Off the streets!

I have an apartment!!!!!! I know, get excited. Mom, Dad, friends and family... have no fear I am no longer living on the streets (and by streets I mean my friend's futon.) I have a studio apartment on the Upper East Side (aka good neighborhood) and it's pretty nice. It's really small, but that's what you get in NYC. The rent is $1000 a month. I know... It's hard to believe that I am old/mature enough to afford $1000 a month. Guess that's what being a grown up is like. For all of you holding onto those birthday presents and cards, here is my new address:
332 E. 95th Street
Apt. 36
New York, NY 10128
I expect some mail :)

In other news, work is going very well. Weekend TODAY is going great! This past weekend I got to talk with several of the on-air personalities as well as some cool guests. I have to say that everyone is very cool, but Sean McLaughlin is really great. (I'm sure Liz Farry will agree.) He's totally down to earth and very appreciative of every little thing that I help him out with. He always says thank you and is generally concerned with how the other Page and I are doing in the morning. On Sunday I got to escort this group of little kids in Halloween costumes for a special reading from Lemminy Snicket, and I also got to see some "spooky" animals up close like an owl, tarantula, huge toads, and a huge albino python! I got to hold a bat, too! Not too shabby.

I'm waiting to see if I got the Conan TOC assignment. I actually think that I'm the only one up for the position right now, which is good and bad. Anyone that knows me knows that I love competition, so I'd much rather get the assignment knowing I beat out other people, but I'll take it anyway, haha! I'll update you on the progress as soon as I know something.

Top of the Rock just opened this morning, but some lucky Pages and I had the chance to go up a few days early for a sneak peek. The views are AMAZING, much better than the Empire State Building. You get an amazing view of Central Park, which is great because you CAN'T see it from Empire because our building is in the way. The architecture and design are amazing. So much work went into restoring the observation deck and it is definitely going to be well worth it. Check out the website!

On a sad note, I have to give a shout out to departing Page Carolyn Clark! She got a job at The Dowd Agency doing entertainment publicity for some very high profile moguls (think Donald Trump, Mark Burnett.) I'm really sad she's leaving the program, but she's going to do an amazing job! I expect big things from her, and hopefully she'll hook me up with a job in the future! We'll miss you, C-Clark!

Is it really November already?

Weekend TODAY is going very well. I'm actually sitting in the green room right now. The show just ended at 9am so I'm hanging out until 10 or when the director tells us "good night" which is funny to hear at 10 in the morning. I'm manning the green room by myself today, as I do every other Sunday, but it's not hard. Sunday is an easy day.

Some new assigments are coming up and I'm looking forward to getting new experiences with those. The one that I want the most is Late Night w/ Conan O'Brien Ticket Office Coordinator. This person is responsible for all of the ticketed for the show. They have to hand out the standby tickets every morning, check in all of the confirmed guests the afternoon of the show, and manage the other Pages that are working the taping. I think I'm very good for this position because of my strong organization and management skills. I've already been talking a lot with the current Page on the assigment, as well as some Conan staffers. It starts November 7th and lasts for 15 weeks, so it's pretty lengthy, but I'm very excited for it. I'll let you know how it goes!
On Monday afternoon I'm lucky enough to be attending a workshop with Ann Curry of TODAY and Dateline fame. She's going to be talking with the Pages and answering our questions regarding her career and how to make it in the news world. I'm really excited about this opportunity, and am especially excited to see Ann. I'm a big fan!

I'm working the NBC Wheel of Trivia with Kara on Tuesday. It's a PR game where we play the hosts and get visitors to the NBC store to spin the wheel and answer trivia questions on their favorite NBC shows. I'm sure Kara and I will have a blast doing it. Stop in on Tuesday at 10am if you're in the area.

The apartment search is the same. I've looked at another dozen places that just aren't right for me. I actually did see a few places that I liked, though. I'm waiting to hear back on them so I'll let you know about it when I hear something. Thanks to everyone who helped me celebrate my birthday in NYC! Whether it was with a drink, a card, a phone call or email I really appreciated it! Thanks again!

Some wise words from the elders

So, the apartment search and work have really been stressing me out lately. I had a phone talk with my Dad today that made me feel a lot better. He said,

"The big city can really kick your ass. Just kick its ass right back."

Thanks, Dad. I will.

Officially Homeless

I'm not actually homeless right now, but I sort of am. I'm staying w/ one of my coworkers while I figure out my living situation. I have the next 4 days off (I know!) to look around and hopefully figure something out. I would like to be in my own place by the end of next week at the latest. November 1st or bust!

My 23rd birthday is next Friday, the 21st. MAN do I feel old! As of right now I don't have anywhere for you to mail the cards (which I'm sure you were ready to send) so just hang on to them and I'll get you and address asap!

I don't have much time to update on anything else, but just know that I'm doing fine!

Just call me Pat Shmoozedora

You should probably never call me that, but it was kinda true this week! Work is going great, and I've had the chance to see some very cool performances, rehearsals and interviews in the past week. I worked Conan 3 times this week and they had a lot of very cool guests. The best was on Thursday when they had a special all-U2 edition of Conan! The band performed 3 times and was there for the whole hour! There was so much excitement and buzz around the show and it was really cool to be a part of that! Jessica Biel was on the show on Friday, the day she was annouced to be the "Sexiest Woman Alive" by Esquire magazine. She is even more gorgeous in person than on television.

I got random sneakpeaks of SNL rehearsals during the week, too. I saw this week's host, John Heder (Napoleon Dynamite) rehearsing with the cast members, and I got to watch Ashlee Simpson rehearse on Thursday on the live feed. Here's hoping tonight's performances go better than last time!

Weekend TODAY kept me very busy this morning! We had a LOT of guests for a Saturday, and it was crazy in the green room, that's for sure. Celebrity hairstylist Sally Hershberger was on the show with her team of stylists giving some audience members outside a makeover. It was fun, but really fast paced! At one point I only had 3 minutes to run them from the dressing room to the studio. Gotta love the action! My favorite part was talking with Clinton Kelly and Stacey London of TLC's What Not To Wear. They were guests on the show and I got to talk to each of them for a few minutes. They were both SO nice! Tandi always compared our On The Road to Clinton and Stacey... it was cool to meet them in person. I also had a short convo with Jill Hennesy of Crossing Jordan. Such an exciting day!

Speaking of excitement, I'm off to work Saturday Night Live! Don't wait up!