I finally made it...

Hello

I decided to start blogging my adventures here in the big city as a way to keep in touch with my friends and family and to keep an account of my time here in the greatest city in the world.....



About me....

I am a 32 year old female that was born and raised in Madison, Ohio (hence the title of my blog)Madison is a small town in lake county about 40 miles east of Cleveland near Lake Erie. Population about 10,000. Nurseries everywhere, a bar called the Wagon Wheel and the closest movie theatre is about a half hour away...Needless to say it is a bit different from New York. After college I moved to the Cleveland area and was there until about a week ago...


I have been in the TV news business now for about seven years and spent all of them at NewsChannel 5 in Cleveland until about a month ago.....



I have always had the desire to move to NYC ever since my first trip here several years ago...I hit a point in my career and life where I knew it was now or never and if I didn't make a move fast I never would. Within a week after my resume went out I was on a plane to NYC and interviewing with ABC, 4 hours later I was hired and told I had 3 weeks to get here...

I packed everything up, sold all that I could and flew out of Hopkins with nothing but two suitcases and two fingers crossed..



Getting here.....

I spent three weeks on craig's list frantically looking for a place to stay when I got here, not knowing anything about the neighborhoods and not wanting to commit myself to something i would hate I decided to sublet a room from a woman in the Hamilton Hts area. I sent a friend of mine to take a look at the room for me (after i sent the money) and she assured me it had a door, a closet and a bed...Perfect


My Roomate.....

is a woman I believe to be in her late 40's or early 50's....she is a former actress who did some soaps and some off broadway musicals and plays. She is currently an entertainment reporter who has interviewed some of the biggest names in the business. She is a very caring and genuine person that has gone out of her way to make my first month here as painless as possible....and...she buys me diet cokes=)


My apt.....
Very big for a NY apt, the building is very old so it has tons of character. You can sit on the window seat and look at the NY skyline across the Hudson, I am sitting there now (very Carrie Bradshaw of me I know)
There's an elevator guy that knows my name and makes me feel at home, joins me for smokes sometimes..
It gets hot as hell in the apt sometimes, I miss my central air, and my damn DVR!! I am watching TV on a tiny set smaller than my head that sits on my tummy, I call it my tummy TV, but, it's better than nothing right?
Anyway, I stay here until November and then I need to find my own place.

My job.....
Scary as hell!! But in a good way...It is very difficult to go from being on top of your game to being the newbie in the group. Everyone here has tons of experience working on the national level, and me, well, I know the Cleveland market by heart. They are all trying their best not to make me feel like I fit right in but I can't help but wonder if they are asking themselves why I am there. I keep telling myself I got this job because I can handle it and that I am going to wake up one day and be a pro....it's only been 8 days so I am not too worried...yet

Famous faces.....
Okay, so I forgot the really fun stuff about working at the network, there is a cafe on the 1st floor with made to order breakfast and lunch with a pasta bar and hot pretzels...and, I get to see famous people
My first day it was Joey Lawrence, next day Nikki Syxx, not to mention Charlie Gibson and Diane Sawyer.....I love NY

The Cost.....
Yeah, it's freakin expensive...here's an idea of the difference in cost in this city

Diet coke in a can (from the vending machine) 95 cents

6 pack of diet coke from store 5.75 (you can get 2 12pax at Marc's for that!!!)

A bag of peanut M&M's 75 cents

Pack of smokes 7.50

Bud in a bottle during Browns game special 5 bucks

A glass of Cabernet with dinner 12 bucks (although I did find a dive with 4 dollar wine this weekend)

Movie (no food included) 12 bucks, NO DIFFERENCE in matinees

But, for as many hits as a wallet takes here in NYC, there is so much here that money couldn't buy that it just makes it all worth it.