I had the opportunity to substitute teach yesterday. At the same school I'll be teaching at in January. It seems like a great school. Anyway, I was in a 3rd grade classroom, which I had some experience with that age since that is where I student taught for half the time. Anyway, they seemed like great kids and we were having a great time, but they were getting really curious about my life. Who knows why, but they started asking questions. I read a few books aloud (per teacher's request...not because I was slacking) and had about 5 minutes left over before the next thing so I decided I'd let them ask questions...in hopes that they would stop while I was actually teaching. They asked me all sorts of questions from "What's your favorite color?" to "Are you married or do you have a boyfriend?" It was fine...harmless questions and not too much commentary about each one.
We then did rotations with another class, so my class went to a different teacher and I had a different class in the room I was in. Then THEY started asking me questions while they were working on their art projects. One little boy was just crazy the whole time...I could definitely tell he had attention problems. They asked me if I was married and if I had a boyfriend and how old I was. I told them, "No. No. 24." The little attention boy (let's call him "Billy") looks up from what he's doing and he says, "That's a really scary age to not be married." It was just perfect. Some girls told him he was being rude, some agreed with him, I just thought it was hysterical. He said it so matter-of-fact. We were making Incan masks out of paper plates and one little boy wrote "Pucer up!" coming out of the mouth of his mask. (Yes, that is how he spelled it...I actually know the correct spelling.. ;) Some boys asked me what it meant, so I told them. "Billy" came up to me with "Puker up!" on his mask because he thought the other kid's was just great. I was helping him do something with his mask and he looks at me and says,"I know how you can get a boyfriend." "How?" "Walk up to a random boy and say, 'Pucker up!' and then kiss him." "Oh you think that will get me a boyfriend, huh?" "Umm...no. He'll probably just think you're a weirdie." Later, I said, "Billy! You are just off the walls today!" (I was totally joking...a little girl had come up to me earlier and said, "You can send him to another classroom if he gets too out of control." But I could definitely handle him...I've dealt with worse!) And then he looked at me and said, "That's because I have ADHD!" Hahaha, it was so funny! Like I didn't already catch on to that! ;)
Anyway, my class came back in and we started to work on 12 Days of Christmas books. I don't even remember how it came up, but the focus came back to my love life. One little girl said to me,"I'm going to ask Santa for a boyfriend for you." Then a little boy said, "You can marry my dad's friend. He doesn't have a life." (He might have said "wife," but I heard "life" and I think it's funnier that way!) Then a little boy was walking back toward his seat and it was one of those moments where you don't hear what they say, but you do...and he said something to the affect of, "I'll marry you." I said, "What?" And he turned back around with a bright red face and said,"Nothing!" It was so funny. They said a lot of other things about my love life and giving me advice, but I can't remember them all. I seriously wish I had a tape recorder because it was hilarious. These kids were hysterical. I really hope I get to sub for them again.
However, today I'm back to being home alone and bored. Ugh. Life isn't so interesting when you don't have school or work or a boy to distract you and keep you busy! :)
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
...Life Thus Far...
So I've been back from New York for...4 months now and haven't touched my blog since. I feel like my life isn't as interesting without creepers on the streets of New York trying to sell me stuff and tell me I'm cute. It's weird how much I miss my life being interesting!
Anyway, student teaching has now ended. It was a sad farewell to all of my little kiddos at my school and an even sadder (am I making up words?) farewell to the friends I made with some of the faculty there. I had an amazing experience and I think it was just right for me...considering that before I did my student teaching, I was seriously contemplating my career choice.
Life is great...now just enjoying the real-world job search. Ha. Not. Anyway, I've had two interviews...one for a long-term substitute position for when a 1st grade teacher has a baby, and one for a part-time resource teacher. I got the substitute one, but not the part-time one which is fine because I think I would have rather had the substitute anyway. Basically because I'm poor and need money...not because of preference of regular education versus special education...because I really have no preference. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. Well, this principal told me that if I find something full-time between now and the end of January (when this teacher has her child) that I am free to take it, as long as I give him as much notice as possible. So...I'm searching. And searching. And I hope it pays off soon! Until then, I am substitute teaching wherever and whenever I can, but mainly just being BORED hanging out at my house all alone while my roommates live their lives going to school and/or work. I thought I'd like having all this time on my hands...wrong-o!
Anyway, student teaching has now ended. It was a sad farewell to all of my little kiddos at my school and an even sadder (am I making up words?) farewell to the friends I made with some of the faculty there. I had an amazing experience and I think it was just right for me...considering that before I did my student teaching, I was seriously contemplating my career choice.
Life is great...now just enjoying the real-world job search. Ha. Not. Anyway, I've had two interviews...one for a long-term substitute position for when a 1st grade teacher has a baby, and one for a part-time resource teacher. I got the substitute one, but not the part-time one which is fine because I think I would have rather had the substitute anyway. Basically because I'm poor and need money...not because of preference of regular education versus special education...because I really have no preference. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. Well, this principal told me that if I find something full-time between now and the end of January (when this teacher has her child) that I am free to take it, as long as I give him as much notice as possible. So...I'm searching. And searching. And I hope it pays off soon! Until then, I am substitute teaching wherever and whenever I can, but mainly just being BORED hanging out at my house all alone while my roommates live their lives going to school and/or work. I thought I'd like having all this time on my hands...wrong-o!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
3 DAYS!
Why is packing such a daunting task even when you are really excited to go where you're going? I usually somewhat enjoy packing but it takes me forever to get around to unpacking. When I came to New York, I had one medium sized suitcase checked, a mini suitcase and a computer bag/purse to carry on, and 3 decent sized boxes and one box a little smaller shipped to me here. My family was here last week (I'll get to that after I sufficiently do my pack-venting some justice) and they took home A LOT of my crap...my mom says it's almost a large suitcase worth of...what? I don't even know! Stupid things! My dad took home all of my shoes and high heels in his carry-on (I would have DIED laughing if it got searched! But he didn't think it was as funny as I thought...) and he took home some of my sweatshirts in his suitcase (I apparently thought it was going to be way colder than it actually was...) and my sister took home a bunch of shirts and things that I NEVER wore once while I was here...good thing I brought all of this crap with me! The problem was that I figured I'd be getting up and getting ready a lot more than I did...I usually just hung out around the house in yoga pants. Anyway, so back to my packing woes...I sent all of that stuff home with my family and so naturally I could do without one of the decent sized boxes that I shipped to myself...think again. That is where my problem lies! I am desperately trying to squish all of my things into two biggish boxes and one smallish box and my two suitcases...it is NOT working out so well. I'm doing laundry right now so that I can have ALL of my stuff ready to pack and finish tonight...we shall see what comes of it...I might just have to break down and ship the other box too...ugh! Why do I have so much crap?!
Anyway, my family left on Sunday and so I now have one week and then I'm D-O-N-E! (Well, I only have 3 days until I'm done, but at the time they left it was a week.) I think we could comfortably say that we had the best worst vacation. EVERYTHING seemed to go wrong for us! It was horrible and I felt SO bad.
Day 1 - Both flights got in on time and they were able to get all of their luggage and their rental car without problem (except for the fact that we all completely disliked the rental car...Ford Flex, even though you are made to seat 7, you should really only seat 5 because your back-back seat is worthless...) But...as they were driving toward me, Garmin led them straight into East HARLEM. Yeah...imagine people that have never been to New York before guided straight to Harlem. Perfect. They have now seen things only real New Yorkers have, I'm sure. Anyway, my boss spent about 40 minutes trying to guide my mom out of Harlem and back to the real world...and road...they were supposed to be in/on. Needless to say, an hour long journey (add some time on for middle-of-the-day-New-York-traffic) took them approximately 3 hours. We were going to go to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner, but since I didn't know where it was, I only had directions, we decided to go somewhere that GARMIN didn't have to take us and that I knew where it was so we could avoid any confusion. My boss and the family went camping that night and so when my family and I got back we had the house all to ourselves.
Day 2 - We decided to ride the 10am bus in to the city...give my family some time to get a little acclimated before we headed out. We bought tickets for the double decker bus tours...which actually turned out to probably be our best purchase. We then walked to one of the places where the bus picks you up and took it down to Battery Park. We decided to go the Staten Island Ferry route so we didn't have to pay anything and we still got to see the statue. I hadn't done this before, but I probably should have because we had NO idea what we were getting ourselves into. We were near the back of the line so when all of the people started piling onto the ferry, there wasn't even room for us outside. Not to mention we were on the complete opposite side of the ferry that the statue was on. This was probably really stupid of me, but I was definitely thinking the ferry would be exactly like the one from "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" which wasn't crowded at all. Wrong. Anyway, we exited the ferry and instead of getting right back into the end of the line, we decided to hang out and wait so we could be in the front of a line. We went to some random "deli" that was more like a gas station grill and ordered something...they really were out of everything. At 2 o'clock in the afternoon, they decided to turn off their grill that makes most of the things that any of us wanted. We sat and ate and then decided to go and ask two rent-a-cops where the ferry was coming in and what side the statue would be on so we were prepared. They told us a door and then said it would be on the right. We were FIRST in line...except for the few people that thought they would just step around and in front of us. Anyway, then comes this announcement saying that the ferry we were standing in front of was out of order. Perfect. So we were now near the end of the line in front of the other doors. We talked to a guy that looked like he was from around there and he told us that the ferry was on the LEFT. Don't worry...he was right...which means the rent-a-cops we talked to were pretty much full of USELESS information. Anyway, we split up to find good seats...which was probably the wrong thing to do because then we didn't have enough seats/railing to fit very many people. My mom and sisters got some good pictures of the statue though. After that fiasco, we decided to ride the double decker bus to a couple other stops. The first stop we took was Rockefeller Plaza. We went to the NBC store and we pretty much went crazy. My sisters and I each got 2 shirts and my brother got 3. Evan and Melissa each got an Office bobblehead, but then when you buy two, you get a Dwight free, so I think Evan ended up with two bobbleheads. Evan got a lanyard, and he, Melissa, and I all got small tote bags. After that, we walked to the NBA store for Evan. He got a Rondo shirt and a pair of Celtics shorts. We walked back to Rockefeller Plaza and were going to take the bus to Central Park, but there was some sort of a traffic jam and since we didn't feel like walking to Central Park, we were out of luck. So we just went back to Times Square and ate dinner at Dave and Buster's. (My mom doesn't want me to tell this story, but I will anyway...) On our way to Dave and Buster's, we are just struggling through crowds of people trying to get through the people handing out pamphlets and the people just walking. I usually keep my face straight forward and don't make eye contact so people don't try to hand me pamphlets. Evan hits my arm as I walk by someone with pamphlets and he starts pointing with his mouth open. (You have to get him to demonstrate his reaction for you...it's priceless...he says he was starstruck haha!) Evan said, "That's the guy from One Tree Hill!" (Which is my favorite TV show, PS...has been since high school...I just can't let it go haha!) I turn to look and the guy kind of smiles at me over his shoulder because I'm SURE he knows what Evan told me...and so I go back a few steps to my mom and tell her and SHE turns around...as does Jessica. We are all staring at this guy and then everyone is trying to get me to go talk to him to see if it's really him. I hesitate for a bit because I hate talking to people I don't know because I usually make a fool of myself, but then I decide that it's worth it. I walk up to him and say, "Excuse me...can I ask you a question?" He said, "Yes...." but he wasn't telling me I could ask him a question, he was already answering my question. But I still said, "Are you on TV?" and he said, "Yes..." and then I said, "Are you on One Tree Hill?" and he said, "Yes..." Hahaha, it was sweet! I asked him if I could have a picture with him and he said yes and so there you have it! I loved it! He is super nice in person and really cute, too! One Tree Hill is the only thing he's been in, but I think he'll be done handing out pamphlets soon! I hope! :) His name is Paul Teal, PS :) We got back to the bus station and got on the bus and everything and then the bus driver came on and told us we couldn't share tickets out of one book (I bought a book of 40 tickets since we would be using 36 of them...) because they are rip-offs at the bus station. After 10 minutes of deliberation and conversations with the bus driver and the manager on duty, they FINALLY started to drive away back toward Tuxedo Park. When we got off, the bus driver acted as if he was doing us a huge favor and we should name a kid after him or something.
Day 3 - We decided to get an earlier jump on the day and took the 8:30am bus into the city. We held our breath as we boarded the bus, but no gripes this time. We hopped onto a double decker bus right away and headed to the Museum of Natural History. We had a way better time than we should have here...especially because my siblings and I all act as if we're 12 year old girls when we see anatomically correct animals, paintings, or statues. I think it may be more Evan's reaction to them that makes us all laugh, but I'm sure it's still the actual artifact on some level. It was quite hysterical, actually. Evan is definitely the comedian of the family! We got back on the bus and rode around to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. (If you ever go to New York and to these museums, they always say,"Suggested price is..." and it's way too expensive for just walking around and looking at things, so that's when you say, "I'll pay..." We did this with both and saved about $40 per museum. We still paid most of the outlandish fee, but enough so that we could still say we saved money on them! :) We were going to walk through Central Park to the Met, but after all the time walking around in the museum, we decided we wanted to be lazy. We went to the Met and had Jess pick places she wanted to go...no way were we going to walk all the way through one of the largest museums! Jessica and my mom really liked the Met (I think...) but it wasn't really the rest of our "scene." Evan, my dad, Melissa, and I walked around decided which works of art we could recreate and WHY some of these things are art. Let me tell you...I am a HORRIBLE artist, but there were a few of these things I would definitely be able to do. There was one that looked like it was drawn on notebook paper with Crayola markers. I mean, I'm not knocking it...I just don't understand it...I just don't think I have the "artistic eye." ;) After that museum, were going to go to Central Park (again), but we were too tired (again). So we went back to where we caught the bus...where we saw one of the restaurants Evan really wanted to go to called "Shake Shack." It's probably comparable to In 'N' Out, Dicks, and Five Guys. It was pretty good...I'm not sure which place I prefer though...they're pretty close (except maybe Dicks...too much grease most of the time...and no "special sauce." Don't get me wrong though, I still love it!) We then walked around Times Square for a little while because we were waiting for the night tour on the double deckers to start. We were going to go into Toys 'R' Us, but my dad kiboshed that idea real quickly. (I don't really know how to spell that...) We went into M&M World and the Hershey's store, but both were SO CROWDED it was overwhelming...we waited for my mom to go to the bathroom for about 30 minutes because the line was so long at M&M World. Anyway, besides the bathroom fiasco, we didn't stay there very long. Melissa and Jessica DID get some M&Ms though :) Next we went to Fossil to get Jessica a watch. Jessica really loves my "Sandra Bullock watch" (I got a watch like the white one she always wears on "The Blind Side") and so she wanted to get one. My mom, while we were there, decided she loved my watch too...so Jess got one the same style as mine, only a slightly smaller face and band, and my mom got one the same size as mine, only with a blue face instead of a white one. I like both of them! :) After that was all done, we had to go and buy some souvenirs. We went to a store and tried to haggle with some guy and he was NOT having it...so we went right next door and the guy there gave us a pretty good deal because we were buying so many shirts and things. He even through in a free pen for my mom. Probably because he felt bad for her to have to put up with all of us all the time! Then we caught a night tour double decker bus...this bus takes you all around the city and through Brooklyn. It was so nice! Our tour guide was amazing! There were a lot of things I haven't seen or that I didn't know even though I've been here for 3+ months. We had a little time left before the 10:15pm bus (we figured out that there were more buses after 8:30pm...which I could have sworn there were!) so we went and all got a piece of cake from Junior's. My friend Jane and her dad introduced me to Junior's when they came to town and I spent the day with them and I am so glad they did! My family all LOVED their desserts! (Except Melissa because my boss's husband decided to help himself to her cake...which was kind of weird, but oh well haha!) When we got there, my parents were freaking out about the whole "not getting on the bus thing," so I decided to go and ask the night manager that was on duty (a different one from the day before) if my BF bus driver was driving that night. I knew he drives the 6:15pm on Sunday, but I didn't know if he came back to drive another one that night. After a drawn on explanation ("I'm not sure I'm saying his name right..." "I don't know his last name..." "He's from the Dominican Republic..." "He wears NY Yankees driving gloves...") they finally caught on and gave me a couple looks as if to say, "Oh, you WANT him, do you?!?!" and told me he WAS driving the 10:15pm bus...which was the one we were planning on driving. He let my family and I get on...no questions asked...and we chatted the entire way. When he's not asking me out, he's pretty pleasant to chat with. AND he got a job driving the Jonas Brothers tour bus starting in September (apparently...I'm STILL a tad skeptical...) as a backup driver, AND I have his number, so I'm going to see about getting some backstage passes or something. I mean, I am no JoBros fan, BUT...why wouldn't you want to go backstage and meet them if you had the chance? I just hope their opening act is good!
Day 4 - My family left for Philadelphia and was there overnight, while I just worked...dealing with tired and cranky little boys.
Day 5 - My family got in from Philly around 8pm and we ordered pizzas and hung out with the little boys. :)
Day 6 - My family went to the city on the 10am bus while I stayed behind and worked for a little while. I think the bus company NOW has it out for us, because after that bus driver saw my dad's ticket and then Evan's (the very first tickets) he said it was a no-go and made my family pay for 4 of their tickets. I outlined on a map the places they should go and subway routes they should take...but apparently they didn't follow any of it so that was no help. They went to the Empire State Building and wasted a lot of time waiting and a lot of money, but they got some good pictures, I think. They went to Grand Central Station and the Wall Street Bull. They also went to Canal Street to buy some purses. This story is probably better than mine...maybe not as sketchy because I was out in the open and NOT on Canal Street, but definitely funnier. They're standing there, looking at the shops, not really knowing what to do (even though I told them to go into one and ask for a certain brand and they'd take them into the back room) when an Asian lady spots them and says, "Handbags?" Jessica says, "Yes..." and the lady asks what kind. Jessica says, "Umm...Chanel..?" and the lady tells them to follow her. So they start following her...and following her...and following her...all the while she keeps looking back at them to make sure they're still following. Well, she starts taking them pretty far away and so they start getting restless thinking this lady is taking them into some back alley. Once they know she's not paying attention, they quickly go down a street and start walking away from her. She notices they aren't following and sprints to try and find them and she says, "Come! We're almost there!" They ask her how much further and she says just one block and that she can see the store. Apparently that was a lie, but it wasn't THAT much further than a block. When they get there, the guy tells my family that only two people can go in...yeah right. My dad is NOT letting 2 of his daughters go into that back room all alone. He barely lets us go to the bathroom in a restaurant without someone. (SLIGHT exaggeration...just slightly though!) Anyway, so the guy ends up letting all 6 of them go into the back room. I guess there was already a couple back there and so it was quite the tight squeeze! While my mom and sisters are looking at the purses, my dad talks to the other guy in there and makes a joke and the guy starts laughing and the Asian lady (or someone else, I'm not sure) was like, "STOP LAUGHING! Cops hear!" Hahahaha oh gosh! So my family gets out of there with 2 purses for me, 2 purses for Jessica, 1 purse for Melissa, and 1 purse for our cousin Aleen for $220. Through all the confusion and hysteria, my mom forgot to buy a purse for herself! :/ I met up with them almost immediately following this (they went to Hard Rock for food while I was on the bus and then I grabbed a salad from a place across the street from the theater) and we all went to Mary Poppins on Broadway. We really enjoyed it. It was really good, I thought! After the play, we went back to the bus station and headed out of the city for good (but not before we had to buy 5 tickets for the ride back home!) My boss told me that she would buy all the tickets we couldn't/didn't use off of me because she has until the 30th of this month to use them, so that's perfect! :)
Day 7 - My family hung out around the house with me today to catch up on sleep and do some laundry. My siblings really just wanted to play with the boys. I can see why...they're cute when you're not telling them the can't or have to do something :) We toured the park a little bit and got to see all of the amazing homes...every morning, my dad has been waking up early and so while everyone has been asleep, he's been reading the Tuxedo Park history book...and he was a WAY better tour guide than I was! It was pretty funny! We left that day around 4pm for our road trip to Palmyra, New York and Niagara Falls, Canada. We stopped for dinner in Syracuse at another one of Evan's restaurants called Dinosaur BBQ. It was pretty good...I had delicious soup and mashed potatoes...my sandwich was alright, but I should have gotten the one that didn't have the sauce on it that mine did because the sauce wasn't my favorite. We all ate a ton though...especially Evan! We got in to Palmyra around 11pm because of our 45 minute wait at the BBQ, but it was alright :) We stayed in this ADORABLE house that I recommend anyone who is going to Palmyra to stay at. Our little "cottage" had places for 9 people to sleep (3 twin beds, 1 queen, 1 double, and a hide-a-bed) and had internet, fully stocked kitchen (with utensils and things, not food...), cable, etc. etc. etc.! And I think my mom said it was like $150 a night. We seriously loved it....not to mention Evan, Melissa, and I got the room with the A/C unit! ;)
Day 8 - The next day we went to all the sights in Palmyra (LDS church sights in case anyone is reading this and is wondering what there is to see in Palmyra haha) including the Sacred Grove, Joseph Smith's houses, the temple, the BoM publication site, and Hill Cumorah. I loved it all...I think the publication site was really interesting...it was a really good tour. We went to lunch at Mark's Pizzeria (there was a brochure on the fridge at the "cottage") and it was seriously to die for. I don't know why, but their pizza was DELICIOUS. I loved it. I could only eat one piece at the time (so I would not upset my stomach for the drive to Niagara) but don't worry...once we got to Niagara in the hotel, I ate 2 more pieces :) We left for Niagara around 4:30pm or so and got all checked into our hotel by 7pm. Because my parents bought a tour package for Niagara, we got free tickets to a magic show. Ahahaha...wow. He wasn't the best magician I've seen, but no matter what magician I do see, I never understand how they do it. I rack my brain the entire time they are performing trying to think how to re-create these things. I know it's not real and it's all an illusion, but I am one of those people that NEED TO KNOW HOW! It won't ruin it for me...I promise. I am the type of person that will read the last page of a book because I am DYING to know who ends up with whom or if a person that is struggling to live actually dies. It's horrible and I hate it, but I just can't help it. One day, I will ask a magician to reveal their secrets to me...one day. We got back to our hotel room just in time to see the fireworks over the falls. Amazing! It was super short, but way cool. The view from our hotel room (Embassy Suites, Fallview) is seriously the BEST. It was so nice! After the fireworks, we decided we were starving, so we ordered 2 desserts and an appetizer from T.G.I.Friday's (inside the hotel) and seriously chowed down at 11pm at night. HORRIBLE. UNHEALTHY. It was mainly us four kids, but my parents snuck a few bites in :) When it came time for me to pull the couch sleeper out (there were two double beds and one couch bed), I hear a CRACK and do I stop? Of course not. So I finish pulling the bed out...don't worry, it's broken...I don't think I am the one that broke it...I pulled it out like you're supposed to...I think it's been broken for awhile. Anyway, the bed is at a tilt...my side being higher than Evan's. I actually slept pretty good though...despite the bed malfunction.
Day 9 - For some reason, my mom was up to see the sunrise over the falls. I was sleeping...I missed it by a few minutes...or more...but it was beautiful...or her pictures of it are at least! :) We left our hotel room for breakfast at 8am and then headed off for our tour that started at 9am. We went to the Skylon Tower which looks a lot like the Spaceneedle and I think the guy said the same guy designed both...to look at the view of the falls and the city. After, we got on the bus with our bus driver/tour guide and he took us to a place where we got to kind of experience the "making" of Niagara Falls. It was pretty cool...and our favorite of the events. Except for I got the most wet...but that seems to always be the case! :) We went to a few other stops...Souvenir City and the flower clock...and then went to The Maid of The Mist ferry ride. That was pretty intense! It was almost scary being that close to the falls and knowing like how dangerous it could be if you got sucked under that. It's ridiculous. After that, we were all pretty beat because of our early morning and long, eventful day so we decided it was time to go home. BUT...I really wanted a shirt from Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville. There were two really cute ones that I wanted, but they were $35! Yeah right! Like I'm going to pay $35 for a T-SHIRT! Thanks, but no thanks, Jimmy! The bus driver told us that Jimmy Buffet was actually IN Niagara the Tuesday before! Missed him by just a few days! I probably would have bought the shirt for $35 if it had his autograph on it! Then we left the hotel and drove 3 hours to a random city and a random hotel and stayed there for the night.
Day 10 - We woke up early and drove to Tuxedo so that my parents could pack up the ol' Ford Flex with all of their big suitcases and hit the road. I had originally planned to go into the city to do some shopping and maybe stop by Canal Street to get my mama a knockoff, but when we got back to the house, I was EXHAUSTED! I just sat in my room, took a nap, and read a book. I was not in the mood to get ready and ride a bus into the city! Evan and Jess made their flight the SLC just fine, but my parents' and Melissa's flight to Seattle was delayed from 5pm something until after 8pm! They didn't get home until around 2 or 3 in the morning and then my dad and Melissa had to go to work the next morning!
Well, now that I have successfully written too much and been way too informative on my blog AGAIN...and have ditched packing for the last few hours while I have been typing this in between dealing with two grumpy boys (who are now napping, THANK HEAVENS!), I need to return to my boxes and suitcases of crap and save myself from just wanting to throw it all out the window or leave it here for the new nanny to deal with! ;) Ooooo...that's not such a bad idea!
Anyway, my family left on Sunday and so I now have one week and then I'm D-O-N-E! (Well, I only have 3 days until I'm done, but at the time they left it was a week.) I think we could comfortably say that we had the best worst vacation. EVERYTHING seemed to go wrong for us! It was horrible and I felt SO bad.
Day 1 - Both flights got in on time and they were able to get all of their luggage and their rental car without problem (except for the fact that we all completely disliked the rental car...Ford Flex, even though you are made to seat 7, you should really only seat 5 because your back-back seat is worthless...) But...as they were driving toward me, Garmin led them straight into East HARLEM. Yeah...imagine people that have never been to New York before guided straight to Harlem. Perfect. They have now seen things only real New Yorkers have, I'm sure. Anyway, my boss spent about 40 minutes trying to guide my mom out of Harlem and back to the real world...and road...they were supposed to be in/on. Needless to say, an hour long journey (add some time on for middle-of-the-day-New-York-traffic) took them approximately 3 hours. We were going to go to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner, but since I didn't know where it was, I only had directions, we decided to go somewhere that GARMIN didn't have to take us and that I knew where it was so we could avoid any confusion. My boss and the family went camping that night and so when my family and I got back we had the house all to ourselves.
Day 2 - We decided to ride the 10am bus in to the city...give my family some time to get a little acclimated before we headed out. We bought tickets for the double decker bus tours...which actually turned out to probably be our best purchase. We then walked to one of the places where the bus picks you up and took it down to Battery Park. We decided to go the Staten Island Ferry route so we didn't have to pay anything and we still got to see the statue. I hadn't done this before, but I probably should have because we had NO idea what we were getting ourselves into. We were near the back of the line so when all of the people started piling onto the ferry, there wasn't even room for us outside. Not to mention we were on the complete opposite side of the ferry that the statue was on. This was probably really stupid of me, but I was definitely thinking the ferry would be exactly like the one from "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" which wasn't crowded at all. Wrong. Anyway, we exited the ferry and instead of getting right back into the end of the line, we decided to hang out and wait so we could be in the front of a line. We went to some random "deli" that was more like a gas station grill and ordered something...they really were out of everything. At 2 o'clock in the afternoon, they decided to turn off their grill that makes most of the things that any of us wanted. We sat and ate and then decided to go and ask two rent-a-cops where the ferry was coming in and what side the statue would be on so we were prepared. They told us a door and then said it would be on the right. We were FIRST in line...except for the few people that thought they would just step around and in front of us. Anyway, then comes this announcement saying that the ferry we were standing in front of was out of order. Perfect. So we were now near the end of the line in front of the other doors. We talked to a guy that looked like he was from around there and he told us that the ferry was on the LEFT. Don't worry...he was right...which means the rent-a-cops we talked to were pretty much full of USELESS information. Anyway, we split up to find good seats...which was probably the wrong thing to do because then we didn't have enough seats/railing to fit very many people. My mom and sisters got some good pictures of the statue though. After that fiasco, we decided to ride the double decker bus to a couple other stops. The first stop we took was Rockefeller Plaza. We went to the NBC store and we pretty much went crazy. My sisters and I each got 2 shirts and my brother got 3. Evan and Melissa each got an Office bobblehead, but then when you buy two, you get a Dwight free, so I think Evan ended up with two bobbleheads. Evan got a lanyard, and he, Melissa, and I all got small tote bags. After that, we walked to the NBA store for Evan. He got a Rondo shirt and a pair of Celtics shorts. We walked back to Rockefeller Plaza and were going to take the bus to Central Park, but there was some sort of a traffic jam and since we didn't feel like walking to Central Park, we were out of luck. So we just went back to Times Square and ate dinner at Dave and Buster's. (My mom doesn't want me to tell this story, but I will anyway...) On our way to Dave and Buster's, we are just struggling through crowds of people trying to get through the people handing out pamphlets and the people just walking. I usually keep my face straight forward and don't make eye contact so people don't try to hand me pamphlets. Evan hits my arm as I walk by someone with pamphlets and he starts pointing with his mouth open. (You have to get him to demonstrate his reaction for you...it's priceless...he says he was starstruck haha!) Evan said, "That's the guy from One Tree Hill!" (Which is my favorite TV show, PS...has been since high school...I just can't let it go haha!) I turn to look and the guy kind of smiles at me over his shoulder because I'm SURE he knows what Evan told me...and so I go back a few steps to my mom and tell her and SHE turns around...as does Jessica. We are all staring at this guy and then everyone is trying to get me to go talk to him to see if it's really him. I hesitate for a bit because I hate talking to people I don't know because I usually make a fool of myself, but then I decide that it's worth it. I walk up to him and say, "Excuse me...can I ask you a question?" He said, "Yes...." but he wasn't telling me I could ask him a question, he was already answering my question. But I still said, "Are you on TV?" and he said, "Yes..." and then I said, "Are you on One Tree Hill?" and he said, "Yes..." Hahaha, it was sweet! I asked him if I could have a picture with him and he said yes and so there you have it! I loved it! He is super nice in person and really cute, too! One Tree Hill is the only thing he's been in, but I think he'll be done handing out pamphlets soon! I hope! :) His name is Paul Teal, PS :) We got back to the bus station and got on the bus and everything and then the bus driver came on and told us we couldn't share tickets out of one book (I bought a book of 40 tickets since we would be using 36 of them...) because they are rip-offs at the bus station. After 10 minutes of deliberation and conversations with the bus driver and the manager on duty, they FINALLY started to drive away back toward Tuxedo Park. When we got off, the bus driver acted as if he was doing us a huge favor and we should name a kid after him or something.
Day 3 - We decided to get an earlier jump on the day and took the 8:30am bus into the city. We held our breath as we boarded the bus, but no gripes this time. We hopped onto a double decker bus right away and headed to the Museum of Natural History. We had a way better time than we should have here...especially because my siblings and I all act as if we're 12 year old girls when we see anatomically correct animals, paintings, or statues. I think it may be more Evan's reaction to them that makes us all laugh, but I'm sure it's still the actual artifact on some level. It was quite hysterical, actually. Evan is definitely the comedian of the family! We got back on the bus and rode around to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. (If you ever go to New York and to these museums, they always say,"Suggested price is..." and it's way too expensive for just walking around and looking at things, so that's when you say, "I'll pay..." We did this with both and saved about $40 per museum. We still paid most of the outlandish fee, but enough so that we could still say we saved money on them! :) We were going to walk through Central Park to the Met, but after all the time walking around in the museum, we decided we wanted to be lazy. We went to the Met and had Jess pick places she wanted to go...no way were we going to walk all the way through one of the largest museums! Jessica and my mom really liked the Met (I think...) but it wasn't really the rest of our "scene." Evan, my dad, Melissa, and I walked around decided which works of art we could recreate and WHY some of these things are art. Let me tell you...I am a HORRIBLE artist, but there were a few of these things I would definitely be able to do. There was one that looked like it was drawn on notebook paper with Crayola markers. I mean, I'm not knocking it...I just don't understand it...I just don't think I have the "artistic eye." ;) After that museum, were going to go to Central Park (again), but we were too tired (again). So we went back to where we caught the bus...where we saw one of the restaurants Evan really wanted to go to called "Shake Shack." It's probably comparable to In 'N' Out, Dicks, and Five Guys. It was pretty good...I'm not sure which place I prefer though...they're pretty close (except maybe Dicks...too much grease most of the time...and no "special sauce." Don't get me wrong though, I still love it!) We then walked around Times Square for a little while because we were waiting for the night tour on the double deckers to start. We were going to go into Toys 'R' Us, but my dad kiboshed that idea real quickly. (I don't really know how to spell that...) We went into M&M World and the Hershey's store, but both were SO CROWDED it was overwhelming...we waited for my mom to go to the bathroom for about 30 minutes because the line was so long at M&M World. Anyway, besides the bathroom fiasco, we didn't stay there very long. Melissa and Jessica DID get some M&Ms though :) Next we went to Fossil to get Jessica a watch. Jessica really loves my "Sandra Bullock watch" (I got a watch like the white one she always wears on "The Blind Side") and so she wanted to get one. My mom, while we were there, decided she loved my watch too...so Jess got one the same style as mine, only a slightly smaller face and band, and my mom got one the same size as mine, only with a blue face instead of a white one. I like both of them! :) After that was all done, we had to go and buy some souvenirs. We went to a store and tried to haggle with some guy and he was NOT having it...so we went right next door and the guy there gave us a pretty good deal because we were buying so many shirts and things. He even through in a free pen for my mom. Probably because he felt bad for her to have to put up with all of us all the time! Then we caught a night tour double decker bus...this bus takes you all around the city and through Brooklyn. It was so nice! Our tour guide was amazing! There were a lot of things I haven't seen or that I didn't know even though I've been here for 3+ months. We had a little time left before the 10:15pm bus (we figured out that there were more buses after 8:30pm...which I could have sworn there were!) so we went and all got a piece of cake from Junior's. My friend Jane and her dad introduced me to Junior's when they came to town and I spent the day with them and I am so glad they did! My family all LOVED their desserts! (Except Melissa because my boss's husband decided to help himself to her cake...which was kind of weird, but oh well haha!) When we got there, my parents were freaking out about the whole "not getting on the bus thing," so I decided to go and ask the night manager that was on duty (a different one from the day before) if my BF bus driver was driving that night. I knew he drives the 6:15pm on Sunday, but I didn't know if he came back to drive another one that night. After a drawn on explanation ("I'm not sure I'm saying his name right..." "I don't know his last name..." "He's from the Dominican Republic..." "He wears NY Yankees driving gloves...") they finally caught on and gave me a couple looks as if to say, "Oh, you WANT him, do you?!?!" and told me he WAS driving the 10:15pm bus...which was the one we were planning on driving. He let my family and I get on...no questions asked...and we chatted the entire way. When he's not asking me out, he's pretty pleasant to chat with. AND he got a job driving the Jonas Brothers tour bus starting in September (apparently...I'm STILL a tad skeptical...) as a backup driver, AND I have his number, so I'm going to see about getting some backstage passes or something. I mean, I am no JoBros fan, BUT...why wouldn't you want to go backstage and meet them if you had the chance? I just hope their opening act is good!
Day 4 - My family left for Philadelphia and was there overnight, while I just worked...dealing with tired and cranky little boys.
Day 5 - My family got in from Philly around 8pm and we ordered pizzas and hung out with the little boys. :)
Day 6 - My family went to the city on the 10am bus while I stayed behind and worked for a little while. I think the bus company NOW has it out for us, because after that bus driver saw my dad's ticket and then Evan's (the very first tickets) he said it was a no-go and made my family pay for 4 of their tickets. I outlined on a map the places they should go and subway routes they should take...but apparently they didn't follow any of it so that was no help. They went to the Empire State Building and wasted a lot of time waiting and a lot of money, but they got some good pictures, I think. They went to Grand Central Station and the Wall Street Bull. They also went to Canal Street to buy some purses. This story is probably better than mine...maybe not as sketchy because I was out in the open and NOT on Canal Street, but definitely funnier. They're standing there, looking at the shops, not really knowing what to do (even though I told them to go into one and ask for a certain brand and they'd take them into the back room) when an Asian lady spots them and says, "Handbags?" Jessica says, "Yes..." and the lady asks what kind. Jessica says, "Umm...Chanel..?" and the lady tells them to follow her. So they start following her...and following her...and following her...all the while she keeps looking back at them to make sure they're still following. Well, she starts taking them pretty far away and so they start getting restless thinking this lady is taking them into some back alley. Once they know she's not paying attention, they quickly go down a street and start walking away from her. She notices they aren't following and sprints to try and find them and she says, "Come! We're almost there!" They ask her how much further and she says just one block and that she can see the store. Apparently that was a lie, but it wasn't THAT much further than a block. When they get there, the guy tells my family that only two people can go in...yeah right. My dad is NOT letting 2 of his daughters go into that back room all alone. He barely lets us go to the bathroom in a restaurant without someone. (SLIGHT exaggeration...just slightly though!) Anyway, so the guy ends up letting all 6 of them go into the back room. I guess there was already a couple back there and so it was quite the tight squeeze! While my mom and sisters are looking at the purses, my dad talks to the other guy in there and makes a joke and the guy starts laughing and the Asian lady (or someone else, I'm not sure) was like, "STOP LAUGHING! Cops hear!" Hahahaha oh gosh! So my family gets out of there with 2 purses for me, 2 purses for Jessica, 1 purse for Melissa, and 1 purse for our cousin Aleen for $220. Through all the confusion and hysteria, my mom forgot to buy a purse for herself! :/ I met up with them almost immediately following this (they went to Hard Rock for food while I was on the bus and then I grabbed a salad from a place across the street from the theater) and we all went to Mary Poppins on Broadway. We really enjoyed it. It was really good, I thought! After the play, we went back to the bus station and headed out of the city for good (but not before we had to buy 5 tickets for the ride back home!) My boss told me that she would buy all the tickets we couldn't/didn't use off of me because she has until the 30th of this month to use them, so that's perfect! :)
Day 7 - My family hung out around the house with me today to catch up on sleep and do some laundry. My siblings really just wanted to play with the boys. I can see why...they're cute when you're not telling them the can't or have to do something :) We toured the park a little bit and got to see all of the amazing homes...every morning, my dad has been waking up early and so while everyone has been asleep, he's been reading the Tuxedo Park history book...and he was a WAY better tour guide than I was! It was pretty funny! We left that day around 4pm for our road trip to Palmyra, New York and Niagara Falls, Canada. We stopped for dinner in Syracuse at another one of Evan's restaurants called Dinosaur BBQ. It was pretty good...I had delicious soup and mashed potatoes...my sandwich was alright, but I should have gotten the one that didn't have the sauce on it that mine did because the sauce wasn't my favorite. We all ate a ton though...especially Evan! We got in to Palmyra around 11pm because of our 45 minute wait at the BBQ, but it was alright :) We stayed in this ADORABLE house that I recommend anyone who is going to Palmyra to stay at. Our little "cottage" had places for 9 people to sleep (3 twin beds, 1 queen, 1 double, and a hide-a-bed) and had internet, fully stocked kitchen (with utensils and things, not food...), cable, etc. etc. etc.! And I think my mom said it was like $150 a night. We seriously loved it....not to mention Evan, Melissa, and I got the room with the A/C unit! ;)
Day 8 - The next day we went to all the sights in Palmyra (LDS church sights in case anyone is reading this and is wondering what there is to see in Palmyra haha) including the Sacred Grove, Joseph Smith's houses, the temple, the BoM publication site, and Hill Cumorah. I loved it all...I think the publication site was really interesting...it was a really good tour. We went to lunch at Mark's Pizzeria (there was a brochure on the fridge at the "cottage") and it was seriously to die for. I don't know why, but their pizza was DELICIOUS. I loved it. I could only eat one piece at the time (so I would not upset my stomach for the drive to Niagara) but don't worry...once we got to Niagara in the hotel, I ate 2 more pieces :) We left for Niagara around 4:30pm or so and got all checked into our hotel by 7pm. Because my parents bought a tour package for Niagara, we got free tickets to a magic show. Ahahaha...wow. He wasn't the best magician I've seen, but no matter what magician I do see, I never understand how they do it. I rack my brain the entire time they are performing trying to think how to re-create these things. I know it's not real and it's all an illusion, but I am one of those people that NEED TO KNOW HOW! It won't ruin it for me...I promise. I am the type of person that will read the last page of a book because I am DYING to know who ends up with whom or if a person that is struggling to live actually dies. It's horrible and I hate it, but I just can't help it. One day, I will ask a magician to reveal their secrets to me...one day. We got back to our hotel room just in time to see the fireworks over the falls. Amazing! It was super short, but way cool. The view from our hotel room (Embassy Suites, Fallview) is seriously the BEST. It was so nice! After the fireworks, we decided we were starving, so we ordered 2 desserts and an appetizer from T.G.I.Friday's (inside the hotel) and seriously chowed down at 11pm at night. HORRIBLE. UNHEALTHY. It was mainly us four kids, but my parents snuck a few bites in :) When it came time for me to pull the couch sleeper out (there were two double beds and one couch bed), I hear a CRACK and do I stop? Of course not. So I finish pulling the bed out...don't worry, it's broken...I don't think I am the one that broke it...I pulled it out like you're supposed to...I think it's been broken for awhile. Anyway, the bed is at a tilt...my side being higher than Evan's. I actually slept pretty good though...despite the bed malfunction.
Day 9 - For some reason, my mom was up to see the sunrise over the falls. I was sleeping...I missed it by a few minutes...or more...but it was beautiful...or her pictures of it are at least! :) We left our hotel room for breakfast at 8am and then headed off for our tour that started at 9am. We went to the Skylon Tower which looks a lot like the Spaceneedle and I think the guy said the same guy designed both...to look at the view of the falls and the city. After, we got on the bus with our bus driver/tour guide and he took us to a place where we got to kind of experience the "making" of Niagara Falls. It was pretty cool...and our favorite of the events. Except for I got the most wet...but that seems to always be the case! :) We went to a few other stops...Souvenir City and the flower clock...and then went to The Maid of The Mist ferry ride. That was pretty intense! It was almost scary being that close to the falls and knowing like how dangerous it could be if you got sucked under that. It's ridiculous. After that, we were all pretty beat because of our early morning and long, eventful day so we decided it was time to go home. BUT...I really wanted a shirt from Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville. There were two really cute ones that I wanted, but they were $35! Yeah right! Like I'm going to pay $35 for a T-SHIRT! Thanks, but no thanks, Jimmy! The bus driver told us that Jimmy Buffet was actually IN Niagara the Tuesday before! Missed him by just a few days! I probably would have bought the shirt for $35 if it had his autograph on it! Then we left the hotel and drove 3 hours to a random city and a random hotel and stayed there for the night.
Day 10 - We woke up early and drove to Tuxedo so that my parents could pack up the ol' Ford Flex with all of their big suitcases and hit the road. I had originally planned to go into the city to do some shopping and maybe stop by Canal Street to get my mama a knockoff, but when we got back to the house, I was EXHAUSTED! I just sat in my room, took a nap, and read a book. I was not in the mood to get ready and ride a bus into the city! Evan and Jess made their flight the SLC just fine, but my parents' and Melissa's flight to Seattle was delayed from 5pm something until after 8pm! They didn't get home until around 2 or 3 in the morning and then my dad and Melissa had to go to work the next morning!
Well, now that I have successfully written too much and been way too informative on my blog AGAIN...and have ditched packing for the last few hours while I have been typing this in between dealing with two grumpy boys (who are now napping, THANK HEAVENS!), I need to return to my boxes and suitcases of crap and save myself from just wanting to throw it all out the window or leave it here for the new nanny to deal with! ;) Ooooo...that's not such a bad idea!
Thursday, July 15, 2010
...Counting Down...
Alright, so we're approaching 2am and I can't sleep. I don't even want to think about the fact that I have to be up in 6 hours to entertain children.
I don't really have anything super important to write about...no experiences, no fun adventures...just the fact that I have begun the countdown. I actually have a few countdowns going. A countdown for when my family comes, for my last day of work, when I get home, when I leave home, when I arrive in Utah and start student teaching, and when I move into a house with my friends. All of these events happen within about 2 weeks of each other, but as soon as I realized that they were closer than they seemed and that this summer has gone by extremely fast, everything started to go in slow motion. My days have been dragging on! It seems like I went to the Hamptons a month ago and that it should be Friday today, not Wednesday (okay, it IS Thursday by now, technically...)
I am pretty much over New York. I love the family I'm with and the boys and I am going to be SO SAD when it is time to leave them...I even love this state and the area I'm in (it reminds me a lot of home...really woodsy with a big--no city is as big as this one--city somewhat nearby) even though I would never choose to live here. I think I have just grown accustomed to being at school with all my close friends that I love and that know me and being able to see my family at least once every three months for at least a week at a time. Okay, granted, I just looked at it and it was exactly 3 months yesterday since I've seen them and I'll see them soon, but I think just the fact that I'm 3,000 miles away with NO ONE...no friends, no one I even know remotely anymore...is what's making this so hard. It's just so WEIRD. I have never been on the East Coast...let alone LIVING over here. I have never lived anywhere besides Washington and Idaho...and in both places I have been surrounded by friends and/or family. I don't know...it's weird. When I first got here, I didn't think I'd ever want to leave. Tuxedo is so gorgeous and it is just far away enough from the hustle and bustle of the city...but I need to live near SOMEONE. One of my friends and I were talking the other day and he said to me, "You pretty much don't do anything by yourself, do you?" That is so true...until now. I have not gone out on my own and done something all by myself without anyone I know...ever. This is my first real solo adventure and I'm proud of myself for doing it...it has been an amazing experience and I am so glad I got to do this. I have learned a lot about myself and have just learned a lot in general.
But....I can't wait to be around friends and family again :) I love having comfort in knowing that there is someone I can physically turn to, rather just by using a phone. Until then, my countdowns are keeping me sane! I'm just sad I haven't made an extravagant countdown like the graduation countdown my roommates and I made in the winter!
I DO, however, have a lot of construction paper...maybe I'll go old school and make a ring countdown like we used to do for Christmas in elementary school! :)
Anyway, approximately 31 days until I leave New York (exact date is undecided currently), 35 days until I leave for Utah/Twin Falls, 40 days until I start student teaching, and 41 days until I get to move in a house with my amazing friends! Yay! :)
I don't really have anything super important to write about...no experiences, no fun adventures...just the fact that I have begun the countdown. I actually have a few countdowns going. A countdown for when my family comes, for my last day of work, when I get home, when I leave home, when I arrive in Utah and start student teaching, and when I move into a house with my friends. All of these events happen within about 2 weeks of each other, but as soon as I realized that they were closer than they seemed and that this summer has gone by extremely fast, everything started to go in slow motion. My days have been dragging on! It seems like I went to the Hamptons a month ago and that it should be Friday today, not Wednesday (okay, it IS Thursday by now, technically...)
I am pretty much over New York. I love the family I'm with and the boys and I am going to be SO SAD when it is time to leave them...I even love this state and the area I'm in (it reminds me a lot of home...really woodsy with a big--no city is as big as this one--city somewhat nearby) even though I would never choose to live here. I think I have just grown accustomed to being at school with all my close friends that I love and that know me and being able to see my family at least once every three months for at least a week at a time. Okay, granted, I just looked at it and it was exactly 3 months yesterday since I've seen them and I'll see them soon, but I think just the fact that I'm 3,000 miles away with NO ONE...no friends, no one I even know remotely anymore...is what's making this so hard. It's just so WEIRD. I have never been on the East Coast...let alone LIVING over here. I have never lived anywhere besides Washington and Idaho...and in both places I have been surrounded by friends and/or family. I don't know...it's weird. When I first got here, I didn't think I'd ever want to leave. Tuxedo is so gorgeous and it is just far away enough from the hustle and bustle of the city...but I need to live near SOMEONE. One of my friends and I were talking the other day and he said to me, "You pretty much don't do anything by yourself, do you?" That is so true...until now. I have not gone out on my own and done something all by myself without anyone I know...ever. This is my first real solo adventure and I'm proud of myself for doing it...it has been an amazing experience and I am so glad I got to do this. I have learned a lot about myself and have just learned a lot in general.
But....I can't wait to be around friends and family again :) I love having comfort in knowing that there is someone I can physically turn to, rather just by using a phone. Until then, my countdowns are keeping me sane! I'm just sad I haven't made an extravagant countdown like the graduation countdown my roommates and I made in the winter!
Anyway, approximately 31 days until I leave New York (exact date is undecided currently), 35 days until I leave for Utah/Twin Falls, 40 days until I start student teaching, and 41 days until I get to move in a house with my amazing friends! Yay! :)
Thursday, July 8, 2010
SOUTHAMPTON!
I went to Southampton for the 4th of July with the family I nanny for. We were staying at their friend's house. My boss described it to me as "a free hotel." She was completely right. We left late Thursday night and after about 2 1/2 hours, we pulled up to the house. The house is gorgeous! It doesn't look like a mansion from the outside, but it is definitely one from the inside. The rooms are amazing. I had my own room with my own bathroom and a great view of the tennis court and swimming pool in the backyard. I forgot to take pictures of the outside before I left, but here are some pictures of my bedroom and bathroom.
The bathroom drawers were fully stocked with all different things: a sleeping mask, bug spray, first aid kit, Altoids and Tic-Tacs, curling irons, hot rollers, etc.! It was so nice!
My boss had originally told me that about 80% of the time we were there would be "me" time and then I'd only be "working" about 20% of the time, which was exciting for me! It was like a vacation while working! The first day my boss' husband was sick and had to work for the first half of the day, so we went to Kmart and then hung out by the pool...practically all day. The next day, we hung out by the pool and then went to the beach later on in the evening. We played in the sand, flew kites, and one of the boys even let me bury him in the sand!
The next day we spent more time by the pool and just hanging out...I watched the kids and put them to bed so that their parents could go out to eat. Monday we went to the Southampton parade...it was alright...the kids got sick of it after an hour and a half though (plus it was HOT!!!!!!) and so we left and then went swimming (thank goodness!) It was just me and the boys this time because their parents went to lunch at the beach club with the couple who's house we were at. It was really difficult trying to make sure two kids don't drown in the pool all by yourself! Wow! Anyway, more hanging out and then we left that evening back for Tuxedo! It was an excellent weekend and I'm really glad that I was invited to go!
The next thing I have to look forward to is my family coming! Thank goodness! I'm getting pretty "family and friends sick"! Trying to figure out what we have time to see and what is important to see has been hard work! Hopefully we can manage it without any regrets of things we wished we would have been able to see! :) After that, another week of being a nanny and then HOME (for approximately 36 hours) and Utah :)
My boss had originally told me that about 80% of the time we were there would be "me" time and then I'd only be "working" about 20% of the time, which was exciting for me! It was like a vacation while working! The first day my boss' husband was sick and had to work for the first half of the day, so we went to Kmart and then hung out by the pool...practically all day. The next day, we hung out by the pool and then went to the beach later on in the evening. We played in the sand, flew kites, and one of the boys even let me bury him in the sand!
The next thing I have to look forward to is my family coming! Thank goodness! I'm getting pretty "family and friends sick"! Trying to figure out what we have time to see and what is important to see has been hard work! Hopefully we can manage it without any regrets of things we wished we would have been able to see! :) After that, another week of being a nanny and then HOME (for approximately 36 hours) and Utah :)
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Aubrey's Last Weekend...
So this weekend was Aubrey's last weekend in the city! It was really sad! She is now home, but I think we went out with a pretty good bang! :)
I went down Friday night because I had to take two tests REALLY early Saturday morning. When I got in on Friday, I still needed to stop and get some #2 pencils that weren't mechanical because I didn't have any. We stopped at two Duane Reade stores and NEITHER of them had pencils. They had erasers, sharpeners, etc...but no pencils. We went to Pinkberry while we were still looking for pencils and then went to the Walgreen's in Times Square. They happened to have pencils.......but no sharpeners or erasers........perfect. I already was in a bad mood because I had to take these tests in the first place and this wild goose chase was NOT helping! We went back to the Duane Reade where it all started and bought the pencil sharpener I needed. We finally got back to Aubrey and Angie's around 11 and I went to bed at 12:30am...not very smart.
I woke up at 4:30am....got out of bed at 5:15am.....to get ready for my test. I left Aubrey's at 6:20am and headed for NYU. I was walking around looking for the building...and looking lost because the numbers were ALL messed up! I got off the subway around 160...a few blocks later I saw 70 and was excited I was getting closer...60...and then all of a sudden, there was 20! I was looking for 40! I kept looking at the buildings, thinking I had missed something...looking completely lost. Some lady asked me if I was looking for some place to take a test and so I said yes! Finally someone to help me! This is what she said next,"Well you can just follow me...the SAT is right down this street..." Apparently I look like I'm 17 when I'm almost 24 years old. This is like the 3rd time I have gotten mistaken for a high school student in the past 4 months! I don't know why people think I look so young...I don't think I look like I could still be a junior in high school! Anyway, I told her I was looking for the Praxis and she pointed me in the right direction. I LOVED NYU. It is so cool...I don't even know how to explain it...the classrooms, the hallways, the hang out spots...the stair cases even! Anyway, I was supposed to be there for my first test at 7:30am (which I JUST made it...) but my test proctors were really slow and a lot of people were late, so we didn't start until 8:20am. It was a two hour, 120 multiple choice question test and I finished in an hour and 20 minutes, so had to sit there for 40 minutes doing nothing...I'm pretty sure I nodded off a few times. My next test was supposed to start at 11am, but started at 11:20am and again was a two hour test, but it was 60 multiple choice questions and 6 essay questions. This test took me the whole time and I even skipped an essay question because I knew I wouldn't have time for it : / I'm so glad my tests are over! Now I just have to wait a month for my scores.
I met Aubrey and Angie in Washington Square Park...by the arch that's in August Rush. While we were in the park, Aubrey wanted a jumping picture in front of the arch. I told her I'd take it because I have taken a lot of her jumping pictures during our expeditions through the city. I tell her to jump and then see it all in slow motion. There's a pigeon walking slowly toward her...she jumps up...the pigeon gets scared and flies away from her....away from her and toward my face. Mind you, I am completely disgusted and grossed out by pigeons. I hate them. They make me shiver just thinking about them. So, this pigeon is flying toward my face and here I am, still taking Aubrey's picture. I have a terrified expression on my face, and so does Aubrey as she lands and rushes to my rescue. She's just lucky I didn't freak out and throw her camera or something. That would have been tragic! And I still got a decent picture...so basically, I'm good even when I'm having a personal crisis.
We walk away from the park, toward our previously decided shopping locations. There is a HUGE Indian parade going on down the street toward the park. It was pretty cool, I must say! Anyway, we went shopping pretty much all day and then went to Max Brenner for some dessert before Broadway. It was pretty delicious. Chocolate isn't my favorite candy (weird, I know...) because I tend to lean toward the chewy/fruity types of candy, but Max Brenner was pretty much chocolate HEAVEN. It was insane! I ordered churros with milk chocolate, white chocolate, and raspberries for dipping and I LOVED it. So good! :)
After Max Brenner, it was time for In The Heights on Broadway with Corbin Bleu. I was actually pleasantly surprised. I was wondering if I'd like it, but I LOVED it! Not to mention, Aubrey lives IN the heights and so it reminded us a lot of where she lives/where I stay every weekend. However, we DID flirt with the theater manager trying to get him to let us meet Corbin, but he wasn't catching our subtle hints. Dang him!
Sunday we went to church and then Aubrey and I came home early to get her to the airport. I went with her in case her suitcase was too heavy and I had to take some stuff and ship it to her. Good news! It was only 50.5 pounds! :) I took a taxi to a subway system (because Aubrey telling me about taking a bus just confused me...) and then headed to the NBA store to get my little brother a Playoffs shirt like I promised him. While I am on my way (I was wheeling my mini suitcase around the entire time...ANNOYING!) it starts to rain. I get into my suitcase and get my umbrella out, so I am now rolling my suitcase with one hand, and holding an umbrella with the arm that is holding my purse. I get to where I can see the NBA store from a distance and also see a HUGE parade. It was the Puerto Rican Pride parade and I had TOTALLY forgotten about it. I had to go really far out of my way to get to the NBA store. It was ridiculous. If I hadn't been so annoyed, the parade would have been really cool. If I had three arms, I would have gotten my camera out to take some pictures because it was pretty sweet, I must admit. They had rappers, cars with hydraulics and huge rims, and Puerto Rican men with their shirts off everywhere in the pouring rain. Because of the stupid parade, when I got out of the NBA store, I was so turned around that I walked 3 AVENUE blocks in the wrong direction. By that time I was at Grand Central Station...on the OPPOSITE end of 42nd that I wanted to be...so I just hopped on a subway to get to my bus station. I was SOAKING wet and had dried pieces of paper all up and down my legs and capris. The Puerto Ricans left A LOT of paper on the ground that dissolved into smaller pieces because of the rain, and ended up on the backs of my legs and on my feet. It wasn't pleasant.
I took the 6:15pm bus back to Tuxedo...which just so happens to be the bus my "best friend" drives. (I've taken this bus like...3 times...and this bus drive ALWAYS talks to me. He probably knows my whole life story by now, and me his...whether I wanted to or not. He is QUITE the talker!) Boy was that a mistake. He was on one...seriously. He is the chattiest person EVER! Not to mention he asked me out and I didn't know what to say. Here is how our conversation went (I had one head phone in my ear and one out, so I couldn't understand him sometimes...):
Bus Driver: "So Nichole...how about a date?"
Nichole: "Umm...what?"
Bust Driver: "I didn't stutter!"
Nichole: "Sorry...my music is loud..."
[Bus Driver wastes 5 minutes talking nonsense...]
Bus Driver: "Nichole, I'm serious. Date? You know...dinner, movie, etc..." (Not so sure what the "etc." was supposed to mean, but it kind of scared me, not going to lie...)
Nichole: [While trying to quickly remember if I had previously told him I was currently unattached...] "Well...here's the thing...my friend that lives in the city actually left today...so I won't be coming around every weekend like I have been because I don't have anywhere to stay..." [I was really nervous about adding that last part because I half expected him to offer me a place to stay...ew.]
Bus Driver: "Sure, Nichole....." [To the two other passengers that were near the front] "Man, did you hear her? I just got REJECTED! Can't believe it!"
Needless to say, if I DO go in to the city this next month to hang out with Angie, I will NOT be taking the 6:15pm bus anymore. Oh, and he also told me that one of his bus driver friends told him I was "caliente." Oh perfect. Now there are two bus drivers after me! Of COURSE I attract THOSE guys...of course! What a PERFECT ending to Aubrey's last weekend in the city....if she would have been able to witness it, she would have LOVED it hahahaha! :)
PS-I went downstairs this morning to get a Nutrigrain bar for one of the babies and definitely saw a mouse dead in a trap. Eww. What an excellent start to the morning. My boss said that there were actually two...I didn't see the other because I didn't look close enough. I thought I heard a trap go off downstairs last night, but thought it was just my boss doing something downstairs. Then I went down to get the little boys something for dinner and saw ANOTHER dead mouse just laying there with its paws up in the air not in a trap. That is when I saw a HOLE...that's right, a straight up HOLE next to the dishwasher. My boss thinks that is where their "lair" is...well yeah!!! Seems obvious enough to me!!! So three down, who knows how many to go! Good thing I still have that Kleenex stuffed in that hole in my room! Eww!
I went down Friday night because I had to take two tests REALLY early Saturday morning. When I got in on Friday, I still needed to stop and get some #2 pencils that weren't mechanical because I didn't have any. We stopped at two Duane Reade stores and NEITHER of them had pencils. They had erasers, sharpeners, etc...but no pencils. We went to Pinkberry while we were still looking for pencils and then went to the Walgreen's in Times Square. They happened to have pencils.......but no sharpeners or erasers........perfect. I already was in a bad mood because I had to take these tests in the first place and this wild goose chase was NOT helping! We went back to the Duane Reade where it all started and bought the pencil sharpener I needed. We finally got back to Aubrey and Angie's around 11 and I went to bed at 12:30am...not very smart.
I woke up at 4:30am....got out of bed at 5:15am.....to get ready for my test. I left Aubrey's at 6:20am and headed for NYU. I was walking around looking for the building...and looking lost because the numbers were ALL messed up! I got off the subway around 160...a few blocks later I saw 70 and was excited I was getting closer...60...and then all of a sudden, there was 20! I was looking for 40! I kept looking at the buildings, thinking I had missed something...looking completely lost. Some lady asked me if I was looking for some place to take a test and so I said yes! Finally someone to help me! This is what she said next,"Well you can just follow me...the SAT is right down this street..." Apparently I look like I'm 17 when I'm almost 24 years old. This is like the 3rd time I have gotten mistaken for a high school student in the past 4 months! I don't know why people think I look so young...I don't think I look like I could still be a junior in high school! Anyway, I told her I was looking for the Praxis and she pointed me in the right direction. I LOVED NYU. It is so cool...I don't even know how to explain it...the classrooms, the hallways, the hang out spots...the stair cases even! Anyway, I was supposed to be there for my first test at 7:30am (which I JUST made it...) but my test proctors were really slow and a lot of people were late, so we didn't start until 8:20am. It was a two hour, 120 multiple choice question test and I finished in an hour and 20 minutes, so had to sit there for 40 minutes doing nothing...I'm pretty sure I nodded off a few times. My next test was supposed to start at 11am, but started at 11:20am and again was a two hour test, but it was 60 multiple choice questions and 6 essay questions. This test took me the whole time and I even skipped an essay question because I knew I wouldn't have time for it : / I'm so glad my tests are over! Now I just have to wait a month for my scores.
I met Aubrey and Angie in Washington Square Park...by the arch that's in August Rush. While we were in the park, Aubrey wanted a jumping picture in front of the arch. I told her I'd take it because I have taken a lot of her jumping pictures during our expeditions through the city. I tell her to jump and then see it all in slow motion. There's a pigeon walking slowly toward her...she jumps up...the pigeon gets scared and flies away from her....away from her and toward my face. Mind you, I am completely disgusted and grossed out by pigeons. I hate them. They make me shiver just thinking about them. So, this pigeon is flying toward my face and here I am, still taking Aubrey's picture. I have a terrified expression on my face, and so does Aubrey as she lands and rushes to my rescue. She's just lucky I didn't freak out and throw her camera or something. That would have been tragic! And I still got a decent picture...so basically, I'm good even when I'm having a personal crisis.
We walk away from the park, toward our previously decided shopping locations. There is a HUGE Indian parade going on down the street toward the park. It was pretty cool, I must say! Anyway, we went shopping pretty much all day and then went to Max Brenner for some dessert before Broadway. It was pretty delicious. Chocolate isn't my favorite candy (weird, I know...) because I tend to lean toward the chewy/fruity types of candy, but Max Brenner was pretty much chocolate HEAVEN. It was insane! I ordered churros with milk chocolate, white chocolate, and raspberries for dipping and I LOVED it. So good! :)
After Max Brenner, it was time for In The Heights on Broadway with Corbin Bleu. I was actually pleasantly surprised. I was wondering if I'd like it, but I LOVED it! Not to mention, Aubrey lives IN the heights and so it reminded us a lot of where she lives/where I stay every weekend. However, we DID flirt with the theater manager trying to get him to let us meet Corbin, but he wasn't catching our subtle hints. Dang him!
Sunday we went to church and then Aubrey and I came home early to get her to the airport. I went with her in case her suitcase was too heavy and I had to take some stuff and ship it to her. Good news! It was only 50.5 pounds! :) I took a taxi to a subway system (because Aubrey telling me about taking a bus just confused me...) and then headed to the NBA store to get my little brother a Playoffs shirt like I promised him. While I am on my way (I was wheeling my mini suitcase around the entire time...ANNOYING!) it starts to rain. I get into my suitcase and get my umbrella out, so I am now rolling my suitcase with one hand, and holding an umbrella with the arm that is holding my purse. I get to where I can see the NBA store from a distance and also see a HUGE parade. It was the Puerto Rican Pride parade and I had TOTALLY forgotten about it. I had to go really far out of my way to get to the NBA store. It was ridiculous. If I hadn't been so annoyed, the parade would have been really cool. If I had three arms, I would have gotten my camera out to take some pictures because it was pretty sweet, I must admit. They had rappers, cars with hydraulics and huge rims, and Puerto Rican men with their shirts off everywhere in the pouring rain. Because of the stupid parade, when I got out of the NBA store, I was so turned around that I walked 3 AVENUE blocks in the wrong direction. By that time I was at Grand Central Station...on the OPPOSITE end of 42nd that I wanted to be...so I just hopped on a subway to get to my bus station. I was SOAKING wet and had dried pieces of paper all up and down my legs and capris. The Puerto Ricans left A LOT of paper on the ground that dissolved into smaller pieces because of the rain, and ended up on the backs of my legs and on my feet. It wasn't pleasant.
I took the 6:15pm bus back to Tuxedo...which just so happens to be the bus my "best friend" drives. (I've taken this bus like...3 times...and this bus drive ALWAYS talks to me. He probably knows my whole life story by now, and me his...whether I wanted to or not. He is QUITE the talker!) Boy was that a mistake. He was on one...seriously. He is the chattiest person EVER! Not to mention he asked me out and I didn't know what to say. Here is how our conversation went (I had one head phone in my ear and one out, so I couldn't understand him sometimes...):
Bus Driver: "So Nichole...how about a date?"
Nichole: "Umm...what?"
Bust Driver: "I didn't stutter!"
Nichole: "Sorry...my music is loud..."
[Bus Driver wastes 5 minutes talking nonsense...]
Bus Driver: "Nichole, I'm serious. Date? You know...dinner, movie, etc..." (Not so sure what the "etc." was supposed to mean, but it kind of scared me, not going to lie...)
Nichole: [While trying to quickly remember if I had previously told him I was currently unattached...] "Well...here's the thing...my friend that lives in the city actually left today...so I won't be coming around every weekend like I have been because I don't have anywhere to stay..." [I was really nervous about adding that last part because I half expected him to offer me a place to stay...ew.]
Bus Driver: "Sure, Nichole....." [To the two other passengers that were near the front] "Man, did you hear her? I just got REJECTED! Can't believe it!"
Needless to say, if I DO go in to the city this next month to hang out with Angie, I will NOT be taking the 6:15pm bus anymore. Oh, and he also told me that one of his bus driver friends told him I was "caliente." Oh perfect. Now there are two bus drivers after me! Of COURSE I attract THOSE guys...of course! What a PERFECT ending to Aubrey's last weekend in the city....if she would have been able to witness it, she would have LOVED it hahahaha! :)
PS-I went downstairs this morning to get a Nutrigrain bar for one of the babies and definitely saw a mouse dead in a trap. Eww. What an excellent start to the morning. My boss said that there were actually two...I didn't see the other because I didn't look close enough. I thought I heard a trap go off downstairs last night, but thought it was just my boss doing something downstairs. Then I went down to get the little boys something for dinner and saw ANOTHER dead mouse just laying there with its paws up in the air not in a trap. That is when I saw a HOLE...that's right, a straight up HOLE next to the dishwasher. My boss thinks that is where their "lair" is...well yeah!!! Seems obvious enough to me!!! So three down, who knows how many to go! Good thing I still have that Kleenex stuffed in that hole in my room! Eww!
Monday, June 14, 2010
Creepy Crawlies
Okay, so naturally, we live in the woods so there are TONS of bugs around. I hate bugs. Growing up, I always made Evan kill them for me...even when he was like 5...before that, I made my mom or my dad do it. I hate having bugs in the house. I've never really had a huge problem with bugs in houses until here...I don't know how they do it, but bugs find their way in the house ALL THE TIME! I think it might be because the house is so old that there are cracks big enough everywhere...just thinking that makes me shiver! Not to mention, the little boys always want me to get the bugs and put them outside. Ha, yeah right. I grab enough toilet paper/Kleenex/paper towels so I know there is no way I will have to touch it, put it around my fingers so that I can easily smash the bug between my fingers without touching it or missing it and having it crawl on me, and then when the boys say, "Did you hurt it?" I wave my hand like I'm letting the bug go outside and then throw the paper towel away. It's pretty funny...they don't want me to hurt the bugs yet they scream like little girls when one comes near them. Just today we were cleaning up their room and there was a dead bug on one of the shelves and the 4 year old wanted me to get rid of it. I said, "Oh no...you're doing this by yourself." I had him get some toilet paper, go in to his room, and pick that bug up. He acted like it scarred him for life. However this is also the boy that asks for a new fork when he goes from eating his tomatoes to eating his avocados. I am going to turn this boy into a man yet! That's my goal!
Anyway, I don't think I ever mentioned this, but a few weeks ago when I got home from the city, my boss showed up to pick me up with a caution. She told me that the boys had seen a snake in the grass on their way back into the park on Saturday and it was now living in an aquarium outside the front door. It just so happened to be a rat snake, so there were 3 mice and 4 fish sharing it's cage with it. Apparently the boys really lobbied to have the snake in the house, but my boss had won that argument. Thank goodness...if one of those boys had opened the lid of that aquarium while I was alone in the house, I would be standing on the kitchen table until someone else got home to save me. There would be no way I would touch it...eww. So two weeks (I think) go by and I'm home alone for Memorial Day weekend. I get home Saturday morning from the city because I went to the Yankees game Friday night...I can't see the snake anywhere in it's aquarium. Perfect. I can just picture it sneaking into the house and crawling into bed with me. My boss calls like 15 minutes after I get home and so I ask her about it...she says that he likes to burrow under the dirt on hot days. After I get off the phone with her, I go look at the snake again, but can't see him still...and I can't see anywhere he could be "burrowed." I find out a week later that he actually HAD escaped that weekend in between when they left for the Hamptons on late Friday night and when I got back Saturday morning.
It has been really hot lately, so my boss put an air conditioner in my room, thank goodness! I was really confused last week though because I kept getting a TON of moths in my room. Then I realized that I am an idiot! When the air conditioner was put in, it made it so there was a crack in between my windows leading directly to the outside..naturally. I saw a moth crawling in and that is how I realized it! So I tapped the glass a bunch of times to make it fall off and then got to work. I covered the "hole" with notebook paper and tape...it looks VERY classy, to say the least! :)
Now, for my last and current dilemma...I get home from the city and my boss informs me that she found a MOUSE in our house on Saturday. Eww. I IMMEDIATELY thought of the hole in my room that I have stared at a countless number of times trying to decide if it could be, in fact, a mouse hole. I went directly to my room and shoved Kleenex into that hole. I was/am slightly worried that shoving Kleenex may be a bad idea, but it was all I could think of at the moment. So...we have mouse traps set all over the house and I am now nervous that I will be sharing my bed with a MOUSE. Gives me the shivers. I took a picture to put on here and I SWEAR as I pulled the Kleenex out to take a picture I heard little footsteps moving toward the flash. I swear to it! Eww! (The pictures are out of focus, but you should get the point...and this hole is literally 10 inches away from the side of my bed where my head is. Ugh!)
So I LOVE living here, but I HATE sharing this house with mice, ants, gross centipede looking things, moths, and possibly snakes. But I DO love looking outside my window every morning and seeing deer outside in the back yard! :)
Anyway, I don't think I ever mentioned this, but a few weeks ago when I got home from the city, my boss showed up to pick me up with a caution. She told me that the boys had seen a snake in the grass on their way back into the park on Saturday and it was now living in an aquarium outside the front door. It just so happened to be a rat snake, so there were 3 mice and 4 fish sharing it's cage with it. Apparently the boys really lobbied to have the snake in the house, but my boss had won that argument. Thank goodness...if one of those boys had opened the lid of that aquarium while I was alone in the house, I would be standing on the kitchen table until someone else got home to save me. There would be no way I would touch it...eww. So two weeks (I think) go by and I'm home alone for Memorial Day weekend. I get home Saturday morning from the city because I went to the Yankees game Friday night...I can't see the snake anywhere in it's aquarium. Perfect. I can just picture it sneaking into the house and crawling into bed with me. My boss calls like 15 minutes after I get home and so I ask her about it...she says that he likes to burrow under the dirt on hot days. After I get off the phone with her, I go look at the snake again, but can't see him still...and I can't see anywhere he could be "burrowed." I find out a week later that he actually HAD escaped that weekend in between when they left for the Hamptons on late Friday night and when I got back Saturday morning.
It has been really hot lately, so my boss put an air conditioner in my room, thank goodness! I was really confused last week though because I kept getting a TON of moths in my room. Then I realized that I am an idiot! When the air conditioner was put in, it made it so there was a crack in between my windows leading directly to the outside..naturally. I saw a moth crawling in and that is how I realized it! So I tapped the glass a bunch of times to make it fall off and then got to work. I covered the "hole" with notebook paper and tape...it looks VERY classy, to say the least! :)
Now, for my last and current dilemma...I get home from the city and my boss informs me that she found a MOUSE in our house on Saturday. Eww. I IMMEDIATELY thought of the hole in my room that I have stared at a countless number of times trying to decide if it could be, in fact, a mouse hole. I went directly to my room and shoved Kleenex into that hole. I was/am slightly worried that shoving Kleenex may be a bad idea, but it was all I could think of at the moment. So...we have mouse traps set all over the house and I am now nervous that I will be sharing my bed with a MOUSE. Gives me the shivers. I took a picture to put on here and I SWEAR as I pulled the Kleenex out to take a picture I heard little footsteps moving toward the flash. I swear to it! Eww! (The pictures are out of focus, but you should get the point...and this hole is literally 10 inches away from the side of my bed where my head is. Ugh!)
So I LOVE living here, but I HATE sharing this house with mice, ants, gross centipede looking things, moths, and possibly snakes. But I DO love looking outside my window every morning and seeing deer outside in the back yard! :)
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Tuxedo Weekend!
Last weekend I had some visitors in Tuxedo instead of the other way around! A girl from Aubrey's interior design program in Idaho is taking over her apartment when she leaves, so she came in on Tuesday and came to Tuxedo for her first weekend in New York! Angie and Aubrey came in Saturday morning. I went and picked them up and then we toured the park. I gave the tour..I'm not as good as Kristina is because I don't know the history behind everything, but I WAS able to find Whoopie Goldberg's house! :)
We went to Woodbury Commons to go shopping at the outlet mall. It is a super nice mall! However, even some of the OUTLET stores there I couldn't afford! It was intense! The weather was pretty nice to start out, but in the middle of our shopping trip, we got caught in a torrential downpour! It was ridiculous!
After shopping, we went back to my house and ate dinner and then went and saw Killers. We basically just had a relaxing night, but it was fun!
Sunday we went to church and just relaxed with the family...had a bbq after church and watched movies. It was nice! Our Tuxedo weekend was really nice and I think Aubrey and Angie really liked where I live! It is so pretty! I really really wish there were sidewalks around here so it would be easier for me to go running/walking through the park! That is the one thing that makes me sad about living here! I can't take the little boys on a walk because we'd have to be walking in the middle of the road and the same with me running! It's sad! But I still DO love it here! :)
We went to Woodbury Commons to go shopping at the outlet mall. It is a super nice mall! However, even some of the OUTLET stores there I couldn't afford! It was intense! The weather was pretty nice to start out, but in the middle of our shopping trip, we got caught in a torrential downpour! It was ridiculous!
After shopping, we went back to my house and ate dinner and then went and saw Killers. We basically just had a relaxing night, but it was fun!
Sunday we went to church and just relaxed with the family...had a bbq after church and watched movies. It was nice! Our Tuxedo weekend was really nice and I think Aubrey and Angie really liked where I live! It is so pretty! I really really wish there were sidewalks around here so it would be easier for me to go running/walking through the park! That is the one thing that makes me sad about living here! I can't take the little boys on a walk because we'd have to be walking in the middle of the road and the same with me running! It's sad! But I still DO love it here! :)
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Catching Up
Wow...now I know why I always failed at journal writing...I would forget to do it for weeks at a time and then get tired of writing novels in my journals!
So...the since the last time I wrote, of course a lot has happened because it's been so long. The weekend after when I left off, Aubrey and I did a lot of walking. We went to Radio City Music Hall, Rockefeller Plaza, back to Central Park, and the NBA Store. We ran into some guy and actually bought tickets to a comedy show that everyone is always advertising. I guess it's the place where Jerry Seinfeld, Dane Cook, etc...got discovered and where Jerry Seinfeld used to shoot the openings of his shows. We went there like 2 hours early because the guy said The Met and the other museums were right there...he made us believe you could see them...well, we walked and could NOT find them anywhere around the comedy show. We were still an hour early to the show, and we were EXHAUSTED. So...we decided to sit on the doorstep to an apartment complex at random. It was a nice looking place...everyone that passed by just thought we lived there. Even the people the live in that building passed by us on the stairs and said hello and asked how we were. The show was actually pretty funny! I guess the people that perform there have to be on TV a set amount of times a week or month or something in order to perform at that club. Most of them are on Comedy Central shows. Oh and Aubrey and I must have been looking really good this weekend because we got hit on CONSTANTLY on the street. It was obnoxious. Apparently guys in New York have absolutely no shame! Exhibit A: We walked by an ABC Studio building and some guy was outside on his cell phone and as we walked by, he was like, "Mmm...cute!" We kept walking and I heard him say, "Oh hey...Imma hafta call you right back..." As he noticed that we were not slowing down, but in fact speeding up, he said, "Alright fine...bye..." in our direction. That one was probably my favorite.
The next weekend we decided was our Coney Island weekend. We went to Coney Island on Saturday (the subway ride took FOREVER and there was a really crazy lady on our train...shouting on the phone telling somebody to let her talk to her baby or else...) expecting it to be really cool...disappointment! It was actually pretty dirty and gross. Not to mention we were not prepared for a trip to the beach at all! It was very unsuccessful! Afterward, we declared ourselves official New Yorkers because we had nothing else to do! We had done just about everything on our lists! So we went out to dinner and a movie to celebrate! :)
Last weekend was Memorial day weekend. Aubrey and I had tickets to the Yankees game on Friday and so I got off work a little early to get out there! It was so crazy! The subways were really packed, and after we got off at Yankee Stadium, everyone just started chanting and cheering! It was so fun! I was really sad that Alex Rodriguez wasn't playing...but it was a really good game to be there for! And it was fleet week, so there were hot men in uniform everywhere we looked! :) It was a lot of fun. Aubrey was going to D.C. for the weekend, so the next morning I went back to Tuxedo. I spent Saturday and Sunday all alone in this old, creepy house. I don't do well in new houses all alone, so this was a struggle for me! Especially because the doors to this house don't really lock...I mean they do, but I wouldn't bet my life that they are "break-in" proof. But don't worry...I definitely had every single door locked, window shut, etc.
Jane flew in Sunday morning and so Monday morning, I went back into the city to hang out with her and her dad!!! I love them! It was so nice to have someone that I know really well come visit me! I've missed my close friends that I've had for awhile! And I want more of them to come visit me! ;) We went shopping (or more JANE went shopping and I walked around!), went out to dinner, and went out to dessert! It was amazing!
My family has also decided that they are ALL coming to visit me and I am so excited! They are flying in on my birthday and then flying out 9 days later! They fly in on a Friday and we'll probably go out to eat for mine and my little sister's birthdays like we always do and then Saturday and Sunday we are hitting the city! I am working Monday-Thursday while my family does other things...maybe go to the Hamptons or back in to the city...whatever they want to do...and we are going to see Wicked on Broadway Wednesday night! Thursday after work we are going to drive to Palmyra, New York and hang out there all day Friday and then Saturday we are going to go see Niagara Falls! Then my family will fly out Sunday afternoon/evening. Evan and Jessica will head to Salt Lake while the rest of my family head to Seattle. I am SO excited for their visit! It is also going to come at the best time! I have never been without some family on my birthday and I'm glad I don't have to start yet! :) Plus, that will be really close to the time that I will be coming home, so I'm sure I will be starving for some family interaction! I love them! :)
Lately the 4 year old has been pretty obnoxious. The other day, we made cookies. I told him he could have one when he finished his lunch. Then, things got ugly. He said to me, "If you don't give me a cookie right now, I'm not going to eat my lunch." When I didn't back down, he said, "If you don't give me a cookie right now, I'm not going to play with you." When that didn't seem to bother me, he said, "If you don't give me a cookie right now, I'm going to push you." I don't know what it is, but he's been "threatening" me like that the last few days...and it just started. It's really weird. I don't understand it...I've taught preschool and kindergarten for school...but I haven't had any kids act the way this kid has towards me. He's been defiant lately and it's driving me crazy. Hopefully I can figure out a way to get him to LISTEN to me...otherwise I might go insane working these next 3 months!
So...the since the last time I wrote, of course a lot has happened because it's been so long. The weekend after when I left off, Aubrey and I did a lot of walking. We went to Radio City Music Hall, Rockefeller Plaza, back to Central Park, and the NBA Store. We ran into some guy and actually bought tickets to a comedy show that everyone is always advertising. I guess it's the place where Jerry Seinfeld, Dane Cook, etc...got discovered and where Jerry Seinfeld used to shoot the openings of his shows. We went there like 2 hours early because the guy said The Met and the other museums were right there...he made us believe you could see them...well, we walked and could NOT find them anywhere around the comedy show. We were still an hour early to the show, and we were EXHAUSTED. So...we decided to sit on the doorstep to an apartment complex at random. It was a nice looking place...everyone that passed by just thought we lived there. Even the people the live in that building passed by us on the stairs and said hello and asked how we were. The show was actually pretty funny! I guess the people that perform there have to be on TV a set amount of times a week or month or something in order to perform at that club. Most of them are on Comedy Central shows. Oh and Aubrey and I must have been looking really good this weekend because we got hit on CONSTANTLY on the street. It was obnoxious. Apparently guys in New York have absolutely no shame! Exhibit A: We walked by an ABC Studio building and some guy was outside on his cell phone and as we walked by, he was like, "Mmm...cute!" We kept walking and I heard him say, "Oh hey...Imma hafta call you right back..." As he noticed that we were not slowing down, but in fact speeding up, he said, "Alright fine...bye..." in our direction. That one was probably my favorite.
The next weekend we decided was our Coney Island weekend. We went to Coney Island on Saturday (the subway ride took FOREVER and there was a really crazy lady on our train...shouting on the phone telling somebody to let her talk to her baby or else...) expecting it to be really cool...disappointment! It was actually pretty dirty and gross. Not to mention we were not prepared for a trip to the beach at all! It was very unsuccessful! Afterward, we declared ourselves official New Yorkers because we had nothing else to do! We had done just about everything on our lists! So we went out to dinner and a movie to celebrate! :)
Last weekend was Memorial day weekend. Aubrey and I had tickets to the Yankees game on Friday and so I got off work a little early to get out there! It was so crazy! The subways were really packed, and after we got off at Yankee Stadium, everyone just started chanting and cheering! It was so fun! I was really sad that Alex Rodriguez wasn't playing...but it was a really good game to be there for! And it was fleet week, so there were hot men in uniform everywhere we looked! :) It was a lot of fun. Aubrey was going to D.C. for the weekend, so the next morning I went back to Tuxedo. I spent Saturday and Sunday all alone in this old, creepy house. I don't do well in new houses all alone, so this was a struggle for me! Especially because the doors to this house don't really lock...I mean they do, but I wouldn't bet my life that they are "break-in" proof. But don't worry...I definitely had every single door locked, window shut, etc.
Jane flew in Sunday morning and so Monday morning, I went back into the city to hang out with her and her dad!!! I love them! It was so nice to have someone that I know really well come visit me! I've missed my close friends that I've had for awhile! And I want more of them to come visit me! ;) We went shopping (or more JANE went shopping and I walked around!), went out to dinner, and went out to dessert! It was amazing!
My family has also decided that they are ALL coming to visit me and I am so excited! They are flying in on my birthday and then flying out 9 days later! They fly in on a Friday and we'll probably go out to eat for mine and my little sister's birthdays like we always do and then Saturday and Sunday we are hitting the city! I am working Monday-Thursday while my family does other things...maybe go to the Hamptons or back in to the city...whatever they want to do...and we are going to see Wicked on Broadway Wednesday night! Thursday after work we are going to drive to Palmyra, New York and hang out there all day Friday and then Saturday we are going to go see Niagara Falls! Then my family will fly out Sunday afternoon/evening. Evan and Jessica will head to Salt Lake while the rest of my family head to Seattle. I am SO excited for their visit! It is also going to come at the best time! I have never been without some family on my birthday and I'm glad I don't have to start yet! :) Plus, that will be really close to the time that I will be coming home, so I'm sure I will be starving for some family interaction! I love them! :)
Lately the 4 year old has been pretty obnoxious. The other day, we made cookies. I told him he could have one when he finished his lunch. Then, things got ugly. He said to me, "If you don't give me a cookie right now, I'm not going to eat my lunch." When I didn't back down, he said, "If you don't give me a cookie right now, I'm not going to play with you." When that didn't seem to bother me, he said, "If you don't give me a cookie right now, I'm going to push you." I don't know what it is, but he's been "threatening" me like that the last few days...and it just started. It's really weird. I don't understand it...I've taught preschool and kindergarten for school...but I haven't had any kids act the way this kid has towards me. He's been defiant lately and it's driving me crazy. Hopefully I can figure out a way to get him to LISTEN to me...otherwise I might go insane working these next 3 months!
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Conversations with a 4 Year Old
I have had two "meaningful" conversations with the 4 year old this week so far.
Exhibit A: (While his brother and I were coloring Pluto and Goofy respectively)
T- "Who is that?"
N- "That's Pluto...Mickey's dog."
T- "Who is that?"
N- "That's Goofy...Mickey's friend."
T- "Why does he have clothes?"
N- "Because he's Mickey's friend."
T- "Does he walk?"
N- "Yes, he does."
T- "Why doesn't he wear clothes and walk?"
N- "Because he's Mickey's pet."
T- "Why?
N- "You know...no one has any idea to be honest..."
T- "Why?"
N- "Because that's how Walt Disney wanted them to be...if you meet him in Heaven, you can ask him."
T- [Confused silence]
Exhibit B: (While his brother was off running around)
T- "Can G hear me?"
N- "I don't know if he can hear you."
T- "Why?"
N- [Being a smart alec] "Because I'm not inside his head..."
T- "Why?"
N- "Why what?"
T- "Why are you not inside his head?"
N- [Regretting my last comment] "Umm....let's see how fast we can finish this puzzle!"
I REALLY need to figure out a better way to handle these constant "why" questions because apparently incredibly curious 4 year olds don't understand sarcasm! ;)
However, despite these conversations with him, he is full of surprises. The other day I told him thank you and he said, "My pleasure," and then went on to tell me that his dad says you can either say "you're welcome" or "my pleasure" and they mean the same thing. He also always says great. "How was your nap?" "Great." "How was your lunch?" "Great." "Nichole, you're doing such a great job cutting that out!" "That [pathetic attempt at a dinosaur] looks great! You are great at drawing dinosaurs!" It is so funny, but I love it! Nothing is ever just good, it is always great! The best moment, however, has to be on Tuesday when I did something for him. I always call people "ma'am" and "sir"...just for fun. I did it in my kindergarten class, I do it in text messages, it's just something I do...so he and I have started to do it. The other day I can't remember what I did....probably brought him a drink of water or something and he said, "Thanks ma' lady." It was soooo funny! I didn't catch it at first and then I turned to look back at him thinking, "Did he REALLY just say that?" His mom said she's never heard him say that either...it was HILARIOUS and so dang cute! :)
Exhibit A: (While his brother and I were coloring Pluto and Goofy respectively)
T- "Who is that?"
N- "That's Pluto...Mickey's dog."
T- "Who is that?"
N- "That's Goofy...Mickey's friend."
T- "Why does he have clothes?"
N- "Because he's Mickey's friend."
T- "Does he walk?"
N- "Yes, he does."
T- "Why doesn't he wear clothes and walk?"
N- "Because he's Mickey's pet."
T- "Why?
N- "You know...no one has any idea to be honest..."
T- "Why?"
N- "Because that's how Walt Disney wanted them to be...if you meet him in Heaven, you can ask him."
T- [Confused silence]
Exhibit B: (While his brother was off running around)
T- "Can G hear me?"
N- "I don't know if he can hear you."
T- "Why?"
N- [Being a smart alec] "Because I'm not inside his head..."
T- "Why?"
N- "Why what?"
T- "Why are you not inside his head?"
N- [Regretting my last comment] "Umm....let's see how fast we can finish this puzzle!"
I REALLY need to figure out a better way to handle these constant "why" questions because apparently incredibly curious 4 year olds don't understand sarcasm! ;)
However, despite these conversations with him, he is full of surprises. The other day I told him thank you and he said, "My pleasure," and then went on to tell me that his dad says you can either say "you're welcome" or "my pleasure" and they mean the same thing. He also always says great. "How was your nap?" "Great." "How was your lunch?" "Great." "Nichole, you're doing such a great job cutting that out!" "That [pathetic attempt at a dinosaur] looks great! You are great at drawing dinosaurs!" It is so funny, but I love it! Nothing is ever just good, it is always great! The best moment, however, has to be on Tuesday when I did something for him. I always call people "ma'am" and "sir"...just for fun. I did it in my kindergarten class, I do it in text messages, it's just something I do...so he and I have started to do it. The other day I can't remember what I did....probably brought him a drink of water or something and he said, "Thanks ma' lady." It was soooo funny! I didn't catch it at first and then I turned to look back at him thinking, "Did he REALLY just say that?" His mom said she's never heard him say that either...it was HILARIOUS and so dang cute! :)
Monday, May 10, 2010
City Adventures, Volume 2
Oh wow. It was SUCH a good weekend! So many interesting things happened! This week went by so fast at work...I think it was because I was looking forward to this weekend!
I rode the bus in again...Aubrey and I had planned to meet near the New York Times building around 11am. I got there a little early, so I was waiting for her, people watching...what I do best! First, this lady handed me a flier for a church...the front says "You are Special." Next, this guy came up...crazy eyes, crazy walk, crazy everything...and started talking to that lady and pointing towards me and talking about a "young girl." I couldn't understand anything he was saying because I'm sure he was wasted, so I immediately took out my phone and pretended like I was deep in conversation with whoever was on the other line...which was no one. He started walking my way, slowed down as he got to me, and when he saw that I wasn't hanging up the phone or making eye contact, he kept walking. After that, this lady came up to the guy sitting next to me who was just finishing up his cigarette. In her hand, she had the bud of a cigarette that I am 98% sure she picked up off the ground, and she asked the guy for a light. He looked so disgusted and frankly, I was too.
Aubrey came and met me and then we went to her place to drop my stuff off. She lives in the ghetto. No. Joke. I'm not going to lie...I was nervous! Clutching my purse! Her apartment building made me laugh! Her apartment is really cute, but the rest of the building...not so much. Let me paint a picture for you. You walk in and there's an Indian rug in the entrance way. We first took the stairs to go up to the fourth floor. We get up there and the entrance beam to get to the apartment doors is crooked. The hallway smells like weed. And there is rap music blasting from one of the other apartments. The tri-fecta, basically. Let's just say I was incredibly excited for our sleepover at her apartment! :)
We took the elevator back downstairs. Let me just tell you that I haven't smelled something that bad in a long time. I can't even describe what it smelled like to you. Just eww. I was already scared that the elevator was going to get stuck in between floors because it was created circa 1913 and there were what looked like claw marks on the ceiling as if someone had gotten stuck once or twice before. We walked down the street to catch the subway. On one of the corners, there were a few black guys. They started talking to us...asking us if they could hang out with us for the day. We told them that we were going shopping in SoHo and they were more than welcome to join us. He said, "Nah, I got plans girl..." and then proceeded to say something about how he plans to "mess" with the "po-lice" a little and he included something about a duchess and his boy bringing him something...just as our walk light turned on, his boy showed up and so we parted ways. He also told us that if we were ever looking for him, he is always hanging out on that street corner. Aubrey and I immediately decided that we needed to be friends with him...if anything, so that we could have a bodyguard to walk us home from the subway if we're ever out after dark!
We get on the subway and ride it, and after we do, we have to walk around the station and look for our connection...it was a small trek, but as we were walking, we were entertained. There was a guy in front of us with his headphones in. Aubrey and I were talking and I was kind of looking around and then I saw his head bobbing. I didn't really think anything of it and then I saw his arms go up and back down...and then came the infamous air guitar! It was sweet...he was just walking along playing his air guitar and occasionally his air drum set. On our next subway, we get in, minding our own business. At the next stop, 6 guys squeeze in...and I mean literally SQUEEZE...there were two guys holding the doors open with all of their strength to get their last guy in. All of a sudden, they are making an announcement to everyone and wishing everyone a wonderful weekend because of Mother's Day. And then came the song. I was SO excited. This lady next to Aubrey looked disgusted and said, "Oh gosh..." and immediately turned her headphones up. I mean, I know I don't have to listen to the people on the subway every day for most of my life, but I am pretty sure if I were going to live in New York for the next 20 years, I would STILL get a kick out of the people who choose to make their living singing on the subway! I mean, how could you NOT laugh at that and enjoy it?! These guys had harmony and an original song, too! Aubrey and I had that song stuck in our head for a long while after that ride!
We got in to SoHo and finally decided which way we wanted to go in. We ran across this random guy on the sidewalk. He told us that he was in charge of getting 25 good looking girls together for a salon promotion. He said that he only had 4 certificates left. It was $60 for $400 worth of services. With this certificate, you get: an image consultation, shampoo massage, deep conditioning treatment, precision haircut, blowdry, style, and finish, color consultation, skin analysis, European mini facial, lip or eyebrow wax, manicure or 15 minute shoulder massage, complimentary beverage, 50% off your next haircut for me or a friend, and 30% off other services. It was a good deal, but we were really skeptical. I mean, this random bald guy came up to us on the street dressed in a t-shirt with a blazer over it telling us that he was a celebrity doing PR for this salon. He did NOT look like a so-called celebrity. Can you blame us for being skeptical? So he asks us if we watch Sex and the City and we say no and he says that apparently the guy that owns this salon and does the image consultation was on an episode...Fred Nardi. Who knows...anyway, we were still pretty unsure about the whole thing and I feel like he sensed it because he told Aubrey and I that he would give us both of the certificates for $30...and a $40 ticket of admission to his comedy show for free. (Score! Haha!) We felt like we could handle that...$400 worth of services for $30. Deal. Now we just need to figure out if it is real. I didn't want to get scammed out of $60, but $30 isn't horrible...plus it's a HUGE deal if it is legit! Aubrey is calling the salon tomorrow to make an appointment for two weeks from now, so we shall see!
We continue our little journey down the streets of SoHo when I spy a sheet...yes, a bed sheet...with 5-6 purses and wallets sitting out on it. There was a van near them and a guy that was looking all around, paranoid-like. Well, I've wanted a Chanel purse for about 5 years now...so bad. It just so happened that there was one sitting out on the sheet. I was positive it was a knock-off and so I asked the guy if I could look at it. He picks it up and hands it to me and I start examining it. He looks at me and then says sternly, "Keep it low! Keep it low!" Confused, I lower the bag away from my face and turn it over in my hands. Meanwhile, this guy is still looking around in all directions, which is really creeping me out. Somehow, the bag made it's way up too high again, and so the guy said again, "Keep it low! Keep it low!!!" I ask him how much it is and he said, "Umm...$65." I looked back at the purse and then he said, "I have this matching wallet too. I'll give you the wallet and the purse for $65." I look at Aubrey to see if she thinks I should do it and he takes the purse out of my hands, takes the newspaper out, and puts it in a white mesh bag and grabs for my money...all the while looking around. At this point I am POSITIVE that he stole these and he was looking around for the cops. I was so close to asking him why he was being so sketch! I didn't even tell him I would buy it, but I was buying it before I knew what was going on. I stuffed it in the bag that I had, scared that I might be arrested. This guy was making ME paranoid! I really didn't even get a super good look at my purchase because I was constantly being told by this sketchy guy to "Keep it low! Keep it low!" (Turns out I am REALLY happy with my random purchase. The wallet is so nice...I'm pretty sure they are both completely fake Chanel items...but they look legit...no misspelled words so oh well! It still looks good :) The purse's silver on the zipper pulls are a little worn...and today at church I noticed that one of the straps of my purse is broken. A piece of leather was coming up and it revealed some tape. Yes, the strap was breaking and so this guy TAPED it back together with packing tape. I mean, he could have at least used black electrical tape! Good heavens! Oh well...I think the guy that fixes all of my other purses at home can sew it together somehow...)
We went to H&M and went SHOPPING! I love that store so much! I got 3 cute shirts (professional looking because I need to improve my wardrobe for my student teaching/real teaching) and some hair things. I was expecting it to be a lot more expensive than it was. I would have been completely content getting all three shirts I got in every available color! I really wanted to go inside Scholastic (the future teacher in me) and fell in love with the store! Stephen was even having a birthday party upstairs! I really wanted to join him, but decided against it! That store seriously was so cool! I'm definitely going back sometime and looking so I can purchase a few items! We tried to go in to Louis Vuitton, but the doors were locked..? I think they saw us coming and new we wouldn't drop $1,000 on a purse and so they locked us out. We also went inside Prada...once we started looking at the price tags, we decided that we should not touch ANYTHING.
After we finished going in stores that we could not afford to buy a keychain from, we went up to Grand Central for a second to take pictures and then decided to go up to Times Square and watch Iron Man 2. By that time I was too tired to shop there and didn't want to spend any more money! On the subway to Times Square, in walks a lady with a CD player on a little trolley. She says, "Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, I will be your subway entertainment this evening!" You can only imagine how excited I was! Then she turned on her music and she was walking up and down the subway car looking for money. People sure are crazy, but I love it! So much! Which brings me to another crazy lady...Aubrey and I saw this really ridiculously dressed man walking on the street. He stopped near us, so we decided I would stand and Aubrey would pretend to take my picture. So this lady walks up, cigarette in hand...probably on some kind of drug(s). She starts talking to Aubrey and she said, "You wan' my pictcha on yo' phone?" Aubrey politely declined (even though I'm pretty sure she secretly did) and then the lady asked if she could see the picture Aubrey took of "me." Luckily, the picture didn't turn out. This lady then proceeds to ask Aubrey and I for some cash and we say we have none. Lies! After meeting our new friend, we head to the movie theater. We had planned to see the 6:20pm showing, but when we got up to the counter, both of our cashiers told us that there was an "RPX" showing at 7pm. They said that it is comparable to an IMAX experience and that it was only about $5 more. We said sure why not. They told us that we should be back at 6pm for the show. We walk around for about 15 minutes and then head back to the theater and wait in line. We had Jambas in our purses that we had just bought, but my purse was a little crowded because it contained my contraband purse, so my Jamba was awkwardly in my purse. OF COURSE the ticket taker asked me to open my purse! Of course! I told him that I had forgotten that it was in there and that I would throw it away. Lies again! The garbage can was a ways away from him and he was too busy taking tickets, or just didn't care enough, to notice that I did not actually throw my Jamba away. I had to go to the restroom, so Aubrey waited in line for the both of us. When I got back, I saw this lady with yellow bracelets, and she had about 6 left. I asked Aubrey what that was all about and she said that the theater was giving the first 50 people in line free Iron Man 2 t-shirts. Aubrey and I were numbers 49 and 50! Sweet! The finally let us head upstairs to the theater and they gives us our shirts. We look at each other and just know that they are going to be huge...like most give-a-ways. We look at the size and it says extra large...then we open it up and it's a TINY extra large...not even a woman's extra large...comparable to in between an adult small and adult medium! We get inside the theater and find a place to sit...we sit down on THE MOST comfortable movie seats I have ever experienced! A) They were leather. B) They were tempur-pedic. C) They were the best decision Aubrey and I have made yet! Some radio announcer guy got up to introduce the theater...apparently we were the very first showing in that theater! Also, the sound system in there has 273 speakers all around...they said it is the best sound system in the nation right now! It was amazing!
After the movie, we headed back to the ghetto to sleep. By this time, we were FREEZING because the wind was blowing and it was dark. We told ourselves that we would be prepared the next time and bring jackets! We were really hoping that our friend from earlier was at his street corner, but no such luck!
Aubrey's window kind of sounds like it is WIDE OPEN even though it is completely closed. Needless to say, that night Aubrey and I fell asleep to the calming sounds of car alarms, rap music, people yelling at each other, and the gusts of wind hitting her apartment complex. So soothing! (We had such a big day that I pretty much fell right asleep anyway!)
We woke up and both of us commented on how the wind was blowing so hard all night. We got up and ready to go to church and left. While we were walking around NEITHER of us had on a jacket again and we were freezing. Apparently we hadn't learned as much from our experience the previous day as we thought we had! Going to church on a subway is just weird. Not to mention that there was NO ONE around at all on the subways we took. It was such a difference from practically going to 2nd base with someone the day before because it was such close quarters! (Mom, Dad, I'm just kidding!) Church was alright...no cute guys though, so we're going to try a different ward next time to check it out! :) We went back to Aubrey's and changed and then went back to the subway. This time we walked by our friend's street corner. There wasn't anyone out and about, so I'm going to be honest in saying that I was a little disappointed. As we were nearing the corner, we heard a noise...there was a window rolling down on a gold car. The windows were tinted pretty dark. Our friend slowly started to appear and said, "Hey girls! How was SoHo?" We told him good and that he missed out and he said, "Don't worry girls, I never forget a face!" Good or bad? You be the judge.
We went to go see the LDS Temple and walk around Lincoln Center (we looked everywhere for Juilliard and it just so happens we were literally standing directly underneath it...we figured that out AFTER we walked a few blocks looking for it) and then went to Columbus Circle and Central Park. We stayed on the west side of Central Park, so we didn't really go through it all. We did, however, have the lovely privilege of seeing the roller-skaters. There were some crazy good skaters and some, well...crazies. There was this guy skating around (did I mention he was wearing HUGE parachute pants?) with 3 plastic nalgene-type water bottles on his head...he went to get another of those and then a regular plastic water bottle, but couldn't get the 5 on his head to stay. There was this lady in a belly shirt that wasn't doing anything at all...some old guy in an entire Under Armor outfit (the pants were Under Armor SPANDEX), and there was a crazy guy with no skates just bouncing along to the music. And that was all he did. It's apparently the newest dance move...Aubrey and I are getting really good at it!
After Central Park, we went to Best Buy because we both needed new headphones and then went to catch my bus. On our way, we saw one of the Trump towers and took a picture :) We had to go back to her apartment to get all of my stuff. There was a basketball "game" going on in the middle of the street...some older guys had joined some kids that were out and about when Aubrey and I had left. I was joking around saying that we should play and I was scouting out which team I'd be on...totally joking, and I was only talking loud enough so Aubrey could hear. I was playing around with her and I said, "Who wants me?" as in on their team...then we got closer and we walked by and one of the spectators said, "Hey, beautiful..." We didn't look at him and kept on walking and then one of the guys that was playing saw us and said the exact same thing to us...needless to say, I didn't want to be on anyone's team and we started walking faster. Our friend wasn't on the street corner that he claimed to always be on, so that was a disappointment! We need protection! Anyway, the bus ride home was pretty boring...no crazies! :)
Next week we might have some friends come and visit us, so we are thinking about being HARDCORE tourists...with the I {heart} NY t-shirts and the Statue of Liberty hats and everything...which should be fun! :)
I rode the bus in again...Aubrey and I had planned to meet near the New York Times building around 11am. I got there a little early, so I was waiting for her, people watching...what I do best! First, this lady handed me a flier for a church...the front says "You are Special." Next, this guy came up...crazy eyes, crazy walk, crazy everything...and started talking to that lady and pointing towards me and talking about a "young girl." I couldn't understand anything he was saying because I'm sure he was wasted, so I immediately took out my phone and pretended like I was deep in conversation with whoever was on the other line...which was no one. He started walking my way, slowed down as he got to me, and when he saw that I wasn't hanging up the phone or making eye contact, he kept walking. After that, this lady came up to the guy sitting next to me who was just finishing up his cigarette. In her hand, she had the bud of a cigarette that I am 98% sure she picked up off the ground, and she asked the guy for a light. He looked so disgusted and frankly, I was too.
Aubrey came and met me and then we went to her place to drop my stuff off. She lives in the ghetto. No. Joke. I'm not going to lie...I was nervous! Clutching my purse! Her apartment building made me laugh! Her apartment is really cute, but the rest of the building...not so much. Let me paint a picture for you. You walk in and there's an Indian rug in the entrance way. We first took the stairs to go up to the fourth floor. We get up there and the entrance beam to get to the apartment doors is crooked. The hallway smells like weed. And there is rap music blasting from one of the other apartments. The tri-fecta, basically. Let's just say I was incredibly excited for our sleepover at her apartment! :)
We took the elevator back downstairs. Let me just tell you that I haven't smelled something that bad in a long time. I can't even describe what it smelled like to you. Just eww. I was already scared that the elevator was going to get stuck in between floors because it was created circa 1913 and there were what looked like claw marks on the ceiling as if someone had gotten stuck once or twice before. We walked down the street to catch the subway. On one of the corners, there were a few black guys. They started talking to us...asking us if they could hang out with us for the day. We told them that we were going shopping in SoHo and they were more than welcome to join us. He said, "Nah, I got plans girl..." and then proceeded to say something about how he plans to "mess" with the "po-lice" a little and he included something about a duchess and his boy bringing him something...just as our walk light turned on, his boy showed up and so we parted ways. He also told us that if we were ever looking for him, he is always hanging out on that street corner. Aubrey and I immediately decided that we needed to be friends with him...if anything, so that we could have a bodyguard to walk us home from the subway if we're ever out after dark!
We get on the subway and ride it, and after we do, we have to walk around the station and look for our connection...it was a small trek, but as we were walking, we were entertained. There was a guy in front of us with his headphones in. Aubrey and I were talking and I was kind of looking around and then I saw his head bobbing. I didn't really think anything of it and then I saw his arms go up and back down...and then came the infamous air guitar! It was sweet...he was just walking along playing his air guitar and occasionally his air drum set. On our next subway, we get in, minding our own business. At the next stop, 6 guys squeeze in...and I mean literally SQUEEZE...there were two guys holding the doors open with all of their strength to get their last guy in. All of a sudden, they are making an announcement to everyone and wishing everyone a wonderful weekend because of Mother's Day. And then came the song. I was SO excited. This lady next to Aubrey looked disgusted and said, "Oh gosh..." and immediately turned her headphones up. I mean, I know I don't have to listen to the people on the subway every day for most of my life, but I am pretty sure if I were going to live in New York for the next 20 years, I would STILL get a kick out of the people who choose to make their living singing on the subway! I mean, how could you NOT laugh at that and enjoy it?! These guys had harmony and an original song, too! Aubrey and I had that song stuck in our head for a long while after that ride!
We got in to SoHo and finally decided which way we wanted to go in. We ran across this random guy on the sidewalk. He told us that he was in charge of getting 25 good looking girls together for a salon promotion. He said that he only had 4 certificates left. It was $60 for $400 worth of services. With this certificate, you get: an image consultation, shampoo massage, deep conditioning treatment, precision haircut, blowdry, style, and finish, color consultation, skin analysis, European mini facial, lip or eyebrow wax, manicure or 15 minute shoulder massage, complimentary beverage, 50% off your next haircut for me or a friend, and 30% off other services. It was a good deal, but we were really skeptical. I mean, this random bald guy came up to us on the street dressed in a t-shirt with a blazer over it telling us that he was a celebrity doing PR for this salon. He did NOT look like a so-called celebrity. Can you blame us for being skeptical? So he asks us if we watch Sex and the City and we say no and he says that apparently the guy that owns this salon and does the image consultation was on an episode...Fred Nardi. Who knows...anyway, we were still pretty unsure about the whole thing and I feel like he sensed it because he told Aubrey and I that he would give us both of the certificates for $30...and a $40 ticket of admission to his comedy show for free. (Score! Haha!) We felt like we could handle that...$400 worth of services for $30. Deal. Now we just need to figure out if it is real. I didn't want to get scammed out of $60, but $30 isn't horrible...plus it's a HUGE deal if it is legit! Aubrey is calling the salon tomorrow to make an appointment for two weeks from now, so we shall see!
We continue our little journey down the streets of SoHo when I spy a sheet...yes, a bed sheet...with 5-6 purses and wallets sitting out on it. There was a van near them and a guy that was looking all around, paranoid-like. Well, I've wanted a Chanel purse for about 5 years now...so bad. It just so happened that there was one sitting out on the sheet. I was positive it was a knock-off and so I asked the guy if I could look at it. He picks it up and hands it to me and I start examining it. He looks at me and then says sternly, "Keep it low! Keep it low!" Confused, I lower the bag away from my face and turn it over in my hands. Meanwhile, this guy is still looking around in all directions, which is really creeping me out. Somehow, the bag made it's way up too high again, and so the guy said again, "Keep it low! Keep it low!!!" I ask him how much it is and he said, "Umm...$65." I looked back at the purse and then he said, "I have this matching wallet too. I'll give you the wallet and the purse for $65." I look at Aubrey to see if she thinks I should do it and he takes the purse out of my hands, takes the newspaper out, and puts it in a white mesh bag and grabs for my money...all the while looking around. At this point I am POSITIVE that he stole these and he was looking around for the cops. I was so close to asking him why he was being so sketch! I didn't even tell him I would buy it, but I was buying it before I knew what was going on. I stuffed it in the bag that I had, scared that I might be arrested. This guy was making ME paranoid! I really didn't even get a super good look at my purchase because I was constantly being told by this sketchy guy to "Keep it low! Keep it low!" (Turns out I am REALLY happy with my random purchase. The wallet is so nice...I'm pretty sure they are both completely fake Chanel items...but they look legit...no misspelled words so oh well! It still looks good :) The purse's silver on the zipper pulls are a little worn...and today at church I noticed that one of the straps of my purse is broken. A piece of leather was coming up and it revealed some tape. Yes, the strap was breaking and so this guy TAPED it back together with packing tape. I mean, he could have at least used black electrical tape! Good heavens! Oh well...I think the guy that fixes all of my other purses at home can sew it together somehow...)
We went to H&M and went SHOPPING! I love that store so much! I got 3 cute shirts (professional looking because I need to improve my wardrobe for my student teaching/real teaching) and some hair things. I was expecting it to be a lot more expensive than it was. I would have been completely content getting all three shirts I got in every available color! I really wanted to go inside Scholastic (the future teacher in me) and fell in love with the store! Stephen was even having a birthday party upstairs! I really wanted to join him, but decided against it! That store seriously was so cool! I'm definitely going back sometime and looking so I can purchase a few items! We tried to go in to Louis Vuitton, but the doors were locked..? I think they saw us coming and new we wouldn't drop $1,000 on a purse and so they locked us out. We also went inside Prada...once we started looking at the price tags, we decided that we should not touch ANYTHING.
After we finished going in stores that we could not afford to buy a keychain from, we went up to Grand Central for a second to take pictures and then decided to go up to Times Square and watch Iron Man 2. By that time I was too tired to shop there and didn't want to spend any more money! On the subway to Times Square, in walks a lady with a CD player on a little trolley. She says, "Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, I will be your subway entertainment this evening!" You can only imagine how excited I was! Then she turned on her music and she was walking up and down the subway car looking for money. People sure are crazy, but I love it! So much! Which brings me to another crazy lady...Aubrey and I saw this really ridiculously dressed man walking on the street. He stopped near us, so we decided I would stand and Aubrey would pretend to take my picture. So this lady walks up, cigarette in hand...probably on some kind of drug(s). She starts talking to Aubrey and she said, "You wan' my pictcha on yo' phone?" Aubrey politely declined (even though I'm pretty sure she secretly did) and then the lady asked if she could see the picture Aubrey took of "me." Luckily, the picture didn't turn out. This lady then proceeds to ask Aubrey and I for some cash and we say we have none. Lies! After meeting our new friend, we head to the movie theater. We had planned to see the 6:20pm showing, but when we got up to the counter, both of our cashiers told us that there was an "RPX" showing at 7pm. They said that it is comparable to an IMAX experience and that it was only about $5 more. We said sure why not. They told us that we should be back at 6pm for the show. We walk around for about 15 minutes and then head back to the theater and wait in line. We had Jambas in our purses that we had just bought, but my purse was a little crowded because it contained my contraband purse, so my Jamba was awkwardly in my purse. OF COURSE the ticket taker asked me to open my purse! Of course! I told him that I had forgotten that it was in there and that I would throw it away. Lies again! The garbage can was a ways away from him and he was too busy taking tickets, or just didn't care enough, to notice that I did not actually throw my Jamba away. I had to go to the restroom, so Aubrey waited in line for the both of us. When I got back, I saw this lady with yellow bracelets, and she had about 6 left. I asked Aubrey what that was all about and she said that the theater was giving the first 50 people in line free Iron Man 2 t-shirts. Aubrey and I were numbers 49 and 50! Sweet! The finally let us head upstairs to the theater and they gives us our shirts. We look at each other and just know that they are going to be huge...like most give-a-ways. We look at the size and it says extra large...then we open it up and it's a TINY extra large...not even a woman's extra large...comparable to in between an adult small and adult medium! We get inside the theater and find a place to sit...we sit down on THE MOST comfortable movie seats I have ever experienced! A) They were leather. B) They were tempur-pedic. C) They were the best decision Aubrey and I have made yet! Some radio announcer guy got up to introduce the theater...apparently we were the very first showing in that theater! Also, the sound system in there has 273 speakers all around...they said it is the best sound system in the nation right now! It was amazing!
After the movie, we headed back to the ghetto to sleep. By this time, we were FREEZING because the wind was blowing and it was dark. We told ourselves that we would be prepared the next time and bring jackets! We were really hoping that our friend from earlier was at his street corner, but no such luck!
Aubrey's window kind of sounds like it is WIDE OPEN even though it is completely closed. Needless to say, that night Aubrey and I fell asleep to the calming sounds of car alarms, rap music, people yelling at each other, and the gusts of wind hitting her apartment complex. So soothing! (We had such a big day that I pretty much fell right asleep anyway!)
We woke up and both of us commented on how the wind was blowing so hard all night. We got up and ready to go to church and left. While we were walking around NEITHER of us had on a jacket again and we were freezing. Apparently we hadn't learned as much from our experience the previous day as we thought we had! Going to church on a subway is just weird. Not to mention that there was NO ONE around at all on the subways we took. It was such a difference from practically going to 2nd base with someone the day before because it was such close quarters! (Mom, Dad, I'm just kidding!) Church was alright...no cute guys though, so we're going to try a different ward next time to check it out! :) We went back to Aubrey's and changed and then went back to the subway. This time we walked by our friend's street corner. There wasn't anyone out and about, so I'm going to be honest in saying that I was a little disappointed. As we were nearing the corner, we heard a noise...there was a window rolling down on a gold car. The windows were tinted pretty dark. Our friend slowly started to appear and said, "Hey girls! How was SoHo?" We told him good and that he missed out and he said, "Don't worry girls, I never forget a face!" Good or bad? You be the judge.
We went to go see the LDS Temple and walk around Lincoln Center (we looked everywhere for Juilliard and it just so happens we were literally standing directly underneath it...we figured that out AFTER we walked a few blocks looking for it) and then went to Columbus Circle and Central Park. We stayed on the west side of Central Park, so we didn't really go through it all. We did, however, have the lovely privilege of seeing the roller-skaters. There were some crazy good skaters and some, well...crazies. There was this guy skating around (did I mention he was wearing HUGE parachute pants?) with 3 plastic nalgene-type water bottles on his head...he went to get another of those and then a regular plastic water bottle, but couldn't get the 5 on his head to stay. There was this lady in a belly shirt that wasn't doing anything at all...some old guy in an entire Under Armor outfit (the pants were Under Armor SPANDEX), and there was a crazy guy with no skates just bouncing along to the music. And that was all he did. It's apparently the newest dance move...Aubrey and I are getting really good at it!
I am pretty sure that this bike belongs to the gentleman with the parachute pants...the seat...or whatever that is...looks like it is made from the same material as his cray pants!
After Central Park, we went to Best Buy because we both needed new headphones and then went to catch my bus. On our way, we saw one of the Trump towers and took a picture :) We had to go back to her apartment to get all of my stuff. There was a basketball "game" going on in the middle of the street...some older guys had joined some kids that were out and about when Aubrey and I had left. I was joking around saying that we should play and I was scouting out which team I'd be on...totally joking, and I was only talking loud enough so Aubrey could hear. I was playing around with her and I said, "Who wants me?" as in on their team...then we got closer and we walked by and one of the spectators said, "Hey, beautiful..." We didn't look at him and kept on walking and then one of the guys that was playing saw us and said the exact same thing to us...needless to say, I didn't want to be on anyone's team and we started walking faster. Our friend wasn't on the street corner that he claimed to always be on, so that was a disappointment! We need protection! Anyway, the bus ride home was pretty boring...no crazies! :)
Next week we might have some friends come and visit us, so we are thinking about being HARDCORE tourists...with the I {heart} NY t-shirts and the Statue of Liberty hats and everything...which should be fun! :)
Thursday, May 6, 2010
The City!
Okay, so my second week was still good...but who knew 4 and 2 year olds could try to take advantage of you so often! Their mom keeps telling me that she loves me because I am so tough with them...I make them follow through and don't give in.
The 4 year old always says to me, "You have to..." do whatever. I look at him and say, "Are you asking me or telling me?" He says, "Telling." and I say, "Okay, how do you ask me?" and he always asks me nicely...with a please and a thank you. Lately after I say, "Are you asking me or telling me?" He has started to say, "First I was going to tell you and then I was going to ask you." Hahaha, I'm sure that's the case! He is also REALLY into the "why?" questions and it's driving me crazy because most of the time I JUST DON'T KNOW! Hahaha...just today he was writing capital "R"s and he showed me his paper and asked if he did it right. I said yes and then he said, "Why?" Hahaha, how on earth do you explain to a 4 year old that that's just how Rs are meant to be. The person who created the alphabet just decided that that is what they wanted the letter R to look like. Hahaha, my mom told me to try to direct it back to him and ask him why he thinks that. He gives me answers like, "Because I think that..." but will ask me again and then won't accept the same type of answer from me, hahaha!
The 2 year old is so cute...but has lately been on a "mommy" kick. She's been going into the city for work and he's been asking for her all the time. But when she's home, I don't know how much to let him go upstairs when he wants her and how much to keep luring him downstairs. Oh well...I'm sure she'll tell me if it's ever too much!
Anyway...last weekend I went into the city. My friend Aubrey is now living in New York for 6 weeks doing and internship and so I went to the city with her and her mom...since I REFUSED to go alone! I took the bus in at 10am Saturday morning. It was $30 round trip and my boss paid for it, which I wasn't expecting her to. I got in to the city around 11:15am and Aubrey and her mom were meeting me at Port Authority Bus Station. That place has WAY too many escalators and way too many ways to get to each floor! We were on the phone, but had NO IDEA where the other person was! It took us probably 20 minutes to find each other! That was pretty much the hardest part about our whole city experience!
When we found each other, we made our way outside. Directly in front of us when we stepped outside was the New York Times building. We walked through Times Square to get to the subway we needed to take to get down to Battery Park. We planned on coming back to Times Square early to explore before I had to come back for my bus! We were all expecting the subway ride to be way longer than it actually was. We went down to Battery Park and took a couple pictures as wee made our way to the ferry. There was a HUGE line to get on the ferry...when we went to buy tickets, they told us it would probably be an hour and a half wait in that line, in the 85 degree weather. Aubrey's mom bought a discount book which had luckily put her in the Reserve line for the Statue. The lady said that we could go with her, even though our tickets weren't Reserve. We waited in line for probably 30 minutes before we were through security and on a ferry. We walked around the statue and went to the gift store. Aubrey was talking about how she takes a "jumping picture" in about every place she has been. So we decided to do one. Pretty much I am horrible at these. It took us like 3-4 times to be in the air at the same time! We finally got it and then as we were walking back, we saw this kid that had a shirt on that said, "Been there, jumped that." Needless to say, because of our previous conversation, Aubrey really wanted a picture of this kid's shirt. It was on the back of his shirt, but he was rarely turned that way so we could see it. After following him for at least 2-3 minutes trying to get a good picture (yeah, we were pretty creepy...) Aubrey's mom went to his parents and asked if we could take a picture of his shirt. They were all for it, but the little kid was NOT. Hahaha, Aubrey got shut down...it was pretty creepy, but also pretty funny...all three of us chasing an 8 year old boy around hahaha! After we saw the Statue of Liberty, we went to Ellis Island. We were really disappointed that, unlike "Hitch" led us to believe, you can NOT ride jet skiis right up to the dock on Ellis Island, AND the whole book is NOT available to look at in the Registration Room. It took us a lot longer than we expected and we got back to Battery Park at 4:15pm.
We then walked to the World Trade Center site, but there wasn't much to see...just a lot of cranes and construction because they are building a memorial. I thought there was going to be more to look at, but oh well! However, on our walk there, we saw Wall Street and Trinity Church. And there was a "carnival" going on. At least that's what they New Yorkers said was happening. I don't know if it was what I would call a "carnival." There were no rides...just booths of food, jewelry, scarves, clothes, t-shirts, and purses. It was pretty sweet! But we were on a mission so we didn't stop and look too hard! :) It was really crazy though! Everyone was pretty much selling the EXACT same things, but everyone had a different price! It was so weird!
After that, we had made plans to go up to SoHo to check out the shopping and have dinner. We got up there and there were people EVERYWHERE. We didn't know where to start. We went in to H&M and LOVED it, but it was so crowded that I didn't feel like really SHOPPING...just looking. After that, we tried to look for a place to eat, but decided to just go back to Times Square. Aubrey and I were a little unprepared for SoHo. We're going back this weekend with lists of places we want to go to and hang out in so that we can get the full experience! I am so excited!
We went back up to Times Square and walked around this time. We got into the Times Square area around 6pm. We looked around for a bit...at all the things we wanted to do sometime. The ferris wheel in the middle of the Toys-R-Us is DEFINITELY on the list! :) We tried to go and eat at a place a cop suggested, but they were full and were only taking reservations. The Hard Rock Cafe had an hour wait, and by this time it was 6:45pm and I was supposed to be back at the bus station by 7:45pm so I could catch my bus. We stopped at a place that sold slices of pizza, salads, and sandwiches instead....mentally planning on going to the Hard Rock some other time. When we were all done eating, it was 7:30pm, so we decided to go back to the train station. We were all SO EXHAUSTED...and my feet hurt SO BAD! We sat and rested for a good 45 minutes and then my bus showed up.
The 4 year old always says to me, "You have to..." do whatever. I look at him and say, "Are you asking me or telling me?" He says, "Telling." and I say, "Okay, how do you ask me?" and he always asks me nicely...with a please and a thank you. Lately after I say, "Are you asking me or telling me?" He has started to say, "First I was going to tell you and then I was going to ask you." Hahaha, I'm sure that's the case! He is also REALLY into the "why?" questions and it's driving me crazy because most of the time I JUST DON'T KNOW! Hahaha...just today he was writing capital "R"s and he showed me his paper and asked if he did it right. I said yes and then he said, "Why?" Hahaha, how on earth do you explain to a 4 year old that that's just how Rs are meant to be. The person who created the alphabet just decided that that is what they wanted the letter R to look like. Hahaha, my mom told me to try to direct it back to him and ask him why he thinks that. He gives me answers like, "Because I think that..." but will ask me again and then won't accept the same type of answer from me, hahaha!
Tripp playing tee-ball :)
The 2 year old is so cute...but has lately been on a "mommy" kick. She's been going into the city for work and he's been asking for her all the time. But when she's home, I don't know how much to let him go upstairs when he wants her and how much to keep luring him downstairs. Oh well...I'm sure she'll tell me if it's ever too much!
Garrett wearing my sunglasses :)
Anyway...last weekend I went into the city. My friend Aubrey is now living in New York for 6 weeks doing and internship and so I went to the city with her and her mom...since I REFUSED to go alone! I took the bus in at 10am Saturday morning. It was $30 round trip and my boss paid for it, which I wasn't expecting her to. I got in to the city around 11:15am and Aubrey and her mom were meeting me at Port Authority Bus Station. That place has WAY too many escalators and way too many ways to get to each floor! We were on the phone, but had NO IDEA where the other person was! It took us probably 20 minutes to find each other! That was pretty much the hardest part about our whole city experience!
Our first New York Subway experience ever!
When we found each other, we made our way outside. Directly in front of us when we stepped outside was the New York Times building. We walked through Times Square to get to the subway we needed to take to get down to Battery Park. We planned on coming back to Times Square early to explore before I had to come back for my bus! We were all expecting the subway ride to be way longer than it actually was. We went down to Battery Park and took a couple pictures as wee made our way to the ferry. There was a HUGE line to get on the ferry...when we went to buy tickets, they told us it would probably be an hour and a half wait in that line, in the 85 degree weather. Aubrey's mom bought a discount book which had luckily put her in the Reserve line for the Statue. The lady said that we could go with her, even though our tickets weren't Reserve. We waited in line for probably 30 minutes before we were through security and on a ferry. We walked around the statue and went to the gift store. Aubrey was talking about how she takes a "jumping picture" in about every place she has been. So we decided to do one. Pretty much I am horrible at these. It took us like 3-4 times to be in the air at the same time! We finally got it and then as we were walking back, we saw this kid that had a shirt on that said, "Been there, jumped that." Needless to say, because of our previous conversation, Aubrey really wanted a picture of this kid's shirt. It was on the back of his shirt, but he was rarely turned that way so we could see it. After following him for at least 2-3 minutes trying to get a good picture (yeah, we were pretty creepy...) Aubrey's mom went to his parents and asked if we could take a picture of his shirt. They were all for it, but the little kid was NOT. Hahaha, Aubrey got shut down...it was pretty creepy, but also pretty funny...all three of us chasing an 8 year old boy around hahaha! After we saw the Statue of Liberty, we went to Ellis Island. We were really disappointed that, unlike "Hitch" led us to believe, you can NOT ride jet skiis right up to the dock on Ellis Island, AND the whole book is NOT available to look at in the Registration Room. It took us a lot longer than we expected and we got back to Battery Park at 4:15pm.
We decided we wanted to try and be "real tourists" for a picture. We also decided that one day we are going to both buy "I (heart) NY" shirts and get strings for our camera and buy the foam Lady Liberty hats and where them everywhere...however we will most likely get mugged when we do this! Hahahaha!
These masks were at the Ellis Island gift shop!
We then walked to the World Trade Center site, but there wasn't much to see...just a lot of cranes and construction because they are building a memorial. I thought there was going to be more to look at, but oh well! However, on our walk there, we saw Wall Street and Trinity Church. And there was a "carnival" going on. At least that's what they New Yorkers said was happening. I don't know if it was what I would call a "carnival." There were no rides...just booths of food, jewelry, scarves, clothes, t-shirts, and purses. It was pretty sweet! But we were on a mission so we didn't stop and look too hard! :) It was really crazy though! Everyone was pretty much selling the EXACT same things, but everyone had a different price! It was so weird!
After that, we had made plans to go up to SoHo to check out the shopping and have dinner. We got up there and there were people EVERYWHERE. We didn't know where to start. We went in to H&M and LOVED it, but it was so crowded that I didn't feel like really SHOPPING...just looking. After that, we tried to look for a place to eat, but decided to just go back to Times Square. Aubrey and I were a little unprepared for SoHo. We're going back this weekend with lists of places we want to go to and hang out in so that we can get the full experience! I am so excited!
We went back up to Times Square and walked around this time. We got into the Times Square area around 6pm. We looked around for a bit...at all the things we wanted to do sometime. The ferris wheel in the middle of the Toys-R-Us is DEFINITELY on the list! :) We tried to go and eat at a place a cop suggested, but they were full and were only taking reservations. The Hard Rock Cafe had an hour wait, and by this time it was 6:45pm and I was supposed to be back at the bus station by 7:45pm so I could catch my bus. We stopped at a place that sold slices of pizza, salads, and sandwiches instead....mentally planning on going to the Hard Rock some other time. When we were all done eating, it was 7:30pm, so we decided to go back to the train station. We were all SO EXHAUSTED...and my feet hurt SO BAD! We sat and rested for a good 45 minutes and then my bus showed up.
I saw Leonardo DiCaprio outside (his wax sculpture, anyway...) and I have LOVED him since his Growing Pains days, so I made it my goal of the day to get a picture with him! There were millions of people around him the first time we were at Times Square, but not so many the second time around so I was lucky! :)
Anyway...so I get home that night and post all of my pictures on Facebook. I wake up to a comment by my friend Stef saying that it was a good thing I wasn't there when it was being evacuated! I was SO confused, so I Googled it. Sure enough, it was evacuated because of a car bomb. My boss talked to me the next morning and told me that it was supposed to go off at 6:30pm...which is EXACTLY when I was there! Wow. How crazy! But one car bomb didn't scare me away from the city! :) I have lived through my first terrorist threat in New York...hopefully something that scary doesn't happen again!!!
I am going to the city again on Saturday and staying for Sunday and going to a singles ward with Aubrey for church! I am SO excited! We need to find cute/rich boys that will take us to the Cirque du Soleil because I have always wanted to go, but don't want to pay for it! Hahaha! :)
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