smilin

This has been a great week.

The sun has been shining, flowers are popping up everywhere... and I have an interview with a PR firm on Friday! Yes!

Also, my brother-in-laws arrive tonight. Oops just realized we should have left a few minutes ago to pick them up...

Adios!

too exciting

Being unemployed has its perks. Let me rephrase that. Being unemployed in NYC has its perks. Look at all the celebrities I am coming into contact with!

Dr. Oz Show

Dr. Oz Show

Dr. Oz Show

Today Show

Cake Boss TV set

The first three pictures are from a Dr. Oz taping my friends and hubby and I went to. The doc's guest on the show was Sofia Vergara from Modern Family, and oh my goodness is she ever gorgeous! And funny! 

The fourth picture is from the Today Show. Hello Martha Stewart! 

And the fifth... well... it's a card board cutout... but it's still cool, right? When our friends were visiting last week, we went to the Cake Boss bakery in Hoboken, New Jersey. And although we didn't meet Buddy, I kinda feel like we did, in a way. 

Last week, and the week before that, were whirlwinds (hence the lack of blogging). Our newly engaged friends, Ben and Steph, were visiting. We had so much fun. We traveled up, down and around Manhattan, and we also visited New Jersey (as mentioned) and Coney Island. Coney Island is sweet. It has a beach-carnival-resort feel. The craziest part of all is that you can't even see the effects of the destructive Hurricane Sandy that touched down there only 6 months ago (whereas in parts of the Rockaways there are still a lot of beach shops closed for renovations).

It's back to the library for me. Job-hunting continues - woot woot! Who wouldn't be excited for that? 

breaking from breakfast to breakdance

I had the most lovely morning. I went to breakfast with my two greatest friends in New York. One is pregnant and due in 3 months! AH! And the other, sadly, has to go back to Germany in three weeks. She was only here for a while for an internship. It is quite sad indeed, because she is one of the  most delightful gals you'll meet. I ate chocolate chip pancakes with strawberries, Jenny had the same, but without strawberries, and Kristin (and her son Hudson) shared extra-crispy waffles, eggs and sausage. I wish I had a picture to share... but unfortunately I am one of those stinkin' I-always-forget-to-take-pictures people.

Oh! And today, two great friends from back home are coming to visit! Should be a blast. Lots of plans... including being audience members of Dr. Oz on Wednesday, lots of bike riding, and whatever else we can think of.

it's happenin

Exciting news. I just got back from visiting NBC studios at 30 Rock and... I got my resume into the hands of the perfect person. Just to back track on the reason I was at NBC... A couple days ago, I decided to be a lot more proactive with my job search and figured I need to start visiting the places I want to work.

So.... I want to be a NBC Page (think Kenneth from the show 30 Rock), and eventually, through talking to a really nice security guard, I was directed to a current Page (a guy named Ryan). I talked with him for about 10 minutes - all about the program, working for NBC, and our mutual love for CNBC Originals. He said he's going to try to get my resume to someone in charge of hiring. Weeeeeee!

Other news: this weekend, I had a crazy awesome experience. April 6th is International Pillow Fight Day and NYC, of course, joins in the fun with a massive (planned) pillow fight in Washington Square Park.

At one point in the battle a guy yelled "GET THE BLONDE GIRL!" and within seconds, I had 10 or more people smashing their pillows against my head. Not fun. Eventually I yelled that it wasn't nice to hit girls and I got outta there as fast as I could. Neck pain ensued. But not for long thankfully.

My friend Marisa and I had such a great time though. We laughed for almost the whole thing because it was just so ridiculous. And ironically enough, it was not a good event for kids. At all. It would be absolutely terrifying for a child to be in the middle of that. Sort of like being up against a thousand Goliaths.

Despite being unemployed I am feeling on top of the world. New York City has every opportunity I could possibly want, and it feels great to live here. The American Dream lives on. And I'm going to make it (with God's help of course).

p.s. Because of CNBC Originals, I am the captain of random facts. Today, I watched "Mob Money" and yesterday I watched"The Coffee Addiction" and "Love @ First Byte". Ask me anything about mob families in New York, the coffee industry or online dating, and you'll be slammed with 20 minutes of info.

fire in your bones

I am feeling super, super excited. And encouraged. And eager for the future. And stoked for what I am capable of.

I had coffee at Magnolia's with a friend of mine this afternoon, and she is a no-nonsense type of person who tells it to ya straight. Earlier today I had gotten discouraged about my job hunt, wondering where and when I would find one I love. So as I'm telling her this, she's like "you're not working hard enough." And I'm like "uh... I'm not?" And she goes on to say that I need to fight harder, and prove myself, and visit the companies I want to work at, and go back, again and again, meeting everyone from the janitors to the high-ups I see in the halls. Anyone and everyone. Smile and tell them you want to work there one day. Ask if they have any advice for you. The media business is tough as nails... especially in New York City, and if I want to succeed, I need to work freaking hard. I feel totally ready for that. I have the personality and drive to do extremely well in this business, but until someone sees that in me, I won't be hired. So that's my story of today.

Also... I am totally addicted to CNBC Originals. I watched another three today: "Death: It's A Living," "Hotel: Behind Closed Doors at Marriot," and "J. Crew and the Man who dressed America". Oh man, I can absolutely see myself working for CNBC one day. Maybe if I visit the headquarters in NJ enough, they'll hire me?

back to the basics: learning is fun

Today was a day of job hunting, researching, running, Zumba and CNBC Originals.

CNBC Originals can be classified as loooonnnng feature stories or short documentaries. I watched "The Oprah Effect," "India Rising: The New Empire" and "Made in China: The People's Republic of Profit." Each one is about 40 minutes long.

Fresh in my mind is the movie on China, because I just watched it. Interesting things I picked up...

- China's equivalent to Google is Bai Du

- The second largest population of millionaires live in China (after USA)

- The Oreo (but Chinese-style) is one of the most popular cookies in China (the Chinese version has less sugar, and instead of being circular, it is rectangular or in wafer form)
- The most popular American fast food chain in China is not McDonalds, but KFC

I'm scratching my brain, trying to remember more, but that is all that I can recall.

My Zumba instructor really kicked my butt tonight. I don't remember the last time I sweated that much.

I hate running, I love running

Just got back from a run. I'm at 4 miles. Yes!

I've read that running (as with many things) is all in the mind. Your body will tell you that you can't do it, but if your mind says you can, then your body will have to follow suit.

I definitely experienced that this afternoon.

The first 2 miles of my run looked like this:

"I hate this. Why am I doing this? My ankles hurt. There's a park bench right there. I should sit down and call it a day. Seriously... I knew I never liked running."

But then, magically, my last 2 miles were excellent. A big part of it was that I switched my music to Christian rap. Who ever thought that Christian rap would be so good? Not me. But some of it is really great (e.g. Lecrae, Flame).

After that... I was all like "I love running! This is awesome!"

On the way to my run, I met the author of a book I recently read, called "Until Tuesday". Sweet, hey!

He is a war veteran who wrote about his experience at war, coming back to New York City, life with PTSD,  and the wonderful effect of getting a service dog.

It is great read. I learned tons about PTSD and service dogs. For instance, did you know that service dogs start training at three days old? And also, that it can cost up to $25,000 to train a dog for this very special role?