I'm in a New York state of mind...

I should have...could have... been blogging for days now about my experiences and observations since my arrival in New York, but it's all going to come down to one entry, so that I can get caught up, then start fresh tomorrow.

1 My office- it's great so far. The most surprising thing is that the attorneys in my office are very friendly and accessible. In the Houston office we would rarely dream of just walking into an attorney's office to chit chat, but in the New York office it's sort of standard practice. Everyone is very friendly and very excited that I have arrived. I'm taking the week to sit back and evaluate what madness is going on in the office and what needs improvement. There are a lot of things. For example- the main receptionist. Where do I start--oh yeah, how about the fact that her eye shadow matches her hand bag and shoes everyday. Sometimes her handbag is metallic pink. Here are a few excerpts from her vocabulary:

Pacific- "I am very pacific when it comes to ordering sandwiches for the attorneys."

Notary of the Republic- apparently we have them in the office, but I usually call them Public Notaries. I'm still trying to figure out if they are the same thing.

Gourmet- it has a "t" on the end, and you pronounce it.

Then there's my new gay friend Jason, who's the IT guy- Travis you've been replaced. J/K

Next week I start the revamping of the office. And there are going to be a lot of unhappy people running around. I'm changing everything-- from the way we schedule conference rooms to the way we order food, to where we order food from. Also the HR lady, who is trying to be a fan of mine, but actually hates the idea that everyone loves me already, is returning to the office on Monday-- that should be fun.

2. My commute- Here is my general route (by landmark). We wind thru the hills of Westchester County, passing by the world headquarters for Reader's Digest, then drive by the home of the Clinton's (yes, Bill and Hillary) and drop my cousin off at school. Then my aunt and I drive to the cute little train station and hop the 7:37 train into Grand Central Station. We read the New York Times and drink coffee from our travel mugs. I then get off of the train and walk down 43rd Street crossing over Madison Avenue to get to 5th Avenue. I then pass De Beers and Tiffany, Louis Vitton and Yves St. Laurent. I stop and pick up an almond pastry to snack on as I walk. It's rough, I know.

3. The City- The pace is fast, I haven't walked this much since living in Haifa. But it's great. I'm hoping that my walking outweighs my almond pastry addiction in the long run. I feel as if I'm going to eat my way from one end of NYC to the other. The street food is irresistible. You can get any type of food in portable form. You get really good at navigating the streets with the traffic and all of the people, but today I had to raise my learning curve-- navigating the streets with umbrellas in play. I'm shocked that I still have two eye balls.

I am having a great time. The change of scenery has been really good for me. I like knowing that I'm not going to see the same things each and every day. I like the newness of the job and getting to create everything from scratch. I like being able to actually apply my knowledge and skills and make changes on the daily. It has become like a little adventure and I like it!