My One Year Anniversary

Can you believe it? It has been a full year since I moved back to the USA. I don't know if it feels like I just moved back yesterday, or if it feels as though I have been back in the States for years.

In one year my sister was accepted to Alvin Ailey (her audition was on 12/12), moved to New York City, got her learner's permit, transferred to Joffrey Ballet School and moved into a dorm room (without parental supervision) in Greenwich Village.

In one year my brother graduated from college, got an awesome job, moved to Wyoming and somehow became a grown-up.

My other brother, in one year, worked his tail off, spent his 13th summer at camp as a counselor and started going back to school.

My father moved to Abu Dhabi.

My mother has cleaned out the basement and the attic, replaced the roof, visited her three children in new homes and I'm sure I'm missing things...

Wilbur lost 7 pounds.

Tupper started eating a new brand of dog food.

As for me, I have lived in NYC, Saratoga Springs, and Madison. I worked in an amazing bakery and as a cabbie for models in Manhattan. I dabbled in online dating and snagged myself a fantastic boyfriend. Yes, friends I have boyfriend. I have a wonderful job that I am enjoying more and more every single day. I ran two half-marathons, raised a lot of money for Crohn's and Colitis Foundation, turned 25 and got bangs.

As I mentioned earlier, on one hand I think oh my gosh, has it already been one year? But on the other hand I can't help but think, all of this stuff... it's only been one year?

Happy 12/12/12!

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Happy Aaron Rodgers Day!

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Happy Hump Day!

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Happy Anniversary!

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Whatever you are celebrating, happy day to you!

 

Me? I'm celebrating wonderful memories from abroad, great opportunities in the US, and fantastic friends all over the world.

Out of Retirement

Those of you that keep up with my twitter feed (it's on the right side of the page) may have read that I have come out of retirement. Yes, as of today, I am no longer retired. I am back in New York City and back at Hot Blondies Bakery. We are Going to be featured on Good Morning America on Friday with gilt.com, and things are crazy. Everything in Saratoga is packed and ready to go, so I don't have much of anything to do there! Having time off sounded like fun, but I get bored too easily. All of my friends are working every day, including my sister and my mother, leaving me without much to bide my time.  I had discussed the possibility of this happening with Laura and Lorin before I left, but I wasn't sure how busy I would be and how feasible it may actually be.  When I received an email from them last week asking me if it would be possible, the wheels were set in motion.  This morning I left my house at 6:15 to drive to Albany. From there I jumped on the Megabus without working wifi and fell back to sleep. When I woke up we were about an hour outside of the city and it was pouring rain. Shoot! I forgot my umbrella!  There was lots of traffic going through the tunnel, and the rain seemed to slow us down, so we arrived about 30 minutes late. I grabbed my bag, rolled up my pants, and I started walking. The bus stop is only about 15 blocks from the bakery, so I put my hood up, my head down, and I walked.  I arrived at the bakery, keys in hand, to find that the door was being propped open by a delivery man. I snuck in behind him, walked up the stairs and into the disaster zone. I gave Laura and Lorin quick hugs and spun around in a daze. Boxes we piled higher than I am tall. There was only a small path from the door to the front of the shop where I was going to leave my bags. There were hundreds of pounds of flour, sugar and brown sugar leaning against itself in the corner. Billions of calories of butter were stacked near the door.  "Holy smokes! This is crazy!" "Haha.  Welcome back. This is nothing!" I didn't think they were serious when they said that it was nothing. Boy, oh boy, was I wrong! About two hours later, or 400 blondies and brownies later in bakery time, the bell rang. The delivery man on the other end asked Lorin to go downstairs. All of thirty seconds later she was back upstairs in a rage.  "He's refusing to bring it upstairs. There are too many pallets. We have to bring it up ourselves." And so, the bakery that I thought was packed to the brim when I arrived, was about to become a lot more cozy. 17,000 units more cozy, to be exact. We ordered boxes like you wouldn't believe.  For the Gilt sale Laura and Lorin had to agree to be prepared to ship 5,000 shipments within three days. 5,000 shipments means: - 5000 box bottoms - 5000 box tops - 5000 shipping boxes - ridiculous amounts of tape - multiple humongous rolls of paper for stuffing - more red ribbon than Santa and his elves could ever imagine And that is just the packaging materials! I took a brief break from baking peanut butter chocolate chunk blondies to organize the 17,000 new additions to the bakery. I felt like I was playing Tetris. But losing this game of Tetris would be a problem. I wasn't going to get a "new game" option when I accidentally boxed myself in. Or boxed us out of the bathroom, for that matter!   Miraculously, we made it happen, and I hit the ovens.  Now, at 8:15 pm, I am on the train to Garden City. Aunt Jane just called to tell me she is taping The Bachelorette and has spaghetti waiting for me! Dinner, trashy television and an early bedtime are on the agenda for the evening. Tomorrow morning, I'm back to baking. Gosh, I just love this!

I’m my sister’s keeper

I mentioned this briefly in my 25 by 25 update, but big news in the Dooley household: I am moving to New York City!  

The day before I flew into the States, Erin had a dance audition at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in the heart of Manhattan.  It seemed to me that the audition was just so Erin could keep her auditioning “edge,” but it was more than that.  Next thing we knew, Erin was accepted, I offered to move to the city with her, and we found an apartment.  

So, officially, on January 18, Erin and I will be moving to the Lower East Side of Manhattan.  We have a fully furnished one bedroom apartment with a view overlooking the Williamsburg bridge, so we have been told.  Aunt Patty has major connections, and got us an amazing place, that was too good to turn down.  Unfortunately, however, the building turned down Wilbur.  So, he stays behind in Saratoga.

Yes, I cried when we found out Wilbur couldn’t come.  But, as Garvey put it, for a while I would cry if someone poked me.  Garvey tested his “poking theory” a few times, and he was nearly 100% accurate.  I cried nearly every time he poked me.  But, I think I have moved out of the crying phase of moving back from Thailand.  I think.  Garvey was out of town for the last week, so there wasn’t any poking.  

Even though my mother sent out a mass email and cry for help with apartment hunting, it took less than 24 hours to commit to one.  And as Uncle John blatantly pointed out in an email to my mom, the apartment we have is nowhere near where we were looking.  Ideally we wanted a place close to Erin’s dance studio, but alas, we are over four miles, and at least two subway lines away from it.  It just forces us to learn more of the city, right?

Now that our apartment and move-in date are set, I have a plan.  Well, sort of.  I know where I will be living, so I feel as though that is a start.  Many of my friends have been asking me what I will do next.  I excitedly answer, “oh, me?  I’m moving to they city on the 18th.”  I play it off as though I am awesome, and I have something lined up.  Then comes the, “oh, wow!  What are you going to do there?”  I hesitate, explain that my sister is the impressive one, and I’m just going along for the ride.  I am my sister’s keeper.  (But not in the creepy Jodi Picoult book way)

Beyond that, the city is my oyster.  While the bakery is still my dream, I need a job.  Any job will do.  Preferably one that will pay me, but, hey, beggars can’t be choosers.  I’m also still thinking about taking a few classes.  And, enrolling in classes, can’t I get a free fitness center membership?  I can get smart and get skinny- works for me!  And then there are the men.  Obviously, picking up the cuties with puppies at the dog park is out of the question, so I’ll need a new strategy... and I’m still working on that.