Happy Thanksgiving! I am getting settled here in Brooklyn, and Mom and Dad visited for the holiday! They got here on Wednesday, although I had to work and couldn't see them until yesterday. Since pretty much everything is closed on Thanksgiving, we just walked around Prospect Park, which I hadn't even seen yet before going into Manhattan for dinner. I also showed them my apartment, which I think they thought was alright, but they really didn't like the neighborhood. But let's all remember that Brooklyn is Brooklyn, and a single girl living by herself can only afford so much at the beginning of her career. But rest assured that I am safe and well looked after!

Dinner was great though. We went to Mercer Kitchen, which is a Jean-George restaurant in SoHo. Very chic and fashionable. And they have a special turkey dinner for Thanksgiving, which was wonderful. Turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, brussels sprouts (which I love), and sweet potatoes with a great pumpkin pie for dessert. I had asked Harold, my boss, to call and make the reservation for me, so they sent us a mid-course of a tuna pizza with wasabi (my mother tried sushi!). They also sent a free apple tart dessert, which was delicious! We were, needless to say, stuffed.

Today we started with a walk to Brooklyn Heights (a very nice, expensive neighborhood along the water near the Brooklyn Bridge) which has a nice little walk along the river where you can see the statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge, downtown Manhattan, and the Empire State building. After that, Dad went back to the hotel for a nap and Mom and I did a little shopping. Nothing too big, as I have lost much of my endurance for shopping, but I did my best.

Then tonight we had dinner at Commerce, which is always fun and a little nerve wracking for me. It was great though. Mom and I split the chicken for two, which is delightful, and she had the split pea soup and Dad had the sweet potato tortelloni. They sent us a lobster mid-course and several desserts. Again stuffed.

And now I'm back at home, since I have to work tomorrow morning and they are planning to leave fairly (alright, very very) early.

And, in my focus on all of the not so great things that have happened to me lately, I forgot to mention the highlight, a visit from Wendee! She was in town for a conference for work and we got to spend half of Monday together. I was so excited! It was great. We did a bit of shopping at Macy's at Herald Square (the big one) and then I showed her around the West Village, stopped into Magnolia Bakery for some treats, and then on to Commerce for dinner (this seems to be a pattern). Dinner was great and I haven't been so full in ages. We had the porterhouse for two, with cippolini onions, creamy spinach, and potato roti (the best hash browns you've ever tasted). They sent us out a little sampling of our raw appetizers, again, go me for getting Wendee to try sushi! But I ate most of it. I had a ton of fun and really enjoyed a chance to talk. it's hard to do that the few times I get to go home.

Hopefully I'll get a chance to talk to all of you soon! Until then, all of my love and happy holidays!

S

It has been a very long month since I last wrote. I'm just going to sum it up quickly, as much of it isn't really quite the thing you talk about. Unless you're doing some heavy duty gossiping. Basically it goes like this...

Steve left N.Y. for Florida to help his dad out (who was sick), the lease in Harlem was up (a month early, thank you B.W.) and since I had 2 weeks notice to pack up all of my stuff and his and no time to find a new apartment I was temporarily homeless. Well, kinda. I always had a place to stay. Everyone at work made sure of that. I am pretty much surrounded by people who take care of me. I stayed with one girl from work for 2 weeks until she moved back home to Israel, then I stayed with my manager Mali for a week, and then I finally found an apartment!

I found a very small studio in Brooklyn. It's a block away from Prospect Park, the second largest park in New York City. I haven't been there yet, but then I've only been living here for two weeks. I really love it. It's on the second floor and, while it's only one room, I have two closets (one of which is pretty big, with lots of shelves). The kitchen is basically a wall. By basically, I mean literally. But it's big enough for what I need it for, which is pretty much holding my cereal and take out. I don't really have any furniture except for my bed and a bookcase, but I'm going to take my time finding things that I really like and fit me well. I'll post some pictures later, when it's looking less like a small room full of boxes of books and more like a home.

In there somewhere I also broke up with Steve. Things had just not been going well and it just didn't feel right any more.

I've been really happy lately though. Even with the homelessness and the ending for a very long relationship. I really feel like I'm starting fresh, which is exciting. and I'd better go try to put some more of these boxes away. I'll write again soon, barring more homelessness.