californians in new york city

it has been a long and busy three weeks with moving, the job, and getting settled into my place. despite the sometimes long hours at work and the minor (sort of) mice problem we've been having in the apartment, i really have to say that i am liking the new job and adore our little cozy nyc apartment.

the people i work with, my immediate team, are lovely. we are an 8-men production team lead by a wonderfully patient producer (truly rare in this industry) and a decisive, sharp creative director (again, another rarity). sometimes the hours are long because i work a full day and then come home to have late-night conference calls with editors in taiwan, but in general, there is always a moment everyday when i just have to stop myself and think, "i can't believe people get paid to do this!" the department is within a bigger company, but i'm lucky in that our team is close and already, i really enjoy the people that i work with (takes me back to those better chinese days!)

so i was going to post some photos of my little room that i call home, but blogger is being quite difficult, so i'll get to that next time.

in those photos, you would have seen some good friends from california. two girls, floria and angie, i've been friends with since 6th grade and the guy, veyom, is one of my current roommates and friend since high school. it's funny how we all ended up here in nyc, but really, it's a blessing in my life. i've often said to my mom and friends in ca that without good friends and a support network, this can be a very lonely city. it is only knowing that i have great friends to tie me through the tough times that i can embrace the solitude that this city provides.

you'll see in those photos that we were hovering over my laptop. yes, we were watching youtube videos of 90s music videos for 4 hours last night and yes, we did that all night and loved it. we sure brought back all the goodies (janet, TLC, michael, mariah, n'sync, bbb, 98 degrees) and some not-so-good ones (again, n'sync, bbb, 98 degrees...), and although we never stepped out of the 450 sq-ft space that is the apt (mostly because it was 35 degrees outside) and we hardly even moved from my bed (because my bed is basically the entire room), i haven't laughed so hard and had so much fun in quite some time.

here's to good friends from the past, present and for many more years into the future :)