Last & First

Yesterday was my very last day at the Aquarium, and today was my very first day at the new job!

My presenter career ended on a good note. On Friday, I had the pleasure of meeting Miller, our large male sea lion. David, one of the mammologists, took me into the exhibit and I got to touch, feed, and do some training behaviors with Miller. I even got a nice slobbery kiss, which was very exciting =P (check out My Photoblog). We had a going away lunch on Sunday, complete with a cake, which was very nice of the volunteers and my other coworkers to set up. I finished off my last day at the Aqurium by taking a lot of pictures, doing a fully booked Behind the Scenes tour, and doing my favorite presentations--the two Seals & Sea Lion feeding and training sessions, and an Otter feeding. Everyone came up to see the Otter presentation, which was my final one for the day, and gave a big applause and nice little goodbye speach for me, which was so nice! I even got a little teary eyed, seeing how much they all cared. I will miss all my wonderful coworkers at the AoP!

My first day today went well. And some good news--I'm not going to Bakersfield for training! The 16 weeks of training will take place via satellite from here. (I'm so thankful that I don't have to go out to the boonies for 4 months!) Nothing much happened today, just had a basic orientation, and got my huge cubicle. It's kind of nice having my own desk =P

Song/Quote of the Day

"This is for all you girls, about twenty-five.
In little apartments just tryin' to get by.
Livin' on, on dreams and Spaghettios.
Wonderin' where your life is gonna go.

This one's for the girls,
Who've ever had a broken heart;
Who've wished upon a shootin' star:
You're beautiful the way you are.

This one's for the girls,
Who love without holdin' back;
Who dream with everything they have.
All around the world:
This one's for the girls."

-Martina McBride, This One's for the Girls

"Heavy Thunderstorms"

That's the forecast for tomorrow. And more thundershowers the next day. And the next. This rain is never-ending. Which means wet pants, shoes, socks and feet for a couple more days. At least it means great snow also. Let's hope I can make it up the mountain for one last boarding trip, before I start my Monday through Friday job next week.

The Search Is Over

As you all might know, I recieved my BS back in May and then spent part of the summer exploring Europe. Since coming back from my graduation trip, I've been desperately searching for a full-time, real-life, grown-up job. And now, after 5 months, 8 interviews, and all the ups and downs that come with a job search, it is finally over--I got a job offer! It is very exciting news, and I am incredibly relieved, but am also a little sad. I resigned from my position at the Aquarium on Friday. I started out there as a volunteer, seven years ago, when I was 17, and it has been such a big part of my life. Although I will continue volunteering with the organization, it will be bitter-sweet leaving my staff position and being less involved in the goings-on there. But alas, it's time to grow up and move on. The Aquarium was a part of the High School/College chapter of my life, and now I need to turn the page and move into the Post-College/Grown-Up chapter. This change and moving on is great, although a little scary, but I'm looking forward to it.... Yay, a job!!! Which means money, weekends off, and medical insurance! (Now, about those widsom teeth...)

So, there has not only been good news for me, but a couple of my friends also, and I'm so very excited for them. Congrats to Anitza--who is now full-time at the Aquarium with her new Web position, and Nemesia--who just got a full-time Education Specialist position at the Oregon Coast Aquarium. Although it will mean that Mesha's moving back up to Oregon and won't be around to hang out with anymore, I'm totally happy for her. (Haley-this means that I will definitely have to visit Oregon & the both of you sometime soon!)

So, Happy Lunar New Year! It looks like it will be a great year for me and the people around me! Sending you all lots of love, and hope you have a happy, healthy, fantastic year!

Heading Home

My last few days here have been pretty low-key. Time flew because I'm already heading back home tomorrow. Sunday was Eugene's birthday, so we went out for lunch to celebrate, then did some shopping in SoHo. (Which stands for the area south of Houston, a street that runs through Manhattan. And I learned that it's not Hew-ston, like Houston TX, but prounounced House-ton instead). After that, we headed over to a friend of Eugene's to watch the Superbowl on his huge flatscreen TV.

Yesterday, I went to the Empire State Building. My intention was to go to the top and look down on the city, but never made it because the line was too long. I didn't mind missing out on it at the time, but I got an email from Leo, and he and Jun had visited it the day after we all hung out and he said it was great. So, I guess that just gives me something to do the next time I'm in New York =). After skipping out on the Empire State Building, I went up to Central Park to take a stroll around and take a look at the zoo there. I couldn't find the zoo, however (the park is huge), so just continued walking until I made my way to the American Museum of Natural History. It was pretty interesting inside, especially this neat butterfly exhibit they have, where you can go in a room with the butterflies flying all around you.

Today, I decided to explore Canal street, to try and find some cute knock-off Kate Spade purses. It's kind of a shady area, and I unfortunately didn't find anything. Actually, there were no knock-off items on display anwhere because the cops have apparantly been cracking down on that stuff. A woman in one of the stores asked for Chanel stuff, and the man took her through a "secret door" back to some "secret area." It seemed like a shady deal, LOL, and I didn't want to put myself in any weird situations since I was there alone. So, I didn't ask about any Kate Spades, and walked away empty-handed.

Well, back home tomorrow. See some of you then. And hope everyone is doing well!

I Heart New York

It is great here! I now understand those "I Heart New York" logos that you see everywhere--because it's fun, lively, and full of character here, and yes, I too Heart New York. I've been having a wonderful time so far, and the one thing I was most apprehensive about--the weather--has turned out to be quite tolerable.

Friday was my first full day here. While Kat went to the gym in the morning, I took a nice walk from her apartment in Greenwich Village towards the shops of SoHo. Walking is something that Californians seldom do, since everything is pretty spread out (although we're also quite dependent on our cars for even small tasks, like getting to the grocery store down the street) so it was nice to be out and about and do the New Yorker thing and walk everywhere. I'm very excited about the stores in SoHo, especially H&M, because we don't have it in LA (It's all over Europe and here in NY, so I don't understand why it hasn't made its way to LA yet--their stuff is so cute!) I didn't do any shopping yet, just checked out what stores I want to revisit during our shopping spree on Sunday. After that, I met up with Kat at her office, on Broadway just north of SoHo, to wait for my friends to show up. When Leo, Jun and I met up, we grabbed quick meal from a hot dog street vendor (not very exciting--I thought it was going to taste better than it did) and made our way down to Ground Zero. It was very sad and moving to see the massive void that was the World Trade Center--just an emptiness among the rest of the city. I can't even imagine what it would have been like to look up at such ginormous buildings, or what is was like to see them crumble right before your eyes. I read the signs surrounding the fence through misty eyes, and did not feel right taking pictures there. After that, we took the ferry over to the Statue of Liberty, then headed up to Times Square, and over to the Rockefeller Center and St. Patrick's Cathedral. It was fun seeing Leo & Jun again, we got to reminisce a little about our Europe tour, and it was just nice being able to enjoy the city with friends.

This morning, Saturday, I made my way to Grand Central Station to meet up with Terrin and Chrystal, who were taking a train in from Albany. They are friends I met at James Cook University, in Townsville, Australia during my semester abroad a few years back. Terrin was my Trailer Park mate, until we moved down to Endeavour and shared a suite together. We all have a lot of fun memories from those six months, so it was great seeing the two of them again. Our first mission when the got in was to find tickets to a Broadway show. We walked to a discount ticket booth in Times Square, and were able to easily get tickets for the matinee showing of Chicago. We hung out, did a bit of shopping, then saw the show--which was awesome! (I LOVE the Cell Block Tango.) The girls only came in for the day, so we ate then said goodbye so they could catch a train back home.

So, that was the quick story on my first two days here. =)

Freezing My Arse Off

The Pre-Birthday party celebration last weekend went well. It was a lot of fun (aside from my puking--thanks Jake for holding my hair back!), but I actually had to work the next morning at 9am, so that wasn't so fun. I did come home to a clean apartment, however, because my great roomates cleaned up the whole party aftermath while I was hard at work. I'm very thankful I didn't have to deal with that, because the house reeked of beer when I left in the morning, so thanks roomies for doing all of that dirty work! My birthday bowling evening was a lot of fun also, although my bowling score was horrible. Remember how I was proud that I bowled over 100 last time? Well, this time, I was cursed with a curving ball and averaged about 50. Jake kicked all of our butts and bowled a friggin 204!

And now, I've made it to New York City. The plane ride was a bit uncomfortable (I think I'm just getting tired of flying), and I'm happy I managed the subways and made it from the airport into Manhattan okay. Kat met me at the subway stop by her place, and she and her boyfriend Eugene took me to a little seafood restauraunt they like. Gave raw oysters another try, and it wasn't as bad as I remember. Dinner--a lobster roll--was excellent, and dessert--apple pie,complete with a birthday candle--was even better. It was a nice way to start my trip.
I think it's in the 30s here now, which apparantly is the warmest it's been all winter. Although I'm freezing my arse off, it's not as bad as I thought it would be, and I think I will survive okay. The scarf I finished knitting before leaving helps a lot, and the matching beanie my friend Mesha made for me is a nice touch =)
Just a few things I want to do/see here: eat a hot dog from a hot dog stand, Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, Broadway show, NY Aquarium, shop, MET, Natural History Museum, Central Park and eat a NY-style pizza...
So, I'm excited to be exploring a bit of the city with Leo and Jun tomorrow!