Reasons Why my 4th of July Sucked and Why it Really Didn't

Written on July 5th-- late getting it posted!!

So, my 4th of July didn't end up nearly as bad as it could have. I'll start with the good parts of the day so that if you don't want to hear me complain, you can stop half-way through.
My friend, Tonya, was in town the past two nights. I met up with her late Monday night for dinner at a Greek restaurant in my neighborhood. I thought it was one I had been to before, but once inside, I realized it was actually the Greek restaurant next door I had been too. This one wasn't quite as good, but very similar. Tonya was with 2 of her friends and it was great to enjoy a nice dinner with good company.
Last night, we went to Roosevelt Island to watch the Macy's fireworks show. It was a great show and a great place to watch it! For some reason, I thought we were taking a boat over to the island, but I don't know where I got that idea because there were no boats going over there. There is a fun looking tram that goes over there above the water but it's closed until Fall-- that would be fun to do sometime though! We just took the subway over-- it's a quick and easy trip. The island is very small, cute, and quaint. I'd like to explore it a little more some day. We sat on the very tip of the south end of the island. It is TINY at the tip. There were chairs stretched across the island (except not on the slope on the edges going down to the water). It took only 20 chairs with a center aisle to go from edge to edge. The fireworks are set off from barges in the water and we were close to and facing those barges. It was a great show set to live music blaring over loud speakers. The other cool thing was that we could also see the show that was done from Liberty Island which happened to be the EXACT same firworks show because they used the same music. So, we could see fireworks up close and high in the sky and see the exact same ones down low and in the distance! It was a wonderful way to celebrate the 4th!!
The crazy thing about the 4th in the city is that it became a complete ghost town. Apparently, everyone heads to the beaches for the 4th. I went out at lunch time and then again for the fireworks and there was no one on the streets. I had never seen it quite like that!

***Complaint section***
The day didn't start off as great as it ended. The movers ended up coming on the 4th. They called at 7AM on Monday and said they were coming that day, which annoyed me slightly because they were supposed to give at least 24 hours notice. But, they had my stuff, so I was at their mercy! Then, they called later on Monday and wanted to push it back to Tuesday. I was happy with this plan since I had Tuesday off work and had a lot to do on Monday after being out for a whole week. They said that it would be Tuesday morning-- I had visions of them coming, dropping stuff off, then me heading out to meet Tonya for a day of shopping before the fireworks! The movers never called that morning, so I called them at 10am and they said they'd be 2-3 more hours. This happened all day long-- me waiting 3 hours, calling them and being told it would be 2-3 more hours. The last time I spoke with them they said they'd be there by 8, but that would mean I'd miss the fireworks!!! I was SO upset and angry with the movers. They were really rude to me about the situation. It was a frustrating day! They finally showed up around 6:30 and they were fast and I helped them. I was out the door on the way to the island by 7:45-- thank goodness!! I would have been so upset if I hadn't gotten to enjoy my first 4th in the City!! I must say, I am so thankful to have my stuff here. My room feels much more like home with my furniture in it. And, for the first time in 11 weeks, I got to sleep in my own bed- ahhhhh!!
The other crazy thing about my 4th was after the fireworks were over. Have you ever been on a tiny island with thousands of people who all want to leave at the same time?? Craziness!! We walked to the subway, but the line was enormous and when someone said it would be an hour or two before we actually got on a train, we decided to take the alternate route. We walked way up to the north part of the island, walked across a little red bridge over the river, and ended up in Queens where we caught a taxi back to Manhattan. It took over 2 hours to get back home. So, while the fireworks from the island were lovely, I'm not sure I'd do it again because you can't get home afterwards!!
I hope all of you had a terrific 4th!!

I Want a Catholic Wedding

Actually, the wedding itself doesn't have to be Catholic, but I found out this weekend that I want to have a Catholic reception. My cousin, Amy, was married on Saturday. She's the baby of the family. My older sister, Beth, and I have just 3 cousins- Nicole, Christopher and Amy Canon. They come from a huge Catholic family- my Uncle Chris has 6 or 7 brothers and sisters. Amy is no longer Catholic, but she and her new husband are strong Christians, so her ceremony was just a traditional Christian ceremony. But, the reception had some fun Catholic traditions involved. While Amy and Nathan danced, people gave them money! Yep, cash-- $1's, $5's, $20's, even a $50 bill. So, at the end of the night, I see Nicole organizing all the cash they got and went over and asked her what that was all about. She said that anyone who dances with the bride gives her money. Nathan and Amy were probably going to take it with them on their honeymoon as spending money. The other fun thing was this crazy dance called the Grand March. It lasted forever and everyone got involved-- running all around the reception room in a chain, creating bridges, snaking in and out of other people. It was crazy and confusing, but with all those Catholic Canons there, they kept the rest of us in line. It was quite fun! So, now I want a Catholic reception!
The wedding weekend was lots of fun. Full of all kinds of events-- a casual BBQ on Thursday night, the rehearsal dinner on Friday night followed by a lingerie shower. My mom, sister and I held the Bridal Brunch on Saturday at the Bed & Breakfast where we were staying. It turned out really nice. The B&B was a great place to stay in Canyon- very cute and the breakfasts were great. The couple who runs it were really nice and Christians who blessed the meal each morning.
I'm back in the city now. Coming back this time was a little bit difficult. I just didn't feel like I had a whole lot to come back to since my job situation has turned out to be less than ideal, I don't have many friends yet and am finding it difficult to make new ones since I'm not seeing the same people consistently. It will all be okay, but being home just made me realize what I'm missing right now.

Ikea+sunshine+family+friends = great time in DALLAS!

My time in Dallas has been amazing! So filled of time spent with friends and family. I was so worried about the stress the move might involve but because so many were praying for this week, it has been so smooth! I had imagined myself having to open each box I had so carefully packed in April to sort out what I could and could not bring. But, when I hit Dallas on Saturday morning at 8:30, mom and I went straight to Ikea. I'm not a huge fan of Ikea, but for this move, I knew it had some very practical stuff. I wanted 3 things: 1) a big, tall, cabinet type thing to use for all my kitchen stuff-- since I love to entertain, it means I have more dishes, cooking untensils, serving pieces, etc... than I really need. I got rid of some of the stuff in my garage sale back in April, but still had plenty I wasn't ready to part with. Plus, maybe I can have some girls over for brunch in NYC and that will be a way to start developing some relationships! 2) a stand or something for my TV which I could hang from the ceiling so that it would be up out of the way since I don't have much floor space 3) some sort of cabinet to also hang on the wall to just use as more storage place in my bedroom. We found all three things!! And #1 and #3 were both on sale at great prices! I was so excited and it was a huge relief. Then, I felt like I could take everything I had because I have places to put it now. Great Ikea experience. The movers came this morning--so, it's pretty official. I am moving to NYC!!
The Ikea trip set me off on the right foot for the week in Texas! So, I've been able to just relax and enjoy my time with people I love. Here's some of the fun stuff I've done:

• Gone to the pool with Ryder twice--he's such a sweet baby. I swear when I saw him today he was excited to see me, so that's a good feeling because 3 weeks from now, he probably won't remember me anymore. The time in the Texas sunshine was great for me, too!
• Spent hours on Saturday watching the last several episodes of Grey's Anatomy with 5 of my girlfriends. So fun! We also went to church together and did lots of chatting and catching-up!
• Ate lunch with my friend, Amanda, who is in town for the summer all the way from Indonesia. It was great to hear about her experiences both in Indonesia and her adjustments to being back here in the States.
• A friend from high school randomly was in town for work so I got to spend some good time with him on Sunday night.
• Ate lunch with my ex-roommate and friend, Kristen, who happens to be a CPA at a church here and gave me some great ideas and contacts for issues I'm dealing with at my new job.
• Spent an entire afternoon with my friend Marsha just talking, listening, and taking lots of advice and gaining from all her wisdom. She's about to have a baby any day, so I also got to see all her fun baby toys, clothes, and the precious room she has put together.
• Spent lunch and a few hours at my friend Kelli's just catching-up and playing with her baby, Gil.
• Had an awesome dinner with Julie and Amber. I'd always wanted to go to Fireside Pies and now that I've moved away, I finally got to go. It was delicious! I was always looking for good pizza in Dallas and this was it!!

Tomorrow, I have brunch with Janet and Michelle and then I need to go back to where all my stuff has been the past couple of months and sort through the little bit that is left there. Tomorrow night is dinner with Deanna and then Shakespeare in the Park with a small group. I never went to Shakespeare in the Park when I lived here and am looking forward to checking it out! Then, Thursday is on to Amarillo and the wedding festivities. I'm looking forward to that as well! Mom and I did some packaging of cookies tonight for the bridal lunch we're hosting on Saturday. I'm looking forward to all the events!

Tasti D Lite

So, in the past week, I've gotten into a place called Tasti D Lite. They are all over NYC and I've been curious about it because I see so many people walking around eating it. Basically, it's an ice cream alternative shop. Sounds strange, but it's delicious. It's all-natural and tastes just like ice cream! It's a low-cal, low-fat treat! They have over 100 flavors, but only offer about 6 at a time so you never know what you're gonna get until you get there. I think I've been 3 times in the past week. It reminds me of Baylor days when we used to go for a run on the Bear Trail then stop by TCBY. Only now, it's running in Central Park before Tasti D Lite!

So, I haven't talked too much about my job on here. Primarily because some stuff has gone on that I don't feel like I should talk about on here (if you're curious, I can explain, but I've had the chance to share with many of you personally). Things are getting better on that front. There are a lot of things I really like about the job. The accounting system was a complete disaster when I got there. There was no organization, they were way behind on updating the books, there were bank accounts that haven't been reconciled since the church started in 2002, etc, etc, etc... But, I actually really enjoy the accounting work and the bank reconciliations have been the kind of challenge I enjoy! I still haven't really dug myself all the way out of the deep dark hole I was thrown into when I started, but we're getting there and making progress. There is one volunteer who comes in for a few hours each Thursday and as of today, she is MY volunteer for as long as I need her. So, that will be a huge help!! She actually used to do the accounting at the church until she had a baby, so she's somewhat knowledgeable.

Here's some other things to know about my job/office:

• I get pulled in to help with non-accounting stuff occasionally and I am enjoying the variety. Today, one of my co-workers and I were working on a mailer that needed to go out-- needed to print on fancy paper, make labels, cut some fancy cards to include, etc.... Then, we had to stuff, stamp, label, lick, and mail the packets to 300 people. Oh, and if you're wondering if we personally licked 300 envelopes...we actually have a device called "The Licker" that you run the envelopes through! Anyway, while we were doing all this tedious work up at the front of the office, we got to watch 4 episodes from Season 3 of Friends. That would have NEVER happened at my old job!!
• I got to send out an evite last week. For those of you who know me well, you know that I love to plan and organize events-- from a small brunch to a big party, I love to entertain. So, sending out an evite for work purposes suited me quite well.
• My desk is right near all the worship arts guys-- at any given time, they may be singing or strumming their guitars. It is awesome to be working away at the computer and have live worship music to listen to. We are all often walking around the office singing or humming the same tune.
• They are really, really big on books. I am currently reading two books for work right now and that will usually always be the case at any given time (some people are reading 3 or 4 books at a time just for work). The first is a book that everyone who reports to my direct supervisor is reading and it's called the "21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership". (By the way, they are specifically really, really into leadership books). The second book is one that the whole staff is reading and it is called "Launch: Starting a Church from Scratch" and was written by our lead pastor and one of the other teaching pastor's on staff. It's about church planting (they are also really, really big on church planting). I have actually really enjoyed that book. It has talked a lot about being called to start a church and I have just been able to relate to parts of it because I, in a sense, felt called to come to New York and further to work at the church. It has helped me to sort through some of the struggles I've encountered with the job.
• Our lead pastor had his 1st baby born this week...a boy named Alex. Only one member on staff currently has a child, a baby named Abby and she is frequently in the office and is a super happy baby!
• The staff is very, very young. I fall about right in the middle...the youngest is 21, the oldest is 42 (and he's only been on staff about a month-- before him, the oldest was 34).
• We can literally wear whatever we want. Shorts and flip-flops is totally acceptable. This means a complete shift in wardrobe for me. I feel weird wearing shorts to work, so I probably will never do that. I am loving my skirts and flip flops, though!
• There is always food! Snacks, snacks, snacks. They buy stuff for when volunteers come in. Plus, there are often breakfast meetings in the office. Sometimes it's a good thing, sometimes not so good to have food accessible at all times!

So, it's definitely a different life from the corporate world and actually has taken some adjusting to, but there is definitely plenty to love about it!

I'm Back!!

So, I've obviously gotten really bad about updating this blog! It is so crazy how easily I've gotten swept up in day-to-day life. I feel like I'm not taking as much advantage of being here as I should be. And, the drawn out process of moving/getting settled has not made it any easier. So, I've set a new goal for myself-- I have to do at least one new New York thing each week. We'll see how it goes!

So, I think my friend Mindy deserves a shout-out. Although I know I have several faithful readers, Mindy has been the most active as she frequently writes in comments!! For you non-Dallas people who don't know Mindy, here's an introduction....when Mindy and I were very first starting to get to know each other, I needed someone to help me teach the K/1st kids at church (or were they pre-K/K?). I decided to ask my Bible study if anyone was interested, not really expecting anyone to be, especially without thinking about it first. But, Mindy immediately replied, "yes"! We didn't really know each other too well at the time, as I had only been involved in the Bible study for a couple of months. But, I was thrilled she wanted to help. As a result of our friendship beginning around little kids, in my mind, I always think of her as "Miss Mindy", since that's what the kids called her. She's great and really sweet and married to a nice guy and now living in Colorado working for Whole Foods in their accounting department.

So, what's been going on with me in the big city lately? Here's the latest:

-- I have done LOTS of shopping over the past couple of days. I don't think I'll ever get in enough shopping in this city. Remember a few weeks ago I mentioned a store I'd found that I loved, Purdy Girl?? Well, there are 3 locations and this past weekend I went to the 3rd and it was SO expensive!! Weird, because the other 2 locations were really reasonable. I still managed to come out with a couple of nice new black tops, which I really needed. I went to another store near Purdy Girl called Towne Shop- it's actually a famous bra shop where they give customers a lot of personal attention. It's been around since the late 1800's and has been owned by the same family. It's been written up in lots of articles. It was a good bra-shopping experience-- nice to get some advice on something so necessary. I also did some shopping in SoHo...went to a couple great shops-- Cath Kidston (super cute homey stuff) and Kate's Paperie (love a great paper store)! Then I walked over to Little Italy and ate at Lombardi's Pizza. I've had several slices of street pizza since I've been here, but nothing beats Lombardi's- it was delicious! Tonight, on my way from work, I stopped at a couple of stores with my friend, Joy. One was full of the cutest and the cheapest skirts! We were kind of in a hurry, so we didn't try stuff on, but decided it was definitely worth checking out again. We also wandered into a cosmetic store called Missha-- it was really nice and also very cheap stuff. I got some great lip stick and lip gloss that I can already tell I'm gonna love!

-- My summer Growth Group through church started last week. Joy is leading and I'm the "Care Coordinator", which means I just help with the planning, logisitics, organization, etc... I'm excited about it. We're supposed to have 7 girls and 3 guys, but so far only the girls have come. We're doing a study on the first 7 chapters of Romans and I think I'm going to really like it. I'm also really enjoying the girls in our group-- who needs boys?

-- My church started a 2nd location this weekend-- an 11:00 service in Jersey City. So, I spent time over there on both Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, I went over to help with Servant Evangelism-- handing out gum and postcards advertising the current sermon series. It all went great until my group of 4 was kicked out of the entrance at Target by the manager. But, we found another location to finish distributing our goods. It's hard to find locations to do SE over there because it's not like Manhattan where everyone is out walking the streets. On Sunday, I got to work with the kids-- total blast!!! We only had 3-- all little 2-year-old girls and I loved it! They were so cute and fun. There were over 80 people in the service-- a great turn-out for the 1st time ever! I have a goal of going to all the states in the Northeast while I'm living up here-- so now I've got one down! The area of Jersey City we were in seemed really nice. It's just on the other side of the river from Manhattan and it's a different world over there. It's so clean and people drive cars.

-- I painted my bedroom!! Painting is not fun, but it really, really needed it. I thought it was going to be sort of a beige-yellow color, but it's pretty much just yellow. It's good, though, because my window faces this itty bitty interior area of the complex, so no light or air really comes in. Hopefully the walls will brighten up my room a bit.

-- Natalie Portman was in our building last week. Apparently she was there being fitted for costumes for a Columbia pictures movie. One of my co-workers saw her as he was getting off the elevator and she was getting on and he said he could not breathe afterwards!

-- Last night, I purchased, lugged home and up the flight of stairs, and installed an air conditioner. Impressed? It really wasn't that hard. Places here don't have air conditioners. I know some of you are thinking, "that's because it's not Texas and you don't have the heat"! But, let me tell you, it is HOT here. And it is a totally different kind of heat than in Texas. I walk to work between 8:15 and 8:30 and by the time I get there, I'm drenched. Actually, as soon as I step out the front door, I feel wet all over. It is so humid. It is so gross.

-- Weird things have happend with my legs and feet since I've been here. I know I mentioned a while back that my legs were really hurting. Well, I got over that and thought I'd gotten used to all the walking. For some reason my legs are hurting again this week-- Joy thinks it's because I hauled the air conditioner around and she may be right. But, also, my heels are really messed up. They are so dry and cracking- it hurts!! I guess because I'm wearing flip-flops every day now and they are exposed to all the elements. I'm trying all different kinds of heavy duty lotion, but so far no luck.

-- I have at least 1 new thing schedule for this week, but it's kind of a secret. If you'd like to know, ask! I may (or may not) tell you what it is.

-- I'm going home this weekend!! Yea! I'm so excited. I am going to be SO busy though. I have so many people lined up to see. And, I have to coordinate the logistics of my move (remember, although I'm in my permanent place, I'm still sleeping on an air mattress here)! So, the movers are lined up to come either on Tuesday or Wednesday. I sold off a bunch of stuff and packed up everything before I left, but now that I know what my permanent space looks like, I have a better idea of what I can bring up here. So, I need to go through and sort out the things that I just can't fit here. And my bedroom furniture and couch will come up. And then I have to figure out what to do with my extra boxes and furniture...my parents have an attic, but we're not really sure how much will fit up there because it's sort of shaped funny and it's just not real useful... we shall see. After spending Saturday-Wednesday in Dallas, I'll head to Canyon/Amarillo where I'll be going to my cousin, Amy's, wedding, and all the events involved with that. I'll also get to see my Baylor BFF, Becca, who lives in Amarillo. It's gonna be a whirlwind of a week, but I can't wait!

So, this blog is proof that I need to write more often. I've probably left stuff out and it's already so long! Thanks for reading!

Rainy Day Saturday

I spent all day Saturday on my feet in the rain!! It wasn’t a down pour, but just light showers off and on. I took a run in the park that morning. Then, I met up with my friend Joy to spend the afternoon scoping out the Upper East side. She’s about to move over there and wanted to check out her new neighborhood. We like it!! She’s pretty far north, so there isn’t a ton of shopping and restaurants in her immediate area, but just about 5 blocks south is where the really nice shopping on Madison Avenue starts. And, she’s just about half a block from Central Park and it is the prettiest part of the park I’ve seen! It’s the botanical gardens and it was so green and there were tons of pretty flowers. A wedding was even going on—in the rain! We also ventured onto some dirt paths—I’ve been too afraid to do that along—but, it was so cool!! It felt like you were in the woods in the mountains. We found a stream and a little waterfall and a rock bridge—it was so fun! After the park, we checked out Madison Avenue and got some delicious gelato. We ended up near The Met, so we decided to go. We walked through the museum for a while—checked out the Egyptian section, the modern art section, and just did a lot of wondering. It was a really great, fun day! But, my feet were killing me by the end of it!

Tonight, I went to church with my roommate, Cathy. She is still searching for a permanent church, but had been to Times Square Church before and wanted to try it again. I’ve heard a lot of good things about the church—it’s the largest in Manhattan. It was a little to crazy for me!! Very charismatic—it was so loud! Even when the minister prayed, everyone else was praying their own prayers out loud! It was a little distracting for me. But, the sermon was actually quite good, so that was nice.

I’m loving my new neighborhood. I love that I can walk to work. And checking out the restaurants is a blast! I’ve already had Italian, Greek, Mexican (yes, Mexican, and it was actually good), and Brazilian food. Supposedly, the Brazilian restaurant is Leo DiCaprio's favorite! I'll be watching out for him!

The Results are In!

So, we finished the NYC cupcake test with a stop at Buttercup Bakery. AND....it won first prize! They had our overall favorite cupcake. Now, we all agreed that Magnolia had the best icing and Beth and my mom thought that Cupcake Cafe had the best cake, but overall creation had to go to Buttercup!

The rest of the weekend was full of more shopping, walking, and eating. We ate brunch one day at Café Lalo (was in You’ve Got Mail), which was great and we ate lunch another day at the Peanut Butter & Co.-- a restaurant where almost everything on the menu has PB in it! We found what may be my new favorite store—Purdy Girl! I loved it. It looks like a high-end boutique store, but the prices are actually reasonable! I got a cute skirt and a comfy pair of flip-flops and could have probably found more, but knew I didn’t want to have more to move!! Oh, the place we ate on Saturday that I mentioned in my last blog and couldn’t remember the name of was 11 Madison Park—yum!

I moved this week into my new apartment—and this time it should be permanent! I’m not having to sign a lease, so I can get out at any time, but I’ve gone in with the attitude that I’ll probably be there 1 year. I have 2 roommates—found them through another church here in the city. They seem really nice and I think they’ll be easy to live with. My bedroom is TINY!! But, I decided that I wasn’t going to find everything I’m looking for in an apartment and this had almost everything. Our living area is a nice size, so I think it will work out okay. It’s in Manhattan, not on the Upper West side like I hoped, but close. It’s located in Hell’s Kitchen—which is now being referred to as Clinton. Hell’s Kitchen might sound scary, but it’s not. It’s located in mid-town—close to everything!! Times Square, Central Park, Upper West Side, my work, church, etc… There are TONS of restaurants in the neighborhood so it will be fun to explore those. So for all you friends planning trips to visit, I now have a place you can stay!! I’m still hoping to fit my double bed in my room and my couch in the living area and there is lots more room for air mattresses! I bought a nice double sized air mattress this week to sleep on until I get my furniture in about a month. I will be leaving for Dallas in just 3 weeks to wrap up everything there. Yea!!

This week was rough—don’t have any real specific reasons why, but it just seemed like one of those weeks where nothing went right and I kept messing things up! Got on the wrong subway, or didn’t get off when I was supposed to, dropped an iron on the couch at my parent’s friends place and ruined the cushion, and just didn’t feel like myself. You know how it goes sometimes.

Please be praying for a very dear friend of mine and her husband in Dallas who lost a baby last night. It’s been a tough day for me thinking about them and I can’t imagine the grief they are experiencing.