I have an address!

I have an address..but of course i will not put it all here in case there is a stacker in training out there.

Rua Santa Alexandrina
Rio Comprido
Rio de Janeiro

I mapquested it. It is a little in the north. West of flamengo and Laraneiros. Toni says its a 15 minute taxi drive to Copacabana. Well it sounds exciting!

10 days left...( Goodbye Etro )

Today was my last day of work. It was sad but at least there was cheese cake. I worked a pretty normal day. I had one good sales and I did a little visual / display work. Everyone gave me a card and we had a nice cake. It was not to emotional because I will see everyone one last time in a week for a little party / dinner in the evening.

It is a little sobering...after 15 years of retail...and 10 years of Madison avenue retail ...it has all come to an end.

Tomorrow i have off. I have to do a lot of laundry. I have to go to the post office for one last ebay shipment. The Russian that won my Miu Miu ankle boots finally paid up. I have to drop off my cable boxes to RCN cable.I have to drop my last two Etro uniform suits to the dry cleaners and I still have a bunch of things to do around my house. Well at least staying busy keeps me from getting to worried. It all kind of seems like I am just going on another vacation. Except for the lack of things in my house. Well Toni is on MSN messenger to video chat so I will write more later.

13 days left....

Today I have off of work. I went to the post office and mailed what was left to go out for ebay. So now ebay is done with. It was fun for awhile.

The women that said she wanted the Murphy bed canceled this morning. What is it with all the flakes on Craig's list. Well I emailed a couple more people but time is running out. I only have a few more days left in this apartment. After two and a half years I am back with living here with all these boxes. It will be a relief when my father and sister come to help me finish. I am not looking forward to the 9 hour car ride back to Ohio though.

Today I am going to take some "me" time and have lunch at my favorite Indian restaurant, Jackson diner. This will be my last time eating there for awhile. For a very long time I have been going there for lunches on Tuesday. The buffet is probably one of the worst things for me when it comes to loosing weight...but i love it. I am just not the same with out a weekly dose of sag and tandoori chicken.

14 days left....

Tomorrow is the one year anniversary to when me and Toni met. That's right...last year at this time I was at Rio on my first trip. Now I am planning on going there for good. Today I worked all day. Some of my work friends are reading this blog...so we will not be to detailed....( John and Brenda ) We will just say I worked very hard today.

A lady contacted me about buying my Murphy bed on Thursday. I hope it works out. I also have some man coming to see my sofa tomorrow. We will see if anything comes of that.

Tomorrow my main goals are to go to my new bank, HSBC, and try and set up a new IRA account to transfer my 401K when i leave my job Wednesday. I have to cancel two credit cards and will probably throw out more things. Oh and my friend Nisha is suppose to stop buy and pick of a few kitchen items, even thought there is not much left.

My house is looking more empty and more sad every night. Toni says I will love the new apartment. I really hope he is right.

15 days left....

Today I worked. I was a little hung over. When I got home I spent an hour taking my murphy bed apart. Now i am hoping someone actually comes and buys it tomorrow. Tonight my Saturday night doesn't look terrible exciting. I am opening a bottle of wine and watching the Greys' anatomy that I missed last thursday. I was hoping to talk to Toni but he is going to Marco, his roommates, sisters' birthday party ( Festa ). I will hopefully talk to him tomorrow. I am also boxing up the last of my ebay things to ship out.

Well i should do some Rossette Stone Portugues lesson. I am going to be there before I know it.

16 days left...

I am told by my only reader now that my spelling is atrocious. The only thing I can say is I feel let down by spell check...and I wasn't raised this way. I am an avid reader and enjoy words. Unfortunately as my mind learns more Spanish and Portuguese it begins to forget the English, this is my though anyway. Either that or I am slowly incorporating my other grammar rules into English. Eventually this blog will be in Portuguese. Even then my American friends will not be happy. Se Deus quere...

Tonight I saw my last Broadway play with my friend Yeidy. It was called Memphis and it played at the Shubert theater. It was good but I did not love it. It was about music and race relations. I think Hairspray tackled the same ideas in a better way.

People at work are throwing me a party the Friday before I leave. That's nice....go ETRO !. Yes the store I work at is ETRO and hopefully I get paid for this endorsement. Or at least they donate clothes for my wedding.

Well I have to wake up early tomorrow for an early work meeting. Only three days of work left so i wouldn't want to ruin my perfect attendance record. Well each days goes quicker...sigh.

17 days left...

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Today. I worked....again. It was ok. I only have 4 days left. It was a little slow. I finished wiring the money to Brazil. Which would be easy but HSBC seems a little crazy. I left work early to meet yeidy to go to the lawyers' office...which was good because even though we came a half hour early to the appointment he had forgotten about us and was on his way out. But Yeidy signed the power of attorney papers so if for some reason i can't get back for my apartment closing it will still happen. After we went to El pequeno resturante which has very good Colombian food in Jackson Heights, NY. We ate a lot and then both drank too much sangria. Fun times. Tomorrow we are going to see a play on Broadway. This may be my last play for awhile...sigh.

18 days left...

Today is my day off. I took some things over to my friend Andrews' place. He has a basement storage area so I left some things I can pick up when I come back in November. I bought my ticket ....I am leaving on Sunday, October 11th. I paid $759 which was a little more then I wanted ( It may seem cheap but a month ago Tam had a special for $495 ) At least it is a direct flight both ways. I put as a return date as the 15th of November but that was just an educated guess. I had a nice lunch with Andrew and I also gave him some pots and pans.

Tonight I am going to give Toni the good news that I got the ticket.

Time seems to be going quicker now and I think I will be there before I know it...I only have to work 5 more days. Well that's it for now. Tudo bem.

20 days left...

Well things were a little weird today. Last night I went out for Andrews birthday ( Andrew is my friend I worked with at Hermes ) Yeidy came too. They came here and then we went to a Korean barbecue. It was pretty good. We had this huge pan of steaming seafood ( Crabs, mussels, shrimp and lobster tails. ) It was pretty old school but i ate too much.

Today at work I had my exit interview ( even though it is a week early ) I won't get into details but it was very strange and very surreal.

At home I talked to Toni. He got us an apartment in Lagoa ( which means Lagoon ) It is close to Copacabana and Lima. It is really cheap ( $1000 reais ) pretty big with two bedrooms. We do have to buy a refrigerator and stove...but that is normal in Rio. I feel much better leaving knowing I have a cool place to go to. And the building has a pool which I am very happy about. Well things are finally coming together.

21 days left

Today is monday and I have the day off. Last night Peter from work came and picked up my living room book case, kitchen table and chairs and assorted other things. I felt depressed when the things were gone. It's one thing knowing your leaving and another seeing you house empty. I know its only going to get worse. I talked to tony last night. I told him I was say but there wasn't to much he could say. He just said how much he loves me and how great our new apartment will be. Him and his roommates had been having Churrasco all day. For those of you who don't know Churrasco is Brazilian barbecue. They cook all different kinds of meat and cut it into small bites and then they pass it around and everyone gets a bite. Moroca ( relative of his roommate Marcelo ) was super drunk. She dropped a glass and then stared crying. Toni says she isn't going to be invited to our place. I guess she has drinking issues.

Today I am going to try and make an appointment with the lawyer to go with Yeidy and fill out the power of attorney papers in case somethings come up while I'm gone. I also want to go to HSBC bank. Toni go his wolverine costume today. I am sure he will be happy. Brazilian people love costume parties ( don't ask me why ) O gente de brazil se gosta da festas fantasia...nao sei porque! OK that's it for today.

22 days left...

I know these posting are a little boring. I am hoping when I get to Rio they are a bit more exciting. But this way you get a point of reference to my life before. Well last night I did talk to Toni. His camera did not work..but he had a micro phone. He could see me though. I understood some of what he said but not a lot. Maybe my Rossetta Stone is working as good as I hoped. I think I am going to be a little confused for awhile when I get there.
We had a meeting today at work that was ok. It was kind of busy..I got Spanish food on the way home at my new favorite local Spanish restaurant, Mi Arte Culinario. I had roast pork with yellow rice and beans.
Tonight I have a video date with Toni at 9pm. I got a bottle of wine so I will drink a little too. I do have to work tomorrow so that will be the extent of it. Once again my blog is a little boring now but closer to the time I leave things should be interesting.
I sold some things on ebay today...not much. I am a little afraid that no one is bidding on my sofa...it might end up on the sidewalk to garage day...I hope not!

23 days left

Today is Friday. I worked today. I brought some more things to work and now a couple people are coming to my house to see if there is anything they want to buy. I still have the big things to sell...the Murphy bed, the sofa and the regular queen size bed. I put the Murphy bed and the sofa on ebay but there prices aren't too high yet.

Toni is still have trouble with his computer. He sent an email though. He saw an apartment that is Otimo...which means great...it is a little high 2200 reais. ( 1100 us dollars....basically all the prices are half in dollars ) He also saw a place in Barra for 1500 reais. I am still hoping we get a place in Copacabana but I will be happy either way. I hope he finds a place soon!

Tonight i just had Chinese food and now I am going to the gym. I think I will take my photo albums in because not everyone saw them. Everyday is a day close...I can't really believe it. I probably won't really accept it until my apartment is empty and I am on the plane. I think it is probably better to take it one day at a time.

24 days left.

So today was not very eventful. I did not sleep well...which happens sometime with everything that is going on in my life. I tried to sleep at 11:30 and ended up reading till 1 am. I left for work early because i had to go to the post office. I sold a few more things on ebay ( Prada coat $150 book $10 and Etro pillow $30 ) Work was slow and kind of long even though I did sell a suit and a sport jacket. Yes that's right...I work in sales at an Italian luxury fashion house. Suits are about $1800...shirts are $300 to $400 hundred. Pants are $400. Shoes are $700. You get the Idea. I also do visuals which mean I fight with big ugly mannequins that never do what I want.

Well I haven't talked to Toni today because he is having problems with his Internet. I did send him an email though.

Tonight I am not being very productive and am watching the 2 hour Greys Anatomy premier. Give me a break though because I will pack during commercials and I have to get a fix on all my shows before I disappear and watch only Globo ( Brazil's official network. )

Ok tchau

25 days left.

Well it is only 25 days left in New York City. I have lived here for a little over 15 years and consider myself a New Yorker. I am originally from Ohio...but I have always felt more at home in New York. I love everything about the city. The bars, the clubs, the theater, the museums and the restaurants. So why am I leaving. Well I don't want to get all Carrie Bradshaw on you ...but it was love. Not love in New York but love in Rio. I am a gay man....and I came out when I came to New York. My love life has been less then exciting. I haven't had good luck in New York is an understatement. But when I went on Vacation last September I met Toni ( short for Antonio Vicente ) I met him on the last night in Rio. I wasn't going to go out that Sunday night...but I hurt my leg Thursday and didn't go out Friday. I went out to Le Boy club Saturday and did not meet anyone. But I had fun so I decided to go out Sunday. Well I met someone horrible. I met someone cute ( but did not speak English ) then i met Toni ( who also does not speak English but speaks Spanish ) So i went back home with him. The next morning I was leaving so I asked him to go to Ipanema beach with me. He went and we had a great time. I was a little embarrassed when we jumped from the boardwalk to the beach and i totally fell to my knees because of my bad knee. Well we also had lunch. We then parted so I could take a nap. In the evening we did Karaoke with his friend Jean. We then went back to my hotel ( me and Toni not Jean ) and he told me he did not want me to leave. Well I had to. So I said goodbye to him that night. He watched me leave in the cab at 4 am. Well we emailed back and fourth for awhile. I told him I would come for Carnival in February. On his second email he said he wanted us to get married. I thought he was crazy. But in the end I though I owed it to both of us to see. I went to Rio for carnival. He was crazy but in a good way. We danced. We drank ( Beer is really good in Brazil ) We went to the beach. I got to know his two roommates well ( Marco and Marcelo ). He lived with a gay married couple in Copacabana beach. He also has two dogs ...Cacau and Drago. Well he said he wanted to marry me and again. I told him if I could work things out maybe we could. At that point I had no Idea about Visas or things like that. Well I came back and leaving him that time was Hell. When i got back to New york I was a complete mess. I really felt like apart of me had died. Well we kept talking online. I told him i would visit in the fall and study Portuguese now. Well I started studying but we could only wait until May. Our birthday month. His birthday is the 7th and mine is the 20th. Well it was a great trip. I never had a party thrown for me before...but i got to meet more of his friends. We also went a little outside the city and met his brother and his brothers family....he has a wife and three children. Well in the end I told him I would move to Rio and marry him. So I have spent all summer selling my apartment ( not easy in this economy ) I am still in the process of selling...I have a buyer...they think the closing will be in November. I quit my job...my last day is the 30th of this month. I have been giving away a lot of my things and selling a lot on ebay. My father and sister are picking me up on October 2nd and I am going to Ohio for a week before I go to Brazil. So my time here is slowly coming to an end. Me and Toni now have video chats on MSN mesenger instead of emails. He is looking for a new apartment for us now. Either Copacabana or Barra da tajuca. My time here in New York is slowly coming to an end.