TB

Merry Christmas. The Tory Burch Sample Sale has hit New York. I plan to redefine the speed at which I can sprint in heels (thank you, Cole Haan-Nike Air partnership) to book it there as soon as I scoot from the office. God help my credit card bill...

6:30

Why I woke at 6:30 this morning, just a few hours after I learned that a cab from Midtown Manhattan to the borough of a Mets Mecca is actually pretty cheap, is a big old mystery, but I can't say I'm too perturbed. It's a gorgeous day in NYC that should not be wasted on sleep. As such, I'm going to take my sneakers on a date and pound the pavement for as long as I can... After three weeks of living on my own, commuting to work, and learning to literally fend for myself, it's time to reintroduce exercise into my daily repertoire. I say this now... we'll see how it goes.

In honor of Father's Day weekend, I dedicate this post to most AWESOME man in the world: my Daddy!!!!!!! Isn't he such a stud?! I can't wait to celebrate with him tomorrow. :-)

Wonders of Bouillon

As a tween, nothing allured me like the dollar store. Who cared that I already had an ample supply of black and brown eyeliners at home? Why not buy a few more? After all, they're just a dollar. Right?! I had a similar experience this weekend. Saddened by my illness-induced loneliness, Mamadukes trekked in from the Island on Sunday, bound for the borough she once called home. We hit up Trader Joes, where I made a killing on designer produce and processed dinners, and CVS, where she all but forced me to purchase a $.59 bottle of bouillon cubes.

Uh, what the heck are bouillon cubes?! Well, I learned tonight, and am instantly attracted to their delicious simplicity. It's like a perfect cup of soup, out of no where! Cool!

The strep is starting to dissipate, thank God, so the infirmary is no more, which means stories about things far more fascinating that bouillon cubes are to follow. Have a great week. I'll be checking in...

And here, for no particular reason, is a little love from BT's b-day bash on Stone Street. She shines in red, and AC dazzles in blue! It's a surprisingly patriotic picture. :-)

Accumulating Property

Stuck in bed with strep throat was not the way I imagined my weekend, but as every Queens gal must do, I'm making the best of it. After a quick walk to CVS to pick up my heavenly antibiotics, I whisked myself right back to where I started: snuggled under the covers of my big girl bed with nothing to keep me company but a bootleg of Sex and the City 2 and a bottomless glass of orange juice. And I'm fine with that! I enjoy the relaxation that comes from complete and total silence, but that's clearly not to say that I'm well on my way to becoming a recluse. As you learned before, I'm a budding reality TV star (ha) with a social calendar that needs to be busy and bustling for my own personal sanity. However, missing out on yesterday's trip to 675 Bar, this afternoon's birthday bash for my boss's daughter, and this evening's Park Slope housewarming for new neighbor RJ is probably a blessing in disguise: sometimes, we all need to slow down. And after the big move, slowing down -- albeit forced -- is exactly what I needed.

Also, here's a funny story: I washed my amoxicillin down with a fortune cookie from Wednesday night's take out binge with Aunt K, and could not have had a more ironic reading experience. It said, "You tend to accumulate property. Use it well." Could any fortune have been more fitting? I guess you could say I'm almost using it well. To date, I've only broken one set of blinds... ;-)

I hope your weekends are going better than mine!

Camera Crews on the Roof top

Whitney Port and the gals of “The City” lead a boring life compared to the evening I had last night! In an exceptionally happy post-work happy hour, some co-workers and I gallivanted from Midtown Manhattan’s gem of an Irish pub to the Financial District’s insanely brand new luxury condo building. Compliments of fellow employee RA, the building boasts a roof deck, where we spent the second half of our evening lounging under the night sky with our toes dipped in the rooftop fountain. I kid you not. I felt like the only thing missing was a television crew documenting our shenanigans for the next big hit in the world of reality TV. Needless to say, it’s going to be an amazing summer.

Express?

While the NYC bus system is an underrated gem, I’ve found that the alluring express train is highly overrated. Do you agree? This morning, fueled by some Kashi Go Lean Crunch, I experimented with my commute: after making it to the train five whole minutes faster than I normally do (which is seriously a substantial chunk of precious time!), I was comfortably settled on the cozy R train, enjoying a coveted seat and reading my AM New York, when I passed the point at which I normally traverse the platform and cram myself into the E train—with no seat, obviously. But today, I stayed on the R. I stayed in my seat. I remained reading about where to nosh on eggs and bacon and booze while watching the World Cup. And you know what? I made it to work a whole 15 minutes faster, on the dinky little local! Today, celebrating is certainly in store for the new supply of slumber I can add to my nights!

St. Regis

Friends made in my new neighborhood... and beyond!

-M, a woman from Romania who is currently studying Art Therapy at City College. For the time being, she commutes to the St. Regis, where she's a masseuse. I wonder if she makes house calls. We met on the bus.

-G, a 75-year-old (ish?) self-described "flaming heterosexual" who looked ultra fabulous in his pink seersucker pants and Lilly Pulitzer tie at the "Night in Edgartown" event I attended with SA. A happening producer on the Broadway scene (like, real NYC Broadway), he just moved to a townhouse on Bleecker street, where his backyard is equipped with a lovely swing. Backyards in Manhattan are hard to come by, so naturally, SA and I invited ourselves over for a cocktail party with our new millionaire pal. He said we can chat shoes. ;-)

As I'm sure you can tell, life is grand. My job is going extremely well as I learn more and more from my colorful cast of co-workers each day. The first week was filled with lots of meeting-and-greeting, and I hope to get my hands into some interesting projects as the weeks go by. For now, though, I'm enjoying my weekend at home, having just spent the afternoon at an R family gathering. There was a magician. Enough said.

But tonight, it's back to the city for BT's birthday bash. Ta.

-

The Princess of Queens

Once upon a time, there lived a little Long Island lady with big city dreams, and a big city attitude to match. Once upon today, that dream came true.

Thank GOD. It's about time my blog got good again.

But before I tell some tales about some of the wonderful characters I've met along my journey thus far (preview: the premiere masseuse at the St. Regis hotel and the producer of two of Broadway's most bustling successes), let's back track a bit, back in time to a simpler time: back to college.

In true Stonehill tradition, all (well, almost all) of 2010's graduating class, plus a few underclassmen who just couldn't bear to see us leave, invaded Cape Cod for a week the locals surely hated. Refer to classics such as Animal House and Can't Hardly Wait for an idea of what the week was like. And if Cape Week really were a movie, our house was the one that was featured on screen the whole time. With a backyard far too fancy for co-eds such as ourselves, we lounged pool side every second of every day, without a care in the world. At times, the events of the week should have been on the set of a soap opera or in the feed of a gossip blog, but miraculously, we all managed to survive unscathed, living life to the most fabulous degree. ;-)

But the Cape Side shenanigans did not stop there. With graduation festivities in between (a parent dinner dance here, one last hurrah upon Stonehill's "hill" there...), I retreated back to New York for but a few days before returning to the Cape for Memorial Day Weekend. While the habitat of choice this time around was the amazingly swanky L Family Compound (I'm not joking), the activities were similar: poolside sitting and cocktail sipping just doesn't get old once you traverse the Sagamore Bridge to Massachusetts' Vacationland. And even though the seven hour ride back home was enough to make this antsy thing stir crazy to the umpteenth degree, throwback tunes, compliments of (obviously) my iPod (a.k.a. Precious Pink), made the trip back a perfect end to the weekend. I'm telling you, a little TLC, Blues Traveler, and Seal can really liven up a trip down I-95.

Now, I should probably mention that my time in between Cape Week and Cape Weekend was far from a walk in the park. The few days were spent vacuuming. And dusting. And washing dishes. And moving furniture. And vacuuming again. And dusting again. But all for good reason. Ladies and gentleman (that's you, WBE!), I am a homeowner.

HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAH!!

Well, not really. But kind of! It took me about two days as a collage graduate until I split from the suburbs, bound for the only place in New York that's cooler than Brooklyn. Clearly, I am talking about QUEENS! I am now bus savvy, subway savvier, and loving every minute of it! While my commute to Manhattan is not much shorter than it was in the past, I feel very official. Billy Joel actually wrote a song about how I feel these days... ;-)

I'm back in the "country home" for the night (ha), lured by a home cooked meal and laundry facilities, so stay tuned for tomorrow's post, in which you'll get to hear all about Mission Millionaire.

With love and wishes for a wonderful weekend,

KR

PS: To my fellow big city big shot, BT, HAPPY 24th BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!