Snapshot Sunday | When Neighborhoods Collide

This week's Snapshot Sunday features a corner that I see quite frequently on my walk to school. With the TriBeCa Film Festival right around the corner, banners are popping up throughout the city advertising the event. One of the banners just happened to be hanging on the same light post of one of Little Italy's signature decorations. This exact spot is right on the edge of Little Italy in SoHo, right before crossing into TriBeCa. I love the intersection of neighborhoods, and had to capture it on the bright, spring day we were experiencing. 

You can get full information about the TriBeCa Film Festival on its official site here: CLICK

Missing NYC Life

I can't believe that I've already been home for a month! There are definitely a lot of things I miss about NYC, but it is great to be with my family again. I also started working, which is such a relief considering NYC drained my bank account an unbelievable amount. As soon as I can, I want to visit the city, though. Here are the top five things I'm missing the most.

1. Broadway shows: I loved waking up on the weekends and traveling into the city to stand in line for rush tickets. I was so fortunate to see a number of amazing performances during my semester in NYC. Now I feel like I am missing out on them! There are so many that I haven't seen, and I don't know when the next time I'll be able to see another. Hopefully very soon!
2. Public transportation: Sure, busses and subways are not glamorous, but you can get anywhere you want to go just by swiping your Metro Card. During the hour commute from the Bronx to the city, I had plenty of time to read. Even though it is the summer and I have a lot of free time, I don't take time out of my day to read as often as I should. The subway was the perfect opportunity to relax with a book.
3. Arthur Avenue: More often than I should have I found myself buying pizza at Full Moon just two blocks from our house. Other times I ended up at the smoothie shop. Only once in a while did I end up in a bakery. No matter what treat I was enjoying, all I had to do was stroll down the street and the best foods were available to me. Believe it or not, I haven't had any pizza since I've moved back home. Ordering take-out requires more effort than walking down the street!
4. Random moments of awesomeness: One never knows what's going to happen in New York City. While walking down the street, riding the subway, or even just surfing the internet for NYC events, the unexpected will happen. During my first week, Mary and I ended up on an MTV show. While shopping in Macy's with friends we spotted Clinton Kelly. I even rode in an elevator with fashion designer Christian Siriano! These little moments are exciting enough to brighten up a day and make for great stories. In the city that never sleeps, there is always something out of the ordinary going on!
5. Forever XXI: I know, I know. I can shop at Forever XXI pretty much anywhere in the country, but in NYC the stores are bigger, better, and EVERYWHERE! Times Square? Check. 34th Street? Check. Fifth Avenue? Check. Union Square? Check. You get the picture! I would go after work and on the weekends to score cute clothes at reasonable prices. I could literally spend over an hour in the Times Square location. Even with all of the unique clothing shops in the city, I somehow always ended up at Forever. 

Stay tuned for more entries! 

Exploring the Neighborhood & the Downfalls of Fordham

This past Sunday I went with my next door neighbor in the house, Jason, to sample some of the food that you can find in our neighborhood. For lunch we went to this pizza place called Full Moon Pizza, which is located in the Little Italy of the Bronx just a couple blocks down. I had heard from a bunch of people that I just HAD to go there because they have the best pizza. Well, I'm not sure if it's the best, but it's definitely delicious. The slices are huge, about twice the size of a normal slice, and even though the price tag is a bit high (anywhere from $2-$5 for a slice) it's worth it. I also got garlic knots which were dripping in garlic and butter. Not the healthiest meal in the world, but a good experience.

Here's a picture of the pizza slice that I found on slice.com. It gives you a good idea of how big one piece is:

After stuffing ourselves with Italian food, Jason and I went and got Chinese for dinner. The place is called Nice Food (heh heh) and it's only a block away from the house. For $9 I got this huge container of chicken and broccoli plus white rice. It lasted me three meals! I wouldn't go there often, because the food is pretty bad for you, but it's good once in a while. Plus, there are a bunch more restaurants around that I need to try, including the Italian bakeries in Little Italy. 

On Monday, my day off from work, I decided to study for the midterm I had later that night in my class. I spent my free time on Sunday making this awesome 10-page study guide, but I had one problem-- I don't have a printer this semester! In order to print my study guide and the homework assignment that was also due, I made my way to Fordham's campus. What I thought was going to take about 10 seconds to accomplish took me a half an hour! First, I had to locate a computer lab that actually had working computers (the first room I went into had lots of computers, but they had no programs on them!). Then, when I went to print my document, nothing happened. Why? Because you have to PAY for your printing at Fordham! This means I had to trek downstairs and load up my student ID with some cash, and then enter it into some weird machine to print my documents. Yeah, I only paid 50¢, but the printing wasn't even double-sided, so I felt like I had killed a tree or two. A big difference from the usual "green" culture I'm used to. Not so much a big deal, but just a couple of the areas where Fordham can improve.

P.S. In case you were wondering, my midterm went well!