Okay, so I’ve been pretty quite on this thing. Life has not really stopped since I moved to New York (surprising, huh?).
I moved into a new apartment almost a month ago, as i mentioned previously. I’m very happy here. My roommates are awesome, the apartment is wonderful (even if it is a pain in the ass to carry my bike up our retarded twirly staircase). We have a nice roof deck next too our kitchen (only we have access). The neighborhood, Park Slope is awesome (and apparently one of the best in the nation, so says Wikipedia). I’m really happy here. I’d say I’m 95% settled in, with a few things here and there to unpack or get to be completely settled, but nothing that really matters or is essential. Basically I’m lazy.
Work is going well. I’m learning so new things, including network design. I’m actually in the process of completely redesigning the network for one of our clients. The network isn’t large but I’m picking up a few skills that I really need and don’t have/didn’t have before. Even though everything in America’s economy is tanking we are growing really fast and are actually looking to literally double the size of the networking department in the next two months, so that’s really reassuring.
I’ve been making a few friends here and there, most of whom I knew at another time in my life. I’ve been spending time with Erin, of course, but also Liz (who I met through Erin and lives down the street from me), Ilana (who was friends with some friends in Boston and also lives near by) and Karen (who was friends with Sara at BU) just to name a few. They keep me pretty busy.
Alex was here last weekend and we just kind of bummed around Brooklyn all weekend with no real direction or agenda. It was nice to see an old friend.
A week or so before that my friend Genvieve was in town from San Francisco with her boyfriend and I got to have lunch with her and catch up a little bit. It would have been nicer to see her more but neither of us really had the time and finding out we were both going to be in New York was too last minute.
Otherwise here is a short list of things I’ve done in the last few weeks:
- Saw the Brazillan Girls at Prospect Park for free (like 4 blocks from my house)
- Saw Elvis Perkins and the Cold War Kids at Prospect Park for free
- Went to two great company outings with lots of free drinks and food. This included one on like the 30th floor roof deck in way southern Manhattan with an amazing view and a live Afro-Cuban band.
- A private screening of the movie Erin worked on for ages
- A screening for the 24-hour film race that Erin and her roommates did a few weeks back.
- A Mets game (which was fun but depressing to watch as they blew it at the very end)
- High Tea at the Ritz-Carlton as a thank you gift to Erin for helping me paint for an entire week
- Saw a Gotham Girls roller derby league game. The Bronx Gridlock put a serious beat down on the Manhattan Mayhem.
- Discovered the amazing beer and cheese store that’s mere blocks down the street from me. They sell Growlers!
Those are just some of the things I can think of off the top of my head, not to mention the countless just “getting together for drinks or dinner” events I’ve had. Seriously, I only know a handful of people and I’ve never been busier. It’s unreal. But life is good, if a little overwhelming at times. I’m still working on how to strike a balance I’m fully happy with in the work/life/study arena, but I’m working on it.