the game of life

I had a realization last night. When I was little, my family had the board game "Life" and I LOVED to play it. It was probably a close second favorite behind Candyland. I distinctly remember always hoping that I would roll or draw (I can't even remember now what you did) the doctor as my profession because the salary was $50,000 and that was SO much! (Plus, if it was the salary of a doctor, it had to be a lot...) Now, as I'm embarking on my own 'game of life' I'm starting realize exactly how "much", or in reality how little $50,000 is, AND that doctor's probably don't really make that as a salary. I feel so grown up now that I can say I have a job and a SALARY but I'm finally starting to understand why my parents always told me that money doesn't grow on trees. And, I am tempted to go buy the game of Life to see if they have adjusted the doctor's salary since I last played it in the late '80's and early 90's...or if they just like to keep kids in the dark about the real world and the reality of money?

peace out

I have been back in New York for 76 days, 8 hours, 28 minutes and 32 seconds. WHERE has the time gone? I'm already leaving tomorrow after 11 WEEKS here this summer...but this time isn't quite the same because I don't have to look forward to classes and school starting. I can't believe it's already time to go home, but I'm looking forward to sweet tea and free refills and reuniting with Taco Casa and Chick Fil A before I return to the Big Apple for good!

my pad

Here are a few pics of my NEW APT!

going away

Even though I will be returning to Perkins Eastman in about a month, all of the other summer interns will be going back to school and will only be coming in one or two days a week. I'm so excited that I'll still get to see them, but it won't be the same as it was this summer. So, on Thursday they had a going-away lunch for me at Rosa Mexicana, and we all went to lunch together to celebrate the summer and the interns, since I'll no longer be one :)

Belinda, Stephanie, Megan, Caitlin, Hannah and me at lunch

And then on Friday, my boss threw a SURPRISE going away party for me with all the interior designers at Perkins Eastman! I was so shocked and excited...and that was my first surprise party to ever have in 22 years! 

I'm a New Yorker!

So after a very long hiatus of blogging, I've decided to get to it again. My sister has been calling me asking me to update my blog because she has no idea what's going on in my life. Because my internship ended last Friday and they were trying to push as much work into me as possible in the time they had left to do it, the last two weeks have been utter chaos - interviewing for jobs, trying to find an apartment, deciding what I'm going to do when all of this doesn't work out as planned, playing softball in Central Park with strangers (on more than one occasion...), having fun visitors in NY, and trying to get every detail arranged before I leave on Thursday, along with a few other things...

But, in a matter of probably 3 hours last Tuesday, everything fell into place and the path that I should take was instantly revealed. I got offered a job at Perkins Eastman (where I am currently interning) to work in the Education studio designing schools from grades K-12. As of now, there are no other interior designers in that studio! It makes me very excited, but also a little nervous...however, this summer was a great experience for me with my internship working in the library because I got to know ALL of the designers and not just a couple in a certain studio - so I have made a lot of friends and a lot of references :) 

And my apartment search ended about as fast as my job hunt did. I am going to live with one of my friends named Lara who is in my fellowship group in NYC. Her roommate unexpectedly moved out and she needed another roommate at the exact same time I was looking to move somewhere. Coincidence?! Not really - God couldn't have worked the timing out more perfectly, I don't believe. My new apartment building is located in the Financial District one block below Wall Street on the lower part of the island of Manhattan. I intend to post some pictures of my actual apartment that I have taken, but I don't have my camera with me now, so it'll probably be tomorrow. But, in case I forgot to mention, I could not be more excited about my new upcoming life as a "grown up" (now that everything is settled). And it's official - I'm a NEW YORKER!

happy anniversary!

Today is my mom and dad's anniversary - they have been married for 36 years!!! I know they miss me being at home because I didn't get to go eat with them tonight on THEIR anniversary, but maybe next year.....Happy Anniversary!

on the hunt

I feel like I haven't updated my blog in forever, and I guess it has been several days. I haven't had anything going recently that is very exciting or noteworthy, and who has time to update a blog when they are unemployed? I'm spending a lot of my time looking for and interviewing for jobs these days. This blog used to be devoted to how many days I had left until I returned to New York City. Now maybe it should be a countdown of how long I have to find a job here.....

here's a few more

la playa

So, I went a little picture crazy while I was at the beach (and on this blog). But since I was only gonna be there a few days, I had to make the memories last somehow. For those of you who don't know much about my family, here's a small glimpse...

    

I miss the beach...already

And I've only been home a little over an hour. After my marathon of traveling this weekend, it is nice to finally be settled in one place (at least for the next 3 weeks) but I didn't want to leave the beach or my family at all. It all started on Sunday when my flight back to NYC was cancelled. Not delayed, not experiencing difficulties but completely cancelled. As unfortunate as this may sound, I was totally ok with it. I had thought about moving my flight back to Monday anyway, but figured it would be too expensive and really didn't want to have to deal with the hassle, but Delta did it for me. And, I had an interview on Monday so that was another reason I didn't want to start changing things around - but they couldn't be upset about my flight getting cancelled, right? That sounded like a free ticket for two extra days of vacation to me. And that's what I got! It was great - I got to spend a whole day and a half extra on the beach to work on my tan a little. I probably could still use more work, but it was better than I was expecting. So then, on my flight home on Tuesday afternoon, I had a layover in Tampa with 35 minutes in between (tight, I know) but the Delta attendant strongly suggested I not go through Atlanta if I didn't want anymore delays or trouble. So I took her advice, and of course, my plane getting into Tampa landed at 6:20 when my next flight was scheduled to leave at 6:25. Needless to say, I was sweating a little. I did not want to be stuck in Tampa at the airport for who knows how long. Luckily though, when I got off the plane and ran through the airport to my departure gate, my flight to LaGuardia had been delayed until 6:45. We boarded the plane about 7:15 and took off about 8:00 or 8:15. My 9:15 arrival date in New York turned into a 10:45 landing and me getting home about 11:15. I came in, dropped my bags, and pretty much went straight to bed. It always amazes me how traveling (essentially sitting and doing nothing) can be so tiring. It was a fun weekend + a few days, and I was glad to get to see all of my family and the sandy white Florida beaches. I'm sure my skin thanks me.

the fam at the beach

The entire Pettus gang at the annual family beach trip

(this was actually minus 2...so you can imagine, dinner reservations are not easy to come by)

bbq and coldstone

I flew home to Birmingham last Thursday night because of the long 4th of July weekend. I was celebrating the 4th with my family on Friday in Tuscaloosa before we all headed to the beach on Saturday...The day consisted of a LOT of bbq, baked potatoes, and a trip to Coldstone Creamery afterwards. No matter where you go, there's just nothing like a summer holiday in the south.

           Mayce              Ethan              Elliot               McKay

(After several attempts, this was the best picture I could get)

     

Abbey doesn't miss a chance for ice cream...or any other food for that matter

Ethan and his disgusting green apple ice cream with chocolate chips...yuck!

'cathedral of baseball'

                                                                        

This could be a little weird if the wrong person ever read or saw this, but mainly for my friends in New York who I was telling about this - a guy from Tuscaloosa, David Robertson, who played baseball in high school with the guy that I dated and our parents have been friends since before we were born, and our grandparents were friends before that, just got called up as a pitcher for the Yankees. And because of my slight obsession with baseball, I immediately searched out tickets the day I heard about it so that I could go to a game and hopefully get to see him pitch. Even though I don't really know him that well, I watched him pitch for 3 seasons in high school and summer league baseball, and I couldn't really imagine what it would be like to see him pitch IN Yankee Stadium! Unfortunately, he didn't pitch the night I went to the game and I'm not exactly the biggest Yankees fan in the world, but it was still fun/hard to believe that he could run out of the bullpen at any moment...

                                                    

And then, when I was home for July 4th, my sister was looking through some old photo albums of us as kids, and my mom pointed out this one as we flipped through - this is me and David Robertson at age 2! Who needs a picture with A-Rod or Johnny Damon when I have one with the Yankees latest rookie from over 20 years ago.

in remembrance

Happy July 4th!

My Independence Day holiday has taken a slightly different turn this year -I'm in Alabama for starters - but I also didn't eat my weight in cupcakes, hamburgers, and hot dogs for this 4th. Even though I have some pics from this year's celebration that I'll post later, I couldn't resist posting these from last year to commemorate such an amazing day - that still rivals the best of days that I've had since living in NYC.

Hoboken

Of course it rained on our way to see the fireworks. I think this was after we found out the Amy was "cool enough already", even without accepting some random man's request in the subway to be her boyfriend.

Notice that in the pic above and below, Kat is holding up four fingers. I'm not sure if it is to show how many more cupcakes she was gonna eat or to say 'happy July 4th'...or maybe because she graduated high school in '04.

The end of the 4th of July celebration - the cupcakes and icing ran out.

LGA

I'm sitting the LaGuardia airport, and I've determined, I think it could be the best, most efficient airport I've ever been in. They have all of their food, snacks, drinks INSIDE of the security gate. This is a major plus because I can't count how many times I've bought a drink before I came through security and then had to chug it to drink it before I got inside so I didn't miss my flight or have to throw my drink away. And, (this is the most important) the Burger King that I am eating at has Dr. Pepper AND free refills...in NEW YORK CITY! And I am sitting here using free WiFi on my computer in the airport terminal - also unheard of. 

And then as I was going through security the most amazing thing happened. I was behind two Indian women with a little girl, probably 4 or 5 years old. As everyone is taking their shoes off and backpacks and things to go through security, all the sudden the little girl starts taking off her pants into a heaping pile on the floor and beginning to pick them up and put them on the conveyor to go through the security check. I was trying hard to stifle my laughter, when her mom suddenly turned around and noticed what she was doing and quickly helped her to get her pants back on. She couldn't help laugh either. Clearly, the girl was a little confused, but at least it provided a little entertainment for the rest of us having to endure the confines of the airport. 

sweet home alabama!

in less than 24 hours, I will be back in the good ole South! I'm going home tomorrow for a long weekend since it is the 4th of July. I've done the 4th in the city once and that was enough to say I've done it. I am soooooo excited about going home and can't wait to see all of my family and lay on the silvery white beaches in Ft. Walton for a few days...or one day, really. Either way, I can't wait!!!