The Story So Far

Life in New York is off to a hectic start, as with any drastic change. But, despite the sensory overload and husband withdrawal, I am soldiering on and determined to be strong.

Yesterday, on the big "Day One," I successfully made it from Brooklyn to midtown without getting lost, and started the day with a familiar face. When I walked into the building at Madison Square Garden to get my ID, I was greeted by a guy who took one look at me and said, "I know you. It's Melanie, right?" I knew the face, but couldn't place it. He ended up being a guy I worked with at Thomas Sweet back in the day. When I came home from work and told my cousin Mike about the random encounter, I somehow remembered that the guy, Dominic, went to the same high school as he did, but graduated a couple of years later- coincidentally, with a different Mike -AKA "The Situation"- from Jersey Shore. Can I get a LOL?

On the way back to Brooklyn today, I saw another familiar face- but one that didn't leave my mind racing; it was a "holy shit, that's nuts" moment. As I made my way to the R train, I spotted a photographer and a small crowd gathered on the sidewalk. After a few more steps, I spotted the ever-so-classy Mary J. Blige, who walked right past me and into the Sephora on 34th Street. Apparently someone was low on makeup supplies. Get it girl!

New York City, that's what's up! I love how unpredictable you are!

Moving on...

I am learning the fundamentals of my new job, and I know it will be a matter of time before I am banging out scripts like a madwoman. Because the current writer is still here until Thursday, my workload hasn't been nearly what it will be this time next week, when I am prepping for Bonnaroo. Yahoooo!

I have already taken advantage of all the things I have missed having at my disposal the last two years. Since Saturday's move to BK, I have had real pizza, bagels that don't come in bags, Dunkin Donuts coffee and an H&M purchase.

Oh, while I'm thinking about it, let me say that everyone should go and buy/download the new Lady Gaga album if you haven't already. I'm proud to announce my love for the pop star's much aniticipated Born This Way. Lady Gaga certainly lives up to the hype and deserves all the credit she's been getting. I have had the album on heavy rotation on my travels to and from work, and am in love. "Marry The Night," "Unicorn Highway," and "The Edge of Glory" are fanfuckingtastic. Get it!

My days are long, but they are going by fast. I haven't had much time to do any exploring around the city, but I have off on Friday and plan on gallivanting around and spending money I don't have yet on things I don't need but have to have. Like really super cool boots.

There's a Matt & Kim show tomorrow night just a couple miles from the very couch I am sitting on right now. I only just found out about it tonight, and it's of course sold out, but I'm thinking about stopping by after work to see if I can convince someone to sell me their extra ticket for a reasonable price. If it doesn't work out, I won't be too heartbroken- they'll be at Bonnaroo in a couple of weeks and oh snap-so will I! Yeah Yeah!

Mel & The City: An Introduction

With 2 weeks notice, I packed up nearly 100 pounds of my favorite clothes and shoes and moved my life to New York City. With my husband Shane's full support and encouragement, moving back to our native East Coast for a kickass job six months ahead of him getting out of the Army was a no brainer.

How did this all happen? There's been a moment of every day since becoming the new writer for the Fuse Top 20 Countdown that I ask myself the same thing. As cliche as it sounds, I took a leap of faith and took a stab at the opportunity which I found out about on facebook. A former supervisor had a status about looking for a writer and I thought, "why the hell not?"

After talking to Shane about the sweet gig, he became the driving force for me to go for it. He helped to convince me that it was worth a shot, and it would be the perfect chance to set up the next phase of our life. Long story short, I nailed it.

Having made it through deployment like champs, this is nothing. Sure, I had a hard time accepting that taking the job meant more long distance with Shane, but we will have unlimited talking, frequent visits, and no threat of a war. I can sleep at night knowing Shane is being protected by our fierce weiner dog in Texas, and no longer looking for IEDs in Afghanistan.

So, I start my new job tomorrow, where I will be shadowing the current writer for a few days. Then, it's up to me to write the show scripts and draft questions for guests. I even get to go to a few music fests this summer. To say I'm excited is an understatement. I am all out fucking pumped and am going to pour every bit of creativity and energy into this. I've been doing music journalism for about ten years now, and I am more than ready to write for Fuse.

For those of you who followed my blog Are We There Yet, I'd like you to check out this post from last August (which obviously inspired this blog): Mel And The City

Well, oh snap. I've got it all now!

Just nine months later, I am exactly where I want to be in all aspects. I have my dream boy and my dream job, and I couldn't be happier. (Actually, I could. Shane, please go AWOL and live with me in NYC) For the first time ever, I can see my future, and it feels incredible. Shane will be out of the Army by the year's end, and he will be with me as soon as possible following his freedom. Until then, I will be living with my cousin Mikey in Brooklyn for a bit (Shout Out!), possibly getting my own pad in the city for a bit, and then and then most likely setting up shop in North Jersey for me and Shane before he gets out. Then, it'll be time to buy a house and a little further down the road it will be time for baby Gardiners. I realize that planning life out like that is a little crazy, but my point is, I can see it all playing out just like that, and I love it.

I spent two months short of two years in Texas. In that time, I got married, made incredible friends, learned all about Army life, endured the hardest year of my life with deployment, and learned that sales for a military paper in a town like Killeen is not for me. While in Texas, I continued doing what I actually like, and had the chance to interview artists including Slayer, Deftones, Anvil, Hatebreed and Frank Turner for Define The Meaning (all from either my car or my bedroom during my sales job hours LOL). It was during these interviews and the feeling I would get before and after that I knew my passion for music would be a lifelong commitment, and that I needed to make my work my play.

Shane told me a few nights ago that I'm an example of dreams coming true. I've wanted a job in New York City that involved music and writing for what seems like forever and now the dream is my life. Woohoo!

I end this introduction to my new blog with a quote from my "Mel And The City" post on Are We There Yet:

“Maybe if we had never veered off course we wouldn't fall in love, have babies, or be who we are. After all, things change and so do cities. People come into your life and they go. But it's comforting to know that the ones you love are always in your heart... and if you're very lucky, a plane ride away” – Carrie, Sex and the City

I truly believe that in order for me to have made it to NYC, I had to move to Texas first and take care of my heart. Right now, I am exactly where I want to be, and only a four hour plane ride from my best friend, who in six months will never have to be away from me again. I'd say life is pretty damn good.

Welcome to my new blog. Follow my NYC adventures here!

Tomorrow it begins...