Huge picture blog

The time for a huge picture blog entry has come.  I've gotten a lot of questions in the past few weeks about what I do every day.

Well...at first I thought people were joking.  Then I considered the fact that maybe these people just don't understand New York.  Then I noticed that 99% of the people asking me were from California. Then it all made sense.

It's funny to think of how Californians don't think there's anything in the US except for their beautiful, wine and organic food-filled state.  Even I fell into the trap of believing that places like DC, New York, and Boston were just more San Francisco's except bordering another ocean...rather, a smaller ocean.  With worse beaches.

Anyway, it turns out that New York is a city to itself.  There are city-specific customs, accent deciphering, ways of forming thoughts, manners for separate neighborhoods...it's almost about learning to live in another country except everyone speaks the same language as you. Or they do for the most part. I had to hand the phone to my coworker yesterday because I couldn't figure out what our client was saying.  He must've been from Long Island.

So here are random pictures of my life since I've moved here. I know I've left out some from the 4th of July and other events that I've attended but I feel like these are the most comprehensive.  By the end you will also notice that I can make photo stories about as well as I can play water polo...I can't swim.

Photos - commence!

The first picture I took of the city as I drove in to Brooklyn.  It turns out that I've ended up working in one of these buildings!

Most streets in the non-fancy areas of Brooklyn look like this.  With the huge subway bridge over your head.  Subways don't infest every area, though.

Rooptop bar on the top of Eataly in the Flatiron.  Rooftop bars are a big thing here.  People will actually ask you if you want to go to a rooftop bar.  Or if you know of a really good one.  Maybe it's a way to escape.  I've noticed the only way to get some clarity and the easiest way to "get away" from the city is to go up.  Up, up, up.

I had to include this classic New York photo of my window before I prettied it up.

My new window curtains and bright light.

The view from the top of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  I don't think many people know you can go up here because it's never crowded.

Another roof.  My roof. This is where me, my roommates, and friends will come to eat, drink, and be merry when we don't want to go out.  Or to escape the heat of our apartment (I was smart and bought a window AC for my bedroom).  I often go up here to sit in one of the comfy camping chairs, think and read.  It's always cooler, quieter, and has a great view of downtown Brooklyn and the surrounding neighborhoods.

What I see every day coming out of the subway to go to work.  It's the new WTC building.  Sometimes when I'm eating lunch outside I think about what it would've been like to have worked at my current job on 9/11...

Every once in awhile Poo (my sister, Grace) sends me pictures like this just to make sure I'm still homesick for things like my ugly alien doggie.

How I spend most of my days.  This particular day was my work to be completed by 5:30.  It was 4:30.  On a Friday.

The Brooklyn Flea Market is the thing I recommend to all of my couchsurfers and friends that stay over. It's basically full of overpriced junk or trinkets and furniture that you can make yourself for 5% of the price but it's a great photography spot.  People carry their SLR-whatevers like they're an extension of their bodies.  Cameras are everywhere but for good reasons.  It's a great spot for people-watching, too.  Roam around the crap-filled stalls, grab a couple bites from some of the best eateries in Brooklyn and the Lower East Side, find a spot on the grass by the water and then pig out.

Another Brooklyn Flea pic.  I go every other weekend or so.

When Eleni and I decide to be really smart we have days like this.  It doesn't take much of an explanation.  We had nothing to do on a Saturday so we went to Forcella, bought a disgustingly delicious pizza, walked over to Blue Angel Wines where my cousin, Amaris, works sometimes, then sat on the back patio with a bottle of gruner and ate with our hands sans plates.

Once again...up.  Have you noticed a trend yet?  This was a stormy night in NYC at a bar called Le Bain on the top of The Standard Hotel.  Somehow, me and my friends walked straight up without being asked for our names (it's a guest list only type of place).  I tend to have experiences like this when I go out with my friend, Matt, from college.

Hot tubs inside the bar...

...and outside.  Typical.

Random spot in Brooklyn along the water.  It's fairly "secluded" for New York and is calm enough to be able to hear the water lapping against the rocks below you.

I work near the water in Manhattan and the closer you get to it the more water-themed artwork appears.  The picture doesn't seem like much but I eat lunch here sometimes and I find it comforting.  Water reminds me of home.  Of California.

Most streets near where I live look like this.  Lots of color.  A liquor store or deli on every block.  Lots of trees.

More water-themed artwork near where I work.  One of the streets is called "Water Street" so the connection is understandable.  I stood underneath the sculpture and looked up.

This is two blocks from where I work.  Yup.  A little scary knowing that the world is happening right next to you.  The world's economy is being toyed with and you can go sit here and feel the buzz.  It's overwhelming.

Matt and I usually meet once a week or so when I get off work and go drink wine to remind ourselves that we can bring a little Oregon and California flavor to New York.  Most people around our age in the city go to a little grungier places with really cheap PBR and beer+shot specials.  Matt and I, being of like minds, enjoy being a little snooty and finding different wine bars around the city.

This is where I end up after my other job one or two nights a week.  I work in a restaurant called Corsino in the meatpacking district 3-4 nights a week and there's a bar/restaurant named Fatty Crab next door.  They're our restaurant buddies - always trading food with us, sharing work equipment, etc - and have turned into friends for a lot of us.  The chefs recognize us (they can see and talk to you from where they work) so we're usually given free food and drinks combined with whatever we buy.  I never care what they give me because everything I consume here is mouthgasmic.  I'm usually given a "taste" of something that comes on a big spoon (I think this one was beef tongue with blahblahblahIdontremember) and a "taste" of a paired drink (some type of champagne here) while I wait for my food.  Sometimes more.  Maybe I look really hungry some days.  The place is great and gives me a more neighborhood-y feel for NYC.  I've made a lot of good friends here.

I had to add the classic "Kaitlin having too much fun" photo.  I'd actually just arrived at this couchsurfing party and was promptly loaded down with drinks so that I could take a "funny" picture for my surfers.  Bison grass vodka is a popular thing here and I'm noticing a trend with the beer selection...

Don't worry, mum and dad. I wasn't drunk. This was posed. You won't believe me but I had to add that comment for clarity.

And this is mostly how my nights out end.  With some random friend wearing a hipster t-shirt, undecipherable artwork, and a lot of candy.  Or food.  In this case jelly bellys.

This is about how crazy my life is.  A normal day consists of waking up around 7:30 to make breakfast, shower, and read the news.  I leave for work at 9 to catch the subway at 9:10.  I get off the subway at 9:25 and get to work around 9:30 depending on whether or not I grab some tea on the way.  From 1-2 I take lunch and either sit at Trinity Church (the oldest church in NYC) with two of my coworkers or wander around exploring the Financial District.  I get off work around 5:30 and then there are always two scenarios...the first is that I have to get to my other job by 6:00 so I just hop on the same subway line I always take between home and my jobs - the "C", sometimes the "A" - and I show up with a few minutes to spare.  I get off work around 10 and either grab a glass of wine next door or come home and visit with my roommates before going to bed.  The other scenario is I get off work and decide whether to run errands or meet up with friends in another part of the city.  If I do that then I get home anywhere between 8pm and 2am.

I don't often have a day off which is why it's been hard to update this lately.  I'll work harder and making time for it now that I'm getting into a groove with life and learning that I really do love this place.  It won't be my home forever but I'm not planning on leaving for a few years...

Rough life, huh?