New apartment (part 1)

I have been talking about this for a few posts, but I am officially moved into my new apartment! Here's the deal why my move isn't final. So I found this apartment on Craigslist (and my roommates ROCK, got lucky on that one). The girl that had my room moved out last weekend and I could move my stuff into this place whenever. Unfortunately, the building is renovating this apartment unit, but we got the same exact one 5 floors below. We're moving there on September 7th (after we put in the temporary walls again and such).

Living room right when you walk in!

Another view of the living room.

Soooo, I am living like a semi-homeless person/college student again. I don't want to order furniture to this apartment if I'm just going to move in 2 weeks, so I am sleeping on a blow-up mattress. I also

Hanging rod and some of the pink bins.
#collegeliving

have saved these bright pink (not upset about it) bins that I had all throughout college, which is what a lot of my stuff is in for the time being. And I have a hanging rod in my room for the clothes that don't fit in my closets because I don't have a dresser or anything yet.

Even though this situation is not completely ideal, it is MUCHHH better than the place I lived in before this. Luckily I LOVE the color pink, so I'm not really upset about my room looking like a pink explosion happened in it :)

My windows (love this view)! And those
beautiful bins.
Also note the blow-up mattress.

It's so nice, everything is set up since the girls have been living here for an entire year- I've been just hanging out and watching TV in our living room all day. My roommates are really cool and so nice. Since they're both not here this weekend we are going to do something this week to get to know each other better. (Well, they already know each other since they were roommates before, but I don't know them very well OBVI)

I could definitely get used to this living arrangement! Just have to worry about moving into our new place in a couple weeks.

Very very happy right now!

<3, Charlotte

Pit and Peak: week of 8.19.13

It's time for the usual week in review! Lots of peaks this week, but I think I have one that stands out the most :) Let's begin, shall we:

Pit: The pit of my week was dealing with summer apartment roommate. Basically, my summer apartment was owned by this guy who leased out 3 rooms to people. A new guy moved in for the last month and he LITERALLY had a different one of his friends sleeping on the couch in our teeny tiny living room EVERY NIGHT since he got there - so since I only had a little time left there I confronted him about it and let him know that that wasn't going to fly. All of last week when I was in the apartment packing to move IT WAS SO AWKSAUCE! And he completely trashed the apartment common space with his friends. Apartment living gone wrong over there.

Just walked over to my window and snapped this bad
boy. (Like the lights on our balcony?!)

Peak: Related to the pit, the peak of my week was OFFICIALLY moving into my new place! All my stuff is here as of yesterday and I could not be any happier. I've been hanging in our living room all day (my roommates are both gone until tomorrow night bc they both went home for the weekend, mixed emotions about that bc they're both so cool but it is kinda nice to be able to adjust by myself and have some alone time). It's SO NICE to have a livable space! And the view I wake up to is completely unreal - I can't get over it!

Ahh New York life is great :)

<3, Charlotte

Toys "R" Us in Times Square

Last night I went back to being an 8 year old. I got dinner with James and while we were passing the time before his bus at Port Authority, we decided to go to Times Square. While we were there, James turned to me and asked "Have you ever been to the Toys "R" Us here?".

I gave him a blank stare back. Of course I have never been to the Toys "R" Us here, I'm not six years old! Instantly catching his mistake and remembering that someone who doesn't go to NYC before they are 21 (that was me, folks) doesn't make Toys "R" Us a priority on their to-do lists when they get here, he said, "WE ARE GOING NOW!"

I have truly never been in such a magnificent toy store! There were so many different sections - you have a spot for toddlers, a Jurassic Park spot, a Barbie section (that would TOTALLY have been my fav when I was little).

T-Rex!

...and James next to it. (Doesn't he look
COOL?! Not.)

Best of all, there is a giant Ferris Wheel in the middle of the entire store! Ahh it looked so fun but I didn't want to embarrass myself and ride it. Or pay for it. #impoor

Ferris Wheel! Sorry, I reallyyy need to
get better at taking pictures. Let's just
blame my crappy phone for this one!

Overall though, it was definitely a lot cooler than I was expecting it to be. I don't have a picture of this (James took it on his phone) but in the bike and scooter section I tried on this SWEET helmet that had these spikes going down the middle. It looked like I had a neon mohawk! Yes, I went all out and literally turned into a child during the half hour I was there. It was also funny because we were both wearing our work clothes and running around the store acting like little kids - there was just so much to see and do! No regrets about anything at all.

No matter how old you are, if you ever get some free time when you're in NYC try to put it on your "places to go" list!! You can thank me later :)

Oh to be 8 again...

<3, Charlotte

First post on the Blogger platform!

Hi everyone!

Okay, so I have been blogging for a few months now on http://crazynypostgradlife.wordpress.com/ but I'm not sure WordPress is where I want to stay, so I've decided to try out this platform instead. Sorry if everything looks lame for right now, I'm still figuring things out. AND the posts that I've uploaded here from that site are kinda messed up, too. AHHH so much fixing to do!

Anyway, if you are just discovering this for the first time, welcome! Hope you enjoy reading about my NYC experience so far. Can't wait to see what this amazing city has in store for me next! (And I also cannot wait until my site looks super cool - this interface is UNACCEPTABLE right now)

<3, Charlotte

Girls' night out

See?! It looks SUPER tiny when you walk up to it!

I get incredibly happy when my friends from different groups meet and get along great! This is what has happened with Kristy and Chloe. I've brought them together multiple times and they love each other! It makes me so happy that everyone can hang out and we all have a great time. :)

Last night, we decided to have a classy girls' night out. This was partially because we haven't done that yet since being in NYC and partially because we were all too hungover yesterday and wanted to keep it more tame last night. Kristy made reservations at 9 at Sotto 13, located in the West Village on 13th Street between 6th and 7th Avenue. Her friend Kelly was coming with us too (I'd met her before and LOVEDDD her so even more reason this night was going to be great!).

Walking up, the restaurant looks so minimal and tiny - I didn't know what to expect. However, when you get inside, you go to a big room in the back and it is SUPER trendy. Tall ceilings, mood lighting, high-top elegant tables. It was beautiful!

Inside!

Because OBVI us girls are always watching our figures, we got a few little plates to share with the table - I absolutely DEVOURED the brussels sprouts. They were AMAZING (and I'd like to think healthy, too). Also, the Summer Sangria at Sotto 13 is TO DIE FOR. We got one pitcher and decided that that would be our main drink for the night. Several pitchers later and we were giddy and happy as could be. Definitely made the right call on that one.

It was suchh a fun night! We felt so classy and grown up. So New York!

Definitely one of my favorite trendy food places in NYC! What a good time.

<3, Charlotte

Apartment Search Day 1: figuring out the NYC apartment scene

Today I officially met with a broker and saw a few apartments! It was a very, very interesting experience.

I am quickly learning that not everything that my roommate and I want in an apartment is going to be possible. I did know that would happen to us before, but now that I have actually seen a few places, it has been officially shoved in my face and I have to accept it.

I WISH this is the type of places we were looking at!

We went to 2 different apartment buildings.

The first building was on 28th street between 1st and 2nd Avenue. It was beautiful - new, there was a doorman, laundry in the building, and literally the PERFECT apartment was one of the places that I saw there. Like I literally am in disbelief that that place was so amazing, and within our price range. But the location is just too inconvenient. We want to be more central, with 2nd Avenue being the FARTHEST east we could go. And we want to be closer to a subway than that building is.

The second building was on 38th between Park and Lex. It was an older building but still had a doorman and laundry. One of the places could have worked but it was just too expensive. The other couldn't convert into a 2 bedroom and have a decent sized living room. So neither place really worked in that one.

So, even though I didn't find anything I learned A LOT today. And this broker that I met with was very nice and definitely has our best interest in mind. I told him what was good and bad about the places I saw so he knows what to look for to show me in the future. I also have a meeting with another broker tomorrow! Hopefully I can put some of my knew knowledge to use.

Ah, it's been such a crazy day, and it's not even 1pm!

<3, Charlotte

My first official NYC celeb sighting!!

Actually, it was 3 celeb sightings. All at the same place. Which is why Boat Basin Cafe is my new favorite place in NYC.

It was my friends birthday party and I had heard this place was fun. The only caveat was the fact that Boat Basin is in the Upper West Side. Like on 79th street upper. So it was a BITCH to get to. Literally was on the subway for 30 minutes and then got lost walking there, so I had to take a cab at the end (luckily the driver couldn't figure out how to work the meter for credit cards so it ended up being a free ride). An hour of traveling and getting completely lost and confused did not leave me in high hopes for this place when I arrived.

McLovin lovin.

I found the party and sat down to talk. A few minutes later, I notice a few people getting super excited about something - McLovin from SuperBad had just entered the restaurant! Ohmygosh my first NYC celeb sighting! This was so exciting! He looked exactly like how you think he would: kind puny, pale, hair was the same. Oh, except he had this interesting facial hair thing going on, and he wasn't wearing glasses. It was interesting. My friend ordered a bucket of Coronas to his table to be nice before asking him for a picture. He was super nice about the whole thing so that was awesome! (Sidenote: it's funny that no one knew his real name. We just kept referring to him as McLovin for the entire night. His real name is Christopher MIntz btw.)

At one point during the night, everyone is FREAKING OUT about the main guy from Man vs. Food sitting at a table near us. I look up to see what the deal is, and I think that I see this one guy, Rudy Mancuso, that I follow on vine. I double check what he looks like and am 99% positive it is him. I then look at everyone in his party and I. CANNOT. BELIEVE. MY. EYES. My vine idol, Nicholas Megalis, was sitting there too! I for sure knew that this was both of them because from their vines you could tell that they're friends. So, while everyone was freaking out about Man vs. Food guy, I was freaking out about Nicholas. I just HAD to go up and say hi and tell him how big of a fan I was!!

Nicholas Megalis everybody! (and a blurry me, obvi)

With a little liquid courage, I worked up the nerve to go up to the table they were all sitting at. Luckily, everyone wanted to get pictures with Man vs. Food guy, so I got to talk to Nicholas just me - and he was so honored and really appreciated me coming over and saying hi! Also, I had texted my friend, Marcus, that I saw him and he told me to tell him that we like the TMZ vines and the rap about the silverware. Obviously in my celeb-crazed state of mind, I forgot what Marcus wanted me to say so I pulled out my phone to see. Nicholas then proceeded to take my phone and TEXT MARCUS HELLO. Not only that, the two of them went back and forth texting lines from Nicholas' vines! Literally the coolest moment of my New York life. I was so happy that he was such an awesome celeb and am an even bigger fan now!

So yea, Boat Basin Cafe. If you do any single thing when you go to NYC, this HAS to be it!! Best. Celebrity. Sighting. Place. Ever. (AND, now I can cross that off my Summer Bucket List)

<3, Charlotte