Tis' The Season to be in New York City

It's hard to enjoy the beauty of the holidays in New York City when you're working two jobs and auditioning in your off-time, but I managed to find a few moments of grandeur this year!

In the midst of the bedbug extravaganza, we kicked off December by having our table stolen from the lobby on the same day it was delivered. Enraged and frustrated, I wrote a charming passive-aggressive letter to the BOTTOMFEEDERS who stole our table and posted it on the lobby wall.

It was removed two days later ...

Alas, the table was never returned, but luckily in New York City, these things happen frequently. We were able to call Walmart and have a new table sent to us at no extra charge. We got to have our Christmas Dinner after all!

A piece of homemade pumpkin cheesecake
I made for our apartment Christmas Dinner!

Our table!

Then it was time for the Breads Bakery Company Christmas Party. Working for one of the most popular bakeries in New York City is a tough job, but at least they reward their employees with a holiday bonus and a party!

The party was held at a space in Brooklyn, a converted glass factory. It was the most hipster Brooklyn company party I could have ever imagined. A cement floor in an old warehouse with a traditional Israeli band, odd Israeli appetizers, and of course, an open bar. I had gone for the adventure, as I only worked two days a week at the bakery and didn't really know many of the people there. It was an odd night, to be sure.

Another fun event: the girl I babysit was in a figure skating Christmas Show at Chelsea Piers, Manhattan's only indoor ice rink. I had worked at the figure skating summer camp for three months over the summer and loved every minute of it. Best summer of my life! It was fun to return and see my friends from the camp and to see my little girl wear a costume and skate around with a group, just as I had done back in the day!

In the last few days before I left the city to go home for the Holidays, it snowed! The white blanket covering everything really got me into the Christmas spirit at last, even though it made getting around even harder.

6:00 a.m. on the way to the bakery in Lincoln Square, it was snowing!

The next day, a small winter fair set up right in the middle of Columbus Circle.

The night before my flight back to Omaha, I had to snap a picture of this creative Christmas Tree right in my own neighborhood in Washington Heights!

Not quite as fun as my previous holidays spent in New York City, but still a thoroughly enjoyable time! Treasure the times before adulthood kicks in. Nothing is as fun when you have responsibilities to uphold ...

Love,

Little Me

UPCOMING: Tis the Season to be in Nebraska

Tis' the Season of Bedbugs

Christmas sure sneaks up on you when you're working two survival jobs and trying to book a show in the meantime. It makes me miss the days of school, when one could fully enjoy the anticipation of Christmas. When you become an adult, the holidays become more of a chore.

With that being said, let's recap the events of the Christmas Season, shall we?

The Great Bedbug Infestation of 2016

Back in November, our roommate, Carol, began noticing little red bumps showing up on her body. We dismissed it at first, thinking it may have been a rash or a sensitivity to the laundry detergent she'd used on her bedsheets. After about a week, however, we discovered a little flat bug and immediately turned the apartment upside-down in lieu of a bedbug extermination.

The four of us spent hundreds of dollars and two full days in preparation for the extermination. We washed and dry-cleaned every article of cloth in the apartment, and then put everything we owned into 30-gallon trash bags in the living room and kitchen.

We kept the clothes in the kitchen

And we kept everything else in the living room

After all that work, what should happen? The extermination failed. Just days after we unpacked a few bags of clothes, Carol had fresh new bites on her body. Well, we were not about to re-wash everything, so we decided to take our chances and just throw what we had already opened back into the living room. We called the guy again.



Well, after respraying the rooms very well, taking Carol's massive California King-sized bed apart, spraying every single piece, and then putting it back together again, the bites still resurfaced after a few days. By this point, we were at our wit's end. One of our roommates had moved out over the spectacle, leaving us struggling to find a new inhabitant who wouldn't mind a bedbug infestation just before Christmas.

We decided to take matters into our own hands.  Obviously, the deadbeat extermination service the building sent for us was not taking care of the situation. So, after advice from my mother, we ordered three boxes of HotShot Bedbug and Flea Fogger from Walmart. It cost us about $20 total, and we didn't even have to re-wash everything we owned. We just opened the cans and let her rip!

What do you know, Walmart came through for us in the end. We really learned our lesson. If you want something done right, you've gotta do it yourself.

There were no bedbug bites ever again. We re-sprayed the rooms twenty days later just in case any hidden eggs had hatched in the meantime, and now we can officially declare ourselves bedbug free!

Wishing you never have to experience an infestation,
Little Me

Upcoming: Tis The Season to be in New York City