Chrissy's Blog

I met up with a friend of mine who was a fellow graduate of the UW creative writing school. He is currently getting his MFA at NYU for (this is too fantastic) half-hour comedy television show writing. We met up in the Village at a bar on Macdougal Street, which was happenin’! For a Wednesday, all the bars seemed pretty alive, but I’m going to attribute that to the whole college town thing. It was fun to hang out, drink beer, and just reminisce about Seattle and talk about our experiences in New York. I am aware that this is not the best picture in the history of the world. But it was late, and I was kind of drunk.

I switched banks today. It was the smart move for me to switch to Wachovia, since they are actually owned by Wells Fargo and will eventually be completely merged next year.

I also love this bank because of a date I went on over six years ago. The guy was really sweet and funny. On our way to dinner we drove by a Wachovia, and he asked me how I thought it was pronounced. I shrugged. He said it looked to him like “Watch Ova’ Ya,” which is fantastic for a bank to say that they are going to watch over your funds. I never forgot it.

This was the first day in something like two months that Travis and I got to spend the entire day together. I basically started working as soon as I got here, and I worked the weekends that he had off. I will probably have to work many other weekends as well. Them’s the breaks in the food service industry. So we savored the day. We planned on spending the entire day exploring Central Park, but we ended up actually spending the majority of the day at H&M working on a whole new wardrobe for Travis. I enjoy making my boyfriend look good though. We did spend a little bit of time in the Park though. He took me to the Jackie Kennedy Onassis reservoir, where I got this fantastic view of the Upper West Side.

My first day at Think Coffee. It went really well, other than being a first day. First days are always uncomfortable. You don’t know anyone; you aren’t entirely sure about what you should be doing; you have a million questions. But everyone was so nice, and so interested in knowing all about me. Many of the people I met have worked there for years, and still show up with big smiles on their face. I also get free food which is always good, especially when you work at a place that has plenty of delicious pastries and sandwiches.

My ONLY complaint about the whole day is that they forgot to mention to me the New York State law that says that anyone who is handling/preparing food (this includes baristas) has to have 70% of their head covered at any given time. I obviously had not brought a hat with me to work. I’m just not a hat person. They directed me to a drawer with some spare hats. My choice was between a Yankees hat (NEVER) or this straw fedora. I have nothing against straw fedoras or fedoras in general. They are just not my style, and this one didn’t go with what I was wearing at all. I felt ridiculous in this hat. But I promptly bought some head scarves and bandannas the next day that fit my style more appropriately.

I quit my horrible waitressing job in the morning, which I wish was a better story than it is. Mr. Fancy Pants wasn’t there, so I had to tell my manager Brett that I was not coming back. If it was Mr. Fancy Pants, I would have let him have it. But Brett’s only fault is that he is absolutely clueless. Overall, he’s a nice guy though. Telling him I was quitting felt a lot like breaking up with someone. He looked so distraught and confused as I tried to explain that I wasn’t happy working there and that Think Coffee was just a better place for me. He couldn’t comprehend that I was leaving. But I didn’t care. I was free.

That night I met up with Travis and one of his co-workers to go to a Macallan Scotch tasting. They had super fancy hors d’oeurves and a Scottish man who talked to us about the distilling process as we sampled different ages of the whiskey. It was fun, and best of all free. As I was on my way to meet Travis, I had seen some sort of festival in the other direction. After the tasting was over, we headed over to what turned out to be Little Italy. It was the Feast of San Genarmo. I don’t know what exactly what that means other than the fact that there was a massive fair. We got some Italian sausage and some cannolies. Delicious and in high contrast to the filet mignon/horseradish appetizers we had sampled at the Macallan event.

I had an interview for a barista position at Think Coffee, an eco-friendly coffee bar in Greenwich Village. I walked in and could just tell that this place was much better suited for me. It was a bustling coffee bar with sandwiches, pastries, juice. The girl at the counter was so nice when I told her I was there for an interview. She asked me if I wanted to sip on something while I waited. I got an iced coffee. When I got out my wallet, she shrugged and said, “Put that away, girl. Don’t you worry ’bout it.” I sat at a comfortable booth amid people typing on laptops and reading books. I glanced at all the art on the walls. I could see myself there. I met with the two owners, Lacey and Sean. They were so nice, and it was one of those interviews where you are actually kind of just having a conversation about who you are and what you want.  Lacey told me I had a “sweet vibe that really flows” with what they were trying to do. We shook hands, and I left. I wanted the job so bad! I could really see myself being happy there. I walked around the village and found myself also just wanting the job so I could spend more time in this awesome neighborhood. Art vendors, musicians, bookstores, awesome bars, little restaurants.

Later that night, almost right after Travis had come home, my phone rang. I sprinted over to it, but I missed the call. My phone buzzed with a message. I stood in my apartment, Travis had his arms around me as I listened to the message. I got the job!! “Hello Chrissy Wilson. We would love to have you as a part of our little coffee family, and we hope this is good news for you, because we are excited to have you on board.” I immediately called back and finalized the details. Then I did a happy dance all over the apartment. I know it’ll be a while before I can find my “dream job.” But I am happy that I can work at a good place until then.

A word about New York pizza. Travis and I have discussed this at length. Pizza here is held to a much higher standard as opposed to anywhere else. If you are going to open up a pizzeria in New York City, you better have a damn good pie on your hands, or the people here will shun you and scoff at you. The pizza you see here comes from “Artichoke Pizza” in the East Village. The slice size is pretty epic. When Travis told me we should split three slices between the two of us, I thought he had lost his mind. But it was more than enough. This picture, to my own fault, doesn’t do justice to the size of these things. I should have put something in the picture for size comparison. According to Travis, this is the best pizza he has found in the city so far. It was pretty amazing. The crust was what made it, perfectly crispy, yet thick and hardy enough to hold the plentiful toppings. Although I’ve only tried pizza at one other place, I am willing to say that this was the best.

Travis also showed me the Strand Bookstore which is a three-story bookstore only a couple blocks away from Artichoke. We only got to look around for a while, because Travis was very hungry. But I will definitely be spending hours of time there in the future.

This is the view out of my window. I am still so enchanted by all the buildings like these in New York. The fire escapes, the brick, the different colors, shapes, and sizes. It makes me excited every time I look at them.

This was my last day of a five-day stretch of working at Restaurant 1945. My feet were exhausted and blistered to the extreme, not just from working on my feet but from running around buying/building furniture. Travis was feeling blechy as well. So we curled up on the futon to watch the HBO “John Adams” series. So good! Sometimes I am overwhelmed with how awesome the origins of America are. That many smart men getting together to put together a revolutionary government that is so simple in its establishment of basic rights. If those men could see the mess we are in today with dueling parties, crazy extremists, dominating lobbyists, the complete disillusionment by the everyman. I think they would be truly saddened.

Anyways we also ordered in delicious and greasy Indian food. There is the website here that lists all the places that deliver to your area. We have 169 options!!! Sometimes you gotta love this place, if only for the food.

One of the frustrating parts of moving here has been that our apartment has just been a disaster zone. Boxes and clothing splayed everywhere. This is a huge improvement. As you can see, we have curtains, and a dresser. Also, you can see the ground! There is actually space for us to walk around. It feels heavenly.

Our Ikea furniture was delivered Sunday, but before we sat down to build it all, we went to Central Park for a little bit. We sat on a nice bench and relaxed for a while. There is some great people watching in this city. Plus there are plenty of little parks, not to mention the HUGE park right in the middle of town. It’s still full of people, but it’s a welcome oasis from honking cars, towering buildings. I only got a tiny peek at the park, but I definitely want to take a whole day to explore all that it has to offer.

I feel rushed to go out and see things, but I have to remind myself that I live here! I’m not here sightseeing. I’ll see it all, in good time.