The Epic Finale-Part 2

I can’t even remember when my big city dreams started. Maybe it was when I saw New York in movies or on TV. Maybe it was when I read about the city in a book or a magazine. Or maybe it was once I learned that New York was a place where you could see Broadways shows every day of the week, all year around. I honestly don’t remember a time when I didn’t want to be fabulous and live in New York City.

I took my first trip there the summer I turned thirteen. It was a gift from my Nana for my birthday and I was SO excited to finally see the city I’d been dreaming about. I remember my first glimpse of Times Square, the yellow cabs racing by. I remember the weird smells that grossed me out at first but then just became normal NYC scents. I fell in love with all of the buildings that had been built years and years before. The city just held so much history, but was full of people who just wanted to create.

Getting on the plane to leave that very first time, I remember crying. It may have mostly been due to the fact that I was exhausted after four long days in the Big Apple, BUT I recall being so sad about leaving…I didn’t want to go! Luckily, I was able to visit the city several times after that first visit and every time, my love for the city grew and my desire to eventually move there strengthened.

When it came time to select location preferences for my auditing internship last summer, I knew New York was number one. It was a little bit discouraging when I heard it may be difficult for me to secure an internship in NYC due to my GPA; It is good by most standards, but New York usually looked for higher. I almost cried thinking my way to the city may be thwarted because of my GPA! Needless to say, as the recruitment process continued I was so ecstatic that two of the Big Four firms’ New York offices were interested in me. My advisor told me to prepare to be asked why I wanted to intern in New York. I told him I’d always wanted to live there after college and he said that was an excellent answer. As the story goes, eventually I decided Deloitte was the firm for me and so began a year-long wait to finally get to experience life in the city.

The weeks leading up to my stay in New York, I started getting anxious, as any normal human being would. I was concerned about the internship, worried I wasn’t prepared enough or that I wasn’t going to like the work. Fear of the unknown, mostly. I also found myself getting nervous about living in the city. I was terrified that I would get there and end up HATING living in the city I’d always dreamed about living in!

As I’m sure my blog posts over the past few months have alluded to, I absolutely LOVED living in New York. I miss so many little things about it now that I’m back home and back to my college student lifestyle. It’s a place of opportunity and endless possibilities. You can feel it in the air and see it everywhere you go. Looking at people as you walk down the street, you can’t help but wonder what they’re doing in New York. What are they trying to achieve?

The biggest shock of the summer was, honestly, how much I enjoyed my internship. I went in with so many preconceived notions (which is NEVER smart, people!) but that’s just how I am. However, I will be the first person to admit I’m wrong…and I was wrong about the internship. I am so thankful that I was put on the client I worked on all summer because the engagement team was so amazing. They took care of us and helped us get the most out of our eight weeks there. Had I been assigned to a different team, I think the experience could have been a lot different. Accountants get a stereotype of being boring, serious people but the team I was on was full of people who liked to joke around and have fun, while also being productive and serious when necessary. It showed me that accountants could have a good time! I made two wonderful friends in the other interns who were on my client and started creating a solid network within the firm.

On the last day of my internship, I was given an offer for full-time employment with Deloitte in their New York office beginning Fall 2015. Such a wide mix of emotions settled over me in the moment they handed me the offer letter. Excitement, relief, pride, and…a touch of panic. I was going to have to decide my future in less than 30 days…and anyone who is close to me knows I don’t handle making big life-changing decisions easily.

I had this amazing opportunity sitting in front of me that would allow me to move to the city I always dreamed of, work for an incredible company, have a pretty good salary, and have the ability to get through my last year of college knowing a job was waiting for me. The answer seemed simple. Why wouldn’t I take it? But as usual, the what-ifs started floating into my head. All of the little things that stress me out about decisions. The big “what if this doesn’t make me happy?” It was all there in my head…and for the first time, I pushed it all out. I wanted to make this decision on my own and I wanted to be proud of that decision.

The fact of the matter is, this summer I was happy. I never dreaded going into work. I was confident in my skills and in the education I’ve gotten from Texas A&M. I was proud of everything I did while I was interning. I was proud of myself for taking the chance to go to a city where I didn’t know anyone so that I could intern doing a job I didn’t have any hands-on experience doing and finishing it strong!

I find myself thinking about the path I’m on and convincing myself this isn’t the right path and I should be doing something else. I’m meant to be somewhere else. But the truth is, there’s a reason God put me on the path I’m traveling down. The decisions I’ve made over the years have led me to this and I made all of those myself. At the time they may not have been the choices I wanted to make, but I made them and that’s how I got where I am today. God gives us the free will to make these decisions. Maybe one day I’ll make a decision that changes my course in life, but right now I’m sticking to the path I’m on.

I have officially accepted my offer of employment from Deloitte and I’m oh so excited to say I will be moving to New York City next Fall. If you would have told my 13-year old self that I was ACTUALLY going to move to NYC one day, I doubt she would have believed it. Hard work and determination can get you anywhere. These are qualities my parents instilled in me and I am so thankful that they did.

Dreams do come true, everyone! It may not be the way I always thought it would happen, but it is happening. I’m so excited about this new opportunity and can’t wait to see what the future holds.

A big thank you to EVERYONE who has always been there for me and encouraged me along the way. Especially my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, teachers, etc! I love you all!!

Until next time,

Alex

The Epic Finale-Part 1

And the award for world’s worst blogger goes to…ME!!

This post has been a long time coming and I apologize! It’s been two weeks since I returned from my summer in New York City and I’m finally going to fill you in on the last week and a half of my stay a la a two-blog post special!

The last week of my internship was quite bittersweet. I was excited about having the rest of the summer off but sad because I had made some amazing friends and wasn’t ready to leave the city. For our farewell event, we took a boat ride on the Hudson and got to spend time just catching up with all of the other interns and having fun. On the very last day, we had our exit interviews and found out if we received an offer for full-time employment. (More on this in Part 2!) After the other two Company ABC interns and I finished with our exit interviews, we went out to lunch at Lavo, an awesome Italian restaurant in Midtown, as our final hoorah. When we parted ways, we were sad but knew there was a good chance we would all be reuniting in the future.

View from the Hudson

Inside Lavo for the Last Lunch

The following day my parents arrived in NYC and I moved out of my little dorm. I pulled up to their hotel just as they were arriving from the airport and there was lots of hugging and smiling. After getting our bags situated at the hotel, we headed to Carnegie Deli for lunch. There was a long line down the side of the building that shocked me! This place is a deli, why would the line be so long?! Of course, Carnegie Deli is world-famous and for good reason. The pastrami and corned beef sandwiches that they are known for are GINORMOUS! Plus, the cheesecake has got to be the absolute BEST cheesecake I have ever eaten in my entire life! I’m pretty sure I had a dream about it the other night…no shame!

"The Woody Allen"

After that, we went back to the hotel so Mom and Dad could nap (a theme that emerges for the rest of the trip). However, this nap was necessary given they had woken up rather early and traveled to the city so they were exhausted. A couple of hours later, I took Mom and Dad on a tour around Midtown and showed them the buildings where I worked, the subway station I got off at, and all of the other little things parents like to see. We then walked to Grand Central Station, the New York Public Library, and Bryant Park. After that, we walked over to John’s Pizza, our absolute favorite pizza place, and had dinner.

Standing on Park Ave

Grand Central Station

Times Square

On Sunday, we woke up and took the subway down to Union Square so that I could show them around what had been my stomping grounds for the past two months. First, we went to brunch at Friend of a Farmer, where Mom and I each got a delectable stack of those pumpkin pancakes I spoke about in my previous post. I then walked them down to Gramercy Park before bringing them over to where my dorm was. On the way there, we took a short break while next to Union Square so that Dad could go over to Starbucks for a quick bathroom break. While Mom and I were waiting, we saw my good friend Alec Baldwin, his wife, and their baby heading over to Baby’s R Us! I quickly pointed them out to Mom and she remarked that had I not pointed him out, she never would’ve known it was him!

Breakfast at Friend of a Farmer

Look closely...You'll see Alec!

I showed the parents my dorm and they took pics, then I walked them down the streets showing them all of the different places I frequented until we got to Washington Square Park. There, we took a little break and just sat on a bench, taking in all of the sights and sounds. This is where Dad had his first “celebrity” sighting. While we’re sitting there relaxing, having a conversation amongst ourselves, Dad suddenly turns to me and in an extremely loud whisper says, “Is this Ralph Lauren sitting next to me?” I glance over at the very distinguished looking man who’s wearing sunglasses, decent clothing, reading a newspaper and I instantly burst out laughing! First of all, Ralph Lauren was just the most random person my Dad could have thrown out. Second, the man most likely heard him because he said it SO LOUD. And third, the man was definitely not Ralph Lauren. Once we were done just sitting in the park, we walked around SoHo and then went to Little Italy to grab lunch.

Relaxin' in Washington Square Park

After lunch another nap was in order, so we headed back to the hotel, rested up, then headed back down to Greenwich so that we could go to church at St. Joseph’s. While we were waiting for the subway, we had a real celebrity sighting: Willie Garson! You may know him as Stanford Blatch from Sex and the City or Mozzie from White Collar. He was literally standing right next to us! And once we got on the subway, he and I held onto the same pole! Had his nephew not been with him, we probably would have said something but didn’t want to impose. After Mass, Mom and Dad instantly understood why I kept going back to St. Joseph’s, because the choir was AMAZING! As I’ve been saying for the past like 4 blog posts! When it was over, we took the subway back to Times Square where Dad had his second faux celebrity sighting. He thought Hank Azaria was on our subway but it was definitely just a Middle Eastern man who was far too tan to be Hank Azaria anyway. We grabbed dinner at Junior’s and then called it a night!

Monday morning, we woke up and did a bit of 5^th Avenue shopping. I got my friends some gifts at the NBC Store and then headed to Tiffany & Co. so that I could get myself a gift. I’d decided I wanted to get myself something nice as a reward for all of my hard work this summer and as sort of a belated birthday present. I fell in love with a necklace that’s part of the Tiffany Enchant collection and knew that was what I wanted. I’ve never made a purchase like that before but I absolutely love my necklace! I’ve gotten so many compliments on it and I know it’s something I’ll cherish for years and years to come!

Once I had secured my little blue box, we headed off to Carmine’s for our lunch reservation. My Mom had been wanting to eat at Carmine’s for a long time and I was glad we finally got to go. The unique thing about Carmine’s is that it’s a family-style restaurant, meaning everything comes in giant portions meant for 4-5 people to split. Let’s just say, we ordered WAY too much food but everything was delicious! We had a salad, stuffed artichokes, rigatoni with Bolognese and the spaghetti and meatballs! I highly recommend this restaurant if you’re going with a large group, but be sure to make a reservation well in advance if you’re hoping for a table at dinner time!

Stuffed Artichoke

Spaghetti and Meatballs...An Italian Girl's Dream!!!

After lunch, we rested up (told you naps were a theme) and prepared for our journey to the Bronx! Dad wanted to go to a Yankee game and I was all for it. However, the Bronx scares me. I’ve only ever heard bad things. If you stay near the stadium it’s fine, but wander too far and there could be a safety issue. We get off the subway right at Yankee Stadium, I start feeling a bit safer…and that’s when Dad decided to look up where the Stub Hub office is. You can imagine my absolute excitement at finding out it was about 20 blocks away! So off we go, wandering down the streets towards the Stub Hub office, Dad with his phone out making it blatantly obvious we aren’t sure where we’re going, and me getting more and more apprehensive the further we get from the stadium! FINALLY, we find the office, get our tickets and head back to the stadium. Our seats were pretty awesome and I think this may have been the first time I actually paid attention to a baseball game. That also might have been because we were sitting in an area that had signs saying to watch out for balls and bats. What?! Every single time there was a pop-fly headed in our direction I started freaking out! Needless to say, we had a great time and made it back to our hotel in one piece.

Yankee Stadium

Tuesday morning we woke up and headed down to the Brooklyn Bridge. It was a pretty hot day, mind you, so walking up that bridge was quite the sweaty occasion. Once we got to the first arches, Mom and I said we were good but Dad wanted to journey on to the second arch. We let him go by himself and we waited. While we were waiting, we took some shameless selfies and witnessed a man peeing on the bridge. Yes, you read that right! A man peeing on the Brooklyn Bridge about 4 feet away from us! Mom and I were just standing near the railing, chatting about the day when she looks over my shoulder and says, “Oh my God, there’s a man peeing in the corner.” I slowly turned around and sure enough, there’s a man, very discreetly and out of the NYPD officer’s sight, peeing on the bridge. I think Mom and I were both in shock as we watched him casually walk away. Then we started laughing hysterically. When Dad returned, we told him the story and walked back down the bridge.

I decided I was going to bring Mom to the Century 21 Department Store where dreams come true, so we headed there in all of our smelly, sweaty glory. On the way, we stopped at a cute little park with a gorgeous fountain to rehydrate with some bottled water. After a successful shopping trip, we decided it was time to head back to the hotel. Given that we’d bought a new suitcase for my stuff, I figured it may be easier to just take a taxi back instead of the subway. And here is where I made a mistake. Enter the taxi ride from HELL! I swear, we almost died at least 10 times. It was the most frightening taxi ride I have ever taken in my life! My parents told me they would rather stick to the subway, and I definitely agreed!

Gorgeous fountain in a random park

We went to John’s Pizza again for lunch, because why not, and then, you guessed it, NAPS! After those, we got dressed and then went to see A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. Yes, you will remember I saw this at the beginning of the summer, but Dad was watching the Broadway channel and decided that was the show he wanted to see. I was more than happy to see it again and so we went. And WE LOVED IT, naturally! After the show, we went and grabbed a bite to eat at this place my parent’s love called West End Grill. I will admit, their burger was super delicious! Back at the hotel, I packed up everything and got ready for my return home.

Selfie at Gentleman's Guide

Flying back was also bittersweet. I was ready to see my family and friends again, but I wasn’t ready to leave the city. I will say, being away from Texas for an extended period of time made me value it a lot more than ever before. There’s so much green and blue, so much fresh air! People smile when they walk by and are polite. However, I miss not being able to walk everywhere or hop on a subway and get off at an amazing art museum. Surprisingly, I miss the sirens and the hustle and bustle.

Back in Texas

I was so glad my parents got to come up to NYC and spend those last days with me! It was a lot of fun and I am so grateful they helped me make this dream come true.

Part Two and the epic conclusion to my summer in New York will be posted soon!

XOXO,

Alex