Neighborhood bars

I've been in the city almost a month now, and I certainly am feeling more city savvy as each day passes. It takes a little while to learn the best way to hail a cab, or which train is uptown, or an express. One thing that did NOT take too long, however, was figuring out what my neighborhood bars were. I have yet to venture downtown yet, and cannot wait to do so, but I think it was important that I learned the Morningside/ UWS area first. Here are 3 of my favorite places, all of which are places I'll take you if you call and tell me you're coming to the city.

The Heights Bar and Grill is on Broadway and a short walk from my house. It reminds me a lot of any bar at home (think East Village) that has signature drinks, 1 bathroom, very good dinner, an amazing patio, and a pretty legit soundtrack playing. I went here for the first time on my impromptu date with The Banker, and I again on the night of the most severe SFP of my entire life. The have a seriously dangerous frozen margarita in like, every flavor you can imagine,
The Village Pourhouse is located on 109th and Amsterdam and is a mixture of PB's and Sammys. The have several huge rooms and games on pretty much all day. a DJ spins and night and, get this, they have some of the most creative and fun drink specials ever. I'm pretty much obsessed with this place because the first time I went there, our cocktail waitress noticed we'd relocated to sit with these guys who were literally buying the bar and she took it upon herself to close us out because, in her words "clearly your drinks are on them" That chick knew how to hold another chick down-- and thats reason enough for me to call myself a regular.

Drink nights: Tuesday-- Kill a Keg Tuesdays ($2 unlimited Bud Light) Friday-- Ladies night, flip a coin. If you call the coin right your drink is on the house. Sunday-- Unlimited Mimosas or Bloody Mary's ($10) and also, if you come there in a cab and bring them your receipt they start your tab off with whatever the cab costs. Pretty damn dope.

Suite is also on 109th and Amsterdam, but a little further down. It's a gay bar and seriously the best time to be had in Morningside Heights. Imagine a nonstop stream of club mixes, cheap shooters, and crazy dancing-- all while being told how diva and delicious you are by all the gay guys. They have events like Ghetto Karaoke, trivia, and a drag show on various days of the week, all hosted by different drag queens. It may be a little extreme for some, but, with the right clique of girls and he right amount of drinks, Suite is heaven on earth....

The thing that still trips me up is the seemingly non-existent closing times. I'm accustom to going out at about 11:30, bar closing at 2, and getting home somewhere between 2:30 and 3:30. Here, we meet up at someone's house around 10, finish getting ready, drink, whatever. Then we seriously can be at one place from 11-1:30, head someplace else and before I know it, I'm still dancing, still drinking, and, welp, surprise!! its 4:30 am.... and there is no sign of stopping. It's sort of true, New York never sleeps... and pretty much, I don't think I'm ever leaving....

116th street stairs.

These are the massive set of stairs I climb to get onto campus. Honestly, there are like 4 sets of a million steps. The 3rd picture is the last set of stairs, and the other 3 pictures are pictures of the other 5 sets (one is missing) It's intense, but it's so gorgeous in the park, so I can't complain. There is a way to get to campus without cutting through the park, which I would do if there was terrible weather, or the sun has set. other than that, welcome to my mandatory twice daily stair workout. My ass and thighs will thank them one day. Although today? I'm sore.

Morning Side Park

This is the beautiful park that I live across the street from. Absolutely divine. There are these beast sets of stairs at each block that you take to get to my train station and up to campus and the shops around there. It's about 5 minute over there. So far I enjoy the little stroll, but maybe because I know the end result will be firm thighs and a cute little booty come Christmas. Treat!

Learning the Map with the help of pop culture.

I literally had to study the map of the Upper West Side for a couple of weeks before I could effectively apartment hunt. Now that the housing is handled and we're all moved in, I really want to learn the areas I have heard so much about. I remember Samantha Jones moving to the Meat Packing District on Sex and the City, or about the tents at fashion week in Bryant park, as seen on Project Runway and in The Devil Wears Prada. I know the Upper East Side from Gossip Girl, Gramercy is where Whitney from The City lives. I could go on and on. So where do I fit? Up at the top of the map, boarding Harlem(in blue) and overlapping with the Upper West Side is Morningside Heights (in red.) It pretty much consists of Columbia, Barnard, Teacher's College and a slew of hospitals ( like St. Lukes) and churches (like St. Johns). What I've learned (and you have too, after reading this obscure geography lesson) is: I live uptown. I live right by the school of social work, and I am seriously a student. Seriously.

This is my new home.

I spent last week in NYC apartment hunting. That was one of the most unpleasant, hellish weeks of my life. I've never really searched for a home before... my first college apartment, my friends picked it and the first time I had even driven over there was when I went to sign my lease. My apartment that I live in now, I found completely by accident, signed the papers on the spot and didn't see the inside of it until the day before I moved in. Needless to say, I like to use as litle energy as possible when it comes to finding suitable housing, I know what I'm looking for and it's usually pretty specific so that rules out a lot of places right of the bat.

We get to New York and immediately meet with our first broker, Roz. She was a mix between the lady that plays on The Nanny and like... a middle school algebra teacher. or a Pharmacist. Imagine my state of mind. I'm exhausted, sweaty, and motion sick from the shitty-yet-amazing driving skills of the taxi that brought us from our from our hotel on w 77th to the brokers office on 5th. So, you know... I'm sleepy, smelly, and sick. moods a little sour, obv.

Initially Roz was very sweet. My sister had spent a lot of time on the phone with her, so I felt confident that the woman had a good idea of who we were, what we were looking for, etc. um. No, that was actually not the case at all. We take the train to the apartment she is showing us. The minute we stepped out of the subway I was effing astonished. I have never been in the middle of the true life projects in my life. Not to sound all classist and egregious, but seriously, what the fuck was she thinking? The homeless were spilled all over the street. Harlem Hospital was on the corner and all the hospital patients were somehow OUTSIDE of the building. My problems straight away were:

1) it was 4:00pm on a Tuesday. WHY were there so many people who should reasonably be at work-- NOT at work? Don't they have 9-5, M-F there??

2) if the Hospital was so full that all the people were on the sidewalk out front (on a Tuesday, at 4pm) What the hell would it be like on a weekend?! on a holiday?

The apartment itself was nice, but that doesn't matter at all because not only did I refuse to live there, I don't think I'd even go visit there. If someone told me a box of cereal was $1.00 over there--- I'd still pay the $3.99 on my own part of town. Hum.... prob. can add "snobby" to the aforementioned adjectives.

Roz became really pushy and jumbled when she could sense we were disinterested. She starts to fumble over her words and at one point says "Look. I live in the one of the best neighborhoods in Manhattan..." I blocked her out at that point. Not to be a bitch, but she looked sort of poor. E, my mother, and I don't. So really I was left trying to figure out why she took us to see an apartment in the middle of Section 8 housing. Would you encourage an anorexic to find clothes at Lane Bryant? No, you would not... because it wouldn't be appropriate. But, I digress...

What took the cake was my Mother stating, with disgust and alarm all over her face, "I think that lady on the corner had AIDS." she could see the AIDS.

So after viewing 10 more apartments, all of which displayed various levels of utter homelessness.... I found our beautiful home!! The pictures are of my room, 2 shots of the living room, the kitchen, and my sister's room (E, shes gonna be my roomie). It's in a beautiful brownstone right by campus, a 5 minute walk to the front door of the school of social work. It's perfect.

I will be in New York permanently by mid- Aug. super pumped!