It's Late October and You KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS...

IT'S ALMOST HALLOWEEN!!!!!!

So I've always had a very special place in my heart for the cheesiest, campy-est, most dramatic holiday of all - HALLOWEEN Y'ALL. Why?

• Takes place during everyone's favorite season! Also, please don't even tell me your favorite season is autumn, because I'm just gonna start automatically assuming it's everyone's favorite season. If your favorite season is anything but autumn, I wanna know. But saying your favorite season is autumn is like saying "I'm most comfortable in sweatpants" or "All I wanna do is sit at home and eat chips." THESE ARE UNIVERSAL TRUTHS. Back to the list...
• Everyone HAS TO BE CREATIVE or they can't participate. Even a cop-out, last-minute costume has to at least have a creative explanation as to what it is! I plan to be a sexy ghost (buy a cheap bikini and put it over a cheap sheet that I have cut eye and mouth holes into. BOOM.) I also haven't started said costume and probably won't for a while. I may reprise my freshman year of college costume and go as sleeping beauty (just wear your pajamas and lots of makeup!)
• It combines my two favorite things: candy and dress-up. Even if this did involve shoving your coat-and-warm-pants-covered body into your costume when you were little.
• I like the spooky decorations and scary movies. Side note - did you know that one of the main questions that quite accurately determines compatibility on OKCupid is whether or not you and your potential significant other person like scary movies? Isn't that crazy?
• If Halloween is coming, it means my birthday is coming!

PART 2: My Impending Birthday

• First birthday away from home
• First birthday in my new city
• My GOLDEN BIRTHDAY
• Will be fun. Going to a restaurant with Pickles in the title, so I'm gonna eat a lot of those and drink pretty much everything in sight because 26 is officially the last year of your mid-twenties, right?  Just so we're all on the same page...
• 20-23 = Early 20s
• 24-26 = Mid 20s
• 27-29 = Late 20s

PART 3: New Job 

  

I have a job here, which makes it really feel like I live here now instead of visiting. I work for a theater company that includes the box offices of STOMP,  La Soiree (a new circus/acrobatic show opening soon), and seasonally, an "erotic" production of The Nutcracker suitable for ages 16 and up! Let's pause a moment and feel a little pre-emptive pang of sympathy for me as I explain to enraged parents with 8-year-olds in tow that this is not a production for kids. Can't wait!

The job is great - lots to remember, but it's mostly ticketing stuff I've done before, just a different way. The software for Ticketmaster is A DINOSAUR compared to other ones I've used - it's literally a black screen with white letters/code on it. There's no interactive calendar or seat map or anything. I feel like I've time-travelled back to 1992! BUT the most important part is that my co-workers are amazing and we clicked instantly. They're all really cool, which is crucial when you're in a teeny box office with them for hours every day.

The downside of the new job is that because of the heavy volume of performances in November and December, I won't be able to come home at all for Thanksgiving and only for a few days at Christmas. This is a huge blow, but I am getting a little more comfortable with the idea every day. Don't really have a choice, right? And hey, if I have to take myself out to a fantastic dinner on Thanksgiving, so be it!

PART 4: Dating?!?!?!?

So I was determined not to join an on-line dating site until I was gainfully employed - didn't want to be listed as "unemployed" and didn't want to waste job-applying energy on making a flawless dating profile. I have since re-joined OKCupid and joined one called Tinder, which I'm told is HOT here. (Get it?) So far, Tinder is definitely more fun! We'll see what happens! Stay tuned I guess...

PART 5: Validation

Despite the no-holidays-at-home-with-your-family thing, I know I am in the right place. Auditions are all over the place, as are amazing performances! I've seen 3 operas, 2 plays and 1 musical (321!!) since I've arrived... and 2 movies. Do those count? The movie theater on the Upper West Side (UWS) is INCREDIBLE - huge leather recliners and you choose your seat when you buy your ticket. 

There are definitely other less wonderful parts:

• Trash literally flies at you. No way to avoid it on a windy day, you're gonna get smacked by trash. Just hope that it doesn't go in your face I guess.
• COCKTAILS ARE EXPENSIVE. I payed like $17 for a SINGLE DRINK. It was delicious, but only because it was flavored with my tears from crying over the price.
• I experienced my first morning rush-hour train commute. I almost didn't survive. Never again if I can help it. I'd rather die. Or walk. Or anything.
• BLISTERS. Discussed in my previous entry that I can't wear heels, but in breaking in my new flats, they ate my heels. Poor feet!

But to end on a happy note, I found my favorite amazing brand of gummy bear here at Zabar's! And Michigan won last week! And I love my gym! And I live in NYC.

XOXO

-"Manhattan Mary" (As my Aunt Mary calls me. And only she is allowed to call me that.)