Day 1: A Whole New World

8:30: Gordon and I had a nice little outing. We did a test run of my subway route to work, and thank god for that. There's no way I would've figured that out on my own, especially in the rush hour subway traffic at 10 a.m. After we found the Daily we ate dinner at this burger joint in Madison Square. It was a really pretty park and it was nice to sit outside after it started to cool off.

Then it felt like we walked for miles. Yes, I already have a blister, and I was wearing my comfortable shoes! We just hopped on a different train and headed to a corner store so he could pick up some candy for his class, and then headed back to his place. Now we're in for the night! I want to be as rested as possible for my first day at the Daily tomorrow, especially because I have no idea what they'll ask me to do or how long I'll be there. But I'm excited! It was a slow first day but it was fun!

4:30: I just heard back from Abby, the editor at the Daily, and looks like I'm not gonna meet her till tomorrow, which is fine. I haven't done a whole lot yet. Laid around the apartment for a little while and then wandered around Central Park for a bit. It's really hot outside.

Central Park is so pretty though. I saw a group of guys that looked like they were in high school jogging, and plenty of people just laying out. The only strange sight was a older woman with two small dogs calling for raccoons so she could feed them. I'm sure that won't be the strangest thing I see.

Then I walked over to the deli in Gordon's building which is run by some really nice people. I can't put my finger on their nationality. The guy on the computer was looking at things in Spanish but I don't think the owners were. Either way, I ordered a turkey club and a soda for $6 and the sandwich was freaking huge. Half of it is in Gordon's fridge.

Gordon's on his way home now. I'm hoping to become somewhat acclimated to the subway before tomorrow morning. Hopefully we'll do something fun! We both have to be up early, but we can at least see the sights for a bit.

12:30 -- Gordon's apartment: I made it! Ok, I cheated and took a cab, but considering how hard it was to lift my suitcases up one flight of stairs to get to Gordon's door it would've been impossible to go up and down the stairs to the subway.

My cabbie was a friendly Ecuadorian who spent the trip explaining New York to me. My first mistake was telling him Gordon lived on the Upper East Side, when in fact he lives on the Upper West Side, and from there my lesson commenced. We went through Harlem and he said that since Clinton opened an office there, more white people were moving there so it was safer now. He then pointed to the new buildings where white people were moving to. Hey, he said it not me. I asked him where I should stay away from when I moved and he told me that all of New York was safe unless you did drugs. I suppose that's true for any city.

I called the editor I'm going to work for and left a message with her. Hopefully I'll hear back from her soon and we can get this show on the road!

6:00 a.m -- Tampa airport.: K ya'll, it's early. Eeeaarrrlllyyyy. I think I finally fell asleep somewhere around 1:30 ... and I woke up at 4. That's two and a half hours. Let's put it this way, there are plenty more days where I've gone to bed AFTER this than when I have woken up.

But, if I'm going to get up this early, there's no better cause than to go to New York for fashion week. It definitely hasn't hit me yet, that's for sure. I don't think it'll hit me till I'm thrust off the plane at JFK and have no idea where to go. I still haven't fully decided if I'm going to take the easy way out and take a cab to Gordon's place or if I should brave the subway with all my bags. Yes, I did finally fit everything into two bags. I have the one I borrowed full of all my clothes, and my carry on full of shoes and purses. Thankfully they both roll.

This is the first time I've checked a bag in a long time. I had a bag lost once on a family trip to Virginia in the winter and was stranded for about a day without a real coat and I've kind of been scarred ever since. Hopefully it shows up without any problems.

Have I mentioned how excited I am? Probably not, it's hard to sound excited on two hours of sleep, but I am I swear. I spent yesterday watching the Devil Wears Prada and Project Runway, so I'm in the fashion mindset. Someone from IMG was even on Project Runway last night, so that was cool!

K folks, that's all for now. I'll chime back in throughout the day. I've said a few times already that if I can make it to Gordon's place in one piece with all my bags I can make it through the rest of the week. Wish me luck!