Going back to the tried and true.

I'm switching my WI day to Mondays until I'm either moved to NYC or done working at my current job.  Whichever happens first.  Right now, Thursdays are my Saturday, and I'd like to enjoy the day without worrying that I'm only a day away from WI.

Also, I'm going to start posting my weight, food, and exercise everyday again.  It really helped me.  Tomorrow I will start by posting today's points and such.  It will be just like when I was doing the "Keeping It Real" challenge, except I don't have an end date on this one.  I may do it indefinitely.  Not sure.

I don't have a weight for today, I forgot to WI when I first got up.  Which has also been an issue - I have no idea what is going on with my body currently.  I've been so focused on applying to jobs and looking for apartments in NYC, that I haven't really thought about my health.   And that's no good - that doesn't help anyone, let alone myself.  I need to be healthy when I move, I'm going to have enough to adjust to without also worrying about being sick.

Side Note: I did have TWO phone interviews last week.  Considering that I wasn't expecting to get an interview for several weeks, I'm feeling pretty good about getting a job now.  Good news!

Okay, so here is how my tracking will be laid out (similar to before, but with a few tweaks):

9.13.11 Weight: XXX.X

Meds? yes or no
Activity: what and how many points

APs earned WTD: XX

P+ consumed: XX

Weekly P+ remaining: XX

Something Fun: I'll write about something fun in my life - even if it is just a good joke between friends.
NYC Move: What I did that day to get ready for the move.

Breakfast:

What is was (P+)

Lunch:

What is was (P+)

Snack:

What is was (P+)

Dinner:

What is was (P+)

Treat:

What is was (P+)

• If I have any other deep thoughts to share, I'll put it here.

A New York Minute: Mobiling Monday or The Day Where I Had I Too Much Time to Think

As I alluded to yesterday, Briggs and I woke up with one thing on our mind: cupcakes.  So we got ourselves dressed, not bothering with hair or make-up as we would be spending most of the day traveling, and headed to our favorite spot: Crumbs Bakeshop...

Cookies and Cream cupcake: the frosting tasted just like the inside of an Oreo!

We contemplated buying some to take with us, but didn't want to have to keep track of them on the airplane, so opted out.  Off we went into the rain again, aiming our walk to where there were awnings (we'd forgotten our umbrella).  We took a different way then we usually do, and I saw this interesting building:

Makes me think of London.

We continued to walk back to our hotel in the rain and we were about a block away when I hear, "Jaclynne."

Briggs is kind of like a mother, she only says my full name when she's mad at me (which is rare) or when something bad has happened.  It was the latter.

"My purse" is all she had to say.  Shit.  She'd forgotten her purse back at Crumbs.  In her purse: her ID  she needed to board the plane back to Minneapolis.  Double shit.

We immediately turned around and started back to Crumbs and of course the rain picked up.  We walked fast, but it didn't matter, by the time we got back to 38th and Broadway we were soaked.  Luckily, someone had turned in her purse (and everything was still in it!  I knew New Yorkers were nice!) so we sat in the bakeshop for a minute to dry off.  I looked at my phone and saw that the rain wasn't going to be letting up anytime soon, so we just sucked it up and started walking.

We were walking fast with our heads down to keep the rain out our eyes...so we missed our turn.  Oops.  I didn't realize it until we were a couple blocks past.  It was completely pouring, but Briggs and I stepped under and awing so I could take a photo (might as well make the best of the situation):

The "other" side of the Garment district

We finally got back to the hotel and went straight to our room to dry off.  The rest of our time in NYC is pretty boring...we just tried to stay dry and eventually got on the train back to Queens.  While waiting for the Q33 bus to take us the rest of the way to LaGuardia, I grabbed a few pictures (the rain had stopped by then, of course)...

Queens

Queens

Queens

Queens - I love how gritty it is there.

The sign reads "NO STANDING ANYTIME" but obviously people stood.

Queens

Queens

Once at LaGuardia, we ate lunch and people watched again (AWESOME people watching at LaGuardia) until eventually...our departure time came...and went.  WTF?!  Apparently, our flight's captain disappeared somewhere between his incoming flight and our flight.  Nobody knew where he was (does that freak anyone else out?) so they had to call in a reserve pilot who lived in Staten Island and it would be awhile before he got there.  We'd be leaving NYC when we were supposed to be arriving in Minneapolis.  Briggs was stressed out by this because her BF was already well on his way to Minneapolis to pick us up and would now be waiting several hours.  Oh, well, nothing we could do.  So we both pulled out our respective books and started reading.

Well, Briggs did.  My mind was too busy digesting about our trip and trying to sort through all my emotions...

I figured out that I DID still want to move out there (I'd had a few moments of doubt during the trip), but for some reason it didn't seem as urgent.  I still want to be moved by the end of the summer, but if it takes a bit longer, no biggie.

I also realized that I've only ever visited the city in the winter months, so I decided I'd better make a trip out in the summer to make sure I didn't hate it (I doubt I will) and, if possible, I'd like my uncle who lives in CT to explore with me since I completely trust his judgment.  

For some reason, I also discovered, I'm surprisingly outgoing in NY.  I'm not sure why, people who know me personally can attest that at first I tend to be pretty reserved (only after you get to know me do I talk your ear off), but in NYC I had no problem talking to anyone.  I think this is a good sign that NYC is a good fit for me.

Despite my newly acquired outgoing personality, I'm was (and still am) nervous about actually making friends when I get out there.  I decided that I'll have to remember that I'm a nice Midwestern girl when I'm there and that should help me make friends since Midwestern apparently equals approachable. 

As far as jobs, I've decided that while I'd love to do something with my degree, the most important thing will be to get a job that I can survive on until said dream job comes along.  I think that as long as I'm not too picky, I should be able to get a job easily (I've heard the whole "Midwestern work ethic" is a selling point out East).

Eventually, a pilot showed up, and we boarded the flight.  Nothing exciting about the rest of the trip...we flew for a couple hours then drove for five hours (because in Iowa, the drive to/from the airport is almost always longer then the actual flight you're catching).  Along the way I still kept thinking...but more along the lines of "well, what now?"

Indeed, what now?

For now, I'm going to get a job that will keep me busy and make me some money.  For now I'm going to keep running and focusing on my WLJ.  I'm going to keep blogging.  I'm going to spend time with my friends in Des Moines and Okoboji.  For now, I'll take lots of pictures for when I get homesick after the move.  For now, I'll keep saving money so I have a security blanket after the move.  I'm going to research neighborhoods and companies in and around NYC.  I'll start really putting an effort into building my portfolio and essays for graduate school.  For now, I'll spend time with my family and remember why Okoboji summers are the best.  For now, I'll look forward to the 4th of July and the fireworks.  For now, I'll just be...

With that, a YouTube of my favorite song from Avenue Q, aptly titled For Now:

Catch up on my trip:

• A New York Minute: Serene Sunday or The Day We Refused to Hurry  
• A New York Minute: Serendipitous Saturday or The Day of Happy Accidents 
• A New York Minute: Freaking Friday or the Day of Funny Discussions  
• A New York Minute: Tourist Thursday or the Day We Kept Taking Wrong Turns
• A New York Minute: Whoo Hoo Wednesday!
• A New York Minute: By the Numbers

A New York Minute: Serene Sunday or The Day We Refused to Hurry

You'd think that when someone doesn't go to bed until a quarter after three, they'd sleep a bit later than usual, right?

Wrong.  I woke up a little after seven on Sunday morning with a killer headache.  I mean an awful headache, like someone had hit me over the head repeatedly with a slap bracelet headache.  But, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get back to sleep.  Briggs was completely knocked out though, so I read my NYC neighborhood book for awhile until I just couldn't keep still anymore.  So, I got up and got myself ready for the day.  Briggs starting stirring, but I told her she could keep sleeping and that I was just going to run and get us some coffee.

On my walk to Starbucks, I checked the weather: sunny and cool (which is warm compared to Northern Iowa).  Brilliant.  I did not want a repeat of Friday.  I wanted my last day in NYC to be chill and  serene.  I wanted to explore Brooklyn, but I didn't want to feel like we were racing from place to place. 

With my sunglasses firmly in place, I stepped into Starbucks and ordered some drip coffees for the both of us.  While in line I must have said something under my breath about how I couldn't understand how all these women didn't have frizzy hair (at this point, I was seriously hating my hair) because a woman said to me, "Keratin treatments.  That's why our hair doesn't frizz."

Wow.  Was it really that simple?  I looked them up on my phone and am now convinced she wasn't lying.  Just like most things, NYC was three years ahead of Iowa because everyone and their dog gets these treatments out there, but I can't find anyone who even knows how to do them here.  And I want one.  Jesi, get on it. 

Anyways, back at the hotel, Briggs was finally up and about so we started figuring out the correct route to Greenpoint, Brooklyn (we weren't going to risk having to ask for directions again) because I had a Groupon to Fred Flare I wanted to use.  The route was simple enough, but since it was Sunday and the trains don't run as often on weekends it was going to take us awhile.  Which was fine, because Briggs was totally on board with just taking it easy.

So, coffees drained, map and iPhone in hand we left for Brooklyn.

There were lots of train transfers, but now that we had learned to read the signs it wasn't difficult at all.  There was a lot of waiting, which made Briggs a bit anxious, but otherwise an easy ride.  The last transfer was at Metropolitan Ave/Grand Street where we had a bit of wait for our last train...

I wish I'd taken more photos of the stations, but I wanted to make
sure I didn't show up on subwaydouchery.com

We had to walk a couple blocks from our last stop to get there, but we finally found Fred Flare.  Fred Flare is a store known for cute and quirky home accessories and fashion (kind of a smaller scale Urban Outfitters).  Briggs and I had been to the website several times, but their only store is in Greenpoint. 

In we went, and we were surprised at how small it was.  Not a ton of selection in the store, but then again it was the end of February and they may have been trying to deplete before doing inventory for tax season.  We were both able to find some things to buy.  Briggs got her eldest step-son a harmonica and I found these (pictures from Fred Flare website):

New York Journal: to record things I want to
remember/know during and after moving.

Fossil clutch, I love the colors!

After shopping, we both were finally hungry.  I was still wanting a lox bagel, so we looked for a bagel shop.  Luckily, Brooklyn had a place where I could get one (my tourist hat had fallen off by Sunday, so I don't remember where we stopped) and it was beautiful:

Lox bagel

For some reason, my head wasn't with me, so instead of asking for a wheat bagel I said I wanted garlic.  I don't like garlic bagels.  I really don't like garlic bagels when I'm hungover.  So, even though the salmon and cream cheese were delish, I couldn't eat it because the garlic bagel was literally making me gag.  It didn't go to waste though, Briggs wrapped it up and ate it later that night in our hotel room. 

So, still hungry, we started walking around.  We both really liked Brooklyn.  I'm not joking when I say it reminds me of a more crowded downtown Des Moines.  The buildings are closer to each other, but otherwise the same.

Eventually we stumbled upon an Irish Pub that served food and went inside.  I ordered biscuits and gravy.  I didn't take a picture because it looks exactly like biscuits and gravy do in Iowa.  I ate about half (my appetite was still meager) but it was good.  Exactly the comfort food I needed.

Finally satiated, Briggs and I started wandering again.  We had no course, we had no direction, we just strolled, turning when our intuition told us to.  During the walk we (unbeknown to us at the time) meandered into Williamsburg, Brooklyn.  I only found out that we'd got there when I looked at my map later in the day at the hotel.  During our walk, I took a few pictures...

Street in Brooklyn.  Reminds me a lot of downtown Des Moines.

I thought this house was cool looking.

At one of the transfer points on the way back (the name escapes me) there were some interesting tile art:

same/sane

faith/fate.  this was opposite the same/sane art

A different transfer stop was at Union Square, and since we weren't in any hurry, I suggested we stop at The Strand again so Briggs could finally look at the rare books.  So we did just that...she went upstairs and checked those books out while I tried to find a fun book to read on our flight home.  I chose The Stuff of Thought by Steven Pinker.

Image Source

The book is about how the words we decide to use affect our own and others perceptions.  Yes everyone, my fun book is about psycholinguistics, if that makes me a nerd then I wear the title proudly.

I'm a geeky hott mamma! 

Briggs bought something too, but I don't remember what (what did you get?) and then we headed back to the hotel.  Where we decided we wanted a super chill evening of just hanging together while watching the Gay Superbowl (The Oscars for those of you who don't speak Gaymanish).  First things first though, we needed to clean our room and pack.  Nothing too exciting about that, but I have to say that I was super impressed that I could still fit all my things in my carry-on suitcase, even without expanding it!

We decided that we had to do something New York themed that night though, so we decided to focus on some New York food.  Can anyone think of some food that New York is famous for but I haven't mentioned?  I'll give you a minute...

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Keep thinking.
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I bet you're almost at the right answer.
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Okay, I give.  We hadn't ate any pizza or cheesecake yet!  This had to be fixed before we left Monday, so we crossed the street to grab a couple slices to eat in our room...

New York Style Cheese Pizza.  And, yes, I did fold it to eat it.

We let the pizza settle while watching the Oscar red carpet.  Oh, here's a fun NYC fact: NYC gets to have their local news anchors do their own Oscar red carpet show.  That's right, the anchors from PIX 11 in NYC were right there with the stars.  This was a little weird to me and Briggs since Iowa's anchors certainly do not get to do this, but then again, it's Iowa...

About an hour before it started, Briggs and I were ready for our cheesecake, so we headed back down to the Tick Tock Diner and each ordered a piece with some coffee to wash it down.

Cheesecake.  Nummy.

I also got bored and started taking pictures of the diner...

Briggs looks like she praying, but she's really just digesting.

The blue light was pretty, but it made everyone look like they were sick.

Tick Tock Diner

I thought the pattern in the table was fun, this is now my computer wallpaper.

Tick Tock Diner neon clock

Back in the room, we watched the Oscars and chilled out.  We decided that Anne Hathaway was awesome (its like she was hosting a party and invited all of us to join her!) and James Franco was stoned (I swear that if someone had thrown some Doritos on stage, his night would have been made).  We were both super excited that Natalie Portman won best actress and thought the kids from Staten Island singing the finale were super cute.

But then, it was time for bed, we wanted Crumbs in the morning and then we were flying home...if only we'd known how long that'd take us.

Catch-up on my trip:

• A New York Minute: Serendipitous Saturday or The Day of Happy Accidents 
• A New York Minute: Freaking Friday or the Day of Funny Discussions  
• A New York Minute: Tourist Thursday or the Day We Kept Taking Wrong Turns
• A New York Minute: Whoo Hoo Wednesday!
• A New York Minute: By the Numbers

A New York Minute: Serendipitous Saturday or The Day of Happy Accidents

I woke with a hangover, so running was out of the question.  I looked our our window, praying for sun, and luckily that is exactly what I saw...

Concrete Jungle. 

Concrete Jungle

Concrete Jungle

Thrilled by weather, Briggs and I got ourselves together and headed back to our favorite breakfast spot, Crumbs Bakeshop...

Peanut Butter Cupcake: delicious, but a little rich for a morning after drinking...

While eating we somehow or other got on the subject of our birthdays this coming summer and decided we needed to have a joint birthday (our birthdays are a month apart).  At first, we thought about doing a Moulin Rouge theme but finally settled on a Midsummer's Night theme.  I'm sure there will be posts about the planning of this event, so check back...

Anyways, Briggs felt the need to organize our day somewhat, so she took my phone from me to figure out the best route to ABC Home & Carpet which was in Union Square.  I thought that heading that way sounded good since a friend of mine had suggested Max Brenner as a good place for some hot chocolate. 

Briggs, navigating...

So, we headed out.  I was so pleased with the weather and sun (I love the sun) that I had to keep stopping to take pictures...

Garment District

The Garment Worker, to honor the Jewish immigrants who worked in the sweatshops

A McDonald's without the Golden Arches...thought it was weird.

Garment District/Parsons

We hopped the train down to Union Square, where we were surprised to find a Farmers' Market happening.  Being from Iowa, this sort of tickled our fancy.  A Farmers' Market...in The City...in the middle of winter.  So weird.  It made for some good people watching while we walked and again I felt the need to take a picture...

It hardly looks like a city...and look at that sky!

I knew at this point that Saturday was going to be awesome.  I got some much needed energy from the sun and I could literally feel some luck pumping through my veins.  I was a bit chilly though, so we headed to Max Brenner to get my hot chocolate.

I think a photo will express my experience better than I ever could (side note, it was a small cup, my hands are not huge):

I needed a wet nap after.  That good.

I also thought their cups were funny...

It reads "Chocolate by the Bald Man" 

As we walked out of Max Brenner, we came upon some interesting sidewalk chalk art:

"60 Faces" by Felix Morelo and my shadow

Quirky, cute, little faces

 The artist, Felix Morelo, draws small faces, counting them as he goes.  I thought they were cute and quirky.  I'm not sure how long he did them, but it must have been for quite some time because we came upon more of them when we were bar hopping in the East Village/Lower East Side later that night.  What a happy accident for two quirky girls from the Midwest.

We then ventured to ABC Home and shopped.  While there, I was asked by no less than three people for directions.  One person I could help (they needed the subway to go uptown) but the other two asked me how to get to Bloomingdale's and I had to let them know that I wasn't from NYC.  The sweet tourists were surprised and said that I fit right in...whatever that means.

There wasn't much in my budget at ABC Home, but I did find a few small items to make my own:

Another note card, that I intend to frame.

A baggie for Tarot deck (shown holding crap from my trip)

After ABC Home, we wanted to go to the Main Library Branch, so we got directions from my phone and according to it we just needed to walk a few blocks, so we did just that and along the way we stumbled upon a delightful kitchen accessories store called Fishs Eddy.  I was immediately struck with their window displays:

Colorful quirky!

Whimsical Charm!

It reads, "Kitchen Weapons"

They encourage mixing up your dishes.  Me likey.

Just delightful!

We of course, had to venture inside and look around.  I saw several things I wanted and could actually afford since their prices were relatively reasonable, but I didn't want anything that could possibly break when I was schlepping it back to Iowa, so I just grabbed their card.  This happy accident resulted in my already planning to buy some dishes from them after I move out there this August (gift cards for my birthday and/or housewarming will be welcomed :D). 

Back on the path to what we thought was the Main Library...just a couple more blocks...and not the right branch.  Crap.  My phone had failed us again.  At this point we were both hungry so we decided to find someplace to eat.  I'd been craving a lox bagel since we arrived and searched for a deli where I could get one.  Lots of them in the area served them...just not past 11 am.  Oh well, it was not to be, so I settled for some tacos...

NYC version of Tacos

As I'd mentioned in previous posts, NYC does not know good Mexican food.  These tacos were dry and bland.  Even the salsa was bland.  The only part I enjoyed was the shell which was made of flour instead of corn.

Citi Pond was very scenic...

Bryant Park.  I loved the trees contrasting with the cityscape.

Lurrrvvvv...

It looked cold, but it really wasn't that bad.

Citi Pond.  There were several teenagers/couples making out. 

We finally saw the back entrance to the library and went in.  I thought the murals in the Children's Reading Room were fantastic, and the library itself was lovely but as I'm not a huge Beaux Arts lover, I split up from Briggs so she could go explore while I sat for a bit.

I never sat because I came upon an exhibit called: Three Faiths - Judaism, Christianity, Islam.  The exhibit showed many of the library's rare religious texts (including a their Gutenberg Bible - I've now seen two of them).  Their goal was to educate people into the ways the three faiths are alike so they can coexist better (love it).  For my friends who have been reading my blog for awhile and know about my personal religious journey, you can probably guess that I was most drawn to the Jewish texts.  Not only are they beautiful, but the depth of them was phenomenal.  I was literally speechless over them (Briggs noticed).  I wasn't allowed to take pictures, for obvious reasons, but the written Hebrew language is absolutely one of the most lovely things I've ever seen (and I studied typography in depth, so that's saying something).   Obviously another happy accident. 

We eventually left the exhibit (it was very crowded because it was the last day) and ventured into the gift shop.  I was again looking for something small that I could take with me to either frame or wear and came upon these lovelies...

Bookmarks of the mural in the Children's Reading Room!

This completely made my day, as I had been bummed that I couldn't take pictures of them while in the Reading Room (happy accident!).  This is better, I'm going to frame them in sets of three and have them displayed together.  Kinda like this (but with frames and matting and not carpet)...

Double bonus?  There were two complete sets in each package, so I can frame a set for Briggs as a gift!  My next trip to Hobby Lobby is going to be expensive...note to self, start collecting coupons. 

We exited the Library through the main entrance and naturally had to take some pics with Leo (the Library's Lion Mascot).

Briggs was making me laugh...aren't these two Leos adorbs!

Briggs posed with the other Leo. 

And of course, a pic of the library itself...

I cannot express how HUGE this building is...pic doesn't do it justice.

We took a minute to think about the best way to get up to Central Park/Strawberry Fields and decided we needed to get on the train at Times Square.  We weren't overly excited about going back there, as it was Saturday and we could only imagine how crowded it would be, but it was really the best way.  So over and up we went and we eventually found ourselves in the Upper West Side.  We got into Central Park, and took a leisurely stroll up to Strawberry Fields.  On the way, I took this gorgeous picture of Briggs on a natural wood bridge...

The bridge and her just "go". 

We found the Imagine mosaic pretty easily, and it was all purdied up for us...

Hard to see in photo, but there are dice in the middle of it - anyone know the significance?

Briggs, wanted her picture with it...

She looks so somber.

We then walked around Central Park a bit, just looking around and eventually sat down to just relax.  We people watched for a bit (we do this a lot) and then decided that since we were supposed to be meeting a friend of mine later that night that we should go chill out at the hotel for a bit so we weren't tired.  The subway we needed to get on was right next to The Dakota...

Honestly, one of the prettiest apartment buildings in Manhattan, but it gives me bad vibes.

Back at the hotel, we vegged for awhile.  Eventually my friend firmed up plans with us to meet in Chinatown around 10:00 at a bar called Fontana's.  We had some time to kill, so we first ventured out to find food.  For some reason, we both wanted Chipotle (which they seem to have every few blocks in midtown Manhattan).  This was the only time we ate at a chain that we also have in Iowa.  After dinner we realized that we still had A LOT of time to kill, so while I looked at my subway map, I came upon something that was only a few blocks away: The Museum of Sex (happy accident!).  Briggs decided this was a must see, so off we went.

The Museum is a hoot and a half.  As we didn't have hours upon hours to walk through it (and we wouldn't have wanted to hurry because it was around $18 a ticket), we didn't go into the museum part, but the gift shop was fun enough for us.  Briggs was bound and determined to find her man something in there, so while she looked around I kinda explored and came upon the most hilarious sign.  I felt weird taking a picture, so instead I bought a magnet of it:

Duly noted.

I showed it to Briggs and if we hadn't needed to be somewhere (if only we'd known we really didn't) this would have probably caused us to go on into it.  Instead Briggs made her purchase (she got him some Sex Panther soap, like from Anchorman.  Awesome.) and we started the journey to Chinatown.

Right outside the Museum we saw this window display from it...

Dildo Bouquet.  Awesome...we giggled about that for a couple blocks at least.

We got to Union Square in a very short amount of time, so we stopped into The Strand for a few more minutes.  While walking, we heard the best joke from a guy trying to get people to go to a stand-up show: "Ladies, this show is hilarious.  It's even funnier than my credit score!"  That got a good laugh from us (oh how I hate you student loans),  but we kept walking.

The Strand was busy, and Briggs was bummed because the Rare Books room was closed so we just turned around and left and headed to Chinatown figuring that if we were early, we'd just have a few beers while waiting for my friend. 

It should be noted that I had some anxiety about going to Chinatown, because I'd only ever been there once before  and I remember very vividly getting lost because the signs are all in Chinese.  So, this journey wasn't a fun one for me.  Luckily, my phone (for once!) gave us perfect directions and we arrived at the bar about 20 minutes early.  Fontana's was a chill dive/pub bar.  Perfect.  We grabbed a couple Molston's and sat down.  I let my friend know that we were there and he replied that was would be leaving any minute.  So we sat and talked and eventually started having men hit on us...

It should also be noted that neither of us really felt overly cute or pretty in NYC.  The women there are glamorous, and well, we're just average Midwestern girls.  And as this was just get together with a friend we didn't even get all gussied up.  I think we were both wearing sweaters, jeans and practical shoes.  We didn't even do our make-up.  Yet, the men were everywhere.  They pretty much ignored the women who were dressed up and obviously trolling, but were all over us.  I've surmised that this is because neither of us had the "I'm hot shit and out of your league so fuck off" attitudes written on our faces.  Basically, we were approachable. 

Anyways, there were two men who when we made it very clear that we were not there to hook-up but to meet a friend were still very friendly and sat down with us saying they'd just keep us company until my friend arrived.  Briggs and I got wrapped up in our discussions with the gentlemen and I forgot to check my phone...turns out that somewhere in there my friend's girlfriend got all weird on him and didn't want him to come because we had vaginas and thus would have to want to rape him in the middle of the bar (okay, I doubt she said that - but, really?!).

I was super-pissed (and let him know as much - 1.5 pints of beer causes me to lose all my tact - I feel bad about that now, but too late...) as well as disappointed and hurt because, well, I thought he was my friend.  With moving 1300 miles away from my friends and family, I really wanted a good friend when I got to NYC.  And I'm sure said girlfriend won't like him being friends with me when I'm actually living in the city.  Lame.

Disappointment formula strikes again!

We let the guys know that my friend had bailed so they asked if we wanted to bar hop with them.  We were not so sure yet and told them that we wanted to finish our beers before we decided.  A few minutes later they left to go find their friend, so I thought that was that and continued to drink.  Turns out, they really were trying to find their friend who was lost in Chinatown because they were right back.  At this point, we'd built enough trust to hang for them for the rest of the night so I made sure I had enough cash for a cab in case we needed to bail, and we started out with them.  Let's introduce you...

Brad, Frankie, Briggs

The Giant Fergus

These guys were a blast in a glass (happy accident that we met them!).  They all work together at a company that Brad had created where they make iPhone/iPod applications (PicBounce is their most famous free application - check it out).  Frankie was their designer (him and I geeked out over Adobe products and bonded over our cravings for decent Mexican food in NYC), Brad was the boss (I didn't talk to him much, Briggs and him chatted a lot though), and Fergus was the project manager.

Fun thing: Fergus was Irish, like born and raised in Ireland and could speak Celtic!  I didn't believe that he was really Irish so I made him prove it and I'm pretty sure he said a dirty limerick to me (deduced by the fact that he kept checking out my rack while saying it).  I didn't really care.  He also gave me a piggy back ride through the East Village which was awesome since he's at least 18 inches taller than me.  I should have taken photos from that vantage point, but I was holding on for dear life.

The guys wined and dined us the rest of the night, and we let them (Briggs' boyfriend said when we got home that this is proper as pretty girls should never buy their own drinks...awww).  The night is kinda a blur to me (as there were beers involved) but I know we went to these two bars (among others):

I think this is the bar that smelled like a diaper.

I remember having a really amazing beer here, I can't remember its name though.  Damn.

Briggs and I eventually looked like this...

Sweaty and buzzing!  The bars were crowded and thus hot.

At one bar, I played charades with a random guy (who told me he was a trained clown) while in line for the bathroom (the answer to what he was miming: snorting coke).  I took a pic of the bathroom "art" (I like graffiti)...

I actually remember fighting with this door because I forgot to slide it.  Doh!

Something to look at while washing my hands.

Around 3 am, Briggs and I were starting to get tired (makes sense as that's around the time the bars would close in Iowa) so we gave Brad our number so we could hang on Sunday and then went to bed.  We were exhausted.  It was a fun but long day and we were going to give Brooklyn a second try on Sunday.

Catch-up on my trip:

• A New York Minute: Freaking Friday or the Day of Funny Discussions  
• A New York Minute: Tourist Thursday or the Day We Kept Taking Wrong Turns
• A New York Minute: Whoo Hoo Wednesday!
• A New York Minute: By the Numbers