I got to work at 2 p.m. and it's nearly waaaaaaaaaay past midnight and I'm still here and I'm suppose to wake up at 4:45 a.m. to catch a flight that is only so goddamn early because I want to get to L.A. at a tolerable hour to spend Saturday on the ground since it takes 83 hours to fly across the country and another 45 (why not, on top of the 92 you're already doing anyway) in the stopover because that is what happens when you buy a ticket 3 days before departure.

Think I just wrote my suicide note. I'm going to buy some M&Ms now because I'm going to sleep in and cut out Dunkin' Donuts on the run to the airport. not going to sleep at all.

I should have gone to Chipotle's during the lull. But no, I said to myself-- I seem to be writing these monologues a lot these days-- you are doing so well, with your new lifestyle of eating-breakfasts, not-eating-past-6, lots-of-walking. Those thesis kilos aren't melting away because, frankly, you're not eighteen anymore and it's time to resign yourself to your jowls, but by golly you will at least fit into the jeans that you wore to France two years ago. And, if you want that gray YSL Rive Gauche, you shouldn't waste money on trivial things like food.

But now I am stuck at work with a vending machine of rubbish snacks. < Fake Mexican.

My grandfather's very ill; I'm going to Los Angeles on Saturday. Because I can't talk about that, I'll talk about the near-past, present, and near-future.

Like how I can get to Paris in 6 hours but it'll take 2 more to get to L.A. Like how I braved Chinatown to buy my cousins and sister I♥NY shirts that, secretly, I've wanted myself for a while. (Similar to my big snuggly Texas sweatshirt, I don't think I will wear it outdoors.) The white shirts were 8 for $10 and the colored shirts were 5 for $10 at the cheapest vendor I found. They were also made in Bangladesh and Haiti-- this is not as bad as, when I was 15 and in Kohl's for the only time in my life, I found a t-shirt that was made in, like, Somalia. Children do have the most deft fingers.

It was a tolerably good day, weather-wise, so I walked about 40 blocks to work. Still glad I don't live in Manhattan, but if I did, I probably wouldn't have a subway card because it really is an excellent walking city.

Say hello to My First Piece of Furniture

"Ok, Audrey," I said to myself as I left the apartment this morning. "The budget is $20 today. You're lunching with a friend, so that's $15; you're going to stroll in Prospect Park  and that's free, and with all this walking, you deserve to swing by the bakery and get a red velvet cupcake with the fiver."

Now back to my neighborood after lunch and the park and a pumpkin cheesecake, I continue to walk -- because, really, it was so beautiful today!-- and stop by the vintage shop at the corner. Furniture spills out on the sidewalk in good weather; I can spend another two hours inside, going through the drawers full of old postcards, but I'm arrested by this table I see. I already have various storage options (craigslist, $30 in all, thanks!) and am just looking for a bedframe and a chair.

Right-- I can use this as a bench, no?



But what a shame to keep it closed!



This is the Perfect Sewing Cabinet by Caswell-Runyan, with threads from the 1930s and a packet of needles and the piece itself dating from the 1950s. I, uh, didn't make it within today's budget, but since I only ate a quarter of the pumpkin cheesecake, I'm saving money by not going back tomorrow for a red velvet cupcake.

New York, I love you?