I seem to have a fair amount of new subscribers and while I generally keep this blog anonymous enough that if some stalker were to come and read up on me they would not know where to find me, I will try to post a little bit about myself for those who do not yet "know" me.
Let's see. First off I guess I can say that I'm polish, jewish, and southern by blood, i'm
left handed, I will be turning 30 before this year is over, I speak a bunch of languages (some fluently) and as of a week ago I was a full time smoker for over 17 years (had to get that in there somewhere, right?) but have now not smoked cigarettes for a week. So far so good.
I was born in the States and was the first child to two loving and awesome academic parents. When I was 2 and a half my mom, dad and I moved to Amsterdam because of my mom's job. We were originally supposed to only stay for 2 years or so, but within those two years both of my parents got tenured positions at the University of Amsterdam and so we stayed. As a lil' critter my parents sent me to a British school which gave me an awesome (albeit pretentious) accent. It has since gone away though.
When I was 4 years old I was sent to a Dutch school which is where I started learning the language. When I was 7 and a half my bestest friend was born, my sister Hannah. She was then, and to this day still is, my favorite person in the whole wide world. She's 22 now and I'll be seeing her pretty face in 10 days. Whee!
Anyhow, I attended elementary school in Amsterdam and began high school there as well. The Dutch don't do middle school, instead high school starts at age 12 (and the level of high school determines your future as not all high schools lead to university/college--but that can be a post for another time). I had skipped a grade in grade school (must have been those academic parental genes) and so I started high school when I was 11. Around this time (well, i was 12) is also when I started smoking and drinking and discovering how to rebel and be kind of in hindsight a pretty horrible person. Boy did I think I was hot shit though.. and I do have to admit, a lot of fun was had (despite causing my parents oodles of stress).
So, after not doing well at my second high school (where it was easy to cut class and spend time riding around on my boyfriends scooter with some girl friends as well as shop lift, try weed and who knows what other mischief I got into at the time) my aunt and uncle in Massachusetts offered to take me in for a year. Like a study abroad type thing.
And so I moved to a small elitist town in the Boston suburbs where I entered HS as a sophomore and ended up staying for junior year and then arranging to graduate early, and graduating half way through senior year. When I first moved there I felt very foreign (even with my American passport), but by the time I graduated no one knew (unless I told them) that I felt
more Dutch than American. I remember feeling very non American when I first moved to the states. I also recall feeling much older than the kids there. Living where I did had its pros and cons and ups and downs, all in all, I am glad I did it.
Upon graduating I found out that I would not be able to attend a Dutch university without attending pre-college of some sort, and so I applied to schools in the States and ended up at The State University of New Jersey. I lived in New Brunswick for 4 years (2 years on campus, 2 years off) and made some of my best friends there. It was during my junior year of college that I signed up for Xanga.
After graduating college I moved to New York City (figuring that I was so close to it, if i ever wanted to make a go of working and living in the big apple.. that was my chance). Plus, as added incentive the boyfriend at the time was in New York.
After majoring in Psychology, I got a job at a Dutch law firm (!?!) and worked as an admin to the managing partner of this NYC branch. Back then I thought that law was possibly something I wanted to pursue and I took the LSATs. I never even applied to law school and know for absolute certain that I never will. Anyhow, at my first job I started as a secretary making peanuts and worked my way up to double my salary and assisted the business and development marketing person. After 3.5 years I realized my growth had stopped at this office (I think I could have gotten a promotion at their London office, but I didn't want to move at the time). So, I quit and moved into finance and worked for a hedge fund marketing firm.
While at this awful place (where I thankfully wasn't for too much more than a year) my dad had a heart attack and I spent 3 months in Amsterdam taking care of him and my mother (who became sick in 2004 with an undiagnosable muscle dystrophy of some sort). That summer my dad thankfully made a full recovery and I left feeling okay about not being close by. My dad was taking care of my mom again and my sister lived at home and was helpful. After being laid off in 2008 when the crisis first hit (half the NY office was let go after they merged with another place) I luckily got a new job in early 2009 at my current place of employment: an investment banking and private placement firm for private equity funds. I've been here 2.5 years and so far so good.
My title is project manager but essentially i'm the office manager who also does the HR, IT, bookkeeping, compliance and since i'm the only one here doing admin, I assist everyone here. Lets just say it keeps me busy and pays the bills and leave it at that for now. You may call me office slave or office monkey if you'd like.
When I first moved to NYC, back in 2004, I rented a room on 5th avenue right next to the Empire State building and I lived with 4 other people in a place that had practically no windows. When I signed up for the room two of the 4 roommates were (happily) engaged. By the time I moved in they were still dating but no longer engaged. Since I had no walls or doors I heard many of their fights, mostly about the guy's cocaine usage. Good times.
On the upside I could walk to work and it was a great location. Now, nearly 8 years later I still live in NYC. Although no longer in an apartment shared with 4 other people, one bathroom and a lofted bed room in which I could not stand up straight. I kid you not, it was a hobbit hole. It even had what I called a 1/4 bath, since it had a sink and a toilet, but one had to crawl into the room. Here are some pics (that is the cocaine roommate in a diaper, yes.. sorry).
After about a 15 months at that lovely place, I moved to a borough with a friend. We found a 2 bedroom apartment and lived there for 5 years. The area is cheap and neighborhoody, and yet only a 20 min commute to my office. Here are some pics of us moving in (so so SO much fun was had):
In August of 2009 my mom (somewhat unexpectedly) passed away. She had been in and out of hospitals and the muscle dystrophy was attacking her heart. The doctor had said she'd have about 2 more years about 8 months prior, so it was unexpected when she passed. My dad, sister and I have been coping since and we are all extremely close, but not a day goes by that I don't miss her. LOTS. I was back in Amsterdam in June and will be there again in 10 days for a week.
Then for the Christmas holidays my dad and sister will be in the States.
I never did go to graduate school and I never did become a child psychologist like I thought I would be for many years. I do have two passports and two places I call home. I have family on two continents, I dream in two languages and I am interchangeably fluent in both. Do you like me tooting my own horn here? I kid I kid..
After 5 blissful years the roommie moved to Seattle for his gf's job in 2010 and I decided to keep the place for myself. So, now I am lucky enough to live in that same 2br apartment we got, but my myself. I've been there for about 14 months and I love my apartment (as some of you readers know).
Obviously I have left out a lot.. the vacations, the concerts, the relationships, the friends, the experiences.. but in about 1613 words or less, this is me I guess; I work in Manhattan, I love my teeny tiny family, I have a great apartment and a lot of awesome friends. This is turning into a novel, and the most boring novel ever at that.. so I will end this for now. If you made it all the way through this, i'm impressed and also sorry 
Happy Humpday!
The Turkey
I went to Bed Bath and Beyond where I learned that I could literally buy the whole store. I mean, if I had the money that is. I may or may not love odd things. Most people die for a nice pair of Louboutin's or the newest iSomething (well, I like electronics too) but I instead decide to ooh and aaah a knife block. I'm not kidding. I mean, it was a cool knife block.. but it also cost $49something. Now do I need a container that holds knives that costs that much? Especially when I currently have a drawer and a magnetic holder that do the same job and don't take up counter space? No. But I ooh'd and ah'd nonetheless. It has some weird stuff in it that reshapes so you can put knives in anywhere and take them out and it reshapes. I'm sure it's just the stuff one wants touching their knife and then eating, too. Mmm chemicals. Yes people, i'm 29 years of age and I drool at knife blocks. Heh. 
I used to work at Rock Center so I recognized this shot of 6th Avenue immediately (even before they panned out) but I have to feel like they stopped even trying to pretend this takes place in Chicago. 
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