Many Thanks

I am thankful for the opportunity to live in the greatest city on earth for almost a year and half now. I've said that I wanted to live in New York City since I was in 8th or 9th grade and it's pretty cool to realize that it's finally happened. Although I probably won't stay here forever, I couldn't imagine living anywhere else at the moment. Sometimes it's noisy and expensive and crazy and overwhelming, but all of the amazing experiences that I've had here greatly outweigh the stress this city can put on a person. I will have great stories to tell when I'm 80.

I am thankful for my apartment in the city. After living in two rats nests apartments it feels great to finally have a place where I feel clean, safe and sound. I have finally found a place that suits my needs and doesn't make me (too) poor from week to week. It's in a quiet part of town, but not too far away from the action. We have space and, although I sleep in the living room, I really feel like this place is really a home and not just a place to put my stuff.

I am thankful to share my wonderful apartment with a wonderful roommate. Carolyn (or Carol as I call her) has quickly grown from being a coworker, to friend, to roommate, to confidant and best friend. We are so similar in our attitudes and beliefs that it's no wonder we ended up living together. Even though we want to murder each other sometimes, I couldn't imagine coming home and watching television and gorging on takeout with anyone else. Go, go big girl!

I am thankful for the indescribable year at spent in the NBC Page Program. Last year on Thanksgiving I was still in New York and working. It was slightly annoying to have to work on Thanksgiving, but I had to stay because I was working for Late Night with Conan O'Brien and we were taping a show that day. The energy of the entire day was great. Even though it was a "normal" show taping, the cast, crew and audience knew it was a special day. As a bonus, my fellow Page Jeanette and I got to peak at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade as it marched down Broadway a few blocks away. The friends and contacts that I made in my year at NBC cannot be matched. Each and every person that I worked with is going to be someone big in the future, and I know that I can call on a fellow Page when I need help with anything... business or personal. Thank you.

Most important, I am thankful for my family and all of the things they do for me. None of the things I listed above would be possible if I didn't have the love and support of my family. The have helped me financially and inspirationally and taught me that I can do whatever I want if I set my mind to it. I know that my family will always have my back when I need them, which I've unfortunately learned isn't that case for everyone out there. I love all of you very much an appreciate your support each and every day.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Word of the night: Amazing!

"Live from New York it's Saturday Night" is a phrase that I've heard on TV and in person tons of times, but it had a different kind of affect on me this week. Carolyn and I were lucky enough to score some last-minute tickets to the dress rehearsal of Saturday Night Live this past Saturday. Alec Baldwin was the host and Christina Aguilera was the musical guest. First of all... I knew it was going to be an amazing show when I heard the guests, but I really didn't image how amazing it was going to be.

I have to give a huge shout out to my fellow NBC Pages who majorly hooked us up! I've said it once, but I'll say it again... Pages take care of Pages. We made our way upstairs and wound up sitting on the cushions in the back row. Not a bad seat, mind you, as we were dead center, but not the most comfortable. Five minutes before the start of dress my friend Audrey comes running up and grabs us. Apparently there were two open seats down on the stage floor, so they pulled us to sit there! I've been to SNL as a Page a bunch of times, but never as an audience member. We were about 10 feet away from Alec Baldwin during his opening monologue... pretty amazing. But it gets better...

There was buzz about a lot of cameos but we hadn't heard any official word if anyone was going to show up. As expected, SNL alums Tina Fey and Tracy Morgan showed up, who costar on 30 Rock with Alec. Great to see them back on the stage! Later in the show they did a sketch about the SNL platinum lounge, where only people who have hosted 12 times or more are allowed. Waiting for Alec in the lounge was the one and only Steve Martin! Amazing! (What's even more amazing was that during the live show Martin Short and Paul McCartney appeared in the sketch! RIDICULOUS!) Alec also has a reoccuring sketch "The Tony Bennett Show" where he parodies the singer on his own talk show. Well, you guessed it, the REAL Tony Bennett showed up to be a guest on the show! Once again, amazing! They also did a sketch (which got cut) called "The Speedreader." Will Forte came into the audience to sing a song at the end and biffed me in the head while singing! After the show he came up to apologize saying that it was the Speedreader, not him, that hit me. Hilarious.

Later in the show, Alec stood right in the aisle behind me to introduce Christina Aguilera. Just as he got the cue to begin he grabbed my shoulder as he delivered the intro. Amazing! And let me say... I am a fan of Christina Aguilera. I have been since she came out. She is probably the most talented singer of my generation. Her voice is so powerful for such a tiny girl. It's pretty cool to think that I was closer to her performance that I could ever hope to be at a concert. That girl can sing. Not only did she sing two amazing songs of her own, she came out at the very end of the show to sing a duet with Tony Bennett! RIDICULOUS!

The whole night seemed like a dream. Besides all of the cameos, it was an all-around amazing show. All of the sketches were genuinely funny, and the ones that actually made it to the live show were hilarious. Each and every one of them, which is rare considering it's not easy to fill a 1.5 hour show with completely funny material every week. We had an amazing experience and I have to thank everyone that hooked us up! So a big thanks to Kat, Shannon, Nia, Lyndsay, Audrey, Chris, Ken and everyone else who we ran in to. THANK YOU!

Flattery will get you everywhere!

Everyone likes a compliment, but this time she went too far! My fellow/former WCN broadcaster Liz Farry posted a really nice, unnecessary entry about me in her blog this week. It's really flattering and I appreciate her opinion very much. I'm not above passing along what she wrote, so feel free to read it here. Liz brought up some really important points in her blog (even ones not about me!) that I think anyone who posts on the internet should think about.

Liz is an amazing broadcaster herself. I met her officially on Halloween of my junior year when she was the ONLY freshman to attend our viewing party of the Halloween edition of The County Line. I knew right away that she was a go-getter and would succeed in the business. Liz has always acted in a professional manner while getting the job done. She is driven and ambitious and will not stop until she reaches her goals. I knew she would be succesful at Westminster and I know she will be successful in the real world. She looks pretty good on camera, too!

Liz mentioned that she remembered me saying that I don't know exactly what I want to do with my career, and that is still definitely the case. I'm finding out that as I grow professionally I'm checking more things off my list that I DON'T want to do, rather than do want to do. That's not necessarily a bad thing. When I was an NBC Page we had a workshop with Conan O'Brien. He told the Pages that they should always remember one improtant rule: Your career is not linear. You expect to lay the track out infront of you and follow them to your end career. You have to jump around and move from area to area to get where you want to go. I often have to remind myself of this philosophy.

I also find it funny to look back at how many times I thought I was at the top of the food chain, only to be shoved back to the bottom after a short while. When you're in high school you spend all four years trying to get the top. Eventually you become a senior and you're the king of the school. Unfortunately, the power is short lived and you quickly become fresh meat again when you go to college. It takes another four years before you're at the top again. Once again, it's taken away and you're at the bottom again... only this time it takes MUCH longer than four years to get to the top again. Pretty much the whole rest of your life. I remember being in college and feeling so exhausted after having three hours of class a day, three days a week. Now I work ten to twelve hours a day five days a week... and will do that until I retire. Hope that doesn't scare anyone who hasn't graduated yet, but it's what you have to do if you wanna be successful! I'm just glad that I'm doing in for a career that I really want and that makes me happy.

I was having the best week ever!

Not to rip off anything from VH1, but I've had the best week ever last week! I was gearing up for my 24th birthday celebration last week when I got the news that I was getting a promotion at work! Not too shabby. The birthday celebration was great! Had some of my best friends come up for a nice dinner, then back to my place for birthday cupcapkes from Buttercup Bake Shop (my favorite!) Then we went out for many a'drink to celebrate. So much fun, and really great to see the people that I really care about. I also received some great cards from my family, including 3 cards from Aunt Freddie. And yes... 3 cards do equal out to a trip to Florida. Still waiting on that icecream cake though, haha!

Here's some more pix from my birthday:

So Many Weddings

There's not too much going on in my broadcasting world at the moment. The new job is starting to wear me down a little bit. The hours are a lot more intense than what I had originally thought. I'm gaining some good experience, but I'm also learning that it's not exactly where I want to be at the moment. I've been following through with some other opportunities that I was following before I got this job. I'll let you know what's up as soon as I know anything!

Apparently it is time for all of my friends to get married. At least that is what I gather from the past two weekends. Last weekend my good friends Brian and Steph were married in Hershey, PA... the land of chocolate (the air smelled like chocolate, people. It was amazing.) I was fortunate enough to be asked to be a groomsman in the ceremony and I had a great time. The wedding was beautiful and everyone had a blast!

This past weekend I was back in PA, this time at Westminster for one of my best friends wedding! Danielle and (Matt) Slacker got married at Wallace Memorial Chapel. The new Slackers asked me to do a reading during the ceremony (which I was really nervous about) but they said I did a good job. Phew. The wedding was very intimate, including their family and close friends (most of which were my close friends, too... which was really nice!) Again, everyone had an awesome time. So great to see everyone!

I had mentioned to several family members that Carolyn and I really needed a "big plant" for our apartment to finish it off. We were having the hardest time finding a tree or plant that wasn't over $100 so things were looking bleek. Always trying to be helpful, my Mom, Dad, and brother tried to hook me up witih this mail-order "lucky bean tree." No exactly the tree we were looking for, but I do have to say that it's almost doubled in size since I got it! Pretty lucky so far.

Luckily for us though, a few weeks later the bodega gods smiled on us and we managed to find a giant palm thing for only $25 on the street! Here is the majesty that is our cheap tree. It's probably infested with deadly beetles from Mexico or something, but for right now it looks great!

So as you can see, my life is uncontrollably exciting right now. Other people's weddings and cheap foliage. This city never sleeps!

Here are some additional wedding photos. Maybe I should become a wedding photographer instead?