"Here right now"

I don't know why I keep doing this... I let the days go by without writing, and the good things pile up... Gosh! What a problem to have!!! Don't worry in 3 days, you won't have to read this anymore... For the sake of brevity, I will just retrace my journeys these past days...

Sunday...
My first last day in the city... (tears...) started at 9:30, when Laura and I left the apartment and headed to 5th Avenue and 57th, where Tiffanys is located.  No, we didn't wake up early to shop.  Instead, we met up with Adam and Katharine, got breakfast (scones and coffee), and headed to Tifanny's to reenact the wonderful scene from the movie.  ("Breakfast at Tiffany's... for those that didn't catch on).   It was incredibly cheesy, touristy, but sooo fun! After eating/taking a million pictures,  Katharine and Adam headed to the bus station so she could return to D.C., and Laura and I sprinted to line up to get tickets to  Rock of Ages.  Standing in line I quickly started to notice the amount of Uruguayans around, they are everywhere!!! I guess since they have a break right now everyone decided to come to the city!
While running to get cash, while Laura waited in line, I crossed the Ghost theater where I had a mini panic attach when I saw that the people in the posters weren't the actors I had watched... After calling Adam, getting the tickets for Rock of Ages, researching on twitter, and meeting up with Adam, we concluded that they must have been from some previous shoots, because our people were still on! Wheeewww... I really panicked for a bit.  After meeting Adam, we headed to Chinatown where I was determined to find a purse.  As I went to pay for my purse, my sweet roommate Laura turned into a crazy, impressive, and scary person.  In two minutes she got the lady to go from 80 to 40!!! I was in shock, she was so firm... Adam and I left with chill bumps and without knowing what to say.
With purse in hand, we headed towards Hop Kee (the last Cantonese restaurant in Chinatown).

We had a delicious meal!! We let the waiter and Laura pick the food and it was perfect! Oh, also Laura taught us to always leave food on the plate so that you don't look poor! I thought that was pretty funny! After lunch we headed in the direction of Brooklyn bridge, but without realizing it, passed it and got further into Chinatown.  By the time we realized it we were too far to just turn around, so we headed down to the river... There we walked on the river walk all the way to South Street Seaport.  It was soooo hot! We browsed through a farmer's market, watched a trapeze school, and finally settled at a little bar for some drinks and sitting time!  Once we were recharged, we headed to the Brooklyn Bridge and crossed over to Brooklyn.

As always, the bridge was packed with languages, people, bikes, and duct tape.  To this day I'm always amazed by the amount of duct tape on that bridge... Once on the other side, we headed straight to the water and had some of Brooklyn's famous ice cream! After a few minutes of sitting, we headed to the subway and returned to Times Square.  Since we still had 2 hours, I recommended that we head to "The View" for drinks.  It is a rotating restaurant on top of the Marriott Marquee on Times Square, and the view was amazing since  it was sunny and clear!  Next to us was a dad with his daughter, both from South Carolina, and across from us was a very bragging mother of two adopted kids... She spent the whole time talking about how awesome she used to be when she worked on Wall Street... Come on lady, they worked you to death! Don't lie!  After a few drinks, we headed downstairs to Rock of Ages, where as my aunt would say "people were drinking even the water out of the vases..."  It was hilarious! The show is loud, cheesy, in your face, and soooo 80's!  It was fun to watch, but I think up to this point, it is the one I like the least.   After the show we headed to John's pizza, where we enjoyed a quick dinner and finished off an amazing last weekend!

Monday
Work was awesome as usual! After work, I rushed to the Ghost lottery... I know, I know, I've already seen it twice before... But it's amazing! Sadly there were 150 people at the lottery and I lost... It's ok though, I needed the rest, and I got to see the main characters walk in through the stage door!   I went shopping for a few minutes after that at the forever 21 on Times Square, but after about half an hour, the crowds and the crazy got to me and I sped out.  I spent the rest of the evening in bed!

Tuesday (what a day!)
I went to work early and then took a cab to a client site, where I was able to shadow a team of auditors all day long! It was sooo fun! The office was incredible and the work looks awesome.  After lunch, I received emails from my supervisors at the office and had to return to do some work.  I took a cab back and had a wonderful driver who chatted the whole way back! He referred to me as a local and we joined in on jokes/complaints about the tourists! It was surreal.  On the way back to work I saw a very upsetting tweet from Richard Fleeshman (the lead in Ghost) sadly announcing that the show will be closing in early August.  I was sooooo depressed.  All I could think about was seeing the show again, but I had tickets for the Phantom of the Opera... What could I do with the ticket.  I knew that the TN girl who interns with me wanted to see a show really bad, so.... after work, I headed to the lottery, and this time I won! AAAANNNNDDDDD they were front row and center!!! Whoooooo!!! I headed back to the office, surprised the girl with a ticket to Phantom, and got to be responsible for another person falling in love with Broadway shows! All I can say is... thank you Ghost! After leaving her with the ticket, I headed to Juniors to try the cheesecake that my cab driver recommended, and I waited outside the Ghost theater for Adam.  Once he made it, we made our way to our beautiful seats and waited for the magic.

The show was better than ever! The tears were real, in new places, and the songs were filled with even more emotion.  The cast found out that day that their show would close forever in just a few weeks... Believe me... the tears were real.  At curtain call, Richard Fleeshman could not hold in the tears, and neither could I.  At the stage door, we got pictures and signatures again, each time starting a quick but sweet conversation with each of the actors.  It really was magical.  On our way out, as I was texting TN girl about how glad I was that she loved the show, I ran into Snoop Dog! Like legitimately bumped into him.  Adam didn't believe me that it was him, because he was alone... but when I made him go back, he realized it was him! Tooooo funny!

Wednesday (an even more amazing day!)
Work was amazing again, but what came after blew me away.... Soooo, the plan for today was to go see if we could get standing room only for ONCE.  Sadly, at 5:00 they told us that they were not sold out and would not be selling standing room, but to come back at 7:30 to see if they were sold out then.  After that, I suggested going by Ghost (yes I'm obsessed) to see if the cast was at stage door signing for the matinee show... they weren't so we decided to sit on some steps and people watch... And there was Lance Roberts, the hospital Ghost.  What a guy! He recognized us from the night before and continued to chat with us for the 2 hours that he had as a break.  It was unreal... we were sooooo giddy! We shared views on the shows we'd seen, he gave us his opinions... He shared his incredible experiences from his 30 year acting career, and then ... we just talked.  As actors walked by, they waved at him and at us.  The stars walked into the theater and looked over... it was unreal.  We dwelled in the sad news that the show was closing, but rejoiced in the energy that the actors and audiences feel every night... It is crazy, a coincidence, a blessing  that we got to see him and speak with him... that he left a conversation to come sit by us... that he found us amusing enough to stay and recommended we get our own reality show.  We had a blast! As we were leaving, I shared my hopes to see the show again, and he said, "if you guys come back, let me know and I'll take you back stage!!!!"  Our jaws dropped... WHAT??? I was gonna go back anyway, now that we have a friend! But now its a priority! We agreed to go back tomorrow and could barely stand up without jumping up and down!  It is a dream come true!
Sooooo.... tomorrow we will be going to the lottery or buying cheap seats in the back, but we will be there! And we will hopefully see Lance who will take us backstage!!!!! What a life... After saying goodbye and failing at getting ONCE tickets we headed to Soho to grab a bite to eat and ended the night over some delicious guacamole!!

I have to apologize for not sharing everything I should be sharing, but I'm exhausted and these last 2 full days will be crazy!
 Again, I leave you guys with these beautiful lyrics:

                                                          "Here right now, here right now

This is what we’re living for

This is when we give into the moment and let go

Here right now, everything we’re dreaming of

Is coming through if we step up and own it

Let it flow"

Getting Over Awkward

I spent most of my years growing up in a small town, in my own little corner, oblivious to most of the things happening outside my sheltered little life.  When one comes to the big city, people back home tell you... "be careful" "you know people up there are "different," be careful!" All these comments scared me sometimes when contemplating the big move... But after almost two months here,  they are actually kind of funny.  What these people mean is... "they're weird" "be careful, you might see something you've never seen before" "be careful, you can't be sheltered off like you are here."  To them, I can now say... "I'm sure glad I came!"

Even at home, some might say I live a "boring, sheltered" life, so coming to New York  was definitely going to make an impression.  Being sheltered or oblivious makes for lots of awkward situations, or at least makes people feel like a situation is awkward.  My friends joked around about how I would get stuck with crazy roommate........... Some joked about me getting shoved during rush hour in the subway... others said I would be "too nice at work and get trampled."  After two months, only two of the three have occurred, and lets just say I'm doing fine at work! Hahahahahaha!

In these two months, I have experience awkward situations like never before, but like one of the partners at the firm recommended to our group of interns "you have to learn to get over feeling awkward."  Contemplating where I was and where I am now, I think I'm starting to make progress!

Thursday, for example, after working all day on the presentation for the end of the summer (where I will tell what I did and learned), I decided that I would go exploring West Village, a part of the city I had not been to. I invited the interns, but I got no response from the group... At the beginning of the trip, I would have probably either taken this personally (without realizing that they all live waaaay out of the way and hate to get home late) or gone directly home trying to avoid having to do things by myself...  I guess I always thought that was "awkward"... Instead, I had an amazing time and found a part of the city that would be amazing to live in.  After my walk I even enjoyed a lovely meal at Joy Burger (a recommendation from one of my suite mates) by myself.  Two months ago, I think I would have been mortified to be seen eating by myself! Now, I really enjoy it! I was able to people watch and enjoy the new coolish weather taking over Manhattan after the rain last week.

Friday, was a wonderful day at work... But the awkward was hard to avoid.  Although I had a lunch meeting with my supervisor scheduled, she changed the plans and took me to a meeting with an entire team I did not know and a partner I had only seen from a distance once.  The group discussed issues I didn't know anything about, constantly joked about matters I didn't understand, but also turned out to be a wonderful source of knowledge.  Later in the day, my supervisor sent me an email and asked me to stop by her office.  Once there I heard her on the phone... her door was open... what to do?  A month ago, I would have awkwardly hung out in the bathroom and sneaked back every few minutes to check if she was off the phone.  Friday, I just knocked! Soooo... she pointed for me to enter, and continued on the phone... AWK! No... not really.  I waited, and as soon as she was off, we continued the conversation.  After our meeting, which actually was very insightful and ran long because of it, I commented that the interns downstairs joke with me and say that my supervisor does not exists.  She laughed and I explained that they knew her name very well, because they had heard me say it over 500 times every time I did a phone survey.  She laughed and said she was coming down to meet everyone!!!  I was in shock! Once downstairs, I introduced her and the room got awkwardly quiet! In 2 seconds my boss turned it into a laughing scene, including everyone in conversation, and joking about her disappearing acts! It was wonderful and left me incredibly happy to have worked on her team.

After work, I took another leap by myself.  Actually it wasn't a big deal at all, but I think 2 months ago it might have been.  I walked from 41st and 7th, to 49th and 3rd... For those of you that don't know the city, that is 8 blocks up, and a LOT of avenues over... OH! And avenues are veeeerrrrryyyy long! It was fun, I got to make a few phone calls, I caught up with people, and I enjoyed the cool weather of post storm Manhattan.  On 49th and 3rd, I waited at Smith and Wollinsky for Laura, Adam, and Katharine (and Ole Miss student who is working in D.C. this summer and was visiting for the weekend.   We  had reservations at this incredible place (since its restaurant week) and were all excited to try it out! The food was delicious! I had fried calamari, grilled salmon, asparagus, mashed potatoes, and chocolate moose cake... The others had fillet mignon, coconut cake, cheesecake... and yeah.. It was delicious!! After eating came the awkwardness... of course... how do we split the meal?  Again, I have learned... Since our waiter had not proven to be very friendly, I wrote funny descriptions of our credit cards and assigned amounts that needed to be charged to each of  them.  When he saw what I had done, he started cackling, it was priceless!

After dinner we had planned to go see Young Buffalo play.  I truly couldn't believe they were playing here... Its kind of surreal to think that the talent that walked through Oxford High School with us is now sharing its talent in the big apple... When it got close to time and Adam and Katharine kept saying that they would start late, I almost decided to skip out and go to bed.  My thought was... I've been up for forever, I will have to leave early because I'll be too tired, and that would be awkward right?  NOT... I decided to go, and I am so glad I did!  It was a blast and such a pleasure to hear Young Buffalo again, they amaze me every time I go listen to them.  I listened to the second band, and sadly had to call it a night half way through Dent May's performance.

This morning, I woke up to awkward... My roommate had a friend spend the night.  I don't know her, she doesn't know me... My roommate is asleep and we are getting ready while she sleeps... Or she's getting ready while I am supposed to be getting up... In my head, I though... let me play like I'm asleep until she leaves.. I don't want to bother her and make this awkward... Soooo, I texted my suite mate and pushed back our departure time! Am I an idiot or what?  After two seconds I realized how dumb that was, got over the awkward, and got ready for the day. This morning involved a wonderful trip to the Cloisters on 190th St.  This is a beautiful area!  I had heard about it from a couple of people, but Mrs. Fitts had specifically recommended it last week, so I knew I had to go!  It was incredible!!! The park, the trees, the river, the monastery... I really can't describe it, so I'm putting pictures !

After that, we took a subway back and ate at a cute bar in Hell's Kitchen. When ordering, we asked our waiter what the best thing on the menu was.  He answered crab cakes, which none of us where super excited about.  When asking what else was good, he shyly answered, its all good, but I can only recommend that because it's my mom's crab cakes... It was sooo cute, sooo of course we ordered them, and he was right! DELICIOUS!!

After that I hurried to see the Lion King... The production was sooo impressive... The voices were incredible, but most of all, they actually looked like animals.  I don't know how the heck they managed to make it so beautiful, but it really was!  My only problem with the show was the fact that only the main characters looked excited to be on stage... I guess I'm getting really picky, but they just didn't look very happy to be doing the show... It was strange actually... maybe it was just the costumes eating the energy up... The show brought back a lot of memories though... so it was still emotional.  The movie always reminds me of my grandmother, and as soon as the cast started singing "In the Jungle, the mighty jungle the lion sleeps tonight." I got flashbacks to the first time I heard it being sung by Lucia's choir in Uruguay and the times that the Scotland group sang it at the bus stop in Scotland improvising harmonies, noises,etc... Oh the memories... If someone was to add up the people that I think about while here.... whew, NYC would be waaaay more overpopulated.

After the show, I took the subway of awkwardness.  I was shoved into a VERY full car... worse than I'd ever seen! But, I got over the awkward... all for Levaine's cookies... I had to go have my last cookie! I blame Drew for this... since the first time her recommended this place to me, more than a year ago, I haven't stopped coming back! From there, I sat at a Starbucks to recharge my phone and then headed to Columbus Circle where I found Sephora doing free makeovers.  At first, I though, NO WAY!! So awkward, right? Everyone watching, creepy! But then, I got in line.  Sadly, Adam called before my turn and we met to pick up Harvey tickets.  (I say sadly only to make him feel bad, because I was totally ok with it.) After picking up the tickets, we went in search of potato skins and fell into McGees pub, which turned out to be the place where the bar in How I Met Your Mother is based off of.  The place was wonderful and was close enough to the theater.

Midway through dinner the usual awkward NYC situations began.... And that is why I love this city, it is teaching me to expect anything and be ok with anything that comes my way.   Next to us we found Terri, a middle aged woman, with her nephew.  The conversations started with her asking us for directions... Then it extended to her telling us that they were going to a comedy club, they had free tickets to a show, and she has a house in Brooklyn and one on the beach in Rockaway Beach.  Great right?  She's a psychologist, lives on the beach, her rooftop view faces Manhattan and she even showed us pictures! After we turned down her tickets, since we had some for harvey, she started telling us how her nephew soooo wanted to see it.  At this point I considered giving him my ticket, but quickly realized I had promised Davenport I would see it, AND I only have one week left.... So I told them if it wasn't for that, I would give it to him... At this point she starts talking about her beach house and Adam says he's been trying to go up there. Soooo she tells me to take down her number and call her.  She's having a party Monday (with board games) and we are invited.  Since I'm signing my bill, she stops to wait before calling out her number... Impatiently Adam says, I can take it down... At which point she says looking at me, "as long as she says its ok!"  What???? We were so confused... Either way we took down her number, said our goodbyes, and headed to the pharmacy...  Since Adam is getting sick, we got him some water and medicine, in order for him to make it through Harvey.

Almost to the theater we realize that neither of us can open the water bottle... So.. naturally Adam approaches a bouncer and asks him to open it for him.  I could have literally died I felt so awkward.  But the guy was a great sport and looked like he barely tried before getting it open.  We laughed our way into the theater and continued laughing for the next 2.5 hours. The show was a hit and Jim Parsons was very fun to watch on stage!  Overall it was a very awkward day, but most of it no longer felt awkward to me! Most importantly it was a wonderful fun day!

"Nice work if you can get it, and you can get it if you try!"

I am soooo old!  It is crazy looking at myself or the situations I'm in and realizing how old I am.  Today,  I woke up early... without my alarm going off.  I got ready in my business clothes.  I headed down to Starbucks with my suite mate and planned out my weekend.  Then I proceeded to the subway.  From there, I walked to work, swiped by badge, selected my floor on the elevator, set up my desk at work, and sat down to work.  I work! I have a job! Ok, so it might be over soon, but I work for a company!  After working for a few hours, I got on my first conference call.  Then 2 hours later, the next.  This conference call informed us about our future moves and opportunities with the firm.  After realizing how close we are to working full time, it was hard to get back to work.
Sitting in our corner office was incredibly entertaining today. After our first conference call, the sky got dark, the fog set in, and it began to pour! It rained cats and dogs, and when 5 o'clock rolled around, we were all scared to leave.  Two other girls and I had made reservations to eat at Delmonico's steakhouse for dinner (since it's restaurant week), and we quickly decided that a cab would be the best option! After 30 minutes of walking the streets in the pouring rain without an umbrella, we looked and felt pathetic... We were late for our reservation and still had NO taxi... We crossed Adam who was coming off of work and got a great kick out of finding us all soaked in our business attire. After 35 minutes we got a cab and headed to Wall Street to eat.
The restaurant was incredible.  As soon as we sat down one of the girls pointed out the fancy table settings and said that she felt like she was in a movie going out to eat with her colleagues after work.  After a few minutes it hit us that we actually are colleagues going out to eat after work... It was crazy!!!! WE. ARE. OLD.  We enjoyed our lovely meal and indulged in conversations about our future.... It was crazy, surreal, and incredibly nice...  Overall, a wonderful day in rainy NYC... I wish I had pictures of us in the streets of New York soaked begging cab drivers to stop... but then again if I did... I wouldn't post them!  That's all for now! Till we meet again!

Here right now...

Continuing with my Ghost the Musical theme, here is a wonderful quote...

"Here right now, here right now

This is what we’re living for

This is when we give into the moment and let go

Here right now

Everything were dreaming of

Is coming through, if we step up and own it, let it go

Here right now, here right now"

The musical, which I watched again tonight, carries a great message of living in the moment and reaffirmed my thoughts of the day.  All day I've been thinking about excitement, I've been excited, and I've  watched others get excited.  This summer has taught me a lot about excitement.  It is such a personal emotion, such a unique feeling, and such a wonderful feeling.  Today I watched others get annoyed by excitement, I got annoyed by excitement, and I decided that we were all wrong for being annoyed.  Getting excited in one of my favorite things.  I don't mean to do it, I don't plan on doing it, but I fall into the trap and do it all the time.   Whether it be the new bagels in the cafeteria, the bagel man recognizing me on the corner, being able to give my New Yorker intern friends directions on how to get somewhere in the city, or swinging my first golf club... I LOVE to get excited. My dad calls it flapping my wings, others call it whaling my arms, but either way I look like I'm about to take off because I start moving my arms as if I were trying to fly off. 

Today, while on the intern golf outing to Brooklyn, I caught myself getting annoyed by some of the intern's excitement over the teammates or the act of being out on a golf course with 100 degree weather... But after a few minutes I realized how ridiculous I was being.  For a month and a half 13 interns have sat through hours of mini Martina freak outs over every show I watched, each celebrity I crossed, each museum I explored, each restaurant I tried, and each adventure I embarked on.  They heard my Letterman stories about a million times, heard all the details about my assigned Partner in the company (since I'm sightly obsessed and think he is an incredible role model), and continue to put up with the millions of tiny stories and details I share on a daily basis.  They laugh, they mock, but rarely do they put me down or take my excitement away. They are supportive and even join in! 

At the same time, I have the most wonderful travel buddy with me! Adam! He is amazing!! He puts up with all the wing flapping, joins in on the excitement, and even gets me exited about little things I would have missed if he wasn't here!  

Getting excited has been the key to this summer! Whether it is on a project, wondering the city, or watching a show,  something inside me makes me excited! Whether it is my nature or the energy of the city, I'm not sure.  I know that this excitement is also the reason I sometimes bite off more than I can chew, but I am ok with that.  As long as I keep getting excited, I think I will be ok.  But at the same time, New York has made me realize that I need to be aware that while I'm living in the moment, I don't get in the way of someone else's excitement.

There's nothing that brings my excitement down more than someone acting like what I'm freaking about is not important or dumb. I caught myself doing that today, and I hated myself for it.  So since you guys put up with my ridiculous constant excitements for all things, I am making the promise to try to always support and join in on excitement as opposed to judging or getting annoyed.  Thank you New York for the lesson! 

Now I get to share some of today's Martina excitement freak outs:

- I, Martina, GOLFED! It was a sight to see, but very fun!

- I led a lot of the New York interns today! Mind you, I am from Mississippi and they all look at me for directions! Ha! 

- I got to drink and icy diet coke in the middle of our walk back to the subway in Brooklyn. 

- I won the Ghost lottery and got to see Ghost again, from the front row.

- Ghost the Musical brought me to tears, AGAIN!

- I got all the cast's signatures, and they were incredibly sweet and humble!

- I got a picture with Richard Fleeshman, one of the most amazing voices I've heard in a long time... Wish the picture could sing.

- I heard from my two best friends today! 

-  I got tickets to watch Phantom of the Opera next week. 

- I made a friend outside of Ghost, who is studying theater...

- I got asked at the Pizza place if I was in an acting workshop, bahahahaha, I wish.

- my list could go on for days, but for now, I'm excited that I get to go to bed!!! Goodnight! 

Who could ask for anything more...

I have let over a week pass since my last post, and I truly regret it. I thought about abandoning the blog, but then again... how will I remember this later. Now I must write a book... but really. I think the only way to cover all of my adventures this past week is to split them up into days (chapters).

I also want to share with you guys the song that I'm currently obsessed with... The more I hear the music from this musical, the more I want to watch it again...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHQ0FmUtS0E


---------------- YOU CAN'T KEEP READING UNTIL YOU'VE HEARD THE SONG --------------
--------------------------------------------- I MEAN IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! ---------------------------------------------------


Sunday
Early in the morning, my suite mate and I headed to line up for Avenue Q tickets.  On the way there, we crossed a group of high schoolers who were clearly doing a musical theater camp at NYU.  I was incredibly jealous. When standing in line at the New World Stage Theater we saw a theater workshop going on.... again beyond jealous.  After getting tickets for the night show, I met up with Adam who stood in line to get us matinee tickets to the LAST PERFORMANCE of Anything Goes.  Joel Gray and Stephanie J. Block were in the cast so we were pumped to say the least!!!
After meeting up we went downtown, where I left Adam standing in line to go to church, and I headed to the silence of Madison Square Park where I just contemplated on my incredible summer, while I listened to little kids play in the water.
After a few minutes of silence, I headed to eat at Dos Caminos, which is one of the many places on my to eat list.  IT WAS DELICIOUS! It was waaaayyy too much food for me to eat, but I had the best guacamole of all time! After eating I headed uptown, where I purchased a ticket to watch the Lion King on July 21st and went to line up to go in to Anything Goes.  In line I stood behind an older couple discussing how overrated ONCE was... I legitimately had to try with all my might not to freak out on them...  After finding my seat, on the last row, but with and incredible view, I waited for Adam, who was hurrying back from church.
The show was amazing!! The dancing, the singing, the scenery, the cute story line, the whole thing! And at the end as Joel Gray gave the final speech, it was hard not to get sad that we had witnessed the very last performance of this show.  After the show we waited for the cast (minus Joel Gray because he goes out a special door) and I got a picture with Stephanie J. Block for Maia, since she played Judy in the original 9 to 5.  After that we headed to meet Laura and were planning on eating at a nice Italian restaurant, but it was sadly booked.  We settled for a deli and headed to the theater Off-Broadway to watch Avenue Q.  Our seats were in the front row and incredible! It was veeeerrryyyy funny and it was very cool to see how the actors approached the different puppets and their characters. From there we returned to the dorm exhausted and ready to rest for a new week.

Monday
Work was work, but I enjoyed it just like every other day.  After work, Adam and I met with Nathan, another student from Mississippi, and went to dinner.  Afterwards we just laid at washington Square Park and people watched.  After a very relaxing few hours we went to get Sangria at a cute little place around the corner from my dorm and I returned to sleep!

Tuesday 
Tuesday was a very busy day at work.  First I met with a partner who told me about my options in Assurance (audit) and shared her story.  It was incredibly refreshing and eye opening.  I'm pretty sure that audit is what I want to do.  After that meeting I had lunch with the Partner that was assigned to me. He was incredibly helpful and even invited us to sit in on an audit planning meeting with his engagement team on Monday (aka today)... He was very open and even asked to help me find out about trying to intern while in Germany next spring.  After our meeting I returned to work until our evening event with more partners.  These female partners were actually in advising.  This experience was also very eye opening because it reaffirmed that audit is a great place to start, even if I finish up in advising (consulting) later on.  The even finished late, but my partner filled day proved to be very helpful!

Wednesday
David Letterman!!!!!!  Work started early and ended early so that I could meet Adam and go to the taping of David Letterman! The interns I sit with were beyond sick and tired of my excitement, but were all finally thrilled that I was getting to go.  After work, Adam and I went to pick up our ticket with our secret pass code that was given to me when they asked me the trivia question, and then we waited for 30 minutes until we were told to come back.  When we finally went in, I was pumped.  Dave came out and talked to the audience and asked if we had any questions. One woman, Donna, said... "Dave, I've been here like 4 times, and I need you to tell me why your ties are always either too long or too short."  He just about died and for the rest of the show Donna's comment became the focus. TOOOO FUNNY!!! Anne Hathaway was on the show and she was gorgeous as expected, I was a bit tempted to offer her a cheeseburger, but what can you expect from someone who has to be in a spandex cat suit? After the show I returned to my lovely furnace of a room!

Thursday
Food has been the theme of the week.  On thursday after work, the firm took us on a food tour in Chelsea market and we got to try a variety of delicious food.  We started with scallion and bacon soup (delicious and that is coming from someone who HATES soup!), then australian street food, an assortment of italian cheese and cold cuts with olives, Amy's famous bread, Sarah Beth's famous biscuits with jam, Chelsea basket's delicious crackers, and finished off on the sky line eating some delicious red velvet cup cakes.  The food tour guide shared a lot of history about the area and referred us to lots of places around the city.  This is when all the locals started laughing, because it turns out that I, the Mississippi girl, have been to most of them and they haven't even heard of them... HAHAHAHAHAHA! I cracked up!  After the tour was over I walked back home in the beautiful New York night.

Friday
I made it another week of work!! Haha, seriously though, I love my job! I met with my supervisor, got projects, finished them, and then got to go home.  It's wonderful!! After work, I went to the supermarket and bought: olives, nuts, cheeses, chocolate, hummus, chips, dip, brownies, and wine... All the necessities for an AWESOME picnic in the park! The New York Philharmonic had a picnic in the park and Adam, Laura, and I were front and center ready to enjoy.  We sat on the softball field where we saw War Horse play Rock of Ages last week... Hahaha! The orchestra sounded amazing and after finishing Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4 in F minor, the intermission began and so did the rain.  The crowd started to scatter, but we took out our umbrellas and continued to lay on the field, since it was just sprinkling.  When Respighi's Fountains of Rome started all we could hear was the amazing sound of the orchestra and the fain rain drops on our umbrellas.  As we laid there, it was idyllic... Our legs were getting sprinkled with rain, but we laid quietly in Central Park listening... As Respighi's Pines of Rome ended, the clarinet pierced through the darkness and we closed our eyes to enjoy.  Once the orchestra finished, we enjoyed the firework show and headed back home.  It was truly a night taken from the books...

Saturday
The day started early because I volunteered with the firm in New Jersey.  It was City of Water Day ... So... we met at battery park, took a ferry to Governor's island, and then took another ferry to New Jersey.  There were tents set up with animals and booths for kids.  We helped bring people in as they got off the ferries and also helped get them into the free boat tours that were being offered.  At 3:00 we embarked on our journey back home.  It was soooo long.  On Governor's island we were recruited for take down of the booths that were set up there.  The island is absolutely beautiful and I really enjoyed our hours there!  After helping we got on the ferry and headed back to the island of Manhattan. As silly as it sounds, I was homesick for the city.  I was just gone for a few hours, but I missed it! I can't imagine what I will feel in two weeks when I have to leave for good... AH! I can't think about it.
Once back, I was sooo exhausted that I decided that if I went back to the dorms I would just fall asleep.  Trying to fight my tiredness I decided to go in search for tickets.  I didn't find any tickets, instead I found Broadway Barks.  This is an event held by the casts of the shows to raise money or get pets adopted.  I ran smack into it! And there was Bernadette Peters and Mary Tyler Moore... Oh... and Richard Fleeshman and the cast of Ghost.  He has one of the most beautiful voices I've ever heard and is one of the most beautiful people I've ever seen. After getting over my shock, I returned to my dorm and made reservations for dinner at Tamarind, another restaurant in my to eat list.  Adam and his friends Shayan (also from Mississippi) met me there and we enjoyed the most amazing meal!! The food was incredible and there was soooo much of it! After cleansing our hands with the warm towels we were given, we left.  We decided on a quiet movie night with Ben and Jerry's, since we would be getting up early the next day to get tickets for Sister Act.  We watched "One Day" at Shayan's apartment, which he is renting from a guy who was in Project Runway. The apartment was incredible!!!!!! The decorations were exactly what I would want in my place, and it was huge (3 bedrooms!)!!!

Sunday
Whew!!! I promise I'm almost done!   Sunday started rainy and early! We sat for tickets from 8:30 to 12:00, because we didn't realize the box office doesn't open at 10:00 on Sundays! But it was worth it for front row seats at $25!  After getting the tickets, the guys headed home and I headed to Serafina (another check on my to eat list!).  I enjoyed the quiet and the gnocchi.  I'm learning to like the quiet and the benefits of eating or being alone in the city, it's actually kind of magic!  After lunch I hurried back to change and got back to the theater by 2:30.  Standing outside the theater waiting for Adam and Shayan is where I ran into Coach Baughman and his wife!!! THey had just landed in the city for a vacation and we just happened to run into each other! What are the odds?!?!?! Sooo funny!  The show was hilarious and the voices were spectacular! I was no blown away by the acting in any way, but I didn't expect to.  Raven Symone was not in our show, but I was glad to see the understudy who had a beautiful voice also! The music and the arrangement were great!! After the show I went to my furnace room and enjoyed the lovely task of laundry! Sooo fun!

Monday
After my lovely relaxing weekend, it was back to work! I had a day long meeting with an audit team as they planned their audit and it was very very helpful in my decision making process.  After today, I have settled that audit is indeed what I want to do.  I wish I could put more details and explanation on the subject, but everything we discuss is confidential, so you will just have to trust me!

I am officially caught up, and I have to now take the time to apologize for the train of though and word vomit! I just wanted to get it all on the page!

A Leap of Faith

Unlike what one would expect, this is NOT actually an entry about the musical "A leap of faith."  Instead, it is simply another rambling entry on my part.
After my incredible Thursday this week, it was hard to come back to earth. What can one do after they reach such an incredible high... well... I decided to keep enjoying.  I have come to the conclusion that I might not have another day like Thursday for a while, but I have also concluded that all it takes for an encore is a leap of faith.  Thursday fell on my lap out of nowhere, because of a few leaps.
Looking back at my life these past few years, I can't find anything to complain about... It has been wonderful! I am so lucky and blessed. I have a wonderful family, amazing friends, and incredible opportunities. What more can a girl want?! But why?? I can be rational and say that it's all because of my hard work, blah, blah, blah, but I really think that a lot is simply due to a moment, just one instant, when I decided to leap instead of wait.
Last summer I was in Uruguay having an amazing time learning and loving.  Why? Because at one crazy moment in my living room I let me mind go... Here, I got the crazy idea that I could apply to win an award that had been won by people I truly admire.  I thought for this moment that my idea was worthy.  When I looked back a week later, I was not convinced and was actually sure that I had 0 change of winning, but I did.  There were sooo many great projects, and I know and knew that, but because I let myself dream and get excited, I allowed myself to try and ended up with a treasure.
This summer I am in the city of my dreams, living the life of my dreams... Why?  Because at a crazy instant last fall I decided to read one of the million emails we get from the accounting school, and I decided to leap.  At that point, I didn't even know what Ernst and Young was. I didn't know the names of the big four accounting firms, much less that it was one of them.  However, I just leapt and sent my resume in for a leadership conference.  When a few weeks later the recruiter asked me where I would like to work in the future, I let myself dream and said New York, thinking that she would write it down and I would never hear back.  However, after one day I heard back and she passed my resume on.  The rest is history... All because of one crazy moment where I let myself believe that it was possible. But the thing is.... that it is possible.  And it's not because I'm special or smart or anything of the sort.  I am one hundred percent positive that it is because I allowed myself to believe it.  It just took one second, and even though after that second I continued to think that these things were out of my reach, that second was long enough.
Today as I laid in central park looking back at what brought me to New York, I am at awe.  I am soooo lucky.  The only thing that could make this experience better would be to share it with my family and friends, which is why I write this blog.  Every moment in the city reminds me of one of you.  As we finished watching "End of the Rainbow" I turned to Adam and said, "Oh, how I wish Davenport was here, I would understand and enjoy so much more!"  When sitting at central park watching Jeremy Jordan get mad because he missed the ball, I couldn't help but wish that Maia had been there to make fun of my freak out but secretly join in on it too. As I sat and cried through ONCE I couldn't help but think about how much mom would LOVE the show. Today, as I watched Matthew Broderick and Kelli O'hara in Nice Work if You Can Get It, I couldn't help but think of Courtney and how much she would love to see Matthew live.   I could keep going for days, because every experience makes me think of someone else.  Every moment makes me realize that if it wasn't for all of the people I love, the leaps of faith would be a waste.  Even though I might still have these opportunities, I would not enjoy them half as much... My choices as I walk through New York are based mostly on the recommendations or passions that others have shared with me, and for that I am incredibly grateful.  Thank you for putting up with my crazy leaps, for sitting through my crazy out bursts every time I get excited about the dumbest things, thank you for backing me up when I'm making no sense, and thank you for letting me share my life with you, whether we are in the same place or across the world from each other!

ONCE in a lifetime

How do I explain the magic?  How can I describe a day that I wish I could live over and over again.  Today was that day.  It started early at about 4:45 am, because my goal was to get tickets to see ONCE the musical.  Since the rush tickets are in high demand people start going there at around 4:30.  My goal was to get there then, but I overslept and didn't wake up until 4:45.  Then, I went to the subway station and waited for 45 minutes until I gave up on the subway and took a cab.  I was sooo worried/angry/worried again, but I decided against worrying and started to enjoy the morning in NYC.  I didn't make it to the theater until around 5:30. Once there, I faced a woman who told me that they had just counted and I would be buying tickets 21 and 22.  BUT, they only sell 20.  Trying not to panic, leave, or cry I plugged into Adam's iPod and listened to the soundtrack to Ghost the musical.  It was magic! That is how I started to bond with the lady who told me the bad news.  She and her daughter are in NYC for 3 weeks from Florida.  Her daughter turned out to be a figure skater (my life dream) and very sweet! She is 17 and was at a skating camp last week with all sorts of Olympians.  I'm attaching a link to a video about her.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSKqkf7Alpc
After zoning out and listening to my cd for about an hour, I started talking to them and they re counted. It seemed that I was 19 and 20! Oh gosh I hoped so! But I couldn't get my hopes up!!! After hour 3, we met Amy.  She is a die-hard fan of the show and has seen it twice (or more times) per week since it opened.  Turns out she goes to everything and knows everyone.  After talking for a little bit about the main characters, all of whom she knows personally, she started talking about some softball game.
After a few minutes I came to realize that Broadway has a softball league, and apparently the casts play each other!! WHAT!!??!?!?!?! How had I not heard of that!!! They play every Thursday at Central Park, and she said no one knows and no one goes.  Sooooo... though I planned to go to the zoo with the interns, Adam convinced me we had to go.  It is the only Thursday that I don't work, next week's games are cancelled, he was out of work with a swollen eye, and it was too perfect. After Adam's short visit before going to work, I was ecstatic to know that I would watch the ONCE cast play the cast from Newsies.  This means that I would get to see JEremy Jason from close up! AAAAHHHH ! As it got close to opening time at 10:00, the figure skater started showing interest in going to the game too, but her mom said she wanted to nap. SOoooo, of course I told her to come along with me!! At 10:00, each person started to get their tickets, the line wrapped around the block, my heart was pounding, and it came down to me... I took the last two tickets!!!!!!! AAAAHHHHH! It was crazy! We left thrilled and headed to Adam's work to get him.  From there we headed to central park.

Here things got even more surreal.  They were all just playing.  Not more than 5 people were watching per game (there were 5 games going on).  Once (and death of a salesman)  played Newsies, Rock of Ages played War Horse, How to Succeed played Wicked, Mary Popins played Anything Goes, and Book of Mormon played Spider Man.

Once vs. Newsies

Nick Jonas

The cast of ONCE! 

The Man that scored Once all the home runs !

It was hilarious to watch.  They pranced, they danced, they ran and had fun. All the while Adam, Deanna, and I sat 2 feet from them.  It was crazy.  Deanna and I ran over to see Nick Jonas playing for How to succeed, but most of the time we watched Newsies vs Once.  After the game, we headed to the subway to go eat at NYU.  Here, we met David.

David! 

As we were getting into the subway we saw someone with a ONCE jersey, so naturally we followed him into an empty car and didn't sit in any of the empty seats available, instead we walked and sat right next to him.  At that point, Adam says, "so congrats on y'alls win!" And so the conversation began!  He thanked us for being loyal and waking up early, he asked us about our internships, asked names, and got us pumped for the show.  He told us to show early so we could GO ON THE STAGE AND HEAR THE OPENING NUMBER FROM THE STAGE!!!! WHAT?!?!?!?!?! We were pumped! After saying goodbye, we grabbed lunch (I treated them to the fancy dinning hall!! haha) After that I headed to take Deanna back uptown and Adam went home.
After dropping Deanna off, I stumbled on a special for manicure and pedicure, and since my day had been going so well, I said, what the heck! And i enjoyed 3 HOURS!!! of a woman massaging my legs, feet, hands, and shoulders.  It was ridiculous!!! SOOOOO NICE!!!

Pedicure! 

After there I returned to shower and get ready for the big show that we'd been waiting all summer to see!!!
We arrived early and the magic continued.  We met up with Deanna and her family, and rushed to the stage, where we purchased a water at the bar (the stage is an Irish Pub) and watched the cast play the first songs.  David asked us how we were doing from a distance while playing the guitar, and we soon hurried to our box seats with Deanna and her family.
The show was... spectacular, amazing, breathtaking, impressive, unique, exquisite, surprising, magnificent... I don't have the words to describe it.  Its simplicity, its sadness, and its magic are only understood when sitting at that theater.  It was the original cast, it was a cappella like i've never heard before, and there were tears in my eyes for most of it.  (and lots rolling down my cheeks too) . The actors played every part of the orchestration while dancing, acting, singing... it was impeccable. After the show we waited for signatures.  Each cast member talked to each person and even thte 7 year old in the cast signed our  program.  The main guys (AKA all of them) took the time to chat with us and even talked over the softball game, since they were impressed we were there!
David (the head musician, amazing actor, and incredible singer) remembered Adam's name, asked us what we thought, continued to thank us for coming, and even wished us luck on our internship.  It was unreal.  He remembered us and he cared...  They all genuinely cared that we were there.  It was breathtaking.  For those that don't know anything about the show... watch this clip to get a very little taste of the magic!

WATCH IT!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZeT3uyL4MY

Tony nominated Amazingness! 

Tony Winner! He is AMAZING and could make me cry at the drop of a hat

After the show with Deanna! 

One Diverse Fourth

The city is known for its diversity.  Walking down the street you see it all from the straight cut business people to the cross dressers.  You see naked people, you see tourists, you see locals.  There's something for everyone and there is someone for everything.  My fourth in the city was a perfect New York day.  The day started early at the Farmer's market on Union Square.  It was still coolish and there was still no one on the street... Ahhhh peaceful New York. At around 9:30 I met up with Marion, her dad, and her sister.  She is a friend from school that was here for a little vacation.  We walked around the farmer's market and then sat down for coffee at a wholefood store (air conditioning included).  It was wonderful to see them, and her dad had wonderful places around the city to recommend.  They had also just seen ONCE, which got me incredibly excited to see it.  After seeing them I walked back to my dorm and got ready for my intern adventures of the day.  I met TN girl and we took the subway all the way to 116th, Harlem, where we met Moktar, our Senelgalese intern and another intern with her boyfriend.  Moktar took us to eat Senegalese food at his cousin's restaurant.  The food was delicious!!! I hate nems, Atticke, Plantains, and a WHOLE tilapia!!!!  It was delicious!!!! After eating, we walked through (or more like up) Monringside Park and walked Columbia.  Once on the other side we met up at Adam's and walked along the Riverside.  After enjoying the walk, we took the subway to Columbus Circle enjoyed Central Park and had some delicious ice cream!!
The next goal was to watch the fireworks.  So... Adam and I headed to my dorm, where I picked up a towel and we headed to Hoboken, New Jersey, where we planned to enjoy our night and watch the fireworks from a place that was a little less crowded. The crowds were still huge, but we got to walk by Carlo's Bakery and find a place on the grass to have a little picnic and wait for the fireworks. After about 2 hours and a trip to CVS to get some snacks, the fireworks started! They were awesome!!!!! And after they ended, all the cruises honked their horns and it was kind of magical.  After hurrying to catch the train back with the rest of the crowd, I went back home and enjoyed the heat that is my dorm room.

Spontaneity is the Key

I'm a planner, there is no denying that, but even I can be spontaneous every once in a while.  On Friday, I decided that I wanted to do something fun this weekend.  So with the help of some of the interns, I started to brainstorm.  First, I thought, "I want to go to the Hamptons! Who doesn't want to say that they've been to the Hamptons? "  But after talking it out with the interns, I realized that it was too much necessary planning for one day.  At that point one of the interns said, "you should go to A.C.! (Atlantic City). There are beaches and it is super cute!"  That is all it took.  The intern from Tennessee, whom I'll refer to as TN, said she would join and invite her sister who was in town for the week.  I invited my suite mate and the four of us made the decision.  After work, TN and I went to get tickets at the Port Authority bus terminal.  After buying them, I walked towards the subway to head home and that is when I stumbled upon the student ticket for that night's performance of Mary Poppins. Soooo I returned home, went to dinner with my roommate/suitemate, and returned to the theater to watch the show.  Saturday, my suite mate and I headed to the bus station at 7:00, an hour early, so we could buy her ticket.  At that point, they told me that my ticket was wrong and it wasn't likely that I would get my money back. WHAT?!?!?!?! Apparently you can only buy a ticket to Atlantic City on the day of the trip! Yeah, right! After talking to the manager, I was reissued a ticket and my suite mate and I got on the 8:00 bus.  However, TN and her sister were late and faced the same wrong ticket issue, so they had to wait and take the 9:00 bus.  The crowd on the bus was all over 60 and ready to party and gamble!! tooooo funny!  Laura and I got to A.C. at 10:10 and headed towards the wonderful boardwalk.  Once there, we started on the mission to find a beach towel and a cute hat! I wanted a cute hat!!!!! Little did we know that the side of the boardwalk we were walking on had no power that morning because of a storm.  Once realizing that at the point of purchasing of my new hat, we left to walk north on the boardwalk and halfway we met TN and her sister.  On the other side of the boardwalk we found my towel and a cute hat and headed for the beach.  We got settled and relaxed.  We took turns walking on the water, laying, sleeping, and getting lunch.  After lunch we all fell asleep and Laura and I woke up scorched at 2:00.  At this point we went in the water and headed for shelter from the sun, also known as an ice cream shop! We left TN and her sister under the umbrella they rented and we headed for the ferris wheel at the end of the pier.  The view was amazing!! Once back on the beach, we all packed up and headed towards the bus.  On the way, we stopped at a casino to use the bathroom and got a little bit of that side of A.C. Once on the bus, it was hilarious to hear the crowd complain about their losses.  Once in the city, Laura and I headed home and crashed for the night.



In the morning, Adam and I had planned to wake up at 4:00 to go line up for tickets to Once, but instead we decided to meet at 8:30 for tickets to Harvey.  My skin was killing me, but we found a shady spot and waited for the box office to open at 10:00 so we could get rush tickets for just $20.  Thus far we have watched 7 shows, all but 1 in the front 5 rows and have not paid more than $40 (and that was just one, the rest have been 30 and under). At 10:00 they announced that no tickets were being sold.  Panicked, we hurried to see if Once was packed, or to find another show.
SInce the beginning of the summer, Adam has been wanting to see Book of Mormon, but it is sold out and the lottery is during work hours.  We also heard that the standing room only line is impossible, so we had settled that it was unlikely.  HOwever, on the way to another theater that morning, we saw a short line outside and decided to ask about it.  The group contained some really bratty high schoolers (7) who shared that they had been sitting there since 5 in the morning for standing room only tickets sold at 2:00 (1 hour before the show). At first I laughed and then... I realized that Adam was excited.  There were only 7 people in line and there would be between 24 and 28 tickets sold for 27 dollars.  He wanted to wait... He wanted to wait in line for 4 more hours... At 1:00, they would have a lottery for seats in the front rows, but if we lost, we would still get standing room in the back at 2:00. So... of course, we waited.  And we made great friends with two couples behind us.  One of the couples turned out to be family friends with the guy in Newsies that we both fell in love with.  The other couple ended up running over with me at 1:00 to see if we could get Avenue Q tickets for the night.  We had a blast! And at 2:00 we got the tickets.  We did the impossible!!!  After grabbing a quick bite, we were back at 3:00 to stand and watch the show!
The show was wonderful and horribly offensive at the same time.  We laughed in shock and loved the wonderful music.  After all... it was a HUGE surprise that we were getting to see it! After it ended we returned home and got some well deserved sitting and resting time!
Monday at work was slow, but it involved lots of intern bonding.  We finally gave in and realized that the summer is almost up, so... we made plans! We now have an itinerary of activities for the entire week and are excited to get started!
After work I rushed home to do laundry before meeting Adam for dinner and going to Bryant Park to watch the Wizard of Oz out there.  Since it was packed, we ended up going back to Washington Square park and sitting on the grass for a good hour or so. It was wonderful and relaxing, I would trade it for the world!
Tuesday was slow again, but after work came our first activity! We planned a dinner/play time at Dave and Busters, which is a restaurant that has a game zone with it.  Nothing better than making a fool of yourself playing games! Dinner was sort of crazy, because we expected about 12 and got about 20.  We hadn't made a reservation and we were scared to make our waiter mad so we kept adding chairs to this tiny table.  After we ate we encountered our next obstacle... the bill... splitting the bill... How many accounting majors does it take to split a dinner bill??? Well, everyone seemed to think it was a good idea to simply round up and divide tip and gratuity evenly, but there was just NO way I was letting that happen. Hahaha... I know, its crazy, but I hated to see those that just bought a drink pay the same tax and gratuity as someone who spent $40 on food. Sooooo. I took it upon myself and we figured out exactly how much everyone owed! It was fun! Girls were panicking throughout lunch because they hated not making a reservation and being spontaneous, but it was a blast! I like last minute things sometimes and this was one of those times! The stress brought us closer and after the stress, we got to play!
At the "play zone" we won tickets, one of the interns got injured with a air hockey puck that was flying around, but most of all we enjoyed each others company and got to know each other even better, which is crazy considering that a lot of us sit in the same room for 8 hours a day!

Whew... Anyhow, I know that was a lot, but I wanted to share some details and stories!!!