Week 5: Living

So, life's a bit "meh" at the moment. Work's fine. Living's fine. Relying on past paychecks & parental support is blergh. (Yes, this blog is filled with sophisticated words.) I have to pick my battles & use as little money as possible while still living in one of the most expensive cities in the country.

Back in DC, grocery shopping was easy. I got in my car, drove to Target or Safeway, and with coupons & discount cards, I saved at least 60% on my purchases which would last me a month. Here in NYC, I have no car & must rely on my sheer willpower on how far I want to walk/commute for grocery. I have a Morton Williams on the other side of the apartment complex, but I greatly dislike the fact that the Morton Williams doesn't accept Internet coupons. I don't get the Sunday paper so I can't clip coupons that way. I rely on Coupons.com or SmartSource.com and print them out when I find something I need. If I'm in the area of Union Square or Chelsea, I can probably stock up on fruit, veggies & meat at the Trader Joe's which are there but that's only once in a full moon. And you still can't use the coupons. For a quick fix, I head to CVS or Walgreens to get my coupons done while earning either ExtraCare bucks or Register rewards for future purchases. If I have all the time in the world, I can make the trek up 1st Avenue to the Target. Still need adjusting...

I use Groupon a lot. I still have three Groupons for DC that I need to use. I didn't have time the last time I was there, unfortunately. There was this one restaurant that if it comes up on the Now Deals, I would always get it. It's called Nando's Peri-Peri and right now, their own stateside restaurants are in the DC-MD-VA area, which makes me sad because I miss their chicken. Anyways, I think I found my newest go-to-Groupon restaurant in Guy & Gallard, especially when I'm at work since there's one catty-corner to us.

One Groupon purchase that I made when I first learned that I was moving to NYC was a spa treatment. $69 for a $175 treatment at Kim Laudati Skin Care. In DC, I stuck with one spa & that was the Aveda in Bethesda, so it's crazy, in my mind, to try someplace new. Especially in a new city with so many different choices. The lovely Mary Faber gave me the advice to check out Groupon which is what I did; while I use Groupon a lot, it was for food or goods not services. Anyways, my experience at Kim Laudati was quite difference than what I'm accustomed to, but it was a great service and my skin felt wonderful afterwards. I have crappy skin that needs to be pampered every once in a while or else it'll stage a coup.

Another thing that will definitely take a while to get used to is the whole paying-for-a-movie thing. Yes, paying for a movie. Since 2007, I did movie screenings in DC so I was paid to go to the movies. I am so out-of-the-loop that I honestly wasn't aware how much movies were, even in cities like DC and NYC. If you had asked me when I first moved here, I would say it was $10 for an adult. Apparently, it's not; it's more like $13 or $14 plus any other charges like IMAX or 3D. Luckily, there are places where you can sign up to be notified for free screening passes. There's Cinemit and 43KIX, which replaced buzzbo. But the major one is Gofobo, which sent me passes for "The Watch" and "Step Up Revolution." Unfortunately, the screening was on the same night (tonight... last night... Tuesday night). Since I was taking my aunt, I let her chose. Her criteria of going to things like movies or theatre is whether she's familiar someone or something in the show. Since she recognized Ben Stiller & Vince Vaughan, we ended up at "The Watch." Quite frankly, while funny at some parts, I think we might have had a better time at the other movie.

This is where I have my segue to talk about the tragedy of what happened in Aurora this past week. I love midnight showings. I've been to two Harry Potters, the Hunger Games, the Avengers & most recently, The Amazing Spider-Man. The energy is so different because major fans of the franchise or of movies, in general, go to midnight screenings. Since it's so late, there's a sense of euphoria that comes over people where the jokes are funnier & the action is more exciting. Come on, when Voldemort hugged Draco... there was no greater response than that of the midnight showing. It's where you make friends in the line that you stand at for hours beforehand. It's where you dress up and no one judges you. It's that little secret that you keep from everyone else the next day who'll watch the movie during reasonable hours. And that joy & excitement was taken away by a madman. My uttermost thoughts & prayers go to all those affected by the tragedy.

Many people opted not to go to the movies this weekend in fear of another attack. But I'm not one to be fearful so I went to the 10:25 am IMAX showing of "The Dark Knight Rises" on Monday at the Lincoln Square. And judging by the full house & the lines waiting for the next screenings, it's good to see others aren't fearful either. Because if fear takes over our lives, then we can't live. My grandaunt lives in Hawaii but after September 11th, she's afraid to get on a plane because of potential terrorist attacks; she's missed two of my graduations even though she really wanted to be there. Those whose lives were lost and those whose lives were spared but are not greatly unchanged... we need and should continue our lives as normal without fear of another madman. Certainly, don't be reckless; just don't fear the chance of something happening. Be cautious but don't expect the worst case scenarios. We're not immortal so live life because it's the only one we have.

Although my life's a bit bland at the moment, I'm grateful for everything that I do have. So, I guess it's not really "meh."

I'm heading back home to Florida on Friday and coming back on Tuesday. Fun in the sun? Or running through the rain? I guess we'll see.