cloud nine

I only have one week left here... 5 more days of work... 7 more days of city adventures... and 7 more days until I never have to leave Jace. This has been one of the most rewarding/overwhelming/amazing experiences of my life. It's been hard... it's been fun... it's been stressful... but it's been completely wonderful... and completely worth it. It's really put the whole news world into perspective for me... it's made me realize how much I love it... how much I long to be apart of it... and also how easily I could get caught up in it all. It's made me excited as I begin to close the "college chapter" in my life and turn the page to a whole new world of opportunities. And though I'm sad that I probably won't be reporting in NYC again... I know that wherever I go... I'll be doing what I love... and I'll be with my best friend... and that sounds pretty great to me.

This is my Anchor Read that I did last week. Basically the news director took some of the pieces from the night before and organized them so I could read them and use it for my resume reel. They did my hair... and my makeup (airbrushed makeup is insanely cool)... and even put my name in a font. It was one of the coolest things I've ever done... I thought my heart was going to beat out of my chest during the first story... but by end my adrenaline was going and I was on cloud nine!



I read the intro to the stories and then they included 10-12 sections of each story. There is also a big break before my last story so watch it through to the end... if you're not too tired of it.

This is me at a shoot from last week at ground zero.

Aside from all of the amazing experiences at work... one of my favorite things to do here is find cool places to eat (so if I come back huge...you'll know why).
The other day Anna, Elora and I headed over to the Peanut Butter Co to try their famous pb&j sandwiches.
I ordered a maple peanut butter and jelly sandwich... it was to do for!
Anna and Elora with all of assortments of peanut butterLast week I was really craving Ritas Italian Ice. I grew up on it... and it made me sad that I was so close to home but couldn't have any. So I decided to look up the closest one and it turns out it was only two subways stops away from Columbia! Needless to say I was there the next day. I took Anna- it was her first Ritas experience- but she is fully converted!Yesterday my great friend Kelly French came into town to see me! I decided to show her parts of soho and chelsea because they are my favorite parts of the city. It's so clean and charming in those parts. We literally walked nonstop from 11 AM to 9 PM. our feet were throbbing but it was so much fun catching up. It really meant a lot to me that she came the whole way up here just to see me!
We ate lunch at this Mac and Cheese place called Smac. We split the sampler plate and got to try 8 different kinds of mac and cheeses. Demarie- I thought of you the whole time here... you would love this place!
Then we went on the highline. A bunch of people at work have told me that this is a must before a leave the city and it definitely did not disappoint. It's basically a park above the city. It's beautiful and I've been so homesick for trees/grass so I really enjoyed this.
Strolling through central park- we tried to ride the carousel but it was closed... fail.

I took Kelly to Mariella Pizza. It's my favorite pizza place here... Oprah rated it her favorite place in the city... and it's cheap (seriously though... I eat here at least once a week).
We made a final stop at Crumbs Cupcake shop. I've always been a fan of Magnolias... but I'm completely converted... Crumbs is by far the best in NYC (and I'm clearly a cupspert since I've been to a whopping two places).