9/11, seven years later

At the request of my mother I have decided to finally begin writing in my blog again after a not-so-brief break...

My new job is near city hall and when I exited the C train at Chambers street this morning it was strange to look back and see the gaping hole that still remains in lower Manhattan. If I had been there at that exact time seven years ago I would have seen a plane fly over my head and crash into the WTC (I was a little late for work today;), I would have been evacuated from my office and seen huge clouds of debris pushing through the streets... a pretty scary thought. I said good morning to a woman in my office and she said "no, not this morning." I didn't go to the site today because I feel so far removed from what happened and there are so many around me that would like to forget but cannot. Despite the books, pictures, videos, reports and even the gaping hole, it is still quite unbelievable to me.

Is February already half over?

Wow, it has been a while since I've written!

Usually I just try to survive the winter, but this year's weather has been pretty nice as NY winters go. It was such a beautiful day today-- almost 60 degrees. I found that I could walk outside and look around at all the pretty parts of the city I never see because I'm rushing to get out of the cold.

My friend Preeti and I went to the Chelsea Market, which contains too many wonderful shops to name (but i'll try): bakeries, italian and spice markets, flower shops, a dairy, chocolate, tea, wine, and coffee shops. All (or most) of the Food Network shows are also filmed on the top floors of the Chelsea Market building, which apparently used to be a huge oreo cookie factory (which I wouldn't have minded visiting either;). Chelsea is directly south of me about 100 blocks- on the west side of manhattan and is full of art galleries in converted warehouses, beautiful old apartment buildings with unique architecture, and a huge variety bars and restaurants that are quiet during the day. Preeti and I visited Billy's Bakery in our continuing search for delicious cupcakes around the city and I was so full from visiting the Chelsea Market that I decided to get a cupcake and their famous bananna cake with cream cheese frosting-- to go.

Today has been a good day:) I'm currently pretending I don't have any schoolwork to do and listening to the Rent soundtrack. I finally got to see the show last weekend when my friends Rachael and Jen visited. We had so much fun! Thanks girls;)

Other recent events include:
- Took the Presidential Management Fellows Test- if I do well I'll be named a fellow and invited to participate in special hiring status with the Federal Government. If not, I will for sure not be moving to Washington DC.
- An article I submitted to the student journal was chosen for publication. Yay! But unfortunately tons of work to edit and add research to my paper...

Otherwise I am still enjoying my classes and internship this semester and, though this is all a lot of work, I really look forward to knowing where I'll be headed in June. If I can just get through February I have a trip to Colorado and a trip to Paris to look forward to in March:)

I'll keep you posted...