Week One: Schlepps, Sights and Snacks

Although I experienced my fair share of struggles, my first week living in the city is complete. It's safe to say I explored extensively and enjoyed every moment of it. What better way to highlight the week's events than with photos of the delicious food and incomparable scenery that NYC has to offer. 

Little Italy

 

 Il Palazzo Ristorante Italiano

Ferrara Bakery 

SoHo

Delicatessen: International Comfort Food

 

Rice pudding for days

 

Rice to Riches: Butter Pecan rice pudding

Union Square Park

Reading in the park

Dog park crashing... my newest hobby

Washington Square Park
     

The Delancey Rooftop Bar

                                     
Midtown Rooftop Apartment 

Chelsea: The Frying Pan

The High Line 

Don't cry over spilt water

I know you're not suppose to cry over spilt milk, but what are the rules for water?

On day three of my internship, I thought I had it all down. After meandering around Broadway trying to resist every urge to run into the two story Forever 21 and Steve Madden right across the street, I still had time to spare before work.

The day was off to a good start and was made better when I was told there was Dunkin' Donuts waiting to be eaten in the office. If you know me at all you know the words free and food are music to my ears.

Then my day took a fall, literally, when I accidentally knocked over the glass of water sitting on my desk all over my work laptop. In retrospect, I probably should have saw this coming, but I forget that these types of things would only happen to me. Seriously, why me?

Luckily, this didn't happen to just me. Apparently the intern before me broke the last laptop the same way. At least I'm not alone. Thank god. We're interns for a reason.

It took every urge not to burst into tears from embarrassment and the fear of being "that" intern after only three days. My eyes were glossed over with tears about to fall any second, but I thought to myself I'm 21 years old, get it together already Carly.

Some moral support via my parents and brother in a group text and the tech department bringing me a new laptop was all it took for this disaster to end. They weren't sure if it was broken yet, so all I could do was get over it. I took my dad's advice and made it up with great work.

They may not trust me with liquids, but I proved to them they can trust me with my writing. I was given my first copywriting opportunity to write a witty Facebook post for the latest Cinderella the Musical campaign. Minutes later I received an email from my supervisor saying they are "lucky to have me" and "I have all the skills to be an amazing copywriter." At least I did something right.

After that I was given more opportunities to write content for Facebook posts and tweets for multiple clients. She even sent another email to the entire content team and president of the company giving me a shout out. #redemption.

So my point is, even though I made a clumsy mistake, it was all the more reason to prove to them and myself that I was meant to be there.

For my spiel of the day, here's a little advice. Do not, I repeat DO NOT keep any form of liquid around a laptop. If you decide not to take my advice and encounter a similar circumstance, don't let it get to you. The only thing worse than breaking a computer is crying about it. So to answer my own question, no, it's not acceptable to cry over spilt water either.

Also, in case you were wondering, I still don't know if the laptop actually broke. Some things are just better left unknown.

Steering not so clear of the sliding doors

They say the subway is not like an elevator, but who are "they" anyway, right? I guess there are some things you need to learn on your own. With all the chaos of grungy-looking men playing guitar while you veer away from being trampled by hasty strangers, distraction is an inevitable fault.

I successfully navigated my way to the Prince St. station, without the assistance of my newest companion HopStop (YAY!) Don't be fooled though, I couldn't tell you the Q from the B train or the J to the Z. Finding my way around is a real struggle. I actually used the compass app on my phone for the first time ever. I never even knew why that app exists. Well now I know why... NEW. YORK. CITY. Anyway, among the hundreds of people rushing by it's easy to spot the confused intern just off the plane from Florida. Just look out for the girl swiping her Metro card an excessive amount of times only to find herself awkwardly being unable to enter because it wasn't swiped properly. Yep that's me. I swear its an art only true New Yorkers can master. I'll get there someday.

After probably the fifth try, I sat holding my purse tight as I practiced my specialty of people watching. As we all know, nothing and no one is surprising in this city, that's for sure. I was able to make it to my first day of work thirty minutes early, which was good I guess because thirty minutes is on time in this city. 

The day's debacle didn't occur until after business hours when I decided to schlep on the subway (again) to accomplish my first grocery trip with my friends Carly and Kendra. I wasn't really a fan of the idea of lugging around heavy bags filled with Almond milk and cereal boxes, but some things just need to be done. Even though my dorm is surrounded by excessive amounts of pizza places and trendy coffee shops, somehow there is not a single grocery store within blocks. Figures. So we took the 6 train (look at me expanding my horizons) two stops to Union Square. Of course, this didn't go as planned. Typical.

Not even thinking we left for this adventure during rush hour and found ourselves literally pushing our way to get onto the overly crowded train. My trick of getting on at the back of the train failed me for the first time. This is where my rant about subways not being like elevators ties in. As we rushed to get on, we noticed the doors closing in front of us.  This is when I saw Kendra's face experience a combination of disbelief and fear, but she somehow was still laughing. This was actually not a joke. In an attempt to keep the doors open Carly shoved her hand into a machine operated door, as if she had some magical strength to keep them open. She didn't realize this was a mistake until she was screaming for help to random strangers with her hand stuck in between the sliding doors. You know how you always hear that the people in New York aren't friendly? Well you would think that when a twenty-year-old girl is yelling for help maybe some ounce of empathy would occur. Not in our case. Carly managed to get her hand out and the door slammed right in Kendra's face and the subway sped off. After laughing and hiding our faces in utter embarrassment we realized we had no service underground to text Kendra. #firstworldprobz. The experience was too much for Kendra to handle so she decided she'd rather commute back home to Connecticut for two hours than deal with another subway disaster again. Wise choice.

Another schlep on the subway with our bulky grocery bags and we were home. I couldn't even bear the thought of food or moving another inch. By 10:30 I was passed out in bed with the lights on and music playing. Exhaustion was an understatement. Oh, the rough life of being an intern.

And so my adventure began. My attempt to become a true New Yorker may not happen over night, but with every giggle and glare from random people that pass by, I'm one step closer.  

So, with all that being said, here's my spiel for the day:

When in New York, keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times. Pretend you're in Disney World or something. And when in doubt, if you ever get lost, use that oh so neglected compass app on your iPhone. Seriously, telling me to go NW on Lafayette St. is anything but helpful, HopStop!