Trials and tribulations in the city

In the last couple of weeks I have definitely experienced some of the highs and lows that New York City has to offer. From witnessing a robbery firsthand to sitting front row at the live taping of the Colbert Report, I'm definitely experiencing the best and worst of this city.

This city has already gotten to me in a way that if I'm ever just sitting at home relaxing I feel like I'm missing out on something. I always want to be exploring different parts of the city, eating at new restaurants, meeting new people or grabbing drinks with a friend at a new bar. Especially since working for the Mets event planning department on the weekends, I never just have a moment to myself to sit and think. But than again, I probably wouldn't take it if I did.

My mom has always warned me against the con artists in NYC. People wonder why everyone in this city is so skeptical and pessimistic and after this weekend I truly understand why. You can't trust anyone here especially when it comes to letting them inside your apartment. After a great night out, my friend and I went back to their apartment. About one hour later I woke up to someone trying to buzz into the apartment. Since it wasn't my apartment I didn't feel the need to let the roommate in even after 10 minutes of constant buzzing. 10 minutes later I hear the door open, glass break and voices that are definitely not recognizable. I immediately wake my friend up and tell them to go outside and see what was going on. (Of course, the paranoid person I am, I make them go outside knife in hand. Seriously though, I was petrified!) Turns out the voice I didn't recognize was "apparently" a friend of the roommates and the roommate who was with him confirmed they were friends! (Mistake #1) This is where we should have known something was up, but instead we went back to bed. (Mistake #2) The next morning it turns out over $30,000 of electronics and valuables were stolen from the apartment and the next couple of hours were spent talking with the cops. (Definitely not the way I planned on spending my Sunday morning) You really can't trust anyone here!

Now to the highlights of my more memorable experiences in New York! One of my roommates won tickets through Twitter to the live taping of the Colbert Report and invited me. I rushed over to the studio (which for a New Yorker is in the middle of nowhere on 54th in between 10 and 11th!) to stand in an extremely long line. This was one of the best experiences I've had in New York so far! We randomly were selected to sit in the front row and got to high five Colbert as he ran across the stage! If you can get tickets to his show, I HIGHLY recommend going. Before the show starts there is a comedian and then a question and answer session between the audience and Colbert where you can ask him absolutely anything. One of the several questions from our audience was "What is your go to Karaoke song" which in return he began singing it for us. (He really does have the voice of an Angel!) The show was hilarious, as always, and it was so great being able to laugh at his jokes along with an entire audience. On our way home we spoke with one of the producers that said Colbert was his favorite show to work on and I can definitely see why. The employees, stage managers, producers and Colbert himself are hilarious. What a great work atmosphere to work in everyday!