November came and went

Much like October, November was a busy month. It started out fabulous as my 23rd birthday was the first Friday in November! I got off work at 3:00pm, went to get my hair cut and styled, then headed home to find a nice surprise. Alex was at my apartment and when I walked in the door, he was walking down the hallway with a cake, candle lit, singing Happy Birthday! It was so sweet. He also gave me my birthday present, which was a brown pair of Ugg boots. I had mentioned to him once that I had fake black ones because I couldn’t justify paying full price for real ones so he took it upon himself to get me real ones for my bday. One of the things I love about Alex is that he is so thoughtful. He’s also a really good listener and will remember things that I say months after I say them. We put the ice cream cake in the fridge, got ready and then headed to dinner. It was a nice candle lit dinner at a restaurant in the trendy meatpacking district of Manhattan. Afterward we headed to the Upper West Side to meet Blake, Val, and Katy at a Latin-American club. We spent the night sipping on drinks and dancing to both American and Spanish music. Another thing I love about Alex is that he is a great dancer. He taught me a thing or two about salsa and we did our fair share at the club until the wee hours of the morning.

Alex and Me at Columbus 72 on my Birthday

At the club celebrating my bday

Saturday rolled around and the roommates and I began preparations for our Housewarming Party. Katy spent most of the day in the kitchen making tasty treats while Val and I cleaned every inch of our apartment. Woj (Katy’s friend), Katy, Blake, Val, Alex, and I enjoy drinks and conversation until our guests starting arriving around 8:00pm. Throughout the night there were about 20 people in and out of our apartment. Many guests brought wine, which was nice, and overall it was a success. Between Friday, Saturday and a nice relaxing Sunday, I had a great birthday weekend.

Roomies! :)

Housewarming treats

Me, Val, and a friend and co-worker Kirsten

Tio Marty, Alex and Me at the Housewarming Party

Monday morning came way too soon as I had to wake up at 4:00am in order to head to JFK to catch a flight to San Francisco for a work conference. After a 6-hour flight, I landed and the conference began. My long lost roomie, Jacey who just moved to San Fran, and 2 of her friends were able to join me for drinks Monday night and I met up with her again Tuesday evening after the conference ended. Before I met Jacey for dinner, I headed to Union Square to catch a Cable Car to Fisherman’s Wharf to get a glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge. Unfortunately, just as I got on the Cable Car, it started raining. Due to it getting dark pretty early and with the foggy rainy ugliness, I wasn’t able to see the famous bridge very well, but it was still a nice little adventure. I jumped back on the Cable Car and headed to the Metro in order to take a train to Jacey’s new apartment. It was nice to see her new digs, but really made me realize how much I miss her in NYC. Jacey, 2 of her friends, and myself enjoyed drinks and dinner before I headed back to my hotel for a short night’s sleep as my car back to the SFO airport was at 5:00am in order to catch an early NYC flight.

My first trip to the West Coast

San Francisco

Fisherman's Wharf

Cable Car ride

The weekend after I returned from San Francisco, Val’s mom and sisters were in town so we had a full house. It was nice to catch up with the Gunn girls and as Val details in her blog - Life Through Val's Eyes - they had a nice weekend in the city.

At the beginning of November I joined the Park Slope YMCA. It is literally 1 block away from my apartment and with it getting too cold to jog outside, I had no excuse but to join and start working out more. There was a November special when I signed up – free 12 week program with a personal trainer – so of course I took advantage. I met with my personal trainer to establish goals and a work out regime that works for me and I continue the program on my own until our bi-weekly sessions at which time we up the ante. I try to hit the gym at least 3 times a week, but sometimes that’s difficult with work and the various holiday events going on. I absolutely love the holidays, but I hate the winter weight gain and I’m hoping I can avoid any permanent damage this year! The way I look at it, I already made the first step by joining a gym, now I just have to stay motivated to go, which of course is the hard part. I have the best of intentions and once I get to the gym, I’m all about it, but it’s the getting there part that I’m not too great at. I find it easy to find excuses not to go, but I’m really trying hard to catch myself in the act and overcome my, let’s just face it, laziness! I’ll keep you posted on how "Project Get Fit" goes.

November 15 would have been my Abuelo’s 80th Birthday and the first my family had to celebrate without him. The Sunday before, my family made a visit to his grave and then had a family gathering at my Abuela’s house. I obviously wasn’t able to attend, but was there in spirit as I thought about my grandfather all day. It was definitely one of those days I really wished I had Dorothy’s famous ruby red slippers so I could tap 3 times to return to Kansas to be with my family. It was a bit difficult to deal with on my own considering I am the type of person who likes to talk (imagine that) as it makes me feel better and allows me to cope easier. Instead, I spent most of Monday evening in my room thinking about all kinds of memories. I laughed to myself and cried myself to sleep that night. I woke up Tuesday morning feeling a little bit better, but it didn’t last too long. You see, every holiday season my mother and I bake several loafs of Banana Nut Bread together and share it with our family and friends. Every year, my Abuelo would hide almost an entire loaf so he could have it for himself to eat with his coffee in the mornings. It was exactly one week after his birthday that I was in my kitchen preparing this bread for a Thanksgiving potluck at work when I broke down and began sobbing on my kitchen floor. The thought of my Abuelo not being alive to enjoy my holiday bread this year was heart wrenching. I sobbed for 10 minutes, got it out of my system, and once I felt better again, I continued baking. Believe it or not, having a good cry always makes me feel better. My family and friends tend to joke that I’m overly emotional, and let’s face it, they are probably right, but one, I can’t help it and two, if it makes me feel better then why not?

My Banana Nut Bread turned out great and my co-workers enjoyed it the next day at our potluck. I left the office on Tuesday to make more Banana Nut Bread (yes, me in the kitchen 2 nights in a row, possibly a miracle), but this time for Thanksgiving Day. I didn’t have a breakdown this time, but I did get a little emotional as I thought about this wonderful tradition that I usually share with my mother. As I cracked the eggs, mashed the bananas, added the various ingredients and stirred the mixture, my mother was not only not in my kitchen, but thousands of miles away. Again, it’s times likes this I wish I had the ruby slippers. It was the very first time I made our bread on my own so you can understand my sadness.

Side Note: Mom, I love you so much and I can’t wait to come home this Christmas so we can make our Banana Nut Bread TOGETHER!

It’s never easy living in another state far away from your family, but it’s even more difficult celebrating a holiday without them. Sadly, this wasn’t my first Thanksgiving without my family. Two years ago I spent Thanksgiving in Spain, but luckily three of my uncles were visiting me that weekend so I wasn’t completely alone. I was fortunate again this year as Alex and his family adopted me for Thanksgiving. My roommate Katy went back home to Virginia, Val headed to her Grammy’s house in Boston and I stayed in the city to spend Thanksgiving with Alex. We had a huge Puerto Rican feast and spent the holiday with the 3 F’s: Family, Friends, and Football! ;-) I of course missed my family like crazy and wished I was spending Thanksgiving with them in Kansas, but spending time with Alex and his family was definitely the next best thing. We had a really nice time and throughout the day I reflected on how lucky I am and how many things I have to be thankful for.

I’m so thankful to have such a wonderful family who loves and supports me no matter what I do. I’m thankful they are all happy and healthy. I’m thankful for the most precious niece and nephews I could ever ask for. I’m thankful for wonderful friends. I’m thankful to have a good job. I’m thankful I’m happy, healthy and have been granted so many wonderful opportunities in my life. I’m thankful for an amazing, thoughtful boyfriend who cares about me so much. And among so many other things, I’m thankful to live in a place where freedom rings.

The month of November came and went so quickly, but I enjoyed every minute of it. As we head into the heart of December, I have so much to look forward to, including and most importantly, a trip back home!

July came and went

Once again, I apologize for my lack of updates lately, I know it’s not a good excuse, but I have been very busy.

Considering I completely neglected my blog during the month of July, I thought I would give you all a super duper brief summary of the past month.

First of all, summer was in full bloom in New York and it was hotter than hell, pardon my language, but I am not exaggerating, it was in the hundreds for much of July. I tried to enjoy the nice weather, but to be honest it was miserably hot so I spent a lot of time indoors. With that being said, I should probably mention that much of this “indoor” time was spent at the office. Yes, I know what you’re thinking, I’m a workaholic, but I didn’t really have a choice as I had to prepare for my week vacation and then following my vacation I had to play catch up. The good news is, Patch hired an Office Assistant to help me out so slowly but surely, I have become less stressed out. Since Megan has been on-board, my hours have become more normal so my goal for August is to not stay at the office past 6:30-7:00pm. I will keep you updated on how that goes.

July in the City consisted of Gay Pride week, a few friends’ birthday celebrations, Friday night Happy Hours, and a lot of watching World Cup games. As I am sure you can imagine, I was super exited that Spain won the Championship! I of course would have loved to see the USA or Mexico win it all considering those are my “home” teams, but ever since studying abroad in Santiago, I consider Spain a third home so I was thrilled when they won.

Drag Queen at the Gay Pride Garden Party

Meaw's Birthday

¡Viva España!

Another July notable is the fact that I spent time with some familiar faces, and by familiar I mean Kansas girls, Jacey and Katy. Well, technically Katy is from Virginia, but we met at KU so I consider her a Kansan. Katy attended the NYU Summer Publishing Institute and is currently looking for full time employment in the city. She came to Happy Hour with my friends and me one Friday night, which was fun. It was so nice for me to actually bring someone I know rather than be introduced to new people that others know. Jacey is in the city for the summer. She has been a friend of mine since the 6th grade. She went to college in LA and I haven’t lived in the same state as her since high school so you can imagine how excited I was/am that we’ve been hanging out in NYC.

Jace and Me in NYC!

It is really nice to know a lot of people now, which is precisely why I have been so busy lately. When I am not working, I am hanging out with…someone. I have so many friends I have met through my Tio and others I have met/know on my own. It’s been nice to call up a friend at lunch time to see if they want to go grab a bite or go out to lunch with some of my co-workers who are now friends. It’s like I actually have a life here. Before I still felt like my life was in Kansas, but I’m in NYC for now. And now, I feel like my life is in New York, but I always have Kansas to return to.

I must admit that part of this “belonging” feeling I am experiencing is partly because of a new man in my life, Alex. I won’t go into details as I don’t want to jinx anything, but I will say that I have had a crush on this guy since March and we finally went on a date at the beginning of July. Needless to say, a first date led to a second, third, fourth, so on and so forth. Of course it’s New York City so our dates are amazing…Walking along the water at South Street Seaport, Watching fireworks in Central Park, Dancing in the middle of the street, I will stop right there before you gag. ;) All you need to know is, I absolutely enjoy spending time with him and I’m happy!

Alex & Me out on a Saturday night in the city

The biggest July notable was my vacation to Kansas City, pictures and details in my blog to follow!

Seen, Read, Heard

I don’t really have anything new or exciting to report, just some random stuff. I have seen 3 movies lately. First, The Ugly Truth. It’s a romantic comedy, my favorite! Katherine Heigl plays a young single woman who is the controlling workaholic type and although I am ashamed to admit it, her character kind of reminded me of me. Scary, I know! She is, of course, looking for the perfect guy that meets all of her expectations and her checklist requirements. Yes, she has a checklist, see the similarity now? While I’ll admit that I do make checklists for everything, making one for the perfect man worthy of my love is not one I have started yet, although maybe I should? LOL! Anyhow, she ends up finding love where she least expected it, DUH…it’s a movie! The second and third movies I have recently seen I am very proud to speak, or rather, write about. Solely because I know it will make my sisters very happy, which if you know who my sisters are, you can already guess which two movies I am talking about. If you guessed Twilight and New Moon, you’re right! I am happy to report that I finally broke down and watched Vampire movies. And I (like the rest of the world) really enjoyed them! :) Both of my sisters have been insisting that I read the Twilight saga for months now, but I just wasn’t interested in the whole vampire story line, not to mention I was busy finishing school, so I refused. Well, although I still haven’t read the books, I have seen the movies, and I totally get what all the hype is about. I’m sure since I liked the movies, I would LOVE the books because they are ALWAYS better. Kim & Drea, I’m not promising anything, but who knows, maybe I’ll read the books when I finish Eat, Pray, Love. Yes, I am STILL not finished with it. I’m really slow because I only read a chapter or two at a time. It’s not that the book isn’t interesting; it’s just that I hardly ever have huge blocks of time. I’m determined to finish it though, so a chapter here or there is fine with me as long as it gets done. ;)

This brings me to a whole other topic, work. One of the reasons I don’t have large blocks of time to read is because of my work schedule. I love my job, but I must admit that it’s getting more and more demanding every day. The more people we hire, the more projects there are, and the more people I have to support. We are already at about 100, and there is only 1 me, so you can imagine the work load I have. I have been working from about 8:30am to 7:30pm Mon-Fri. The good news is we will be hiring more coordinators in the upcoming weeks so hopefully I won’t have to continue working 10-11 hour days for much longer. Not that it really bothers me too much now considering I am single and have no one to come home to at 6:00pm anyways (other than the pugs, of course). I’d much rather have these kind of hours now then later on in life, you know? I’m actually transitioning into the real world rather nicely, other than the fact that I miss my college life afternoon naps! :) Too bad real jobs don’t have nap time, that would be ideal for me considering I live for naps. Well, I used to anyway.

The one thing I can say for NYC is that most people have a work hard, play hard attitude. Yes, Patchers work a lot, but they also really know how to have fun! I thoroughly enjoy Happy Hours with my co-workers, which can include intense games of Pictionary in the office with some beers, or going to bars in SoHo. The most recent one was last Friday night and all rounds were on the President of our company so let’s just say, everyone had a great time! It is always really nice to get to know people outside of the office, you know, where you talk to people about things other than work. I’ve been able to make some friends this way, which is always nice. In fact, one of the girls I work with is supper cool and actually reminds me of me, we have very similar stories. But more than anything, she reminds me of my best friend Val, which I LOVE! Not that Val is replaceable, because she’s NOT, but having a friend here who reminds me of her makes it feel a little bit more like home. Last Saturday my co-worker/new friend invited me to Karaoke night with her and her friends and I had a blast. It was so nice to hang out with people my age, and the karaoke part was hilarious! My friend is the brave Val type that sung at the top of her lungs while I, on the other hand am the reserved type that had to get drunk in order to hold a mic in my hands. I did end up singing, just not by myself! ;)

I’m happy to report that I can officially say the phrase; I love the city in Spring. I hear that in movies all the time and now I know why. The weather has been phenomenal in April, sunny and in the 70s and 80s. I love it, sun puts me in a good mood! I have been taking full advantage and spending more and more time outdoors. The last 2 weeks while my Tio was visiting Kansas City I took care of the dogs and we spent A LOT of time in the courtyard behind our building and in the Oval (the main park in Stuy Town). It was beautiful outside and in addition to walking the dogs, I just sat on benches near the fountain and enjoyed the blooming trees and flowers around me. With the weather so nice the park was packed, which made for some interesting people watching, one of my favorite things to do, and let me tell you, NYC is the place to do it! There is such diversity in this city, I absolutely love it! You can walk into a grocery store and hear 5 different languages in a matter of 30 minutes. You would never find that in Kansas City, unless of course there was some sort of international festival going on which is highly unlikely. The only languages you hear in KS are English and Spanish. And there are still some towns where people might snub you for speaking Spanish and not English. It’s refreshing that people aren’t like that here. There is normal or abnormal because there is no standard or cultural norm. It’s impossible to fit in, or not fit in. I love it!

I’ll leave you with a random fact I just became aware of: Jersey law states that citizens are not allowed to pump their own gas. They must wait on a gas pump attendant to service their car for them. Self service is illegal, isn’t that bizarre? I’m not too sure how strict they are with enforcing the law though, I think cops have more things to worry about than my Tio Martin getting out of the SUV and pumping gas. Oops, did I just admit that I witnessed a crime?!

Overdue Update!

Let me start off with my apologies, this update is FAR overdue! I had every intention of posting about my first day on the job, but you know how that goes. You say to yourself, I’ll do it tomorrow, and then tomorrow turns into next week, and then…well, here we are 3 weeks later.

Put simply, I love my job at Patch! I love the people, I love the location, I love the fun relaxed atmosphere, I love that the company is doing REALLY well and growing rapidly, I love it all! I of course have been super busy, but I like to be busy, it makes the days go by fast and makes me feel a sense of accomplishment and productivity! Like I mentioned in one of my previous blogs, I enjoyed my time off, but was feeling a bit stir crazy being unemployed and all. It just felt so bizarre going from being a student for 18 years of my life to NOT. I have to admit, it turned out to be more of an adjustment than I thought. I was so used to either being in class or spending my free time doing homework and preparing for future classes. I know it sounds crazy for anyone to really WANT to work because once you start working, you never stop, but after a month of not working, I was ready to do something worthwhile with my time, and now I am! ;)

On the down side, I am no longer a free woman who doesn’t have to set an alarm and can just wake up whenever. Now that I am a working professional (I like to consider myself a professional for some reason, it makes me feel like an adult, which makes sense because I sort of am, lol) I haven’t had too much time for PERSONAL internet activity. I have obviously slacked off on updating my blog, I only get on Facebook like once or twice a week, and I hardly ever tweet. It’s like I’m on the computer all day at work so the last thing I want to do when I get home is open up my lap top. The good news is now that I have a BlackBerry I can check FB and Twitter from my phone and don’t have to get on my computer, this should help me stay connected to the social media world! ;) As far as my blog goes, I promise to try and post more regularly like I used to. Once a week is ideal, we’ll see how it goes!

Side Note: Getting a BlackBerry was bittersweet. I was really excited when my boss gave me the phone because this meant I was getting a company phone that the company pays for. Who doesn’t love free stuff, right? Plus, it’s exciting to have an NY area code. The bitter part is getting rid of my Kansas City phone. It’s like my 816 area code was all I had left of KC, the only piece of real identity connecting me to Kansas considering that my address, email, everything else has already changed. I know this sounds really silly, but getting a new number (917-484-0808) is a big deal for me, I guess because it makes things so real. I mean I know I have been here for 2 months now, but there is still a small part of me that still thinks of this move as sort of temporary. Things like getting a new number and opening up an NY bank account (which I am in the process of doing) make me realize that this city is indeed my new home. It’s exciting and sad at the same time. I think one of the reasons I am hesitant to think of NY as my home is because my family isn’t here. It’s hard to associate the word home to anything other than family. Those of you reading this who really know me and my family well, totally understand this logic, I’m sure!

Now, this is the part of this post I am most excited about writing – From NYC back to KC: My surprise visit home! Skype dates with my family are great, but there is nothing like the real thing!

Last Friday I left work an hour early to head to the airport for an evening flight to Kansas City. My Dad and sisters knew I was coming, but my mom, she had no idea! You see, her 50th Birthday was Monday, March 29 and my sisters and I wanted to do something special for her. After all, she is the greatest mom in the whole world! We decided to pull a double surprise on her: 1. I would fly in for the weekend and 2. We would throw her a surprise party! And boy did we pull it off!

Now let me backtrack a bit, working that Friday was so difficult because I couldn’t concentrate on anything but the fact that I was visiting home for the first time. Focusing on work was impossible because all I kept thinking about was seeing my family and surprising my mom. I somehow got through the day and when 5:30 rolled around, I was out the door more anxious than ever. Unfortunately, my flight was delayed (surprise surprise, a flight from NYC-LGA delayed!) so I had to wait longer than I wanted to see the kiddos. You see, George (my brother-in-law) was picking me up from the airport and taking me back to the Elmer house to stay the night so I knew that considering I wouldn’t be arriving in KC until after Midnight due to the delay, I wouldn’t get to see the kids until the morning. But, little mister Jaxson woke up when he heard his Dad and me come in, so I did get to see him right away! He was in shock. He stood completely still staring at me for about 30 seconds before he realized he wasn’t dreaming, it was really me. He said, Wesa? I said, hey buddy, come give me a hug, I missed you! He ran down the rest of the stairs and was in my arms in seconds. It was the best hug I’ve had in a very long time! I of course peeked in to see miss Audrina sleeping ever so peacefully before I went to sleep with Jaxson in his room. Needless to say, I slept really well that night! I woke up Saturday morning to the sweetest face ever. Sorry Drea, I’m talking about Audrina! ;) Baby girl was so smiley and happy to see me that I could have cried!

Next order of business, surprise my mom! The whole family went to IHOP for breakfast and once everyone was seated, I strolled in with Jaxson (Dre told my mom that he had a sleepover with his grandma so he wouldn’t be coming to breakfast). My mom started crying, got up from the table and gave me a bear hug! It was perfect! We ate breakfast, went birthday shopping, and spent the rest of the day hanging out at Kim and Michael’s house watching the K-State game and I of course, played with the kids! Then evening came and we headed to the Legends for dinner. Well, that was what we told my mom anyway. We arrived at Wild Bills, headed up the stairs where our table was, and then…SURPRISE, all of my mom’s family and friends were there to wish her a happy birthday! Once again, the tears came a rollin! She was so shocked/surprised/excited/overwhelmed, it was priceless! We spent the rest of the night eating, drinking, dancing, and celebrating a beautiful woman’s 50 years of life!

Mom – You truly are the most amazing woman I know. You have taught me so much about life and how to live it. Your optimism is contagious and all those in your presence can’t help but smile! I’m so glad I was able to share your birthday with you. I love you and miss you!

Although my weekend in Kansas City was great, there was a bit of sadness included. My Abuelo (grandfather) was admitted to the ICU at St. Luke’s Hospital due to a terrible infection. I guess it was destiny that I happened to be in KC that weekend as I was able to go visit him in the hospital. It was difficult to see him week and unhealthy, but I got to see him and that’s the important thing. He is now out of ICU and slowly recovering. I ask God daily to continue to watch over him, and I’m grateful that he has answered my prayers!

I'll leave you with a few pictures from the party!