hlbroeker's Xombytes

Well folks, today marks the first day in the 30 ( + or - 1) day countdown to my NYC move. Last night I didn't get much sleep. Sure you might blame that on the fact that Kev and I stayed up until 4am (NYC time - I use that because it sounds much more tiring than 1am LA time) chatting about work and things. However, even after we got off the phone so the poor boy could get some sleep before his meetings tomorrow, I stayed awake thinking about everything that I have to do to prepare myself for this move. Seriously, just thinking about packing all my underwear in a small enough box had me on edge. How am I gonna get all this stuff in my car!?

So as I mentioned yesterday, I've been babysitting now and then so that I can earn some extra NYC cash. I love babysitting. Kids are fun.

The kids I babysat for last night were SO CUTE. I picked them up from school - the first time we've met by the way - and they were so excited to see me. I couldn't believe how animated they were. "Heather Feather" they instantly called me - a name I'm not fond of, but somehow coming out of their cute little mouths it made me smile.

This week has been topsy-turvy. My roommates are moving into a new place, I’m packing for NYC and I’m training the guy that is taking over my job. After a late night of packing on Wednesday, I got up Thursday morning and picked Matt – the new guy – up from LAX. My car was loaded down with every possible thing I could fit into it. Matt, who is almost as tall as my brother was unfortunately forced to sit sucking his knees in the front seat. I had the awesome experience of the ironing board that basically blocks the driver’s side door and forces me to squeeze into the front seat backwards and then flip myself around. Fun times – welcome to LA Matt! So I spend the day tooling around LA with Matt and training him on the ins and outs of my job. Then I get home to an empty apartment. I get my last few things together, sleep in my bed (the only thing left) and wake up the next day. I break down the bed and head out for another day with Matt.

Kevin and I finally found an apartment we like. It's livable and we're ready to sign for it. I was really excited about it (except for the $2400 deposit) until I got a text message from him today.

Sunday was my first day back from our trip to St. John and the day that "officially being a New Yorker" really started to sink in. I was actually doing day-to-day things like the six loads of laundry Kevin and I had acquired from the holidays and our vacation.

Craigslist is a great tool for furnishing a house on a budget and you’re sure to meet some interesting people along the way.

Last night Kevin and I started our shopping excursion at Scott’s apartment. Scott is a young businessman who works, I believe, in finance. Mom found his love seat on Craigslist and it seemed irresistible and for $250 we thought we’d check it out. Now we’re blessed with a beautiful couch and the pain of moving it and storing it for the remainder of the month. We don’t move to the new place until February.

There is an article on here about making money online. These days it is hard to trust pretty much any "get rich quick" scheme. I must, however, comment on one particular online "business investment" that I stand behind.

I’m not sure where my urge for cleanliness started. I wasn’t particularly a neat child. In fact, my parents who have the obsessive-compulsive levels of the Rain Man himself would argue I wasn’t neat at all. I think my desire for the neat and tidy came about when I really had my own place. In college I couldn’t stand when my roommate would leave out dirty dishes for weeks. Though I loved her dearly, I’d get sick at the sight of her clutter or stray hairs on the counter. Once I moved out to California, I actually had to part ways with roommates who I considered messy. Coming home to dirty dishes in the sink and a stovetop that had to be scrubbed once again just wasn’t my idea of fun. Now that I’m in NYC, Sam says he thinks of me every time he cleans a toilet. How endearing.

New Yorkers like things dark right - coffee, clothing, secluded bars?

Well, as I sit here in my bright blue sweater with my vibrant red coat slung over my chair, I've decided I'm not quite ready for this. Sure, I'll wear the dark clothing and bars of any sort are fun, but I can't drink my coffee black. PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it is the cause of my morning vomits.

Your "Survive the City" weekend edition here, giving you just a little something to chew on.

You don't need to be a New Yorker to participate. In fact, please participate no matter what.

I wanted to do a "survey" to find out how New Yorkers are different in their daily lives. Some of these factors are surly contributing to our high expenses. Which brings me to mention that I will soon be doing a "Survive the City" on a budget section about my plans to do NYC on $15 a day. Yikes.