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| Tuesday, February 27, 2007 |
| A List |
Well, I'm back, and in no state of mind to be eloquent at the moment, so instead? A list.
Things that have happened since I last posted:
* I travelled to Boston for 5 days ...
* ... and was drunk for approximately 22 out of 24 hours each day I was there.
* ... took over Pizzaria Regina with somewhere around seventeen people.
* ... took a personalized, private trolly tour that included two bar stops.
* ... drank through the many hangovers.
* ... and ended up staying an extra day so that I could ....
* Have a second interview with the Boston position I was going for.
* I returned to NYC and had a second interview with the nonprofit down here.
* I flew to LA for four days ...
* ... where I saw Bill Mahr on the street.
* ... listened to my friend's ex-boss tell stories about the Hollywood industry that I absolutely shouldn't have heard.
* ... drank Coronas while sitting on the beach. Paradise Cove in Malibu is now one of my favorite places in the world.
* ... tried Absinthe for the first time. Holy HELL does this shit hurt.
* ... basically just relaxed with some of my favorite people in the world. It was fantastic.
* ... sat a row in front of Venus Williams on my flight back, during which all I wanted to do in the world was turn around and say "Really? Jet Blue? Things that bad on the tour?!"
* After returning to NYC, became extremely confused that there was a) no alcohol in my system and b) ample time to actually sleep.
* And then yesterday ... I got a job offer. More on that later. I have not accepted it yet, as I am waiting to hear from the OTHER position I was interviewing for, but consider that your teaser. By the end of the day today, I could very well have accepted a position.Labels: photos, travel |
posted by FINY @ Tuesday, February 27, 2007   |
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| Thursday, February 15, 2007 |
| A Brief Hiatus |
Well, in just a few hours I'll be heading, once again, back up to Boston. This isn't about a job interview (though they're all going well. And I actually have another one later this morning via phone for yet another nonprofit here in NYC). Nope, this trip is all about relaxing. And, well, most likely getting quite wasted.
This weekend, my friends, is the Winter Summit. 16 of us will converge on Boston from all over the country. We'll arrive by planes, trains, and automobiles from places like New York, Minnesota, Los Angeles, and Chicago. We'll eat too much, drink our livers into oblivion, and laugh until our sides hurt. We'll tell stories that no one gets but us, make scenes wherever we go, and basically make the city of Boston our bitch for five days.
God, I'm excited. Let the partying commence!Labels: Boston, drinking |
| posted by FINY @ Thursday, February 15, 2007 |
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| Wednesday, February 14, 2007 |
| Happy Hearts Day! |
Well, I made it back from Boston in one piece. The 36 hour trip was tough but worth it. The interview went VERY well, and they've already been in touch via email to let me know that they are trying to figure out when everyone would be free to see me for a second interview. But now I am just trying to finish prepping for my interivew here in NYC in a few hours, so you'll have to excuse me while I change the subject.
So Happy Valentine's Day everyone. This is one of those holidays that whether I am in a relationship or not, I always completely forget about it until it's almost here. I've got plans tonight with my buddy Ryan to play pool. We made the plans last week, and until Monday, I hadn't even realized we had made the plans for Valentine's Day. Oops. Luckily we're going to a tiny little dive bar that is not exactly going to be packed with VDay dates so it shouldn't be too crowded.
Anyway, I hope you all have a very Happy Valentine's Day. Update later today on how the interview this morninng went.Labels: dating, misc., Unemployment |
| posted by FINY @ Wednesday, February 14, 2007 |
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| Sunday, February 11, 2007 |
| Back to Boston |
Well, wish me luck. I'm on my way up to Boston for my interview on Monday.
I've had a lot of conversations with people about the potential position up there, and reactions have varied quite a bit. From friends who always thought I was more of a "Boston girl" to others who were wary that the position would be at a catholic girls school. It's impossible to find someone in my life who is unbiased, and that's totally understandable, but it'd proving hard to get myself some perspective.
So for now, I'm just rolling with it. I have a bag full of materials to study on the bus, my suit is in my garment bag, and I'm going in with an open mind. Fingers crossed, everyone.Labels: Boston, NYC, Unemployment |
| posted by FINY @ Sunday, February 11, 2007 |
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| Wednesday, February 07, 2007 |
| The New York / Boston Rivalry |
The competition between Boston and New York transcends two baseball teams and their avid fan bases. Sure the Red Sox and the Yankees have a rivalry unlike any other in sports, but in all honesty it goes much deeper than that. It's about two cities whose residents are fiercely loyal to the places they call home.
Typically, you choose one or the other. You're either a Bostonian or a New Yorker. As I've mentioned before, I'm the odd-ball. I consider myself both.
It's almost impossible to compare the two cities. Countless people have asked me to do so, and my stock answer is that it's like apples and oranges. But now I have to compare them both. I have an interview in New York today and one in Boston on Monday.
 New York, New York. It's the place where dreams are made, and dashed, and made again. It's the thing movies are made of, stories are written on. I love Boston and all, but let's not joke, this is NEW YORK. When people ask me why I love it here so much, I hardly know where to start. New York has a palpable energy to it. The city is alive, vibrant, pulsating. There's the feeling here that anything is possible. Hell, if you can make it here you can make it anywhere, right? So it's a source of pride that I've made it here. Really made a great life here.
If you're looking for concrete reasons, it's the fact that the city never sleeps; I can order take out at almost any time of night. Stumbling out of the bar at 4am (another plus side for NYC) I will have no problem finding a cab to go home, while first stopping in the deli to get a sandwich. Sure they don't know how to make clam chowder here (seriously, who thought it was a good idea to put it in a tomato based broth?!), but it is undeniable that the food here is some of the best in the country.
Another check mark on the plus side for NYC is the diversity. I know that that sounds stupid and arrogant coming from a "privileged twenty-something white" woman, but still. I adore the fact that I used to live in one of the most heavily populate muslin areas in the city. It's great watching cultures collide, learning about each of them at some of the most random points (like on your commute to work). That kind of diversity, a subway car filled with Hasidic Jews, Arabs, Hispanics, Blacks, etc etc. was the kind of philosophy that this country was based on. America was supposed to be the boiling pot, and New York City embodies that more than anywhere else I've lived.
And then there's the culture. You've got Broadway, Lincoln Center, some of the top music and dance schools in the country. You've got iconic architecture, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State building. I can't tell you how incredible it is to take the subway to work every day and come up out of the tunnel on the Manhattan Bridge to see the New York skyline, the Brooklyn Bridge and old Lady Liberty looming on the horizon. It's beautiful, and still awe inspiring on a daily basis.
And then there's Boston. If I said that New York has a palpable energy, Boston feels like a warm down blanket. Boston is comfort, home. Boston doesn't have the same hustle, the same go-go-go-every-single-minute. And that's a good thing. You can burn out on that sort of mentality real quick. Boston is also a much younger city, something that is due to the hundreds of thousands of college students that stream into its borders ever September.
Boston is a more laid back city in general. In New York, image is very important. What you're wearing, where you're eating, what bar your drinking your $12 martini in matter. Boston fits my Jcrew clad, not-a-stick-thin-waif appearance much better than New York. And speaking of overpriced martinis, did I mention that Boston is significantly cheaper when it comes to beers, food, well, just about everything other than real estate? Sure to someone coming from say, Alabama, Boston prices would seem outrageous. But to someone who's used to paying $6 for a beer, Boston is a welcome change of pace.
Another pro in the Boston column is those students I mentioned earlier. Because where there are students there are schools. Call me a dork if you like, but I love the academic environment like no other. New York has some amazing colleges and universities, don't get me wrong. NYU and Columbia to name just two. But Boston is far and away a much more academic city, and that shows in the abundance of lectures, book stores, readings, etc.
And I'm not going to lie, after the way New York has treated me of late, the idea of starting over in a new city with a completely clean slate is not entirely unappealing.
Boston is a more walkable city. New York's subway system is more comprehensive. Boston doesn't have as many museums. New York has so many, and I hardly ever go to them. Both cities are surrounded by water, but Boston's is more easily accessible and much much cleaner. Boston is more historic, but New York is no slouch in that category either. Boston has the Red Sox. But it's easier to get tickets to the Sox v. Yankees at Yankee Stadium than it is at Fenway Park, and it's not like living down here has stopped me from seeing games. New York has my support network; a group of friends that I would lie down in traffic for. Boston is much closer to my family, and while I may not be as close to everyone up there, I have no doubt that I wouldn't lack for people to hang out with. Boston is cleaner. New York bigger. The list goes on and on and on.
In the end, I guess I am going to have to go with my gut. See where I am offered a job. Where I think I'll be happiest. It's incredibly liberating to know that I could up and move anywhere I wanted to right now. I have no strings, am tied to nothing. It's the kind of freedom that you can only find at this time in your life. But it's also amazingly scary to think that in a month's time my life could be completely different.
So stayed tuned, folks. This could get very very interesting.Labels: Boston, NYC |
| posted by FINY @ Wednesday, February 07, 2007 |
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| Monday, February 05, 2007 |
| 3 Homes |
There are three places in this world that will always feel like home to me. Rhode Island. Boston. And New York. Rhode Island will always be home, but it's a place I could never move back to (sorry Mom). New York, well it's been home for going on five years now. And Boston? I may have only called Boston home for 4 years, but it's where my heart will always be. And where I plan to move back to. Eventually.
But what if eventually were to come sooner rather than later? What if NOW is eventually? Am I ready for that? Suddenly my head is spinning, my heart is torn in two directions, and I have absolutely no idea what to do about it.
See, there's this job in Boston. This Director of Communications job in Boston, and as of tomorrow morning, I will officially be an applicant for said job.
It's something I had pondered for weeks. DTR happens to work there and over the weekend while visiting her I met her boss while watching the Super Bowl (and no, I won't talk about that here, but I will say that the wrong quarterback got the MVP award - Grossman won that game for the Colts). She's wonderful. The job I'm applying for is everything I've been looking for. More even.
But it's in the wrong city.
Then again ... is it really the wrong city? I've spent weeks trying to figure it out in my head. I love New York, I love Boston, I've made pro and con lists, I've thought and thought and thought. And I just have no idea.
It's a conundrum I don't technically have to worry about right now. I would only need to worry about it if I was offered the job and hell, I haven't even been offered an interview yet. But it's amazing what a mind fuck this has been already. Just thinking about it.
They say that home is where the heart is. What happens if your heart's in two places?Labels: Boston, NYC, Rhode Island |
| posted by FINY @ Monday, February 05, 2007 |
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| Friday, February 02, 2007 |
| A Message to NYC |
To: The City of New York
From: Finy
Re: (untitled)
Message:
You're trying to break me right now. And I just thought I should let you know, I'm not going to let you.Labels: NYC |
| posted by FINY @ Friday, February 02, 2007 |
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