Packing Up... Goodbye California. Hello New York!

So, I know that I said I'd get better at this whole blogging thing now that I have a bit of a purpose and direction, but let's be real. I kinda suck at it. >.< But I'm going to try my darndest! ;)

So anyway... I wanted to give a little recap of what life's been like for me thus far...

Since my last post, I spent a lot of my time settling a few things for my move out to New York. I spent a lot of time trying to find somewhere to live out here. Let me say... Trying to find a place to live in New York is definitely a challenge. I've always thought I was pretty decent at finding places to live back home in California, but trying to find a place in New York is a whole other beast! And to top things off, I was 3000 miles away so it wasn't like I could physically check apartments or neighborhoods out. I sent out messages on Facebook to friends and family that live out here asking if they knew anyone that would be in need of a roommate for a couple months or were subletting their room/apartment for the summer. I checked out Craigslist (scary, but I needed to start somewhere) and signed up for a Facebook group called Gypsy Housing. Long story short, I was able to find somewhere to live with a friend of a friend. So for the next three months am I currently calling Brooklyn my home. :)

Back in California I did my best (which ended up being a poor job) to organize and pack up my life for 3 months. I kept hearing all these different voices telling me what I should be doing and expressing all these concerns. I'm not one to stress easily, but hearing everyone's opinions was starting to stress me out! So what did I do? I procrastinated on packing and spent a lot of time hanging out with friends and family and doing things that I knew I wouldn't get to do until I came back home (i.e. drink lots of boba, visit my favorite bar, spend time with my favorite people, and go to Disneyland!).

Packing didn't actually happen until about 2 days before I was set to leave. I couldn't have done it without my dear friend Elaine. I was super scared that I wouldn't get to see her before I left, but as luck and fate would have it she spent most of the afternoon and evening with me the day before helping me pack up the box I was planning on shipping out ahead of me, and helping me pack up a couple suitcases full of my clothes. Elaine, you're freaking awesome. I seriously don't know what I would have done if it weren't for your help. I kid you not, I may need you to come out here when I'm on my way back home so you can help me pack up. xP

I'll spare you the details of the emotional goodbyes, but suffice it to say they did happen. My parents, my best friend Nikki, and Nikki's little sister saw me off to the airport. I love them all dearly and if any of you are reading this: Thank you! I love you. :D

So now I find myself in the wonderful world of New York. Brooklyn to be exact. :) So far, I'm fending well. I'm learning to be on a budget and am reacquainting myself with life away from my parents. The biggest thing has been adjusting to the area and learning what and who are around me. It's definitely a bit of a culture shock. And I don't want to sound like I've lived in a sheltered bubble back at home. I like to think I'm fairly cultured considering the way I grew up, but I think taking someone out of their element will always result in a bit of a culture shock. I'm definitely embracing it as much as possible and learning to adapt. :)

In the past few days I've been able to unpack my things and organize myself into the apartment. Yesterday was great because my roommate and I went grocery shopping which makes me feel better about my financial situation. Now that I've got cupboards and the refrigerator full of food to eat, I'm hoping I'll be able to save myself some money in the next few weeks.

I start my internship this coming Monday. I'm excited and a little nervous. I'm still not quite sure what I will be doing specifically for the company, but I'm excited to start. I'm excited to get back into a routine of things and I'm excited to be doing what I came to New York to do. I'm pretty sure I used the word excited more times than necessary, but in case you can't tell... I'm excited! :D

Anyway. I think that's all I really want to update on in terms of life out here in New York. I have yet to step into the city which I find super weird, but hey... In about a day, I will be there everyday. Why rush it? I might as well enjoy the time that I have to relax before I delve into all.

I've been pretty silent on the social media fronts which is very strange for me. I think it's mostly been because I've been so busy settling into the apartment and the area and just being plain tired from said settling, that I didn't even want to bother with posting pictures on Instagram, updating my status on Facebook, or tweeting. :P I'm hoping that'll change very soon. I'm sure it will. ;)

Anyway! 'Til next time all! :)


<3 michelle

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Big News & A Blogging Comeback!

So it DEFINITELY has been quite some time since the last I posted on here. I know that I kept saying that I would try to post regularly and create content on here, but that was a total epic failure on my part. I think it was mostly because I didn't really feel like I had interesting enough content to post and in a way had creative/writer's block.

But aside from that, I've decided to come back and start fresh! This is mostly due in part by the fact that I'll be starting a new chapter in my life! I'm moving to New York City in about 2 weeks!!!!! I know that I wanted to blog about my first trip out there (again, epic fail), but since that first trip I got bit pretty hard by the bug. I had made about 4 trips out there in the span of one year and the last trip I decided to send out resumes and start looking for work out there. Well, long story short, I ended up scoring an internship in Manhattan! I'm really excited to move out there for 3 months and start work with the company.

I've decided to keep this blog going by writing about my experiences in New York, from moving there to settling in, starting my internship and finding part time work, meeting new people and reconnecting with friends already in the city. I think this'll be a fun way for me to get back into blogging (something that I've been wanting to do for a while), a way to document this chapter of my life, and a great way for friends and family back at home in California to keep tabs on me. ;)

Anyway. I guess I just wanted to create this post as a introduction to what's to come. I'm really excited for all that's about to happen in the next 2 weeks. I can't wait to bring you all along with me! :D



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Lacking Inspiration

So, as of late I haven't been posting as daily on here as I had been the previous weeks. I was really proud of myself for staying on top of my game and being able to pre-plan blog posts and write everyday. However, these past few days I feel like I've hit a writer's block or idea block. I have my little digital sticky notes of topics I could potentially blog about, but every time I run down the list I can't think of anything in particular to associate with that topic to write about. Hrmph...

So that's why I've been skipping a few days. I don't really want to post something as a "filler" to complete the task of "blogging everyday." I'm trying not to be too hard on myself about it the way I was when I tried blogging everyday last time. :P

Anyhoo... If you have any ideas of blog posts you'd like to see here, feel free to comment down below and let me know! :)

'Til next time!

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Tyler Hilton - Forget the Storm (Album Review)

I recently downloaded Tyler Hilton's latest album, Forget the Storm, on iTunes. I've been a fan of Tyler Hilton for a while. If you aren't too familiar with him he's a singer/songwriter/actor based out here in LA. He's most famous for appearing on One Tree Hill as Chris Keller. He's got a bluesy-country kinda style that I absolutely love. His bold and raspy voice is just awesome to hear. I have yet to be disappointed by music he puts out, so when I heard that he was coming out with another album I was ecstatic.

Forget the Storm is a great album. It's a lot harder and rawer than his previous EP's and LP's. In an interview, Hilton describes this album as "[these tunes are] all current so the record is a real honest and current slice of me, which makes it really interesting." I think that's a great description because listening to the music and lyrics, you really get a feel for him and it feels like a no holds bar kind of album.

My personal favorites on this particular album have to be Kicking My Heels, Prince of Nothing Charming, Loaded Gun and Jenny.

Check out a video that Tyler posted on his YouTube channel for the song Prince of Nothing Charming.

Check Tyler out on his website or on Twitter!

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Update (4/14-4/15)

So I'm slightly sad because I missed posting yesterday (Saturday) and kind of today (Sunday). And I don't have anything prepared to post for tomorrow (Monday), so I'm not sure if I'm even going to post anything. O.o

So this post is just going to be a little update and me typing what's on my mind. :P

So I'm pretty proud of myself that I've been able to post once a day and have kind of gotten myself into the habit of posting everyday which was one of my main goals of 'Blogging Everyday in April' (#BEDA). I skipped a few days of Photo a Day April, but I'm not too concerned about that. :P

So let's see... I feel like this past weekend I had a lot going on (hence the lack of posts).

Friday
I worked all day Friday. It rained pretty badly here in So Cal. If you follow me on Twitter, then you'll know what I thought about all the rain. :P I could hear thunder rumbling from the convenience store I was scheduled in, and at one point it was raining so hard that it almost looked like as if it were hailing outside. I got a little concerned that I may have been stuck in the convenience store and that it may have flooded outside. O.o After work I had to run an errand for my parents and then I headed home. I had the option of going out for a friend's birthday out in LA, but the weather was just too much for me and I wanted to stay in. So I ended up at my neighbor's house and we watched Titanic on dvd (I borrowed it from a co-worker). That was fun because it had been a while since I've last seen that movie and without commercials. :P I kind of forgot how good of a movie it is. :) I had been watching a lot of the documentaries earlier in the week and all of a sudden had the urge to watch the movie, but knew that I didn't want to watch it in theaters so I asked my co-worker if I could borrow his copy of the movie. Glad I did. :)

Saturday
My sister woke me up saying that she was feeling some pain in her arm and wanted to go to the doctor's so I had to drive her out there. I spent most of my day with her at the doctor's. I waited for her in the waiting room while she was getting checked out and then waited with her in the pharmacy to get her prescription. She seems to be fine now, so that's good. After that we grabbed some food on our way home and I took a little nap before I headed out the door. I went to go watch an alumni volleyball game. It was a lot of fun. I saw a few of Ken's former teammates. It was really nice seeing them play again like old times. :) After that I went to a friend's house for a game night. It was A LOT of fun. We played Apples to Apples and Werewolf (it's like the game Mafia). I stuck around a bit longer and hung out and talked for a while, catching up, before I went home. All in all, it was a really good night. :)

Sunday
Today was a really great day. I went to my friend's house and we headed over to Guppy Teahouse and met up with a few more friends for lunch. We hung out, ate and had boba. :9 After that we headed over to Saddleback College in Mission Viejo to watch a friend of ours in their production of Rent. I LOVE this show and to see my friend in it made me extremely happy. :D He did such a wonderful job, as did the rest of the cast! After that we drove home and parted ways.

As for this upcoming week, I've got a full week of work ahead of me. Thursday I'm getting my second (and hopefully last) root canal. x( I got one two weeks ago, but they didn't have enough time to do both on the same day so I had to schedule for this upcoming week. Oye... My tooth just healed enough for me to be able to chew on both sides of my mouth and now I'm going back in. Here's to another week of a sore tooth. x(

Anyhoo... Sorry that this post isn't going to be much or along the lines of my previous posts. I just got really busy this weekend and didn't get a chance to pre-write any posts for the weekend. It's OK though. I'll make it up this upcoming week. :)

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