Sleepless before Seattle

I was able to take a fun trip to Seattle for Labor Day weekend and I'll get around to blogging about that soon.  In the meantime, I'll catch you up on the crazy busy week I had before I left for Seattle!

On Friday the 28th, I went to my friend Danise's apartment to help her pack everything she owns into black trash bags.  She found out recently that there are bed bugs in her building and is having her apartment treated.  We don't think she has them, but she wanted to be careful and the apartment owners are paying for her treatment ($2,000!!!).  So, Kira and I went over and we ate pizza and then packed everything in the entire apartment into black garbage bags (aparently bed bugs won't get in those).  Bed bugs are a HUGE problem in NYC right now and I pray I never experience them - they are a huge hassel to deal with.  When we had to move Danise's mattress, we decided to be extra careful and donned garbage bags.  Kira got all cute with hers....project runway style!

Kira and I in our lovely garbage bag attire

Saturday was the day to celebrate my birthday in NYC!  I decided last minute that I wanted to get some friends together.  I knew almost all my friends were either out of town, moving apartments that day, or working that night.  I decided to do it anyway!  The original plan was to get cocktails on the roof of The Met and then go to dinner at an Italian restaurant near my apartment.  Unfortunately, it rained earlier in the day and they closed The Met rooftop...so sad because it ended up being the perfect evening!  We still went out for dinner at Spiga.  A girl from church used to live in my neighborhood and recently told me it is her very favorite place up here.  I trust her opinion and had been wanting to try it.  It is super cute and quaint, authentic Italian food run by an Italian family.  It was great!  There were only 4 of us for dinner, but we had good conversation and a yummy meal.

On Sunday, I taught Sunday School.  I only had Sydney in my class - she's my most regular attender.  I was so very glad she was there as I've missed having her all summer...her family travels a lot in the summer.  And, it was my last Sunday to have her as she is graduating to the next class this year.  I just love her and she feels the same about me.  We were sad, but still had a great morning!  She has grown so much this year and was such a delight to teach.  I look forward to still seeing her around church!

Sarah, Kim, and I ventured out to the US Open on Monday night.  We had a blast!!  Sadly, I forgot to take my camera and only have a couple pics from Sarah right now.  We went on the first night of the Open, so we got to see the opening ceremony.  They honored 4 athletes who have charitable organizations:  Mia Hamm (I love her!), Andre Agassi (awesome!), David Robinson, and Doug Flutie.  It was awesome to see them there!  Mayor Bloomberg spoke and Rob Thomas sang.  I didn't even know there was an Opening Ceremony, so this was a great bonus.  The first match we saw was Venus Williams' first match.  She should have easily won it, but it was back and forth all night.  She finally pulled through, but the match lasted almost 3 hours!  Afterwards was Andy Roddicks' match.  Since it was getting so late, a lot of people left before Venus' match was even over, so we got to move down to court-side seats.  It was so awesome to be able to see and hear everything the players did.  And, I called my mom to tell her to watch for us on TV and she immediately spotted me talking on the phone to her - so fun!  We basically learned that Roddick is a big a$$.  He treated the towel/ball boys horribly.  From our new seats, we could see Andre Agassi and John McEnroe up in the media booth.  We tried to get Jon's attention all night and he finally waved to us as we were leaving.  Also, on the way out we ran into David Robinson and basically chased him down to get pictures.  It was hilarious!  Since Venus' match was so long, I didn't get home until 2AM...on a work night!

Sarah, myself, and Kim

The towel boy throwing the towel at Roddick

On Tuesday night, I went to see our worship leader, Tom, perform his last show in NYC.  He and his wife are moving to Nashville.  He writes and performs his own music around the city and elsewhere, but I'd never been to one of his shows.  It was fun to go out and support him along with many others from church.  Afterwards, I met up with Tonya who was in town for work.  We went to dinner at a new Thai place and then across the street to Kyotofu for dessert.  I had so much fun catching up with her and rehashing her wedding and hearing about her honeymoon.  We talked so much that it was 1am before we even knew it!

Tom rocking out with his band at The Canal Room

Needless to say, I was exhausted by the time Wednesday rolled around and it was my night to stay late with the auditors, plus I still had to pack for an early morning flight on Thursday!  Luckily, the auditors left before 7:00 that night and I made it home at a decent time to get myself ready for Seattle.  Luckily it's a 5+ hour flight and I got to catch up on my sleep in the air :)