My first Soul Cycle experience

Last night I was supposed to go to dinner with my new roommate (I've kind of moved in to my new apartment, details to come about that in another post). We wanted to have a girls night where we went to a cute place, drank wine, and got to know each other better.

Then, yesterday, I got a text while I was at work:

"Hey, do you want to go to Soul Cycle instead tonight? We can get dinner and drink in our apartment after, I just really want to go and get a good workout!"

Now, I am really not a fan of exercise in general, that's why I joined an adult swim team, because I don't like working out if I'm not training for something. But I had heard some interesting things about Soul Cycle and how it is an amazing workout (even though it's pretty pricey), so I decided to go.

We went to the 8:30 class in Noho. It wasn't packed (which I guess apparently these classes always are), but that's probably because we are the only crazy people who would do this on a Thursday night (Seriously cannot believe I did this instead of actually going out!). The place was SUPER fancy - very white and chic - I loved the atmosphere! They do a great job of setting the mood of the entire place.

These are the fancy shoes. They are difficult to walk in.
That was fun to figure out!

You have to get these special shoes for the bike. Because it was my first time, they were free, but usually they are $3 and clip into the bike. So you are basically chained to this piece of workout equipment and forced to spin your brains out. Also you need to book your bike in advance! (Especially important for the classes the fill up, unlike the one we were in).

The class itself was great! They incorporated core exercises and free weights for various upper body lifting. And all that was done while spinning! I was a little disappointed of how out of shape I was. I couldn't do the entire thing all out. Swimming is in a 2 week hiatus right now because the pool is closed, but once I get in shape I want to go back again.

We actually decided that we are going to go back right before Thanksgiving. That will give me time to improve my overall fitness AND then I will be able to eat as much as I want during the holiday! Win-win situation over here.

So yes, overall AMAZING experience. Our instructor was great, and I had a good time (despite feeling like I was dying for the majority of it)!

<3, Charlotte

Pit and Peak: week of 8.5.13

Week 2 of this tradition!

I cannot believe it was a week ago that I did this for the first time! It's time for the pit and peak of my past week.

Pit: The pit of my week was definitely having that terrible encounter with my ex-soon-to-be-roommate - Ellen's - boyfriend. You can read about the incident here, but that definitely was my low-point for the week. I hate when people are mad at me! And I had being put into terrible situations. UGH. Still bothered but def not as much as I was right after the fact.

Peak: OBVIOUSLY the peak of my week was finding an apartment!!! Ahhh I had been waiting for so long and it makes me so relieved that everything came together. And that the place is basically a palace. UNBELIEVABLE! Supposedly the other girl moves out in a little over a week, so then I am definitely starting to move my stuff into my new place! YAYAYAYAY

Okay, onto the next week! :) Hopefully this one will be much less dramatic.

<3, Charlotte

That's not fair

Today, my company had an outing, so we weren't in the office and were drinking the entire day (more to come about that  tomorrow!). But tonight, I got dinner and drinks with Chloe. It was more mellow because we were both exhausted, but it was good to see her and just hang out for a little.

As we were leaving, we were walking down the street when I hear Chloe go "Oh hey". I look up and it's Ellen's boyfriend. (Sidenote, I've officially decided to give her a name, Ellen is my friend that I was going to live with, but it didn't end up working out for a number of reasons.) I didn't really know how to act since a lot of people now know that me and Ellen aren't living together by now, so I also was also like "hi!"

He goes to give Chloe a hug hello and turns to me and gives me a ginormous death stare. SO UNNECESSARY AND RUDE! I decided to ignore it - I'm probably the least awkward person ever so that wasn't that difficult - and I also went in for a hug. He didn't even make eye contact with me while doing so. He then talked to us for about a minute, and when I say "us" I mean only Chloe, and then we parted ways.

Ugh, the entire encounter left me with such a terrible feeling. Ellen was the one who told me to go for it and gave me her blessing - was she lying to me when she said that? We both ended up wanting different things in a place, and her not even being in town when we were looking for places (and not answering her phone for DAYS when I would try to get in touch) didn't help the situation. She put me in such a bad spot, and now I feel like I look like the bad guy.

That's not fair. And now i feel like crap about the whole thing.

<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

Okay, it's time to find an apartment!

Tomorrow, I'm supposed to meet with a broker to look at some apartments. Looking for a new place has been more challenging than looking for my summer place for a few reasons:

1. My roommate isn't living in NYC right now. She's off in Chicago at training for her job. So it's basically all on me to find us a place. Ugh.


2. We have started to contact brokers too early. We've been talking to them for 2 weeks now and places are JUST opening up. I know how that's how it happens in NYC but AHHH I JUST WANT TO KNOW WHERE I'M LIVING IN A MONTH!!


3. When I was looking for a summer place, I had the mentality of "I can deal with this for 3 months". Now, I'm freaking out at every place I see because I know that we want to ideally live there for 2 years. Finding a more permanent place is much more stressful than finding a temporary one!

This may be us if we can't get our act together...

Hopefully I will have some success tomorrow so we can get everything settled within the next week! Then all the madness will be over.

Wish me luck!

<3, Charlotte

Sharing a bathroom: Real World Edition

Every weekday morning, my alarm rings at 6:30am. Why do I get up so early? Because that is the only time I know I will be able to get into the bathroom to shower. I usually shower and then nap for an extra 30 minutes and then get ready for my day at around 7:30.

How SICK would it be to have this shower?!

See, that's one thing that they do not warn you about the real world - when everyone you're living with has similar schedules, it is CRUCIAL that you make sure you know how to share the bathroom! My apartment has not created a solid schedule, and this has been slightly problematic.

Before I decided to begin my routine at 6:30, there were some days when I couldn't get into the bathroom when I ideally wanted to. I would be sitting in my room, unable to get ready or do basically anything because the first thing that I needed to do was get into the shower!!! What a crappy way to start off your day, worrying about when you are going to be able to clean yourself. UGH, NOT worth the worry! (Sidenote: even yesterday, A SATURDAY, I needed to shower before getting ready to meet my future roommate for brunch and my roommate was using the bathroom at the exact time I needed it! This is not an ideal situation.)

So basically, I think that no more than 2 people should be allowed to share a bathroom in the real world. College is a different ball game with everyone's weird schedules so I never ran into problems at school, but this is just madness!

Really looking forward to moving in with my friend in September :)

<3, Charlotte

Cruisin' around Manhattan

I'm SoOoOoOo excited! Tomorrow night, my college is having an open bar cruise around Manhattan for young alumni. Did I mention it was open bar? Apparently, this event hasn't happened in a couple years because the last one got so rowdy - and I HOPE it's the same situation this year! (Totally worth the 2 year hiatus for that much craziness)

How magical!

Oh it's going to be so fancy and fun and I think that a  good amount of people from my graduating class will be there - it will be the first time I've seen them in weeks so I gotta loot HAWT! I tried on a few dresses tonight and I think I found the one I"m going to wear for the occasion.

Also, one of my roommates from senior year (and very good friends) is going to come over beforehand. It will be great to catch up and see her - she is deciding between different law schools right now so it will be nice to be updated on her life!

Ugh, tomorrow's workday is going to go by SUPER slow, but it will be worth it because tomorrow night is going to be a TON of fun. I'm also thinking about getting more involved with our alumni club in NYC, but I'm going to see how tomorrow night goes before I make a final decision on that.

Hope all your weeks are going swimmingly! Officially over the hump of humpday :)

<3, Charlotte