I'm gonna say it: it's downright difficult to Christmas shop in New York. Over the past week, I've made two separate attempts to buy gifts, and both times I've returned home empty-handed. Of course, it doesn't help that my family will give me no clues as to what they want (e.g. "Oh, nothing for me this year" or "Just a little something, you'll know it when you see it.")

On top of this, there is an overwhelming amount of options that are quickly narrowed down by price. So, it takes a large amount of sifting to find things that won't put me in the poor house, and when I find it, there's a line for the checkout that wraps around the perimeter of the store.

I (stupidly) tried to make my way down 5th Avenue yesterday, and while it was busy, I was trying to coerce myself into having fun and getting into the spirit of holiday crowds. This quickly ended, however, when I found myself trapped in an Italian-style crowd at the corner of 50th and 5th, just outside of the American Girl Doll store. Apart from the mob of angry mothers and shrill tourists who "drove half the day from Baltimore to wait in line to even get inside the store," there were mounds of other people blocking traffic and causing police on-foot to intervene. I literally couldn't move for 5 minutes.

So, I will now try to complete my shopping either online or when I return to the Midwest. I suppose it won't be as terrible after work, so I might try that when I have a night off.

We had our first snow this morning when I woke up. The last couple days have been blustery, and while not nearly as cold as the MN temps, those long east-west Manhattan blocks sure know how to trap the cold winter wind.

Now that the Broadway strike is finally over, MTC employees have been offered a plethora of comps to fill seats these next couple weekends and see the show for free. As a result, yesterday I went with Alex and some co-workers to see Is He Dead?, a long-lost play of Mark Twain's that was discovered in 2002. It was a silly farce starring the current king of musical theatre, Norbert Leo Butz, and it was quite hilarious and solid. It's still in previews and doesn't open for a few weeks.

I got my first issue of Time Out: New York yesterday. This weekly magazine is basically the New Yorker's bible for what's going on in the city. I got a great deal on a subscription price (always the case with these magazines, it seems) and it makes a great subway read, as well.

The tree lighting for Rockefeller Plaza happened this week, and I was only a few blocks away working at our off-Broadway theatre. I was going to try and stop by when I got off, but it was crazy packed and definitely wasn't worth it. Midtown in general seems to be busier on the weekends now that it's the holiday season, so when I'm not going to or from work, I try to seek out less crowded neighborhoods.

It's definitely weird to think that I only have three weeks left here at MTC. The intern group drew "Holiday Gift Exchange" people this week (in Iowa it might be referred to as "Secret Santas") so that should be a fun weekly project. We'll do our big gift ($10-15) at our Holiday Party (which is going to take place at a bowling alley)!

The job hunt is coming along. I've got a few things in the works, but I don't want to jinx anything, so I'm going to stop talking about it. It definitely helps to work where I'm working though, because I've already had some good words put in for me from various MTC employees who seem to know everyone in this incestuous business.

My friend Jen (who I was living with for the month of October) was offered a job this week as the Assistant to the Executive Producer at 59E59, another theatre company on the East Side, and she accepted! She actually didn't even apply for it: the Executive Producer called up our Intern Coordinator, and since Jen basically has that position now except to the Director of Development, he offered it to her. She got extremely lucky and got a pretty good package from what I hear.

This coming week is pretty busy once again. We've got our Pumpgirl opening on Tuesday, which, for now, will be my final opening night at MTC, but I'm sure it will be awesome.

I need to know what you guys have on your Christmas lists! I was instructed to start working on my own, and I've come up with a few ideas, available upon request...