My first days

Well everyone I made it! Finally livin life in the big city and indeed what an adventure it is! Everyday here has been a new experience with lots of options of things to do! The inital move down on friday with mom and dad went smoothly as dad only flipped off a few people while slamming on the horn once we entered into Jersey City (my new residence for a few months)... I have to say my folks were a bit skepical about my new neighborhood, as people were hanging around at the corner of my street just to pass time... but all in all we moved my stuff in up two large flights of stairs then set up what i could to feel settled in the new place... My new roomates were out for the night, but they left me bunches of notes and post-its to help me out... dad told mom and I we were like two stage crew workers because of the speed at which we had the place lookin like i lived here for awhile! My folks really were an amazing help and i am so grateful for all they did!!!

Saturday oh what a day!!! That mornin we took the uhaul back and dad only cut off one man (almost crushing him into the side concrete barrier) as we entered the New Jersey Turnpike... After finally finding the drop off place, in a pretty shady part of town (at this point my nervousness started creeping up)... the three of us piled into a smokey lincoln town car from a driving service that dropped us off at the path train station which would take us into Manhattan... I felt bad because mom and dad had to drag around their luggage and once we enterd the crowded train their eyes kind of bugged out of their heads to the culture shock of this new transporation system... mom whispers to me, "i want my apartment, my car, my clients and my cat"... as dad is trying to figure out the lagistics of how the train operates... "I think this is one of those electrical trains" he says... As we arrived at our stop and surfaced to the busy streets of 33rd Street and 6th Avenue, the racing walk began as we tried not to get trampled by bustling new yorkers and tourists while my poor parents were dragging their luggage and trying to keep me in their line of site as we struggled through the crowd... We stopped and admired the window displays at Macy's then continued to our destination to my favorite beakfast spot, the Tick-Tock Diner on 34th and 8th... At this point it was 11am and dad says... "man a lot of work to get a cup of coffee in this town" with a hearty laugh as we enjoyed our breakfast!! We sat by a window overlooking the street, admiring the view and my realization finally sinking in that this is the beginning of a new life! A rush of nerves and excitment overtook me once again as I watched dad get his mega camera ready for our short journey touring MidTown... Mom was cringing next to me feeling like a big tourist! We payed our bill and said goodbye to our new waiter friend (who dad informed of our journey and he offered me insight on areas to look to live in the city) and we ventured down 8th Avenue toward my new place of work... once there dad shot off about 20 photos or so of the building as mom and I stood on the sidewalk with the suitcases, trying to not to make eye contact with the passerbyers... We then headed toward 42nd street taking more pictures along the way and mom and dad lovin the excitement of the large buildings and life of the city!! As we struggled our way down 42nd street and into Times Square mom was starting to feel closterphobic from the large crowd so once dad was satisfied with his pictures I led them to Penn Station where we took a train to the Airport Air-Tram where they needed to get for their flight back to Buffalo... I helped them get their tickets and gave them both a super huge hug goodbye, mom struggling to hold in her tears and my emotions running all over the board as well.... We said goodbye and I watched them walk down the hall to their train as we kept waving goodbye... Reality!! now i must make it and start my new venture!!!






A friend of mine who lives in MidTown messaged me to stop by his place on my way back through and hang around to watch the Sabres game, so i set off on my first jourey into the city alone on the subway for the first time, listening to my ipod and trying to figure out where I was on the subway map... I made it there though as I then walked to his place and we caught up a bit before takin a walk around Columus Circle and through Central Park! I felt like a kid at christmas as I admired the skyine view of the city from the paths of the park... We continued our journey and met a friend of his where the three of us then had a fabulous burger and beer at a local pub on 8th avenue before headin back to his place to watch the game... After the 2nd period i decided to start makin my venture for home, when another friend of mine contacted me and I decided to meet him and his friends for another drink because I was lost trying to find the right subway... We sat at another local 8th avenue pub where they ate and we all shared a few pictures of Blue Moon, laughing and enjoying getting to know eachother... A live band playin in the background in between commercials of the NY Giants / Patriots game that was plastered on every tv in the lounge... The boys walked me to my train and at this point it was 1 in the morning so when i arrived in Jersey at Journal Square I hailed a cab to take me the rest of the way to my new dwelling... Once inside the cab the driver had me get in the front seat as he also put two people in the back and dropped the three of us off at various locations... The people in the back were first as they fought with the cabbie over the cost of the fare and left him a 50 cent tip and told him to use it on a cup of coffee in haste! At this point I just looked at the cabbie and started laughing as he cracked a smile and we soon became friends. He was a fatherly type gentlemen and gave me his direct number to call next time i needed a ride then dropped me at my place and wouldnt let me tip him... My roomates were away for the night so I was alone, but tired so just crashed into a deep sleep from my long day!



Sunday 12/30/07
Woke up and settled in a bit more and finally caught up with my new roomates for the first time as they came in around 2 in the afternoon... We took a grocery shopping journey to a not-so-nice store in jersey called the Path Mart... When we were walking into the The PathMart there was a gaggle of kids on scooters plugging up the entry way as everyone behind them started yelling in annoyance... It Certainly was no Wegmans or Tops, but it will have to do for now... a friend of mine told me of another place around here that I can actually order all my groceries online and have them delivered when I want for only 5 bucks, so i may consider that down the road... The rest of the day was low key as we were all exhausted from the past few days so my new roomates cooked up a fabulous dinner of pork roast, rice and salad and we toasted our first night with a glass of white wine!!

Monday 12/31/07 - New Years Eve
I was introduced to the light rail train which is about a 2 block walk from our apartment.. It is fairly new so it was a pretty nice ride that took us to the main path train that we then have to take into Manhattan... the whole journey was about 45min or so and because we were going to check out some clothes stores on the east side of Manhattan we came into the city at ground zero... It was kind of creepy, but cool at the same time to see the site from this direct level and I couldnt help but think of how that day must of been and how bizzare it was that the spot I was currently riding in was collapsed not so long ago... We journeyed our way through a few more subway transfers and finally surfaced on Lexington Avenue and 58th were we met one of my roomates girlfriends and the three of us shopped a few stores... I felt just like something out of a movie or something, journeying around with two girlfriends in the big city, catching up while shopping and trying on clothes and instead of walking out into a big mall we were walking along the city streets surrounded by facinating buildings and interesting people...

My roomate and I made our way back to Jersey as we got ready and made plans for the night. I cooked us all up a batch of my mom's famous Chicken Broccoli Parm for dinner then we ventured back to the trains and made our way to a house party in the city... At this point I was only going to stay for a drink or two before meeting up with another friend to watch the ball drop, but he called me from his 42nd street apartment and said the streets were blocked off and we had no chance of getting close to where the ball was dropping in Times Square... I settled on stayin at the house party instead filled with interesting new people, and smells and antics of parties i went to in college, although these were all full grown working guys and girls. A group of preppy footballish guys busted in wearing 2008 glowing glasses, singing some sort of crazy tune and blowing on their loud and glowing noisemakers as the party hostess set up a table for beer-pong... The apartment was suprisingly large for a one bedroom and this short italian guy kept grabbing my hand to dance... Conversations bustled and the new year rang in with the entire party clashing champage and loudly belting "Sweet Caroline" as it played on the stero... We stayed for awhile longer and socialized with new people and I ducked out on an attemped kiss from dancing Itailan man... Not feelin the love!!! We finally made our way out and were lucky enough to catch the super crowded train back into jersey where we met my other roomate at another house part in Hobokon.. As we walked to the path train, we walked by more fabulous buildings where the sidewalks were littered with police officers and drunk tourists trying to get their picture takin with the police officers... We walked down 33rd street and in my direct line of view was the empire state building in all its glory, lit up in red and green... It was another cold walk once we got to Hoboken as we had to walk about 7 blocks, but the town was pretty cute and newly redone and you could see the fabulous New York City Skyline at a certain point... The house party was also like something from college, filled with smoke and a bunch a dwindling, tired drunk people as it was already 2am... It was fun for a bit though but my nose started running like mad at this point and I felt like a disgusting idiot as I was fighting back the boogers and trying to converse with people... We couldnt get a cab because they were all busy of course, so we hiked it back to the train and came into Journal Square around 4am and waited another 15min for a cab to take us home... An experience of a day indeed!!

I am happy with my new venture and am looking forward to the future days as I am certain most everyday will be filled with an excitement of unknown!!!

Till later.. Luv you all, miss you bunches and Happy New Year!