A New York Easter

Happy Easter, everyone!! I hope you all had a great Easter weekend filled with friends and/or family, good food, celebration, and remembrance of all that Christ gave up for us so we could live a life of complete fulfillment!

My Easter was fabulous and I am so glad I was able to spend it in New York this year. Two years ago, I moved up here one day after Easter. Then last year, I went home to Dallas, mainly to meet Beau for the first time. So, this was my first time to be here for Easter and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Thankfully, I have a church I love that makes celebrating Easter without my family okay. Unfortunately, I did not make it to the one New York tradition I was really, really looking forward to - the Hat Parade on 5th Avenue. So, now I will have to spend at least 1 more year in NYC. Hopefully, I will make it to the Hat Parade next year!!

My Easter weekend started on Friday at 1:00 when I got out of work. I went home to eat lunch and run some errands in the neighborhood, then headed back to Rockefeller Center to get Joy. We went down to the museum at FIT (the fashion institute). It's free and they were having a Christian Louboutin shoe exhibit that I was interested in seeing. The museum is tiny, but I really enjoyed the shoe exhibit!

Oprah declared these sparkly pumps her

most favorite shoes on a recent episode.

Louboutin is famous for his red soles/heels

on every pair of shoes.

These were inspired by Princess Diana.

Louboutin saw a photo of her staring sadly

down at her feet and thought if she'd been

staring at this, she wouldn't have been so sad.

Dita Von Teese wore these in a cabaret show

Notice that the heel on these goes all the

way down the bottom of the shoe...

forcing the wearer to stand on their

very tippy-toes. They were supposedly

created for sexual purposes. I can't

say I get that.

Here's a pic of a person wearing the shoes

above.

Afterwards, we walked all the way to Union Square, enjoying the sunny day! We got dinner at Maoz, a falafel joint I'd been wanting to try. I got a falafel salad that came with hummus and eggplant. They also have a huge bar of free stuff to add to your salad or sandwich - cous cous, olives, cabbages, the best broccoli I've ever had, carrots, etc.... It was amazingly delicious!

After dinner, we played in Sephora for a while to pass the time, then walked around the corner to our Good Friday service. It was so good and there were a lot more people who came than I expected. It was really great music, some scripture reading, a children's story and communion. I loved this service!

Saturday, we had a prayer service in the morning that I attempted to go to. I've learned my lesson about not writing down detailed addresses and instructions, but didn't bother to do it this time again. I thought I had it in my head, but after walking several blocks around the corner where I thought we were meeting, I gave up! I went to a Farmer's Market instead that had the most adorable flowers all over the place. I bought a batch for my friend, Kristen, whose house I went to that afternoon. Then, I went to a diner and sat and had tea and read my Bible for a couple of hours - I wanted to read the 4 Gospel accounts of the Easter story...I read the Matthew, Mark and part of Luke versions while I sat there. Today, I finished Luke, but I still have John to go...hopefully, before I go to bed I will finish it! After tea, I headed up to Kristen's apartment. There was a huge group of friends from church there for a big Easter meal. It was great - I stayed for 5 hours! We ate, laughed, talked, watched basketball, etc.... It felt like a true Holiday afternoon.

Saturday night, I ran to Macy's and forgot until I got there about the Macy's Flower Show! The place was decorated to-the-max with flower arrangements. They were so pretty!

Sunday, I slept in and then headed to Brooklyn to my friend Ilyse's house where there was another Easter lunch with lots of friends. This was a mix of people from Apostles (my church) and a bunch of ex-Journey people (Ilyse used to go there, too). I never knew this group when I was at the Journey, but had heard their names a lot, so it was nice to finally meet them. They are all going to another church in the city now.

I went to the Easter service on Sunday night - it felt a little weird going to an Easter service at night, but I have to be there as I'm always "on call" in case a kid shows up. It was a good service, but I think the Friday service was my favorite.

All in all, a great Easter weekend and I'm so thankful that I have friends here to celebrate - yes, I still always feel like a bit of an outsider, compared to when I hang out with friends in Dallas, but slowly, but surely it's starting to feel more home-y here.

Funny Stories

My friend, Jessica, wrote a blog yesterday about how sweet her friends from high school are and the package we sent her for her 30th birthday. In exchange, I thought I'd write about the hilarious stories our friendships have resulted it! Seriously, I think I've laughed harder with these girls than with anyone else. The kind of laughing that hurts your stomach and causes tears to roll down your face. They are stories that I think of walking down the street and cause me to have a huge grin. When I think of them at home, they can cause me to laugh out loud all by myself! Here are two of my favorites:

A Recent One:

Maggie, Jessica, and I all bit the dust this week and joined Facebook. That's right, we're in our 30's and we're on Facebook! I don't think any of us understand everything that Facebook has to offer or the point of most of it, but it has been fun reconnecting with friends from the past. I think Jessica has been a little more into it than the rest of us. Apparently, you can give "gifts" through Facebook. They are actually just pictures of gifts. You have to pay $1 for them...why anyone would pay $1 for a picture of a gift is beyond me. Occasionally, I guess you're allowed to give a gift for free. Jessica figured all this out within hours of joining Facebook and gave me a free gift....cheese and crackers. That's right, I got a gift of a picture of cheese and crackers. Weird. But, the really funny part was her comment that came along with it...

"Susan, I have no idea what this means, but I got you a gift of cheese and crackers. You're welcome."

I laughed so hard the night I got it and all day long the next day each time I thought about it. Oh, the intricacies of Facebook!

One from a long time ago....summer 1995:

It was the summer after our freshman year in college. We were all back in BoCoMo for a few months and spent a lot of time together! We also spent some time in a "prank war" with some boys we knew. We had received insider knowledge that the boys were planning to hit-up my house on a specific night. We were at my house ready to defend ourselves with water balloons and water guns and I'm sure all kinds of other ammo. I'm not sure who all was there, but I'm sure Ambie was and pretty sure Kate & Kelly were and....well, let's just say it was the whole gang...me, Ambie, Kate, Kelly, Jessica, and Maggie. We were all prepared and it was still quite early so we found ourselves hanging out in the front yard waiting around. Suddenly, we heard a car coming our way (I lived on a cul-de-sac, so not many cars came by). We all rushed to take cover in case it was the guys starting early! Some of the girls ran to the side of the house and some into the garage and I was behind a big bush near the front of the house...you know, out of sight! Except for Ambie.

I look up from behind the bush and see Ambie plastered against the front door, which was smack dab in the middle of the house, facing the street. Not only that, but it was the GLASS door and the wood door behind it was open and all the lights in the house were on. She was clearly visible to anyone passing by, but apparently thought that if she got flat enough against the door the people passing by wouldn't see her.

It looked something like this (although, I'm sure she wasn't kissing the door, this was just the best I could find to give you a visual):

I can still see Ambie pressed against that door in my mind as clearly as if it was yesterday and it still makes me laugh so hard! She clearly wasn't the best at hiding, but it sure gave us a good laugh! The boys never showed up that night, but anticipating their arrival provided one of my favorite funny stories!

Here's a pic of us all 10-years later at Kelly's

wedding in Columbia, November 2005

Kate, Jessica, Kelly, Me, Maggie, & Ambie

Holy, Wholly

During this Holy week, I've found some of David Crowder's music meaning a lot to me. Here are the lyrics to "Wholly Yours":

I am full of earth
You are heaven’s worth
I am stained with dirt, prone to depravity
You are everything that is bright and clean
The antonym of me
You are divinity
But a certain sign of grace is this
From the broken earth flowers come up
Pushing through the dirt

You are holy, holy, holy
All heaven cries “Holy, holy God”
You are holy, holy, holy
I want to be holy like You are

You are everything that is bright and clean
And You’re covering me with Your majesty
And the truest sign of grace was this
From wounded hands redemption fell down
Liberating man

But the harder I try the more clearly can I feel
The depth of our fall and the weight of it all
And so this might could be the most impossible thing
Your grandness in me making me clean

Glory, hallelujah
Glory, glory, hallelujah
So here I am, all of me
Finally everything
Wholly, wholly, wholly
I am wholly, wholly, wholly
I am wholly, wholly, wholly
Yours

I am full of earth and dirt and You

Roommate Story

So, I know many of you get a kick out of some of the stories I have regarding my roommates. I had another funny conversation with Cathy last night, so I thought I'd share. It actually was a nice conversation and I did enjoy connecting with her for a bit, but this was the "token" odd part that is bound to occur in every conversation with Cathy.

Cathy: "So, I was thinking I might get your advice on something." (For whatever reason, she always asks me advice. She tells me she thinks I'm grounded and spiritually-well. She obviously doesn't know me too well)!

Me: "Sure, what's up"?

Cathy: "Well, there's kind of this guy at church. I really thought he might be 'the one'. I have a list of all the criteria I'm looking for and he matched EVERY single one of them."

Me: "Really? Wow!"

Cathy: "Yeah, and he seemed to be interested and was pursuing me (she went into a little more detail here). The thing is, he has a serious girlfriend."

Me: "Um, maybe you need to revise your list of criteria. You know, to exclude cheaters." (Okay, I wasn't quite that blunt, but that's basically what I said and definitely what I was thinking).

Cathy: "(Laughs) Yeah, maybe that's true".

Double the Weekend Updates, Double the Fun!

This past weekend, I spent 4 days in Texas…but I never blogged about the weekend before, so we’ll do a quick update there first!

Two weekends ago, I spent Friday evening hanging out with Joy. We went to dinner at Kashkaval, which I think is probably my very favorite restaurant. It’s only a few blocks away from my apartment, but Joy was actually the one who told me about it because it has been HER favorite since before I moved up here. Crazy thing is that we had never actually been there together! It’s a place where you want to share food and I wondered if we would lean towards the same things – we did! We got some Mediterranean tapas and some Kashkaval cheese fondue, and of course some good wine. It was great! After dinner, we went to see “No Country for Old Men”. I’d been freaked out about this movie, but after it won awards, I decided I would see it. It was creepy, but I like suspense and did enjoy it a bit. The next day, I spent several hours walking up and down streets in my neighborhood apartment hunting. Occasionally, you see “For Rent” signs and I have been trying my hardest to find a new apartment without having to pay a broker to help me. I did see some signs that day, but they all led me to brokers! I did have fun walking around and went into a few cute shops I rarely stop in and even found a new hair salon that I went back to on Thursday for a hair cut! I like my neighborhood and would love to stay nearby. My latest thinking as far as moving is to try to go ahead and get a broker and try to be moved in by May 1st. I’m going on vacation for 2 weeks in May, so I could sub-let my apartment then and make enough money to cover the cost of the broker. We’ll see how that pans out. Sunday, I taught Sunday School…the kids didn’t seem to be listening at all again, but we played a game that quizzed them on facts about the Bible story (Esther), and they knew it all! We were impressed and happy about that! I went to brunch at Vinyl afterwards – it was just okay. Then, I did a bit of shopping before heading to church again that night.

Now, this past weekend...I went to Texas! Since I worked over a weekend in Atlanta at the All-Star game, I had 2 comp-days I had to use by the end of March. I also had a plane ticket I had gotten last spring, but didn't end up using and it was going to expire in April. So, with 2 days off and a plane ticket that both HAD to be used ASAP, I headed to Texas. I thought about going for Easter, but since I’ve never spent Easter in NYC, I kind of want to be here for that this year. Plus, it was Beau's big 1st Birthday last week and I wanted to help celebrate!

In Texas, 2 days were spent in Dallas and 2 days were spent in Canyon with my aunt, cousins, etc… In Dallas, I spent Saturday with the boys…we went to see Barney at Toys-R-Us, then to Chick-fil-a to play and eat lunch. It was fun! That evening, I met up with some girls for dinner at Mi Cocina, it was a blast and I laughed so much, plus had great brisket tacos!

Sunday/Monday were spent in Canyon with my family....it takes only 3 hours from my sister's door-to-my aunt's door when you fly Southwest out there. We had a lot of fun just hanging out, shopping, playing with all the 7 kids/babies, and eating meals together. Sunday, we shopped on Route 66 in Amarillo – lots of antique stores. I bought a few things I hope to use to make my new apartment homey! We also stopped by the Itti Bitti Pie Shop in Amarillo, which had been featured in the paper that morning. We all got our own Itti Bitti, but had fun trying each others, too! I got Italian Cream Cake, which was good, but my Aunt’s Chocolate Meringue Pie was my favorite! On Monday we shopped at the cute stores in the Canyon square. My baby cousin, Amy (who’s not such a baby anymore since she has her OWN baby) made us dinner on Sunday night. We weren’t sure what to expect, but her Olive Garden knock-off soup was great! We even had more for lunch on Monday.

I was back in Dallas on Monday night, so I met up with Andi and Brooke to watch The Bachelor..."Where are they Now" special. We used to watch The Bachelor together before I moved away...along with a couple other girls who couldn't join us this time. It was great to be able to watch the show with my friends again! Even better was the conversation. I miss my Dallas girlfriends greatly...I love all the laughing and feeling so comfortable just being myself and talking about everything going on in our lives. On Tuesday I took lunch to Deanna and got to spend time with her...more great conversation, plus time with her baby! Mom and I went to Grapevine on the way to the airport and did some shopping in their downtown—we’d never done that before and they had some really cute shops!

All, in all, it was a great weekend in Texas…the weather was awesome, too!

I was not good about using my camera in Texas, but did get a couple of Ryder & Barney:

The Power of the Internet

So, I have a linked-in profile...not sure when or why I set it up, but it's there. Apparently, if you search for my name on google, my linked-in profile comes up. Tonight, I got a random invitation in my email to "connect" with a guy named Juan via linked-in. My first thought, was to just delete it, but I skim the message quickly and key-words pop out at me like "I googled you" and "Dallas" and even my sister's last name. So, I'm like, okay, this person knows me?? So, I read it more closely and realize that this guy lives in the building next door to me and has the mail my sister sent me a few weeks ago. We'd been wondering what happened to it! She sent it to the wrong building...his apartment # is the same as mine...just one building over! How crazy/nice of him to try so hard to find me and get me my mail! This proves my theory that New Yorkers really ARE nice people! And reminds me that I don't think I ever blogged my cell-phone story from December....

It was the night before I was to fly to Dallas for my Sweet Sixteen days. I was doing some last minute Christmas shopping (talk about procrastination) and I left my cell phone....somewhere. I had no idea which store I had left it at and by the time I realized, most the stores were closing. I went to my office to use the phone there and try to track it down, with no luck. I called my mom to tell her the situation, knowing she would be expecting to hear from me that night with my flight info. About 11:00 that night, I'm in my bedroom packing and my computer is up and I notice I have new emails....one from my mom saying that my cousin, in west Texas, knows where my cell phone is and to call her...the email says it's at some market with a guy who will be there until 1:00am. That was enough information for me to know I'd left it at CHELSEA market, where I'd bought a few things that night. I headed straight down there. The security guard wouldn't let me in, but he did let me use his cell phone to call Nicole....who told me to just call my own phone cause the dude who found it was answering it. So, I call the guy and he tells me to go around the corner to a side-door where he is. It was a little scary...down a really dark, secluded street where a guy I knew nothing about was waiting for me. I found him...he hardly spoke English, but was the sweetest guy. I had a $20 bill in hand to thank him with...because, really, he could have just stolen it and in my opinion deserved to be thanked for being a good guy, but he absolutely would have none of that. New Yorkers ARE nice!