reason #114 why i love new york

bargains, people. bargains.

mock designer sunglasses can be bought from a crazy man in SoHo for $3.

i got a full body, one hour massage for $34. however, there are a few catches with this one: the rooms are separated by curtains so though it's extremely quiet in there, you can still hear the japanese lady pounding on the woman's back the next "room" over. and no men are allowed (probably because it's so semi-private to begin with). BUT the massage tables are heated and since there's no shower they wipe you down with hot moist towels afterwards so you don't get lotion/oil all over your clothes. in all, it's a total steal.

there's a brunch place where, for $8 you get unlimited mimosas. i had brunch there last week and must have had nearly 10 of them. i literally almost fell down when i tried to stand up to leave. the catch: champagne hangovers are the WORST!

cheap cheap eyelash extensions and calonics can be found in the inner recesses of chinatown. catch: you have to go to chinatown. but the quality and cleanliness of both places is as good as can be. both places have been staples among people at my office.

and now trader joe's is finally open in the city. hooray for great food at next-to-nothing prices! however, the mile-long line outside really makes me re-think whether all my favorite things there are really worth that wait.

new yorkers: any good bargains you've found recently, feel free to e-mail them over. i'll return the favor...

happiness is...

happiness is getting a promissory note back in the mail, signifying that i've finished paying off a loan and will no longer be on that bank's short leash...

it was only a $5,000 loan but it's five grand less that i have to worry about...

now if only i could check that "win the lottery" item off my list of things to do, i'd have the other $175,000 paid off too...

pret a post-ay

i have a confession to make. i've been a lazy girl. a very lazy girl.

i had a few extra hours on a saturday morning a few weeks ago and whipped up nearly a dozen posts and "saved as draft"ed them.

so for the past two weeks i've been logging in, adjusting the date and time and posting them.

is that wrong? do you feel cheated?

if so, too bad. i'm working 80 hour weeks and if i can't work this way, you're going to have to deal with a barely-there blogger. you'd have to get used to nearly-never bloglines updates.

but i'm starting to run out. i've got a few more drafted posts before i have to sit down and sweat some stuff out. so if the stuff i have is feeling stale...a new shipment is coming in.

subway diaries, chapter 4

for all gothamites, the subway is a way of life. this is the fourth in a series of my thoughts on this modus transportare publico. i'm fluent in faux latin, be impressed.

nothing makes my day like a train conductor with a sense of humor.

"this is 34th street, penn station. transfer here for the C and E trains, Madison Square Garden, the Jacob Javits Center and the Copacabana."

what a way to make a captive but weary audience chuckle a bit first thing in the morning.