Somewhere on the sidebar, (Not sure where because I just futzt with the formatting) is a category called "Neighborhood".  This allows us to link up to people that are also on VOX and can designate them as friends or family.  On other blog sites, you are usually allowed to add your own sidebars and lists of links (see my MSN feminism site as an example) -- VOX does not.  I am hoping that as this website progresses, (it is relatively new) that functions like that would be added.  For example, I would love for a link to our FLICKR site to be on the sidebar. 

If anyone would like to be able to comment on our blog, you need to get a VOX account, I'm not sure if this means you need to set up as if you were getting your own blog or not.  We would love for people to comment, but realize it is a pain in the ass to get yet another username/password.  Besides, our blog is just a way to get the communication started... now when we have conversations with family, you guys can start commenting immediately because you will already be up to speed.  If you do get a username/password (or even start your own blog!!!) please let me know - I'll add you to our neighborhood.

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I definitely needed to leave "J", its really something that I should have done about 2 years ago.  But, I don't know that my new firm, or any bulge bracket firm for that matter, is the best fit for me.  (Bulge bracket means Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Goldman, etc. - the big guys.).  I liked the intimate feel at J; with only 15 Analysts and 10 Associates in the department you knew who everyone was and people would socialize within the office, at lunch, and afterwards.  At my new firm there are 60 Analysts and 100 Associates, the Research Dept alone takes up three full floors in our building, and that's not counting the people in San Fran or Charlotte.  No one really interacts with people outside of their own team (industry grouping).  Well, I sit with my team all day, so I don't really get to talk to anyone outside of "L" and "J".  At first I thought that this was just because I was new to the place, but we had an Associate meeting and I asked "J" (who has been here a year) how many people she knew and it was less than 10 - those that she did know were the ones who had sat in cubicles around her before she got moved into the office. 

I don't mean to come across so negative - I'm sure that as time goes by I will befriend other Associates, it just seems harder than I thought it would be.  Luckily, I have friends that work in Research Departments at other firms, where the enviornment is completely different so I can make friends by joining my friends when they go happy hours. 

I feel like I am not living up the expectations that my boss had of me coming in, but it is difficult to gauge.  These first six months I am getting up to speed on how this place operates and learning the company's that are my responsibility that I did not follow at "J".  Starting in 2007, things are likely to be much better, so I just have to be patient (not one of my strengths) and see how I like it once I am settled in.

My boss is great, so I'm happy about that.  I see a lot of similarities between him and my old mentor, so that has made the transition a bit easier. 

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I thought it might be nice for everyone to see what my office looks like - and it gives me a chance to play with the photo option on this website. 

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This is the view from the doorway.  My desk is on the lefthand side.  I took this the day we moved in (previously, we had all been in cubes sprinkled across the 30th floor.)  I share an office with two ladies that are on my team.  This has its pros & cons.  Sitting on top of one another provides little privacy and many distractions.  Behind my desk is a view of 57th street.  Big fan of the natural light we get by sitting in an office!

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This is the view sitting at my desk.  J, who has worked here for about a year sits on the left and L, a young Texan who just graduated from college and started about a month before me sits by the curtain. 

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So, low and behold, the person that snagged the apartment from me last night, followed through and paid today, so i didn't get it... not that I was expecting it -- but, gee, wouldn't it had been nice if the stars had somehow aligned to work in my favor???  Today, I continued my search on craigslist, but it is exhausting and I sense that everyone gets a little more aggressive/desperate at the end of the month, and I just wasn't up for that.  Worst case scenerio, I can just stay here with Bridget - it's not like I am getting tossed to the curb at the end of the month..  I'm just so disappointed about this situation, because I really liked that place yesterday and I felt it slip through my fingers....   All these "If I had just...." have been going through my mind all day.  Alas, time to move on.

So, tonight, I went out for drinks with Nick (Adam's best man at our wedding) and we agreed to terms of me living with him.  It's a bit of ad odd situation since I couldn't get him to agree to having me when he first knew he was moving into NYC.  His rent is over 3K a month, and I didn't feel like I should have to pay half, or even close to that, since I would be living in a bear-bones, unfurnished apartment.  I wasn't willing to spend a lot of money to stay with Nick, even though he is a close friend, when I know that I could stay in a fully FURNISHED apartment in a decent neighborhood for 800-900/month.  We agreed on an amount which we both thought was fair, and that is conveniently slightly below what we are collecting from Neal, our soon-to-be subletter.  He didn't have a backplan if I decided not to stay with him, so anything he gets is going to be more than the alternative.  If things with Nick wouldn't have worked, either his wife didn't want me staying there or we couldn't agree on a price, I could just suck it up and give Bridget the 500/month she was asking for me to stay (which I thought was a fair price). 

I feel good about my decision.  Its an improvement over my current living arrangement, and is hardly goign to bankrupt us.  It gives me some time to find something more permanent (you know, that has furniture and a REAL bed) and it gives Adam some more cushion to find an apartment before I committ to anything.  Hey - maybe the stars will align and Adam will find something and we can find something permanent quickly!!!  Dreaming, I know...

So, that's that from this end.  It's Tuesday and I am already looking forward to the weekend - as usual.....

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Actually - I learned two important lessons today 1 - just because you are responsible, considerate person, doesn't mean that others will treat you that way.  2 - Go with your gut instinct, don't wait until you find people to agree with your decision, when you are the one that has to live with it.... If you haven't guessed it by now, this has to do with my apartment search...

So, the apartment that I was waiting to hear back about never contacted me - SO RUDE!  Luckily, I was back at it last night responding to more ads on craigslist. 

I spoke to one girl this morning who said i sounded like such a good fit i should come up right away instead of waiting until after work, so that I wouldn't miss out.  So, I went and visited this apartment on 110th & Madison - Spanish Harlem.  I liked the girls, the lease terms & cost worked, felt a good vibe in the apartment (it actually had two decent sized-BRs and a family/living room, but I was concerned about safety.  It's not a great neighborhood and there were lots of people loitering around on the 4 blocks I had to walk from the subway to the apartment.  The girls tried to reassure me that they hadn't felt unsafe, and you just had to be aware of your surroundings (which you need to do anywhere!) -- So, they asked that I get back to them soon, because they wanted me to have it and they would stop showing the place.  I said I wanted some time to mull it over.  During the afternoon, I wrangled up all the opinions I could find about Spanish Harlem and the area where the apartment was.  They called my at work at 4pm to check in and I said that I was seeing another place at 7:30-7:45 and i would have a decision for them by 8pm, could they please hold off until then before offering it to anyone else.

So, I go see this other apartment, and while the girl was nice and the room was OK, I knew I wanted the first place.  I decide to walk from the one to the other 9they were within 10 blocks of each other).  And at 7:55pm I call them to say I would like the room and I am only a few blocks away prepared to write them a check.  They tell me that they wish I had called them earlier, because they JUST decided to rent the room to someone else - WHAT!!!

So, if this guy falls through, they will give it to me, which they really want to happen - but they feel like they have to honor their offer to him.  Back to the drawing board for me.  It would be nice for this to come together, but I can't hold my breath.  At least it isn't due or die... and tonight was a nice quiet evening at Bridget's, which was a change of pace.

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All weekend I have felt like a kid waiting to hear if I got into the college of my choice.  I spent last week looking for apartments to sublet and the one that I liked best said that they would be making a decision over the weekend... the waiting is killing me!!!  I visited 5 places, and the one we are waiting on is my top choice. It is on the Upper West Side - nice safe neighborhood, easy commute -- subway I need is 1 1/2 blocks from the apartment. 

The runner-up is an apartment on the East River just over FDR Drive - the perk to this one is that the woman who owns it lives in Miami with her husband and is only in the city one or two weeks a month.  The downside is that its kind of not close to anything (not exactly a lot of restaurants and bars on the FDR), although that doesn't matter too much, since I will only be there during the week.  She was a little funny about me having Adam come visit, which we hadn't really planned on doing much anyway, but I would like it to be an option.  She is kind of freaked about what the bldg mgmt will think.  She also made some weird comment about her family having alcoholics in it and I need to respect that this is shared living space and blah, blah, blah.. one woman who lived with her would drink a glass of wine each night.  So, that's a little weird and I don't want to feel looked down on for having the occasional glass of wine -- then again, its not like she is going to be there much... just gave me a weird vibe.  But, hey, she said I could move in, she's flexible on move-out date, and it would be nice to have a more permanent living situation figured out.  There is one other apartment that I am seeing on Monday, so all is not lost. 

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This is probably my third or fourth "first Post" as Adam and I try to find a blogging service that is easy to use and gives us all the funcationality that we like.  So, this is our blog on VOX a new service that I got invited to try out.  We also have a blog on blogger and I have one on msn, with a bit of a feminist slant -- hopefully, we will find something we are happy with soon and shut down the other sites. 

We thought it would be nice to have a blog so our friends and family could stay up to speed on my new job, Adam's job search, and our efforts to move to NYC.  Its also a nice way to share silly antidotes, musings, and photos -- this site, in theory will be linked to our FLICKR slite where we store our photos online.  With so much family to relay everything too, we at times feel a little repetitive as keep everyone up to speed.  Of course, this blog isn't meant to replace phone calls with family, just to communicate to everyone a little better.  We look forward to friends & family posting comments in response to our postings. 

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