Sight-seeing in NYC! This past week and weekend, my mom and sister were out visiting. Needless to say, I did a lot of the touristy stuff here in the city. I went straight from work to the attractions around town. By the end of the night I was exhausted! Subways and buses are great, but there still remains a lot of walking after the commute. So what did we do...we got to have some real New York pizza, see Tarzan on Broadway (which I thoroughly enjoyed), I won 2 $25 front-row lottery tickets to Wicked, so they got to see that...oh so much that we got to do. I surprised my mom and took her to a famous cafe from the movie You've Got Mail. She loved it and we all shared some tasty treats. I had egg creme (which I didn't like too much)--my grandma used to get some for 5 cents on the way home from school when she was little girl growing up in the Bronx. We got to eat dinner in Little Italy where we met some crazy romantic Italians and a friendly waiter from Argentina. When he heard I had been there for a year and a half, we became fast friends. We made our way to Canal Street (the garment district of NYC) and bought some cool, cheap stuff. Saturday we enjoyed a day of NYC rain. Even with the rain we got to take the Circle Line to Liberty Island to visit Ms. Liberty and Ellis Island. Sunday morning took us to the Brooklyn Bridge...we walked across it and Kirst and I sang the tunes of Newsies...It was so fun to have them here. So, rather than bore you with the details...take a look at some of the pictures!

Kirsten and I outside the Richard Rogers theatre after seeing Tarzan.

My mom and I fighting the crowds at Times Square.

Outside Cafe Lalos...do you recognize it?

In Little Italy!

My mom hailing a taxi...TAXI!

Ok, sorry it's been so long! My life is beginning to reflect New York--fast, busy, and just like the Energizer battery it keeps going and going and going... Let's just start from where we left off. My first few days on the job consisted of lots of training meetings and a ton of reading up on American Express. What about my first weekend in NYC--that would be last weekend. Well, Friday night wasn't all that exciting. I met up with some friends after they had gone to dinner and we went to The Magnolia Bakery, a little bakery here known for its famous cupcakes and other baked goods. The line was out the door and around the corner which intrigued me even more. So I waited and got a cupcake and tried their banana pudding. It was pretty good, but to pay $1.75 for a cupcake like that isn't really my style. After all, I'm not a fan of store bought frosting. Now I hear that I have to try The Cupcake Cafe. So, after venturing to the cute little bakery, I ended up sitting on a bench on Broadway with some friends, just admiring the city. Saturday was my first trip to the beach on the east coast. We took a train to Long Beach on Long Island. The day was overcast, but cleared up late in the afternoon. It was perfect. They say the water is warmer on this coast, but I beg to differ, it was FREEZING! As you can see from the pictures, I stayed right up on the shore! I think the beaches in Cali are better only because it is free to go. Here you have to pay just to get to the sand! What's that all about!

The First Two Days on the Job! So it is official. I work in an Ad Agency. I still really do feel like I should be in the movies. Today I am EXHAUSTED! Playing all night after work and then getting up the next day to work again is tiring, but you have to celebrate your first day on the job with some dessert! So, yesterday...here goes. I got to work early since I didn't know how long it would take during rush hour. In all honesty I wasn't very nervous. We got there, waited, had some training meetings in the morning at which they served us breakfast. I was happy to eat for free! Before lunch we found out the accounts we would be on. Take a wild guess what account I am on... Ok, American Express--U.S. Cards. Ogilvy has a ton of AmEx accounts, mine focuses on the different cards that they offer. So all the advertising you see for the Clear Card, the Blue Card, the One Card, the Jet Blue Card, the Gold Card, etc. , that's all my account. I met some of the people on the account and went to lunch with two of the managers on the account. They took me to a Mexican Restaurant right outside of the office in the Worldwide Plaza called Blockheads. It was fabulous and even more so because they paid. The lunch was nice...we talked about the account and got to know each other. They seemed excited to hear that I don't have anymore school left (could that mean there are job opportunities). So, one of the guys on the account is Tyler, a BYU grad. He went to lunch with us and has been at Ogilvy for 10 months. He makes me feel right at home. Yesterday ended mainly in meetings and group things. The interns divided into five groups and went on a photo scavenger hunt around the city taking pictures of answers to Ogilvy related clues. It was a blast and tiring at the same time. The end of the day came quick. I loved it! Today was hard after a late night last night, but I managed and enjoyed getting to work a little bit more on the account. I had training about half the day and then the other half consisted mainly of getting familiar with the account. How cool is this? I got to watch a stack of DVD's of the latest TV commercials run for AmEx as well as other promotional events. Then I got to read through the strategies of the campaigns and look at all the print work! It was thoroughly entertaining. I am going to know more about American Express than I ever thought possible by the time this is over! I'm out for now...tonight is an early one for me!

Here are some pictures of my apartment. It is on the fifth floor. We have a balcony and a roof patio. These pictures are just of the downstairs. I haven't moved into my room yet, but will when Ashley moves out next week. More pictures to come then.

Wonderful Life in the BIG APPLE! As I stepped off the plane yesterday and got my taxi into the city, I had a deja vu experience. I felt like I had just arrived in Buenos Aires and was beginning my mission. Why you might ask? Well, for one, I had all this luggage and no one to help me with it and then when I got into the taxi, after telling the driver where to go, I asked, "So, how long have you been a taxi driver?" Every time we got into a "remis" (the Argentine word for taxi), we asked that and then worked the conversation into the Restoration and either gave a Book of Mormon or took down the address to go visit. The Haitian man that I talked to was incredibly nice...we talked the whole way and I felt like I a missionary again! Also, just as I felt in Buenos Aires, so I felt yesterday and today in NYC. I surely would never want to drive in this town! It's bad enough being a pedestrian. We arrived at my apartment--it is just like the movies! The door to the complex is in between two shops. My roommate Mindy came down to let me in and we started the climb up the five flights of tiny stairs to my apartment. My apartment is one of the nicer, bigger apartments that poor interns live in! It is three bedroom, two bathroom. Pictures will soon come. I just felt like I should be on an episode of Friends or something (without all the raunchiness). After getting a little settled, I headed down the block to the grocery store. My first thoughts as I entered and looked at the prices--"What in the world? There is no way I'm paying this much for food! I may as well stop eating with the price of food around here!" Haha...well I was quickly humbled and needless to say I swallowed my cheapness and bought myself some food! Just for your information--a gallon of milk is $3.99, a box of cereal $4.99 and above, granola bars $5.00 for the small box! Outrageous. It looks like I will be living on noodles and rice (sounding again like Argentina)! Today was my day venturing downtown and looking for my office so that I can get there tomorrow during rush hour. I met some of my friends who are already interning for lunch in Bryant Park (which is right by the New York Public Library). I haven't yet tried one but am very tempted by the $1 hot dogs on the street. Those will be coming soon. In my adventures I was able to drive through Central Park, walk through Times Square, look down Broadway, go into Y&R (another Ad Agency in town) and meet some people, and just see all the sites. Tonight is Museum Mile Festival where you can get into a ton of museums for free. If I can hook up with some of the other interns, I will be there. My feet are tired from all the walking...thank goodness for buses and subways. I have my 30-day Metro pass and will be getting more than my money worth for it. The buses were another reminder of Argentina. Oh, how I miss it. On every corner there are street vendors selling fresh fruit and vegetables (yet again like Argentina). I am excited to go buy myself healthy snacks. Well, I am off...tomorrow is the first day of work. Update on that to come!