Dog Days Are Over

It's been a few hours since the semester has ended, and I'm about hop on a plane home, where the wonderful holiday season awaits me. It's been four months since I ended my summer in New York City, hopped on a plane, with the idea that I was flying towards an exciting and invigorating semester after a life-changing summer.

Perhaps because I enjoyed the summer so much is why this semester came up so short. The summer had created a new standard of what amazing really was. Or maybe it was because for 10 weeks I was able to do something I truly loved, instead of taking classes in subjects that the university finds important for me to take (Biology, I'm looking at you).

Regardless of how or why it happened, I found myself clinging on to the dog days of summer. The days of the hot subway, the smelly garbage on the sidewalks, and the five flights up to my apartment. And those were the things I didn't like about New York City, so you can see how seriously I missed it. It was rough. I mean, I'll go ahead and label this semester the worst of my entire college career. But being the glass-is-half-full kind of gal that I am, I must recognize some beautiful moments that did indeed take place (and I'm not just talking about seeing Ryan Gosling TWICE).

1) French 601c: For whatever reason, my beginning French class quickly became a community. Maybe it was that we all bonded over how hard the course material was, the witty comments coming from a darling girl named Felicia, or the Godess of fun classes just blessed us to have a good time, but we had so much fun. I became SUPER good friends with an RTF major named Kylie, and here's the video we made for one of the projects:



Nous parlons bien francais, n'est-ce pas?

2) Her Campus Texas Social Media: The other exciting part of this semester was being knighted the "Social Media Editor" for Her Campus Texas. As the SME, I'm in charge of the content and copy for facebook and twitter, and started our pinterest! It's seriously confirming my love for social media, and I now know the secret to marketing to college-aged girls is Mean Girls and 90s nostalgia. I'm also still a contributing writer for HCTX, and I love it!


3) Ragtime Dramaturgy: At the beginning of this semester, I began work on Ragtime dramaturgy with the intelligent and talented Andrew Carlson and Isaac Gomez. At first it was really hard, I felt intimidated and inadequate. However, as the process went on, I became more comfortable and created some great work! We also facilitated 20 post-show discussions (you read that right) with the amazing cast and the audience. I became surprisingly attached to it in early November, and was oddly emotional when it ended. It made my love for theater intensify and grow!

Ragtime with Isaac and Andrew Foote who played Tateh!

Which brings me to my favorite part of the semester: 4) Theater and Dance Dept UT's Department of Theater and Dance. I seriously can't get over how much I'm OBSESSED with the kids who are so insanely passionate, talented, and loving. There would be days where I felt like I had just watched the scene of Mufasa dying in The Lion King (and trust me there were a lot) and would walk into Winship (theater building) and would be immediately uplifted. It was like taking a five-hour energy without the disgusting taste. I would look around and say, "Wow, I'm seriously in love with this department."

Theater kids after "And Then Came Tango"!

5) Movement Improv Class: The theater and dance department also provided me with a way to deal with NYC separation anxiety. In my movement improvisation class, we were required to create a personal solo for our final piece. "Alright!", I thought, "Now's my chance to choreograph a two-minute, one-woman Nutcracker!" But as we did composition work, I found my narrative wrapped up in my New York summer experience. And there it was. Set to Florence + the Machine's "Dog Days are Over", it was a cathartic process where I was able to release all my feelings about that experience and the events that came as a result of it.

The dog days are officially over. I no longer need to cling to the past, so I can make room for more wonderful memories that are headed my way <3

If You Can Make It Here, You Can Make It Anywhere: Part 2

It has been 71 days since I have packed my bags, flew to New York City, lost my wallet, and started my 10 week journey of living in the city that never sleeps.

And yet, it feels like yesterday.

Isn’t that how the saying goes anyways? Time flies when you’re having fun?

I’m not sure how to describe how incredibly grateful and happy I am to have had this experience, and I think that’s okay. Even though I had 24 intern friends, two roommates, and had loved ones visit, no one will quite understand the experience I’ve had because it was all mine! These past 10 weeks have been very personalized, individualized, and Felicia-ized. 

My DoSomething.org internship was nothing short of life-changing. I learned more than I thought I would. Apparently there is more to social media than just posting cute pictures of myself with a witty caption-- who knew? ;) I learned more than social media, but about non-profits, people, and myself. The environment at DoSomething.org is so...perfect. Collaborative, inspiring, innovative, and then some. And let’s not forget the snacks. And let’s not forget the people! I feel closer to these people in 10 weeks than I did with the people I went to high school with for four years (just sayin). We truly became a family, which was evident from the abundant amount of tears we all shared on our last day. We had so much fun this summer, and yet got so much work done too. Shoot, I worked my butt off!  The work did pay off though, because during my end-of-the-internship meeting, Calvin expressed how proud of me he was :)

Calvin, my flawless supervisor

Interns on the last day!

The only thing I do regret is not immersing myself into more theater and dance. It’s like the epicenter for all of that, and I don’t think I took advantage of it. Of course, the two Broadway shows I did see were probably the best experiences I could ask for. When I saw Anything Goes with my mom, we were able to go backstage and I got to dance part of the Anything Goes choreography on center stage. Then, when Brenden was in town, we sat in the front row to watch Wicked. Not too shabby in my opinion. I also took a few theater jazz classes at the Alvin Ailey studios, which literally was a dream come true. My eighth grade self was screaming! It was great to take classes at the same studio as the dancers do who have inspired me since fifth grade. I went to a class on my last day in the city, and we did a fun, high-energy piece from Jesus Christ Superstar. It was pretty fast-paced which set me up for some fumbles, but it didn’t even matter because I was literally SO HAPPY to be dancing. I noticed I was involuntarily smiling and just letting my body do it’s thang. 

As I was riding the subway home, I wanted to kick back and listen to my New York playlist (yes, it exists) and reminisce over the past 10 weeks. But in true, unpredictable NYC fashion, I ended up talking to two guys about the city and life, and I realized I really had come full circle. I started this journey by losing my wallet, the world trying to humble me and tell me I have to just roll with the punches. During the last 10 weeks, so many other things have happened that I never expected (read: mouse and cockroaches) and I learned to just deal with them. Then during that last subway ride, here the world was again, telling me to just relax and enjoy life. It isn’t just about what happens to you, it’s how you react to it.

Leaving for the airport!

I really am proud of myself for making it through these 10 weeks and only crying once. I can truly say I have lived in New York City! And honestly, I feel invincible. After all, if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.

In The Heights

For those who know my hometown Vancouver, WA, know about its lack of diversity.

An anecdote I like to share about the diversity of my high school takes place at the Dr. MLK Jr. Assembly freshman year. During the assembly, the guest lecturer asked for all African American students to stand up. The number of students that stood up could be counted on my two hands, and half of us were bi-racial. Not exactly diverse.

It's not as if I haven't experienced any other cultures or other ethnic traditions; that's not it at all. I just haven't lived in a neighborhood where the majority was an ethnicity besides white. That's why living in Washington Heights has been an exciting and somewhat startling experience.

I was definitely jarred by hearing sirens late at night. The bodegas, graffiti, and families sitting out on their steps threw me off a little bit at first too. It was weird to see people actually doing stuff out on the sidewalks. Old men playing checkers on the corner, young men trying to impress the ladies that walk by, and kids chasing each other. Everything seemed so...public and open.

It was also weird to see people that actually looked like me, not Hilary Duff or the Olsen twins.  I saw girls with the same skin color as me. I saw girls with the same shape as me. I saw girls with curly hair (like my hair when I wear it natural) and it looked good. I remember calling my mom my first weekend and saying, "Okay, so I may fall asleep to sirens, but I know they'll have good products for my hair."

I'll admit, I was a little scared the first couple of weeks. It wasn't until I listened to the soundtrack of the Broadway musical In The Heights, that I started feeling comfortable. Yes, I am aware of how atrociously cheesy that sounds, but since when am I afraid to get cheesy?

In The Heights is a musical about several families connected by a bodega in Washington Heights. It follows the families as they love, fight, celebrate, and grieve together.  The musical highlights how important community is in Washington Heights, and that's when I realized why my neighbors did everything outside. They were a community, and they were all out enjoying the company of their community in their outdoor living room. When I started imagining the characters of In The Heights interacting with my neighbors, everything just made sense. I would even listen to the soundtrack as I walked home!

Although I haven't made an effort to join the community, I do feel a sense of camaraderie. People have spoken in Spanish to me, thinking I am Dominican, and honestly, I think that's really cool! Of course, I could have only responded with my few key phrases that I learned in Dobie's cafeteria at UT, which probably wouldn't have made any sense in the conversation context. I've even publicly wore my hair au naturale a la afro a couple times this summer, which I don't think I've done since I was six.

My natural hair!

Although it was a bit of a hassle to ride the train all the way up to Washington Heights after hanging out with friends in the Lower East Side, living here this summer has been eye-opening and fascinating. Just like the characters in In The Heights, I'm glad I could call Washington Heights home for this summer.

Mama Said There'd Be Days Like This

...but I don't recall Mama Fitz saying anything about there being weeks like this.

A week where everything is absolutely perfect. A week that you feel is so rom-comy, it could be a montage written by Nancy Meyer herself with the peppy "Mama Said" song overlay.

THAT was the week I had while Brenden was visiting.

During our senior year of high school, Brenden and I had both discussed how much we wanted to go to New York University for college. I didn't get accepted to NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and Brenden ended up not applying, so my dreams of us frolicking around the city together were dashed.

Fortunately for me, we started dating, he came to visit for our two year anniversary, and my dreams of us frolicking around the city together were alive and well.

Boy, did we frolick.

I won't sit here and bore you with a list of everything we did; I get it, that wouldn't be fun to read. I also won't sit here and gush about how Brenden is literally the best boyfriend in the entire world; we can save that for if we ever have a sleepover and stay-up late whispering in our sleeping bags after giving each other make-overs and eating too much junk food. I will sit here, however, and tell you that we had a fantastic time.

Since it was Brenden's first time in the city, we did all the tourist-y stuff, which honestly, I love! I know to be a "true New Yorker", you are suppose to hate all of that, but I really do think it's fun! The insane bustle of Times Square, the tranquility of Central Park, the magnificence of Grand Central station; I realized I had spent these last nine weeks focused on working and discovering new non-tourist-trap areas, so I loved going back to see the classics!

Many of the days were spent hopping on-and-off subways and weaving through the crowds hand-in-hand so we could make sure Brenden could see all of the significant sights, but there were a few moments where we slowed down a bit, and they were really special. Moments where I just looked up at the sky and smiled.

On our two year anniversary, we went to the top of Rockefeller Center and I was left in awe. I still can't figure out how to describe it. Not only was it aesthetically pleasing, but it just showed how--awesome--(for a lack of a better word) New York City is. It was breathtaking.

It was here that we read our anniversary letters we wrote to each other. I was so elated, in such a lovey-dovey mood, I wanted to run all 67 floors of the Rockefeller Center yelling, "I'm in love, I'm in love, and I don't care who knows it!". Instead, I posted it on facebook. Typical social media intern, am I right?

The other moment took place in Central Park, at the Bethesda Terrace and Fountain. Maybe it was all the couples running around taking engagement/wedding photos, but I was just so happy to sit there with Brenden and enjoy life. As cheesy as that sounds.

Okay, I'd like to apologize. This came off a little more gushy than I intended. But I can't help it! Mama said there'd be days like this. She is absolutely right. Like she always is.

Ten Commandments of the Subway

1. Thou shalt not set their bags in an empty seat when people are standing.
I hope your bags are comfortable in that seat there...

2. Thou shalt not hold onto an overhead bar if thou is not wearing deodorant or have not shaved their armpits.
I mean, I was raised in Portland, go to college in Austin, I'm fine with women going au naturale, but I don't need it in my face while I'm riding the train.


3. Thou shalt ABSOLUTELY NOT try to surreptitiously lift up a cute girl's dress during crowded rush hour (or any hour for that matter).
No exceptions. It's pervy.


4. Thou shalt assist a young parent with (un)loading a stroller from/onto the train.
You can have the whole stone-cold, selfish NYC attitude, but you can be nice enough to help a lone parent with a baby.


5. Thou shalt not get on an un air-conditioned car in the summer.
It will feel literally like 1000 degrees. You'll thank me later.


6. Thou can reenact any movie subway scenes if the car is not packed and you have at least two witnesses with you.
RENT, Step Up 2, etc...

7. Thou shalt not wait for the express train if it will take more than three minutes to arrive.
Because by then you don't save any time.


8. Thou shalt squeeze as many people into the car during rush hour as possible.
It happens whether thou likes it or not.


9. Thou shalt not sing and ask for money if thou doesn't have a tolerable voice.
It's not fair to the rest of us.

10. Thou shalt not make-out with thou's significant other.
Unless you like death stares from Felicia.

One Is The Loneliest Number

It's true, one can be the loneliest number.

20 can also be the loneliest number when your friends are all over 21 years-of-age.

The last time I was this aware of my age was in fifth grade when I had to lie and say I was born in 1986 (making me at the legal age of 13) to sign up for AIM.

It's not even that I have this intense desire to drink alcohol, I just want to hang out with my friends! I'd be fine with a cherry coke, really! I just hate being the young one that can't go out because I'm five months from being 21. I mean, I'm so close to 21, I can smell the cosmopolitan I want to have as my first legal drink! 

Me and my 21/22 year-old friends

There are so many things in the city that you have to be 21 years-old to do. Don't worry, I know it's New York City, and I realize how many great things I can do without being 21 years-old. I realize how many great things I have done without being 21-years-old. It just seems that for an optimal New York City experience, you have to be over 21. Concerts and dinners-- there's professional networking events I can't attend because I'm not 21 years-old. That hurts more than the scene in The Lion King when Mufasa dies. It's really frustrating. I think we can now all realize why Adele skipped a '20' album and went straight to '21'.

I know this may sound like a horribly whiny post, and really, I'm okay because I'm far from lonely. My friends have done a tremendous job in including me in their plans. I just haven't thought about my age like this in a long time. I guess at college I'm too busy going to class, procrastinating on homework, and re-eancting Broadway musicals to notice!

I Want It All

It was some night during the spring semester of my freshman year at UT, watching an episode of Sex and the City with my friend Elizabeth that I decided that I wanted to be like Carrie Bradshaw. Not in the constant drinking and having sex sense, in the writing a blog/column on my MacBook Pro while eating Asian take-out after a fabulous city event sense. That same night I made a twitter, a tumblr, and started working on some pitches to send to Her Campus Texas (an online magazine for college women) to see if I could be accepted as a contributing writer.

I have officially achieved my goals from that night. I'm sitting here in my New York apartment, writing this blog, and about to dig into some delicious Pad Thai noodles that I had delivered. On top of that, Monday night I attended a fabulous city event hosted by none-other than Her Campus.

I was invited by Do Something's Biz Dev associate, Muneer, to sub for Calvin at an event hosted by Her Campus and Bing. It was to promote the launch of Bing's new social search. Judge me all you want, it was the exact kind of city event I always wanted to attend and I felt so cool. I snapped a picture with one of the Her Campus founders, rubbed elbows with some wonderful media/communications people, and won a smart phone through a tweeting competition. Not bad for the first day of the work week right?

Windsor Hanger, one of the Her Campus founders!

Just feeling the celeb status as people took my pic with my new phone!

As I walked to the subway, I silently thanked myself for actually dressing nice that day and mentally high-fived myself for confirming that I was a good fit for the "social media intern" title.

Flash forward to the next day, when the DS interns volunteered at the Bing "Summer of Doing" event. Let's just get this out there on the table right now: I MET CORBIN BLEU. And NO, I didn't spend the whole time harping on High School Musical. I interviewed him, rapped "In The Heights" with other interns for him, and spent 15 minutes soaking in his musical theater advice.  He was so down-to-earth and genuine. While some celebrities volunteered for only 10 minutes, he was there for three-and-a-half hours, tiling a mural, painting a wall, and taking pictures with literally anyone who asked. His generosity is why I was able to pluck up the courage to ask for some musical theater advice. The best piece of advice? "You have to really love the whole process. It may take a long time before you book your first show. That's why you have to love taking classes, auditioning, and perfecting your craft."

Corbin Bleu!

He is absolutely right. When people think of Broadway stars or any kind of performing, they think of just the finished product. The note that creates goosebumps, the leap that gets air rival to a slam dunk, the standing ovation. It's the whole "I want it all! The fame, the fortune, and more." Even I forget sometimes about all the preparation and hard-work that goes into creating those spine-shivering moments. There are days where I certainly don't want to go to a dance class, or feel too lazy to practice for my vocal class, but I know performing is something that can make me truly happy. On the subway, I automatically select my "musical theater" genre and subtly (or maybe not so subtly) dancing to the songs, attracting stares from strangers. It makes me feel happy and complete.

This is my dilemma: I want it all. The social media events and the Broadway performances. Both are exciting and challenging. I often find myself forcing myself to choose between the two, but I don't think I necessarily have to choose. Not right now, anyways. I'm in New York City! I'm going to enjoy it all.

Take the A-Train

Take the A-Train to see Duke Ellington perform at The Cotton Club.

Don't take the A-Train to Washington Heights after the 1, 2, and 3 trains have been stopped running uptown. It will feel like the whole population of New York City is at the 42nd and 8th ave station.

When I grabbed the 2 train at Times Square, I was ready to kick back with my novel A Summer in Europe (literally a Nancy Meyers rom-com in a book), and when we stopped right before we reached the 50th street station, I didn't think anything of it. The train was stopped in the tunnel for an hour. That means I was standing in my adorable, painful wedges for an hour. Even though the last couple of chapters of A Summer in Europe were riveting, I couldn't help but wonder when we were going to get out of this mess. The conductor came over the speakers a couple times, but never gave us any real information.

Finally, they said they were turning the train around to go back to Times Square, and there were no longer any 1, 2, or 3 trains running uptown. They directed us to take the A or C train uptown. After walking a block over, the A and C train station was PACKED. It didn't help that some old guido dude was trying to rub up against my backside. We waited 10 minutes, and when the A train finally did come, it was PACKED. No one could get on it. I knew I wouldn't want to be on a train that full with this weirdo pressing up on me.

Two minutes later, I found myself up on the street, trying to remember every movie set in New York City that I've seen, and how the characters flagged down a cab. Was there a technique? Did they pull over for someone who had one finger extended or all five fingers waving? If there is a technique, I clearly don't know it. While many of the cabs were full, I was unable to hail any of the empty ones. I walked around the north end o f Times Square for half an hour while I hunted one down, and finally found one stopped at a stoplight.

20 minutes and $23.50 later, I arrived at my corner, and was so frustrated yet relieved to be home. I was hungry, I was hot, and my feet hurt. Want to know the bright side? I left the cab with my wallet in hand.

Bug-A-Boo

**Bug-lovers, Aisha, Wendi, no need to read further. Bugs were killed in the making of this blog.**

Today has been a day for unexpected and unwelcome visitors.

First, the GINORMOUS fly in my room. I swatted him with my shoe and he stopped moving. Then when I went to pick it up with a tissue, it moved. Turns out I only gave him a slight headache, so I swatted again and then promptly removed him from my room.

THEN, tonight happened. I am peacefully walking back to my room from the kitchen and I see a large insect scurrying across the floor. Flashbacks to my first mouse encounter entered my head as I silently screamed and ran into my room, automatically going through the steps I had done before to secure my room from the opponent if it tried to enter my room.

I was content with being posted up in my room for the night, but as my roommate (the one who saved me from the mouse) walked in the door and screamed, I remembered the pact I made with her when she relieved us of the mouse. I told her since she got rid of the mouse and was terrified of roaches, I would kill the roach if we were ever in the presence of one. Okay, so I may have thought we would never see a roach, but when I opened my door and saw her panicked face, I realized I would have to put on my big girl pants and take care of this roach.

I donned some clothes to make sure all of my skin was covered (with the logic that if any skin was visible to the roach it would somehow be able to attack me), and we strategized in our living room. I grabbed our broom (hey-- it helped with the mouse!) and entered the war zone. It was sticking half-way out of our metal shelves. I then decided to try and cover it with our toilet plunger so I could grab some roach spray under the sink. As I tried to cover it, it ran into the middle of the floor. I surreptitiously walked over to the sink, grabbed the spray, and sprayed the holy heck out of our kitchen floor. After completely covering the floor with roach spray, I got him. Then, I covered him with a plastic bowl thing, and let him have his last few moments alone. He is still currently there as far as I know, and I will say my last good-byes in the morning as I flush him down the toilet.

To all the bugs I've encountered today, I have to quote Destiny's Child:

"You're bugging me and don't you see that ain't cool?"

Update: (literally not even an hour later) I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth to find one crawling up the wall....but I sprang into action with my spray and killed it. Roach apocalypse is apparently on its way everyone.

Where Is The Love

I'm thinking about sending a letter to the Black Eyed Peas and notifying them that I have found the love, it's right here in the city.

On July 2nd, exactly one month after I got here, almost to the hour, I received a phone call from a very sweet lady named Des that FOUND. MY. WALLET.

She had found it in the cab, tried sending it to Vancouver, but it returned to her (okay, so I guess I should have updated my address since my mom and I moved my junior year of high school), and so she called me to find out where to send it!!!

I almost started crying I was so excited. It didn't matter that I already had received new debit cards, I had my license, my student ID, and my faith in humanity back. I couldn't help but think back to my night I spent crying miserably, thinking someone stole everything and that there was no way I was getting it back. She had called my mother before me and told her "I have a daughter and I know I would want someone to return it to her." Well put, Ms. Des, well put.

Now, I'm deciding what I want to send back to her. I'm so grateful for her selfless act, I want to reward her!

"People got me questioning, "where is the love?"
Des got me answering, "where is the love?"
Right here in the city.

My wallet and I reunited!

That's Life

It was somewhere while I was walking from Union Square in search of food before I caught the train to a dance class, that I walked into a bad mood. It wasn't anything specific, just a seed of irritation that continued to grow inside of me. I decided to grab Jamba Juice because it was right across from the train I was going to take. Five sips in and I realized I couldn't drink the rest and I felt like I wasted $6.50 and kept my eyes peeled for a homeless person that might value it more than me. No such luck.

I marched into Steps on Broadway, hoping that dancing would get me out of this funk. It usually does. Except when I told the front desk associate I was taking the 1:30pm Intermediate Ballet, she says there isn't a class at that time. Okay, so I read the Friday schedule instead of the Saturday. So I marched right out and went grocery shopping in the store underneath the studio. I also had three invitations to hang out with four extremely awesome people that I had declined because I was going to the dance class. Now I had to sort all of that out. After a quick call to my mom in the produce section, I left the store with two bell peppers, two cucumbers, granola bars, and a plan. However, as I waited 10 minutes for the subway, the heat seeped into my plan and created another bad mood.

After dropping off groceries, I headed out to buy a swimsuit top over on the Upper East Side and then I was going to meet up with a friend from work and two old friends that were in town at Central Park to tan.

As I was trying on swimsuit tops, I heard one of the associates talk on the phone to her daughter. They were arguing about the daughter going to a party in the city after being out all day with friends. I poked my head out after she hung up, "Was that your daughter?" It was. "How old is she?" "She'll be 15 soon." First of all, a 14-year-old partying in Manhattan on Saturday night? My mom was just letting me go to the mall by myself at that age.

That's when it hit me. I was homesick! I love all of these new things I've been doing, all the exploring, the adventure, but I just wanted something familiar. I wanted some Vancouver Pizza, Ice Cream Renaissance (the early years), Pluckers, or I'd even settle for some Chik-fil-A from UT's SAC. (Not sure why everything I listed was food-related...)

As I left the store, the first song that came on my iPod was Old Blue Eye's "That's Life". If there was ever a time to have a soundtrack to your life, this was a very appropriate time. Then I realized how excited to meet up with Nicole and Rachel, two girls that have been like my big sisters since the third grade. They've given me clothes, advice, and laughs, and that's exactly what I needed in this moment.

We met up and talked at New York Burger Co. and there were tons of laughs and stories! I'm so thankful I got to spend time with two of the most gorgeous, ambitious, and lovely ladies I know.

Rachel, Nicole, and I catching up

In a way, I'm thankful that I had this day. I find that the more new places I go, the more unique things I do, the more I appreciate the old and familiar places and faces.

"Each time I find myself laying flat on my face, I just pick myself up and get back in the race, that's life." -Frank Sinatra, That's Life

I Don't Want To Be Like Cinderella

...and as adorable as her little mice friends Jacques and Gus were, I don't want their other mice friends to be my roommates.

This whole war started a week and a half ago, when I innocently walked into the kitchen to grab a refreshingly delicious cold glass of milk. I turned on the light to see a small brown behind scurrying down the kitchen counter and-- well I don't know where he went after that because in my panic mode, I booked it back to my room where I stuffed the bottom crack of the door with a blanket and posted up there for the rest of the night. I tried to not think about how badly I had to pee as I texted Brenden and my mom, asking for advice on how to handle this situation.

"It's more afraid of you than you are of it!" said Brenden.

"It's probably more scared of you!!! I heard of this cool cupcake place in NYC! I want to go!!" said my mother.

Then I realized that the mouse had ran me out of my own kitchen, without my glass of milk. In case you didn't know, I have a very strong affinity for milk. 

I had a vengeance. 

The next morning, you bet I stood in the kitchen, drinking the postponed cup of milk, savoring every last drop of it; my eyes scouring for the rodent that had separated me from my beloved dairy product. No luck. 

A couple nights later, I innocently walked into the kitchen YET AGAIN to find a small brown mound flying down the kitchen counter, tail whipping behind it. Enter panic mode number two. I woke up Leah with my squeals/screams, and she went to investigate. It had fled the scene again!

My other roommate Rachel and I acquired some glue traps from the exterminator, and set out to catch this mouse once and for all. 

Background information on glue traps: glue traps are a sticky pad of paper that mice get their feet and body stuck to so they can't run away. Unfortunately (or fortunately, for my animal loving friends) it doesn't not kill them immediately. This means however, the owner of the glue trap must execute the deed. 

For two days, I hesitantly peeked my head into the kitchen, and heaved a sigh of relief when I saw the glue trap was empty.

Then came the third day.

I hesitantly peeked my head into the kitchen, and entered panic mode number three as I saw a small brown mound lying on its side on the glue trap. I really did feel sorry for it, but as I heard it squirming around on the kitchen floor, I went to Rachel's room and woke her up so she could be the commander to finish this last battle. She creatively taped a dust pan to a broom handle, and used it as a shovel to pick up the mouse, and let its last moments be watching the beautiful NYC morning sky as it fell down five stories. Tragic, but it was better than hitting it with a frying pan or drowning it in the tub, which were real suggestions I was given.

The Cheetah Girls had it right, I don't want to be like Cinderella. I may have dressed up as her for my 2nd Halloween, but the mice friends just don't work for me!

We Are Young

Okay. I think we all knew this post would come.

The whole I've been SOOO busy, I have no idea where the time has gone! I love New York!


Blahblahblah. I hate it when people write stuff like that.

I'll try to say it another way: I'm tired.

Yup, that's it.

I feel like one of the best measures of fun is how tired you feel. I remember my first semester of freshman year at UT, I got basically 10 hours of sleep every night. Towards the end of the year, I would stay out late with my friends, have fun, get less sleep, and then feel super tired. It was awesome.

That's how I'm feeling now, and I gotta tell you I love it. Over the past couple of days, some of the interns have gotten together to shop, explore, and most importantly, EAT.

Katie, Niyeti, Michelle, and I at dinner!

Michelle and Jett, the fabulous graphic design interns

Michelle and I at the Hudson River

Some of the NY native interns introduced us out-of-towners to a place called Artichoke Pizza, aka HEAVEN. It was the best pizza ever and was literally the size of my face. 

Friday night, my roommate Leah and I went to the Liza Colby Sound's show at B.B. King's Bar and Grill. Liza Colby is an amazing performer! She had such attitude and a captivating stage presence! After, Leah's friend that knew her introduced us and she immediately asks "You're mixed right?" Ah, the bi-racial radar. We bonded over wearing hair natural, and she gave me a great hair place in Harlem that can help me werk my afro au naturale.

Fast forward to Sunday (I spent Saturday bumming around because I was sick), and I spent the night at the fun. concert!! Of course, there were some crazies showing off how many drinks they had by ferociously yelling and getting into fights, but overall it was a really fun concert! (pun intended).

fun. concert!

Colleen and I waiting outside!

As I was walking to the subway after the concert, I looked up at those pretty illuminated buildings that help create the famous NYC skyline, and I had to cheesily smile to myself because I was just so happy. Sure, I had a sore throat and would get less than six hours of sleep, but I didn't care. I was walking along the NYC streets at night, which I have always thought equated to the essence of cool.

All of these moments remind me of two quotes that I love.

Kyoko Escamilla on the 20s years:
"Your 20s' are your 'selfish' years. It's a decade to immerse yourself in every single thing possible. Be selfish with your time, and all the aspects of you. Tinker with shit, travel, explore, love a lot, love a little, and never touch the ground."

Tom Petty on college years:
"You have four years to be irresponsible here. Relax. Work is for people with jobs. You'll never remember class time, but you'll remember time you wasted hanging out with your friends. So, stay out late. Go out on a Tuesday with your friends when you  have a paper due Wednesday. Spend money you don't have. Drink 'til sunrise. The work never ends, but college does..."

Or maybe fun. puts it even simpler: "Tonight we are young! So let's set the world on fire, we can burn brighter than the sun."

Or maybe my blog title puts it even simpler than that: "The summer that never sleeps".

Yup, that's it.

Seven Days In Sunny June

It has been seven days since I've arrived in New York City, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and sans wallet. (Yes, I'm still bitter about it.)

I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that I'm actually embarking on what is sure to be a life-changing summer in the city. Although I am reminded when I see the Empire State Building peeking out over the tops of the other buildings, or spend an afternoon lounging in Central Park with one of my really good friends, I still have to squeal when I think that I could update my facebook "Currently Living" city to New York, NY.

Today was a great celebration of one week of being in NYC! After skyping my GO! Grant Project advisor (if you have no idea what I'm talking about-- I applied for a grant to produce a play at UT next fall and got it!), I met up with my great friend Scott at Crumbs Bakery! Sadly, we weren't impressed. Lucikly, we rectified the situation by grabbing Spongebob popsicles and chatting in sunny Central Park! I was in cat nap mode, but instead we walked down 5th avenue and checked out some clothes, and he showed me Bryant Park. It was great to walk around that area because it exuded the feeling that I love about NYC! Super busy, fast paced, and energetic!

[Scott and I in Columbus Circle!]

[His Spongebob had some plastic surgery mishaps]

[The view from where we sat!]

[Beautiful!]

[Central Park!]

 After, I met up with my roommate Leah (who will get her own blog posts one of these days-- I love that girl) and a few of her co-workers for Inwood's Shakespeare Festival's As You Like It. Performed in a little neighborhood park, we sat on blankets and ate picnic-style as we were entertained by some wonderful actors. I'll be honest, when I was on the train to meet up with Leah, I was nervous I might be underwhelmed after the exciting downtown day I had. But as I sat there, letting Shakespeare's familiar (yet confusing) rhetoric wash over me, I felt comfortable and at home. I felt like I was at UT watching a production, mixed with the summer outdoor concerts Esther Short hosts in Vancouver. It made New York seem a little more real and a little more home-y. I'm always in shock by the impressive and prestigious nature of downtown, but it was great to spend a couple hours in a realm that I knew so well.

My first seven days in sunny (and partly rainy) June have already been such an eye-opening experience, I can't wait to see what the other 63 hold in store for me. (You're welcome for the cheese).

Felicia

Measure Your Life In Love

It was in Mrs. Smith's 5th grade class that I first heard the song Seasons of Love from the soundtrack of the Broadway Musical RENT. "Measure your life in love" was my favorite line, mostly because I liked to pretend to belt it at the end of the song like Joanne does, but partly because I really liked the thought of measuring life in love instead of cups of coffee.

I'm not afraid to say it: I love love. I'm not just talking about romantic love (even though I do love romantic love a lot), I'm talking about just that deep caring for another human being. The deep caring, where if your friend cries, you offer your shoulder.  The deep caring, where if your friend wants to talk at 2am, you are there to listen. My love for love must stem back listening to Seasons of Love in 5th grade, or from my 4th grade class being called "Community 19" instead of "Room 19". Then the whole community thing continued to grow at VSAA, IB, and as I found a home in the Winship Drama Building at UT, I have found some of my truest and best friends. They know how to put the word community into action.

Now, my internship at DoSomething.org exemplifies the meaning of community too! I'm just shy of working there a full week, and I already feel super close to everyone there! Everyone is friends and everyone deeply cares about each other. Even though I'm an intern, I feel respected, and I feel like they see my worth. I think that's why everyone loves their job. I mean who actually wishes they could stay at work longer than 5:30pm? THIS GIRL. Look how excited I am in the picture below!

[At my desk at work! Sorry for the weird cross-eyedness.]

[With some of the other interns before the office warming party!]

[Setting up for the office warming party!]

I just love the atmosphere! I love that I can look up at any given moment and see someone gliding across the office on a scooter. I love that I could take a break and go play a game of Ms. PacMan, which I never do because I love the work I'm doing. Ultimately, I love that everyone loves what they do, and I love that everyone at DoSomething.org loves each other. They certainly measure their life with love.

Felicia

Second day!

Third day!

Fourth day!

No My First Name Ain't Baby, It's Felicia, Ms. Social Media Intern If Ya Nasty!

When I sent in my video imitating Janet Jackson's "Nasty"video as my social media intern application to Calvin Stowell (the Social Media Strategist of DoSomething.org), I had no idea that he had also sent in a video as his application and that every time he referenced Do Something, he overlaid it with Britney Spears singing "Do Something".

When my friend gave me a life size Zac Efron cut-out as a gift, I had no idea that Calvin owned the same one.

Both of these things I learned today, which is what made today the best-first-day-of-an-internship anywhere. ANYWHERE.

Being the social media team, of course we turned to twitter to express our excitement about each other.

Besides finding my summer BFF, today was filled with so much excitement and fun! The atmosphere at DoSomething.org is exactly how I imagined it. The staff is so down-to-earth and just plain funny. They are super warm and welcoming, which can definitely be hard to find at a company in New York. They come with a mentality I can only think of to describe as work hard, play hard, eat always. Clearly this is the company for me. I was so overwhelmed with so much information today, I'm not sure what to really explain. During the day, whenever we were told something really awesome, I made a mental note to write about it in here later, but apparently my mental note pad was overridden by how giddy I was about sharing the identical life size cut out of Zac Efron as my boss. However, I can say that I am more than ready to take on this internship. A nurturing and inspirational environment is perfect for creativity.

Felicia

First day of internship outfit!

If You Can Make It Here, You Can Make It Anywhere

I've always been a planner. I love to make lists, organize things, and my school planner is like my best friend. So you can't blame me that I was actually planning out what I wanted to write for this first post to kick off this NYC summer blog in the right direction. I wanted to talk about how I was made for this city! How I'll be able to make it here so I can make it anywhere! How my 20th birthday party theme was New York City! How I was so excited to eat delicious $1.00 bagels! How proud I was of myself for following through with my 2012 word: ACTION.

And then, I got off the plane, rode a cab to the apartment I'm subletting, and when I searched my bag for money so I could buy food for dinner, I realized I left my wallet in the cab. I spent the rest of the night having an emotional breakdown, thinking I can't make it anywhere since I can't even make it from the cab to the apartment without losing my wallet. Not exactly how I wanted to start off my glamorous New York summer lifestyle.

Let's just be real about it, this is going to be a ridiculously hard 10 weeks. I knew that going to a laundromat to do laundry, actually cooking every meal for myself, and working 9-5, was going to be hard. I knew that. I guess I just expected my planning, responsible self to be able to handle the rest of it. Maybe this is just the world telling me, "Hey adorable little Felicia, you can't plan for everything. You're going to have to take life as it comes at you." That's going to be a really hard lesson for me to swallow.  I honestly feel like Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Yes, I went there! It's my favorite musical, how could I not? I may not be entrapped in a castle indefinitely with the frightening Beast, but I'm away from my family and friends in this new scary place, and I made the choice to do so. Sure, Belle and her father definitely could have benefitted from Skype, or even cell phones, but she made friends with the enchanted objects, broke down Beasts' tough exterior, and had a happy ending. Not that I expect my life to reflect a Disney movie, but I'm hoping that I'll experience a few "Be Our Guest" moments in these next 10 weeks.


Felicia

After my first night