the playlist

"Be Easy" -Ghostface Killa

"Le Disko" - Shiny Toy Guns

"Ghetto Rock" -Mos Def

"Trust A Try" -Janet Jackson

"Creator" -Santogold

"Boyz" -M.I.A.

"My Adidas" - Run DMC

"Je Veux Te Voir" -Yelle

"Labels or Love" -Fergie

"Party" - Nelly Furtado

"Shut Up and Let Me Go" - The Ting Tings

"Get Me Bodied" -Beyonce

"Tainted Love" -Marilyn Manson

"New York Girls" -Morningwood

listen and jam. i give trent wallace credit for this.

ancestry.com

I stumbled upon a website...that devours my time more than facebook.  It's called ancestry.com and it is quite extraordinary.  I am finding my great, great, great, great grandparents on here. I'm a huge fan of the instant gratification this world has to offer, therefore, I love how quickly the results are generated and placed in your tree.  It's like finding a part of yourself you never knew about.  Also, I'm learning some really fantastic family names...

When my mother named me and my siblings...she used the "family name + favorite name" equation.  I plan on using this also. Jess (McGhee), my brother is the only 1/4 that was named completely after a family member (our great-grandfather).

In an ideal world where you could pick the order and gender of your future children, I would love to have two, maybe three, boys and THEN a little girl.  My two reasons for this are as follows: I always wanted an older brother...so my daughter is going to have more than that AND boys are just easier. period. With that said...I have about 3 or 4 girl names picked out for my daughter(s)? Girl names have been more fun for me lately.  Why I'm picking out my children's names when I'm not even remotely close to getting married? This is something that all girls do...but anyways...back to ancestry.com

My beautiful, wonderful mother was adopted at birth by my wonderful grandparents Lucy and Warren Brown. I am researching the Brown/Dorris family anyways...because they're the family that I know.  Even though we're not related by blood...it feels a little more important to research them.  Not to mention they have some CRAZY names...like edsel and buford...i love it.

On my father's side, I've found a LOT of family on the Satterfield side(his mom).  For example: I found my great, great, great grandmother, Lula Eudora Baird and I am naming one of my girls Lula. It's official. Come on? It's a family name! (Along with Stella Brown and Betty John - no one steal these. seriously. I will hunt you down.)

the rutledge family crest...jealous?

The Rutledge side of this process has been the most difficult.  I can't get past my great- grandfather.  It's almost impossible. However...I am not giving up. I promised my dad that I wouldn't. When I researched our last name...as it turns out...we were from a town on the Scottish/English border and were kicked out for boot-legging.  hilarious.

brooklyn

note: also written at two in the morning on wednesday night...

last week i went to brooklyn for my first time.  i have been two times previously (once with liz when we crossed the bridge and once with drew and mateo to look at an apt)...but i'm not counting them as "brooklyn encounters" because they lasted less than an hour each and i didn't get to experience the area. 

this time, however, i went and experienced it. i went with my friend yuriy from hermes of paris. (he is one of the actual people i got along with while working there). he's my latvian, music-loving friend and we always have great conversations. therefore, i was excited to venture out of the city to hang out...where else? in williamsburg.

so while in brooklyn...i saw a musical duet perform called chicken little. one girl played the accordian (which is an extremely difficult instrument to play -- both hands are pushing different buttons...allthewhile you're pushing and pulling the actual accordian in and out....talk about multi-tasking!) the guy played the guitar. while playing their respective intstruments, they sang and harmonized beautifully. i liked it. alot.

also while i was there...there was a HUGE carnival/streetfair going on...which reminded me of home a little bit. perhaps the franklin fair? however, it was very ethnic. i had my first knish...which is like a potato...maybe? i put mustard on it and it was delicious. i also purchased a LARGE inflatable mets bat for $6...which might have been the worst idea EVER. never carry a large mets bat in yankeeland...or heckling will ensue. (i should have just hit those "stank-ees" fans with the bat...now that i think about it...)

i have since went back to williamsburg to sell some of my clothes for cash...i did this at home from time to time at planet exchange. there are no stores like that in manhattan...so i hopped on the L to brooklyn...because they have one there called beacon's closet. AND because i'm a "regular" to the brooklyn area. or at least i hope to be :)

counter-productive services? or brilliant time-savers?

i wrote this two nights ago and apparently decided that 2:30 in the morning was as good of time as any to blog AND begin an account with ancestry.com (for which I'm now addicted to). 

1) my laundry bundle service.

when my laundry bag starts to overflow...i walk down the block and place it on the large scale at the laundromat.  the little man proceeds to ask me, "separate or together?" i always reply, "together" because it's cheaper (i'm just asking for a load of pink clothing someday. oh wait...that already happened...)

so he then takes my bag, gives me a receipt and I come pick it up the following day: washed and folded for about $10. ummmm...does anyone else not find that amazing? because i do.

one time...I came for pickup but couldn't locate my bag. i then noticed my clothes were inappropriately located in this nasty mesh bag that was NOT my beautiful, white,  3-tiered-ruffle laundry bag. This was the moment when panic kicked in. I explained to the little man that I had JUST bought this bag and it was really nice and expensive! this was amusing to him.

we found it later...folded INSIDE the mesh bag with my other clothing. this was because he had washed the bag thinking it was a dress. seriously.  now everytime i drop my laundry off, after asking me if i want separate or together, he does this little bit: "really spensive bag...don't lose her bag...she get upset because it nice bag" its really funny. oh wait...no. it's not.

2) food. 

food is abundant. everyone delivers. we have a bowl of takeout menus and we use them. alot. before moving here...when I thought of takeout...images of greasy chinese food would fill my head. well don't worry...we still have that. but we also have some healthy options also. one thing that i am against in the delivery process (and this is coming from an unhealthy eater) is that mcdonalds delivers.  i always justified my mcdonalds visits in nashville by the fact that I actually had to get up off my lazy ass and drive to get my happy meal.  here...not so much.

 

3) netflix

I know this isn't particular to nyc (actually, now that i think about it...NONE of this is particular to nyc...but i have previously never used these services) but it's amazing.

screw blockbuster. seriously. it's a huge, unecessary hole in your pocket if you don't return your movies on time.  which i don't. sometimes i need more than a day to watch a movie. AND this might be lazy...but why go to the video store...when it's located online where you can watch trailers...etc.

with netflix...you pay 8 -10 dollars a month for unlimited movie watching. you go online...create a movie queue...and they just send them, in the mail, according to your order. you take your time watching the movie and return it in the provided return envelope WHENEVER you want. you can keep the same movie for weeks if you want (although i don't know why you would do that.) then, when you send it back...you get another one the following day. best idea ever. i just watched the godfather...al pacino was a VERY attractive man. very very attractive. (and that was a great movie.)

week twenty-one

drew, matty, and i on the 4th

I have been here for exactly 22 weeks. That number sometimes sounds like an accomplishment and then other times quite insignificant, simply depending on my mood. Today, it's an accomplishment! 22 weeks! There are 52 weeks in a year (if i'm not mistaken)...and 22 is quite a chunk. quite a chunk, indeed.

In the beginning of my yankeedoodle adventure, i  ventured back down to the south on various occasions for various reasons (i was having a bit of a time adjusting...i'll admit that).  However, I'm trying to space that out a bit more.  My last trip to Nashville (which was a spontaneous decision to go canoeing/camping) occurred on week sixteen.  Week sixteen was five weeks ago. That is bizarre to think about because that trip is still so fresh on my mind. Like it was yesterday. 

Anyways...enough of the rambling in my head.  Since week sixteen, a lot has happened:  I intensely interviewed for two jobs (which i've explained before and will go into detail about later). I got sick and went to the doctor (this turned out to be a great thing because now I have a regular doctor I can always call and he's walking distance from my apartment!). I established a friendship with two of the funniest boys...ever.  I'm quite thankful for them...even though one is extremely lazy and one has a deathwish sometimes (you know those are both true statements). I went to Washington, D.C.  with Lauren while she interviewed for a job at the British Embassy (which she landed...by the way! congrats!).  

Lauren's friend/Andrew Galbierz's girlfriend, Anna Gatlin, also came along.  This was my first encounter with her and she is PROBABLY the happiest, sweetest, and accommodating person i've ever met. When I say accommodating...i mean life is somewhat effortless when she's around (perhaps you should go into hospitality and management if teaching doesn't work out, anna) She's moving to NYC in august and in a few weeks she's coming up to stay with me while she apartment hunts! can't wait.

I celebrated my 4 month anniversary with NYC.  A portion of my family came to visit (johnny, lynny, and ella) and we went to the little mermaid and dined at some of my favorite restaurants.  This was Ella's first time in the city...she loved it.  Finally my friend Lyles came to visit...it was great to see her! Probably one of the best visits I've had yet.

lyles and I on the "top of the roc"

Life is good. I'm quite happy. Next time I return to tha 6-1-5 will be august 7th-10th for the eve and jefferson extravaganza and I cannot wait!

Hopefully see some of you then!

the interviewing process

the interviewing process here is exhausting and does a major toll on your self esteem.  besides choosing what to wear (i hate suits), I think the hardest part is actually landing the interview to begin with.  this is a city where it's great to know people. networking is a must.  i've been here four months and just recently began getting LEGIT interviews and not the trashy scammy kind. So, for anyone who is down in the dumps about job situations...don't be. i'll be cliche and say, "everything happens for a reason."

craigslist.org has become my best friend. i'm probably on there for about 3-4 hours each day. It's the best way to find last-minute opportunities.  Also, for any writers, ED2010.com is amazing. 

i'm waiting to hear back from two completely different jobs.

1) the bromley group 

fashion pr. would love it. room for growth. great learning experience.

2)  insideout sports and entertainment.

this is a dream job.  Jim Courier's personal assistant.  growth.

(i would take and love either...but i want #2 more...)

chicken noodle soup.

Once upon a time there was a twenty-ish girl that became deathly ill. Miles and miles away from her mother, she had no one to tend to her ailments. One afternoon, after hours and hours of laying on her deathbed, her door buzzer began to buzz. The young girl mustered up enough energy and curiousity to leap over to the door...only to find an asian delivery man with soup. As delicious as soup sounded to the girl, she did not happen to order any. As she tried to explain this to the nice delivery man, she noticed the receipt said it had been pre-paid by credit card. Someone had sent this soup to her! Who would participate in such a nice gesture? None other than her BFFAE, Stephen Vaca who hails from Washington, D.C. She promptly phoned him to thank him for his ridiculously nice gesture. The End