Things I recently learned that made me go "Oh":

-Dave Eggers is writing the screenplay for the "Where the Wild Things Are" movie which will be directed by Spike Jonze
-The Foo Fighters are stuanch supporers of Alive&Well, a crazy ass group that believe "AIDS is not a fatal, incurable condition caused by HIV". WTF Dave Grohl. And yes, the Foo Fighters official website has a link to this very bizarre organization. Why is everyone in entertainment insane?
-MetLife will be selling Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, "an 80-acre property along First Avenue between 14th and 23rd Streets", tagged at around $5 billion. "The deal is likely to lead to profound changes for many of the 25,000 residents of the two complexes, where two-thirds of the apartments have regulated rents at roughly half the market rate."

I'm torn on this issue because 1) when I move to New York next year, it would be nice to find a place in Manhattan but obviously my choices are limited to upper, upper, way east side or living like everyone else in Brooklyn, Queens etc. and it sucks hearing about this sale because there goes another possible area I could have lived in but 2) I'm actually part of the problem. I'll be another young, single, higher educated "yupster" driving out the middle class folks from their rent stabalized apartments. Although I'm definitely less of a threat when compared to the population of young doctors, lawyers, and i-bankers that are taking over the city. I think the solution would be to have a reality show, produced by Donald Trump that would have people competing for an apartment in the city.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CRYSTAL!!!

Twenty-five is great because:
you can still shop at Forever 21.
you can do stupid shit and say "Dude, I'm still in my twenties".
you can still go to grad school before it's too late.
you still have five more years of reckless abandonment, hijunks, and shenanigans before you have to take life seriously.

Most Recent Movies Watched: Step Up, Someone Like You ( Step Up was awesome minus the unecessary drive by shooting but a plus for Taylor's wardrobe which consisted of either a black, white, or grey wifebeater) Check out the terms associated with wifebeater according to urban dictionary.

Most Recent Clothing Purchased: green and white houndstooth skirt and pinstriped boy shorts from Target's GO International line by Paul & Joe (purchases made even cooler by the fact that Crystal and I went to the Paul & Joe pop-up store on La Cienega, the clothes seem classier when not surrounded by laundry detergent and Tupperware).

Most Recent Attempt To Look Like A Hottie: putting on DuWop Lip Venom courtesy of Crystal, the tingling sensation was a little disorienting but my lips were looking luscious.

Most Recent Alcoholic Beverages Consumed: Hefe Weizen, sake, plum wine, Sapporo.

Most Recent Freaks and Geeks Episode Watched: Carded and Discarded.

Most Recent Visit to Pinkberry: Today!

I've been meaning to do this for awhile...

Time Out New York has a list of 118 things you gotta do before you can call yourself a New Yorker. Let's see how many I managed to accomplish in my seven weeks there:

1) Order a coffee, regular, one milk, two sugars
I was a bit skeptical at first because I usually have my coffee with Half and Half/Coffee-Mate and sugar, never milk, but once I tried it, there was no turning back. I now balk at the idea of a vanilla latte...

2) Have a personal water-bug/rat horror story at the ready
It wasn't exactly horrible but I did spy a particulary large and very black rat scurrying among the train tracks and another time, I was waiting for the bus in The Bronx and I caught a rat scurrying up the very steps I was sitting on...

3) Get dripped on from above and hope it's water from an AC
I guess this is a summer phenomenon in New York. There were plenty of times when I would be walking down 43rd street and feel a drop on my face, look up, note the lack of clouds, and see the AC units sticking out of the buildings...

4) Claim a favorite spot in Central Park that doesn't include the word sheep, meadow, lawn, or Bethesda
Yes, I do. It was Sunday and I found myself walking north and through the park trying to get to the H&M in Harlem because I had yet to figure out that there are crosstown buses that take you from the eastside to the westside and so I was walking, walking, walking and happened upon this cutesy lake with ducks. And did you also know there's an outdoor swimming pool in the same area?

6) Master the Sidewalk Shuffle
Walking west on 43rd is way less crowded than walking along 42nd. And I somehow managed to ditch my California stroll and really haul ass.

7) Identify August by the smell
I assume this means that August is really, really humid thus making the garbage bags on the street stink up but my precious few days in New York in August were fabulous. Blue skies and cool breezes.

8) Buy a pair of socks at a street fair
Or three belts for $10. Same difference.

9) Incorporate a lexicon of Yiddish terms into your vocabulary
My favorite is schlep.

10) Indulge in a classic pastrami on rye
Katz's was great. Carnegi Deli could go to hell. Zabar's was fantastic.

11) Go to the Bronx for something other than a baseball game
Hello? I lived there for 7 weeks.

12) Stay home on Friday and Saturdays because they're for amateurs
Mos def. My drinking started on Tuesday and ended on Thursday.

13) Get lost in New Jersey-even though you can see the Manhattan skyline
After the Indian wedding reception at The Best Western, we circled around the Jersey suburbs looking for the turnpike until some nice Jersey man pointed us in the right direction.

14) Devise a subway escape plan
I actually don't have one but a girl at work talked about how she carries a flashlight in her purse if such a situation should occur. And I think during the heat wave in July, there were trains that had blackouts and people had to get out onto the tracks and walk out. If that were me, I would probably step on a rat...

15) Fall asleep on the subway and miss your stop (bonus points if your waller gets taken during your nap)
I didn't fall asleep but it was one in the morning and I was engrossed in my crossword puzzle, listening to the iPod, and fantasizing about The Jersey Boys show which I had just seen that night and then I started eavesdropping on a conversation between these high school boys and before I knew what was happening, I missed E 180th and immediately got off at Pelham Pkway. I was definitely disoriented once I got down to the street and had visions of myself on the five o'clock news and wondering who would miss me once I was gone but then I found the right bus stop.

16) Know exactly which car to get on based on where the turnstiles are at your destination stop
I definitely know the Times Square stop like the back of my hand now. Except I think this one is worded funny. Don't they mean "know which turnstile exit leads to where based on which car you get out of"?

17) Say to somebody, without irony, "whaddayagonnado?"
And still using it in L.A.

18) Push your groceries in one of those old-lady carts
With dignity I might add. Ok, not really but it did make my trip to Path-Mark a lot easier.

19) Tell a cabbie how to get there
After arriving at LaGuardia, I took a cab to The Bronx armed with my sheet of precise directions. And I still had to listen to him bemoaning the fact that he was going to The Bronx

20) Order dinner at Peter Luger without a menu
Ok, so we looked at the menu but I think it's enough that I knew about the 1-2-3 ordering. A "1" meaning enough steak for one person. "2" being enough for two people, etc.

21) Doze through car alarms, sirens and drunks shouting in the street—and have a hard time sleeping without them
The night I drank too much wine and passed out at my co-worker's apartment in the East Village, I woke up with a miserable hangover to the sounds of construction and garbage trucks but then I realized THAT I WAS IN AN APARTMENT IN THE EAST VILLAGE IN NEW YORK AND LIFE COULD NOT GET ANY BETTER.

22) Feel a great sense of relief when your plane flies into JFK or La Guardia
Or when your bus from D.C finally lets you out at 34th and 7th and you get on the 2 train headed for The Bronx. Sigh.

New York is great and the sooner I get myself back there, the sooner I'll be one happy Nina.

This is where it all began people: one can of Cucumber Crush and one can of Chcocolate Coco.

Safeguarding the outlets.

Gotta be precise with the painter's tape.

Enraptured by the slow moving paint.

This was a lot harder than it looks. I got tired after about a minute. Note the two Ninas.

Who knew painting could bring out such attitude?

Good thing Wes is so tall.

Crystal gettin' all MaGyver and shit with the string.

The string being used to make even stripes.

Looks delicious!

How awesome does my wall look?! It's like being in Willy Wonka's circus or in a gallon of Dreyer's ice cream. Luv it.

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What kind of nerd are you? (Courtesy of Time Out New York) I like to think of myself as a NILF-in-training.

More antics with the roommates...

Popping popcorn. Still small.

A little bigger.
Creepy.
Plain scary.
Things are that much more fun with popcorn. Take note of how the popcorn is way bigger than Crystal's head.


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Also, I'm super excited that I realized I can listen to 106.7 Lite fm on my computer. It's the New York equivalent of 103.5 KOST in L.A. and 96.5 KOIT in San Francisco but it's way better because I can pretend I'm still in New York and their deejays don't make me want to tear my hair out like when I listen to Karen Sharp on KOST.

"I'm single because I was born that way." - Mae West, 1967

I think the universe is trying to tell me something, well, a couple of things. The first involves June Miller and her relationship with Henry Miller and Anais Nin. So when I was in New York (sigh) I saw an ad for a play or some such thing chronicling the sexual affair between the three of them. Then a few days ago at work (UCLA Special Collections) I notice that there are boxes in the reading room from the Anais Nin Collection. Then, I come across a page in my Jane magazine (Heidi Klum issue) entitled "Be your own muse in the boho spirit of June Miller" that instructs me on how to use makeup and parfums to transform myself into aformentioned boho spirit. So is this some sort of foreshadowing? Am I going to be involved in an illicit love affair? I sure hope so.
I think it's also worth mentioning that UCLA Special Collections has the Henry Miller Collection which includes a disturbing life-sized wooden statue of Henry Miller with talons for feet.
And there's even a Seinfeld connection. It's the one where Jerry finds out he forgot to return a book to his high school library and it's The Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller.
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Speaking of Jane magazine, there's a new book out called bitchfest that includes an essay titled "Pratt-fall: Ten Things to Hate About Jane". The authors accuse Jane magazine of being "under the guise of uncritical self-acceptance and distaste for exercise regimens" when they are (supposedly) just another magazine telling women they suck and need to change. Mmmm, I definitely agree that there are things about Jane that are contradictory. I even sent an email berating them for having Paris Hilton on the cover and suggesting instead someone like Tina Fey but I also appreciate how they included a librarian from New York Public Library in their section of cool women under 30 (or something like that). But anyway, this bitchfest book is interesting and I found it on the new acquisitions truck in Special Collections. I really love that our Rare Books Librarian is awesome enough to have bought it!

So I tried to recreate the magic of New York on Tuesday, my first day going back to work. I walked from my new place on Manning to Westwood. It was six blocks of sunshine and empty sidewalks. This is a picture I took from the bus stop. How appropriate. A Hummer and a Mercedes.
Walking in L.A is just not the same. I couldn't really even enjoy listening to the "Jersey Boys" on my iPod. I think I was distracted by the immense blue sky and the lack of traffic noise...


This is a picture I took of a squirrel on my walk back from the bus stop. The damn thing was high-roping it across what, a phone line? I'm not really sure. We stopped and had a staring contest.

I have to preface this next picture by bringing up the Seinfeld episode about nonfat frozen yogurt. So Jerry and his friends find a nonfat frozen yougrt place that is super good and no one can stop raving about how good it tastes and of course, it's nonfat! But it turns out that it actually isn't nonfat and instead is super bad for you.
So pinkberry is exactly that except it has yet to be outed for being bad for you. This stuff is so freakin good. I literally took one bite of the frozen yogurt and exclaimed "Damn, this is good shit!" And no, it is not soft serve ice cream. It is literally soft serve, frozened, yogurt! And it is delicious. And when you get the medium for $4.75 it comes wth three toppings. I had mines with raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries. It doesn't get anymore antioxidant than that.


Crystal accidentally spilled red wine on the carpet during Project Runway and after my initial screams, we blotted it with paper towels and poured salt on it. It would have been nice, if at the time, I could have rememebered that the proper thing to do would have been to pour club soda on it, blot, then salt. Oh well. That house cleaning tip is from an epsiode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Season Three, which everyone needs to watch.

Quotable quotes:

A) "Sunscreen is the smell of summer and Tom Collins are the taste of summer."

B) "And so it is. Just like you said it would be."

C) "Oh no, really?"

Quote A goes to Ellen for her excellent summarization of what summer should be.
Quote B is attributed to Damien Rice and I'm attributing it to what my experience in New York was.
Quote C goes to me and my reaction to the fact that it was 3:30 in the morning and we had to wake up in order to catch the 4:06 bus to the train station so that we could be in line by 5am for Jersey Boys tickets.
Yeah!!!

Ellen and Vicky with Daniel Reichard. Daniel by the way is going on vacation to Hawaii. And by the way, I did have the balls/idiodicy to ask him. In retrospect, I think it was a little creepy that I asked.

After watching the show, Ellen finally understands why I needed to see Jersey Boys for the third time. John Lloyd Young is looking particularly adorable today too.


Two cutie-patooties!!!


I really like this somewhat fuzzy picture that I took while sipping wine on the terrace of a fabulous apartment on 43rd and 10th.
From the same terrace as above. The lighting is absolutely gorgeous, is it not?
Thursday outside of Rudy's Bar & Grill, attempting to wait out the downpour.
Wednesday Happy Hour at Kanvas with Fatima, long lost childhood friend. This is before the cosmos, before the pitchers of mojitos and margaritas, and before the glasses of merlot.
Monday. Dinner with Janice, long lost college buddy who now lives in the Bronx and is a super fabulous makeup artist.
New roomie Wes in my closet. Yes, that's right, I'm back in L.A and I'm not completely miserable. New place, new start. Yeah!

Ok, so I was supposed to fly back to "Cali" on the 8th but I decided, when I was in D.C., that no, I need more time. So I rescheduled an interview and paid a dram more money to fly back on the 13th. You can't really be surprised. I'm definitely not. But this works out better because now I can finish what I was doing at my internship and it won't be half-assed and I CAN WATCH JERSEY BOYS FOR THE THIRD TIME!!!!!!!!