Birthday Week Celebrations!

Birthday Girl!

What a great week full of birthday celebrations, expected and unexpected celebrations!

At our holiday team lunch at Locanda Verde, my very sweet boss celebrated my birthday early with yummy chocolate cake and a birthday candle for dessert!

I was shocked!

At work the following week, my team surprised me with a birthday party in the office - they really got me! My colleague Joe and I were going to get coffee to catch up on some topics, but he had forgot his phone in one of the rooms. There were some of our teammates in the room, so I did not want to go and interrupt their meeting, eventually he got me to go in and it turns out it was for me! They really had me surprised - well played team!

Lunch at Tim Ho Wan

As for the actual day - I started off the day with lunch at Tim Ho Wan with my friend Michelle, it was nice to catch up and celebrate with some yummy dim sum! Michelle was one of the first people and friends I made on the Kabbage team!

I was taking it easy and decided to pamper myself and got my nails done at local nail salon a few blocks over. I decided to do glittery pink nails for the occasion! When I went to pay they gave me a holiday gift card for $10 off my next visit, what a nice surprise!

I also arrived home to find the rose quartz I ordered, hoping it brings me some love this year!

Every year I stress over what to do for my birthday and end up planning something last minute. Surprise, surprise, this year was no different.

This year I planned a at Salinas in Chelsea with a few friends. The food at Salinas was delicious (mmm steak!) and the cheesecake at the end was a perfect way to end the meal!

For those of you who know me, you MUST have some form of cake or something for your birthday!

Afterward we headed to Jungle Bird, where a few more friends met up with us for drinks, including some from holiday cocktails!

I feel truly loved and grateful for all the amazing people in my life and can’t wait to see what this year will bring.

Thanks for everyone who came out to celebrate with me!

Happy 2022!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 🎉

I am excited for 2022 and what the new year will bring! I hope everyone has an amazing 2022!

Fun Fact: These are the actual numbers displayed with the NYE ball in Times Square!

My New Year Resolutions this year are:

  • Reconnect & keep in better touch with friends and acquaintances

  • Take risks - keep an open mind when it comes to trying new things

  • No Regrets - don’t hold back!

  • Be true to myself

What are your resolutions for 2022?

As Macklemore said in his new song, which is also going to be my anthem for 2022,

“Next year’s gonna be better than last year!”

2021 was a tough year, but rather than viewing all the tragedy & hardships as problems, let’s look for the silver linings & turn them into opportunities! ✨ Where there are endings there are new beginnings!

Cheers to 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣2️⃣! 🥂

This is 33

First and foremost, I want to say THANK YOU to everyone for the warm wishes, gifts and birthday love! You really know how to make a girl feel special and I am so grateful for all of you!

Last night I went out to celebrate my birthday with some friends at Cathédrale in the East Village. The venue is GORGEOUS, I loved the high ceilings and ambiance! I can see why Heidi Klum had her infamous Halloween party here! I was pleasantly surprised by how the delicious food and desserts at Cathédrale were!

I was fortunate to have friends from many different parts of my life come - middle school to college debate to internships to my first and current job, even a friend from SF that happened to be in NY for the weekend.

After Cathédrale, we planned to go to Alphabet Bar, but it was closed before we even finished dinner, so we went to the Wren AND Pianos. We had such a good time, we actually ended up closing down both bars for the night! I have not done that or been out that late since pre-COVID or even in a few YEARS to be honest.

The COVID rates are starting to increase again, so I am happy I was able to get in one last hurrah and a first since the pandemic started in 2019 before it begins to get bad again.

Here’s to 33!

Thanksgiving COVID-19 Testing

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Today I went to get tested for COVID-19 before heading home for Thanksgiving and spent 9 HOURS waiting for a COVID-19 rapid swab test at CityMD. I thought I’d show up 20-30 minutes prior to opening to beat the rush, but I guess everyone had that idea…

Here was my schedule for the day.

6:40 AM - Arrived at the end of the line

6:40 AM - Arrived at the end of the line

  • 6:15 AM - Wake Up

  • 6:25 AM - Walk to CityMD

  • 6:40 AM - Arrive at CityMD & look for end of the line. The line went down the avenue and around the corner to the end of the block (and wrapped around the next corner behind me)

  • 7:00 AM - CityMD officially opens

  • 8:00 AM - I made it to the front of the line, only to learn they were just taking down names and phone numbers a list and would call me when it was my turn, then I will only have 15-20 minutes to return

    • I was #82 on the list. There was only a small group of people (~12) waiting around outside at this point, so a few others and I stuck around and waited around for our turn - how long could it take? I live 15-20 minutes away, which was exactly how long it would take me to get back, so figured I should just stick around and worry about hustling back - my mistake!

  • 8:45 AM - 45 minutes later everyone still seems to be waiting outside

    • I asked the woman checking people in what number they were up to, in disbelief I learn they were only up to #6 on the list & she laughs that i am #82 on the list

    • Shocked they are still in single digits, I tell my line buddies to hold up one hand and one finger and that was the # they were up to. They were shocked as well!

  • 8:48 AM - At this point, I was freezing and disheartened by the lack of progress on the list - I decided to go home and wait to be called since it would definitely be a while.

  • 10 AM - No call yet

  • 11 AM - No call yet

  • 12 PM - No call yet

  • 12:15 PM - I called CityMD to see what # they are up to… Any guesses? They were only up to #50 since they opened, 5 hours ago. I guesstimated they see ~10 patients per hour

  • 1:30 PM - I received a call to return to CityMD - “you need to return in 15-20 minutes, your number will be called soon”

    • I immediately drop my fork, stop eating my lunch and hustle back

3:18 PM - Made it inside!

3:18 PM - Made it inside!

  • 1:48 PM - I make it to CityMD in just under 20 minutes and head to the front door of CityMD. The security guard shouts “MISS” and points to the line, of course there is another line. This one should be quick, right? WRONG

    • I see my line buddies from this morning and join them on this new line with ~10 people in front of me

  • 2:48 PM - 1 hour later, I am still standing in line & have not moved a bit

  • 3:00 AM - I am second on line… to get into the building, they are letting people enter the waiting room in small groups

  • 3:18 PM - I made it inside!!! They let a few of us in, I checked in, sat down & waited to be seen

3:45 PM - Finally being seen!

3:45 PM - Finally being seen!

  • 3:38 PM - About 2 hours since I ran over, my name is finally called and I am taken to a room to be swabbed & tested

    • The nurse takes my vitals - temperature, pulse and blood pressure

    • I am given the nasal swab test and the nurse leaves (probably a total of 5-7 minutes max)

  • 3:50 PM - The PA finally comes to see me after waiting for what seemed like a long time since the nurse left. She says sorry for the wait to get into CityMD and that they were trying to create a new more efficient system that gives a more accurate window of when to show up, asks if I need anything else while I am there and then dismisses me.

  • 3:52 PM - I stop by billing, confirm my information is correct

  • 3:54 PM - I am out the door. DONE!!!

  • 4:03 PM - Results are ready - my test is NEGATIVE!

COVID Test Result

Overall I spent a little over 9 hours end to end, and probably spent ~5 hours between waiting on line and commuting between my apartment and CityMD. This is definitely an experience I would NOT like to experience again. (I did offer the PA help in creating a more efficient waiting window system). However I am thankful they did give us the opportunity to go home, which I was able to utilize working for a few hours. I know other CityMDs did not give people the opportunity to do so.

While waiting online, I learned a few interesting facts:

  • The line was cut off after 2 hours of opening (7 AM - 9 AM) with 166 people on the list.

    • If I was half way down the list at #82 after 9 hours, how do they anticipate to finish another ~80 people by 9:30 PM in 5.5 hours?

  • I overheard person #61 arrived at 6 AM, 40 minutes before me! I was debating arriving or leaving my apartment at 6:30 AM, so I am glad that the 10 minute difference did not make much of a difference. What time did person #1 show up?

Thank you to the frontline workers for all of your work, especially on days like today! I appreciate all that you do!

I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving!

Accidental Blind Date

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Never thought the words "accidental blind date" would come across my mouth, but at the same time, this would only happen to me... thank you online dating.  

Here's the rather amusing story:

I was meeting with my friend for dinner to catch up at Bea in Hell's Kitchen.  My friend had already arrived by the time I got there, so I told the hostess that I was meeting my friend Jayme, who had made a reservation.  She seems confused, but then points me in the direction of a random man, clearly not my female friend...

The man walks over and says "Patricia?"   I tell him, I am not her.  He continues, "You do not look like the woman in the pictures..."  Despite this, it definitely crossed his mind that I could have been his date for the night - LOL!

We turn to the hostess, clearly not who we both had intended to meet with, and let her know.  After a few more minutes of awkwardly waiting, the hostess finally brought me to meet my friend.

As my friend and I are exiting the restaurant, I see the man with his date, who happens to be Asian, like myself :P  I will say it looked like they had hit it off, despite the mix up.  Congrats to him - lets hope he can spot her out in a crowd for their next date!

Thank you to the hostess for trying to to set me up on an accidental blind date!