Greetings from the Big Apple

This is one of the most ridicoulous things I have ever seen in my life. So Brian went to 5th ave. by himself while I was at work the other day, and he said he saw something he had to show me. He asked what Abercrombie always has as you walked in and I replied pictures of partially dressed men, and he said so what would it have on 5th avenue i couldnt think of anything, but the answer partially dressed male models, this is the most ridiculous thing i have ever seen, they pose, not even joking. 
see posing, wow how would you take yourself seriously
PWC office in NYC,  300 Madison Ave. Pretty fancy. 
Tiffany's NYC
This picture is for you Meg, Louis Vuitton and the 5th avenue sign, if it werent for you I might not even know who Louis Vuitton was, yes I am uncultured
Astoria, NY, this is where we are moving next week
Another view of Astoria
The creepy public health add plastered all over the subway, i am not sure it is effective at reaching its or any target audience. 

Brian enjoying the sandwich at Carnegie Deli. By the way the have what might be one of the worst things I have ever eaten here, half sour pickles, they are sick, I hear some people love them, the thought makes me want to throw up 

Pastrami sandwich at the Carnegie Deli- they give you a whole sandwich, this is a half, it is just bread and meat, the guys next to us asked how much meat was in one sandwich and they said it was close to ONE POUND, obviously we took some home, had we known that we would have ordered just one. Dont go here, it is just ok, and over priced. The desserts looked amazing and I wanted to try it but after paying that much for a sandwich I didnt want to give them any more money. 

Brian in front of Michael Scott's favorite New York eatery

The Hershey story in Times Square, stuff spins around, it looks cooler in person. 

Dad and Mug these pictures are for you... see they are advertising shawarma... they have it in their little cart, I think it costs like $4, maybe a little more. 
The halal food stand (there are really like 5 of them, but this is the one I got my lunch from). All the carts line up in the financial district in the morning and at lunch the lines are long.
Brian's falafel sandwich... I am still not a fan.
The line to Sam's falafel... I couldnt get the whole line in the picture but it takes about 15 minutes to get your falafel, but Brian assures me it is worth the wait and the $3
Chicken and rice with "salad", they put too much hot sauce today but it is delicious (dont worry I dont eat the whole thing myself)

Sorry for the silence for the last few days we have been... well busy (we are becoming true New Yorkers, well not really). 

So a quick update on what has been happening here. I started my internship with the Children's Defense Fund, so far I am just reading (a lot) about Medicaid... I am supposed to be ready to explain it by Tuesday so get ready for a nice long blog post about Medicaid and CHIP in New York... all I have to say is 4 years of college, and 1 year of grad school havent prepared me well enough to navigate the system I have no idea how someone with limited education and a shaky grasp of english can do it (oh wait that is part of the problem) more to come on that topic. 

Other news, Brian got a job, he is going to be the operations director for a summer camp site in Brooklyn... yes this is a far cry from being a PWC auditor but hey you are only young once, I am sure this experience is just going to confirm to him that a career in public accounting is what he actually wants. 

We visited our apartment in Queens... pictures to come but have you ever seen the Friends episode where Joey and Chandler are trying to get Ross to move out and they visit apartments with him, one of the apartments they go to is one room with the shower in the kitchen, well that is where we are living, the toilet is in a closet (literally), the shower stall is next to the bed (it kinda looks like a window), there isnt a couch, microwave, or window, and the fridge is a half fridge... this is going to be an interesting experience but on an exciting note it will make me appreciate whatever house we buy in Dallas that much more. 

I should have learned to swear before coming here, okay not really since I think that swearing is obnoxious but it seems that every other word out of people's mouths starts with an "s", "f" or "a", in my opinion this doesnt make them sound more intelligent but that must be because I am an "ignorant westerner", whatever, anyway I am pretty sure the school system is failing someone because a coherent sentence is pretty hard to come by in some parts of New York (I know you think I am being mean but really it is)

Coach and Prada are a big deal, okay I did know this before, but since I lived the last few years as a college student I wasnt really aware of this. It seems everywhere we go people have these fancy purses, sunglasses, watches, and shoes, granted New York is the land of cheap knockoffs (if you want something let us know they have... everything) but I am pretty sure most of it is real (not that I can tell the difference between real and fake)... I think it is concerning that nutrition, health insurance, and living in a clean sanitary place are less important than having the right shoes... we went to 5th avenue the other night and saw the actual stores- they are huge and packed- maybe just with tourists but from the street people looked busy

I am not actually sure what most New Yorkers do every day. We take the train from Brooklyn to Downtown Manhattan (financial district- Wall street, WTC) very few people look like they are going to work and when we are coming home people have tons of shopping bags (from coach and gucci and others). While I am aware that not everyone has to dress up for work I am curious what these people do all day, maybe they work... not sure though and it isnt like we are staying in a touristy part of town where people would be heading back to the hotel after a tough day in Chinatown... anyway if you have ideas about that let me know I need some enlightenment. 

What else can I tell you? We went to Tiffany's just to see it, and besides being 6 stories (give or take) the elevator man (yes there is an elevator man) sings... weird. 

We found a store that would be a dream come true for a true shopper, it is called Century 21, it is basically a huge well organized Ross, with better prices, deals and selection. The place is 4 huge stories filled with all the designers you could ever want for less... and by less I mean way less. 

The halal food carts are the best $5 i have spent on food since arriving. For $5 you can get a lunch with yellow rice, chicken and lettuce and tomatoes and a cold soda, the chicken is spiced, grilled and has a hot sauce- real arab food, Brian likes the falafel better but I am not a fan- they give you a ton of food and it is delicious (it clears your sinuses but is worth it)

Well I think that is all I have to say- how are you?