I got a chocolate shake for $5.25… kind of pricey. And they didn’t have malts, which I could have sworn I got a malt last summer but apparently I was wrong. I have yet to try their food though, which everybody talks about moreso than the shakes. Something I don’t believe they’ve done before that I saw today- they give you one of those handheld buzzers that buzz when your order is ready. Maybe this’ll help with the crowding around the pick up window?

So even though the website still has a “down to the last second” countdown until reopening, the shake shake was indeed open today.

I have only gone tanning for special occasions: when I was a bridesmaid in a wedding, vacation to the Bahamas, etc. For a halloween party once I went ahead and tried that Mystic Tan where you pay something kind of ridiculous and you get a quick spray tan. That had a little bit of an orange effect, and it started flaking off within days. I resorted to lotions just because I was sick of looking so pale and deathly ill during the winter, but these lotions are a pain in the ass.

Anyways the point to all of this rambling is this: I’ve begun searching for an affordable tanning salon in New York that I can just buy a few visits and leave it at that. Apparently, it’s impossible. Most places want something like 100+ dollars for their cheapest package, usually being like 2 weeks. I think the most I heard was $160 for 1 month unlimited. In Toledo, tanning was usually 2 bucks a single visit, and around 20-40 for monthly unlimited.

This place was about to open 2 blocks from my apartment on 23rd and Lexington, Beach Bum Tanning. I had researched them a bit online and though they did not mention pricing, their deals sounded pretty good so I figured they wouldn’t be too bad. I went down there every day for a week, and they kept telling me COME BACK TOMORROW WE’RE NOT OPEN YET. So I went in today, and they were “kind of” open. They were still setting the place up, but it looked pretty nice. The computers were having problems and they didn’t have a sheet to show me the beds, prices, or anything, nor did any of the staff members know anything about that. Then the guy told me that a single visit in the lowest power bed was 20 bucks, and 3 sessions is 76 bucks. It usually takes me at least 5-8 sessions to even get a base tan. I had a coupon for “buy one session, get 1 week of consecutive tanning free” but of course they didn’t have that level of bed in their salon. So as I was about to leave, the guy told me to go ahead in the stand up booth, and this one is on him. It was the second most powerful bed, which the maximum time is only like 12 minutes, but he put me in for 7.

Now I don’t know if you know anything about tanning or not, (most likely you do because I don’t think anyone who doesn’t tan would be interested in this story) but usually when they send you to a room they pre-set this “get ready” timer so that the bed will turn on in X amount of time, giving you time to get your lotion on and get ready. Well this guy only gave me 3 minutes, AND he didn’t give me any goggles. I deffinitely got fried. I used tingle lotion, which turns your skin slightly red and opens your pores so that you tan easier, but when I left this place I was as red as a fire truck, no joke. I threw my hood on and my huge oversized sunglasses, pulled my scarf over my mouth and bolted out the door.

Moral of this story: I really hope when this place is totally open and running normally that they get their shit together a little more. I understand it was their first day and all, but they didn’t even know pricing, and the guy selling me the packages continually said YEAH, IT’S NOT CHEAP IT’S PRETTY EXPENSIVE. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think that’s a very good sales pitch. Has anyone else had any experiences with other Beach Bum locations? I’m thinking about visiting another one uptown if I can get the “one week free” deal.

But then the ogre looking woman came back again, still mumbling to herself. She went back in the bathroom for another 10 minutes at least, and came out yelling something along the lines of SHIT, SHIT EVERYWHERE! JUST SHIT! ON THE WALLS, ON THE FLOOR, ON MY FACE! SHIT! and walked out of the store. It amazed me how many people around me were oblivious to this, but I was thoroughly intrigued. I almost felt compelled to go in there and see the shit decorated bathroom.

Then a homeless looking man came in and without purchasing anything, went straight to the bathroom. He spent some time in there as well, and at this point I started considering moving tables or at least leaving since I was sitting one table away from the bathroom. While this man was in there, two other homeless looking men lined up at the door. This seriously went on for the entire time I was in Starbucks, which was about an hour and a half. When I see homeless people, I have never really wondered “where do they go to the bathroom at?” partially because other questions such as “do they eat? are they drug addicts? where do they sleep?” usually occur. But now it’s got me thinking, is Starbucks the homeless persons throne?

It said something like 848 offenders are able to be located on the map in the NYC area, but I wonder how many registered sex offenders there actually are in the city? I really have no idea why I randomly decided to do this, I think I’m just becoming way too ridiculously bored these past few days…

The other night I met some friends up at Divine Bar at 236 W 54th Street (& Broadway). I was kind of nervous at first considering it’s location being so close to Times Square. But this place was deffinitely more than I expected.

We walked into a very modern-contemporary decorated bar that was deffnitely appealing from the start. It had a very casual, kind of “after work” but yet sophisticated feel. Nothing TOO fancy, but not your average sit down pub style bar. Anyways, I guess this place is well known for its wine, and apparently they have some pretty good food as well. I ordered a Jack & Coke, which cost me a little over 10 bucks.

After our whole party was there (five people) a very friendly woman led us upstairs to the kinda “lounge” area. There are plush couches, small tables, and other comfy furniture pieces all around, lit by dim lighting and candles. There was another room that we didn’t go into, but it looked equally as nice. I believe there was a two drink per person minimum to go upstairs, but it is deffinitely worth it. It’s a more relaxed, chill atmosphere where you and your friends (or date) can really just relax and enjoy yourselves. Not to mention the waitresses are outstanding in service there. Not only are they extremely friendly, but they were very timely. If I would have had more money, I would have stayed all night. I guess the beers really aren’t that expensive, just some of the mixed drinks, but really I can’t remember. Afterall this is NYC and drinks aren’t usually cheap as it is.

They gave us one large bill, which we had to split between about 4 debit cards. The lady had no problem in doing so for us. After we left, one of the waitresses came out on the street yelling for us because one of the guys forgot his debit card at the table- very nice of her.

I am deffinitely planning on going back sometime to try their food and wine, maybe even take a date there. It’s a nice little place where you can actually talk to the people you’re there with, without the loud bass pumping music blasting in your ears.

I played tourist again yesterday afternoon, but in an awesome way. I went to see a taping of Late Night with Conan O’Brien. I have been trying to get tickets to see him for years now, every time I would visit New York. Finally I managed to get tickets a month in advance for this show.

I got to 30 Rockefeller Center around 330pm, got checked in, and had to wander around aimlessly until 415 when they said to meet back up. It didn’t look like there were very many people there to see the show. Until 415. They had two seperate neverending lines. I’ve been to a taping of Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, which was FAR less organized than this. They were complete Nazi’s with their rules (understandable) and completely organized with metal detectors and everything.

We got in the studio which was surprisingly small compared to what it looks like on tv. Now I can see why Conan always makes the low budget NBC jokes on air. There were about three sections of seats that could fit about 7 people across in each section in the crowd. And that was the width of the entire stage. The curtain area where Conan comes out, the area that the Max Weinberg 7 plays, and the entire desk/chair interview area. The Max Weinberg 7 was seriously cramped up in a small little corner, but on tv they look like they have so much room! It was neat though nonetheless.

After watching some tvs with constant hilarious footage of previous shows, some guy came out and started the comedy. Then Conan came out for a few words. He’s hilarious. His hair had some extra poof in it too. He came up into the audience a bit and joked around.

Charlize Theron, Bill Hader (SNL), and Stars of Track and Field (from Portland Oregon) were on the show. It was pretty sweet watching it live. Charlize Theron is tall as hell! I’m only 5′2″ so I seriously feel like a midget around tall people, but her and Conan standing up was ridiculous. I think the distance from her ankle to her knee was pretty much equivalent to my entire leg. Bill Hader was pretty hilarious with his impressions. And the Stars of Track and Field were pretty good as well.

But I think the most unexpected awesome moment was at the very end after the cameras shut off. The Max Weinberg 7 were playing their outro music, when this lady threw Conan a mic and he started singing. HE CAN SING GOOD!! I guess they do that after every show, but wow I was seriously surprised at his voice. It sounded so good! It deffinitely was a perfect ending to the show.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force on Adult Swim. Are you serious?

Being a prospective “ad-creator” myself, I understand that the industry is constantly trying to look for new ways to advertise their products without the stagnant billboards and posters we see plastering our city already. While I can understand the fact that these illuminated signs with the cartoon characters basically giving the bird to any onlooker may upset some people, this issue is not even brought up. The fact that these ads had a battery is pretty much the biggest issue. Quite honestly, I think some officials are blowing this way out of proportion.

According to CNN.com, the Mayor of Boston called this “outrageous,” and a congressman added “It would be hard to dream up a more appalling publicity stunt.” Come on now, I can think of about a million different things that would be a more appalling publicity stunt. In fact, that almost sounds like a challenge…

Not every city is taking this so seriously however. Other cities such as LA, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle,
Portland, Austin, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and our very own New York City, have had these ads in place for two or three weeks. In some cities they weren’t even noticed by federal authorities, while in others they were simply just removed without much complaining. In New York City, 41 devices have been found and removed.

All in all, I guess this guerilla advertising pretty much worked. Not only did those who see these signs become a little more familiar with Adult Swim and Aqua Teen Hunger Force, but now the whole nation knows just a little more about these food characters. Congrats guys.

2. Replacing the internet with books and newspapers. My internet in my apartment has been down for almost a week up until today, in which case I’ve found myself reading a lot more. Last night I got in bed and read an entire 120 page book cover to cover. Then I started another one, but fell asleep after about 25 pages. Over the week I’ve read numerous books and newspapers, instead of sitting around on google all day looking for pointless information. I’ve even picked up two New York books that dish out all of the information about the hot spots in the city, which I really think I need to look into, instead of the same old Irish pubs every weekend when I can afford to go out.

3. Turning off the tv. When I first moved here in August, I don’t think I turned on my tv until about December. Then I fell back into my addiction of watching the news. This turned into watching The King of Queens, Friends, and Sex and the City (which all coincidentally take place in NYC) every night, just because it was 6:00pm and dark out, and I didn’t feel like venturing out into the dark, cold night. Now, any time I turn on the tv, I can only watch the history channel, the discovery channel, or the travel channel, something that teaches me. Oh yeah, and the ever so depressing news.

4. Conserve money. I walk pretty much anywhere possible. I haven’t gone out nearly as much. This kind of goes hand in hand with trying harder in school. I didn’t quite get the grades I had hoped for my first semester, so instead of going barhopping on the weekends, I wanna try and spend a lot more time on homework (as if that is possible) and maybe only go out once a week or once every other week?

5. And finally, stop biting my nails. I haven’t cut, bitten, or ripped apart my nails in WEEKS. They’re looking really good. I just discovered this place called The Beauty Bar. It’s on east 14th street between 2nd & 3rd aves, and apparently they offer “A Manicure and a Martini for $10.” I saw an ad for it in The Onion, but I really want to go check it out. I’ve heard of the beauty bar before, but I didn’t know they did manicures and whatnot in there. Just curious if anyone has been there before?