Actually Summer!

Hello all!
As many of you may know, I recently began to doubt that summer would ever get here!!!
Well, today was Memorial Day, it was 90 something degrees and I had a picnic in the park. So I guess it really is summer. Other signs that it is not still winter: I am all done with school and all my grades are in. I moved out of the dorms and after a brief stay with my Aunt and Uncle on Long Island, I moved into my summer sublet in Brooklyn. Summer schedule has started at work and most of my babysitting jobs will start up in June. I have also had actual free time! I went to a museum! I saw the Alexander McQueen exhibit, Savage Beauty at the Met and it was amazing. I saw a MOVIE, Bridesmaids (very funny!), with my friend Pat who won free movie tickets for a short film he made.


Today, like I said, several of us got together in Prosepct Park and had a picnic. Prospect Park is a big park in Brooklyn only a 20 minute walk from my new apartment. It was designed by that guy Olmsted who also designed Central Park, so it is very nice. EVERYONE in Brooklyn was also having a picnic there or even a cookout on these little grills that everyone has. I made a pasta salad for my freids and we also had a bunch of fruit and stuff. We found a very since spot in the shade and ending up staying there for over 6 hours!

Now... I know a lot of you are curious about my new apartment!! To start with the neighborhood is pretty nice. Very residential, with more stores a few blocks over. Its near an expressway and my windows do face the street so I get a bit of noise, but it doesn't bother me at all. In fact, I can't sleep if its TOO quiet, so its perfect!

My building is in a row of four story buildings. There are two apartments on each floor. So here is a picture of the front. My room is on the second floor on the right (I have 2 windows)

And then, here is the inside view of my windows!

So, as you can see, my room is pretty spacious! I had so much fun moving in! But this is the best part of my room: the fireplace! It is non-working obviously but its a beautiful decoration. I am using it as a bookshelf!

Well, my roommates are also very nice. I have only really gotten to know one of them because the other two are away right now. We just recently discovered that their is a BEAUTIFUL back yard to our building, but we don't seem to have access to it. We are going to find out more. There is a fire pit, a grill, tables and chairs, and a  hammock. I think we have to befriend the people on the first floor.

Well, I hope everyone;s summers are also off to a nice start! Stay cool!

Summer Plans

Hello everyone!
I just turned in my final assignment! I'm done for the semster!!
Just wanted to update everyone on a few things.
I found a great place to live for the summer. A very big room in an apartment in a brownstone in Park Slope South. Its a nice neighborhood near Prospect Park in Brooklyn. I'll have my own room but there are three other college students living in the apartment.
I'll be working at my work-study job at Coles Sports Center and a few people have hired my for occasional evening babysitting.
A lot of  my friends will be staying in the city over the summer too. This is really the first time I've been in New York City for more than like a week where I did not have a ton of school work holding me down. I plan to enjoy every minute of it!
Tomorrow I move out of the dorms and I am going to stay on Long Island for a week until I can move into my summer apartment on May 21st.

To update everyone on the past few weeks: my allergies have been going crazy, I finally got a NYC library card... and I saw an interview/talk with Daniel Radcliffe at the 92nd Street Y!!!!! (sorry there no pics allowed, but hes short and adorable)

I'll probably write again when I move into my new place and I'll post some pics!

Rachel