What To Do In "The City"

So I’m updating “the list of things I have to do in NYC” that I have now accomplished, and giving you some reviews and tips.

#3) Shop at Beacon’s Closet

This was actually a lot of fun. The large thrift store is located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, so if you’re going, make a day trip out of your adventure and look up the other sweet shops in the area. Also by nightfall, all sorts of awesome little bars were opening their doors.

Price: $10 – $40 average

Memorable moment: Kayley wearing 6 inch, clear, plastic, platform shoes – modeling for us – and then busting her butt.

#19) Go to a hookah bar on Steinway (Little Egypt)

I haven’t smoked hookah since college, but with Little Egypt practically a block away, I had to go exploring. Though our experience started off a little awkward, we eventually enjoyed mango hookah at “Egyptian Nights.”

Price: $8-$14 for hookah (which is usually split), $2+ for drinks

Memorable moment: How about Kathryn and I were THE ONLY girls/women/ladies/females in all of Little Egypt except for our waitress. Hence potential but avoided awkwardness.

#37) Go to the Ronnybrook Milk Bar

This little joint is actually located in the Chelsea Market, and has an awesome “glass of milk + 2 cookies” deal. The atmosphere has a nifty "soda-shop meets farm" theme and, of course, the milk was amazing. The Ronnybrook farm is local, organic, and highly rated by New York publications. The cookies were tougher than I usually like (then again I could simply eat cookie dough) but it worked well for dunking, so no complaints.

Price: $6-$10, but the 2 cookie deal was around $4.

Memorable moment: Waitress: “A glass of whole milk, right?” Me: “Um, yes.” I don’t think I’ve ever downed a glass of whole milk, but it was so good. There chocolate milk is also rated #1.

#42) Visit the Chelsea Market

This was a cozy, indoor market that was a great escape from the harsh winter weather. Filled with small shops and restaurants, it would be an ideal place to shop for gifts and snack along the way. I still need to do more exploring because I was mostly distracted by the Ronnybrook Milk Bar and the Anthropology on the way in.

Price: Ranges

Memorable moment: There are tons of different bakeries, and the entire place looked great for the holidays.

Help A Girl Out

My sister Kathryn went on a trip last summer to the Dominican Republic through a program called Orphanage Outreach. She worked in a children's home for boys, and though the trip had it's ups and down, she really enjoyed her overall experience.

So she wants to go back... but this kind of thing is expensive. Luckily, there is a contest to give one returning person a free trip.

This is where I need some help (because I only have so many verifiable email addresses). All you have to do is click the link below and vote for her picture! Make sure to uncheck any boxes so that you won't receive emails.

And that's it my friends :)

http://www.orphanage-outreach.org/witw/

Look st that dedication! Standing in cold, with a teeshirt.

I Love New York But...

A pepperoni pizza had started all this mess.

I hung my head low, surrounded by squished passengers on the subway. The train was crowed, partially because it was a Saturday, but also because the N train’s tunnel was under construction. Thus, many unhappy New Yorkers had piled into the less favorable 7 train.

I had gone into work at 9 this morning (earlier than usual) and had felt nothing except tiredness. The day had passed relatively quickly, with not much seeming amiss until after lunch. Around 3:30pm, my stomach was churning and waves of dizziness attacked me every 15minutes of so.

“Actually no this isn’t on sale – yeah sorry, someone must have just put it on the sale rack,” I heard myself mechanically saying with a fake smile plastered to my face. What was going on? The nausea would suddenly ease up, and I could function for another 10 minutes or so.

But something bad happened. I work on the 3rd floor, and on the 2nd floor is the café. Smells of cookies, coffee, and pizza often waft up towards our counter, and unfortunately my usually nonexistent gag reflects did NOT enjoy the idea of pepperoni at all.

Run.

And so I did - up two flights of escalators, passed agonizingly slow walkers, to a vacant 5th floor restroom. There I was finally able to… well, to not do much of anything. But I wasn’t going to repeat this episode so I informed my co-workers that I was going home.

Ugh! But home was so far away! This kind of commute doesn’t happen in Virginia.

Hence me sitting with my head hung low in the crowded subway car. Everyone seemed to be breathing hot air, mixing into this nasty toxic oxygen that made my ailing stomach very angry, indeed.

Amazingly enough after mentally chanting Joshua 1:9 like a crazy person, stopping by a pharmacy, walking 15 minutes home without my jacket zipped because the cool air felt so nice, and crashing into my bed – I survived.

I won’t get into the details, but let’s just say 10pm – 11pm was not a pleasant hour.

24-hour stomach bug: 1, Britney: 0.

I'll win next time you stupid, little virus.

Thursday’s Things New Yorkers Say: Pickup Lines

Yeah - we've all heard (or said) some good ones. Those lines guys say that make you cringe. In fact, I had a great example today and it was just in time for Thursday's Things New Yorkers Say.

Walking towards the Martha Stewart Living building in Chelsea.

"Miss?" I stop, but leave my headphones in. I press pause and look at the 30-something-year-old man. "Probably needs direction," I think to myself. "Yes?" I say. "I'm looking for directions..." he says and lingers for a moment, not speaking. I nod, prompting him to continue since I was already expecting this request. Then he says, without even cracking a smile, "I'm looking for directions to how I can see your beautiful face again." BLAH! I'm sure I visibly looked taken aback. I could only laugh out loud and walk away, smiling at the fact he would simply shine on my blog.

Guys in there late teens or early 20s talking behind me in Greenwich Village.

"Yeah, yo but do you remember the kind of crap we used to say? Like..uh, what was that one.. oh yeah, "I forgot my number. Can I have yours?" Several of the guys laugh. Another one says, "Or how about 'Have ya got the time? Cuz' I gotta place..." All the guys laugh again. One dude suddenly stops and says, "Hey wait, that's not too bad." Everyone ceases laughing, pauses to contemplate the idea of this pickup line, and then simultaneously say things like, "Mike you're an idiot." And I have to laugh too, because it's just that bad.

And my all time favorite in New York City:

"Hey... I'm an actor (insert creepy grin)."

Well aren't we all!

Want an NYC Internship?

I’ll let you in on a little secret…

Like what you hear about Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia? Well I was just informed that HR is looking for two more interns. If you are interested in working with wholeliving.com or weddings.com please message me on Facebook or email me at ...

Experience in writing or blogging would be helpful, and the internship will be taking place in NYC for the Spring semester.

So there’s a useful leak straight from corporate for you!

First Day as "Martha" Intern

I was 30 minutes early… again.

Why I perpetually stress about exact times and subway hold-ups, I’ll never know. The first day of anything new (Bloomingdales, graduate school, Martha Stewart Living, etc.) I am almost always 30 minutes early.

And then, once I find out the latest possible time I can crawl out of bed without being tardy, I sleep in late and rush rush rush… but in that situation it’s for good reason. What an anxious insomniac I do seem.

Never the less, I promptly arrived at Martha Stewart’s corporate office at 12pm on Monday afternoon. After a brief tour of the 9^th floor, I was sent to work on a few different aspects for the editorial department.

The space is beautiful, with multitudes of natural lighting and magazine layouts covering the walls like artwork. It's slightly odd being the only intern, since everyone else is a permanent employee working on their careers, but I like the challenge this presents.

Large Mac computers are organized into rows based on departments and publications, with me seated in the middle of the Martha Stewart Living section. Yes! I have a desk. And Martha mug? That's just too much...

Now this is when it gets tricky. I want to tell you all everything! What I did, who I saw, my daily assignments – but you know I can’t. Just like with Bloomingdale’s, I had to sign a confidentiality contract. Of course this makes sense with a magazine, and it’s an opportunity I’d rather not destroy. So for now, these lips are sealed.

But I would suggest following MS_Living on Twitter ;)

Getting coffee does not seem as though it will be the main aspect of my internship.

More to come.

The Great Gatsby's Breakfast

The dining area had an intricate glass ceiling, colorful and reminiscent of art from a previous time in history. Huge archways lined the parameter of the room, and grand columns with carved statues of ancient effigies greeted incoming patrons.

One of my closest friends was visiting New York for the holiday, and her family had given us the most marvelous gift: a fancy meal at the restaurant of our choosing.

And who wouldn’t want to try the Plaza Hotel?

After researching reasonable dinning options, scrolling through online menus, and completing reservations via an internet service, we finally decided upon breakfast at 10:15 in the Palm Courts Restaurant.

The posh 5th Avenue hotel is no stranger to the wealthy and aristocratic visitors of NYC. But locals also dine and divulge in the luxurious facility, giving the Plaza a unique feel of permanent, unchanging history as well as a fluid vivacity.

“Miss Fitzgerald, right this way.”

In the novel, "The Great Gatsby" two characters chat in the hotel's tea garden, so I couldn't help but smile as Alice and I were seated near a renowned palm tree, our table prepared with water and menus. She selected the delicious “Classic Eggs Benedict,” while I choose the immaculate “Plaza Omelet” complete the bits of salmon and warm goat cheese. To top our meals off, we drank warm tea with milk and devoured several crisp pastries.

Our dresses and drinks made me long to burst back into time—the horse-drawn carriages lining Central Park outside the building did nothing to mollify my overactive imagination. Thoughts of literary figures and movie characters who had frequented this very landmark danced pleasantly in my mind.

I can enjoy a peanut butter and jelly sandwich repeatedly, without much hesitation. And I hope I’ll always be able to throw back a $3 PBR. But the occasional interrupting luxury is much appreciated and of course, extremely memorable. In fact the rarity of the situation is exactly what makes moments like breakfast at the Plaza Hotel so entirely worthwhile.

Thank you again Ricks family! Alice and I enjoyed our adventure :)

Enjoying the tea.

Forget Eloise. Alice at The Plaza.

Classic Eggs Benedict.

The Plaza Omelet.

A staple of the Palm Courts Restaurant.

The Grand Ballroom.

Outside the Plaza after our meal.

Like a scene from a movie...

Thursday’s Things New Yorkers Say

I‘ve been all over New York throughout the last several days, and “The List” of what I want to experience while living in the city has taken a happy beating. But the topic of today’s blog post must, of course, be about what was heard amid the streets and boroughs of the concrete jungle.

New Year’s Eve in Park Slope

Marty Markowitz (pronounced something like Ma-ty Ma-kowitz with a Brooklyn accent) walks on stage and thanks the band for performing that evening. As the Brooklyn Borough President, he has quite a bit of status with the audience.

Then, like something out of a movie, he says to a band member, “Ethan,” and kisses his fingers similar to an Italian mobster, “My fellow Jew, I love yeah.” Suddenly he gives a hearty laugh, clears his throat and continues his speech, with included popular catch phrases like: “Prospect Park is the most beautiful park in America. Who says so? I say so!” and “Forget Manhattan. Who needs Manhattan when you’ve got Brooklyn? Forgetaboutit."

Alice and I couldn’t stop laughing. Nor could we stop saying “forgetaboutit” in every possible situation all night long.

Waiting for the N train in Brooklyn on New Year’s Eve

Have you ever been waiting in the subway, and a train arrives on the platform opposite you, headed a direction you don’t want to go? After this happens twice, you begin to pace a little bit. Three times and you’re straight up angry. Four times and you think that the MTA possibly forgot your stop. Five times? If the train arrives 5 TIMES on the platform opposite yours, and not one train has even thought about stopping at your station, you might think the world is going to end.

So Alice and I waited. And waited. And waited some more. It had probably been 35 minutes of waiting on a platform with a growing number of aggravated New Year’s Eve goers, when a train FINALLY made an appearance.

Everyone shuffled about to get near the approaching transportation, when terror rapidly consumed our station. The horrific letters flashing across the top of the train read “NOT IN SERVICE.” Our collective hopes were crushed.

Then a yell abruptly broke through the depressing air. Police officers had been scattered through the subway all night, and finally someone needed their assistance!

A twenty-something girl screamed, “Officer! (pause for effect) Arrest that train!”

The majority of the subway station at least chuckled.

There's good ol' Marty. Photo courtesy of New York Magazine

--Click Here to Hear Marty Talk--