In a New York Minute....

So, another great night last night. Had dinner with Tom, his mother, her boyfriend and his grandfather. All went well...tried sushi for the first time....and maybe the last.

The food was great, the company was better. We then went to Paul's apartment and watched Kentucky Fried Movie. The movie was not so great, but we managed to make it a good time!

I am growing more and more in "cat butt" and hopefully I am not alone.

You know what they say....In a New York Minute, everything can change....

A Taste of the Good Life

ahhhhh.

The sigh of relaxation. I just came back from a fantastic weekend at Shelter Island. The family was going anyway for vacation, and since Annie (my aunt, see last post) passed away and that was her favorite place, it was only appropriate for us to keep the plans in tact.

Shelter Island, is a little known island off the coast of Greenport, NY. It's a very quaint town. They say if you want to "be seen" you go to the Hamptons, if you want to relax like a celeb, you go to Shelter Island. The water is beautiful, the beaches are pristine...everything is great. We had a seafood and steak barbeque on the beach.

Its even greater, when you get an invitation from the CFO of Sbarro (my dad's cousin Robert) to stay at his multi-million dollar beach house in Greenport rather than a stuffy tiny beach house with 20 of your closest relatives. Yes, Grandma, Cousin Nancy and I were invited to the Koebele estate, which is nothing short of breathtaking. Sun pours in every window, and every room has a skylight. The expansive deck leads down to the private dock off the canal lined with exquisite yachts.

Then upon returning to Shelter Island via ferry Saturday morning, we hit the beach again this time I took a ride on the boat. We had the Hobie as well as the powerboat. Since on the catamaran you can see the water below you, I elected to go on the power boat. Wind whipping my hair and the sun blasting down while speeding through the bay. Amazing!

I will post the pics as soon as I get them uploaded.

In Loving Memory

Yesterday, my aunt Anastasia Mitchell (Kotzamanis) passed away after a lengthy battle with ALS or Lou Gherig's Disease. She left behind two children under the age of 12.

Today is the wake, from 2-5 pm and from 7-9pm and tomorrow is the funeral.

Annie was an amazing, kind, friendly woman. She will be dearly missed.

Letters to my Cat Butt.

Without me realizing it, without really even looking that hard, without hardly any effort, I have met someone.

Now, this is going to sound totally corny and cliche, but I am so shocked that things could be so great with in so little time. I have never truly clicked with someone at all, let alone right away. He is really fantastic, he makes me laugh (granted, I'm usually laughing), he makes me happy and I am so amazed at how things have progressed already.

We spent the entire day together Sunday, and I do mean the entire day. I was proposed to with a potato peeler in the middle of Fortunoff, I whupped him a few times at various video games at Dave and Busters, and we swam under the stars. Perfection. I couldn't have asked for anything better.

It's totally cheesy and totally "e-Harmony" but we are definately on the same wavelength. So needless to say, Rose is quite thrilled at this new adventure. I didn't come to NY to find love, but gosh darnit it may have just found me. Things may get interesting around here. Better stay tuned. By the way....I peench. :-D

Tom: Don't be koi, you know you're my cat butt.

Choose Wisely....

I have come to notice that life is weird.

To elaborate, I have noticed things are happening in my life, on various levels that make me wonder what kind of crazy path am I on? If you take a step back, and look at things that happen, things that DON'T happen, and what that all means....whew. It's enough to make your head spin.

Take my situation for example. Uprooted at 3 years old, moved cross country to Minnesota. Grew up knowing that I was born in NY, but that Minnesota was my home. I knew no other home and lived in my little world, barely realizing that life continued on in NY when I was not there. Fast forward 22 years, here I am, back in NY. I have met someone, whom I almost did not give a chance. What made me reply to his message, I do not know. What made me take those first steps, I do not know.

Stepping back from that, and maybe getting just a tad ahead of myself the idea that I have clicked so well with someone who in the blink of an eye I may never have met....that just boggles my mind. So many factors, just slightly altered and poof...nothing. It just makes you wonder I guess, if things are planned out with a purpose? Do we have some pre-programmed plan? Are we just blindly following the path on the big GPS of life?

Remember the Choose Your Own Adventure books as a kid? Where you had choices throughout the scripted story, and could wind up with any of the half dozen or so endings? Maybe that is more what life is like. Maybe there are chapters that we skip over, or go backwards because of choices we made. Maybe there are not limitless possibilities, but rather a few based on key choices throughout the journey.

Even though the journey here was easy, the stay so far has been a rocky one. Im stressed to the max, I still have no job, despite my best efforts. I have called in many a favor. However, things are starting to come together to where I am really enhancing my belief in fate. Things do happen for a reason, whatever the reason may be.

So far, I like what I see. :)

What Do I Want?

I have been reading the book 20 Something 20 Everything by Christine Hassler. If you haven't read it, or haven't heard of it....go get it. Now.

Without boring you with details, I will just share the jist of it and a part that I just read that is really sticking out in my head. It is basically a book about the "quarter life crisis" alot of women go through in their 20's. About all the "shoulds" in your life versus what your "wants" or desires are.

"We are truly suffering from a "should" epedemic that generates feelings of confusion and anxiety. Georgia, 20, is a junior in college. She and all her eight girlfriends from high school are doing what they are supposed to do: going to good colleges so they will have promising careers, getting into good relationships, and concerning themselves with looking really good.

I cannot think of one friend who is happy. My friend who has her career mapped out for her is clinically depressed. My friend who has a great guy she wants to marry has a workaholic mother whom she never sees and a stepfather she can't stand. Another friend, who is gorgeous, has an eating disorder. We are all doing the things we THINK we should be doing, but not one of us is happy."

That part really stuck out to me, as well as this one:

" If we peel away, one by one, our illusionary ideals, which are disguised as shoulds, we can find the root of what we really want."

I am going to really take a step back and identify what I am doing in my life because I "should" be, (or what I am NOT doing but "should" be doing) and really try to seperate that out. Who says what we should be doing? What makes them so God damn smart?

It seems to me that the people who are telling me what I should be doing are trying to live vicariously through me anyway. Get your own life. This one is mine!

Santan lotion, good for me.

It has been a week since I have been in the pool. It seems that if you don't wear sunscreen and then for a week straight sit out in the sun between the hours of 10am-4pm and are half Irish, you will burn. Badly. To the point of blisters.

I do not reccommend this strategy.

So, now that my boobs have healed I am onto bigger and better things.

I still have not gotten a job. Like Mr. Billy Madison over there, I have been floating around like a lump of crap. :) That's not entirely true, as I have been passing out resume's like they are cocaine. No one is interested though. I went to a temp agency on Thursday, and should hopefully have *something* early next week. The days are starting to run together. It could be April for all I know. That wouldn't bother me so much, except the bank account is starting to run dry. And I gotta start saving up for the girl's weekend in January! I can't wait!

I am trying to decide when I should come back to MN for a visit. So if anyone has any suggestions, you know where to reach me. :)

All for now!

Gone....In Sixty Seconds

Yesterday I was feeling very stressed. I hadn't heard one way or the other about the job (which of course means I will not hear anything till Monday) and that was driving me nuts. I got into it with my parents over my student loans and it was my first day on the nicotine patch to quit smoking.

Well, seeing that I was on the verge of going on a maniacal shooting rampage, Jerrell (my uncle) offered to take me for a ride in the Cuda. I was such a sourpuss that I almost didn't go.

I opened the door and sat down. Strapped in. He fired up the engine and revved it. The whole car vibrates and you can smell the old muscle car exhaust. We pulled away and went down the street with the windows open, people watch the car go by. As we drove, I still was grumpy, and didn't feel like cheering up. We slowed down and got in the turn lane for Cantiague Park. on the straightaway into the park, he suddenly gunned the engine.

As I was sinking into my seat from the force of the accelerator...I found myself grinning uncontrolably. It's really amazing the therapeutic power of several hundred horsepower and gasoline fumes! I honestly felt better.

Things have been going well on the date front as well....more on that later. Gotta leave you hanging right??