5, 4, 3, 2...

The countdown has begun.
Less than two weeks 'til I head home. It's thrown me into a sort of panic, like, "Ahhh! There are so many more things I need to experience; so many more questions I want to ask; so many more brains I want to pick." And so I'm wasting no time making a complete annoyance out of myself, asking my superiors tons of open-ended, vague questions about how I can further my career.

Just today I sent out four e-mails to people in various design departments. Each message included, "What Web sites do you frequent for artistic inspiration?" What kind of question is that? Why didn't I ask something less stuffy like, "Are there any cool art sites you're addicted to?" That, of course, would have been much more informal, but also would have ended in a preposition. Shudder!!

While I bide my time waiting for replies, I continue to develop my budding book idea, "New York Cheap Eats: Intern Edition," inspired by newyork.citysearch.com's "cheap eats" feature and also by the freaking price of cereal in this city! Can't a girl get a bowl of Cheerios for less than $1.50? I'm serious. I bought a 15 oz. box of Golden Grahams at the market for $5.39, not including tax. Never again! I have since scoured the area and found a 20 oz. box of off-brand Raisin Bran, at a savings of more than two dollars!

I've decided, at the advice of my mother, that the best food staples to keep on hand are spaghetti, rice, eggs and soy sauce, although, the Asian flair was my idea. I even went to Chinatown to purchase a pair of $2.50 chopsticks. They make eating the rice/egg/soy sauce concoction more palatable. And studies show using them as your utensil of choice actually makes you feel full sooner. It's because it takes so dang long to shovel the food into your mouth!



But never fear. Meredith is here, bringing you the best bargains. That'll be the book's tagline... Yep, it still needs a little work.