My sister's friend, Chandra, spent the past couple of nights with me. She really wanted to make a trip to NYC and gave it to herself for her birthday and Beth offered up my place to stay-- which is totally fine, I like my visitors! Friday night, she ended up getting a 1/2 price ticket to a show, so we parted ways and I went on to Robyn's birthday at Central Bar. It was fun and gave me a chance to get to know a couple of the girls from Bible Study a little better. And I met the cutest girl from Dallas who is here for just 6 months getting certified in Pilates...she said I could come in for free one-on-one Pilates classes and I really might check into it!


Saturday, Chandra and I went to Cafe Lalo for brunch. This is a cute place, but I've decided I don't like it that much. I just don't think the food is all that fantastic...too many other good brunch places in the city, in my opinion. Afterwards, we headed to Chinatown because Chandra had orders from people in Dallas for purses. She did pretty well finding purses. I got some headbands that my cousin wanted and one for my sister. We stopped by Little Italy for a quick slice of pizza to tide us over until dinner. I've never eaten pizza in Little Italy- just other Italian food, but it was really good!


Saturday night, we met two of Chandra's friends for dinner. One is a guy who lives here and used to go to church with Chandra and Beth in Dallas. He's an actor-- getting ready to head to LA. He's had some gigs, like a recurring role on "One Life to Live", but he wants to get out of the soap opera world. The other friend of Chandra's was this girl Kristy, also a church friend. She's the owner of Two Funny Girls-- one of my favorite online stores where I purchase baby gifts! I had never met her before, but she knew who I was simply because I order from her everytime a friend has a baby! After dinner, Chandra and I went to see "The Pirate Queen", a newer Broadway musical. Chandra knows the girl who is the lead actress. It was a great show-- created by the same people as Les Mis and Mis Saigon-- my 2 very favorites. They don't make shows like that anymore- most the shows on Broadway are more upbeat and comical, but I really like these that are more serious and powerful.


There's been a street fair in my neighborhood this weekend, so on our way out this morning, we stopped at one of the booths and got yummy smoothies for breakfast. From there, we headed to the Frick Museum. It was a great museum. It's in a mansion, which was my favorite part. It was really cool to walk through this huge house and I just loved the architecture and all the details of the ceilings, walls, and doors. The man who lived there during the early 1900's built a very impressive collection of paintings and other art and when he died, his museum and all the art inside became public. It was a cool place.


Afterwards, we had lunch at Serendipity, which I always love. I really do think their food is delicious!


Tonight, I went to church. Ran into another guy I used to work with at The Journey. Apparently, he's been coming some, I just haven't seen him. He's a really good kid and I was glad to see him there!

B&B

I went to see Beauty and the Beast with Joy the other night. It’s closing in July so I wanted to see it before then, plus I got discounted tickets through work. Sadly, I didn’t like it much. I had high expectations because the two other Disney shows I’ve seen I liked…I loved Tarzan and Mary Poppins was pretty good as well. B&B…not so much. I just couldn’t get into it. Plus, it’s full of that silly, slap-stick humor that I just never find very funny. Oh, well, I would have been disappointed if I hadn’t gotten to see it, so at least I got that accomplished!!

I’m off to a party tonight. It’s my friend, Robyn’s 30th and ½ birthday. Apparently she got the flu on her actual birthday (I didn’t know her yet), so now she feels she deserves a re-do. We’re going to some bar—Central Bar. I’ve heard Robyn talk about it before and she knows all the “hot spots” in the city. In fact, when I went to the John Mayer concert, Robyn was also there, but afterwards, she went to the after-party WITH Jessica Simpson and John Mayer—geez. I didn’t know her too well then and I saw her a few weeks later and she rubs it in and is like “if only I had your number!” Seriously, if only!!

Beth’s good friend, Chandra’s in town so I’ll be hanging out with her a lot the next couple of days.

LOCKED OUT!

I got locked out of my apartment last night for about an hour and it was quite an experience. I've never had an apartment where the door automatically locks behind you. I've always had to use my key to lock the door, thus, I always knew I had my keys with me. Here, all of my roommates and I have locked ourselves out on occasion, but there's always been someone home to call and let us in immediately.

My problem last night began when I left to go for a jog. I knew as soon as I shut the door that I didn't have my keys with me. I started knocking on the door because I knew Sharon was there- I had just seen her about 10 minutes prior. I knocked, and rang, and knocked and rang for who knows how long. Sharon had probably just gone to bed and I think she sleeps with heavy-duty earplugs since she sleeps right on the street when it's still day-time for everyone else. I would have called her because that usually wakes her up, but all I had with me were the clothes on my back and my Ipod. Not so helpful and I was feeling rather helpless. I began to get frustrated and tried to think through my options. I could borrow somebody's phone in the building, but who would I call? The only number I have memorized is my sister's in Dallas and that wasn't going to help much. I could go to Joy's and hang there until 1am when Sharon gets up to go, but Joy usually doesn't get home until late and who knows where she is now. I'd also have to walk to her place because I have no money and no metrocard. I could find Kristin...she's probably still at work....at The Journey office...they DO have computers there...but, I can't go there. If I could get to a computer, I could get to my email and maybe, just maybe, find the email Sharon sent me about a year ago with her phone number in it, then I could borrow a phone and call her. So, now it's down to finding a computer, that I can use for free. Where do they have free computers? The coffee shop down the street? No, you have to pay for those. Work...but, I don't have any of my security cards or even an ID to get in. Hmmm. Maybe I should have made some friends in my building by now, but I NEVER see anyone. Seriously, I have no idea who lives here except for 1 guy I see repeatedly.

About this time, a girl comes down the stairs. I'm wearing my bright orange t-shirt from the Katy Trail 5k that I ran 2 years ago (best 5k EVER...if you're in Dallas, it's TOMORROW and I highly suggest you go). Anyway, the girl stops and asks if I'm locked out. I say yes, explain that my roommate is there, but can't hear me. She offers her phone, I tell her I don't know any numbers. Then, she asks "Where's the Katy Trail?" I hesitate, because growing up in Missouri and living in Dallas, I know it's in both places, but figure she doesn't want that much information. I decide to go with Dallas. She's like "Are you FROM there??" And it turns out she's a Dallas girl as well...also moved up here about 1 year ago. She's quite a bit younger- a 2005 TCU grad. It was nice to make that connection-- she was on her way to drop her laundry off and I told her that if I was still standing there when she returned, I might ask for her help.

About that time, my next door neighbor, who I had never seen before, opens her door.
"Is that you banging on their door?"
"Well, it's MY door. I'm locked out. I know my roommate is in there."
"Oh, do you need to borrow my phone?"
"No. I don't know any numbers......Do you have a computer?"
"Yes. But, it's almost out of battery." (Lie-- it's okay, I don't blame her). "Can I look something up for you?"
"Well, I was just thinking that if I could get to my email, I could find some phone numbers."
"Hang on." Then, she let me in. She was really cute and so nice. I got on her computer and it took a while, but I found numbers for Sharon, Cathy (who I was pretty sure was out of town), and Joy. I tired Sharon first- left a message, then tried again to see if she'd pick up the second time. No luck. I tried Cathy-- she WAS out of town in Puerto Rico- no help there, and now I'd given the ultimate worrier a reason to worry. Final call- Joy. She didn't pick up, so I left a message explaining the situation and told her to swing by and rescue me. The neighbor was about to go out for a run, and I was starting to feel rather helpless again, so I tried Sharon one more time....she picked up.

Thank goodness!!! The whole ordeal last about an hour and I didn't get to go running because I had to leave to meet my Bible Study girls for dinner. It was quite an experience, but I met 2 cute, nice girls in my building. Hopefully, I'll see them around more often!

Morals of the story....get to know your neighbors- you never know when you might need them. Memorize some phone numbers. Give someone else an extra set of your keys...I started keeping an extra set in my purse and they've come in handy a few times when I've accidentally left my regular set inside, but this time I had NOTHING. I'll be making an extra set to give to Joy or Kristin. Don't delete old emails....I've been meaning to clean out my emails for a while now, but those year-old emails from Cathy and Sharon with their phone number sure did come in handy! Joy's I was able to find by looking at my Sprint bill online. Crazy!

Walking Weather

Now that the weather is so nice, I find myself walking a lot more. If I have time, I'd rather walk than get on the subway and it's so nice how this city is set-up for that. Saturday, I went to brunch with a group and afterwards went home with Kristin so we could catch-up. After a couple of hours at her apartment, I left to go home, thinking I would walk a few blocks to the subway, but I was on the phone and just kept walking until I got all the way home! I think it was close to 4-miles...down and across the Upper East Side, through the park, down the Upper West Side all the way to Hells Kitchen! It was so nice!

Friday night, Joy and I went to JP Clarke's to use the gift certificate I won a few weeks ago at my church's coffee house. It was a yummy dinner. Afterwards, we caught a show. It was kind of a review of popular showtunes from the 1920's-1940's. Kristin Chenoweth was the star (she's huge on Broadway, if you don't know her). It was very enjoyable- really cute choreography and great singing and acting. Kristin's also known for her humor, so it was funny, too.

Saturday night, was a party thrown by Joy and her roommates. I ran into some Journey folks I hadn't seen in quite a while and it was fun catching up with them. Unfortunately, it started raining that night, so we didn't get to enjoy the awesome rooftop they have!

Sunday, I went shopping again. I've been having a lot of fun shopping the last 2 weekends! I also went to church. A guy who used to lead worship at The Journey was subbing in for our normal guy. It was great! When I was working in The Journey's office, he sat directly across from me and would often be playing around on his guitar and singing in preparation for Sunday. I totally had flashbacks to those days listening to him sing and play again. I forgot how much I used to love working to the tune of those guys awesome worship songs!

Correction!

In my last post, I said I'd seen the very elaborate Christmas card that was made for the owner of the Dallas Mavericks. That's not what I meant-- that would be Mark Cuban and it was not Mark Cuban's Christmas card. It was actually the COACH's card....Avery Johnson. Just thought I should clarify.

Random Things from this Week

This past weekend was pretty slow, which was nice since the last several have been quite busy. I did do a couple of fun things though. I went to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens on Saturday. The Cherry Blossom Trees were in bloom and I wanted to see them. I LOVED this place. It is gorgeous. The Cherry Blossoms were very pretty, but I'm sure the gardens are beautiful year-round. I spent a couple of hours wandering around the entire garden and then sat in the sun for a while. It was so nice!


Rows of Cherry Blossom Trees-- you can't
see them, but there were a ton of people
lounging beneath the trees.















Cherry Blossom Walk















My favorite thing in the Gardens-- a
hybrid Hydrangea bush! It had a mix of
dark pink, light pink and white petals.




















There were so many amazing flowers in the Gardens















Japanese Garden
















On Sunday I finally took advantage of my job and went to a hockey game! My roommate, Cathy, went along. It was the Rangers last game of the season, as they ended up losing. But, it was a very exciting game. Hockey fans here are ridiculous, though. A lot of yelling and cussing like I haven't heard in a very long time!

I also went shopping!! I had "Friends and Family" discount cards for both Bloomingdale's and Macy's. So, I went to both places and found some new things and that was very fun!

My final project for class was due today! I had two partners and we basically had to create and design a social event. We chose to do a 50th Anniversary Party for 250 people. It was fun. One of my main parts of the project was the invitation, which I had a lot of fun designing. One of my favorite classes this semester was when we had a speaker who owns his own Invitation/Stationary business. He is big-time. He's done things like a baby announcement for Eddie Murphy and he showed us the very elaborate Christmas card he had done for the owner of the Dallas Mavericks. He also showed us an invite he did for one of Eminem's CD release parties. Pretty cool stuff. That's an industry I'd love to work in. My class is officially over now. This summer, I will just take a few of the small classes I need that are full-day over a Friday/Saturday. Then in the fall, I'll take my other full-semester class and a couple more of the smaller 2-days and then I should be done!!

I went to a Chiropractor for the first time this week. I've been having issues with my hip and my aunt suggested I go. I had an initial appointment where he did x-rays and evaluated me. My hips have always been misaligned (I remember when they did the test in Jr. High gym class and told me so). Apparently, all those years of walking around on unbalanced hips has put too much pressure on the left side and I'm finally feeling the affects. The x-rays also showed that my neck is pretty messed up. I had no idea, but he showed me what mine looks like compared to a normal neck and mine is really wrong! I went back today for my first adjustment. I'm not sure what I think about it. It didn't hurt, but I've never been a fan of popping bones and when he cracked my neck, it freaked me out a bit. He is extremely nice, though, and I enjoy talking with him. I'm going to go back to him 3 times a week for a little while to see if we can't get things straightened out.

Canons from Canyon vist NYC

My aunt, Becky, and cousins, Nicole and Amy, came in last Thursday-Monday! We had a great time. My family definitely exhibits quality over quantity. I don’t have a big family, but the one I’ve got is great! Nicole and Amy have a gazillion cousins. Beth & I have only them and their brother, Christopher. Beth and I like to think we’re their favorites out of all those cousins. They’re definitely our favorite! They came to NYC from the booming metropolis of Canyon, Texas. Canyon is located just outside of Amarillo and is home to the 2nd largest Canyon in the U.S. It’s a nice little town, but I have to admit that I was slightly worried they would experience some culture shock when they hit Manhattan. They did quite well, though, keeping up with the crazy New Yorkers. They had never been here (except for Becky when she was 7), so we hit all the typical tourist spots, plus a couple of additional things. Highlights of the weekend:

- Mamma Mia, the musical. I’d seen it several years back in Ft. Worth, but had been wanting to see it on Broadway. It was excellent. I loved the girl who played Sophie…Carey Anderson. She was great.

- Saw an amateur musical on Friday night…Oklahoma, starring a girl I went to high school with, Shana. I really like that musical, so I enjoyed it and Shana did great!

- Ate cheesecake at Lindy’s. There are 2 places in NYC known for their cheesecake….JR’s and Lindy’s. I have tried both once before and prefer Lindy’s way more than JR’s.

- The Tribecca Film Festival is going on right now and Amy was very interested in trying to spot some celebs while she was here. I researched and found us a red carpet event to go to. When we got to the location, it was VERY difficult figuring out exactly where the red carpet was, but Becky really pulled through for us. First, she spotted Mary Stuart Masterson, then she led us to the red carpet. There were other actresses there, but it took us so long to find the red carpet, that the rest of them had gone inside by the time we found it. Seeing Mary Stuart Masterson was great!

- We had brunch at the Eatery. It’s just a block away from me and I hadn’t eaten brunch there since I came up last March for my interview. It was good…I like that place and really should go more often!

- We did more shopping than I seem to do when most other visitors come and I enjoyed that….even though we spent A LOT of time waiting for Amy! We welcomed the moments to rest our feet while she tried on clothes! We learned over the weekend to distract her when passing certain stores so she wouldn’t see them!

- Went to Jacques Torres chocolate factory in SoHo…I’d been in Brooklyn before, but just learned about the SoHo location. They make some great stuff!

- I bought a big leather bag in Chinatown that I am very excited about. I often take a bag to work with my gym clothes in it and I wanted something that looks a lot nicer since I’m carrying it around so much.

- Searched for the crème puff place because my family loves ‘em….we finally found it, but they were closing and were out of crème puffs (except for organic sesame flavor and that sounded no good)! Nicole and I got little chocolate cakes instead, but they were not nearly as tasty as a creme puff!

- Ate brunch at Café Lalo…only my second time to this popular restaurant featured in “You’ve Got Mail”. I like it and want to go back and get the frozen yogurt that Becky and Amy got!

- Seeing a man officing out of his convertible…literally. It was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. This guy had half of his car turned into an office with a desk, a computer, a fax/printer, a filing system, a vase with flowers, etc…. He was pulled up on the side of Broadway working away while people walked by and stared and took pictures in amazement! We really think it was for “Candid Camera” or something. Surely, that guy was not for real!

- We saw this guy at FAO Schwartz doing a taping for his show. Apparently he has some new show on a new cable channel for AT&T. I can't remember his name now, but he might be famous some day. Anyone recognize him??

- The park is starting to turn pretty with the green grass coming up and flowers starting to bloom. We saw the most beautiful tree. I'm not sure what it was- it had white flowers and pink berries. This is what it looked like up close:

- The big event of the weekend was Amy getting busted by the NYPD. That Amy, she’s a real rebel, I tell ya. She was about to go through one of the subway turnstiles and the lady in front of her was having trouble. Amy swiped her card, not realizing that the lady in front of her still had not made it through because her card had not worked. So, basically, this lady was about to go through on Amy’s swipe, which meant Amy would have to wait 15 minutes before her card would register again. Amy, thinking quickly, with Nicole advising her, decided to go through WITH the strange lady. Two of New York’s “finest” were watching on the other side. To them, it looked like Amy had illegally gone through on the stranger’s pass. One of these cops harassed her and really was just a jerk about the whole situation. He said he had no choice, but to give her a ticket. The other cop looked on and shook his head like he thought the first cop should lay-off. Amy tried to explain herself, I went over and tried to explain she was a visitor. Finally, the cop let her go without a ticket and only a stern warning, but not after scaring the crap out of Amy! The NYPD and FDNY are like celebrities here…people LOVE them. But, this was a bad first-hand impression for us. We talked about writing them a letter of complaint!

All in all, it was another good visit! I think they had a good time, but were ready to get back to their normal pace of life in Canyon…plus their families. Amy’s a newlywed and Nicole has 4 little ones at home, so I don’t blame them! I am glad Nicole got a break from the kids though…she’s a great mom with the sweetest kids and she deserved a fun trip!

I feel like I’m on vacation myself every time visitors come and that’s kind of a nice feeling to have!