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