Ladies!

A nice little dinner and drinks at this Italian resto in the Village.
Monika's cousin, Kasha, is here for a few days visiting from Poland.

Uniqlo Lanterns

The other night as I was strolling along Broadway, back to the office...
I started seeing all these people trickling out of the Uniqlo store, with
little holiday Uniqlo boxes on a stick, with a little light inside of...it looked
beautiful out on the street, little lite up logos everwhere. So I wandered
into the store and this nice guy made me one! you have to make it
yourself, fold into a box and insert a little LED light inside, and put it on
a stick. So cool and so japanese!

Surface to Air Sample Sale

My first sample sale since moving to ny... I love sample sales!
Here's Monika trying on a tee... we both got super cute blazers!

The Apartment Search

I have started looking for apartments in the city. I've seen four
now, and it is a crazy experience! The first one I saw was terrible,
walked up 7 flights of super steep stairs to a disappointing ugly
place. I almost died walking up!

This is a place I saw yesterday that I completely feel in love with.
The location is amazing, it's in NoLita (North of Little Italy)... it's my
favourite neighbourhood in New York. But it's too expensive and
too small! (even compared to Tokyo standards!) I'm OK with small.

This is a photo of the larger bedroom. It fits a bed with a little extra
walking around the bed. The smaller bedroom, only fits a bed. And
the second photo is the shared living space, literarly smaller than
either room... so sad... all the exposed brick was amazing. It was the
most beautiful and well-kept building I've ever seen in New York.

The Local Wine Bar

Monika (who had just flown in from being away for 4 months) took
me to one of her local neighbourhood spots, Blue Ribbon Wine Bar.
(they also have a restaurant and a bakery that I'm super eager to try)

The space is super cute, the walls are all wood-panelled so feels like a
modern but cozy sauna (without any sweating) The staff is super friendly
and all the locals there are cool. The wine was delicous and we treated
ourselves to some fancy cheeses as well!

Feasting at Freemans

Gerald and I had a crazy lunch at Freeman's. It was great and very filling.
The sandwich was great, the artichoke dip was amazing and these bacon-
wrapped dates filled with gorgonzola, were insane to say the least!!

My Giant Big Screen

This is my new desk at work. It's the crazy huge 30" display,
it's great for designing magazine layouts =) The office is super fun
with stuff all over the place, quite creative and always busling!

Café Habana to Go: A Local Treat

On my way home I stopped by my favourite corner in New York,
Prince and Elizabeth....home of Café Habana. Next door they have
a "to go" spot, a smaller mini resto that serves a similar menu but
more quickly for people on the go! It's the perfect spot to grab
something to bring home.

My New Favourite Lunch

At lunchtime I asked my new their recommendations on lunch spots,
and they pointed me to a little japanese market hidden away in Soho,
called Sunrise. It's great, it's a full on japanese grocery store with tons
of things from produce, household amenities, to cute candy! They have
pre-made food to go and also serve up hot udon and soba in the back,
that you can eat there or take to go! ... sugoi, desho!

Rainy Days

It was pouring rain when I got up and started getting ready for my first
day of work. (which kind of ruined my pre-planned-first-day-outfit =)
I arrived at the office at 9am, trying to be punctual and eager. Of course
there was not even a light on, place lay dormant until well after 930am...
it wasn't until about 10:30-11am when people started rolling in... nice!
waiting, I enjoyed a warm cappucino inside cozy Dean & Deluca's, and
watched out the window people out the window.

First Day in the City

It's the first day of my new life in the big NYC. Today was a lovely
Sunday, beautiful weather, crisp winter air... a great day to walk
around and people watch. I strolled through Soho and got aquainted
with my new route to work. It's only about a ten minute walk to work!
I then got familar with my "new" hood, the Village, it's such a great
neighbourhood, full of italian deli's and resto's and even a small street
that reminded me of our village in northern italy, Cornalea... similar,
but of course not the same.

My New (temporary) Home

I'm staying at Monika's place in the Village. It's so cute and cozy! I love it!
I only hope I'm as lucky finding a place.