"The end isn't near..."

I can't believe I only have about a week until I leave. This summer has been everything I've wanted and more. I've gotten to experience so much, live on my own and work and meet dozens and dozens of people I admire. After living here I've realized that I can do anything (cliche, I know, but so true). I can survive in one of the most expensive cities in the world. I can achieve anything I put my mind to. But I've also realized just how small I am in this city. It's filled with millions and millions of people going about their daily lives, and I am a small part of that equation. It puts the world into a perspective. I experienced that when I lived in London, but NY and London are two totally different places. And, for the most part, in NY I feel like I am in the "real world," whereas in London I knew I would be going back to Mizzou when I was done.

Enough with being sappy and reflecting. Here's what I've been up to recently:

I finally got to try legit Chinese in Chinatown! Stef and I went to this cool, hole-in-the-wall place called Wo Hop on Mott St. It literally had 10 tables, and the line was out the door waiting to get in. I recommend this place to anyone visiting the city. It is away from a lot of the hustle and bustle of Canal St (the main artery of Chinatown and where hecklers sell fake purses). Try the Wonton and Egg Drop Soup... divine!

My lovely Us ladies Corrisa and Lucy joined me in enjoying another summer concert. This time we went to Coney Island and watched the Beach Boys! And did I mention it was FREE? It was amazing. We got there and there were already thousands of people there (I estimate close to 40,000). In order to get a somewhat good view, we snuck into this roped off area where only a few groups of people had laid out their things. We had a view of the entire side of the stage. And the best part was that John Stamos made a cameo appearance and sang with them the second half of the show! He even sang his Full House hit "Forever." I was in heaven! Nothing's like listening to the Beach Boys when you're on am actual beach (well, technically we were in a park that was by the beach, but what's the difference?)



The next day was the last summer Friday of my time at Us. Corrisa, Luce and I went on a little shopping trip through Chelsea and the Upper West Side. It was a great day to shop because it basically rained all day long. We were all pretty successful, too.

Saturday I met up with Amanda and we went to Hell's Kitchen market. Got a cool ring and a purse that I am truly obsessed with. It's beautiful to say the least. It was scorching outside, but we put on our game faces and walked up and down the West Side. We got to visit the High Line (old railroad tracks above the city that have been converted to a sidewalk and garden). Gorgeous!

Saturday night Amanda, Stephanie and I did a BYOB in the Upper West Side for dinner at this place called Bellini. BYOB here means bring your own bottle of wine and you can drink it at dinner, which is nice. So beforehand we went to Trader Joe's and got their trusty $3 bottles and shared them at dinner. Afterwards, Stephanie went home but Amanda and I ventured out to one of my favorite NYC bars, the Gin Mill.

Sunday night was the Mad Men season premiere, and Lauren's boss invited her to go to a watch party at a hotel in TriBeCa, and Lauren invited me to tag along. We were treated with a '60's drink (Tom Collins for her, an Old Fashioned for me) and watched the premiere in a screening room where we enjoyed the AMAZING episode with everyone else!

Monday night, after work, I met up with Corrisa, Corrisa's friend Stephen and Lucy and we ventured to Greenwich for one of my last times in the village :(

Tuesday was the big CARDS vs. METS game at Citi Field. The stadium is gorgeous! But I seriously believe Cards fans are different than any other fans in baseball. If this were a game at Busch, it would have been a sell-out. Not here. Lots of open seats (probably the fact that the Mets aren't very good this year, either, doesn't help) We were up in the true nosebleed section, but we had a fantastic view of the field and also the city in distance. I had a fabulous time (even though the Cards lost big time). Next week we are heading to the Yankees game!



Agenda for my last full weekend in the city: my London friends Mike and Rae will be in town... so lots of city loving coming their way!

Until next time-

Days go by

Lots of cool stuff happening this week!

Monday
-Free drinks and "appetizer plate" at Louis 649 in Alphabet City. I use the term "appetizer" loosely because it literally was a small saucer of pickled beets, pickled red peppers and pickled pickles (if that's even possible). The drinks are highly recommended, though!

Tuesday
Poured down rain ALL DAY LONG. Seriously POURED. Ran some errands, but got soaked along the way. Also witnessed a homeless woman pop a squat in the subway station. I am traumatized for life.

The weather DID clear up in the evening, though. Stephanie got a job at good ol' Louis Vuitton, so Amanda, Stef and I met up with her for celebratory drinks at Legends, on 33rd between 5th and 6th (aka super close to me!)

After a few drinks, we headed to Central Park to watch the NY Philharmonic perform! It was so peaceful and a great concert! I love classical music, but this made me love it even more, even though it was on the Great Lawn of the park and the ground was still wet from the day's rainstorm!

Thursday
Got some much-needed pampering, and then met Lucy and Corrisa at Grand Central Station and headed to Connecticut for the Cake concert! Lucy lives in New Town, Conn. and the concert was in nearby Danbury, Conn. at West Connecticut State University. The train ride is only about an hour and a half, and by the time we got there, Lucy's friend Caitlin was waiting in the parking lot to pick us up. From there, we headed to WCSU! It was really refreshing to be in a town like Belleville again — Walmart, cute little houses, GRASS — I almost forgot what they looked like. And it was nice to get out of the city for the night and be in a place like home. I've come to realize there is no place like home! (cliche, yes, but SUCH a true statement).

The concert was so much fun. It reminded me a lot of concerts at the Verizon Amphitheater in STL. We had lawn seats, but towards the end of the concert we decided to make our way up to the stage (the whole concert area was quite small compared to that in STL). So we ran up to the front and made it to the front row! Ha! It was insane!



Friday
Friday we had to catch an early train back to NYC from Lucy's house because we all worked on Friday. LONG morning, but it ended up being an overall great day at Us with lots of busywork to do.

Friday night I met up with Amanda and her friends from IU and we headed to the Lower East Side to a bar called Arlo and Esme. Granted, we didn't get there until 1 a.m., but this place was hoppin'! It had a good vibe to it and was equally enjoyable.

Saturday
After the madness that was Thursday and Friday, Saturday called for a relaxing, yet fun day. Stef and I took a look at the weather and decided to head to Coney Island for a day filled with hot dogs, sun and amusement park rides.

After the long subway ride (thank goodness we didn't have to pay extra!), we arrived at the famous beach. Our first stop was the ever-so-delicious Nathan's Hot Dog stand, home of the hot-dog eating contest on the 4th of July. We quickly filled our tummies and explored the Luna Amusement Park, then headed to the shore.

The beach at Coney Island isn't that great. It's really crowded and a bit on the dirty side. Stef told me a story that her friend told her about the nastiness of the beach, and it still haunts me at night.

After laying out for a few hours, we decided to end our beach day with a great boardwalk snack, a funnel cake, and a ride on the Wonder Wheel, Coney Island's own version of the Ferris Wheel — with a twist. It was quite terrifying, actually. It seems like a normal ride at first, but each car is on its own track, so that when the wheel moves, so does the car, backwards and forwards. I guess getting older means having a more sensitive stomach!



After getting back into the city, Stef and Haleigh were the lucky recipients of Wicked tickets they won in a lottery (I already saw Wicked when I was in London, so I didn't mind not going to the show) I, on the other hand, decided to see Rock of Ages, starring American Idol's Constantine Maroulis. It was one of the best shows I've seen... and all the songs they sing are Journey, Styx, REO Speedwagon and more. I had so much fun singing along!



After our respective shows let out, we made our way to Union Square to the famous Max Brenner Chocolate Bar. I woke up with a chocolate hangover the next day. So totally worth it.

Sunday
Stef and I decided to head to Brooklyn. Our ultimate destination was the Brooklyn Flea Market, and we sure had one hell of a time getting there. But despite canceled trains, wrong directions and bad luck, we made it two hours later. I got two amazing bracelets for a total of $15. I call that a steal in this city!

Sunday night Corrisa and I saw INCEPTION. I cannot stress this enough: you MUST see this movie! No ifs, ands or buts about it. It will blow your mind. And Leo isn't too bad to look at, either ;)

Catching Up

Because I have so much to update on, I've decided to turn to trusty BULLETED POINTS. That way, it's less I have to type and less that you have to read. Win-win situation, right?

4th of July Weekend
Because of the holiday weekend (and the fact that Us has to work on Mondays, no matter what) we were off on Friday. That meant interns' night out Thursday night!

-Barcelona Bar. Harry Potter shots (flaming shots complete with the bartender who dressed up like Harry!)

-Got lost in TriBeCa. Getting lost in heels is not fun.
-Found a cool little bar in the Chinatown/SoHo area. Forget the name, but it was well-worth getting lost for!
-We all tried to pull an all-nighter in order to see Maroon 5 at the Today show Friday morning. Well, we failed. I vowed that I was going to wake up, but my alarm didn't go off, so I missed the entire concert :(

Friday
-Ran into Amy after I attempted to go to the concert late. We decided to spend our days off at Brighton Beach, a beach a few miles from the famous Coney Island. Didn't get a Nathan's hot dog, though.


Saturday
-Amanda, Stef and I headed out to Long Island Beach for a hot, hot day on the shore!
-Got burnt to a crisp. Literally. Stef looked like a tomato and I looked like I spent a little too long in the tanning bed. Yay, summer!
-Met up with Regan that night for a fun night in the East Village at a bar called The Blind Pig. Guy bought me a PB&J shot when I told him I had never tried it. Tasted exactly like a PB&J and I was taken back to the good-ol' days at St. Teresa.


Sunday
-4th of July!
-All of us roomies and Lauren's friends made a pit-stop in Central Park, the most famous park in America (in my opinion!)
-Headed to Pier 54 to watch fireworks. Arrived and found out that the pier didn't open until 6. We ended up walking to Pier 88. Walking two miles + 100-degree heat = me almost collapsing of dehydration.
-After I almost died (two bottles of water and ice cream saved me), we hung out at the pier 'til the fireworks started at 9:30. Best fireworks display I've ever seen! Bravo, Macy's!


Monday
-While everyone enjoyed their day off, I worked.

Tuesday
-Woke up at 5 a.m. to get in the standby line for Regis and Kelly.
-After waiting for three hours, finally got in!
-Attended live taping of Tuesdays show. The guests: Julianne Moore and Nikki Reed from Twilight
-After the taping ended, the producers informed us that they would be taping ANOTHER show that was going to air the next week. They told us to stay if we could. BONUS SHOW! I totally stayed, of course.
-2nd show: Russell Brand (!!!), Nicholas Cage and Snooki, Pauly D and The Situation from Jersey Shore (!!!!!!!!!!) Too much fun! And sooo glad I went!
-That night I went to Kendra Wilkinson's book signing. Got to meet her (she's gorgeous!) and her hubby Hank (so cute in person, too!)

Wednesday
-Ah, work again.
-After work we all went to Pier 54 for the Hudson River movie nights. Tonight's feature presentation: THE HANGOVER! I was in heaven. Watched the movie on the pier that overlooked the Hudson River. Breathtaking!

Thursday
-Spent my afternoon at Bryant Park reading and writing :)
-Went to bed early in order to wake up early for the LADY GAGA concert!

Friday
-Woke up at 3:00 AM for the Lady Gaga concert at the Today Show!
-People had been camping out since Wednesday. Needed to say, when we arrived there was already a massive crowd. We made camp behind the stage.
-As the concert neared, police let us scoot forward towards the stage. We ended up about 100 feet closer to the stage than when we started. Not bad, not bad!
-Gaga came out and performed four songs. It rained after the first set and during the last set. It was surreal. She didn't let the rain prohibit her from performing. AMAZING live and so incredible.
-Found out that we were apart of the biggest concert crowd the Today Show has ever had. 20,000 people crammed into Rockefeller Plaza.
-Had to go to work after that (but first, I raced home and changed into clothes that weren't soaking wet!) Thank you, Starbucks Iced Coffees.
-Happy Hour with Lucy and Corrisa at the House of Brews. Yummy raspberry beer!

Saturday
-Chelsea Markets and the Meatpacking District
-Stef and I trekked to the upper, upper west side and visited the prestigious Columbia University. Snuck around and went inside the Journalism School and also the Art School. Beautiful campus, but didn't compare to Mizzou :)
-Screened the new movie, Ramona and Beezus, for Us. SUCH a cute family-friendly movie! The little girl who plays Ramona is unforgettable.

Sunday
-Ah, finally today. I'm meeting my aunt and her husband in Hoboken!
-This afternoon is the press junket for Ramona and Beezus with Selena Gomez, John Corbett and Bridget Moynahan! Sooo excited!

So that's the latest updates in the life of Jenna. Stay tuned for more, kids.