Apartment Searching in NYC

I will soon be moving from my little orange apartment in Hell's Kitchen. It's bittersweet.

This was my first "home" in NYC, and I've had a lot of great times here.

However, I'm excited to get into a place of my own.... and have walls that aren't BRIGHT orange.

I'm currently waist-deep in the NYC real estate scene.

After running into countless dead-ends via semi-sketchy apartment search websites and  Craigslist, I was counting down to my first nervous breakdown since moving here.

Thankfully, Melissa, my former voice teacher extraordinaire, came to stay with me this weekend. Among our many adventures, she wanted to check out the semi-annual Eileen Fisher sample sale in the Village. I thought, what the heck, it'll be my first sample sale experience. Yay.

I walked out of the store with a beautiful new fall jacket..... and...... A REALTOR!

Yes, Melissa and I made friends with a wonderful lady who works for a large real estate firm.... over a cashmere sweater.

Funny how life works out sometimes.

So, wish me luck. I have showings tomorrow and hope to have something locked up by next week.

After this is all said and done, I'll be back with crazy audition stories and my normally-scheduled blogging :)

-B.

I 'Heart' the A-Train

Why, you may ask, do I love the A-Train so much that I devote an entire post to it?

First of all, it's an Express train. Last week it got me from Midtown to my friend's enviously large apartment in Washington Heights in only 20 minutes.

On Monday, it got me north of Washington Heights and to my headshot session, miraculously, on time. (Ever since I've moved here my flawless "on-time" record has been tarnished a bit - shameful.)

Today it got me to Brooklyn on the first leg of my new apartment search (more on this hellish hunt later....) and offered SNACK service. How many airlines even offer snack service anymore?!?

Well, okay, it wasn't the MTA offering snacks, it was Reggie... or Tommy... or whatever his name was, the self-proclaimed "Manhattan Candy Man," loudly marketing his 'fine candies' by singing "The Candy Man Can" from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. And good news, folks! Today he had TWO candy offerings. Peanut M&Ms and Welch's Fun Fruits (since when do fruit snacks qualify as candy?). And... it gets better. Because today, and today only, the Fun Fruits were buy-one-get-one. 

I couldn't help but laugh. I found his sales tactics highly entertaining, and, I give him credit. 

Just another day on the A-Train....

-B.

9.11.11

I REMEMBER....

- I was in the hallway of my high school, just heading into the Algebra II classroom when I heard the news

-  watching the second plane hit the south tower of the World Trade Center on live TV, and then hearing about the Pentagon and United 93 hitting near Shanksville, PA

- our Phy Ed teacher telling us to look up and realize this was probably the only day in history where there wasn't a single plane in the sky

- celebrating my cousin's birthday that night, but instead of opening presents and engaging in the usual birthday party chit-chat we were glued to the unending news coverage

- wearing red, white and blue ribbons on our volleyball shoes for the rest of the fall

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Strangely enough, my uncle was living in the exact apartment I'm living in now during 9/11. That  day affected me in a way that's hard to explain... but then again, given the circumstances, I'm sure I'm not the only one who has problems articulating their feelings about such a massive and intentional blow through our country's heart.
But, now, living in this city and having visited Ground Zero about a dozen times, it feels different. It feels more personal.

I just got back from walking through Times Square and was amazed at the feeling of calm reverence that has enveloped the city today... even despite the increased security and feeling of "being on alert."

My heart still goes out to all the men and women who lost their lives ten years ago... and to the families they left behind.

We're re-building, but we'll never forget.