BYU Cougars Invade Boston

A couple of weeks ago, Netter, Dancing Queen, Jewel and I traveled up to Boston for the BYU v. Boston College Football game. We left on Friday so we could have the fun experience of sleeping in a hotel that smelled like fish for no apparent reason.

Saturday morning, we enjoyed the Tailgate Party where we all purchased last season's BYU apparel. Luckily Joani had supplied my "Y" shirt and pom poms prior to the game. Unfortunately, I didn't take her up on her offer for a hat/visor so I had to buy a hat from the picked over apparel.

One thing I learned is to take public transportation as much as possible when attending an event with masses of people. We had some difficulty obtaining parking for our rented Jeep Liberty because Boston College is not very welcoming to its visitors. Being the resourceful NYers that we are...we flagged down a taxi to take us the 2 miles from our parking space to the stadium.

All in all, we had a great time in Boston. The one way to make the trip better, would be if the Cougars hadn't lost in double overtime. At least it gave my white skin some more time to tan.

Here are more pictures from our sojourn in Boston:

Truly, Truly Outrageous

This morning, I watched two episodes of the timeless cartoon classic, Jem! She is truly, truly outrageous. I decided to NetFlix the first season of this cartoon series to relive the magic of my childhood years. Much to my surprise, in the first two episodes Jem tackled some serious issues like failing eye sight, world hunger, and the importance of caring about others. Who knew Jem was such a humanitarian?

It was a lot of fun to sit in my living room and sing along to the theme song as well as revert back to a nine year old who never missed an episode. One year for my birthday, Joani gave me a fashion plate stencil set of Jem and the Holograms. I spent hours upon hours creating outfits for the most "outrageous" girls.

My joy of Jem was not only apparent during my childhood but my adulthood also. My former roommate Choreographer bought me a Jem shirt for Christmas. Now that is true friendship...to walk into Anthropologie and buy a t-shirt with an 80s cartoon icon.

The Beautiful People

Ever since yesterday's feather boa sighting, I have noticed the people around me instead of remaining in my NYC bubble. There are a LOT of good looking people walking the streets or riding on the mass transit system of Manhattan. Am I the last person to realize I am surrounded by beautiful people?

For instance...I stopped into my favorite deli to pick up some food for a late lunch today. Normally I won't eat a ton if it is late in the day, but there was the most gorgeous guy ordering from the hot foods that I just had to get a heaping helping of baked macaroni and cheese. This food selection was made purely so I could stand next to his beautifulness and hope it would transfer to me via osmosis. Unfortunately, I think the only result from my experiment is I had to eat really nasty macaroni and cheese.

Therefore, I will resolve that next time I see a beautiful person I will smile at them because as the new television show 6 degrees (on ABC Wednesday nights after Lost) teaches, "the person you pass on the street could become your best friend." And, a girl in the big city can never have enough friends, especially if they are part of the beautiful people club.

A Fuscia Feather Boa...

Today I left work 15 minutes early because I was babysitting this evening. This means that I took an earlier train with new people on the train. One of these new people was a woman sitting in front of me and to the left. She was wearing a fuscia feather boa. Not a tasteful fuscia feather boa, but a long, ratty feathered, bright fuscia boa. Normally on a late Saturday night I wouldn't be too shocked by this choice of accessory; but a middle aged woman wearing business casual attire and a fuscia feather boa going uptown on the 6 train at 5:35pm is a little out of the ordinary.

Anyone else had any crazy mass transit people sightings? I'm sure this won't be my last unusual accessorizing sighting.

Newest Family Member

I would like to welcome the newest member to the Family. My bro Coyote purchased a beautiful new storm gray 2006 Nissan Frontier. I don't think Coyote has christened the truck with a name as yet. If it were up to me I think I would call it "Bubba". No particular reason, but it just sounds right for a stormin' Frontier.

Congrats on the new purchase little bro. I look forward to taking "Bubba" for a spin when I return to the homefront for Christmas.

Smoothing Shine Milk

Biolage makes this incredible, fix any hair problem, stying product called Smoothing Shine Milk. I have naturally wavy/curly hair in the back and underneath with straight as an arrow hair on top and the front. (Thanks for those genes, Joani!) This miracle product is able to bring the two styles together while making my hair shiny and frizz-free.

I have never been one to use massive amounts of styling products in my hair. In fact it wasn't until I cut off all my hair during the great destruction of 1999 that I started using fancy things like pomade and volumizing mousse. It seems strange that I never embraced the world of hair care because I have always been obsessive about having clean hair. I MUST wash my hair everyday. I would leave campus at lunch during high school to go home and wash my hair if I woke up late that morning. That is how much I was obsessed with my hair.

Now, I can recommend to the masses of woman who suffer from curly in the back and straight in the front hair to go to the local salon and pick up some of this miracle product called Smoothing Shine Milk. Heck go a little crazy and buy two!

Equal Opportunity Auntie

I have the cutest niece and nephews ever! In the interest of spreading their cuteness to the world I have some photos for their adoring public.

My Brother Punkin' with his Blake-ster in their true BYU blue

The gorgeous Julia and her two brothers, Jimmy & Kenny

Blake, the Happy BYU Boy

Honestly, could these four kids be any cuter!?! I feel like I have a high reputation when I decide to start reproducing. But I do come from good genes based on how my brothers, sister and I ended up. Take a look...
Big Lug, Me, Punkin', Coyote & the Moocher

Okay, so here is the true likeness of my siblings and I:

NYC Tops the List Again

It is official...New York is once again the safest big city in the United States. I have never truly felt unsafe throughout the four years I have lived here. You just have to be smart and aware of your surroundings like anywhere else in this vast world.

So for all of you who feel that New York is "scary", I urge you to realize that New York might be intimidating but it only becomes "scary" if you go somewhere you shouldn't be at a time when you shouldn't be there (i.e. Washington Heights at 2:00am).

New York is fabulous and has so much to offer visitors from around the world that I hate to think that something like fear of the big city would keep you away.


The magical New York skyline

Happy Anniversary to Me!

Today is a special day. It's the 4th Anniversary of my arrival in the Big Apple! I am half way to becoming a real New Yorker. It takes eight years of hard work and dedication to the city in order to officially claim the "New Yorker" status.

I'm not really sure what I will be doing to commemorate this great day. Maybe I will go a little crazy and decide to buy myself an "I (heart) NY" t-shirt. It seems appropriate for the occasion.

If only I had taken a picture of my first moments in NYC like my mom did each first day of school.

G.W.B. in NYC

The eagle has landed...straight in the middle of Midtown Manhattan. Our fearless leader, George W. Bush is in New York City to give a speech at the United Nations today. Unfortunately for me, this means impossible mazes to get to and from work everyday. The reason being that my office is across the street from the lovely Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Apparently Mr. Bush likes to cause havoc in my commuting life but consistently staying in this hotel while sojourning in New York City. There are cops everywhere! Young cops, old cops, female cops, doggie cops, cops in disguise, cops in cars, cops with very big guns, and cops eating doughnuts on the corner.

It can be very disconcerting to walk down the block and see K-9 units sniffing everything, "newspaper" sellers with earpieces and the largest guns held by the largest men with the largest helmets and bulletproof vests. I think my brother, Coyote, would be in paradise to see the sights I see while traversing from my little office on the corner of 49th and Park Avenue. I'm less than thrilled when the eagle lands in the Waldorf Astoria nest.

I'm On The Case

Monday morning, a co-worker called to tell me that an expensive Tiffany's clock was missing from her boss's desk. This clock was engraved and a gift from her boss's late husband...meaning it was expensive and had high sentamental value.

I of course put on my Sherlock Holmes hat and grabbed my magnifying glass to try and "CSI" the whereabouts of this irreplaceable clock. Apparently my abilities to investigate the case are not as stellar as I would have liked to believe. The clock is still missing and the leads and clues are fast drying up.

So, I beg each of you to keep your eyes out for any suspicious person carrying a brass Tiffany clock out in the open. It is your civic duty to follow, stop and confront that person on my behalf. Okay, so that might be extreme. Maybe a better option would be for everyone to cross your fingers that the clock is found and my sleep becomes sweet again.

The Fruits of my Matchmaking

My brother Big Lug, his lovely wife Liver and their adorable children Jimmy, Julia & Kenny (located in the picture on the right) would not have been possible if not for my matchmaking abilities. Okay to be fair, for those of you who knew me in the college years, I wasn't exactly a fan of the relationship between my former roommate Liver and my recently RM'd older brother Big Lug. But now, instead of giving them the silent treatment for choosing to marry each other and leave me in the dust, I now take credit for the beautiful way their lives have turned out.

My one issue that remains from this relationship was the fact that my brother didn't get roommates of his own for me to practice flirting. Oh well. Big Lug, I now understand why you chose to start your family with a great woman like Liver instead of waiting until you could hook up your younger sister up with some male attention. Bravo to you!

The New Phone

On Saturday, I struck out and purchased something I detest purchasing; a new cell phone. My trusty Motorola phone cracked and became basically inoperable. Hence, I dropped by the crowded T-Mobile store on 86th Street to find a replacement that wouldn't break the bank. I was able to feel comfortable with my purchase of the thinnest Samsung phone ever!

The only thing I don't like is the speakerphone volume. The best thing is that it slips easily into my pocket and doesn't cause an unslightly bulge.

So give me a call on my new sexy thin phone so I can show how cool I am to those around me and hear my new Jimmy Eat World "Lucky Denver Mint" ring tone.

Longest Four Day Work week EVER!

Normally I am used to the fast paced, constant moving of New York city and its professional industries; however, this week has seemed to be almost too much to handle and it was only four work days total! My Mailroom Man has been out all week so to save the company temp employee dollars, I decided to cover his job duties for four short 8 hour days. I have done this quite a bit in the past and not really been too frazled or stressed. This week is different. I feel like I am running around all over the office to take care of random things like moving boxes of dishes, ordering paper, distributing the mail, etc. I didn't realize how much I rely on Mailroom Man to do the menial tasks that I so graciously volunteered to handle. The other problem is that I have been coming in over an hour early to cover reception while getting less sleep than usual because of my addiction to the US Open.

I will be thrilled, ecstatic, grateful and appreciative when I give the reins of the mailroom and errands back to him on Monday. This weekend I feel like I need to sleep for 20 hours to recover my nerves of steel and smiling countenance because if one more person asks me to do something random, I might just tell them "hell no."

Goodbye Andre

Last year I got to see the stellar Andre Agassi twice at the US Open here in Flushing, NY. I remember thinking how graceful and yet powerful Andre hit the ball. Above all else, Andre always looked like he was having a great time. Prior to this tournament, Andre announced it would be his last at an ancient age of 36. The US Open marketing team took his impending retirement to the max and everyone was after the ticket to see Andre potentially play his last match as a professional athlete.

After two grueling five set matches, Andre's steam ran out on Sunday afternoon against Benjamin Becker, the 211th ranked player in the world. At the conclusion of the match, the New York fans did what they did best and sent Agassi into retirement with an 8 minute standing ovation.

I love and adore tennis but I love and adore the players who put everything out on the court. Andre Agassi was one of the those players and I will miss him terribly. There is no one who has the capability to take his place in the tennis world but I look forward to seeing somebody try.