I Heart NY

I had to go to New York this week for work. I have only been to NY once before and it was just for one day so I don't really count that. So after this trip I have decided that I heart NY. Even though I was there for work I had such a good time. I was there for New Hire training. Even though I have worked there for over a year now I missed all the previous trainings. I wasn't sure which of my fellow Salt Lake colleagues would be joining me, but I was pleased to find that two from my same department were there as well. We stayed at the Hyatt in Jersey City, but it was right on the Hudson so the view was spectacular. We got there by about 5:00 on Monday night so we had time to go into the city. We saw all the regular sights: Times Square, Madison Square Gardens, Empire State Building, Crystler Building and others which I can't remember. We did pretty good navigating ourselves around the city and I was happy to discover I could have such a good time with coworkers whom I had not met before that day. On Tuesday we went into the city for our meetings. The office was right on Wall Street so we got to see the New York Stock Exchange (pictured here with the flag) and the Bull. The training was long, but ok. I met some pretty great people from all over the country. That night me and three of my coworkers broke away from the group and went to China Town. I wasn't as impressed with the NY China Town as I was with the SF China Town. It was also really cold and I was in heals so that may have influenced my decision. We went back towards the financial district for dinner and ate at this really cool steak place. The signature steak was $79! It was a good thing everything was expensed to the company. On Wednesday we went to more training. This day was less exciting. We had cocktails in the evening with the big-wigs. Unfortunately no mocktails were available so I went with a soda. That night we ended up going to dinner with the entire Salt Lake group. I think there were 14 of us. We went to an Italian place by our hotel in Jersey. It was a riot. I am so grateful I was there with a good group. I tried to talk everybody into taking an all night trip to Atlantic City. The cars were coming to pick us up at the hotel at 5:00 am to take us to the airport. We finished eating dinner around 10:30 and Atlantic City was 2 hours away. We could sleep for 2 hours on the way out there spend a few hours and then sleep 2 hours on the way back. Then we had 4 and a half hour flight back to Salt Lake. That would have been plenty of sleep. I had a few talked into it, but when it came down to it they went on the responsible side and we just went back to the hotel. I woke up at 4:30 am and the cars came to pick us up. When we got to the airport I realized I left my wallet and my iPod in the safe in the hotel. After quite a few conversations I finally made the hotel understand what I needed. One of my coworkers was coming back that night so I just asked him to pick it up for me. It was such a good time and I loved NY, but I decided I'm way too soft to work in the offices there. I know I would just end up crying all day. It was very exciting there and the buildings are beautiful, but I definitely don't think I could handle the faster way of life like that.