There are no sick days in freelance.

or How many jobs are too many? or No. More. Jobs.

Freelance is hectic but fun and interesting, until you get sick or in a car accident (check and check). Luckily all is okay but I will never take sick days for granted again! Or car insurance and people who have it. Or walking away from a car accident with not much more than a headache. Also loving the people over at Geico. Its like thanksgiving for me today! I could go on...

And I will actually because in other news I am officially moving into my apartment with my old flatmate, An and my new flatmate Bonnie! After an old school Indigo Girls and Ani sing-a-long the other night we realized we are going to have a fabulous time in our apartment. Keira and I have already scheduled her first sleepover at The Commune.

And again because Christina gave birth to a perfect baby boy last night! Welcome to the world Jake!

Here is a photo of a 2nd grader's collage at the Queens Museum of Art. We talked about the city at night and she made Central Park.

I lied

when I said I was going to blog about job hunting. It is pretty boring. However, I will make a list of my current part time jobs. As Lee said, "you can't not get part time jobs."

1. Queens museum of Art, freelance educator
2. Noguchi museum, freelance educator
3. The Center for Arts Education, teaching artist
4. Anthropologie, part time sales associate
5. Babysitter
6. Jaya Yoga, managing studio
7. Private art instructor
8. Artist (hopefully again soon)
9. Blogging slacker

Life with the Reidys

My favorite co-editor, Lee, and I wrote a post about living with her 18 month old, Ellie. Since I am once again living with roommates who are too young to drink or read, I invited her back for round 2.

1. Setting a good example has drastically improved my dental hygiene.
2. Nobody minds if my bedtime is 9pm, but there is little choice in rising early.
3. All the chicken fingers you can eat!
4. Kitchen help always on hand but health department would not approve of their methods.
5. Someone always happy to paint my nails but results are disastrous.
6. I'm pretty much guaranteed to get valentines this year.
7. Charlotte once followed me out the door screaming, "Jillian! I love you!!"
8. I am an expert on Barbie movies.
9. My new favorite book is "Children make terrible pets." In all seriousness, it's great.

London week -1

I am already missing London, even after a week.

For starters, John Lewis. I mean, department stores here don't have haberdashery departments, why????

Secondly, calling my friends. Even in London I had the skype set up to call home, but I haven't worked out how to call the UK cost effectively yet. So not only do I miss my friends, I can't call them. It is strange coming back, things feel really normal but sometimes in a weird way, like my year away never happened. I kept looking at my peeling legs to remind me that I was in India two weeks ago!

So I am looking through pictures from the year and will post some highlights that I may have missed...here are some from between India and New York.

Day with my girls:


My movers, Ellie and Alex, taking a break. Slackers.


Back on the job:


Good bye dinner at Lee and David's:


One of my local pubs, The Nobody Inn, in Newington Green:






.

New York Observations: Week 1.

Fall foliage is not over estimated. It's pretty amazing.
Park Slope:


Long Island:


I wish I had put my head in this picture for scale- because this bagel was the size of it. Totally worth the Gluten splurge.


There are street signs! In places you can read them! What a concept.

Clear, cold, sunny days.


Lastly, for the moment, Kombucha. It tastes like vinegar but oh have I missed it!

Unemployed, uninsured, and homeless.

I had a lovely and crazy 3 days in London after India (which I may do some retroactive blogging about) and am officially back in New York. It feels weird and totally normal to be here.

Agenda:
1. Get a job.
2. See friends and family.
3. Transition.
4. Blog about 1, 2, and 3.

Stay tuned! I know, it is so exciting.

Inventory

One year in London. This is the beginning of the list...

Things that I gained:
Very Good Friends: Natalie, Kayde, Carla, Lee, Liza, Rebecka, Spence, Adam, Sean, Isis, Mike.
Travel experiences: Paris, Brussels, Copenhagen, Berlin, Vienna, Austrian Alps, Budapest, Salzburg, Canterbury, Bath, Brighton, Cardiff, Windsor/Bray. And now India!
English vocabulary that I use regularly: Pants (underwear), trousers (pants), lift, flat, cheers, quid.
Oh, and a Masters degree.

Things that lasted me the whole year:
One bottle of nail polish remover.
One bottle of eye makeup remover.
Somehow I have maintained a steady supply of imported altoids.
The plant I bought my first day here (though it has a new home now).

My favorite things about London:
Pubs. I'm going to be at a loss of where to go in New York! You will probably find me at the Spotted Pig until I find some other decent options.
The upper deck of the bus. A great place to stare and daydream.
The international contingent. I have friends from more countries than I can count.
Speaking of, London's proximity to everywhere else is amazing. So easy and cheap to travel.
The urgency of enjoying a sunny day. You should have seen the crazy tan lines ( I mean burn lines really) after the one hot summer saturday in June!
My friends.
That everyone cycles. I didn't get to do it enough, but love it.