The Urban Tourist

I have another blog!

In my Writing For Online Media Class, our initial assignment was to create a blog. Our weekly homework is to update it, as well as comment on our classmates blogs. My blog similar to this one, but more professional and topic specific. Most of the jobs that I'm applying to request a link to your blog, so this one for class is perfect.

It's called The Urban Tourist, check it out!

Bits and Pieces II

Geese Update

Coming back to Campbell one morning, I was surprised to come in close contact with the geese!

 I noticed that a few of them had yellow bands around their necks -

tracking?

Valentine's Day


For Valentine's Day, Liz and I made cupcakes for our friends.

 All of our cupcakes and Valentine's Day goodies!

YUM!

Also, Dani's mom sent her a wand! She pretended to be

Harry Potter for the evening. 

Scenic

 Bronx sunrise.

Bronx sunset. 

Gym on a Saturday morning - all alone!

Music

Last Thursday evening Court and I headed downtown to meet up with our friend Reg 

for a concert at the Mercury Lounge, which is just past Katz Deli in the Lower East. I had never been to the Mercury Lounge before and really enjoyed it! 

 Asobi Seksu.
I had never heard of the band either, but Reg had extra tickets and I always love live music!
They turned out to be really good.

The following Saturday night Liz's uncle had invited her and two friends to come to a concert downtown - Lindsay and I accompanied Liz. We met up with her uncle, aunt and some family friends before the concert and were introduced to the drummer of the band! Apparently he's a cousin of one of Liz's uncles. 

The show was at Irving Plaza, which is just east of Union Square. It was a huge venue, much larger than the Mercury Lounge. Also, we had VIP tickets, which were great! We bypassed the black ropes and got to sit in the VIP section on the second floor, with a perfect view of the band. 

Big Head Todd and the Monsters.

Once again, I had never heard of the band prior to seeing them live, but I thoroughly enjoyed them. My favorite song they did is called 'Bittersweet' : 

Weather

Last Friday it got to be 60 degrees. Most of the snow melted and there were students playing football and tossing frisbees on Eddie's in shorts and without coats. A bit too cold for that for me, but it was nice to feel like spring was in the air. Lindsay and I spent a couple hours sitting outside in the sun, warming up. 

However, on Sunday it snowed again! The temperature dropped about 30 degrees overnight and we now have half a foot of snow on the ground again. 

These drastic temperature changes tend to make me sick, and I definitely felt a cold coming on. Everyone in my apartment has been sick so far but me. Liz came down with a painful, week long fever and cough. Courtney has been on medicine for weeks fighting a cold. Dani has managed to stay away from anything too serious, but still has a bit of a cough. 

I've been eating oranges everyday and after the snowfall I went and bought a liter of OJ. I've been drinking OJ and eating oranges everyday in hopes of fighting off a potential cold. Hopefully the weather warms up soon. 

Park Here!

Last Sunday Amy and I ventured downtown to check out a new gallery in NoLita, called Park Here. 


I'd known about the gallery for weeks and had been dying to see it. Park Here is an Openhouse Gallery exhibit, but very unlike the usual New York City art galleries. The space had been converted to resemble a real park - complete with trees, grass, chirping birds, benches, ponds and, most importantly, a constant temperature of 73 degrees. Not to mention, it's completely free. 


What a great idea!

 The entrance. 

Park Here!

You can see the strollers parked on the grass inside. 

 Fake tree!

Fake tree stump!

 Our view from our seat on the grass. 

Pond!

We managed to snag a super comfy bean bag chair. 

After dozing in the park for a while, we headed out to grab dinner. 


First, we went to Eataly, Mario Batteli's food and wine marketplace/fine dining establishment.  I'd been meaning to check that out for a while too. However, Eataly is insane! It's huge, crowded and smells delicious. Chocolate, coffee, paninis, cheeses, pastas, fish, meat, breads, sauces, etc. There was several different places to eat inside the building, but everything was a bit pricey. We ended up just wandering around, checking everything out. We saw people doing their daily grocery shopping - while holding glasses of Italian wine. Somewhere inside I picked up a map of the place, with directions on how to shop and where to eat!

 Bit blurry, but this is at the entrance to Eataly. 

From the outside. 

After exploring Eataly, we started walking in hopes of stumbling upon somewhere to eat. 


We walked by a building that housed this:

Two story aquarium! It was beautiful. The whole two floors were glass, but we couldn't tell what the building was. It looked like it was in the final stages of construction and was entirely empty, except for the fish. 


We also walked through the Fur Garment District of NY, which was interesting. 


Finally, we came upon one of our favorite places to eat, Blockheads. For a NYC Mexican restaurant, it's quite good. 


Afterwords, we caught the RamVan back. Great way to spend a Sunday afternoon and evening. 

Black Swans

Last weekend a friend of ours hosted a Black Swan themed party. The movie came out not too long ago, starring Natalie Portman. For those of you who haven't seen it, in the movie she has to play a white and black swan. Thus, the attire for the party was to be the white or black swan.

We had a lot of fun putting the makeup on!

 Amy with Anne. 

My finished makeup. 

 With Kate and Court. 

 Practicing our ballerina moves. Kate even had a tutu!

It's hard to see from this picture, but I had some leg warmers on. 

That weekend Court's brother, Kyle and his girlfriend, Kelsey, came to visit. 

 Dani and I. 

 Dani with the best-dressed white swan. 

Linds and I.

 Being serious swans with Anne, Kate and Dani. 

Being not-so-serious swans. 

Fun party, with such a great theme! Everyone dressed up fabulously and near the end we had a costume contest. 

100 Nights til Graduation!

Last Thursday evening was another Senior Night! This month's theme was '100 Nights til Graduation,' which was a big day for all us seniors. The attire was semi-formal and the location moved from the Ramskellar (the basement of McGinley) to the Ballroom (2nd floor of McGinley). The Ballroom is much larger and was necessary for 100 Nights since the expected attendance was over 600 students.

Lots of seniors came and it definitely was a lot of fun!

 Hanging out in the boys apartment before the dance. 

 Dani and I.

 Joe and Vinny in their peacoats. 

 Linds stepping on her MCAT study books! Congrats again!

 With Linds and Court, wearing our '100 Nights' glasses. Loved them. 

 Sans the glasses. 

 With Liz. 

 Shoes shot. Court, Linds and I. 

 With Chelsea and Linds, trying to get a picture of the back of my dress!

 With Court. 

 At the dance! Lauren, Chelsea and Linds. 

 With Dave, Cody and Courtney.

 Myself, Katie, Christine and Linds. 

Notice the piece of chicken that Christine is holding: 

Appetizers were chicken, cheese, cupcakes, brownies and other goodies. 

 With Matt.

The dance lasted until 1 am and was a lot of fun, just like it always is! It was very crowded; I think most of the Rose Hill senior class attended. 

Can't wait for the next one!

Laptop-less.

For the past week, I have been without a laptop (hence the lack of posting).

Last Saturday we ordered a new power cord and I expected to have it delivered to school by Thursday.

No such luck.

After spending entirely too much time at Fordham's Post Office, I discovered that my package had been delivered to a Post Office at 149th Street, in the Bronx. Why? I have no idea.

Yesterday I spent half an hour at Fordham's Post Office, in the back with the workers, trying to sort things out. As of now, still no delivery.

Pending on the exact location of the other Post Office, I may just travel to the South Bronx on Tuesday to get the package myself, rather than waiting on the obviously failing coordination between the Fordham Post Office and the 149th Street PO.

TBD.

Geese! Rain Boots!

 Sun rising over the Bronx. 

 The snow has been melting and we all know what that means...

The geese have arrived! Check them out!

 Walking across Martyr's Lawn. 

 Close-up!

Unlike most, I enjoy the geese. They move in packs, walking

through the snow. This week I counted forty at once outside my dorm. 

In other news, today I received my rain boots! I knew everyone was jealous (well, mostly the girls) as I carried my huge Zappos box across campus. They all eyed my box, wishing it was theirs. 

 Fitting.

 Yes!

They are beautiful and a perfect fit. 

Tretorn is a good brand as well, so they should last me quite a while.