I love New York!

Ok, I'm officially obsessed with the New York life. I always loved New York, but living here just takes the cake. My housemates and I are really getting to know the city, I come across many places that tourists like my previous self never would become aware of. My impression of NY has always been that it is expensive, and well, living on a small stipend I expected to take a hard hit to my savings account this year, but I don't think that's going to happen. There are so many free and cheap things to do in this city if you look around, it's awesome.

Last weekend my housemate and I were walking around town near Bryant Park and the Style Network was doing some kind of a promotion so we got our nails done for free! We went to a bar on the upper westside a few times called Yogi's with 8.50 pitchers of bl, if that's not a steal I don't know what is. Also, bookstores and parks are fun, so is hanging out on the roof!

As far as work goes, I'm probably the most spoiled Jesuit Volunteer there is. My job is amazing, and so are the people I work with. I work a block from Madison Square Park, so I eat lunch there daily, it provides a nice break from the workday. Every Thursday I end up with free vegtables. Yesterday I got into a fashion show. The place where I work has this beautiful ballroom so a couple of the fashion week shows were there this week. Me and my co-worker Geanna tried to dress ourselves up with whatever we had with us and after the farmer's market, snuck into the show! It was awesome. Free drinks and entertainment, not bad. I felt kind of bad for this one designer though because we were talking to her, admiring her work and she must have thought we had some kind of connections or money because she asked for our cards and gave us her resume and a bunch of other stuff. Her stuff was by far the best of all of the designers there though, but somehow she didn't make the runway, I don't get how somethings are considered good and others not. Aside from the obvious perks, I really like the tenants. I'm getting to know the names of a lot more people and have established relationships with some of them. I finally was able to get the wheels going on a volunteer project that I've been working on for the tenants and was able to get one of the tenants into a consistent position working at a soup kitchen! He's really excited about it, and I'm glad I got to be a part of helping him with the process. The other day we had cookshop, about 6 tenants, two of my co-workers, and made dinner together, crustini and tomato salad and ate, it was great. On a more somber note I attended my first tenant memorial the other day, I didn't know the tenant but was almost in tears over the stories her friends shared. It was nice how nobody sugarcoated her life, her one friend talked of her drinking habits and her life struggles and the fun they had together. That definitely made the situation more real, it's nice to know that no matter how many troubles you may have in your life, you'll still mean something to someone.

I think the house and I are going to the Cristo Rey Rectory tonight (where Krista works) for a party. That should be fun. I love how if you let it, the day can take you anywhere here. I love being spontaneous, and there are so many opportunities for that in New York. This year is nothing like I thought it would be, but right now I'd say that's a good thing.