The Eagle has Landed

It's official. Say hello to New York City's newest Goleta-native resident!

Apart from the fleeting internal panic attacks (which everyone close to me is unfortunately well-accustomed to -- the first occurring pre-boarding of my first plane when the picture above was taken by my lovely father) my travel day yesterday could not have gone more smoothly. My two flights were (more or less) on time, my layover at LAX was brief, I encountered friendly people, and all of my bags made it to my final destination and were thrust onto the baggage carousel in a timely manner. I got my $5 luggage cart, and with some helping hands fit about 90% of things in this world that belong to me in a couple square feet:

My work acquaintance was waiting for me, drove me to my new temporary apartment in practically zero traffic, and lugged my 2 50-lb bags up the delightful flight of stairs that happens to be very narrow. Thank God for Vincent.

My new roommate is fantastic and I think we're going to get along and live together extremely well! The city intimidated me big time last night -- I must admit, I was questioning this move in the back of my head as we navigated around. I did have a good time, though. Went to Piano's in the Lower East Side for some happy hour margaritas (see interesting décor below), ventured to Alex Svedlow's place, then decided to grab dinner at Dumpling Man's. Great decision. 1 of each: pork, chicken, veggie, shrimp + their special sauce. Bomb.com. Was extremely exhausted after so we got back early and I passed out for 11 hours.

Rearranged my "room" this morning (the living room). I'm super happy with it!! And look at my cute roommate JayJay.

Today we went down into the Financial District to JayJay's office to pick up some boxes I had shipped here from World Market.

NY Stock Exchange!

We grabbed a bagel at Leo's and ate it at her office. Yum. An "NYC born and raised" struck up a conversation with me at Leo's and officially proved to me New Yorkers are indeed friendly contrary to the stereotype. He didn't even know I was from California, even though I was wearing white shorts that probably show the very bottom of my ass (love you, UCSB) and my skin is like 500x tanner than the next person's here. His initial comment was that my boots were a little intense for the weather, though, so I guess my Day 1 attire did give off the I'm-not-from-here aura I was slightly trying to avoid.

The subway has been tolerable and not too dirty so far (thank you Robby for sponsoring my first 2 rides!) but I still hope our new apartment -- location TBD and which we will move into in 5 weeks when our lease is up here -- is walking distance from 85% of the things I do on a weekly basis. I love walking. And don't particularly have a liking for hot, confined spaces where you're packed in like sardines and have to clutch your purse tightly because you once almost got pick-pocketed in Paris. Or maybe that's just me...

JayJay and I contacted a few people about apartments and are going to see two different ones in Little Italy tomorrow. Seems to be a great central location, so we'll see! I had my heart set on East Village, but JayJay has lived here for 7 years and the more I've talked to her about it the more open-minded I've become about what a "good" location is.

I need to go to the grocery store (Emporium and Whole Foods) to get some provisions and also Duane Reade to pick up a few necessities that didn't fit in my packed-to-the-brim suitcases. It will be my first time venturing out on my own since I've been here! They are all literally within a .3 mile radius, but whatever. Still will be interesting since I am not a visitor, but a new resident! Everything seems different with that mindset.

As a side note: I am very excited for what the near future will bring. I left the Good Land (i.e. Goleta, for those unacquainted with our totally awesome nickname) feeling like I brought the last chapter of my life to a near-perfect close and that there could not possibly have been better timing for this significant change. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to making my life up to this point so vibrant and fulfilling. I am incredibly grateful for all of the support and encouragement you've given me! And we will most definitely stay in touch.

Until next time! Which hopefully means tomorrow.

Love.