Munchkins on the Counter Make My Day

Back to work today! Buses were "partially running," what that meant exactly I wasn't sure but I set out at 9:45 to catch the 10:01 BxM4 Xpress bus into Midtown, hoping to make it to work by 12. There were other people at the bus stop which I saw as promising and took to mean that they probably knew the bus was indeed running. They did not actually know this, I found. Everyone was on the same page, not knowing for sure when or even if this bus was coming. And it didn't, not the 10:01 AM bus at least. Around 10:30 we saw a BxM4 driving in the opposite direction, towards Yonkers instead of Manhattan. We all grew hopeful then, knowing that the bus was at least running! 

It was interesting to see the little community that built as we all waited. A British man helped out a dog walker by informing him that the buses honestly were free today and that he didn't need to keep counting that pile of change and making sure he had $5. The dog walker then opened up to him about his latest bout of struggles and how everything happens at once. An Irish couple "here for a fortnight" nervously joked with anyone who talked to them that yes, this was the stop for the BxM4... if it ever showed up.

Finally, the bus did show up! We saw it there on the horizon, squinted to see the numbers, and all exclaimed with joy (no really, we did) when, at last!, they were the combination of numbers and letters we were all hoping for. We all piled in at about 11:20, happy to get out of the cold and be on our way. We even all got seats! 

It was about a 2 hour bus ride, hitting bad traffic once we got into Harlem. I enjoyed being above ground the whole time and seeing the sites of the route I usually am traveling underneath. Surprisingly, I didn't see a whole lot of destruction, not as much as I thought I'd see at least. There were some trees down and some caution tape and some windows/storefronts were boarded up. I suppose everything along the road had been cleaned up though, so the buses could actually run, understandable. 

I got to work around 1:10 and found only a handful of people in the office. There's probably 35-40 people who work there and today there were maybe 12 of us. There were also Munchkins sitting on the kitchen counter.... as in donut holes from Dunkin Donuts :) They seemed to be fall flavors (like pumpkin!) and they honestly made me feel that going into the office was worth it. 

It was a pretty good day at the office too. With so few people it seemed like I got to chat with more people. I also got to create the flier for an upcoming pubcrawl which makes me feel like a real designer! 

Getting home was another experience. I decided to take the same bus as in the morning so that I didn't have to make any transfers. I left work a half hour early in order to catch the 7:55 bus. Wellllll, just like the morning version, it did not come. Once again there was a little community built as a group of us waited for the bus to arrive. A man told us how he was glad that the bus was free today because $5.50! He could easily buy some rolling paper and weed to fill it with for that money. A guy from Peurto Rico told me about his first experience with a hurricane and how the sky had turned red. I also noticed the oddity of looking to my left and seeing the city full of light while to my left side the only lights were headlights, the lower many streets still being without power.

It was pretty chilly, mostly due to the wind and, once again, it was a long wait for the bus. Another hour and 20 minutes, actually. The trip home was shorter, thanks to less traffic. Plus, when I arrived I found a lovely package of popcorn and goodies waiting for me! (Thank you Grandma!!)

Overall a successful day! I'm very happy that the subways are open (at least the trains and stations that I use) tomorrow! The bus might be a nice change every once in awhile but I don't understand it well enough (and neither does ANY other New Yorker) to have the stress of HAVING to use it. 

Happy Days at Hill Country

One really cool thing about working at Hill Country is that celebrities are frequent visitors! 

Living in New York, I could, and probably do, walk by celebrities on the sidewalk every day and have no idea-- there's just so many people and honestly, they usually look just like anyone else. I can pick models out of the crowd but television stars, musicians, and actors are a little trickier. 

Which is why working in a nicer restaurant is great! Celebrities often eat there (Idina Menzel, Neil Diamond, Jesse Jackson, John Legend are just a few I've heard about in the last couple weeks) and someone is bound to recognize them and spread the word that so-and-so is sitting at table 43. 

I'd been working at HC about 3 weeks before my first celeb sighting. It was Jaclyn Smith, one of the original Charlie's Angels. I was at the cash register and had no idea who she was or that she was even famous as I searched for a Small tank top she was buying for her daughter. Luckily, she was more in the other cashier's era and he urgently whispered "Do you know who that is?!" 

I've been waiting for another celebrity to come in and, hopefully, to actually know who they were and recognize them. This weekend I got my wish! 

I worked a double Saturday and while I was on my break and eating downstairs, a server came over to tell Ebony and I that The Fonz was there! Honestly, I've never seen Happy Days, but I do know who The Fonz is and have seen some of Harry Winkler's movies. I happened to end my break and get back to work right as he was leaving which led to me being the one to check him out at the cash register! I was pretty stoked to actually talk to him a little. 

He was super nice and shorter in person than I would have thought (although I hear they always are!)-- I had a good 4 inches on him in my cowgirl boots! Here Comes the Boom is his latest movie coming out soon and he was recommending that to everyone. He also said he loved the place and will be back so maybe I'll get to see him again!

It definitely added some excitement to the evening and is a fun fact to tell people!

Day 2 and Cafe R

Today was my second day at my new internship and it went really well! Maybe even better than yesterday because I was past the first day and already knew what I was supposed to be doing.

It's amazing the differences between the two places already. Everything from the atmosphere, to the work, to the style and setup, the office itself, the size of the operation, the hours and people... I'm thankful for my time at Resource, I had a good experience there and definitely learned a lot, but I'm happy to be in a new environment.

Now, because I love food and am completely in love with the food opportunities open to me in New York, I have to talk about my lunch today. At Resource I packed my lunch pretty much every day to save money, and I'll probably do that a lot at WeSell as well. But this morning time got away from me and there was no time to pack. So, come lunch time (which was actually more like early suppertime), I explored a little and found that there's this awesome deli/cafe, Cafe R, right across the street from my building!

I was always impressed by Bridge Fresh, the deli we frequented in DUMBO, but this, this was ridiculous. Literally any food you could imagine or want was at this place. The sign for a sushi special attracted me and at first all I saw was sushi and Chinese food, which you could order at counters and have made right in front of you. Then I noticed how big the place was and how many more counters and signs there were. Then I noticed the buffet of food ($6.65 per pound) in the middle. Then I saw the little grocery area. Then the packaged foods under the counters (like Easy Mac and Chef Boyardee). Then I realized there was a whole other side lined with counters. And these counters where you could order food were in addition to the coolers and cases in the middle where you could grab ready-made sandwiches and sushi and fruit salads and cookies and wraps and... well you get the idea.

Basically this place was overwhelming, but in a very good way. After glancing at the menus for sushi, Chinese, soup, Teriyaki, and Korean I decided on some orange chicken with lo mein. It was prepared right in front of me and delicious! Plus I could only eat about half and had leftovers-yay!

They had seating at both ends of the place, so I stayed there to eat and gawked at all the food options. Pizza, a bakery, "American grill", Mediterranean, hot sandwiches, cold sandwiches (both having pitas, paninis, and wraps), Mexican, Philly Steak, breakfast bar, pasta bar, beverage bar, salad bar, smoothie bar... I, of course, looked them up online later and, although they don't have a website (guess they need a good web designer's help ;), I did find their Facebook page which even shows their specials for every week! 

Maybe no one else finds this interesting and I'm sorry if that's the case but I am a lover of food--places like this amaze me and are just another fantastic thing about New York :)

If I don't post for a few days it's because I'm crazy busy working at HC. Pulling a double tomorrow and Saturday plus working normally Friday and Sunday. Gotta make the money to buy these new clothes I want so bad! Haha, or at least to buy lunch for myself every once and awhile ;)