I worked out with an actor on Tuesday

I went back to Devachan, the Curly Girl salon, to get my haircut on Saturday. I’ve been really disgusted with my hair lately. It just hasn’t been the same ever since I moved here. Not sure if it’s the weather or water or what. This may come as a surprise to anyone who knew me when I was on my Curly Girl kick, but I’m kind of tired of being one right now. What happened to my old motto of embracing my curls and taking care of them?? At the salon, they just started doing make-up and offered to do mine for free that day, so that was fun. I was there for a total 2.5 hours being pampered- a good way to start my Saturday!

After the salon, I hiked up to the Upper East Side to meet some Journey folks for brunch at Sarabeth’s. I’ve been wanting to go there- I went once way back in 2002, but hadn’t been back since. It’s well known for it’s brunch, but I actually think some of the other places we’ve gone are better. It was fun though.

Sunday, I went down to Chinatown to check out the parade for their New Years. Like any parade or big event in the City, it was SO crowded and there were barricades everywhere. It was kind of frustrating trying to get to a spot where you could actually see anything. I only watched for a bit and then left because it was just too crazy.



















I spent some time working on my Oscar cookies. I didn’t end up using the Gold Lustre Dust. You see, when I wrote my last blog, I didn’t actually have the luster dust yet. I’d seen it when I was at the baking store in Chelsea, but hadn’t bought it because I wasn’t sure if I wanted to try it. After doing some research on it, I went back to the baking store on Saturday intending to buy it. But, they had received a shipment of edible gold glitter during the week—this was what I had wanted in the first place. So, I got that instead. I knew it would be a ton faster than the dust because you have to mix the dust with vanilla and then literally paint it on each cookie. Plus, I have used the glitter before and knew it did the trick of giving the gold look I was going for. I still want to try the luster dust on something sometime- I think it gives more of a metallic gold look and could probably be pretty amazing!

















The Oscar party on Sunday night was fun. Joy’s roommate, Kimberly, threw it. There were 10ish girls there, most of whom I had met at sometime or other. We had a good time, but I do have to say the Oscars seemed a bit anti-climatic this year and WAY too long, especially when you live on the East coast. I was pretty surprised at some of the winners- thus, I did not win the pool. We all brought wine & cheese to share. I used to think I didn’t like cheese but since moving here, I’ve decided I do- I think I’d just never had good cheese before! My favorites right now are a French Brie and an Irish Whisky Cheddar that I get at the cheese place down the street from me. I took some of both to the party. Anyway, it was a fun night!

Tonight I went to my first event at Madison Square Garden. I got two free tickets to the NHL’s suite for the John Mayer/Mat Kearney concert. Joy went with me and we had fun. The suite was really nice and came with free drinks. It was kind of weird sitting in there for a concert—I told Joy I felt like I was observing the concert more than experiencing it. Although, I am an observer in general, so that was okay with me.

















I worked out with a celeb this week!! Liev Schreiber was working out at my gym on Tuesday night. While I ran on the treadmill, he was just yards in front of me doing weights, push-ups, and jump roping. I wish celebs would always work out in front of me while I run- it made the time fly! The funny thing was, I knew without a doubt that he was a famous actor, but I could not figure out his name or what he's been in. I figured it all out today when I ran across a picture of him related to the Broadway Play he's currently starring in, Talk Radio. If you don't know who he is, he was in Manchurian Candidate. He's also dating Naomi Watts and is the father of the baby in her belly. There's a picture of him here.

The Year of the Pig

I would have loved to have posted earlier in the week, but our Internet has been acting up!! So, this is my update from last weekend! See fotos here!

It's time of the Chinese New Year celebration and they're celebrating hard down in Chinatown. Joy and I ventured down there last Saturday afternoon to check it out. We went to the flower market they have every year-- it's customary to buy flowers to give away. It was only open for Friday and Saturday and by the time we got there it was pretty picked over and so crowded it almost wasn't fun. But, I was glad to see it. People were all over the streets shooting off confetti crackers. The streets were completely covered with confetti and it was only the 2nd day of the 10ish day celebration! I imagine the NYC cleaning crew are spending a lot of time down there right now. I'm hoping to make it to the big parade this Sunday.

While in Chinatown, Joy and I also got some bubble tea from TenRen. This is something I've really been wanting to try! It's an odd concoction, but I liked it! I got honey, but it was a very light flavor, so mine tasted pretty much like green tea. Joy got peach and it was very good. I'm definitely going back there to try more flavors!

Joy and I also did some shopping in SoHo and then I took her to the Chik-Fil-A at NYU. We also went to see the movie Notes on a Scandal. I had no idea what this was about. It was a good movie, just a little racy and shocking.

I went to membership class for my church last weekend. I'm now a member! I figured that the sooner I joined, the sooner my membership at The Journey would go away (oops-- did I say that??). No, I wish The Journey the best. I just knew from my experience in Dallas, that if I put off joining, I would keep putting it off. I want to be involved and serve and this was a good way to get a jump-start.

On Sunday, I went to church and afterwards walked up to the park. I had noticed through the weekend that although the streets of mid-town were not very snowy or icy, the parks still seemed to be. Like I said in my previous post, I really wanted to see Central Park in the snow. I'm glad I went. It was so pretty and peaceful. Kids were even sledding on a few hills!

My day off on Monday was very nice and relaxing. I didn't get out most of the day, but did make it to a baking supply shop in Chelsea. It was amazing!!! So many cookie and cake baking supplies. I could go crazy in a store like that with my cookie making hobby. I was on a mission for edible gold glitter to use for my Oscar cookies for a party on Sunday. They didn't have gold, though. So, I'm trying something new called lustre dust. I've seen pictures of it used and it looks amazing, so I'm hoping it works well!

That's about it. I've got a weekend full of activities-- well a huge part will be spent working on the cookies-- so, I'll update next week!

Weekly Update

This week has been busy again. For one thing work has been extremely busy-- I stayed until almost 8:30 tonight-- yuk! I'm am SO looking forward to the Holiday on Monday. I've still been going to my new gym a lot and that takes up a chunk of my time. I love it!! The treadmill is great, I like the abs classes and spin class, and LOVE the steam room! I just hope I can keep it up for while! As I mentioned last week, my reading has picked up tremendously since I started class and Bible Study, so that's another big time filler. Other things I've done this week:

--Monday was Joy’s birthday and a big group went out for dinner at Blockhead’s, a Mexican restaurant. It was a lot of fun and good Mexican food…first NYC margarita I’ve had that really tastes like a Margarita should!

--Tuesday was my Community Group night. I really think this is going to be a great group. It is amazing how much I have in common with some of these girls. I’m very excited to have found it. It was also really nice on Sunday night when I went to church and saw some familiar faces. I sat with two girls from my group and talked to another girl who was in a newcomer’s class I went to a few weeks ago to find out more about the church.

--Wednesday night, Valentine’s Day, I went to see that Music, Lyrics movie with a group of girls from The Journey. It was a fun night. I should have had my class that night, but it was canceled because of the weather. YES, we finally had some real snow. It was pretty for a short while, but it turned dirty very quickly. I wish it had happened on a Saturday so I could have gone to see the park with snow. I’m sure it’s really pretty there when it’s all white. I was disappointed class was canceled—our speaker was going to be the event planner for MTV and I was really looking forward to it!! Hopefully, they’ll reschedule him.

Other big news…I should be having another niece or nephew born very soon! The due date isn’t for 4 more weeks, but Beth has thought all along that this baby would come 3 weeks early like Ryder did. When she had about 4 weeks until Ryder’s due date, she went to her doctor appointment and was 3cm dilated. Five days later, he came! Today was that same doctor’s appointment for this baby and again, she was 3cm already. So, possibly within the next week he/she will make an appearance! I’m sad I won’t be there. I don’t have plans to go back until the first weekend in April, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to wait that long. My eyes will be open for a cheap weekend flight!

Busy Week

This has been a big week of new activities for me and I’ve suddenly found myself very busy! Tuesday night was my first night of Community Group through The Apostles Church. I’ve decided to make that the church I give a good try to, so joining a group is essential. I like the church a lot. The teaching is excellent and we actually study the Bible there—imagine that?!? I think I am going to love my group. It’s a girl’s group for those in their late 20’s/early 30’s. I was so excited they offered this because I had grown tired of finding myself in situations with people much younger than me. The girls were great—cute, funny, down-to-earth and about 75% were Texan!! It reminded me a lot of the group of girls I was in Bible Study with for several years in Dallas—I miss them!!! We met in one of their apartments—a tiny, little studio that she had decorated SO cute. There was also, randomly, a girl I knew there. It was really nice to see a familiar face when I walked in! She, Ilyse, used to go to The Journey and I had heard a few weeks ago that she had left there, but learned when I saw her Tuesday that she actually left way back before I did. She was one of the volunteer leaders for Journey Kidz so I had worked with her some Sundays. She seems really sweet and we take the same subway home so I got to talk to her further and it was interesting to here how she likes Apostles vs. Journey. All in all it was a great night and I’m excited to spend the next few months getting to know this group better.

Wednesday night was my first Events class. So fun!! The teacher is a riot. She knows a lot about event planning and has a lot of experience, not only here in New York, but in other cities across the U.S. She has planned events at some of the hottest spots in the city and you know I love to hear about that stuff! Last night, our class was on Site Selection- what you need to keep in mind and look for when choosing your event location. We left class early and took a field trip to Grand Central to see an area where corporate events are commonly held and she pointed out pros and cons to us. Very fun! Then, she told us to go on our own to the Dining area, which I hadn’t seen before….tons of places to eat in there! She also directed us to an apartment building that’s attached to Grand Central. There’s a cigar bar in the lobby she wanted us to see—it was very, very cool. It was a beautiful room and very crowded with people just having drinks. It’s very uppity though with a strict dress code. She told us to tell them we were with NYU and they’d let us peek in. They let us, but I did notice them looking people up and down to see if they were dressed appropriately.

My weekly reading just picked up considerably!! For Bible study, we’re studying Luke, along with a study guide. I’m excited about that because I don’t think I’ve done an in-depth study on Luke before. For the Events class, I have 2 textbooks I picked up today and I've really got to start reading. The class is going to be tough, I’m afraid. Lots of reading and studying to do! Plus a couple of major projects. The first one is on site selection. I have two partners and we have to set up appointments at 2 different sites and do an analysis to determine which place is better for a specific event. Should be fun, but I’m kind of scared! It will be a lot of work. I kind of feel like I’m on The Apprentice! I, of course, am going to want to pick the trendiest locations in the city just so I can say I’ve had a meeting there! We’ll have to see if my partners are interested in that!

Oh, I didn’t get Chik-fil-a on Wednesday. After I blogged last week I found out my class is not on the main NYU campus. The Continuing Education classes actually meet in a high school. So, no chik-fil-a for me every week, but I did get to go today when I was down at NYU picking up my books-- yea!! The class location is actually better because it’s closer to work and I would have been pretty rushed to get down to NYU on time each week. Now, I have plenty of time to get there.

I'm a Student!

So, it's official! I am a student of New York University (NYU). I made the decision a few months ago after leaving The Journey that I needed to go back to school. My first class starts on Wednesday and I'm quite excited about it. I've known for some time now that I don't really like accounting. Most of my jobs have had some "perks" and people that have made them bearable, but I really dread getting up to go most days and have trouble staying motivated to do my best because, really, I just don't care. Although, I must add that the job at the NHL is turning out quite well. It's very laid-back and mostly stress-free. I stay busy all day long and don't get bored and actually enjoy a lot of the work I'm doing. However, I think I'm ready to do something I'm more excited about/more passionate about.

Right now, I don't have much of a plan, but I do know that I like planning/coordinating events. I don't have a whole lot of experience in the area, but do have some volunteer experience through things I've planned at my churches, helping with my high school reunion, throwing parties of my own for friends, etc... I also got to do some event planning type work while working at The Journey. So, I've decided to get a certificate in Meeting, Conference, and Event Management from NYU and see if it can assist me in making a career change.

To clarify, I'm not really thinking I want to become a planner for parties or weddings or something like that. Although that does sound fun, that would most likely require me starting a business of my own and I don't think I have the entrepreneur or marketing skills, nor the drive to do such a thing. What I am thinking I would like to do is work for a large corporation as the coordinator of their conference center or training center. My dad says that's a low-paying secretarial position, but at this point, I don't care!! I'm also open to the idea of some other type of opportunity or idea coming up as I take these classes.

I should be finished with my classes by the end of 2007, so it won't take long. (And if you're wondering, yes, it does look like I'll stay here through the year, at least). Going to NYU isn't cheap, but I think having classes from NYU will look good and hopefully being here in New York will provide some opportunities to meet people and see things I wouldn't elsewhere. Who knows!

My first class is called Special Events Management. It will be every Wednesday night from 6-8:30 until the beginning of May. My professor is a woman who owns her own event planning company and has clients like KPMG, PWC, Blockbuster, Colgate, several top hotels, and other companies and non-profits. It should be interesting to learn from her!

Final bonus: dinner at the Chik-fil-a on the NYU campus every Wednesday!! I still haven't gone there ever since hearing about it back in the spring, but plan to take full advantage of it now that I'll be on campus every week!

Tarzan & Tao

My friend Tonya’s been in the NYC for work for the past week, so she stayed through this past weekend to hang out with me! We had a blast! She worked here for 9 months in 2005 so it was fun to be with someone who is familiar and knows where they want to go—although, I love all the newbie visitors, too! Here are some of the things we did:

--Lunch at Burger Joint…yummy burgers and shakes! A little dive I went to once back in the summer. It's right in the middle of the fancy Le Parker Meridien Hotel.

--Tonya can appreciate nice things like I can, even if we can’t afford them, so we had a lot of fun browsing the racks at Bergdorf’s-- a first for both of us. I tried on a pair of super cute Prada shoes…they were on sale for just $600! I told Tonya, “if I don’t see anything else, I’ll get these.” She thought I was serious for a minute! We saw lots of really cute tops and pretty dresses. It was also a fun store for people-watching. We saw a funny lady trying on a tiny, short, white, strapless fancy dress and asking the sales guy if it was appropriate for her daughter's birthday party from 12-3 on a Saturday. He gave her the funniest look and was like, “no, it’s not.”

--Saturday night was our big night out. We got half-price tickets to a Broadway show, Tarzan…it was excellent!!! I wouldn’t have thought I’d be too interested in Tarzan, but kept hearing great things about it so I had been wanting to go. The special effects were incredible…at one point, they had the entire stage, including floor-to-ceiling, made to look like an ocean with people drowning. All the swinging around and dance scenes were great too.





















--After the show, we had midnight reservations for dinner at Tao. That was the only time we could get in and we both wanted to go there….I knew it was a crazy dance-club like atmosphere and I only have about 2 friends who I thought would really appreciate it and Tonya is one of them! We had eaten a late and big lunch, so midnight seemed fine for dinner! It was really fun and great food. We got there about an hour early and had a drink in the lounge area—it was super packed, great people watching. Then, we were seated for dinner. It’s an Asian Fusion restaurant, although I’m still uncertain what fusion really means. They recommend you order to share, so we we got several things, but our main dish was most fun. We had filet mignon they bring to your table sliced very thin and raw. They also bring a fire with a pot full of broth over it to cook the meat in. It cooks very, very quickly. Kind of like a fondue experience. It was a great night!

Tonya & I at Tao with the big Budda in the background.















--Sunday we went to a show called Tango. It was good—really great dancers. They pretty much did different versions of the Tango the whole time. There wasn’t really a story, but they were portraying the history of the Tango through the style of dance and costumes. It was fun.

--Last night, we met up after work for dinner at a wine & cheese place. It’s a newer place down the street from me and I hadn’t tried it yet. It was great! We did a good job picking 3 delicious cheeses and also had some yummy hummus.

--After dinner, we headed to see Mary Poppins. It was sooooo good!! I know, I say that about almost every Broadway show, but they are all so great! Mary Poppins was so colorful and the stage did really cool stuff. Plus, we’re all familiar with a lot of the songs, so that makes it fun. We had excellent seats in the 5th row and could see their faces so well-- there were a couple of times where I thought I was in the musical myself! At the end, Mary Poppins flys out into the audience and her feet were just inches above our heads as she flew over us!

The title for the Sunday sermon at this church caught our eye!! I'm still curious to know how the pastor worked a sermon around Luckenbach. I checked online and it's out there as an MP3, so I may just have to download it and listen to find out!
















It has been a fun week! I hear we’re in for some crazy weather tomorrow—we’ll see if it really happens! There actually has been clumps of snow on the ground for most of this week—first time that’s happened this year!