, and the man next to me kept making a funny eye at me, giving me the stink eye, then made a (assuming) rude comment.  Though I didn't hear what he was saying, he kept acting like I was doing something to offend him. I was listening to some good ol' Cold War Kids so I didn't pay attention at first.  I then realized that this guy was getting upset that I eating my bagel. Like it was incredibly rude that I was eating my breakfast on the subway, in public.  I was keeping to myself and he was offended that I was snacking on my bagel in his presence, acting like I was throwing my crumbs all over him or somethin'! Crrrazy folk.

Anyway, I tell that story to tell you that some people can be real jerks.  But that was definitely the exception, not the rule. For the most part, everyone here has been congenial in standard terms. Though I do sound like a foreigner when I say "excuse me" while scooting past someone on the subway.

Cheers, peace, love.

Sushi night with the girls on my team. They are wonderful. And the sushi was wonderful. East pacific yummmy!!! Sorry this is short... Doing this from my phone.

Lunch with a very dear friend at Cinema. A fantastic restaurant for a nice lunch or dinner date. Delicious food, great service.

Report back more tomorrow.

What a wonderful day!!!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

wicked wednesday

Let me just start by saying THANK YOU SO MUCH to all my friends and family who have ALREADY been so supportive of this blog. Means the world to me that everyone has been so encouraging by following it so much already and giving me some good ideas! Now anyway...

New Yorkers have such a great sense of style.  I thought I'd at least be able to hold a candle to their style, but no, no way. The way NYC people dress is way freakin cooler than how I dress. Just by walking the streets and riding the subway, I get so much inspiration from people.  I love love love it. So what I've started to do is try to take pictures of different things that girls/guys wear that I really like. I've got a list of things going in my head that I'd like to add to my closet... 

First, leather. Jacket, boots, whatever. I don't care. I dig it. Second, hats. Lots of hats. I love hats. 

I'm going to go off on a side note and complain real quick...while looking for some of these amazing items online, I decided to check out shopbot and the opening page really irked me.

http://www.shopbop.com/

Love shopbop.  But, Good Lord, why is that girl on the homepage so dadgum skinny. I mean more power to ya if you can be tone and fit and look smokin hot. But I had no idea that the liquid-diet-thin look was back in. Or, what is it you say... heroin-chic? No ma'am, no thank you. She looks like she hasn't eaten 1996. That's not hot to me. I love my calories and my carbs all day long, thanks.

Getting back on topic, I guess I could list of the million different things that I love about the NY style, but how about I just start posting pictures when I see something cute. Yeah, I'll just do that. More cowboy boots, I want more cowboy boots.

The last thing I've got to touch on is an update on my apartment hunting.  I had an appointment to go see the most perfect apartment in the East Village today.  Check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9cjkpClZz0

Yeah, it is small, but it is located in East Village at one of the BEST areas for me and Roomie Ashley for getting to work & school. I mean prime location.  And it is huge that is has a living room, kitchen, island, and 2 true bedrooms. I was ready to close on this apartment; Ashley and I had our hearts set on it.  Well, the guy bailed on me and said he already had other applicants for the apartment. I was sad, but not beaten... I'll keep on keepin on because another one out there for us. I do have my heart set on East Village though after today. But I know the perfect one will find us :)

Now I'm going to watch Boondock Saints 2. Yeah I know...it's not half as good as the first. But I just can't get enough of those MacManus brothers.  And I love the name Connor.  What a baller. 

Auf wiedersehen.

tuesday's a good day

Took this picture because I wondered what he was thinking about & why his eyes were closed...

Did he have a long day? Was he on his way home?  Is he praying? What's he praying about? And where did he get that jean jacket?

Well he looked like a sweet man.

Thankfully, my alarm worked this morning.  Yesterday morning, as many across the country experienced, the iPhone alarms were NOT working. But as luck would have it, I was pretty much waking up every hour of the night, so anxious about the first day. So fortunately I was not late for my first day of work.  Apparently as you may have heard, Apple had a glitch in the iPhone for the first 3 days of the year where alarms were not going off. I read in the paper this morning that people were missing flights, the first day of work in the new year.... Saw one tweet that said, "steve jobs was supposed to be holding a press conference about the glitch in the iphone, but he overslept." HA. 

Speaking of the paper, I've started to joyread the Metro, the free paper you get in the morning when you're getting on the subway.  So if a homeless man tries to charge you for it, you just got punked.  It's pretty simple reading & mindless entertainment, but it accompanies well while I'm trying to get adjusted to being up before 9 am.

Yeh, yeah. This post was none too exciting. I'm afraid to say that that is the way it is going to be when I've resulted to blog every day. I'm doing the best I can, but there is only so much exploring I can do outside of being at a cubicle all day! I went with some folks after work, which brought me much enjoyment; I'm loving getting to know the people in the office. They are a fun bunch, and I know we are going to have some very fun times ahead :)

I've gotta remember to take a picture of the view from the windows in our office floor. Un..believe...able... best view of nyc...just sayin'.  You will see what I mean.

Quick Morgan update: he got his surgery today, done by Dr. Andrews, and it went great.  Just spoke with the champ, and he's doing well. The injury wasn't at severe as they initially anticipated so praise Jesus! He'll be back to snapping in no time, but continue to keep him in your thoughts & prayers because he is still uphill from here...  I hung up our family Christmas card of me and Morgan & Wright at my desk today. It makes me grin. Wright's Senior Picture is sitting in the desk container with all my paper clips & pens & things, so that brightens my day, too.  I kind of love my fam.

Night, world.

sigh...

A breath of relief...

First day down.  Not to imply that the first day was a "breeze." Not even close.  To be honest, OVERwhelmed is an UNDERstatement.  I was expecting this, so it's not like I'm surprised...

but...

we're not in Hope Kitchen anymore...

I've officially traded in my apron and spatula for pant-suits and Outlook Express.  I'm staying on the strong side of positive, though. It is going to drive me crazy until I get the swing of things and get good at the tasks they want me to do. I know that I am going to do amazing at this job; I've just got to be patient and be flexible and adapt...  I was a little discouraged after work because it's hard for me not to be able to be good at something immediately but realize it's going to take a lot of work.  So Ashley [my temporary roomie] was very encouraging to me for where I am in right now.  Mom was (of course) encouraging to me as always; Dad, too. It is very surreal to literally be in a cubicle office! My own computer, my own little space of the world.... 

'Mommy, WOW, I'm a big kid, now!!'

Got lunch at a place called The Barking Dog. A pretty standard soup/salad place.  The chicken orzo & turkey club sandwich combo was tasty, but not outstanding.  Worth a stop by if you're wanting a reasonably priced sit-down lunch in the Murray Hill area.  Checked my phone at lunch and later on after work & had close to 20 call-backs on apartments I had called over the holiday weekend.  I'll tell you what- I'm entirely too worn out today to go out looking at apartments in the east village all night.  

Instead, I decided to take a stop off at Times Square for a quick minute:

Then picked me up the dinner of champions...

LAST THING: keep my brother, Morgan, in your thoughts and prayers tomorrow morning.  He is getting surgery on his knee.  After tearing his ACL & MCL in the Baltimore Ravens game against the Cleveland Browns Christmas weekend, he continued to play three quarters of the game through the injury & pain.  TO SAY THAT HE IS MY HERO IS TO SAY IT LIGHTLY. I can honestly say that I've been blessed with the greatest family in the world, and my brothers are coolest cats on the block. 

One of my favorite articles about Morgan & his injury:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/peter_king/01/02/week-17/2.html?xid=shareFB

He's done an outstanding job as long-snapper this year, and I'm excited to see what God has in store for him next season. Just to say for the record... I think I look pretty good in purple. And I just got a 46 jersey from Morg for Christmas. So I better be able to wear it next season. Or we've got issues, Harbaugh. Keep that support up for our Ravens on January 30 when Billy Cundiff, Morgan's kicker that he snapped to all season, plays in the 2011 Pro Bowl (a huge honor!).  That is, of course, if we do not make it to the Super Bowl.  I would love to take a weekend trip to Dallas for the Super Bowl if they make it, but I personally think Morgan deserves a nice little trip to Hawaii for the Pro Bowl.  Little rascal.

Now let me get back to my comfort food....M&M's & Coke Zero.  Hollaaaaaa!

p.s. - I'd love suggestions on my "going to work-subway playlist."  I'm working on it this week, and I'll probably post my favorite MOTIVATION songs by the end of the week. If you know any good ones, don't hesitate to let me know.  So far I've got...(to the tune of Eye of the Tiger, via the starbucks commercial)...

"gen's a girl, goin to work. got a job, got ambition..." 

church & apartment hunting

Visited Redeemer Presbyterian Church this morning. They meet in the Upper East at 10:30 Sunday morning at Hudson College. Rev. John Lin spoke; classical worship.  I really enjoyed the sermon, too.  I may try another church next weekend, but Redeemer is definitely an option.  A friend of mine suggested the Hillsong Church here so I may check that out.  Please let me know if you hear of another good one to check out.  I'd like to find one similar to my church in Memphis, Hope Church.

I wish someone would just hand me the perfect apartment at the perfect price and hand it over to me in a pretty wrapped package.  Welcome to adulthood, Genna.  The real world's not as easy as living under mom and dad's roof.  Apartment hunting is nothing less than stressful, but I'm trying to be aggressive and find the best one for me and Ashley.  Ashley (not the one I'm staying with now) is not going to be up here till mid-January, but I'm so excited to live with her.  It's going to be awesome. Right now, I'm just trying to look at as many apartments as I can to get an idea of what I want and don't want.  Looking in Murray Hill, East Village, LES, Midtown East...  Really trying to narrow down where exactly I want to live right now. It's frustrating, but I know the right apartment is out there.  I just have to work hard enough to find it.  I saw one apartment today that I loved but it is a 10-15 minute walk at least to the subway & to work.  10-15 doesn't sounds that bad....except if it's pouring rain and I have to walk to work and have my clothes be soaked all day... no thanks.  But that apartment's still an option. If I can't find anything else.

My first day of work is tomorrow.  I'm really excited to meet all the people I'm going to be working with.  I have a strong feeling I'm going to love everyone there.  I already love Torrey and I've only OFFICIALLY known her for a few days! She's my girl.
...Preparing and laying out my outfit for day one. Like my pop says, you only get one chance to make a first impression.  I'll of course be sending Mom a Day One outfit tomorrow morning. Like my first day of school senior year...

embarrassing. sorry wright...

Oh yeah. Another reason why NYC is so fantastic: you can literally get anything delivered.  You probably already know this, but this is so profound to me.  Ashley just told me about three sites that deliver you groceries... toiletries... pretty much anything you can pick up at WalMart and more. Delivered. For free. Even McDonalds delivers.  Is this place for REAL right now?!

And here are those sites:

soap.com

freshdirect.com

drugstore.com

Starting a new year off right...

I spoke with my mom the other day about new years resolutions.   Kind of tuned her out a bit when she was suggesting that I find a good new years resolution but she caught my attention when she began telling me about an article she was reading with different ideas for resolutions. That's when she suggested that I start a 365 days of NYC Journal.  Side note: I just arrived in the city two days ago about to start at my Account Manager position with TransPerfect Translations.  So here it goes... My new resolution is to journal about my experiences in NYC and life here.  I'm making the commitment to write about different experiences, observations for 365 days this year.  I'm thinking of a million different directions I could take this so we'll just see how each day goes.  When I can, I'll try to include pictures and occasionally have insightful information...maybe a witty comment here or there. Reviews on different food places, shows, movies...if you have any ideas of other things I should do let me know! Well...

Here's to THE BIG CITY!!

Day UNO:

So let's pick up on today by starting with last night, New Year's Eve.  After bringing in the new year last night with my lovely friend Ashley and her friends, I met up with Torrey and a few of her friends.  Ashley is Scottie's (my cousin) friend, and mine of course & I work at TransPerfect with Torrey.  Here's me riding in the cab last night on the way to Ashley's friend's apartment...

Ashley is letting me crash on her pullout couch for as long as I need to till I find mine own place, which, Lord willing, won't be too much longer.  Being a nomad makes life more interesting, though.  Ashley is amazing for letting me stay with her.  A saint. Anyway, picked up some bacon and OJ at the grocery and we made ourselves a nice little brunch in Ashley's Upper East Side apartment (see below of Ashley and her brother).  Bacon, eggs, bagels, OJ, coffee, and a COKE ZERO for me of course.  Coke Zero is my favorite.  Jared, her brother, is also staying here till he goes to see his girlfriend in Boston tomorrow.

Weather now is not too bad.  It has been cold the past couple of days, but you really don't pay much attention to it if you're bundled up.  The snow from the Christmas blizzard is still built up on the side of the streets.  It's a nasty color of dirty street + white snow.

What I love most so far about this city... The people.  Every kind of person...this city has it.  Such a fascinating thing how diverse NYC is.  In two days, I've already met so many wonderful, interesting people. I'm going to enjoy this place.

This is going to be a fun and interesting year... I better be able to keep this up!!!  I'd like to get as creative as possible on this....so if you have any ideas or suggestions of things I should see or do just let me know.... Thanks!