On Finances...

Super boring, yeah? Totally. Finances are the most stressful part of my life and I credit New York City for that (no pun intended).

You can get a job in New York City that pays a good salary - a salary that would be enviable in your hometown - but then you get here and realize that one paycheck doesn't even cover all of your rent. Unless you have a roommate, and then maybe it does. You're a smart one for doing that, but I didn't have that kind of luck (and secretly-but-not-so-secretly, I love living alone with my cat).

Then you say, it doesn't matter how much I get paid or how much my rent is, I live in the greatest city of all time! There's so much to do here! Who needs money when you're surrounded by EVERYTHING!

Wrong.

Everything here costs money, aside from sitting in a park and people watching. Don't get me wrong, that's a very awesome and entertaining thing to do. You might even see a woman bring her big fluffy white cat to the park to play. Or see a man in a white tuxedo playing a flute extremely off-key. And then it gets old after about an hour.

The biggest struggle I've found in living in New York isn't planning my weeks and days around the subway or managing the stress of a "real person" job (I think I've handled that one pretty well), it's been managing money. I've done a decent job of this only because I stress out about it. A LOT.

Having worked at a bank call center right out of college (if you're desperate for a job, do it. If you want to keep your sanity, don't), I have kept a check register like an 80-year-old. You can knock it all you want, but I always know exactly how much money is in my account regardless of what has or hasn't cleared. Take that, online banking.

So I'm good at not overdrawing my account. That's definitely the worst feeling. I used to do it all the time in high school and college because obviously debit cards equaled free money, and when you get to the register and your card is denied, you're beyond embarrassed. It happened a couple times when I was serving unpaid internships in New York as well while buying groceries. It broke my heart to put those Hint of Lime Tostitos back every time, but milk and cereal and lunch items were far more important.

Things I'm not so great at? Trying to balance spending money on having a life and doing things with friends that cost money, while also being able to pay for all my bills. Don't worry, the bills win out every time, but what a drag to pay over a thousand dollars a month to live in a city that I can't even take advantage of?

But if I'm paying that much for rent, shouldn't I take advantage of my apartment? How do I get my money's worth out of that? Stay inside whenever I can? Because I tend to do that a lot. And then because I do that, I pay for cable because what the hell else am I supposed to do while inside? I like reading, but I can't read all day. My eyes do not do that.

One tool I've found that's helpful in managing this issue is this software called You Need A Budget. You enter in all the expenses you know you'll have for the month (rent, utilities, loan, etc) and then allot money for other areas of your life (groceries, restaurants, household goods, medical expenses), and then you add in all the purchases you've made that month - which I recommend doing as you go. I was doing great with this until I started going out to lunch everyday because I haven't had time to go grocery shopping, and when I do have time I don't have the money for it (end-of-the-month-I-have-to-pay-rent-soon woes). I plan on using it more as a way to stop myself from going out to lunch everyday, but I also kind of like getting out of the office once a day to clear my head as well as the social aspect that goes along with it. I also love bringing a homemade lunch - particularly if it's delicious leftovers - but eating at your desk is depressing. And then I don't end up taking a break at all.

But YOU should totally use You Need A Budget. If you do in fact need a budget.

Where's all this ranting and rambling going? Nowhere really. Don't worry, I'm not starting a "Bri Needs Money to Live!" Kickstarter. I'm not taking on a second job, because running basically is my second job (and the best way to clear my mind. It's necessary for mental health). And I already got a small raise so there's no use asking for another. If you happen to have tips and tricks of how to make it in the city that don't include eating ramen everyday or shutting yourself in at all hours, there's a comment section, and you should use it.

Things I'm Currently Loving...

It's been far too long since I've done one of these posts, and I kind of need one right now. I cleared my head during a five mile run today, but it's still bogged down with a bit of negativity, ergo, it's time to focus on some fun things.

Here are some things/people/trends I've been loving lately.

Chrissy Teigen
I first heard about Chrissy Teigen when she got engaged to John Legend. Naturally, I had to look her up, and she's gorgeous.

[photo via dailyglow.com]

She also loves food. When I first started following her on Twitter (@chrissyteigen) she was in the middle of a snack chat. Literally, she was chatting about snacks. I was sold. She's quickly become my favorite Twitter account to follow, and my current girl crush.

Know what else? She likes video games. She's been playing Animal Crossing - one of my personal favorites - and tweeting about it, and I'm pretty sure I've retweeted at least five of her comments on it. I can't get enough.

10pm in hamburg, been asleep all day. Just woke up to a phone alert I set. It is the frog's birthday on animal crossing and I must be there.
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) July 21, 2013

 Just when I thought she couldn't get more perfect, I found out today that she has a FOOD BLOG. Yes. A food blog! It's called So Delushious, and the tagline is, "personal random ramblings from a girl who loves bacon and can't be fat." In case you didn't know, she's a model. Girl, I love bacon too, but I don't want to be fat. We're in the same boat.

So all of this points to the fact that she and I should probably become best friends. She loves video games, I love video games. She loves food, food is my life. She's engaged to a musician, I'm dating a musician. Chrissy, girl, let's chill.

Vine
My obsession with Vine is completely out of hand. When I first downloaded the app, I stayed up until 1 am laughing my ass off at six second videos. I've since had to make a rule of "no Vine-ing in bed" so that I fall asleep at a decent hour.

I've also become that girl that shows everyone her favorite Vine videos. Thankfully, they're only six seconds long, so I'm not waiting there with them for five minutes saying, "waitwaitwait, this is the good part," but I'm sure I'm embarrassing my self. Shut up. There are worse addictions.

Flushing Meadows Corona Park
I learned that I have an obsessive personality back in my freshman year of college when I found out there was a Disneyland in Paris and I stayed up all night learning everything I could about it. This lasted a solid week. These infatuations come along every so often and occupy my life for a week or so. Flushing Meadows Corona Park is one of those things.

[image via panoramio.com]

You might recognize parts of this park from Men in Black, but perhaps you didn't know that it was host to two World's Fairs? Or that those towers and that pavilion were part of them? Or that the pavilion was where the Munchkins were in The Wiz?

[image via metacafe.com]

I am so interested in the history of this park. And the Unisphere. Because it's amazing and HUGE. Seriously, visit this thing in person, you will not be disappointed. I love how some of the Fair's buildings have been made into museums, and that some are still around but abandoned (because who doesn't love a mysterious abandoned place) and that Willets Point and Citi Field are like, right there. And that it's a simple two mile walk from my place.

Basically, I need to know everything you can possibly know about this park. Like, now.

CHVRCHES
This is a trio from Glasgow that I heard about from a playlist that CMJ compiled on Spotify. It included their lead single, "Recover:"
 I've had this song on repeat for a few weeks now. Imagine my disappointment when I found out they they only have an EP out right now, and I have to wait until September 24th to get my hands on a full album.


Millers Near & Far
Ok so this one is kind of a shameless plug, but it's also just a REALLY great restaurant. A friend of mine is a server there and told me and another friend to come in for dinner, because the food is good and affordable (by NYC standards). She delivered on both of those promises.


Millers Near & Far is on the Lower East Side of Manhattan on Rivington between Eldridge and Allen. It serves "New American" cuisine at prices that won't break the bank. When I went, I opted for the Brocolini Ricotta Cavatelli. Oh. My. God. It was cavatelli pasta with broccoli, scarlet runner beans (beans that are red when raw that turn green when cooked), lemon, garlic, breadcrumbs and a fried egg on top. When you stab that yolk, it adds to the sauce and gives it a rich flavor that's not too heavy.

I've told all my foodie friends about this place because I seriously feel it's amazing. I only endorse food that I believe in.

That pretty much covers my current loves. What I'm currently not loving? Distance and time.

On Getting Out On the Weekends...

The internet is sad today. Trial outcomes, untimely celebrity deaths, a lot of ignorance...I had to get out of my apartment. Aside from a run yesterday, I stayed in all day and didn't regret it. But I can't handle too many weepy social media posts, so I needed some air.

I didn't really find any air outside considering the heat advisory in New York City that's in place until midnight tonight, but I did see some fun sights.

Like the woman walking around Queens Boulevard in her robe and slippers. She was completely coherent. Didn't seem crazy aside from her attire. I would say she looked in her mirror before leaving her home and thought, "yes, this is acceptable," but the odds of her having looked in the mirror at all are slim. If there's one thing that's for sure in New York City, it's that you can express yourself freely. Things like this are so common that no one questions it.

My first stop was at Duane Reade where I saw one of the best employee-customer exchanges ever. Apparently batteries are kept behind the counter there, and an employee had to go get them for this guy. They talked a bit, he told her what kind of batteries he needed, then I heard this:

Customer: "What's your name?"
Employee: "Theresa."
Customer: "Thanks, Theresa. Loved the eye roll, by the way. Sorry for making you do your job!"

Theresa clearly was still not really doing her job, because even though this man said it loud and clear and all of us waiting in line looked at each other like someone just got called down to the Principal's office in elementary school, she turned to everyone and cluelessly asked, "what did he say?" I wasn't about to tell her. It was too awesome to repeat. Bottom line: Some jobs suck. Make yours better by not being miserable all the time. I've worked in retail, Theresa. It's not fun unless you make it fun.

I then headed to Starbucks to get an iced coffee where not much happened except for a child getting too close to me the whole time I was in line. I was carrying about three big Duane Reade bags (because I bought economy packs of paper towels and toilet paper) and was trying to stay out of the way. Then while I was waiting for my drink she practically plowed through my bags. I let out a, "seriously?"

The highlight of the trip was the Wafels & Dinges truck, as per usual. I opted for the special "De S'mores Wafel," which came with speculoos, marshmallows and chocolate fudge. It was everything I'd hoped for and more. The guy taking my order suggested a nice scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of the wafel, and normally I couldn't resist that, but heat advisories are no joke and neither is soupy ice cream.

By the time I got back the internet had become a slightly better place. At least the political rants weren't clogging my feed anymore. Twitter is a different story, but I'm only going to visit that place to see what shenanigans Amanda Bynes is up to for now.

On the Mental Aspects of Running...

We may have gone over this, but I didn't consider myself a runner for a very long time.

I spent middle school and high school pursuing field hockey, softball and lacrosse, and when I saw the cross-country runners and track athletes while I was at practice, I thought they were crazy. I certainly never thought their sport was any less than the one I was currently playing, especially because there was no way in hell you could convince me to run three miles, or run as fast as I could without a goal being scored in my favor.

Then in college I got super healthy and crazy about working out and running became part of that routine. I was able to run a mile in 6:48, and then I shot for two miles. My vacation in California during that spring break began with a run around the resort every morning.

That summer I did my first 5K, and after crossing the finish line I told my father, "I'm never doing that again." It probably had a lot to do with the fact that I ran 3.1 miles in the most humid weather I've ever experienced (it was a lot like what is going on right now in New York City).

I took a hiatus from running during my senior year of college because I had other things going on that seemed more important at the time. And then after graduating and having a lot of time on my hands while looking for a job, I decided to pick it up again. That same summer I saw my father finish his first half marathon, and I knew I wanted to accomplish the same.

So I've been a distance runner ever since I started training in June 2011. Let me tell you, running is not all physical strength. In fact, most of it is mental. If you're in decent shape and don't have any physical ailments, you can run. But it might not be a great run. A great run is all in your head.

As you can imagine, my first training session was rough. I had a four mile long run ahead of me, and there was lots of stopping after that two mile mark. I worked a lot on breaking through the "I can't" and "I'm too tired" voices in my head and eventually was able to go through every long run without stopping between water stations. The same goes for both half marathons I've run.

This training session has been very different. I had a lot of high hopes for running this year. When I moved to this neighborhood I would do weekend long runs - even though I wasn't training for anything - and I seriously killed them. KILLED them. There was no pressure on me and I was in a pretty good place in life. I did treadmill runs during the week, which were the ultimate mental tests in my opinion, and did pretty well for the most part. And then I started running in Central Park after work a few months ago, and once again was running better than I ever imagined.

Then training started, I set a goal of trying to finish this next half marathon in under two hours and nothing has really been working out for me. There are days when I just get lost in my music and am able to run just as I did before, and then there are days like today where I start off running at a 7:30 pace (what?!) and by mile two I have shooting pain in my lower legs.

I've prided myself on being able to push through most pain at this point in my running career, but today seriously sucked. My brain couldn't jump the hurdle of pain and I ended up cutting my run short. As I walked the rest of the way home I was extremely disappointed in myself. I thought, there's no way I can finish this race in less than two hours, I don't know why the hell I even do this, I want to eat french fries for the rest of the day.

I'm still maintaining that last part - because c'mon, french fries - but as I showered and relaxed and recovered, my thoughts have improved. I still did four miles, and that still counts for something.

Even though running can be an emotional roller coaster, there's no better therapy for me. When my mind is in the right place during a run, I can think so much more clearly. I can even do math. MATH. Breaking through that barrier to get to that happy place is why I do this. And so I can have days of eating french fries.

And on that note, tomorrow's run will be better.

On My Most Hated Habit...

...hint: it's one I don't have.

I've gone off about smoking more times than I remember in my life. I always want to write passive-aggressive Facebook statuses about my disdain for it, but I have friends who are smokers that don't blow it in my face and are respectful, and I don't want them to think this is targeted toward them (though I do think they should quit). It's targeted at the self-centered jerks that walk around with cigarettes and don't think about how their habit is affecting everyone around them.

So let's start there. People who walk with cigarettes. I get it, outside is the only place you can really smoke, particularly in New York state. But can you maybe stand still while smoking to keep it all (kind of) in one place? It sucks coming out of the subway and walking up behind someone just to find smoke being blown in your face a second later or as you pass them. I didn't choose to smoke, but YOU did, and now you're affecting my health.

I know there are plenty of other things affecting my health outside, like pollution and cars and UV rays, but when you live in New York City those are kind of hard to avoid (except for the UV. Sunscreen for the win!). But I feel like I'm pretty much guaranteed to get cancer later in life because of all the second-hand smoke that's come my way in just 24 years of life.

It's totally a person's choice to smoke, just as it's a person's choice to drink. Both tobacco and alcohol are legal. And it's true that alcohol can have just as much of an affect on someone else's life, particularly when someone drinks it in mass quantities, then does something stupid like get behind the wheel of a car. I'm not saying that any drug is worse than another. They all have pretty terrible affects.

But smoking just totally grinds my gears. I don't know how people can afford to do it (and it's more prevalent here where rent is usually over $1000. WTH?). I don't know why someone would choose to do it when studies have shown it almost always leads to cancer. And when someone is doing it near a park where people are doing physical activities? The worst.

I get all my passive-aggression out on this subject in person rather than on Facebook, because it's really easy to do. I make sure the smoker sees that I'm holding my breath or turning my face away from their cigarette. If I accidentally inhale it (usually on a run), I cough. And I cough loud. Like I said, I never chose to smoke. But you did and now you're messing up my air more so than my surroundings already have.

That's probably enough of this rant. You get the point. Smoking is terrible, and if you do it around me, I'm going to be obnoxious. Unless you're polite and don't blow it near me (or at anyone else), then whatever. Do your thing.