Working for the Weekend...

Last weekend was spent helping others! It’s nice to do that occasionally, and I really should be able to do it more often! On Saturday, I spent the day at my friend Christina’s apartment. She moved recently into an apartment where every inch of the walls was covered in wallpaper. From the description, I thought the wallpaper was going to be awful, but it wasn't that bad, just a bit overwhelming. She is stripping the wallpaper and painting. We spent Saturday trying to get leftover wallpaper glue off the walls – not an easy task! By the time I left, we’d switched our method numerous times and had decided that scrubbing the walls with a very wet sponge seemed to be easiest and work well. I like doing big projects like that and it’s definitely more fun when you have someone to chat with while working.

On Sunday, I got to go to the coolest place! It is called the Bowery Mission’s Women’s Center. It is a home occupying an entire Brownstone on the Upper East Side and is for women who have been homeless and had chemical dependencies. The home was so awesome – it felt just like a house and was big and decorated nice. I cooked dinner in their awesome chef’s kitchen with 6 other girls from church. It was so fun! We made chicken enchiladas, black bean soup, and homemade salsa with chips (can you tell we’re almost all from Texas?) I was mainly in charge of the soup – it was a huge task as we were quadrupling the recipe. Tons of chopping was involved and we were working with pretty dull knives. By the time I finished cutting my 4th onion, I had to call for reinforcement. Some of the other girls each took a different veggie and before I knew it, they had chopped celery, zucchini, and green peppers while I chopped 16 cloves of garlic…by hand. Yeah, my hands smelled like garlic for at least 48 hours and I was even wearing gloves!! Then, I stood over the stove for 30 minutes watching the soup cook while I also cooked rice to serve with the soup. I woke up several times that night because I could still smell the soup…I think it was in every pore in my body and in my hair! I could smell it all the next day, too – after showering! Crazy. It was a great time, though. We got to eat dinner with the 21 ladies who live in the house – they were so cute and nice! I’ve been learning a lot about how I judge people by their looks and am finding out that I am often so, so wrong. These ladies looked very nice, were dressed well, spoke professionally, and were so sweet. If I had met them somewhere else, I never would have guessed that they were living in a home like this. It was a really neat experience!

I got to try 2 fun new restaurants this week. Tonya was in town for work again, so I met up with her on Monday night for dinner. We went down to the East Village – I really need to explore this area more often. It is so interesting, great people watching, and lots of restaurants to investigate! Our destination was Caracas, a Venezuelan Arepas bar. Tonya had seen it a while back on Bobby Flay’s Throwdown. It was great! A cute, tiny restaurant with very good food and great service. The wait was longer than they anticipated, so they gave us a free appetizer – their famous plantain/taro chips with their awesome guac. We split 3 different arepas that were all really good. I’d love to go back here sometime!

On Wednesday, I had book club and we met at Sala, a Spanish Tapas restaurant near Union Square. It was also a very fun restaurant with good food. We split about 5 different tapas, all of which were great, but my favorite was the Ham & Brie on toast. For our book, we read “Thousand Splendid Suns.” It was so good. Towards the end, I just couldn’t put the book down and ended up staying up really late 2 nights in a row to finish it. It is a really sad, awful story though, so don’t read it if that will bother you (Nicole...)!

To Vote or Not to Vote

Some of you are going to want to crawl through the computer and shake me silly when I say this....but, I've seriously thought about not voting next week. Why?

1) Just like I knew when voting in Texas, I know in New York who will win the Presidential election. I feel like my vote is pointless/worthless. I know there are probably other city/state campaigns that may be closer races that I should want to have a voice in, but honestly I don't have a clue what those are and can't seem to get interested enough to find out.

2) I feel irresponsibly clueless about even the Presidential nominees and the issues at stake. I need to educate myself better to feel confident in who I'm voting for. My sister DID come through her computer and shake me silly the other day when my mom mentioned to her that I mentioned to my mom that I might not vote. After listening to my mom and to Beth and then sitting at a dinner table in NYC with 5 republicans last night (not a common occurence in NYC, I assure you...but maybe it doesn't count since we're all Texas born & bred), I feel more confident about my vote...and like I've been brought back to my senses a little. However, I still feel bad that I haven't spent more time reading up on things myself and verifying the accuracy of those things (because I feel like almost everything in the media, on the internet, or in emails is distorted).

3) I have had 2 separate friends who do not know each other at all tell me the exact same nightmare of a story from their voting experiences 4 years ago. They are both Republicans and both had almost identical humiliating voting experiences. I preface this by saying that I have heard that the NYC voting booths are extremely old. My 2 friends each went into their voting location (on separate ends of Manhattan, mind you), came up to the desk and they were asked which ticket they would be voting. "Republican" was their answer. Then, they went into the little booth which was now supposed to be set to the Republican ticket. They scan the ballot and realize that it's all democrats on there. So, they poke their head out to alert the voting volunteers. At this point, the volunteers FREAK out and act like they are seeing an alien or something. Then, they proceed to exclaim things like "You're really a Republican!" OR "I've never met a Republican before!" OR "Really? You are the only one we've had today!" At this point, the volunteers are flustered because they don't know how to change the ballot from the Democratic ticket to the Republican ticket. If I vote on Tuesday, I will be confidently voting Republican and do not want to be called out like this. I need to start coming up with some clever comebacks in case I find myself in such a situation.

I will probably end up going on Tuesday, but I cannot say I am really looking forward to it.

Disclaimer: This blog post is in no way supposed to be political. It is only about me voting on Tuesday. Publicizing who I am voting for isn't the point of this post. Neither is convincing you to vote for a certain candidate. Basically, I am NOT here to start a debate. If your vote doesn't align with mine, I'm sure I already know. I'd rather not get comments telling me why you think I'm wrong. I'm probably not voting based on the same criteria anyway.

Celebrity Sightings

Last week I saw 2 celebs while out and about. First, I saw Mariska Hargitay walking down the street. She was in a small pack of people and I knew I recognized her from one of the Law & Order shows, but couldn't remember her name at the time. After passing her, I came upon many filming trucks, so I assume they were filming in the area. I've heard that all the L&O shows film a lot on the Upper West Side, so I may be seeing more of them soon!

The next night, as I ran through Central Park, I saw a huge film set up in Sheep's Meadow (one of the big grassy fields). I decided to walk over after I finished my run to make sure I wasn't missing anything. I couldn't make out who the actors were, but the guy calling all the shots looked like Steven Speilberg! I won't say I'm sure it was him, but I am 99% sure. Exciting!!

Bites by Bitches

I’ve noticed in NYC that ladies just don’t tend to bake and cook as much. I’m sure it has everything to do with the fact that our kitchens our minuscule and we have little room to entertain in our homes and when you’re taking it something somewhere outside of your home, you have to lug it for blocks and onto the subway. The gals in my Community Group take turn bringing snacks each week. Our snacks are almost always just store bought stuff – usually things like cheese, veggies, hummus, cookies etc… I found myself conforming to this pattern and buying my snacks at the store as well. But, this just isn’t my personality!! I love to bake and cook, try new recipes, and brighten people’s day with something I’ve spent time making for them. So, I’ve made the decision that my snacks from here on out will be homemade! This week was my turn and being fall, I decided that pumpkin dip was in order. It is one of my favorite fall recipes – so good and easy to make! I served it with graham sticks and apples. I’d never tried it with apples before, but decided we needed a little something healthy in there. It’s better with the sticks, but apples are a nice addition.

I also tried a new recipe. A recipe that seems to be taking the Southwest by storm. In the past couple of weeks, I keep hearing and reading about these new treats, most of the chatter is coming from Dallas. What is it? Cake Bites. And they are delightful. The recipe I had called for Red Velvet cake mix and chocolate bark. Due to tiny grocery stores in NYC, I couldn’t find that cake mix nor chocolate bark. Luckily, there are endless substitute possibilities. My bites ended up being white chocolate/cream cheese icing bites, dipped in melted chocolate chips. Chocolate chips are not the ideal dipping chocolate, but it worked okay. They were a HUGE hit at CG. So big, that the 7 of us that were there this week are working fast and furiously to create a business so we can sell these things through the Holidays this year. We’re tossing around names for our new company and “Bites by Bitches” is my favorite thus far. Not sure it’s practical, but people would remember it, right?? Anyway, here’s a pic from this week’s batch. I’ve got some work to do on my dipping techniques and there are all kinds of things you can do décor wise. Two girls in my CG are working on prototypes this weekend – can’t wait to see what they come up with!

Discovering Beauty in the Poconos

I was blessed to spend an amazing weekend with 60+ women from my church in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. We got lucky in that it was peak weekend for fall foliage – it was beautiful out there! We heard several women from our church speak throughout the weekend and I was really wowed by the speaking abilities of the ladies in our church. I was also very moved by their willingness to share some very personal life experiences. The topic of the weekend was “Beauty from Ashes”, based on Isaiah 61:1-3. We talked about how God can take all the yucky stuff in our lives and in this world and make it into something beautiful and how our true identity isn't based on all these things but on the beauty He has bestowed on us. (If you don't have your volume turned up, do so and listen to a beautiful song based on this scripture by Shane & Shane!)

We had a long break on Saturday morning for individual quiet times and they gave us a devotion to work through – it was the best 45 minutes I’ve spent alone with God in a very long time. It reminded us of our personal identity in Christ. Part of the devotion was going through a list of scriptures that tell us how God views us. Did you know that God says the following about His people? You are all of this and more:

- Beautiful (Psalm 45:11)

- Righteous (Isaiah 61:3)

- Loved (Colossians 3:12)

- His child (Galatians 4:7)

- Precious (Isaiah 43:4)

- Holy (Colossians 3:12)

- Strong (Isaiah 40:31)

- Redeemed (Isaiah 43:1)

- Created for His Glory (Isaiah 43:7)

- His Delight (Zephaniah 3:17)

- Chosen (John 15:16)

- Complete (Colossians 2:10)

- Free (Galatians 5:1)

- Known by Him (Psalm 139:1-4)

Since God IS truth, we should believe these things about ourselves. This is who we are in Him and who He created us to be! Do you have trouble seeing yourself this way at times? I know I do. I've been learning that the best way to see myself as my Creator sees me is to spend time getting to know Him. The more time you spend in His word and prayer, the more your mind and thoughts conform to His. I think that if I could see myself the way that He sees me (which is the way I really am) at all times, I would have such a confidence and a freedom from the pressures of who this world tells me I am or who I should be.

This was the view during my awesome

quiet time on Saturday morning. I caught Angela basking in the sun &

leaves during her quiet time

Saturday morning started out with a worship session in an outdoor amphitheatre. To hear 60 women singing a'capella in such a beautiful setting gave me goosebumps!

But, the weekend wasn’t all Bible talk! We ate well and had lots of time to play, get to know each other, and enjoy the crisp fall weather and colorful scenery.

The car I rode in stopped on Friday night at IHOP for dinner.
Oh, how us city folk get excited for the chain restaurants we
can't find in Manhattan! This is Chamey, Ramona, and I. Contessa & Kaylie

Contessa, not sure of her name, and Ashley (who I was
super excited to see as she just started coming to
Apostles, but I knew her back at The Journey).

A bunch of us took a hike through the woods on Saturday afternoon. There was supposed to be a trail up the mountain, but we never found the right one and kept ending up in people’s front yards. It was still fun exploring the area with a pack of about 30 girls!

Lucy, fighting her way through what
someone said was a TON of rhododendron

Contessa & Karyn became addicted to Foosball

Saturday night we had a bonfire with smores!

Sports Gala

Tuesday night was my night to attend the Women in Sports Awards Gala. Such a fun event to get to go to! It started out very stressful - I had a bomb dropped on me at 5:00 at work, right when I'd planned to leave to go home to get ready. It was a stressful couple of hours. I missed the entire cocktail reception, was 15 minutes late for the dinner, and had to go back to work afterwards! I was not happy about all that and only had about 15 minutes at home to change clothes, do my make-up, and I didn't even attempt to try to fix my hair - it was a mess!! But, the good news is I made it, felt good in my dress, and enjoyed the evening!

The ballroom at the Waldorf Astoria was so pretty. I am so glad I got to go to an event at such a prestigious place! The food was nothing extraordinary, but still very good.

They honored many famous sports women - mostly the recent Beijing Olympians, but others as well. They paraded all the women on the stage and each lady took a seat at a different table. I got to sit next to the athlete at my table - Brenda Villa. She won a silver medal this year as the Captain of the Water Polo team. This was her 3rd Olympics and she now has 2 slivers and a bronze. She also played for Stanford. She was really nice and fun! I even got to take my picture with her medal!!

This is a horrible picture of me, but I had to show you the silver medal! Brenda explained to me that this is the back of the medal, which is different at each games. The front is always the same silver, but the host country gets to decide what to do with the back. This was the first time a country decided to place a stone in the back, which is the green part you see. I have no idea what stone it is though. Oh, and the lady you see in the picture is Lynn Zinser. She's a sports reporter for the New York Times and covers the Rangers (NYC Hockey team). The NHL asked her to sit with us at our table. She was really nice and covered track & field in Beijing and shared some of her experiences there.

Natalie Coughlin sat 2 tables over from me and Katie Hoff was just in front of me. I was amazed at how gorgeous all of these athletes are. Katie Hoff is the best example - I thought she was almost awkward looking on the Olympic coverage, but she is SO cute! Sure, some of them looked cute on TV in August, but in person they are all extremely beautiful women! Nastia Liukin was an award winner. One of the awards is named after Billie Jean King - she spoke twice and was honored with standing ovations both times. Michelle Kwan presented an award, as did Jill Hennessey (actress from Law & Order and Crossing Jordan). Shawn Johnson was there, but I didn't get to see her cross the stage because she went before I arrived and I never saw her after that :( The entire US softball team was there - Jennie Finch is so pretty! The women's baseball team that "A League of their Own" was based on was there - such cute little ladies! Another award winner was a discus thrower from Texas Tech who has overcome cancer. Her story was really neat and she did an awesome job speaking to such an intimidating crowd! I also saw Mariel Zagunis, a fencing superstar who I actually recognized!! I know, weird that I recognized a fencer, but I watched a special on her during the Olympics.

All the other NHL people RUSHED out as soon as dinner was over, which I thought was kind of a bummer. There was a champagne reception afterwards and I wanted to check it out! I popped my head in there for just a second - there was hardly anyone there - but I did get a picture of Michelle Kwan signing autographs!

I would have liked to take more pictures, but no one at my table was, so I kind of felt like a dork - even though lots of other people there were. I didn't get pictures of my dress either. But, since I talked so much about it, I will share with you the ones I took the night before when I was trying everything on - my head's cut off though because I was ready for bed otherwise! I don't have a tall mirror in my new place (haven't figured out where I'd put one), so I've resorted to taking pictures of myself at times when trying on clothes :) You can't see the detail very well in these pictures, but it is basically a silk wrap dress with ruffles on the edges down the middle and around the bottom...a bow tied in the back. I wore it with high-heel black sandals. I also had to wear a beige cami under it...for obvious reasons. I felt appropriately dressed, so that was good...I even thought some of the other NHL people looked UNDERdressed, but who am I to say?!?

Hanging with Celebrity Chefs

This weekend was my weekend to hang out with some of Food Network's Celebrity Chefs. So fun! The Food Network was having their Food & Wine festival and I've had tickets since July because everything began selling out so quickly. They had a ton of events and shows starting on Thursday night. Joy, Christina, and I went to the opening event - Chelsea Market After Dark with Bobby Flay. They opened Chelsea Market up for people to wander through sampling foods and wine. Chelsea Market is one of my favorite places - it's home of the Food Network offices and studios, but it's also home to lots of great little restaurants and foodie stores. It's in an old warehouse with narrow, winding hallways so the atmosphere is fun, too. On Thursday, they had extra fun lighting and music playing. Not to mention, tons of food and all the wine and other things you could drink. There was a wine/drink station literally every 5 feet. We tried all kinds of things! Fun night!

The halls were packed with people!

Christina & Joy checking out one of many food tablesChristina & I inside the wine store, where there was
more free wine (okay, maybe not free since we bought our
tickets for the evening, but it all felt free since we paid for it so long ago)

Bobby Flay

Bobby's gig for the night was grilling burgers. They were excellent -
definitely the best thing we ate all night. This is the crunch
burger...it had potato chips on it.I've always wanted to try oysters, but never wanted to pay
for it, assuming I wouldn't like it. These were "free", so of
course I had to try it. Didn't hate it, cause I couldn't taste it!

Christina tried it for the first time as well!

Joy was our seasoned pro who taught us how! They had lots of fall decorations!

Joy & I

The three of us

There was also a pumpkin show. Really amazing pumpkins!

Saturday afternoon was my food demo with Rachel Ray. I was so pumped to see her and she lived up to my expectations. She is so cute, down-to-earth, and absolutely hysterical! I laughed out loud many times. She made a few things - the spinach lasagna looked so yummy and easy! That's what's so great about her - her recipes are realistic and easy for anyone. She talked and took questions the entire time she cooked and I got to learn about some of her favorite NYC restaurants - can't wait to check some of them out! We also learned she is opening up her own NYC restaurant - an upscale burger joint. I really can't wait to try that!

Sunday afternoon was my food demo with Paula Deen. I didn't enjoy hers as much as Rachel's. She just talked and didn't really cook! She kind of started to get on my nerves a little and I was getting anxious that she was running out of time to cook! Finally, her husband jumped in and began to cook everything, but we weren't really told what he was doing. It was weird! She was pretty funny, too, and seems like a sweet person to know.

Saturday night, I went to the Baylor watch party. We actually won a Big 12 game - yeah!!! We actually look like a kind-of okay team this year. Hopefully, there will be a couple of more wins for us. Overall, though, it was a crazy football weekend I'm still trying to process. SO upset about Mizzou, of course. I can't believe OU lost either - I was really looking forward to seeing another MU/OU match-up at the title game, but I guess it'll be Texas there this year.

I spent the rest of my weekend doing major dress shopping! I think I finally found a dress for my red-carpet event on Tuesday. It was at Bloomingdale's and the good news is that it is a $229 dress that was on sale for only $40 - yeah!

More on Madonna

My friend, Jessica, sent me THIS link today. You can see Madonna's rant for yourself. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought she was ridiculous. I didn't catch this the other night, but I think she says "It's nothing personal. I know her soul". How in the world could Madonna know Sarah Palin's soul? Is she really elevating herself to God's level? Geez.

Material Girl

I was able to snag free tickets in the NHL suite to one of Madonna’s concerts this week. I was SO excited to get the chance to see her in concert for FREE! My friend Robyn went with me – she’d asked me the day tickets went on sale if I could get some and I told her I would try my hardest! I think my strategy of not requesting tickets to other things all summer helped. The concert didn’t turn out as great as we thought it would be. It just wasn’t as big of a show as I thought Madonna would put on. There wasn’t as much dancing or lights or shock-value as I expected. Her costumes were few and boring. I decided that she is a little weird and crazy, too. Many parts of the concert were just plain odd. I do have to say, she sure does have a ton of energy for a 50-year-old! The best parts were when she sang some of her older stuff – Borderline was probably my favorite. The worst parts were her political rants. First, she showed a big long video that was basically just saying to “act now”. It didn’t really ever say what she wanted us to act on, but did have pictures of popular democrats interspersed throughout the video. Then, later, when she had the microphone, she went on a rant about Sarah Palin…talking about how we need to get her off the streets and how she’s going to “kick her ass”. Um, okay, Madonna, you do that. I just don’t get things like that. I went to see a concert, not hear Madonna’s political views. And, it’s not like anything she said had any substance to it at all. Who care’s if Madonna is going to kick Sarah Palin’s ass? If you’re going to go on a political rant, at least give some facts to support why you feel the way you do. I’m tired of the democratic celebrities being so disrespectful, crass, and classless when expressing their views. To me, Madonna was acting more like an immature teenager than a 50-year-old woman. Otherwise, it was a fun night. One of the tip-top execs at the NHL was in the suite with 5 family/friends and he told us to order anything we wanted, so Robyn and I split a bottle of wine - nice! I'm definitely grateful to have gotten free tickets to see a superstar like Madonna!

Weekending

I had another wonderful weekend in the city this week. It all started on Thursday night when I met my new friend, Mindy, in Greenwich Village for dinner and a play. Mindy just moved up to NYC from Texas and is a Baylor grad and has joined my community group. She is super sweet and fun. We met up at La Lanterna, a tiny, cute Italian restaurant that I've been to and enjoyed. After dinner, another friend of mine, Amanda, who I know from The Journey experience, was in a play in a tiny theatre down the street. I'd seen her in a play there before that I loved and was excited to see something else of hers. This was actually a series of 5 short plays. I wasn't very excited about any of them. There were 2 that were okay and I didn't really like the other 3 at all. Afterwards, the 3 of us and 2 other guys who Amanda and I both know went out for a drink. My stomach dropped when we walked in the cute lounge and the VP debate was blaring very loudly on TV. I knew the 5 of us were pretty split on who we'll be voting for and didn't really want to be caught in an awkward debate of our own. Luckily, three of us felt the same way and talked amongst ourselves, trying hard to tune out the obnoxiously loud tv. It was a fun night and I can't wait to hang out with Mindy again!

Friday night after work, I met up with Rosella and Courtney and a friend of Rosella's to see the Off-Broadway show "Rock of Ages". It is a musicaly set to some of the greatest songs from the 80's. It was very upbeat and a lot of fun. We saw Lisa Loeb there seeing the show with her boyfriend. Afterwards we ate dinner at The Eatery - good food in my old 'hood! I tried their Mac&Cheese for the first time and it was excellent, but way too filling.

On Saturday, I met up with the Baylor group for a football watch party. We held a joint party with OU, which was partly my doing. The president of the OU/NYC alum club is a friend of mine, Sarah, and we decided watching together would be fun. We went in knowing that OU would demolish us...we were just happy to have scored 17 points against the #1 team in the US. It really was a big improvement for old BU!

After the game on Saturday, I hit the streets for some shopping. I found a top that may work for my big black-tie event next Tuesday, but am still on the lookout for something better. I also got a new top for work -- both were on sale at Ann Taylor, which is a store I rarely go into, but just happened to be in the mood for it (don't get confused though, I am a very frequent shopper at Ann Taylor Loft-there is a big difference in my opinion). I also went down to SoHo to check out out the Calypso Home store, plus their outlet and year-round sample sale stores. I've been wanting to check these places out for a while now - what great stores!! I got a new throw-blanket at the home store and had fun looking at the clothes in the outlet and samplet sale, but didn't buy anything.

Sunday led to more shopping - this time a big trip out to Brooklyn's Target. Sarah asked me to go out there with her. Most of you are used to being able to drive up to Target and run in and get what you need. Not so here in NYC. It's a long day excursion! We left my place at 11:30 and I didn't get home until about 3:30. It takes a while to get out there and once you're there, you want to look at everything to make sure you don't miss anything. I had a list, too, and hoped to get several things I needed. Unfortunately, they didn't have most of what was on my list. It was weird and sad, but their shelves were empty in a lot of places. I did get some toothpaste, a new day planner, and a 3 fun things that weren't on my list - including 2 items from the $1 section - love that!

I went for a run in the park on Sunday afternoon. It was packed full of people enjoying the crisp fall weather. I am picking back up on my running after not doing so well throughout the summer. I have some new running goals which I will share with you at a later date!

Sunday night was church....we're spending several weeks on a series which JR has titled "The Good Life". This week's lesson was on living a life of contentment...no matter what your current circumstance is. It was excellent!!! But, I may be biased because it was built around my personal life scripture, Philippians 4:10-13. I am ashamed to say it is one of the few passages I have committed to memory, but one I'd encourage any of you to memorize!

I figured it out....

Okay, I figured it out. It was Rebecca Gayheart. After reviewing her resume on IMDB, I realize she’s not as big of an actress as I thought she was. I suppose her biggest claim to fame may be that her boyfriend is Eric Dane (of Grey’s Anatomy…which is maybe why I was thinking ER???). Oh, well, that’s who I saw!

Name that Actor(ess), Part II

On my way to the subway Friday night, I saw a famous lady who I cannot exactly place. She's a younger lady - probably mid-30's or so, with long curly, dirty blonde hair (sickeningly perfect curls). I believe she is not American...possibly British. I feel like she was on ER, but I just checked the cast pictures and didn't see her. She's definitely been on some big TV show and probably some movies as well. Anyway, she was gorgeous and teeny-tiny. I would have thought she was taller than she looked in real life. She was walking her dog and really praising him big-time for pooping on the sidewalk! It was quite funny to listen to her. Any guesses on who she is?? You did so well last time - help me out here!

So much to blog, so little time!

Okay, I’ve got to get with the blogging! As I sat down trying to figure out where I last left off, I realized I’ve got a lot to catch-up on! Here are some fun things I’ve been doing the last couple of weeks!

Two Fridays ago, I went on a road trip to Connecticut to the Baylor/UConn game. Such a fun time! I went with the NYC Baylor alum group. There was also a large group there that traveled up from Texas to do a NYC trip and go to the game. They had a big tailgate that we joined in on. Baylor lost, but it was a close game throughout, so lots of fun. I really enjoyed the group I went with – especially the 4 other people in my car. We had a blast and laughed a lot! It was a long day – I took off work and we met up around 3:00 in the afternoon at the car rental place and then we didn’t get home until after 3:00AM!!

Bruiser!

Shannon (NYC alum club pres) and I with Bruiser

Bruiser and the rowdy UConn fans sitting behind us

A new lady at church, Danise, had a group of ladies over to her place for brunch. So fun and some great get-to-know-ya time. I told Danise I’m really impressed with her for making such an effort to get to know people. She just recently moved up from Texas.

Shake Shack with Christina, Rosella, and Courtney! I had not been all summer and Chris & Ro had never been. I love the Shake Shack and it was the most perfect Sunday afternoon to sit in the park enjoying our yummy burgers & shakes. We met some famous dogs while there. Apparently, their biggest claim to fame is as 2 dogs on a Sex In the City episode. They were hilarious dogs named Buster and Biscuit. Their owner chatted with us forever!

Christina and I went to see crazy David Blaine doing his hanging stunt in Central Park. It was a total let-down. They said he’d be hanging upside down for 60 hours. Yet, when I arrived, he was standing right-side-up on a crane having his vitals checked. Apparently he did that every hour or so and it took a long time, so that’s a lot of time knocked off the 60 hours. Then, when he finally went back to hanging, he had all these contraptions, pulleys, and levers that allowed him to lie horizontal in the air. I’m sure it wasn’t comfortable, but it wasn’t upside-down! What a crock!

Taking a break

Getting situated

Moving into a horizontal position

Being lowered down to sign autographs for fans

Book club! We read “Friday Night Knitting Club”. There were very mixed opinions on this book among our group. I loved it and hope that it gets made into a movie!! I will admit, it was very predictable, but I still liked it a lot. We met at NoHo Star for dinner because it was mentioned in the book. I’d wanted to go there anyway…it was great food and a fun night! We’re now reading “Thousand Splendid Suns”. I’ve only read the tiny first chapter, but so far so good!

Went to my first hockey game of the season. Rosella and I went to a Rangers game. I really think I could get into hockey if I went more often. The games are really fun and the fans are crazy! This was the first game I’ve gone to where there were a couple of really good fights, too. Excitement!

Fight!!

Lunch in Bryant Park! Some girls from church, mostly in my community group, are starting to meet up for lunch weekly. We all work near each other and decided we needed to take advantage of it! While the weather is still nice, Bryant Park is the perfect spot! Last week there were 5 of us that were able to make it out.

I’ve been doing lots of grocery shopping and cooking! I am loving having my own kitchen without roommates who leave it totally gross all the time. I love going to the farmer’s markets and even made the effort to do a big trip to Trader Joe’s. TJ’s takes a lot of time and patience because of the crowds and lines and a lot of effort getting those groceries home on the subway! It’s totally worth it though – good, inexpensive food!

I have some really exciting things planned over the next 2 weeks, so I will try to stay up-to-date. Stay tuned!

UPDATE

Update! I’ve been notified that I forgot to link the Boston pics to the blog. They’re there now. Enjoy!