June already? Hello Summer!
Funny how this definitely won’t be the summer that I first imagined when I moved to New York last September.
It’s hot, sticky and sweaty just as it was when I arrived, but there are no outdoor parties, gatherings and no tourists whatsoever. However, we have been able to end the month with nights on rooftop bars and outdoor dining at our favourite restaurants, so we really can’t complain.
This week we’re getting ready for 4th of July celebrations and have been hearing and seeing non-stop fireworks. I’ll hopefully be able to talk about a more exciting month in July’s installment!
NYC ENTERS PHASE 2
Finally, we are starting to see a return to normality!!
At the end of the month we dined at some restaurants a little too many times than my bank balance and waistline would like, but when New York opens back up again, who am I to say no?
Date nights were back on the cards again and we had some drinks at our local 230 5th rooftop bar, dined at Caliente Cab in West Village on a hot Thursday night and then spent the next night in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, dining at Meatball and followed with some drinks on the street in Manhattan.
The Saturday? It was out for an early dinner at Trattoria in the West Village (I had the most delicious seafood linguine), followed by rooftop drinks at Magic Hour and more drinks in Hell’s Kitchen.
The Sunday? Another day of outdoor dining (in 32 degree heat, may I add) with my first brunch since lockdown at Wild in the West Village. The scales weren’t too pleased come Monday morning.
WEEKEND GETAWAY TO ONEONTA
I had my first weekend getaway in absolutely ages!! We rented a car and drove over three hours away to upstate New York to a place called Oneonta and joined some other interns at a house for the weekend.
The house had a pool, bbq and basketball hoop so we were more than content with those and the hot weather that we had all weekend.
If you want to see some video footage from that weekend, you can find my new TikTok obsession at @orlaghclaire.
On the way home from Oneonta we took a detour to Pennsylvania, stopping at a restaurant for our first outdoor dining experience since lockdown. Things seemed a lot more relaxed there than New York with not many people wearing masks.
EATING HEALTHY
Although lockdown saw us eating home-cooked meals for the first time since moving to New York, they weren’t always the healthiest. I have too much of a soft spot for garlic bread and naan bread.
So we decided to cut back and eat a lot healthier over the month and were doing pretty well, until New York City entered phase 2 and it was back to eating out as much as possible again.
We can always try again in July.
STILL WORKING FROM HOME
And I don’t expect that to change any time soon either. I’m getting very used to the working from home life; getting out of bed at 8.45am, lounging at my kitchen table, wearing whatever I feel like and sometimes even working from my bed.
It’s convenient to say the least and saves me a lot of money on commuting and eating out at lunch times.
I only wish that I was able to travel and work remote, as I could head to another state for a few days, work during the day and then explore in the evenings and weekends.
I’ve said before that my dream is to be able to work remotely, from anywhere in the world. I could spend two months in France, then six weeks in Italy, renting some airbnbs, all while working during the day and exploring my new home in the evenings and weekends.
If the ‘rona clears up, that may become an option if I’m able to keep working remotely.
FOUR-WEEK VISA EXTENSION
It’s a possibility that we may be able to have our visas extended for four weeks, keeping us in the US for an extra month.
Since the aim of our visa and program is to gain experience in a New York office, we haven’t really been able to do that, working from our apartments.
It’s all quite up in the air at the moment and we don’t really know what’s going on, other than it being a possibility. However, Trump made the announcement last week that he is halting the issuing of most visas until January 2021 (at the earliest), including J1 visas, so this may not help our case.
A four-week extension would be good for us and our road trip plans as it would give the US another month to settle a bit and open up more.
A NEW OBSESSION
I’ve finally jumped on the TikTok hype and am somewhat addicted to creating videos.
My camera roll is now full of short-snippet videos that all feature in my TikToks and my biggest dilemma is choosing which song to feature on the video.
I’ve been creating a lot of New York-type videos, documenting our first few times dining out in the city, our first trips back to the city, our weekend upstate and some videos of around where we live.
You can find all my TikTok creations at @orlaghclaire.
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