Celeb Sightings

There's lots to update from my mom's trip up, but I thought I'd start by doing a special post for all the celebrity sightings we had!

My mom planned her trip around the annual Lincoln Center Film Society Tribute & Gala. This is the event I went to two years ago when Diane Keaton was honored and last year when Meryl Streep was honored. This year, it was Tom Hanks!! The event is really a fundraiser where people pay significant amounts of money for dinner and the Tribute, but the past 2 years they've sold leftover tickets to the Tribute only (no dinner) a couple of weeks before for only $45-$50. Unfortunately, they didn't do that this year. They did have a lower-priced option for a cocktail reception and the Tribute, but we still weren't willing to pay $350. However, we did head over there to get a glimpse of the red carpet. It was a blast!! I did my best to get shots of as many of the celebs as possible. We saw:

-- Tom Hanks & Rita Wilson

-- Adrien Brody
-- Charlize Theron

-- Jeremy Irons - that's his back to the camera. He rode in on his motorcycle and the paparazzi went nuts for it.

-- Julia Roberts!!! (Also saw her a few years ago, here). We were across the street, but that was close enough that I could hear her awesome laugh at one point as she talked to the reporters. Love her! But, baffled at the tribute speech she gave to Tom that night...you may have read about it in the news this week.

-- Eli Manning

-- Geoffrey Rush

-- Christie Turlington & Ed Burns

-- Steven Spielberg

-- Sally Fields (in the blue dress)

-- Christopher Walken

-- Jim Gregory

-- Model from some reality show (Top Model??)

-- Ron Howard

-- Glen Close

-- Regis Philbin

-- Bruce Willis -- this was probably the highlight because it was so unexpected! We were walking past the door where "normal" people went in and he walked out of that door and straight past me while I stood there staring with my jaw dropped! He was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and there seemed to be some sort of altercation going on - not sure if they wouldn't let him in because of his attire or what. His new wife was also with him, but standing off at a distance. He stormed off and they hailed a taxi. My mom waved at him and said hello. She loves to say hi to celebs!

Other than the Gala Red Carpet, we also were treated to a few other random celeb sightings. Here's the list:

-- Chace Crawford -- after class on Thursday night, we happened upon the set of his new film, Twelve. He was standing off to the side and we walked right by him. I wanted to tell him he came to my church, but a security guy asked us to move along. I am a fan of Chace!! This is my 3rd time to see him in New York City (here, here)...we're destined to be friends!

-- Joann Woodward -- we ate dinner at Paul Newman's & her restaurant in Westport, CT on Saturday night. Joann came in to eat dinner there, too! My mom was ecstatic and even said hello to her!

-- Jason Castro (American Idol) -- My mom wasn't with me on Tuesday when I saw him wondering down the street near where I work. He's tiny! He was actually also at my church a few weeks ago, but in the morning service and I went at night that week...some of my friends saw him then. He goes to the church in Texas where my Pastor used to be on staff, so it makes sense that he stopped by. Our church is really becoming a happenin' place with two celebs in a months time!

I also came up with the list of all lists before my mom arrived. I found 2 websites that track where celebrities live in New York City. I now have an awesome list compiled of addresses of the homes of the stars! As we walked through different areas of town, we enjoyed referring to the list to see where different people live. Most of them are apartment buildings, so there really isn't much to see, but still fun to know who lives there! Here's a list of whose homes we saw (I've grouped people together who have places in the same building):

-- Michael J. Fox, Bette Midler

-- Renee Zellweger

-- Heath Ledger's last home

-- Alex Rodriguez, Denzel Washington, Sting

-- Jerry Seinfeld, Diana Ross, John McEnroe

-- Blythe Danner

-- Madonna (she just purchased a Townhouse on the Upper East Side last week)

-- Tom Brady

-- Robert Redford

-- Jacqueline Kennedy's old home

-- Ralph Lauren

-- Joann Woodward

-- Naomi Campbell

-- Matt Lauer, also Alex Rodriguez just sold his place there for $10million

-- Dustin Hoffman, Tiger Woods, Bono, Demi Moore, Steven Spielberg, Donna Karan, Steve Martin

I still have a long list of homes to see - will try to conquer that soon since the weather is so great!

Movies 101 : Nursery University

My mom came into town last Thursday afternoon and got to go to class with me that night. I was hoping she'd get to see a big celebrity, but that wasn't the case. I'm still hopeful we'll have at least one big one come, but there are only a couple of classes left! We enjoyed the evening anyway. We saw a documentary called Nursery University. It follows 5 families who are trying to get their toddlers into pre-school. I loved it!! The 2 directors were interviewed as well as 2 ladies who were featured in the documentary...one is the Head of a preschool on the Upper West Side and the other has a consulting business to help disadvantaged families get their children into the good preschools. It was really interesting to see how much you have to go through just to get your kid into preschool here. Crazy! It was a fun night and I'm glad my mom was able to come with me!

Movies 101 : Is Anybody There?

I almost forgot to recap my class last week! We watched the British movie “Is Anybody There?” with Michael Caine. It was okay, but I didn’t love it. People are saying that it is Michael Caine’s best performance ever and supposedly he says it is his favorite role ever. I thought he was good, but I don’t necessarily get all the hype. After watching the movie, one of the Producers, Peter Saraf, was interviewed. He has produced a lot of other movies, including “Little Miss Sunshine” and “Sunshine Cleaning”. I thought this movie had a very similar feel as those. This was our first interview with a producer and I really enjoyed it. If I was ever involved in movies, that’s what I’d want to do. They get to see so many sides of film making and are involved in decisions from beginning to end of the process. But, I really got interested when he started talking about how they make their money. There are so many complicated equations that can come into play. I don’t love accounting, but I do love math and the math involved sounded fun to me!

So, I haven’t mentioned our teacher yet. He has been teaching this class for 40 years! Unfortunately, he is really starting to annoy me. I get the feeling that he has let the success of the class and rubbing shoulders with Hollywood celebrities go to his head. Sometimes, he just won’t stop talking. He loves to tell his own stories, but honestly, I don’t think any of us are there to hear his stories, we want to hear from the people involved in the film! It’s fine when you have someone like Colin Hanks up there who totally took the reigns of the interview and made it his own, but most have not been like that. So, that’s my one gripe about the class and I hope that I get the opportunity to review the class because I think he needs to hear it…although, I suspect he already has heard it from others and doesn’t care.

Weekend Recap

It was a gorgeous weekend in New York City! I love Spring!! I spent most of Saturday outside in Central Park. I went and sat on The Great Lawn for a while and read my Book Club book….I even got a little much needed sunshine. I also went for a really long walk and, later that evening, went for a run. It was great!!

On Sunday, I had another movie screening to go to. We saw “State of Play”, but unfortunately there was no interview afterwards. I loved the movie, though!! That is totally my type of movie – suspenseful, thriller with a story that could be believable. I took my friends Joy and Jackie with me and we went to brunch afterwards. We tried a new place…Cinema Café – it was okay, but nothing to rave about.

Sunday evening was church – we started a new series on Ephesians – it’s going to last 21 weeks – woah! But, I love, love, love Ephesians, so I am excited. And, my pastor really loves Ephesians and always talks about how it has had a great effect on his life and lots of studying of that book is largely what eventually led him to NYC. He once read through Ephesians 5 times a week for a year - that’s dedication! He has challenged us to read through it just once a week for the next 20 weeks. I want to meet the challenge!

This City

THREE years! Can you believe it?!?! Three years ago today, I moved to New York City. It does feel like three years to me, however, what surprises me is that I really didn’t think that I’d get to the three year mark and still not be ready to move back to Texas.

There are a few questions I get asked a lot by friends and family…. “how much longer will you be in New York?” or “are you going to stay there forever?” or, as my friend Brooke has exclaimed more than once, “You said you’d only be there a year!” That last one isn’t quite true…I said I HAD to stay a year if I hated it. I didn’t hate it. My response lately to these questions has been that I really have no idea. I still feel that this is where I am meant to be at this time in my life.

I began to experience a renewed love for NYC throughout this past fall. Not that I ever fell out of love with this place, but I absolutely LOVE it again, like I did when I moved here…maybe even more. I may not love my tiny, expensive apartment, or crowded subways, or carrying heavy grocery bags for blocks, or rats on the train tracks, or piles of garbage on the sidewalks, or passing many homeless people sleeping on the streets. I may not have friends here like I had in Dallas and my family may not be here. My face may hurt when I have to walk outside a few blocks in 9 degree weather. I may worry that my nephews will forget who I am between visits. But, I still love this city in a way I’m not sure I’ve ever loved anything in my life, with the exception of close friends and family. I care for this city and its people…I feel like I am willing to give up parts of myself for it, if that is what I am called to do. And in the times when NYC may not seem that comfortable or desirable, I believe I am experiencing His gracious JOY as a result of being obedient to stay here. That alone is enough to remain content here.

You may or may not have listened to the song I currently have on the blog…turn up your volume!!! I love this song and truly believe what it says is true for NYC “For greater things are yet to come and greater things are still to be done in this city”. I feel like God called me to be a part of these great things….he spent years preparing my heart and building up a love for NYC and then dropped a job in my lap that seemed easy and convenient just when I was getting serious about moving here. And when that didn’t work out, He had another job waiting for me! I have no doubt that He has a purpose for me here. But, after all this time, I do not feel like I’m living that purpose out – I’m not even sure what my place IS in His plans for this city. But, I do feel strongly that He wants me to take part, for His glory and for my good.

My pastor spoke on this very topic not long ago and there are a few key points I took away from the sermon:

- HOW God got me here may be different than why He keeps me here. He got me here by wooing me with the glitz & glam….great restaurants, Broadway shows, celebrities, the fast paced life, etc…. He also got me here by using the job at The Journey (that clearly was not His long term plan). So, why is He keeping me here? Certainly not just to have another celeb sighting, but I’m not sure why.

- God rarely calls you AWAY from a place, but may call you TO a place. I definitely felt called to come here and haven’t yet felt called to leave or to go to another place.

- In a city where only 5% of the population are Christian, it will take a large number of Christians permanently planting their roots here to really make an impact on the people.

Friends, I know that many of you who read my blog are great Prayer Warriors! Maybe God intends for you to be a part of the great things He has planned for NYC as well…maybe not by moving here, but by praying for those of us who have been called to do so! I have some specific requests that I would love for you to pray with me / on behalf of me. Even if you just pray for them right now as you briefly read them…He will hear them!

- Pray for the people of NYC. That God would be glorified to them. That they would know His love, peace, hope, and joy.

- Pray for the Christians in NYC. That they would walk boldly according to God’s calling. That they would speak boldly about their Savior to others. That they would love the people in NYC in a way they have never been loved before. That Christians would deny their own comforts so that they can give more to the people here.

- Pray for my church…that our presence in this city would be felt. That people will later say that NYC was a better place because our church was here and made a difference.

- Pray for our pastor, JR….that God would guide Him as he leads us in this mission to reach the people of NYC.

- That Christians in the city would unite. That we would pray together, hold each other accountable, serve the people of this city together, and love one another very well.

- Pray for me! That God’s purpose would be clearly revealed to me in His timing. That I would be obedient and self-sacrificing to anything / anyplace He calls me to. Pray that I would glorify God in my work place and that I wouldn’t be afraid to speak His name when it comes up naturally.

- Pray that as I wait to see what that purpose may be, I would spend more time reading His word and praying than I do watching TV or playing on the internet, so that when I am called to stand boldly for Him, I will recognize it and be prepared to follow where He leads.

Thank you – I am blessed by your prayers!! And, as a side note, as I ask for prayer for myself, I want you to know that I love to pray for YOU! I am blessed to call most of you who read this blog my friends! I am, honestly, already praying for many of you in some way or another, but please know that if you have something going on that I don’t know about that you’d like prayer for, please email me!! No matter how big or small, I’d love to pray for you! Or, put it in the comments and you’ll probably end up with more prayers than just mine!

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone had a great Easter! I had a really fun weekend. I started the weekend with a 1/2 day Holiday on Friday. I got a bunch of errands run and took a long walk through the park. That evening, I went to the Good Friday service at church. After church, I went with 4 friends to dinner at Back Forty. This is a restaurant I'd heard was good and had been wanting to go to. Unfortunately, we were disappointed. The atmosphere was good and the drinks and sides were good, but we all thought our entrees were pretty terrible. I won't be going back there!

A few weeks ago, I found out my pastor had been referring to me as an events "wizard" (ha! not quite.) and I was asked to help organize the Easter Egg Hunt for our church kiddos. I had less than 3 weeks to plan, so it was definitely smaller-scale than I would have liked. The first snag I ran into was that it was already too late to get a permit for use of the park, which is required in any city park for any event over 20 people. But, I was told that if it's just an impromptu gathering of families, no permit is necessary. So, I basically had to pull-off planning an event that would look un-planned to an outsider! Not an easy task! It was going to be a simple affair - the families would bring their own picnic lunches and 12 candy-filled eggs for each child. I would have an activity to do with the kids while their dads hid the eggs. A girl in our church has started her own baking business so we hired her to make cute cookies for all the kids and parents. That was pretty much it.

So, I spent much of last week putting together treats for the Hunt. I provided some extra candy-filled eggs in case any unexpected children showed up or kids at the park just happened to participate.I also made a set of Resurrection Eggs....Twelve Eggs, each filled with an object representing part of the story of Jesus' death and resurrection. Each egg also had a scripture verse to go along with the object. I planned to use these to play a guessing game with the kiddos.

Some examples of the objects I used were a sword and a cross.

I made 20 more sets of the objects with verses so the kids could take them home and fill the 12 eggs they would find in the hunt and have their very own set of Resurrection Eggs.Unfortunately, we ran into a second snag when Saturday turned out to be a rainy day in NYC. A decision was made to post-pone the Hunt until Sunday afternoon. This put a bit of a snag in my Easter plans and I was left with a tough decision. I didn't end up going to the Hunt, but provided them with all the stuff I had and let the staff and parent's take over. I felt bad, but also didn't want to cancel my plans and knew that many of the families couldn't be there on Sunday anyway, so it was even less of a big deal than the already small-scale event originally planned. I was sad to not participate, but I heard it went really well!

Easter Sunday started with church. It was a good service and one of the girls in my community group, Robyn, was baptized along with 3 other people. Robyn has been going to Apostles since DAY 1, when JR first moved up here and church consisted of a very small group of people meeting in his apartment. She had been sprinkled as a baby and confirmed as a teenager, but had never been baptized. She had been wanting to do this for a while and I was excited to hear she'd finally decided to take the leap! We meet in a public school, so there is a no baptistry so instead, the baptizee's have water poured over them 3 times, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.After church, I went with the Community Group girls to brunch. We had some time to spare, so we stopped by the Hat Parade on 5th Avenue! I've been wanting to see this forever!! There were all kinds of hats. There were some fancy hats, that are probably more like what everyone wore when the Hat Parade first started many years ago when it was more of an elite social gathering.

Not only did this lady make her hat out of Peeps,

her skirt was also made from Peeps!!

Hats made from real flowers

There were even dogs dressed for the occasion

This person was entirely dressed as a cake

and waddling down the street

There were men in hats, too!

Once we got back in the subway, we saw these Alice in Wonderland characters. We felt pretty certain that the bunny is Austin Scarlett (from Project Runway). Partly because it looked like him, but also because the girl's dress was made from paper and was incredible! Totally Project Runway-esque.

From the Hat Parade, it was on to the Meatpacking District for lunch at Paradou. They had an unlimited Champagne Cocktail Brunch. It was great! We had so much fun, yummy drinks, great brunch and after sitting a while longer taking advantage of the unlimited drinks, delicious dessert!

Kim, Erin, Robyn, me, Sarah Jen (clockwise)

After over 2 hours at our table, they asked us to leave so someone else could have it. We went to a bar next door that had a cute garden in the back. Then, later we made our way up to the Upper East Side for more fun and Mexican food. It was a loooonggg day, but so fun!

Baylor Plays the Garden

It was really exciting to have the Baylor basketball team come play at Madison Square Garden in both the NIT Final 4 on Tuesday and the Championship Game on Thursday. I'm so glad I've found so many Baylor people up here who were also excited to see the Bears play at the Garden. For the Tuesday game, I was able to get 4 tickets in the NHL suite, so I took Rocio and Mindy from church and Rocio's friend Christina. Also, the other NHL/Baylor guy got 2 tickets in the suite and let Christina's friend, Lauren, have his extra one. At half-time we walked down to the closer seats and found some of the other NYC Baylor alums I know - mostly from the alumni group here, but also my friend, Erin, who is in my church community group. It was fun to see everyone! We sat with them for a while, but got booted out of those seats and back up to the suite. It was a really fun night and great to see the Bears win! We even walked up to the Team hotel in Times Square afterwards to the small rally they had for the team.

View from the NHL Suite Mindy, Rocio, and I Bears on the floor at The Garden!
A few of the cheerleaders and dancers flew out for both games
Mindy w/ one of the starters

On Thursday, I was able to get 7 tickets in the suite and then Matt had his 1. On Tuesday there had been 4 Penn State guys in our suite, so we figured they probably had the remaining 4 tickets for Thursday. But, whoever it was never showed up. We were just glad to have more Bears in the suite than Nittany Lions (by the way, anyone know what a Nittany Lion is??). The Penn State crowd really overwhelmed Baylor throughout the rest of MSG. They brought in 38 bus-loads of students!! Rocio, Christina, and Lauren joined us in the suite again as well as Shannon (the NYC BU alum pres) & her husband Travis, and Daniel, a guy from church. Poor Baylor lost, but it was a good, close game and we had a fun time. At half-time, Rocio and I moved down close to the floor and sat with some of the NYC Alum club people I know. Then, I went with a group of the alumns for dinner afterwards to Brother Jimmy's. It was good BBQ! It was a late night, but worth it to support our Bears up here in NYC.

The band did not come on Tuesday, but Rocio made some phone calls and a small portion came out on Thursday (maybe or maybe not due to Rocio's persistence)