Holiday Parties

Last Thursday, Audrey and I went to a “diversity holiday party” at Libation, a place downtown. The point of the event was to network with other professionals, but Audrey and I quickly got bored and decided to start playing games. (In our defense, we did try…and had someone explain to us how her hair was once burnt…) Since the event was open bar, Audrey and I decided to start ordering drinks we’ve never had to see if they were good or not. We first tried a blueberry martini and a dirty martini:

The blueberry martini wasn’t that interesting, but the dirty martini was pretty good (although a little salty). Audrey and I tasted the olives afterwards and she REALLY hated it, but I thought it wasn’t too bad (but I don’t think I’d ever order it again). Next, we ordered a seabreeze (grapefruit, cranberry, and vodka) and a sex on the beach (peach schnapps, orange juice, vodka, and cranberry):

The seabreeze was our favorite drink of the night (I liked it because it wasn’t too sweet - Audrey liked it for the massive amounts of vodka the waitress dumped into the drink :)). We were going to continue ordering drinks and sampling them, but we decided to go to dinner in chinatown instead. Here’s a picture of us from the party:

Last Saturday my senior celebrated his 25th birthday at Kevin St. James. Vikkie, Audrey, Eric, and I went to celebrate with him and his friends - it was FREEZING cold and Vikkie and I WALKED there because we couldn’t get a cab (it was only a couple of blocks, but we didn’t wear jackets!):

Vikkie and I with the happy birthday boy,

The three girls, and

Another gangster shot of the three security and controls guys.

After we wished Ray a happy birthday, Vikkie, Audrey, Eric, and I headed to Down the Hatch in the village because Eric’s high school friend was celebrating his birthday there. We caught a cab RIGHT AWAY (thank goodness) and proceeded to take about…100 pictures in the cab. Here’s my favorite:

And a picture of the cab driver that REFUSED to smile in our picture:

I’ve been to Down the Hatch a couple of times while I was interning, but I don’t remember it smelling as foul as it did on Saturday. We only stayed for ten minutes because the air was so stale and smelled like urine + cheap beer + smelly college students. We were walking around searching for a taxi (and it was FREEZING at this point) and we ended up getting a ride in a limo (ask me the story if you want to hear it…it’s a little too crazy for the family members that read this post).

Anyway, we get to our last bar, Park, and somehow, the camera I BORROWED from a friend, BROKE. I sent it in to be fixed, but it’s not under the warranty anymore, so hopefully it won’t cost too much to fix. That also means no more pictures for a while :(:( - but I plan on getting a camera for Christmas, so once I figure out which camera I want, I’ll buy it.

Work has been going well - I’ll be finished with my client in NJ THIS THURSDAY! This Thursday, coincidentally, is also our CHRISTMAS PARTY! And on FRIDAY, I’m GOING HOME!! YIPPEEE!! The only thing I’m not excited about is coming back in the new year because I’ll be looking for a new apartment (but there are a lot of other things to look forward to - Tim’s visit, Angie, John, and Steve’s visit, a new client, etc). If anyone hears of anything - please let me know!

So onto this weekend…

Actually, I’d have to say that this weekend was one of the best weekend’s I’ve had since I’ve moved here. On Friday, I met up with Leena and Jen (her roommate) for dinner in K-town and then we had fro-yo at Pinkberry, an AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME place in K-town. It actually tastes like real yogurt mixed with ice, but then there are a lot of fruit toppings you can add (the toppings cost $0.95 cents each though). On Saturday, I met up with one of my cousin’s friends, David, for brunch at Mustang’s, a tex-mex restaurant on the UES. Afterwards, I went to the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) BY MYSELF (yes, how independent) and walked through the museum, trying to figure out some of the “art.” One piece I saw was more gross than anything else - it was about 12 pictures of a woman that was naked (upper half) and had a bunch of CHEWED UP GUM on her chest. It was so disgusting - one of the pictures even had her with her arms up (with unshaven pits…like, a year’s worth of arm hair - noooo joke). Afterwards, I came back to my apartment and got ready to go out - I met up with John and his friends at a place called “Home” in the meatpacking district. I REALLY wish I had a camera, but when I get back, hopefully I’ll have something to work with. Today (Sunday), I ran some errands, did some work, and went to dinner - BY MYSELF. I’m trying to become more independent by doing more things on my own.

FRIDAY = HOME until JANUARY.