Post Grad Blonde: NYC

One of the most exciting adventures I have gone on since graduation was a five day trip to New York City with a good girlfriend, Hannah. I went to New York for an informational interview with an awesome PR firm. I figured if I was going to the City for one meeting, I might as well turn it into a fun trip! So, Hannah and I caught a bus from DC that took us right to Penn Station, one block away from our hotel. It was beyond perfect. There is nothing quite as exciting as getting off a bus that puts you in the middle of the people and chaos of midtown Manhattan.

We were complete tourists during the trip and had no shame at all. :) You just have to do it sometimes! We asked people for directions and to take our picture like it was our job. After my interview, business was officially over and it was time for fun. We walked around Manhattan for hours, admiring the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, Times Square, Central Park, Ground Zero, and other super touristy yet extremely impressive New York wonders. We also shopped like we had never seen clothes before (including Macy's on 34th street and Saks 5th Avenue)!

Another friend from college, Kelly, who lives in Long Island, met up with us as well. It was a fun college reunion since we hadn't seen her in a month and a half! After staying that first night in Manhattan, we spent the rest of the time at my friend's apartment in Brooklyn - she was super nice and let us stay there while she's away for the summer. There was no other way we could have made the trip 5 days; I discovered there is NO such thing as a cheap hotel in New York.

Thanks to the iPhone and an App sent from God, getting around the city was a piece of cake. I would enter the current subway stop and the one we wanted to get to and the App told us exactly how to do it - how many stops, where to change trains, estimated arrival and everything. Besides looking like complete tourists we felt like locals.

We went out every night except the first night before my interview. On Tuesday we started at Wharf in Manhattan, a fun sports bar that Kelly knew about, and from there we migrated to a fun club called Bounce. The next night we bounced around (no pun intended) in the Williamsburg area of Brooklyn. On the last night, we went to the meatpacking district in Manhattan. Needless to say, with the help of alcohol and the thrill of the city we have some hilarious stories written down on my iPhone notepad. Our favorite was the meatpacking district, it was so much fun. I loved the atmosphere, it honestly felt like a scene out of a movie. We were there on a Thursday, I can't imagine it on a weekend. We started that night right near NYU and that was a lot of fun too. Two key lessons we learned from going out: 1. Do not question a guy's sexuality 2. Do not talk about someone on the way to the subway without making sure they're not behind you for 3 city blocks. Woops!

Moral of the Story: What I learned from this Post Grad adventure is that I HAVE to live in nyc at some point in my twenties. Preferably in the next couple of years. I'm so glad I went on this trip because it motivated me more than ever. There is something about NYC that no other city has. I love everything about it. I don't want to get comfortable where I am now and not make this future move. And believe me - I'm not living in some dream world where I think living in NYC will be a luxurious episode from Sex and the City or Gossip Girl. I know the realities of living in New York. Where we stayed for 3 days was tiny, had no A/C in 100 degree weather and was a good 30 min- 1 1/2 hr commute from Manhattan depending on the time / where we were going. Not to mention no washing machine, etc, etc,. BUT I didn't mention any of that before because being in the city outweighed all of it! Mark my words: I'm moving to NYC!!

Here are some pics from the trip: