579

A look at my apartment building from across the street, my building is the one in the center (the shorter one)

579 was the apartment that I stayed in while living in the city. It couldn't have been a more perfect place for me to live. Not only is the location prime (since it is right in an amazing shopping street with tons of stuff to do right outside my door) but the place was great (although a little--ok, a lot dirty) and my roommates were AWESOME!!! Basically, It couldn't have been a more perfect set up for me to be in.

The apartment was a HUGE loft, so lots of space (which is rare in NY sometimes). And all the rooms were in the back made out of partitian, so we each had our own little caves to retreat to whenever we wanted.

Here are some photos....

My bedroom...a little small, but it worked

My roommates:

Mikey "Teadybear" Williams is a GIGANTIC guy, at least when you're talking to a girl who is 5'2". He is 6'9", but is a total teady bear! He is originally from New Jersey, but has lived in the city for awhile now and is a computer programer. He was so much fun to hang out with. I believe he was constantly making fun of me, but we still had tons of good times!!!

Courtney and my roommate Mikey!

Jamie Ideou moved in about two weeks after I moved in. And the crazy thing about her is that she is originally from Yakima, WA (only about 45min away from my hometown) and went to UO and studied Architecture. But now she works for MTV in Timesquare and knew Courtney through the Yap family. But Jamie was awesome and hilarious! I definitely loved having her there!

Me and my roomie Jamie!

Jo LeVine was my third roommate. He was a really nice guy but worked crazy hours, so was rarely at home. Sorry...no picture.

The fifth roommate was my good friend Courtney Carter. Yes, technically I only had 3 roommates, but Courtney was there a lot. And since she would be taking my place in the apartment after my 2 months were up...she was practically our roommate. But it was SO much fun to have Courtney there in NY with me...I can't say that enough! We had such a great time hanging out again and I'm totally going to miss her when I move back to the west coast!

Me and Courtney...I love this girl!

New York City, Here I come!!!

On the evening of July 24th, I flew from Washington to NYC. This was my second visit to the city (the first was Sept 2004 when I went with some friends), but it was bound to be a much different visit because this trip I was not a tourist, but living as a Newyorker in Manhattan.

I easily made it from the airport to my front door. I was to be living with 3 roommates in an apartment in SOHO. My good friend Courtney Carter, a fellow OSU graduate and OSU soccer teammate, met me there and let me into my place. I definitely owe a ton to Court, since she is the one who found me the apartment and arranged everything for me! It was so awesome to have her help me with the move and especially to have her in NY with me!

After dropping of my luggage, we directly hit the town. Courtney definitely wanted to show me EVERYTHING! And we probably didn't stop walking for most of the morning and early afternoon. But it was nice to have her show me around and tell me about all the fun places nearby and show me all her favorite hangouts. We also went to church and met Jamie, one of my roommates to be, for brunch.

From that first morning, I knew I was going to LOVE New York!

My Little Sister...

Ever since I can remember, the Stumetz family has lived next door. They had 3 kids, 1 girl and 2 boys and the girl, Brittany, was only 3 years younger than me. Growing up, our house was theirs and theirs was ours. I recall many times walking into their house unannounced and asking if Brittany could play...or sometimes if I could just play with their nintendo. And there was countless games that all of us created and played on the trampoline in their backyard. But all is another story in itself.

So on July 24th, Brittany, my little neighbor (practically my little sister) got married to Nathan Jankov. It was a beautiful wedding and Brittany was such a beautiful bride!! But I still can't believe she is married...just seems so crazy! But I'm so happy for her and Nathan.

Here are some photos....

Brittany and Nathan (isn't she a beautiful bride!)

Brittany and me...see how short my hair is now!!!

A Quick Transition

From the minute I got home from Europe, I began to start preparing for my next big adventure...moving to NYC!

I only had 3 days between my return from Europe and leaving for NY, so I had a lot to do in a short amount of time. Not only did I have to unpack and repack, but I had to also pack for Stanford because my transition between NY and Stanford was going to be only 2 days. (yes, I know I am crazy...but it is what I had to do).

But it worked out, I even had time to spare to say a quick hello to my best friend, Jamie, and her husband Ryan. And I also went to my little neighbors wedding. So it was a nice short stay at home.

Returning Home

After spending a whole month across the world in foreign countries, I was definitely looking forward to returning home. I missed my parents, my friends and was getting anxious for the next big adventure on my agenda (working in NYC).

There were several things that I was looking forward to doing while being home again. Here is a short list:

1. I wanted to cut my hair! I was getting so tired of my long hair and couldn't wait to chop it all off....
2. Drink lots of soda! Since soda was so expensive in Europe, we hardly drank any...so I was definitely looking forward to having a pepsi!
3. Go to the movies (specifically Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)! For some reason I really wanted to see this movie and it came out while we were in Europe, so the weekend I was home my mom and I went to see it. It was really good...different, but good!

I'm sure there were a lot more, but those are all I can remember that I was really excited for when I returned home. Europe was such an amazing time and I can't wait to return! I already have the next trip planned =)