PinkyMcG in NYC

eating mcdonald's for lunch

2012-01-25T14:37:00.001-05:00

there isn't much to report in the life of pinky mcg recently. i've been really sick for the last 5 days which means my brain hasn't been working to its fullest capacity. instead my life has revolved around cold medicine, cough drops, fruit popsicles and blowing my nose. i really hate being sick primarily because there isn't anyone around to hear me whine. all adult sophistication is thrown out the window when i'm sick. i'm allowed to be crabby, demanding and a big old whiner. only problem is that no one is around to cater to me when i'm sick. instead i have to take care of myself. buy medicine by myself. get myself to the doctor by myself. administer a thermometer by myself. etc. etc.

today i went to the doctor who gave me the magic z-pak and cough medicine. then i went into work. and now i'm eating a cheeseburger from mcdonald's because my assistant so graciously offered to pick up lunch for me. finally someone to cater to my illness demands. sometimes that's all it takes.

sometimes you just have to ask

2012-01-07T22:34:00.001-05:00

i mentioned in my it's january post that i have serious steam flowing from both of my radiators the condensation it has been creating has turned into a sheet of ice because of the freezing temperatures. on wednesday morning i had enough because i literally slept in a ball to try to stay warm all night. finally decided enough was enough so i emailed my apartment building super. he came over around 8pm to take a look at the issue. saw the problem. pulled out some pliers. adjusted the levers on each radiator. steam stopped but heat continued.

this little moment of clarity taught me that it is always a good idea to ask. as my grandma jewel taught me "all they/he/she can say is no". thank you mr. super for coming quickly so i didn't have another freezing cold, sleeping in a ball, ice on my windows night.

this week's simple moments

2012-01-07T21:54:00.001-05:00

1. took me almost 2 hours to de-decorate my christmas tree. apparently i did a little to good of a job wrapping lights in the tree.

2. sitting at home on my couch with the television only leads to one thing - copious amounts of online shopping.

3. i really want all holiday tourists to just send the city of new york a check instead of physically taking up space in rockefeller center

4. 57 degrees on a saturday in january ('nuff said)

5. a hovering helicopter woke me up at 5am and didn't stop hovering over neighborhood until almost 6am. welcome to new york.

a little something different

2012-01-05T22:58:00.000-05:00

bored and wanted to continue my streak of midnight bedtimes for the week = a new blog layout for you all to judge. do we like? do we not like? do you miss the extraneous items of previous blog like twitter updates, wish list and current obsessions? am i just trying to be too hip and fancy?

you have the power my friends and family. and since each of you know i don't give up the power easily or with grace, now is your time to strike while the iron is hot.

it's january

2012-01-05T12:56:00.001-05:00

the temperature was a high of about 22 degrees the last two days. my radiators produce lots of steam which causes condensation on the interior of my bedroom windows. that condensation than freezes to include a layer of ice all over my very large windows. last night, i slept in sweat bottoms, long sleeved t-shirt, BYU hoodie sweatshirt and socks.

thank goodness for the birthday celebration for netter taking place in florida exactly a week from today.

not a fan of january...

highlights from my time spent with 2011

2011-12-31T20:55:00.000-05:00

2011 – AKA THE FASTEST YEAR EVER!

Greatest vacation: London in October! Enjoyed 4 different double decker bus tours and a boat cruise, excellent food, gorgeous weather, made the London Eye rotation twice, took fabulous photos and did some souvenir shopping. Took a train to Bath where I worshipped at the altar of Jane Austen. Took a train to Oxford where amazing architecture is found and lots of students live and learn. Cried while hearing Alfie Boe sing “Bring Him Home” during a performance of Les Miserables. Drank tea at the Orangery in Kensington Palace, more evidence I’m a descendant of British royalty.

Greatest vacations that didn’t include a 5 hour time change and a passport: Walt Disney World in January where we dined with the princesses and wore cheap tiaras. Utah in March for a friend’s wedding. Spent 5 days in the Bay Area in April where I visited the majestic Muir Woods & Muir Beach. Took a tour of Alcatraz at night and saw my childhood through adult eyes. Enjoyed the southern hospitality and face melting heat of Charleston in June. Trips to see my family, see below…

Greatest family time: annual water park fun in July including taking Blake on the cave waterslide, celebrating the baptism of my beautiful niece Julia in Indiana, lots of hands of pinochle, meeting my newest nephew McKay for the first time in March, playing tennis and our monthly video chats

Greatest unexpected life changes: serving in Ward Relief Society Presidency and starting a book club to socialize and read books I wouldn’t normally – highly recommend Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand.

Greatest new purchases: Mikimoto pearl earrings and necklace from Japan World Showcase in Epcot Center, my iPad 2, hard bound books of my blog posts and my AppleTV

Greatest guilty pleasures: Sprinkles cupcakes, Ann Taylor friends & family discounts, using expensive shampoo & conditioner, wearing a sparkly tiara in public, Instagram photo taking, asking my friend Megan & my mommy to sew dresses for me and Till the World Ends (Britney Spears)

Greatest songs played on my iPhone: the entire 21 album by Adele, Iridescent (Linkin Park), Movielike (Jimmy Eat World), Called Out in the Dark (Snow Patrol), Don’t Turn Out the Lights (NKOTBSB), Moves Like Jagger (Maroon 5), Turn to Stone (Ingrid Michaelson) and Belong (Cary Brothers)

Greatest television: Friday Night Lights, Revenge, Once Upon A Time, White Collar, The Good Wife, Glee & anything on the HGTV channel especially The Property Brothers

Greatest concerts/Broadway shows: Les Miserables with Alfie Boe at Queen’s Theater in London, War Horse, How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying, Andrea Bocelli @ Central Park, Anything Goes, Plain White T’s @ Highline Ballroom, Sister Act, New Kids on the Block & Backstreet Boys @ IZOD Center, NY Philharmonic @ Lincoln Center, Catch Me If You Can and NY Pops @ Carnegie Hall

Greatest hours spent in a movie theater: Moneyball, Crazy Stupid Love, Fast Five, Captain America, Midnight in Paris, X-Men: First Class, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II & The Help

Greatest need for a movie ticket refund: Limitless, Cars 2, One Day and Tower Heist

Greatest New York moments: spent birthday in Central Park, took pictures of people, places and moments, 10^th Anniversary of New York Fun Day, out of town for Justin Bieber performance on the Today Show, monthly dinners with friends I don’t see often, not losing electricity during Hurricane Irene, “I’m a Mormon” cab ads & Times Square billboard, met the stars of White Collar, played tour guide for Flat Stanley & friends’ trips to New York & Alexander McQueen exhibit @ the Met

new york fun day 10th anniversary

2011-12-31T20:46:00.000-05:00

new york fun day's 10th anniversary took place on saturday, december 17th. i was ecstatic that doc was able to fly in from medical residency to participate in the event. she was my co-founder way back in 2002 when i was a little new york newbie.

this year we decided to go big or go home. we added a little personal pampering, christmas karaoke on saturday instead of friday night, a three course meal in a nice restaurant and buying seats in box at carnegie for the new york pops concert. we had a great time!

new york fun day is one of my favorite new york christmas traditions. it makes me appreciate the city and the magic it creates during the holidays. spending a full saturday with my best buddies is an added bonus.

i can't believe we have had 10 years of new york fun days. it has gone by so quickly. thank you new york city.

this week's simple moments

2011-12-16T16:02:00.000-05:00

1. my mommy sent me flowers for christmas...she is the best mommy i know
2. enjoyed the new york philharmonic's performance of handel's messiah on wednesday night
3. stood in line for 30 minutes to enjoy laduree macaroons. worth every minute of line standing.
4. made my bed every morning this week. progress.
5. glad my bed was made when my co-worker had to escort me home from work because i was sick.

move over magnolia, you've been replaced!

2011-12-15T21:39:00.001-05:00

in a previous post about three years ago i expounded about the virtues of magnolia bakery, which had just opened in rockefeller center. i was in cupcake bliss and became a bit addicted to grabbing something sweet from their luscious catalogue of goodies.

now i have taken a vow to ignore magnolia's siren song. i have found a new and better cupcake shop to obtain my hard earned funds. it's all about sprinkles! the red velvet, cinnamon sugar, pumpkin, lemon, banana, etc. make me so happy! the cupcake has a perfect cake to frosting ratio. neither are overly sweet. they just taste so dang good. if you're in new york, DC or california you MUST have a cupcake. they will change that frown upside down, i guarantee it!

bereavment for decent television

2011-12-15T21:35:00.001-05:00

my dvr is very sad. nothing much for it to look forward to until next month. i miss you revenge, once upon a time and the good wife. i guess i'll actually have to watch those 100s of movies/tv shows i currently have on a book shelf. or there is always abc family and lifetime cheesy christmas, made for tv movies.

plus i'm looking forward to the introduction of new shows like smash. i get chills every time i watch the preview.

old age rears its ugly head

2011-12-07T19:30:00.001-05:00

monday night was a trek to new jersey to buy a christmas tree and enjoy the 'burbs for an evening. took a pick up truck over the hudson river for our excursion. made sense since i had to bring back a tree.

driving the pick up reminded me of grandpappy. he used to take me and my cousins in his datsun black pick up. we would pile in the back and he would drive along and then start turning the steering wheel so it felt like we were shaking. i remember squealing with my cousins whenever he would do that. love those memories with my grandpappy.

anyway, back to original blog post story...

after loading the trees we did our best to secure them and the drop cloth generously borrowed from a friend. we used my bungee cords and rope to secure. when i got going on the highway (aka freeway for those living on the west coast) the drop cloth kept flying up so we pulled into a parking lot and i jumped in the back to try to tie rope around the trees and secure it. pretty sure that is how i strained/pulled my back.

the next morning it was horrendous pain with any movement. took quite a few advil just to get through the day. came home last night and popped into a hot bath to try to loosen the tension. thankfully clare had given me a flannel wrapped rice bag that i could heat up also. did all i could to make it feel better. woke up this morning and it was worse than ever.

moral of the story is that my 30s mean the aches and pains seem to be more frequent and of longer duration. makes me mildly concerned for my 40s.

christmas season has begun!

2011-12-05T12:55:00.001-05:00

the christmas season has officially begun!

the first official activity of the season is the brick church park avenue tree lighting. it happens every 1st sunday in the month of december. 100s and 100s of community members gather on park avenue at 6:30pm to sing carols and watch the illumination of the trees along the avenue. this year the weather was absolutely perfect. it wasn't its typical freezing temperatures. loved the atmosphere of being surrounded by my friends and neighbors as we sing the songs of the season.

netter and i with our annual photo after the park ave trees are lit

now i can focus on the rest of my christmas activities! here's a quick run down of what christmas in new york city (per moi) consists of:

buy christmas tree in new jersey
watch white christmas
wrap all pictures hanging on walls so they look like presents (a la Joani)
write christmas annual review letter
address christmas cards
listen to tuba christmas on rock center ice rink
buy and ship christmas presents to family & friends
make christmas music playlist #2
attend church services
read nativity story
donate to Sub 4 Santa
decorate christmas tree
NEW YORK FUN DAY!

i'm obviously most excited about this year's new york fun day! doc is coming all the way from michigan to celebrate the 10th anniversary of new york fun day. i'm so so so happy she's coming since she was the co-founder of this great event. this year we're adding some things to make it even bigger! can't wait for december 17th!

today while walking back to my office after grabbing lunch a song came on my iPhone. it was the brass rendition of "o holy night" performed a few years ago on the awesome show Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. it almost brought tears to my eyes because i think it is so beautiful. take a listen below and let me know if you enjoyed.

attack of the soy sauce

2011-11-30T22:06:00.000-05:00

i was wearing a white collared shirt today. it looked pretty cute. then i went to lunch with some co-workers. we walked through the doors of mandoo bar to enjoy some yummy dumplings. i was grabbing the last goon mandoo, a delightful piece of pork and veggie heaven wrapped up and pan fried, when the soy sauce attacked!

i neglected to take into account that there was a sizable hole on the surface of the dumpling which meant the soy sauce i "dipped" it into filled up with a ton of volume. i bit into it and SQUIRT! soy sauce all over my face, drops all over my shirt, and the most tragic of all - IN MY HAIR! my hair was crunchy and best of all, smelled of soy sauce.

thankfully this horrible attack doesn't make me anxious every time i contemplate eating another dumpling. i'll be happy to walk through the doors of mandoo bar when the opportunity provides itself again.

and thank goodness my co-worker paul had a handy tide pen.

budding artists

2011-11-26T21:37:00.000-05:00

my nephews greatly enjoyed the capabilities of my iPad. their favorites are the bubbles app and the penultimate app. they both drew me pictures which I'm willing to share with you. aren't they little budding artists?

me, blake and jaxon at the zoo

just call jaxon "mini jackson pollock"

blake's interpretation of where i live - aka new york city

time with the family

2011-11-26T17:40:00.003-05:00

there is truly nothing better than spending time with my family. I was able to enjoy a fantastic Thanksgiving week this year. this is only the third time in almost 10 years that I have shared turkey, stuffing and most importantly candied yams with my Utah residing family members. i flew in on Tuesday night and am heading back today. as I sit in the delta sky club I'm so thankful for the time playing trains with Blake, parcheesi animals with Jaxon and watching baby McKay take some of his first steps. my mommy fed us well and the weather was perfect. all in all it was a spectacular week. it recharged my battery to be ready for the crazy week that is staring me in the face starting tomorrow.

thank you my family for always being happy to see me and for sharing your holiday time off with me. I love you bunches and bunches.

personal realization #7

2011-11-16T13:30:00.001-05:00

if someone does something that is an exception to the behavior of those around him/her it seriously irks me. no one should expect "special treatment". if you are a receipient of "special treatment" then you should be excessively grateful because you didn't earn it or deserve it.

i learned at a youngish age that i don't know how to keep my mouth shut when someone does something or asks for something that would give them a "leg up" on everyone else. this personal characterization can best be explained in two personal stories. one from my youth and one from yesterday.

YOUTH STORY
where: disneyland in anaheim, california
when: about 1994 which makes me in my mid-teens
why: waiting for the Fantasmic evening performance on Tom Sawyer Island

my family and i found a place to stand by a very prominent rope that sectioned off a circular walkway with a tree and bench in the middle. ropes were placed on both entrances to this small walkway effectively telling the disneyland patron that this area wasn't available for fantasmic viewing. (refer to my drawing below) as i stood directly behind the rope i watched about 8-10 people at different times duck under the rope and go stand by the tree. a nice disneyland cast member would walk over and tell them they couldn't stand there. the 8-10 people would then put on their best "i had no idea this area wasn't open for watching" expression and duck back under the rope and try to squish next to me. i got more and more irked, annoyed, bugged by these people who thought those ropes were there to keep everyone else out except them.

i finally snapped.

this youngish couple ducked under the rope, cast member told them to leave, they put on the "i had no idea" expression, ducked back under the rope, tried to squish me and I LET THEM HAVE IT!

i distinctly remember saying with disdain dripping from my voice - "do you think i'd be standing behind this rope if i could be closer to the show? what do you think this rope is here for - to keep me out and make your viewing better?" then i gave them a very dirty look and elbowed more personal space for myself. pretty sure the youngish couple was dumbfounded that they were called out on their bad behavior by a teenager.

my mom and dad looked at me aghast but with some respect and a little bit of "you go girl!" in their eyes.

YESTERDAY'S STORY

where: radio city music hall on the corner of 6th avenue & 50th street

when: november 15th at about 3:05pm EST

why: buying radio city christmas spectacular tickets for my friend physical therapist

got to the box office at radio city to buy the tickets and there were about 18 people in front of me in line. bummer. after about 10 minutes, the older man directly in front of me gestured to one of the ticket ushers to come over because he had a question. he proceeded to start giving the usher grief because he was there to buy barry manilow tickets and everyone else was getting christmas spectacular tickets. why should he wait? he wanted to bypass the line to get his tickets for the manilow show happening in FEBRUARY.

...sidenote, i had already had a rough day when i exited my office building to go buy these tickets so wasn't in the best mood or have "what would Jesus do" at the forefront of my mind. ok back to the story...

i spoke up and asked the man, again with disdain dripping from my voice, "why are your barry manilow tickets more important than my or their christmas spectacular tickets?" the older gentleman, who was both shorter and smaller in muscle tone than moi, turned to me to berate me for listening in on his "private conversation". this seemed ridiculous to me since we were standing on a sidewalk in the middle of new york city. he told me how he hated people who butted into other's conversations when it didn't concern them. i told him i didn't appreciate people thinking they deserved special treatment. after a long minute of death staring at each other, he turned back around and i continued to listen to adele on my iPhone.

the funny thing is that the usher who originally was part of this brew-ha-ha took off as soon as i said something to the man. he let me fight that battle. when i finally got to the front of the line the usher supervisor was there and made a grand (and almost loud in volume) apology for the rudeness of the man in front of me. he hoped i had a wonderful day and would come back to see shows at radio city often.

here's where the personal realization kicks in. i don't necesarily think that i should be going around berating people for what i consider elitist behavior. i'm not their mother or father. plus i don't want to get in a more severe altercation. i do think there is nothing wrong with being annoyed or frustrated and perhaps asking them to realize that they aren't alone in waiting in a long line for tickets or trying to get the best view of something. i just think that rules are made to be followed by EVERYONE!

maybe i should go into law for my next career. work to make sure rules are obeyed for the greater good. uhhh, maybe not...lawyer hours are really long and too much school is required.

gift ideas for moi

2011-11-11T11:34:00.001-05:00

joani made the dreaded call a few days ago. it was the call asking me for ideas of what i would like for christmas this year. i'm TERRIBLE at coming up with ideas for people to buy me gifts. as previously posted i fully know that i'm a difficult person to buy a gift for. i'm very specific in what i do and don't like. i clearly know this about myself. the other issue with buying me gifts is that i live in new york where space is tight and i can find everything on my own.

must say that joani wasn't the first to request ideas from moi about gift giving. moocher texted me a couple of weeks ago because she won the sibling lottery when i was assigned as her designated sibling to buy for. sorry mooch. in my own defense i did tell her what i wanted. top of my list is an employed man to take me on a date. really hope she's working on getting that present wrapped up under the christmas tree.

i guess this blog post is really an apology to my mom at my utter lack of help when it comes to buying things for me that i might like and don't have to store for the majority of the year. so sorry joani. if i think of anything that doesn't involve the word "card" at the end of it i'll let you know. until then inspiration can always be gleaned from my wishlist located on the left side of this blog.

yanni, the cure for the common insomniac

2011-11-09T23:01:00.001-05:00

joani told me today that she has been struggling with insomnia. has to be one of the most frustrating things to deal with because you literally can't do anything about it unless you start popping pills which i DO NOT want joani to do. that could just open up a whole nother can of worms.

as i was thinking of natural things to suggest to joani for her insomniac ways, a light bulb went off above my head (not literally mind you). the answer was so great and perfect in its simplicity. joani needs to embrace yanni in her life. he can make the mind wander into a haze of bliss that is conducive to eyes closing and the REM cycle starting. go ahead and tell me i'm wrong. doctors need to start prescribing his music to insomniacs the world over.

to help motivate joani to embrace the yanni i've chosen my favorite slumber inducing piece of my greek buddy to demonstrate below. i beseech you my madre to take one yanni "pill" and call me in the morning.

...please don't become fixated on yanni's perfectly coiffed mane of hair or groomed to within an inch of itself moustache. really wish the director had focused on his hands tickling the ivories rather than his facial expressions as he "feels" the music. oh well, i blame the 90s...

and good night.

and thus busy season begins...

2011-11-08T13:18:00.001-05:00

yesterday i sent out the email to my co-workers detailing all of the holiday events happening at rockefeller center. the rock center tree arrives this friday! as in three days away! then the biebs performs on the plaza in two weeks and one week after that we have the ceremonial tree lighting. what has happened? how can it possibly be the month of november? i'm either in shock or feeling the effects of post traumatic stress disorder due to the rapid movement of time in my life. anyone else feeling a bit of PTSD from the fact that it is november - specifically november 8th?

i'm really hoping to keep the blog posts coming but beg your indulgence if my relationship with new york suffers due to professional, religious and personal increased demands on my time. please keep checking as i will do my best to keep the levity and pictures coming.

a trip to the kingdom with pictures

2011-10-30T21:53:00.000-04:00

i'm officially in withdrawal from my london vacation. it was an amazing time that would like to repeat often from the travel, food, culture, day trips, shopping and lounging in hyde park. all of the negativity created by the lack of sunshine and bad food choices from 2008 was wiped clean with this most recent excursion.we arrived to a long line at border patrol, grabbed our bags and snagged a ticket for the heathrow express. the mass transit system really is great but quite expensive - just an FYI. a very nice man was willing to help carry my bag up the long flight of stairs from the tube notting hill station. love me some brits and their courtesy. perfect beginning of our time in the united kingdom.

...sidenote, love that this land is literally a called a "kingdom". how cool is that? i was visiting a kingdom with numerous palaces. apparently all of those disney princess movies did work their magic on me...

here's a run down on what we did over the six days we were in the united kingdom:

went to the national museum. took an evening ride on the double decker tourist bus. ate some pizza express in notting hill. bought some groceries. arrived at london eye at opening time to wait in line for about 15 minutes. took lots of pics from the eye. found the awesome skate park full of graffiti. took more pictures. boarded a boat for our tour down the thames. took another ride on the tourist bus. ate dinner at a whole in the wall indian place. saw les miserables with alfie boe where i cried multiple times. hopped on a train to bath. fell in love with bath. took a lot more pictures. rode the tourist bus. ate at jamie oliver's italian restaurant - yum. enjoyed some ice cream in the bath abbey square. bought a magnet. went to the jane austen center to worship at her altar and try to remove the stank of singledom. twirled and danced within the assembly rooms. ordered pizza hut meat pepperoni lovers pizza on our return. ordered an amazing english breakfast with fruit, tea, hot chocolate and bread basket at the wolsley where the women next to us ordered a traditional breakfast including baked bean. hmmm. caught a train to oxford. took a ride on the tourist bus. walked around christ church college and magdalen college. absolutely stunning colleges. did some light shopping including a t shirt. took more pictures. ate at wagamama noodle shop. devoured left over pizza for dinner. took bus to harrod's department store. ate an overly priced breakfast on the fourth floor. wandered around. bought some macaroons from laduree. bought my christmas cards. netter bought earrings from tiffanys. jealousy developed. went to kensington palace gardens. sat on a bench to eat macaroons and enjoy the sunshine and atmosphere. learned the seven princess' names during the enchanted kensington palace tour. took some more pictures. waited in line for afternoon tea at the orangery. decided i want to move to london while drinking lemon ginger tea and eating an orange scone. dropped purchased and headed back to london eye for night viewing. took a whirl on the fastest carousel i've ever ridden. walked across the thames to hitch a ride on a bus to picadilly. found huge tourist shop where picked up flex's christmas present and a few other trinkets. found a red phone booth for optimal picture taking. toured the royal mews which was awesome. joined light crowds at buckingham palace for more pictures. saw the most awesome mullet ever. stopped at EAT for lunch on the go. hopped in a cab to paddington station for heathrow express to airport. hung out at heathrow until flight back to the land without the word "kingdom" in it.

i know how lucky i am to be able to take these trips to far away places. even as a youngster i wanted to be adventurous and traveling was really the best way for me to feed the independent beast. i have never regretted any time spent in my travels. and am thankful that the opportunity is always there to pack a bag and head out for the next destination.

photography class in central park

2011-10-25T23:06:00.003-04:00

a couple of weeks ago i did a photography class with my buddy cara. the instructor wouldn't let us shoot on any preset modes like "landscape", "portrait" or "sports". instead we were only allowed to photograph using the aperture and shutter speed ranges. it was so fun and very informative.

we then had to shoot a saxophonist playing under a bridge, poet's walk and the sun shining. here are a couple of my favorite shots i took.

do you like?

heading on a jet plane

2011-10-17T13:40:00.002-04:00

london here i come! t-minus eight hours until my plane takes off for the land of the brits. i'm very excited.

last night i prepped my ipad and iphone for the journeying. made the decision to include entertainment that was written, sung, set or performed by the natives. my ipad only has british movies on it currently. i filled it up with my jane austen fix of persuasion, pride & prejudice as well as jane eyre, the king's speech, les miserables 25th anniversary concert (which is technically french but produced by a brit so it's allowed). the fabulous miniseries of north & south along with little known movies like the duchess and young victoria. have grand plans for adele, snow patrol, coldplay and keane to sing to me. my plan is to do as much british immersion as possible and watching and listening to these british artists starts the trip off right.

i must confess that my boyfriend dwayne johnson's movie fast five also made its way onto the ipad. so for my purposes, dwayne is an honorary british citizen.

i'm hoping to share pictures as often as i can while trapsing the tube stations, harrod aisles and roman baths. until next time, cheerio govenor!

this week's simple moment

2011-10-14T13:19:00.000-04:00

i'm bucking pinkymcg blog trend and only mentioning one simple moment this week. this moment has been on my mind a lot recently as i walk the streets of my adopted home town. a large number of my friends are leaving the city for locations distant and often considerably warmer during the winter.

the mass exodus from NYC seems to have begun in may with gooch moving to dallas to pursue her dream job. then came clare taking her talents, VW beetle named daisy and contagious laugh to utah. and then the ward friends are systemically leaving to go to london, san francisco, utah, baltimore, toronto, australia, miami, etc. it seems that each time i walk through the doors of church there is another family who has recently announced that they are moving out of the city. enough already!

i definitely don't judge these friends who are choosing to take their life's journey down a path away from the concrete jungle. i'm just sad. the simple moment of life in new york city is that eventually almost everyone leaves.

the only way i've tried to stem the pain of separation is to give these moving friends a charge to always think in the back of their mind when they meet an LDS single man - "is this guy a possible good match for my totally awesome friend pinky?". if the answer given by their mind to that question is "yes" then it will make the long, short or miniscule time we spent together in nyc completely worth it.

thank you utah photographer

2011-10-13T23:30:00.002-04:00

a lovely woman in utah took pictures of my brother coyote and sister-in-law sunshine's family recently. sunshine was smart to send me via text a link to the photos on the photographer's blog. i immediately used my iPhone for the purpose of tracking down the latest from their male heavy family. these pics of their family were some of the best i've seen in a really long time. of course i'm biased. but seriously, how cute are my nephews? the answer you're looking for (in true utah fashion) is "totally freaking adorable!"

all creative credit to the photographer as well as coyote and sunshine for making such amazing kids.

mckay, blake and jaxon

love reflection of coyote and sunshine making silly faces

the soundtrack to london

2011-10-13T23:13:00.001-04:00

need to make a playlist for my journey through that other awesome island...england or the uk. i've been in a bit of a rut with my listening choices. as previously stated, my love for my BFF 4-eva adele has not wavered and i'm sure she'll sound even better when i'm walking upon her native soil.

please help me oh friends of mine. share the wealth when it comes to good music that is propelling you through your day. i'm open to all types of music minus twangy country, hard hitting hip hop (previously known as "gangsta rap"), and techno (also known as "house"). don't be shy...let me know in the comments section what is good that i'm currently missing because my devotion to adele and maroon 5's moves like jagger is currently blowing up my headphones.

i'm completely willing to give a shout out to anyone who increases the joy in my life by sharing good music. i might even name one of my future children after you. now that's a reward to aspire to.

economics, baseball & brad pitt

2011-10-12T14:26:00.000-04:00

netter and i attempted to see moneyball on a saturday night two weeks ago. we arrived at the theater with 20 minutes before showtime and learned the showing was sold out. bummer. last saturday we decided we wanted to see the movie so were proactive and bought tickets online as well as arrived at the theater a good 35 minutes before the five trailers began.

...let me back up real quick before i tell you my impression of moneyball - as an 10/11 year old my family had season tickets to oakland a's games. my favorite professional athlete is mark mcguire (i still remain true regardless of any doping allegations) who spent the majority of his professional career with oakland. my field of business is finance. i think brad pitt is incredibly handsome and endearing plus he generally dresses really well. i picked up the book by michael lewis and proceeded to read a majority of the book but just couldn't make it to the end...

the movie was fantastic! probably in the top tier of movies i've seen this year. i thought jonah hill and brad pitt made a great duo and the baseball wasn't so heavy that i felt i was rewatching ESPN sportscenter. plus it had the added bonus of making me burst into laughter out loud on multiple occasions. at the conclusion of the movie i immediately called joani to tell her she HAD to see this movie. i think she would really enjoy it. the content had action, suspence, emotion, comedy and last but not least, brad pitt! that's what i call a winning combo.

giving him the benefit of the doubt, it's not working...

2011-10-09T20:23:00.002-04:00

this past weekend there was a singles conference for LDS singles age 26 and over here in my own backyard. it was my first conference ever. the main motivation for my attendance was my really good BBW (bath & body works) friend T was in town from salt lake.

she and i met up on saturday morning to catch up and talk about our adult lives of home ownership, setting up 401k accounts, making sure we are the favored aunt and plan amazing vacations. it was so great to spend time with her. i miss her especially when she shares her insights and life experiences.

during a slight lull in the activities of the conference T ran into a friend and former home teacher from DC. during the course of the conversation with this dude he mentioned more than once that there is no one to date in new york so he looks forward to moving somewhere to finally find someone to date and hopefully marry. i wanted to punch him in the face.

let me clarify...i didn't have the immediate reaction to punch this guy because i had suddenly and completely fallen in love with him. no, my motivation for inflicting bodily harm upon his jaw line was because he obviously needs a swift reality check that physical pain could provide. saying there are no women to date in new york, whilst standing in front of eligible women who have numerous eligible women friends, was a load of (pardon my language) crap. what does this guy want in a wife?

i left the conference with a sour taste in my mouth because i know this little philosophy is not exclusive to this dude. so i ask the single men of the world, regardless of religious affiliation, to please open your eyes and look around you. i can with absolute certainty promise you that you are surrounded by amazing women who have all the qualities (and probably more that you can ever imagine) you want or desire in a companion. stop thinking that perfection exists, because honestly, there is a very good chance that you are not perfect so expecting it in a wife is just plain ludicrous.

good luck to T's friend from DC in finding that special someone outside of NYC. i'm sure he's a great person who has a desire to do what's right and built a righteous family. i'll try to give him the benefit of the doubt as long as he promises to never again complain about having no one to date in the area he is living like it is a problem not of his own choosing.

was i wrong to have the immediate motivation to punch this guy? please friends be brutally honest.

welcome october

2011-10-06T12:35:00.000-04:00

welcome to the first month of the fourth quarter of the year. october is one of my favorite months of the year for many reasons. here are a few:

new england fall foliage viewing and photography
baking pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin scones, pumpkin cupcakes, etc.
new episodes of primetime tv
general conference
football
crisp cool nights = no air conditioning
apple picking
big lug's birthday
work starts to get really busy
wearing boots and cute blazers
three pay periods
rock center rink goes is open for business
halloween candy
christmas gift planning

this october has the added bonus of absolutely gorgeous weather, a singles conference complete with a halal lunch and devotional by member of the seventy, vacation to LONDON and fall photography class in central park with my friend cara courtesy of groupon.

october really is the final moment of bliss before the misery and woe of freezing temperatures, bus stop closed due to rock center tree, planning biggest annual RS event, barren trees in central park and need to wear five layers to combat the wind tunnels. thank goodness for thanksgiving, christmas and disney world as event to look forward to once a month from november through january. if only i had something to plan to get me through the bleakest month of the year - february. i'm sure i'll think of something to get me out of town and into sunshine & warmth to combat the february doldrums.

so welcome october. it's always nice to welcome back an old friend.

oh sweet riley nelson

2011-10-02T22:13:00.001-04:00

a facebook friend posted this video today and it just made me absolutely giddy with joy. as a background, riley nelson plays football for the byu cougars. he came into the game in the third quarter on friday to lead the cougars past a very good utah state team. well done riley and his teammates.

feast your eyes on the come from behind with a 96 yard last minute drive skills of riley and most important, his luscious locks.

total BFFs

2011-09-29T21:52:00.002-04:00

i love adele. i think she's an amazing singer. her music is inspiring and emotional. would have been more than willing to pay top dollar for a ticket to her concert in the city earlier this year. but we weren't yet friends at that point. our relationship developed this past summer.

i love her. and i don't care what anyone says. i love her for the singer she is. i love her for the britishness that she exudes. i love her for the lyrics she writes. i love her for her sassyness. i love her for the style she promotes. but right now i love her most for the fact she filmed her gorgeous someone like you in paris.

thank you adele. we are now best friends 4-eva.

what happens when i'm bored

2011-09-29T21:17:00.002-04:00

i'm bored; therefore, i buy things for my apartment to change something and attempt to take away the boredom. trust me it's a good idea. otherwise the dark side of HGTV watching will send me down a deep dark spiral of wanting to buy a house in some random location just for a change.

what do we think of this duvet cover set for the bed?

expanding my book reading horizons

2011-09-29T20:51:00.000-04:00

my good friend jewel and i needed to spice up our social circle so we started a book club. we invited a bunch of our buddies to read and discuss books written both recently and of yesteryear. at our discussion last month we chose a book called unbroken by laura hillenbrand based on the recommendation of one of our comrades. the summary said it was a story about a man who competed as an Olympic athlete in the mid and late 30s then served in the army air corps during world war II.

i have never read or even picked up in a book store or library a book that dealt with the subject matter of war. it just wasn't my style. but i'm a team player as they say so i dutifully purchased the book through the iBookstore. kinda held out until about 10 days left before the date of our discussion. started to read and LITTERLY. COULDN'T. PUT. MY. IPAD. THAT. HAD. THE. BOOK. DOWN. lost a lot of sleep over the last 10 nights.

the story was amazing! and as my friend said during the discussion last night, if i didn't know it was a real story i would have thought the events detailed in the book were straight from someone's imagination. even reading about all of the atrocities that happened to louie, i was completely inspired by his determination and ability to retain as much humanity as possible while being physically destroyed and stripped of his humanity.

i would urge everyone to read this book. not only is it well written by laura hillenbrand (author of seabiscuit) but it is a page turner because you want to know what happens to louie. you care about him and his comrades. you won't be sorry if you choose to dive into the story of this courageous man from torrance, california.

hoping that october's book the guernsey literary and potato peel pie society is just as good.

a note to a thief...

2011-09-27T14:57:00.000-04:00

to the person who stole my debit card number,

it makes me sad that you stole my debit card number. there was no need to produce a counterfeit card to joy ride in taxi cabs throughout the city, buy some possibly needless gift cards and supplies from targets in the bronx and brooklyn as well as treat yourself to a coffee and doughnut at dunkin doughnuts. there really was no reason for you to take about $400 of my hard earned money. you truly should be ashamed of yourself that your thieving ways caused me to almost hyperventilate and start to shake because of panic and absolute dismay.

there are only a few things, to me, that each person of the human race should hold dear. they are honesty and integrity. mr./ms. thief - you failed miserably on both points when you stole my debit card number. i really hope that it was worth it to you because i think i was able to catch your thieving ways soon enough to get the card number cancelled before you hit the slot machines in atlantic city or bought that iPad you've had your eye on for the last week.

my final piece of advice to you, the person who stole my debit card number, is to take a moment to evaluate what you are doing. stop leeching off other people and causing stress and anguish. and if after the self evaluation you decide that you're all good with the dishonest choices you are making then my next piece of advice is to never open a checking account because i'm pretty sure the people you associate with wouldn't hesitate to do to you what you did to me.

from,
the person who spent three hours of her day on the phone or in the branches of my bank

ode to HGTV

2011-09-25T22:05:00.001-04:00

my friend preppy told me about her recent addiction to watching HGTV. i thought it was kind of odd but didn't voice that opinion to her directly. in my mind there were so many other great cable shows to enjoy like AMC, Bravo, ABC Family, Bio, etc. Who wants to watch shows about how to build a deck? or what kind of paint and primer combo is best to disguise a red wall? or heaven forbid, watching men compete in a show about who can make the best bird feeder out of popsicle sticks? needless to say, it didn't intrigue me but i thought that my friend preppy is a pretty urbane, cultured and sophisticated new yorker/san franciscan so maybe i should see what all of the hoopla was about. big mistake. huge.

i have now turned into an HGTV groupie. it is my go-to surfing channel if i'm waiting for my prime time shows to commence or i need something in the background while i cook or if i'm just lounging on my couch in my 400 something square foot apartment that i pay a rent of 4 digits to call my home. some of my favorite shows are house hunters international, property virgins, for rent and my first place. the mistake in converting to the dark side of watching others search for properties is that i have some serious, hard core house envy. i want to be one of the young whipper snappers that is buying their first home full of three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen with an island and deck in the back yard. oh and did i mention all of the homes seem to have a dishwasher and laundry facilities? because they all do. be still my beating heart.

don't get me wrong...my relationship with new york city seems to be on solid footing. we still spend lots of wonderful hours together basking in vibrancy, culture, energy and street fairs selling food on a stick. it's just that HGTV has opened up a new adult world to me full of people concerned about mortgages, location vs. space, and how close is too close to one's parents. as well as how to compromise on paint colors and how big is too big when buying a new HDTV for the family room.

sometimes i wonder if i could have a long term relationship with a place like los angeles, san diego, phoenix or portland that is just as vibrant, cultured and energetic but with an added bonus of a mortgage full of equity and maybe a yard where my one day dog can romp and play. i think in many ways it is better to not realize what is out there so you don't know anything but your chosen way of life. unfortunately HGTV burst that bubble of ignorance.

this week's simple moments

2011-09-23T17:01:00.001-04:00

1. the un general assembly is in town - 'nuff said
2. first relief society meeting was a rousing success
3. took the subway to and from work three times this week :/
4. enjoyed central park walk late on a saturday afternoon as the sun was going down
5. taught clare how to use the FaceTime function on her new iPad - hooray for technology that brings people together

new york favorites written by M2 relief society

2011-09-22T15:17:00.000-04:00

our ward's relief society fall social was all about how to live, love and enjoy living in new york city. one of the things we opted to do was ask all of our relief society members to send in their opinion on the best places to see, do, eat, be pampered, people watch, etc. as well as advice for living in the city. we had a great response so i thought i'd let you know what made the list...(see if you can pick out the items that i submitted as my faves). Please feel free to share with any friends who are planning a visit to the greatest city. This list was compiled by real life New York women.

ADVICE FOR LIVING IN NEW YORK CITY:
 Follow the advice of John Lennon to WALK everywhere! It's the best way to get a feel for the city and you can find amazing architecture, people, food, shopping, and helps you feel a part of a larger New York City community.
 Embrace it! There are many things that may seem inconvenient and hard; however, if you focus on the positives they will always outshine the negatives. You will learn & grown here more than any other place. Choose to enjoy every moment!
 Be involved in the ward! Go to any and all activities to make your presence known and develop your New York family.
 Learn the MTA Bus System – it takes you almost anywhere you want to go and is amazing to see the many people, places and architecture pass by your window
 Get a safe pesticide for your apartment like EcoSmart. They’re made with natural ingredients that don’t irritate senses when using them.
 Use your computer – you can order groceries (www.freshdirect.com), diapers (www.diapers.com) and almost anything from www.amazon.com and www.ebay.com. Most online retailers have excellent shipping prices that make online ordering more convenient.

TO GO, SEE & DO:

 MUSEUMS:
o Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) – free on Fridays from 4:00pm – 8:00pm
o Metropolitan Museum of Art – pay what you want
o The Paley Center for Media (previously the Museum of Television & Radio)
o Museum of the City of New York
o Fort Tryon Park and The Cloisters
o Museum Mile Festival in early June shuts down Fifth Avenue and numerous museums are free including the Met & Guggenheim

 PERFORMANCES:
o $6 ticket to movies playing before noon on Friday, Saturday & Holidays at AMC Theaters
o Metropolitan Opera in Lincoln Square – tickets as low as $15
o $20 tickets for select Broadway shows through Hiptix – free registration for those between the ages of 18-35 http://www.hiptix.com/about.htm
o Student Rush tickets to Broadway shows
o TKTS booths in Times Square & South Street Seaport
o Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater
o New York City Ballet at Lincoln Center – tickets as low as $25
o NYU & Fordham showcase fantastic & cheap arts programs & film festivals
o Alliance Francaise (FIAF) for culture events and viewing foreign films on Tuesday nights
o Plays at BAM Harvey Theater in Brooklyn
o Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater offers numerous classes and amazing performances
o US Open Tennis Championships – cheap ticket for a Grounds Pass early in the tournament

 TO SEE/DO:
o Conservatory Garden at Fifth Avenue & 105th Street – gorgeous in Spring & Fall
o The Highline and Chelsea Market
o Green markets for fresh produce, flowers, etc.
o Bike riding and rowing boats in Central Park
o Walking the Brooklyn Bridge and stopping at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory
o Ice Skating at Wollman Rink or Rockefeller Center
o Free walking tours throughout the city http://www.freetoursbyfoot.com/nyc/lowermanhattan.asp
o Long Island City's waterfront park
o Double Decker bus tours with visiting friends – 2 for 1 tickets available for local residents of tri-state area with web registration and proof of residence https://www.newyorksightseeing.com/local_advantage.php
o Karaoke in Korea Town at Duet 35 – private rooms to sing and dance to your heart’s content http://karaokeduet.com/eng/top.html
o Top of the Rock Observation Deck at dusk
o Concerts at smaller venues - Bowery Ballroom, Terminal 5, Irving Plaza, Roseland Ballroom, Brooklyn Waterfront, Mercury Lounge and Beacon Theater
o Park Avenue Tree Lighting & Singing – first Sunday of December gather outside Brick Church @ 91st & Park Avenue to sing Christmas carols

TO EAT:

 BAKERIES:
o Epicerie Boulud @ Broadway & 65th Street - amazing French pastries like macaroons
o Tonnie's Minis @ Lenox b/w 123rd & 124th - mini cupcakes
o Francois Payard Bakery @ Plaza Hotel & Houston b/w Thompson & Sullivan
o Bouchon Bakery @ Rockefeller Plaza & Columbus Circle
o Almondine Bakery @ Water Street & Main Street (Brooklyn) or @ 9th Street & 7th Avenue
o City Bakery @ 18th Street b/w 5th & 6th – hot chocolate & cookies
o Levains Bakery @ 74th Street b/w Columbus & Amsterdam – 6 oz Chocolate Chip Cookies
o Donut Plant @ 23rd Street b/w 7th & 8th & @ Grand Street b/w Essex & Norfolk – Crème Brulee doughnut
o Magnolia Bakery @ Bleeker & 11th Street or @ 49th & 6th or @ Columbus & 69th – Bread Pudding
o Amy’s Bread @ Bleeker & Leroy or @ Ninth b/w 46th & 47th Street –Chocolate Cake
o Baby Cakes Bakery @ Broome b/w Ludlow & Orchard

 RESTAURANTS:
o Eataly @ 23rd Street & 5th Avenue
o Pio Pio @ First b/w 90th & 91st – Peruvian Combo
o Baoguette @ Lexington b/w 25th & 26th or @ Maiden Lane & Broadway – Classic Sandwich
o Patsy's Pizza @ 69th Street & 2nd Ave or @ 23rd Street b/w 8th & 9th
o Halal Cart @ 53rd & 6th – best after 7:30pm
o Cascabel Taqueria @ Second b/w 80th & 81st
o EJ’s Luncheonette @ 73rd Street & Third – great French Toast
o Dim Sum Go Go @ Broadway b/w Catherine & Chatham Square
o Joy Burger @ Lexington & 100th or @ Washington Place & 6th
o Alta Restaurant @ 10th Street b/w 5th & 6th
o Caracas Restaurant @ 7th Street & 1st Avenue
o Lula's Ice Cream @ 6th Street b/w Avenue A & Avenue B
o Cafe El Portal Restaurant @ Elizabeth Street b/w Spring & Kenmare
o Le Maison Du Chocolat @ Madison b/w 78th & 79th or @ Rockefeller Plaza
o Yorkville Creperie @ York Avenue b/w 83rd & 84th
o Mandoo Bar @ 32nd Street b/w Broadway & 5th - dumplings
o Dos Caminos @ 50th Street & 3rd or @ Park Avenue South b/w 26th & 27th – excellent Brunch menu

TO SHOP:

 SPECIFIC STORES:
o Bloomingdales on 59th & Lexington
o J. Crew on 17th & 5th has the best sale section
o Barney's Warehouse Sale is worth the madness
o Forever 21 in Times Square
o DSW in Union Square
o Polarn O. Pyret for kids clothes on sale - opening a shop on 79th & Columbus soon
o Fishes Eddy for kitchen items - 889 Broadway
o ABC Carpet & Home Outlet Store in the Bronx (not on Broadway) has great deals on carpets, rugs, and modern furniture.
o Tag sale at the Brick Church (91st/Park) every October and April to stock up on used children's clothes, shoes, coats and toys.
o Fairway at 125th has a free parking lot

 NEIGHBORHOODS with GREAT SHOPPING:
o Sample Sales throughout the Fashion District
o Herald Square – 34th Street between 5th & 9th including Macy’s Department Store
o Union Square
o Broadway between Houston and Canal Street
o Chelsea, on 5th and 6th between 14th and 18th featuring Anthropologie, H&M, TJ Maxx, Zara, J. Crew, Urban Outfitters, etc
o Flea Markets in numerous neighborhoods like Hell’s Kitchen and Brooklyn as well as the Garage near Madison Square Park

TO PAMPER:

 MANICURE/PEDICURE:
o Blooming Nails on 90th and Lexington
o Mimi’s Nails on 80th and 2nd – avoid Saturdays
o Make sure your chosen nail salon has massage chairs to allow your pedicure to do double duty. Get a full-body spa treatment for the price of a pedicure
o Many nail salon offer manicure/pedicure combo deals during Monday - Thursday

 HAIR:
o Arrojo Studio @ 180 Varick Street – try to book appointment with Katie
o Cutler Salon in Soho – try to book appointment with Hannah
o Whitmore Hair Salon @ 45 Grove Street
o Hair Farfalla @ Third b/w 88th & 89th Street – great for a quick shampoo and decent cuts

a dream is a wish your heart makes

2011-09-22T11:42:00.001-04:00

i've stated before how i pretty much always remember my dreams. and they are always vivid and generally involve at least one person that i know. here's a run down of my dreams this week, thus far...

monday night - a guy i had a crush on many moons ago showed up at church so i ran from floor to floor and classroom to classroom to avoid him seeing me. was terrified that if i talked to him that i would start to like him again. that had to be avoided at all costs! crush hasn't been part of my life for quite some time so i'm always annoyed when he shows up in a dream to remind me of his actual live existence and that he didn't love me back.

tuesday night - was in a hair salon in utah visiting clare. she had to go take care of a hair care emergency so told me to wait. a woman close by was waiting to get her hair colored. the owner of the salon came up to me and started giving me a hard time because i hadn't started her color process yet. i didn't know what to do and clare wasn't answering her phone so i just started mixing color. but was terrified of messing up this girl's hair, knowing how important my hair is to me, so i told the owner that i wasn't a trained stylist. clare walked in while the owner was yelling at me. she got yelled at also. not sure why i waited so long in the dream to tell salon owner she had the wrong person doing hair. i guess wanted to protect clare from getting in trouble. so this dream once again cements my "good friend" status.

wednesday night - my favorite band jimmy eat world was on my flight from london. i happened to be sitting close to the lead singer jim adkins so of course i struck up a casual conversation. i mentioned that i was bummed they were only doing their "bleed american" shows in san francisco, los angeles and arizona because i couldn't go based on work commitments. jim told me that fellow toros (our HS mascot) had to stick together so he would put together a special performance of the album for me and my friends in new york within the year. i promised to be his best friend for life. i think i got the better deal. REALLY REALLY REALLY wish this dream will come true! makes perfect sense that my fave band would be willing to coordinate a show for myself and my friends in appreciation of my years of tireless devotion.

wonder what tonight's slumber will bring...

friday night lights farewell

2011-09-19T14:12:00.001-04:00

i've expounded previously about my love and admiration for friday night lights. the show is a perfect blend of character and football. it is a story about family - a nuclear family, a sport family and a community family. the final episode of this great series has already been filmed, edited, broadcast and put on a dvd. it is one of the best finales i have ever seen. seriously hoping they do as they have suggested and develop a movie for these characters.

while watching a completely boring emmy broadcast last night i nearly allowed my tear ducts to work when they called out the name of jason katims for best dramatic writer. he is the brains, heart and soul of the show. the best part is he ended his speech with the perfect "clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose."

the evening got even better when the amazingly talented but long shot kyle chandler was awarded the statue for best lead actor in a drama series. i literally jumped off my couch and started clapping. i was so incredibly happy for him because without coach taylor the show would not exist. he is amazing.

lately when people come over to my apartment for the first time and see my large bookshelf full of dvd and blu-rays they always remark how they absolutely love friday night lights. i can't tell you the number of times i've loaned out the full series on dvd that i own. anything to help people embrace the goodness of quality television programming.

i will miss FNL. i will miss eric and tami taylor. i will miss the dillon panthers and east dillon lions. i beseech you to watch this series! it is truly one that brings out the emotions of life set against a football loving town with amazing scenery, music and heart.

this month's simple moments - written on an airplane

2011-09-18T20:50:00.006-04:00

obsessed with Groupon - bought one for food and one for a photography class
love my book club - this month's book is called Unbroken
69 cent songs on iTunes are awesome
nail salon lady asked where my friend was while getting a manicure...apparently netter and i are a nail salon attending duo
la guardia airport has more families flying than jfk - must be the numerous orlando flights
holiday weekends in new york city are very quiet
no more A/C usage = smaller electric bills
bought tickets in a box at carnegie hall for new york pops holiday concert
allergies are getting bad again
three days of perfect weather following hurricane irene
line down the block at abercrombie & fitch and parisian landuree for macaroons, i would have chosen the macaroons
sat next to a friend from church on my bus to work

trying to coordinate a girls' weekend

2011-09-18T20:41:00.003-04:00

it's been over 10 years since myself and my two freshman year college roommates have been in the same room. i think the last time we were all in the same room was susan's wedding. a lot has obviously happened in that decade to all of our lives.

while chatting recently with heidi we realized that enough was enough. it was time to bring the sweeties of m. smith heritage hall back into the same room. emails about dates and locations have been exchanged but nothing finalized. this weekend getaway unfortunately is easier said than done with two busy moms' schedules and my work load. but i know the three of us are determined to make it happen.

i have no doubt in my mind that when we are all back together that it will seem like we've only been apart for a few months. that is one of the greatest blessings in life, friendship. i greatly look forward to partying like it's 1999 again with my BYU comrades heid and susan!

halfway through september

2011-09-18T20:06:00.004-04:00

apparently i forgot i had a blog during the first 18 days of september. my time has not been idle. seems as the year winds to a close that my "to do" list increases. not just with my professional obligations but also personal and church. as i told someone recently, i would rather be busy and accomplishing tasks then sitting around being bored. got my wish.

successfully made it through the first tax deadline of september 15th. just one more to go in october.
booked housing for orlando, florida january 2012 vacation
enjoyed numerous hours of amazing tennis played during the US Open including an epic match between novak djokovic and rafael nadal
spent labor day with my brother big lug and his family for my niece julia's baptism - she looked beautiful

started going to the gym at 6am daily - yup, 6am
planned relief society fall social with my meetings committee
saw Andrea Bocelli in Central Park
became kind of obsessed with my Instagram app
ate my first cupcake from Sprinkles bakery

that is just a small snippet of my month of september thus far. finally it feels like fall is in the air. this means apple picking, photo taking, pumpkin bread baking, breaking out the cashmere sweaters and no more flip flops. still pretty shocked that we are a short two weeks away from the fourth quarter of the year. anyone else in a bit of shock by this fact?

this week's simple moments - transportation edition

2011-08-28T21:04:00.001-04:00

1. while sitting on the bus i saw a man drop a jacket, another man grabbed it, ran to the man, and handed it to him with a smile
2. chose to ride the subway home where i saw a middle aged man in full clown costume and makeup (but without the wig - thank goodness) grab his briefcase and get on the uptown 6 train to read the New York Times
3. sang along to numerous boy band hits while driving in clare's beloved daisy, which is the perfect vehicle for boy band singing and dancing
4. wanted to walk home on tuesday evening but wasn't wearing flip flops so alas...
5. had one of the saddest train rides ever on saturday morning. the train took me back to new york city after saying farewell to one of my best friends before she moves to utah. truly hated that train ride.

a little bit of city shaking

2011-08-23T19:38:00.001-04:00

about 2pm today there was an earthquake in new york city. the epicenter was in virgina. the funny thing was how nervous everyone got. to me it really wasn't a big deal because i've been through numerous earthquakes based on my youth in the bay area of california. i was the calm, cool and collected one in the office while the "lived all my life on the east coast" peeps became absolutely unhinged by about 8 seconds of shaking.

around 3pm i went outside to get some air. was sitting on 6th avenue when a woman came up to ask myself and the woman next to me if we had felt the earthquake. we both said yes and so she asked where we were when we felt it. the woman next to me said how she was nervous by the shaking. i told her i was from the west coast so it didn't match any of the others i had previously been in. can you guess which one of us the nbc4 news channel lady chose to interview on camera? i'll give you one guess.

happy anniversary to me

2011-08-19T12:28:00.002-04:00

this past wednesday was the 10 year anniversary of my graduation with a BA in art history from brigham young university. i remember the day clearly. it was gorgeous. my family and i had to get up at the crack of dawn for my commencement ceremony and diploma distribution held at the de jong concert hall in the HFAC. i also remember a man approaching me and offering $150 if i would give him my cap and gown so he could be done with his studies. there was absolutely NO way i was going to make that trade because the cap and gown i wore symbolized lots of hard work, friendships, conversations, education, social interaction, spiritual growth and independence.

i'll sometimes say that byu for me was the best and worst years of my life. i think that is the truth about most people and their college experiences. i definitely gained an education but what i am most grateful for is the people i met and befriended. those bonds are as strong as ever even though i rarely if ever see my friends anymore. somehow the things that drove me crazy about my time there have slipped out of my memory.

my choice to apply to only one school after high school paid off and continues to be a blessing as i watch my nephews and nieces develop a love for byu. still seems kinda crazy that i am the only byu graduate of my siblings after all of the annual summer treks my family took to worship at the cougareat, deseret towers and richards building.

so thank you byu. my time spent in a relationship with you gave me opportunities to know amazing people, study hard or not at all as the case may be, cheer loudly for the byu cougars in the football stadium, marriott center or fieldhouse, live on my own for the first time, develop an everlasting and extremely special relationship with my grandpappy and grandma jewel, learn about financial responsibility and give me experience to lead me on my life's journey which ultimately led me home to new york city.

a very happy 10th anniversary to me and byu. i think i'll celebrate with a cupcake from magnolia bakery.

personal realization #6

2011-08-17T20:50:00.000-04:00

i have this recurring nightmare...i'm getting married but don't want to marry the man but can't call it off. it is an absolutely horrible feeling to know something isn't right but not changing it. or feeling powerless to change it. well last night i had a variation of this nightmare. instead of knowing the man i was marrying i was instead marrying by proxy meaning someone else stood up during the ceremony. i had no idea who i was marrying. can't imagine making the choice to marry someone you don't know. woke up thinking singledom wasn't such a horrible scenario after that nightmare variation.

i always remember my dreams. not sure why that happens. i will sometimes try to stay asleep so that i can finish the dream. have remembered my dreams since i was a youngster. the scary part is that on multiple occasions i've had dreams that have later happened. i think it is a blessing to help prepare me for something that is possibly going to be difficult. really truly and sincerely hoping this scenario doesn't happen in real life.

so what does this recurring nightmare mean? do i want to get married but terrified about my ability to choose the right person? are my skills to make changes if i feel something isn't right seriously lacking? am i too likely to make others happy at my own expense? did my parents' divorce completely warp me regarding marriage and should i get into therapy ASAP? any thoughts blog-o-sphere peeps? any takers on analyzing my recurring nightmare?

head on fire portrait

2011-08-15T21:25:00.000-04:00

clare took this picture of me from my birthday in the park. loved the light beaming on top of my head and i wasn't even wearing my tiara at the time.

crossing the pond!

2011-08-12T10:29:00.000-04:00

going to london! we couldn't let the royal wedding derail our plan for a trip to the UK this year. excited to fly across the pond! i'm sure october is just as beautiful a month to travel to the british isles as is april. ready to dive with both feet into the british life. mostly ready to listen to men speak to me in a british accent and pretend they are mr. darcy, captain wentworth, mr. thornton, mr. rochester, etc. so now you know the truth...i bought a ticket to london to hear men talk in a british accent. have no regrets for that choice.

also we bought tickets to see les miserables in the west end because alfie boe is starring as jean val jean. he was the amazing singer who performed the role for the 25th anniversary concert at the O2. exceptionally excited to see this man in the flesh performing songs that made me fall in love with theater. it's ok to be jealous right now. :)

just a little over a couple of months until our trip. now just have to find the best and most cost effective 2 bedroom flat we will be renting for the week because it is just a better deal than a hotel room. trust me.

still open to any suggestions of great day trip suggestions. plan to head to bath and possibly edinburgh, scotland. but netter will be the one doing all the driving.

this week's simple moments

2011-08-05T11:54:00.000-04:00

1. walking past long line of people waiting to buy tickets to a movie - i opted to use the kiosk inside where there was no line
2. taking a "roller coaster" bus ride home along the torn up/about to be paved madison avenue
3. putting my rockefeller center priviledge card to good use for a $3 discount to top of the rock
4. keeping my cool while stuck in a cab veering through horrible traffic on way to see "crazy stupid love" at kips bay AMC theater
5. water trough set up outside my office for people to fill their water bottles with good tasting NYC tap water
6. wearing my bright red lipstick twice
7. making it through one of the longest work weeks of my life
8. co worker getting me four free tickets to see the Andrea Bocelli concert in central park on september 15th!
9. no impulse purchases to celebrate my birthday (i.e. no HDTV, chair, pearls, etc)
10. fake fighting with clare on the street where an older couple said "we need to walk away from them" - it was hilarious and kinda awesome

my birthday through pictures

2011-08-04T14:21:00.000-04:00

and there you go...my birthday 2011. thanks to netter and clare for playing with me for the entire weekend and letting me take their picture over and over again. you are the best friends a girl can have.

why hello british boys who dance...

2011-08-03T10:59:00.000-04:00

i am fully invested in "so you think you can dance" this summer. been highly enjoyable. every time i watch these shows i just want to bust a move.

recently i learned the brits introduced the show to their bbc owned television viewers. while trolling for routines by our friends across the pond i found the below top 4 guys group routine stood out. it was choreographed by mandy moore and coincidentily she used a good portion of the routine for tadd and all star lauren's jazz number last week.

love me some men with british accents who know how to shake their groove thing. am i right or am i right? behold, for your viewing pleasure...

also because i have generally always enjoyed mandy's routines, i am sharing another standout performed last week by an amazing dancer named melanie (wink wink) and the always hot tamale train rider, neil. doesn't hurt that the song chosen is a guilty pleasure of mine.

personal realization #5

2011-07-29T16:32:00.001-04:00

this personal realization comes courtesy of linkin park. and i "realized" this part of my personality prior to this post on friday, july 29th at 3:53pm...

when i like something - be it a band, song, movie, book, culinary dish, etc. - i tend to become obsessive about it. literally can't get enough of it and want to share my obsession with others. here are some perfect examples:

*nsync - ages 21 - 24; would buy EVERY magazine they were even mentioned in, stood outside Media Play early in the morning to buy their "celebrity" album (actually bought two copies - one for car and one for home), have 10 VHS tapes full of their appearances on talk shows, performance specials, MTV making the video episodes, etc.

"the work and glory" series by Gerald N. Lund - my mom had pushed me to read these books for quite some time, finally relented and read 7 of the 9 books in 8 days; still one of my favorite book series about family, struggle, faith, and perserverance

alias starring jennifer garner, victor garber & michael vartan - this television show was the very first one where i reached obsession levels; would record the episodes each sunday and read fan fiction, trolled message boards for spoilers, bought a ticket to disneyland because actors from the show were doing a panel for ABC, forced multiple friends to sit through endless hours of episodes about SD-6, the covenant, milo rambaldi and most importantly sydney & vaughn's love story

grimaldi's pizzaria in brooklyn - the best pizza i have ever had; during one of big lug's visits to the city i made him wait for 40 minutes in the pouring rain to get a taste of this divine combo of bread, sauce, cheese and meat; spent one birthday ordering a pie for take out and then walking across the brooklyn bridge while eating it AND i just found out they opened one on 21st and avenue of the americas - woo hoo!

i could add to this list new kids on the block, gilmore girls, friday night lights, the actor and the housewife by shannon hale, lord of the rings movies, wicked broadway musical, jimmy eat world (who i have seen 9 times in concert) and on and on. pretty sure i become obsessive about these types of things because they are a fun outlet that takes me away from the grind of daily living.

please forgive me if i try to force my latest obession upon you against your will. i just like to share things that i love and make me happy with others. so in actuality you should feel honored that i care enough about you to want to make your life that much happier. so this personal realization is yet another study on my generous and giving nature...

this week's simple moments

2011-07-29T15:49:00.000-04:00

1. brought my lunch every day but friday to save some dollars for weekend
2. after my book club stood on the corner of lexinton & 91st until midnight talking to a friend about life, love and the pursuit of happiness
3. saw the amazing War Horse at lincoln center with my friend then walked home through the park laughing and talking
4. planned my birthday celebrations
5. took a nap on saturday from 2:30pm - 6:45pm - oh yeah!

self portrait in a melancholy mood

2011-07-27T15:42:00.000-04:00

the difficulty of a birthday plan

2011-07-27T15:27:00.002-04:00

my birthday is on sunday. woot woot. i'm really excited to celebrate in the city with my homies. obviously since it's my birthday my friends have deferred to me to plan the activities, eating locations, times to get out of bed, etc. i'm struggling with deciding what to do, when to do it, what to eat, who to invite to participate and the hardest part of all, what i want for my birthday.

i've narrowed down the activities to a manicure/pedicure, lunch at the cheesecake factory, light shopping at target, going to a showing of crazy stupid love, sleeping in until at least 10:00am, viewing the cityscape at dusk at top of the rock, going to a stylist to get my hair washed and blown out, playing rock band and taking pictures while wandering through the park. the food choices still alude me as well as what kind of cake i want my candles to sit upon.

big lug asked me what i wanted for my birthday and i came up with a big fat nothin'. in all honesty the things "i want" for my birthday are luxury items that no one is going to buy for me right now, including myself. any takers to buy me any of the following:

clara chair from crate & barrel - $1,099

brighton queen bed from crate & barrel - $699.99

sharp aquos 46" LCD-LED 120 Hz HDTV at best buy - $1,079

mikimoto 16" strand with white gold - $2,600

bose surround sound system - $599

pretty sure i won't find any crate and barrel boxes or velvet jewelry cases heading my way and i'm perfectly content with that. these are luxury items that i don't need but want. therefore, i beseech all to believe me when i say i would love a heart felt card, picture of you emailed to me, a phone call or facebook post for my birthday.

i will just work hard and save so that hopefully by my next birthday one of the above will be in my possession.

ode to central air

2011-07-25T09:29:00.001-04:00

my apartment has two window a/c units. one for the living room/kitchen and one for my bedroom. it is imperative to keep the bedroom door closed when running its a/c unit. this traps all of the cold air so it cools down that room quickly. it is also important to turn on the a/c at least 30 minutes prior to sleepy time.

the unit currently in the bedroom was a hand me down a/c from the previous apartment tenants of artiste and california lady. it has worked great for the past two years. unfortunately the machine died on one of the hottest days i've ever experienced as a new yorker. the lights were on but nothing was happening so i was forced to sleep on my couch in the living room. not ideal.

that night i bought an a/c unit online at best buy.com to make sure they didn't run out during this colossal heat wave. picked up the new a/c unit on saturday but the crazy thing is now the old machine is working just fine! i don't get it. one day i get nothing when i desperately need it and now i get all the cold air i could want. so do i keep the new a/c and put the old one on the street for a lucky soul to pick up or take the new a/c unit back via a cab to the best buy on 86th and lexington?

if only i had an apartment with central air...

this week's simple moments

2011-07-22T16:35:00.000-04:00

1. wore my hair in a bun on top of my head for three days because of extreme heat
2. had first Relief Society Presidency meeting where our star of her own cooking channel show RS President made dinner for us - another example of a life experience win/win
3. air conditioning unit in bedroom died on one of the hottest nights of the year. not awesome.
4. fell asleep on the couch more than once this week at around 6:30pm
5. finished reading "the alchemist" in preparation for book club next wednesday

change is good, right?

2011-07-21T11:21:00.001-04:00

generally i'm not a huge enjoyer of change. something about the unknown that can be absolutely terrifying. a full blown panic attack occurred when i was informed about the change described below.

bishopric 1st counselor and executive secretary came over to have a bit of a chat last wednesday night. i thought they were going to switch up things in Primary by releasing me from the secretary position; which i've held for 3 years. well i was right...they did release me but then they asked me to take on the responsibility of something else entirely. as of sunday, july 17th i am the 1st counselor in the relief society presidency of my ward. if your jaw is hanging open based on shock after reading that last sentence then you have a small snippet of what i felt when they told me this. couldn't speak for roughly 3 minutes. i'm excited but totally terrified. doesn't help that i'm the oldest member in age of our presidency.

bishopric man thought he'd sweeten the deal by asking me to share a short 5 minutes testimony in church last sunday. that made me more comfortable than the weekly relief society stuff. so i thought of some things and wrote them down but didn't put a ton of effort in my preparation. i was mortified when i saw my name in the sacrament meeting program like i was an actual speaker! somehow i made it through my "talk" about love. even managed to out myself from the pulpit as an obsessed 'nsync fan back in the day. love when your brain totally disconnects from the words coming out of your mouth. awesome.

really excited to work with the women at church and make some more friends. any pointers are greatly appreciated from those that have served in this capacity. looking at you joani...

the magic of a cover

2011-07-19T15:36:00.001-04:00

been totally obsessed with music by linkin park recently especially tracks from their new album like "iridescent" and "burning in the skies." i've never seen them live. it's a pity. which made the opportunity to watch a live feed of their iTunes Festival performance pretty exciting for me. another reason why i love technology.

during their performance on america's birthday they did a cover of the totally awesome adele's "rolling in the deep." when this song was first released i used to blast it from my living room speakers. my level of glee as chester began to sing it was off the charts. to make my joy even more fulfilled, iTunes released linkin park's performance as an EP! oh happy day. now the masses can carry the goodness with them always.

this week's simple moments

2011-07-17T20:56:00.001-04:00

1. harry potter and the deathly hallows screening with a cast q & a
2. again realizing that jet lag is a pain in the you know where
3. realizing my updated time warner cable iPad app allows me to change the channel on my TV. whoa!
4. saw Sister Act on friday night- hysterical
5. hanging out with clare for the entire weekend

a cautionary tale

2011-07-13T09:03:00.001-04:00

my flight to utah on saturday morning was at 7:00am from JFK. this meant i needed to be out the door and in a cab by 5:15am at the latest. which required a 4:00am wake up call.

got up just fine on saturday morning. did my usual stuff to get ready for th travel and vacation including blow drying and then curling my hair. because my curling iron was hot i placed it in my freezer to cool it down before packing it away in my suitcase. i had done this before to great results. just not a smart move to put in a warm or hot item in your suitcase where it can cause damage.

only problem with placing the curling iron in the freezer is you need the mental capability to remember it is there prior to departing. i remembered the curling iron was in the freezer while being driven by joani to sweet tomatoes for lunch after arriving in utah. whoops.

texted netter and my friend who had family staying in my apartment to please remove the curling iron from the freezer. figured my idiocy would be taken care of by one of them. well, upon returning back to my home and sleeping off the red eye flight for 5 1/2 hours on sunday morning i opened up my freezer and lo and behold there was the curling iron.

let the iron thaw from its adventure in the freezer for three days. today is the first day i attempted to plug it in and use it. thankfully all systems were go.

the funny part of this story happened on monday during lunch when receptionist told me she did the same exact thing two weeks before when she went on her greek honeymoon. thankfully her curling iron also survived after the de-thaw.

note to self, when placing the curling iron in the freezer grab a post it and write "curling iron" on it and place on the front door so it is highly visible prior to leaving for over a week.

summer vacation with the family

2011-07-12T14:04:00.001-04:00

my annual summer trek to utah for vacation took place last week. it was fantastic but went incredibly fast. my family was very obliging with what i wanted to do as well as spent their hard earned days off to hang out with yours truly. thank you moocher, coyote and flex. it was awful nice of you.

arrived saturday morning where joani picked me up (on time) and we headed to a little mommy and me lunch at sweet tomatoes before heading down to utah county. it was moocher's birthday so we did a pizza and cupcakes celebration as well as lit fireworks to commemorate the great day of her birth and entry into our family. it was also this evening that i taught my family the finer moments of jumping for photos. moocher, sunshine and blake took to it really easily but flex was a little bit more hesitant as witnessed below.

sunday was a great day of rest and family fun especially because our pseudo sister was in town from alaska. it was great to chill with rahni again and made it feel like old times. flex hadn't seen her since before his mission almost 10 years ago. whoa.

monday and tuesday were chillaxing days of shopping, eating, playing tennis with flex where he crushed me 6-0 and enjoying playing with my most awesome nephews. we lit fireworks and sparklers again but had to hurry along our celebration before the rains came.

wednesday was water park day! the family dressed in our swimwear and headed off to seven peaks water park at the generosity of our mom, joani. we had a cabana in an ideal location between the lazy river and wave pool entrance. the boys were super excited and blake wanted to do all the water slides. sunshine and i battled on the flash flood slides then she and coyote took blake and jaxon on the innertube rides. they loved it. somehow coyote encouraged flex and i to take the plunge on the free fall waterslide that is straight down. my heart was racing as we climbed to the top. coyote went first then it was my turn. the slide takes like 3 seconds and then you're done. it also leaves you with a little present at the end - a wedgie i have never before experienced. coyote and i decided to ride the slide again since the wedgie was already in effect. it was a great water park day except that flex didn't heed our advice. he opted to put sunscreen on AFTER 30 minutes of laying out in the hot summer sun. and now the poor guy is paying the price. thank goodness for aloe vera gel with lidocaine.

picture taken by a brave dude on the free fall water slide

thursday and friday i went shopping with my mommy a bit. slept in. took a nap. ate arby's with coyote at his work. met up with flex and joani at cheesecake factory. bought coloring books and crayons for the nephews. saw my former college roommate and twin sister of rahni, chandra and her family out in saratoga springs. beat moocher twice at settlers. lost horridly with sunshine to joani and flex in pinochle. took lots of pictures of my nephews. put baby mckay to sleep twice. introduced nephew to mr. byu and the naked indian on campus. ate taco bell at the cougareat with joani, sunshine and the boys. bought byu hats and shirts for the munchkins to assist in their byu love affair (or brainwashing). watched coyote play softball in the rain, thunder and lightning thus proving my sisterly devotion. bought utah truffles to bring back for clare. saw cars 2 with the kiddies and watched as jaxon snuggled up to grandma joani and fell asleep for the entire movie. got a massage. chatted with grandpappy. drove moocher's new audi vehicle. did a little putt putt where i lost to joani on the last two holes. ate at olive garden at conclusion of water park day. lost in phase 10. drove up in flex's truck to the airport to take the red eye home.

it was a great vacation and time with my family. honestly felt good to not have to do anything. also was great that i sublet my apartment to some friends for the week i was gone so gained some dollars to decrease the amount of rent i paid this month. that's what i call a win win.

baby mckay

jaxon & sunshine enjoying the lights

moocher and i jumping for joy at our reunion

daddy coyote jumping for joy with his boys

blake with his sparkler & a grin

byu boys wearing their new hats

me and the nephews at my alma mater

blake showing off his putt putt ball

a staggering statistic

2011-07-11T12:12:00.000-04:00

i have weekend plans every weekend between now and september 24th. how does that happen?

the weekend activities include the good: birthday celebration, niece's baptism, hamburger eating, harry potter viewing, water park playing, US open, house party at co-workers. but the bad is really bad - i.e. a good friend moving. :(

so much for the summertime being less hectic and busy than the school year months. i think it just might be more intense. but at least most of the activities take place outdoors in the summer sunshine.

full circle in a year

2011-06-26T21:31:00.001-04:00

a year ago i bought tickets for gooch and i to attend a new kids on the block concert at radio city music hall. it was so much fun that i determined we needed to see it again - thank you cheap stub hub tickets. during this second concert in june of 2010 at radio city the boys from boston did a little impromptu backstreet boys i want it that way to turn the mid 30 aged crowd of women into a frenzy. suddenly and very surprising they raised the curtain behind them to reveal the backstreet boys were in the house. the stars then aligned and the two boy band groups joined together for the remainder of the song. gooch always reminds me that my face changed to one of pure glee and excitement when i saw the boys arrive.

fast forward to a year later and the tickets were purchased to NKOTBSB in new jersey on monday june 13th. zipcar was reserved and packed with late 20s/early 30s friends all ready to rock it out with the super group that was now from boston and orlando. the show was so much fun! i knew as soon as they did a mash up to coldplay's viva la vida that things were going in the right direction.

thank you NKOTBSB for reminding me how much fun it is to turn into my adolescent self who thought that joey mcintyre had the dreamest blue eyes. only thing that would have made it perfect was if gooch had been there with me. at least i knew she got to enjoy it in DC with her sister.

gilmore girls love fest

2011-06-26T21:10:00.001-04:00

i did it! completed watching all seven seasons of the awesomest gilmore girls show. it was so fun to head back to stars hollow and the lives or lorelai and rory. the total duration of the stars hollow journey was about four months and a total of 157 episodes.

gilmore girls is funny, charismatic, dramatic, heart warming, study of family relationships and just all around awesome. a big yay for luke & lorelai, rory & logan, richard & emily, sookie & jackson, kirk & lulu, babette & maury, lorelai & christopher, paris & doyle, rory & jess, emily & her revolving door of maids, miss patty & the grand old love known as show business, lorelai & max, etc. also loved all of the clothes worn by lauren graham & alexis bledel. seriously had some killer ensembles.

...and now what to watch next?...

charleston girls weekend

2011-06-21T23:09:00.039-04:00

here's a few words to describe charleston, south carolina - historic, lovely, hot, bright, charming, hot, considerate, hot, relaxing, fun, hot, culinary, humid and beautiful. oh wait, did i mention it was hot?

netter, doc and i headed southward to celebrate the amazing accomplishment of doc in earning her doctor badge and the all important white coat. we chose the first week in june to hit the streets of charleston and guess what, it was hot! i mean melt your face off hot. coming from new york i thought the south couldn't be worse but i was wrong.

dear aunt jan-baby, uncle john b and my NC tar heels loving cousins, i truly admire your ability to be outside for longer than 15 minutes during the summer in your hometown of charlotte, nc without wanting to throw yourself into the nearest body of water to cool down. i'm sure you know this already, but i can teach you that the modern day inventor of the air conditioning unit is a lovely man from albany, ny named willis carrier. i think we will all be in a line in heaven to give that man a hug. love, me

our first destination was to dive into the southern cuisine at the waffle house. very filling and so cheap! afterwards, we headed to boone hall which is the home of the amazing oak drive. the trees are exquisite as was the homemade key lime ice cream with crushed graham crackers. our house tour guide was in full hoop skirted glory. we had a great time but were completely ready to feel the glorious a/c blasting in our faces. the evening ended with a stop at the local piggly wiggly where we got the piggly wiggly card and saved some dollars off our choices of bagels, strawberries, animal crackers, granola bars and bottled water. then we headed for a scrumptious meal at my cousin jess' recommendation of jim 'n nick's BBQ. since it was around the corner we were game to give it a go. that's where we fell in love with the cheddar biscuits and lemonade as previously blogged.

next day was all about more plantations. we started at magnolia plantation which is renowned for it's gardens. highly enjoyable to walk around the grounds, see the home's interior, get lost in a hedge maze and see quite a few alligators and other wildlife up close. after magnolia it was off to the formal gardens of middleton place. the grounds reminded me of the beauty of the gardens in places like london, paris and budapest. loved the dairy, reflection pool, small chapel and animals on the farm.

did i mention that through all of these activities it was in the mid 90s and super humid? oh i didn't; well it was very hot and very humid to the point of pure exhaustion from being outside in the sun. while eating lunch at middleton place at 3:30pm i located a local water park that unfortunately closed at the very early hour of 6:00pm on a saturday. but we were desperate so after lunch we packed up and headed there to use our recently acquired piggly wiggly card to get a $3 discount on the price of admission for a total of about 85 minutes of water sliding, wave riding and most important of all, lazy river lounging. we were literally the last people out of the lazy river. they had to ask us to leave. one of the most refreshing moments of my life and worth every penny of the $16.99 price for 85 minutes of pure happiness.

sunday we slept in. ate breakfast together while chit chatting. changed into our swimwear and followed the masses to the beach. found a free parking spot in the shade of a tree (very important!) and hiked to the coast. slathered on the sun screen and began the melting process. after about 10 minutes of laying out we couldn't take it anymore so rushed for the water. the water was amazing! very warm and clean. at one point dolphins swam right by us about 20 feet away. it was fantastic! so relaxing and it helped me maintain my summertime glow. might have left with a severe left forearm sunburn. kids, always wear sunscreen and reapply after being in the water.

that night was the dinner celebration of doc at husk restaurant. all of the food was amazing except the bacon corn bread. never thought i'd say this but there are some things that bacon shouldn't be added to for "enhancing" the flavor. corn bread is definitely one of them. and we all looked really cute in our sophisticated skirts and sandals.

monday we slept in. ate breakfast. doc and i headed to the slave mart museum for a little history lesson. picked up a little lunch from the very cute bartender at another fabulous restaurant called 82 Queen. doc had the best suggestion of all to stop at jim 'n nick's to pick up the addiction inducing lemonade. then it was pack up the jeep. stop at walmart for large bottle of aloe vera gel with lidocaine for yours truly. drop off car at airport. get through security and wait for flight.

doc and i had a little stop over in atlanta where we grabbed some chili's appetizers for dinner and then boarded our flight to la guardia. and then the trip ended and we sent doc to utah for her trek to her new home and life as an intern at the university of michigan.

love my friends so much. love my friends who will travel with me. love to see new places. and love to learn the name of the modern air conditioner inventor - willis carrier. i love you willis carrier and wish you a magnificent mansion in heaven fully equipped with central air.

boone hall plantation

doc enjoying the refreshing taste of homemade key lime ice cream

slave cabins at boone hall

jumping with glee on the oak tree drive to boone hall

this is what absolute heat and exhaustion looks like

magnolia plantation

swamp at magnolia plantation gardens

famous bridge of magnolia gardens

hugging a very large tree

magnolia's historic places plaque

magnolia garden

formal gardens of middleton place

middleton place plantation

update to summer "to do"s

2011-06-21T16:33:00.001-04:00

UPDATE to my 2011 "to do" summer list (in no apparent order):

1. see Lion King on Broadway
2. enjoy Shakespeare in the Park - preferably all's well that ends well
3. attend Museum Mile Festival on Tuesday, June 14th (museums along Museum Mile are open late and free with cool street artists, musicians, etc all along fifth avenue) - completed in the rain (see # 13)
4. play tennis in Central Park
5. finish my photography course with my final photo being a night shot of the Brooklyn Bridge
6. attend Super Saturday Men's Semifinal matches of the US Open - tickets purchased for Saturday, September 10th in section 315 row Y
7. get a spa pedicure with extra massage once a month - June's pedicure done
8. eat at Grimaldi's in Brooklyn at least once then take a ride on the water taxi
9. celebrate my birthday with something fabulous! - plan in place to celebrate with fabulous activity
10. grab a group to enjoy philharmonic and opera in the park - Philharmonic in Park cancelled :(
11. rent a bike to ride the trails of Central Park
12. dip my feet in the water of the Atlantic Ocean - spent a glorious Sunday at beach in Charleston, SC
13. see the Alexander McQueen exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art - spectacular exhibit at the Met; loved the 15 minute wait to see it and never knew how clothes can transform into art until viewing the Alexander McQueen show
14. begin my weekly Wednesday Rock Band open house for friends
15. enjoy a performance of Broadway in Bryant Park for lunch on a Thursday - lunching with friends every thursday to enjoy all the free broadway as possible starting july 14th

i'm a Mormon

2011-06-21T16:01:00.001-04:00

i joke that i ran away from home when asked how a born and bred west coaster made her home in new york city. in many ways it isn't a joke. i did run away from what was comfortable, status quo and kind of predictable. i wanted to spread my wings in a place where i would encounter countless people who weren't like me. hence why i chose new york or maybe new york chose me. but new york has never affected who i am and want to become. being Mormon defines me as a person. all of my decisions are based on my faith and knowledge that i am a child of God.

currently being mormon or anything related to mormons and our personally cherished beliefs is up for discussion, research projects, pieces in national publications like the new york times or washington post and musical theater productions. the biggest thing on broadway right now is a musical called the book of mormon. this show swept the tony awards and is currently the hardest ticket to get. a couple of people have asked me if i would go/want to see it. i truly support the statement of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in regards to this production:

"The production may attempt to entertain audiences for an evening, but the Book of Mormon as a volume of scripture will change people's lives forever by bringing them closer to Christ."

i don't need to spend hundreds of dollars to be entertained by artists mocking and defiling what i hold sacred but i also don't judge those that do see it. that's the most wonderful thing about life...we get to choose. the gift of free agency is such a powerful tool and is what brings us individuality.

the interesting little sidenote (as told by my stake president on sunday) about the musical's dominance of the great white way is that now hotel chains throughout the city are contacting the Church's public affairs office requested hundreds and hundreds of Book of Mormons because guests are stealing them from their hotel rooms in prestigous and pricey hotels like the ritz carlton and waldorf astoria. who knew The Book of Mormon would be a souvenir item in new york city? pretty sure God was the One in the know.

there is also a new billboard gracing the bright lights of times square. the Church has begun it's "I'm A Mormon" campaign throughout the city. i love this campaign because it shows that each member of the Church is a person like their neighbor trying to be a good person, make right choices for their circumstances and love their family. we aren't fire breathing, stone throwing, crazy people who should be thought of as odd. although i think we have the best possible differences from the majority of humankind - eternal families, healthy lifestyles, fidelity, integrity, strong work ethic, devotion to God, personal revelation, and of course, The Book of Mormon.

i embrace my differences from my co-workers, friends and commuters. it's the reason i left the happy valley of utah/arizona to come to the big bad city. it has been so fantastic to watch the Church grow in the city and embrace it's presence in pop culture with dignity and integrity.

this week's simple moments

2011-06-17T19:41:00.000-04:00

1. number of hours slept on sunday night will generally be the normal amount for the rest of the week
2. a trip to jersey twice in one week...thanks a zipcar
3. water leak under bathroom sink is now in week 2
4. rock banded and just danced with neighbors on a sunday night
5. bought music by the carpenters to remind me of my stress free childhood and family summer vacations

deep end of honesty

2011-06-17T15:37:00.002-04:00

this post marks my 82nd for the year. the exact same amount of total blog posts for 2010. i'm on a blog roll (get it...ha ha). so here goes my 82nd post...

while at dinner with texas spencer and his EY colleague at the scrumptious John's Pizzaria he mentioned he enjoyed a blog written by the wife of a friend because it was "real" and she was "honest". his statement made me reflect on if my blog posts showcase my "real" emotions, activities, thoughts and impressions as well as if i fully dive into the deep end of honesty or just wade in up to my knees. after much internal reflection i decided that i am "real" and honest on this blog but at the same time choosy when it comes to what i write about and send into the world of cyberspace where my mother's eyes can view it. i think my personal reflection result means that i'm a pretty positive person and grateful for my blessings. but don't get me started on the topics of tourists in the city, when someone doesn't do what i want them to do, walking slowly, disorganization, chewing with your mouth open, not being ready to order your food when you reach the register or an attitude of entitlement and condescension.

this blog isn't really meant to be my personal journal where i can practice signing my name with the last name of my current crush - i think Pinky Reynolds has a nice ring to it (i'm looking at you Mr. Ryan Reynolds). instead it is to give friends and family a bird's eye view into my travels, adventures, thoughts, things that make me laugh and decisions i'm making. i hope you'll continue to join me as i highlight moments, activities, thoughts and impressions of my long term relationship with new york city.

be still my beating heart

2011-06-13T11:59:00.001-04:00

a man who can sing, dance while cracking a joke make my little black and cynical heart go pitter-patter. watching neil patrick harris and hugh jackman duet on last night's tony awards tugged my heart strings and made me want to pay any amount of money to see these two men sing, dance and crack jokes in person. love me some triple threats.

this week's simple moments

2011-06-12T18:13:00.000-04:00

1. thin mint cookies over vanilla ice cream is my current favorite treat
2. any kind of bad weather shuts down the subway and bus service
3. taxi line at La Guardia airport isn't horrible if you arrive after 11pm
4. very windy conditions in times square can make it difficult for the skirt i was wearing to not fly away
5. dinner with old friends makes me very, very, very happy especially if they can expense it. thanks texas spencer!
6. the new york public library no longer accepts book and movie donations
7. spent two hours in best buy and didn't buy anything
8. nylons with flip flops is not a good combo
9. is $104 a lot to spend for unlimited subway and bus service in five boroughs
10. it's definitely summer based on the fact i shave my legs more than 3 times a week

souvenir from the south

2011-06-06T16:01:00.001-04:00

been in charleston, south carolina for four days. it was a great trip. learned that the south is very very warm. as doc said, she is naming her first born AC. totally agree that the inventor of AC deserves a huge hug and kiss in heaven.

we wanted an authentic experience so I asked my cousin Jess for a few recommendations since she is one of the coolest born and bred southerns I know. she recommended eating at Jim n nick's BBQ to enjoy their cheddar biscuits. we went there on the first day of our trip and enjoyed some highly enjoyable food but fell in love with their lemonade.

after ordering food for lunch from 82 Queen we made a special stop to get another round of lemonade from Jim n nick's. truly the only thing I bought as a souvenir was an order of cheddar biscuits for the plane and a large icy cool lemonade. thank you charleston. more to come about our adventures in charleston once I'm home and ready to blog, blog and more blog.

summer "to do" list

2011-06-02T11:11:00.000-04:00

we are in the sixth month of the year 2011. how did that happen? i think my trip a month plan has contributed to time flying by with the greatest of ease.

summers in the city are always full of gleeful activities and attractions. have begun to contemplate my "to do" summer list. always try to jot some things down that i've wanted to do in the city but just haven't gotten around to in last 8 summers so decided that this is the year! and some things are just so much fun that you have to do them every summer; example = US Open

my 2011 "to do" summer list (in no apparent order):
1. see Lion King on Broadway
2. enjoy Shakespeare in the Park - preferably all's well that ends well
3. attend Museum Mile Festival on Tuesday, June 14th (museums along Museum Mile are open late and free with cool street artists, musicians, etc all along fifth avenue)
4. play tennis in Central Park
5. finish my photography course with my final photo being a night shot of the Brooklyn Bridge
6. attend Super Saturday Men's Semifinal matches of the US Open
7. get a spa pedicure with extra massage once a month
8. eat at Grimaldi's in Brooklyn at least once then take a ride on the water taxi
9. celebrate my birthday with something fabulous!
10. grab a group to enjoy philharmonic and opera in the park
11. rent a bike to ride the trails of Central Park
12. dip my feet in the water of the Atlantic Ocean
13. see the Alexander McQueen exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
14. begin my weekly Wednesday Rock Band open house for friends
15. enjoy a performance of Broadway in Bryant Park for lunch on a Thursday

that is my list as it stands right now. any and all are welcome to join me on the above. here's to another great summer in the city.

it's all about priorities and perspective

2011-05-31T09:31:00.000-04:00

while waiting for my name to be called at the lovely allergists office i pulled out my iPad to read. when the nurse called my name i had the iPad in my hands as i walked up to her. her eyes fixated on the pretty pink cover and electronic marvel of my iPad. she asked me to open it so she could see it. since i am a shallow person and love compliments about my hair, shoes, jewelry, or electronic toys i was happy to oblige. i even let her hold it.

she told me how she really wants one but can't justify spending the money. i totally sympathized. especially after just having my personal realization #3. as i was sitting down to get my first round of shots she proceeded to tell me that she couldn't spend the money because she had just purchased a pair of christian louboutin shoes that cost $2,000! i tried to contain my astonishment and asked if she had a special occassion for the shoe purchase. she told me that she wanted them and it was her birthday. she hasn't even worn the shoes outside just slept in them.

i try not to judge or compare other's decisions to myself but when i heard about the $2,000 shoes that aren't to be worn i started to feel a bit better about my financial choices. it is all about priorities and perspective.

a couple of examples of christian louboutin $2,000 shoes are below. still think my $300 iPad was a better purchase, but to each his/her own.

$1,995 at Barney's

$3,095 at Barney's

be careful what you wish for

2011-05-30T22:00:00.000-04:00

it is hot. it is humid. it is smelly. it is necessary to run the air conditioning. it is now time to get pedicures, shave my legs daily and carry sunglasses in my purse at all times.

wanted the rain to go away and now it has. it has been replaced with hot humidness. is it wrong to kinda want the rain back? would really love some 70s with low humidity.

and when did it become almost june? i mean really! anyone, anyone...

rain, rain go away

2011-05-23T08:26:00.000-04:00

here's my dilemma...

rain means my allergies are exceptionally managable. however, rain means that i often arrive at work or home with damp shoes and pants as well as stuck inside during lunch hour.

no rain means the opportunity to walk home from work while chatting with old friends. no rain means being outside in the sunshine and surrounded by people while wearing casual footwear.

but then my allergies get worse...do you see the cycle?

now that i've opted to begin weekly allergy shots for the next YEAR, i think i'm going to choose the no rain because then i can be outside and the humidity levels are generally comfortable. so i beseech you rain to please go away at least for the foreseeable future.

personal realization #3 a.k.a. the bath earrings

2011-05-20T15:48:00.002-04:00

i like nice stuff. i like to travel in first class. stay in hotels that are at least 4 stars. buy jewelry (full of semi-precious and precious stones & metal) for souvenirs while on vacation. latest technology purchases fill me with glee. tickets purchased to attend broadway shows or concerts must be in a certain section or i won't go. paying over $50 for a steak seems perfectly reasonable to me. buy only brand name food stuffs from target.

realized that in the last 4 years or so a shift has occurred where i will generally always choose the more expensive of two options because i'm willing to pay for "quality". not sure why i think it's okay to pay almost $200 for a handbag because it was purchased at the outlet and i have an additional 10% off coupon. i've become very good at rationalizing purchasing what i'm realizing are luxury items because as l'oreal has taught me with it's clever marketing..."i'm worth it."

i do think i'm worth it but i also think i need to reevaulate how much i'm worth if i ever want to buy an apartment, spend two weeks in australia, have a nest egg in case (heaven forbid) a family member goes through hardship, etc.

decided that the shift occurred after my trip to london in the fall of 2007. while on a quick trip to bath, netter and i wandered into a jewelry store in the main square. i found these gorgeous pearl and diamond drop earrings. the saliva in my mouth went into overdrive when i put them up to my ears. if ever a pair of earrings personified me in metal and stones, it was this pair of earrings. the price tag was £169 equalling about $400. we were scheduled to get on the bus super soon so i had to make a decision about whether or not to purchase the earrings. i chose not to buy them. just couldn't justify spending that much money. i have wished on numerous occassions that i had chosen the "i'm worth it" path and brought those gorgeous earrings with me back to the states.

now i use the bath earrings as an example of whether or not to purchase something that i want but maybe might need to spend some serious time contemplating. if a friend is with me as i'm contemplating all he/she has to say is "bath earrings" to put me in the thinking of whether or not i'll really regret not purchasing whatever expensive but pretty thing i'm holding in my hands. generally the "bath earrings" result is my suitcase is crowded because of all the things i purchased knowing i would really regret leaving them on the store shelves.

this week's simple moments

2011-05-20T13:49:00.000-04:00

1. got a manicure and it looks awesome
2. tried to donate books to the library...they said 'no thanks'
3. learned i'm allergic to just about everything
4. took the subway home twice this week
5. this is my 500th post!

pinkies unite!

2011-05-17T16:37:00.000-04:00

there were at least three other girls who i grew up with that had my same first name. in church there were three of us that were literally born one after each other. since i've moved to the eastern side of the USA i've run into very few women with my first name. that all changed about a year ago.

the upper east side manhattan 2nd ward boasts three "pinkys". that's right...three. all three of us have leadership positions in church also. pinky2 is relief society prez, pinky1 is young woman's prez and then there's me (aka pinky3) in the primary presidency. when pinky1's name was read about young woman prez i had a brief moment of panic where i thought i was to fill that position and i didn't remember. thankfully her last name quickly followed her first and i could breathe a sigh of relief.

it recently dawned on me that we needed to harness our natural power and unite in a pinky play date. last saturday was the inaugural one. we had root beer floats, explained how we got our name, chatted and played rock band at my apartment for a few hours while the wind blew outside. it was so much fun! i look forward to many more pinky play dates.

i apologize to those who i informed about my play date and turned away an invitation because your first name wasn't pinky. please forgive the pinky exclusivity.

three days = three movies

2011-05-14T23:57:00.002-04:00

spent last weekend in CT with clare. as always our itinerary included personal pampering, eating, a little shopping and lounging. this weekend had the added bonus of being the beginning of the summer movie season so of course we had to support the hollywood industry. we ended up watching three movies in three days. well done us.

viewed the moral dilemma rom-com Something Borrowed first. it was a full house of women sighing over the comedy of john krasinski and gorgeous green eyes of colin egglesfield. enjoyed the movie.

saturday's choice of viewing was hunky superhero of Thor. well done chris hemsworth and kenneth brannagh. think it was an improvement since my last experience with thor during Adventures in Babysitting.

last but certainly not least was time with dwayne, vin and paul along with a lot of hot cars in Fast Five. clare and i highly enjoyed this viewing. i'm sure you can understand why - excellent dialogue, great characterization, scenic cinematography, deep drama and moral discussion. or maybe it's because dwayne, vin and paul are really easy and highly enjoyable to look at on a giant screen. i'm going to go with the latter...

the intelligence of an almost 5 year old

2011-05-14T23:31:00.002-04:00

it's no question that i am rapturously in love with my nephews and nieces. they are some of my favorite people in the world. always very happy to be auntie pinky. it was with great joy when my sister in law sunshine texted me this past week.

she let me know that her oldest son, the soon to be five year old blake, had told her sister (his aunt also) that i was his favorite aunt. that's right...i was the favorite auntie. woo hoo! of course i made a point to have sunshine point out this little conversation to my sister moocher. i'm such a kind and generous soul...

thank you blake for speaking honestly and from the heart that i am your favorite aunt. all of your aunts love you and want you to be ecstatically happy.

think our close relationship was solidified when coyote picked me up from the airport with a 3 year old blake who pulled out of his arms and ran to me to pick him up as i got off the escalator. wrapped me around his little finger at that moment.

this week's simple moments

2011-05-13T14:18:00.001-04:00

1. used coupon to see broadway royalty sutton foster and joel grey in anything goes. it was excellent!
2. never so happy to take a zyrtec pill
3. ate at mcdonald's and arby's each twice within a seven day period of time
4. trains back from connecticut on mother's day are CROWDED
5. have legitimate reason for leading a cat-free life...i'm seriously allergic to them

a note to my allergies

2011-05-09T22:00:00.000-04:00

all my life i have suffered from horrendous allergies. i remember once in 4th grade riding my bike home from walnut acres elementary school that my eyes had swollen shut and i couldn't see. once in utah in june they were so horrible that i was taking my 24 hour relief allegra pills about 4 times a day to try to stem the pain.

those two incidents combined weren't as bad as my suffering today. the last two days i haven't been allowed to take allergy medicine because i'm finally being tested for what i'm allergic to on tuesday morning. i would give up just about anything right now in order to take a small little zyrtec pill. but alas...only 12 more hours until sweet relief from this absolute horribleness.

i promise never to complain about my allergies again if only i can take medicine again...

oh tuesday night

2011-05-03T23:41:00.001-04:00

i'm still awake because there is just way too much television to be enjoyed on tuesday night. why did the voice have to actually be good? why does alicia florrick on the good wife have to pull me in emotionally? why do i want to root and be motivated by the contestants on the biggest loser? and then there's glee. oh sweet glee. i love you glee but i'm ready for you to be just a bit better. ready for the story line to dictate the music rather than wrap the story around a song you want to do. and please no more gwyneth paltrow. just sayin'. no hard feelings.

not to mention that white collar is back on june 7th at 10pm on USA Network. everyone set your DVRs.

san francisco/muir woods/alcatraz/walnut creek pictures (lots of them)

2011-05-02T17:55:00.000-04:00

pictures from my days and nights visiting the city by the bay

2270 English Court (ages 6 - 11)

Walnut Acres Elementary School (K - 5th Grade)

Foothill Middle School (6th - 7th Grade)

LDS Church for Ygnacio Valley Ward

1111 Snyder Lane ( ages 11 - 13)

a trip to san francisco

2011-05-01T23:15:00.003-04:00

for the entirety of my vacation in san francisco i couldn't get the jingle for rice a roni out of my head. "the san francisco treat..."

netter and i had a great time. for one of the first times i felt like i actually relaxed on my vacation. no alarms to get up at the crack of dawn. no moving quickly from place to place. no carrying massive amounts of gear on the off chance it might rain, snow or be intensely hot. no fighting over who would get to shower first. no hourly planned out itinerary to complete everything on our to do list. it was great!

we rode cable cars. ate sourdough bread and ghiradelli chocolate. saw the pier 39 sea lions squawking. rode the double decker bus around the city with some sublime narration. took in a san francisco giants game at at&t park. walked along the bay. ate sunday brunch. saw a movie. bought cool accessories at the apple store. sat in union square to people watch. ate an amazing meal. took a zipcar to muir woods and felt its serenity. took a random road to the beach for brilliant sunshine. drove across the golden gate bridge and down lombard street. night toured alcatraz island. chatted with some australian tourists who were visiting the states. attended the oakland lds temple. visited my walnut creek life. saw english court house, elementary school, middle school, church building and final house. drove to san jose to see netter's childhood home, schools and swim team pool. ate at cheesecake factory in palo alto. took another ride on the cable car. hopped in a cab and flew home.

such a great and relaxing vacation to be in san francisco. it had been many moons and i really enjoyed my time in the fog, sunshine and western chill of that city.

took some amazing pictures that will shortly be shared.

good karma

2011-04-24T21:49:00.002-04:00

woke up at 4:00am in order to leave for airport at 5:05am for the flight to san francisco. needless to say I was quite sleepy and thankful that I had a window exit row seat to try to sleep. I was on the upgrade list but wasn't sure of my spot so asked the lovely delta rep who checked my location. she made a face after checking so i knew it wasn't good news. basically I was number 12 on the list with 11 open first class seats available. bummer!

as I handed the boarding pass to her she said that she would come find me if anything changed. I smiled and said have a good day. sat in my exit row seat and prepared for the long flight. with about 15 minutes before scheduled departure the same lovely delta agent walked onto the plane and handed me a new boarding pass. i got upgraded! the next six and a half hours seemed much more bearable.

kinda feel like i'm getting some serious good karma vibes. first I get the iPad prior to my trip and i get upgraded. oh happy day! would love this trend to continue.

iPad 2 quest 2nd UPDATE

2011-04-21T13:57:00.005-04:00

family and friends...i have my iPad 2! our collective happy thoughts and righteous living culminated in receipt of my 64 gig wi-fi only black iPad 2 prior to my trip to san francisco! here's how it happened.

since reserving the iPad on monday i haven't been without my phone. even chose to keep it on full ringer while at work. had a leap of excitement each time i received a call, text or alert. my little heart would flutter hoping that the best buy people were calling with the news i've longed to hear.

yesterday while doing some work in the office copy room i realized i didn't have my phone with me. the horror! walked to my desk and grabbed it. decided to enjoy a michael jackson performance while doing the massive amounts of scanning in the copy room. not 2 minutes had passed from the time i retrieved the phone from my desk that it rang with an unfamiliar number. answered the call with barely contained expectation. here's how the conversation went...

me: hello
person: hello, is this (pinkymcg)?
me: yes
person: this is natasha from best buy. i wanted to see if you had received your iPad 2 yet?
me: i haven't received it but i'm hoping you're about to tell me that it is in the store.
natasha: yes it is. you can come to the store anytime after 5pm to receive it. just please have your reservation receipt.
me: natasha you are officially my favorite person right now. you can't see me but i'm doing a little dance right now becuase of my excitement. (was actually dancing around the copy room in my purple flats)
natasha: i'm very happy to give you the good news. just come to the computer section of the store within 48 hours and they will have your iPad ready for you.
me: thank you so much!
natasha: have a great day and thanks for choosing best buy.
me: thank you!

once boss man left the office, i grabbed my bags and went to the land of blue and gold where dreams come true. walked out with my iPad clutched tightly in my arms. i wonder if this is how it feels to have a new baby...

serious fight with mr. weatherman

2011-04-18T21:20:00.001-04:00

just checked the weather for san francisco and it told me something truly troubling. it is only scheduled to be in the upper 50s with showers 4 of our 6 days there. that isn't the worst part. london is predicted to be in the mid to upper 70s with brilliant sunshine. not fair! the reason we chose british isles this year was because of the chance for warmer and drier weather. our plan would have worked! even more frustrated that it was just too much money to go there because of the royal wedding. but congrats to the happy couple.

no chance of getting a little color while sitting in a seat for san francisco giants game or while wandering the streets of the city. will instead have to meander around with extra weight from an umbrella in my bag.

in a serious fight with mr. weatherman. might have to boycott this particular weather site. only brings bad news.

iPad 2 quest UPDATE

2011-04-18T21:03:00.002-04:00

before you jump for joy at my iPad quest conclusion...must advise that i still do not have my soft and supple hands on a black 64 gig wi-fi only iPad 2...but i do have an update to my quest.

the good folks at best buy are now taking reservations for incoming inventory! holler back yo! my first instinct after obtaining this information was to hustle down to the 86th and Lexington store to get my name on the list pronto. only issue was that it was sunday. opted instead to take a 2 1/2 hour nap. serving in Primary = mandatory sunday naps. always better option to obtain blessings for obedience to the commandments.

instead of sabbath breaking, first thing this morning i went to the best buy at 44th and fifth avenue ready, willing and financially able to put a $100 deposit on my hopefully soon to be received iPad 2. they will call me once the machine with my name on it is in stock. i'll then have 48 hours to present myself, the deposit receipt and funds to fully purchase the iPad 2.

only possible hiccup to this amazing plan is if they call me while i'm vacationing in the fog and sourdough bread land of san francisco. gooch to the rescue! if the call doesn't come before thursday night than she will be in possession of all the paperwork and funds to go get the iPad 2 for me. what a pal! grateful that i can call in this last favor before she departs to the cowboy infested land of texas.

need all who read this to please think happy thoughts that i can obtain my reserved iPad 2 at some point this week prior to flying westward at 7am on friday morning. i'm sure our collective righteousness and good will can make this small, itty bitty thing happen for moi. thanks in advance. :)

bloomage NYC style

2011-04-18T20:52:00.003-04:00

of course i took my camera along for the walk through the park on saturday. after brunch took some pics with gooch in attendance. i appreciated her willingness to be my profile model while i tested out composition. let me know what you think of my newest pics to the gallery.

click on any picture for a larger view

think the last shot is my favorite because it is a pathways picture

still miss my macy

2011-04-17T20:13:00.000-04:00

had brunch with gooch on saturday morning. opted to walk through the park as path to brunch destination. as i was about to get to the end of the park i noticed a man holding two leashes but no dogs attached to them. when i got closer i saw that the two dogs were shelties. that is the same breed as my macy.

i struck up a short conversation with the man and he let me pet his dogs who were beautiful. when he asked me about my sheltie i started to tear up. he was very sympathetic when i told him that macy had passed away almost a year ago. i thanked him and put my earbuds back in and started to walk away. maybe took about 3 steps before the tears began to fall and fall and fall.

didn't realize that the grief is still at the surface. i truly loved macy and miss her everytime i walk through my grandpa's house door. she was the best doggie.

might have to avoid shelties if i see them in my path or carry extra tissues for allergies and tears falling from missing my macy.

part of the club

2011-04-15T14:31:00.002-04:00

my good friend and neighbor jewel and i chatted a couple of months ago. during the course of our litte convo we decided it would be fantastic to start a book club with friends from the neighborhood. have always kept my reading choices to the same genre so was eager to branch out.

had our first meeting where everyone brought ideas of what books to read throughout the time. elected to read paul harding's tinkers as our inaugural book.

last night was the club meeting to discuss what we thought of mr. harding's tinkers. i'll admit it was a hard book to read. the language was gorgeous but for one used to dialogue it was hard to get through. while discussing it so many others parts were opened up to me in a new way. i basked in the glow of great friends talking about their impressions and relating personal anecdotes. it was a great night.

next month's book is suzanne collins' the hunger games. i've already read the book and would highly recommend it to everyone. don't be put off by the themes and content. it is a FANTASTIC book!

keane & the warblers = yes please

2011-04-15T13:12:00.000-04:00

blaine, kurt and the merry band of warblers cover the most awesome keane's "somewhere only we know" in a very near future episode of glee. i adore keane and darren criss's voice so this is what i like to call a win, win. enjoy.

this week's simple moments

2011-04-15T13:09:00.000-04:00

1. seeing a can of campbell's condensed soup on the subway tracks
2. blossoming trees along park avenue
3. seeing men in suits playing ping pong in bryant park during lunch time walk
4. downloading tkts app after enjoying its fruits on saturday with clare
5. cleaning four days worth of dirty dishes in about 20 minutes

self portrait

2011-04-15T13:00:00.003-04:00

i call this self portrait bored at the reception desk

trippin' down memory lane

2011-04-15T12:33:00.000-04:00

next friday i'll be on a plane headed for san francisco. haven't been to that city by the bay in about 10 years. really looking forward to returning as a tourist ready to soak in the atmosphere, smell of seafood, tour alcatraz at night, expense of riding the cable cars and cheating on my childhood oakland a's by attending a giants game.

one day we are heading through the caldecott tunnel to walnut creek - my home as a child and adolescent. haven't been to that turf in a very long time. yesterday i google mapped our route from the city back to walnut creek. as i was looking at the roads to take suddenly memories started flooding back. flex and moochie were born at john muir medical center. big lug and i would ride our bikes to enjoy a togo's sandwich then stop and rent a VHS tape from local video store. viewed multiple fireworks displays from the top of the large hill by our house. riding my bike up snyder lane to hang with the contractors building our house. piano lessons with my mean teacher. listening to barry manilow on my portable tape player while watching cars drive down ygnacio valley road. birthday slumber party for my friend susan where we were taken to breakfast while wearing our pajamas. doing a dance routine as a merrie miss for church talent show to donny osmond's "soldier of love". being mad at oakland a's fans for cheering texas ranger's nolan ryan as he threw a no-hitter. hosting a boy/girl party for valentine's that resulted in slow dancing with my 7th grade crush mike requa. annoyed that big lug always got to take moochie out of church sacrament meeting instead of me. riding the bart train to dad's office in embarcadero square and his secretary mary letting us get drinks from the office soda fountain machine. dancing around rose courtyard to paula abdul's "forever your girl". winning the free throw contest as a 5th grader - beating all girls AND boys. coming home each day after school to watch days of our lives with joani. suffering some of the worst allergies ever. seeing les miserables for the first time. (just to name a few memories...)

i think it will be an emotional experience to go back to a place that was such a part of my young life. hoping i can hold it together as i trip down memory lane in about a week and a half.

personal realization #2

2011-04-14T12:42:00.001-04:00

yesterday i realized that i spend money when in a foul mood or frustrated about something. i remember when big lug left on his mission that i spent $300 in a day...as a high school student. that was the first time i remember where shelling out the benjamins stemmed my pain and emotional anguish.

right now i'm knee deep in frustration with my inability to get an iPad 2. came back from attempt #9 to troll craigslist for my iPad. called the premier silver reward program with best buy to try to work my magic on getting the inside info on how to get an iPad. called apple stores in manhattan who told me that people are still lining up at least 5 hours before the store opens. all of this info just made me more annoyed that i can't have something i want.

my way to cope with the aggrevation was to spend some money pronto. so i looked up expensive restaurants for my vacation to san francisco. priced flights to london to enjoy jimmy eat world's performance in june as well as their show in SLC in may. almost reserved a zipcar to drive to the outlet mall in harriman on saturday. checked to see if the broadway shows i want to see were on TKTS - they were.

thankfully i was able to control the beast and only spent $30 on groceries yesterday.

need to be very aware when i'm annoyed, sad, frustrated or emotional to keep the debit cards, credit cards and cash buried in my very stylish coach purse. otherwise dreadful things could happen like ordering product from an infomercial. oh the horror.

a weekend in april with clare

2011-04-11T16:07:00.003-04:00

the standard four weeks had passed between weekends where either clare comes to new york or i go to connecticut. this past weekend it was clare's turn to brave the crowds on the metro north train from westport to my humble little one bedroom on the upper east side.

soon after her arrival on saturday morning we took off to times square to purchase the important 7 day park hopper walt disney world pass she will need for her upcoming family trip to the happiest place on the east coast of america. the disney store must be one of the happiest places in times square. probably tied with mcdonald's.

one of the things on our weekend to do list was see a show. we weren't sure which show. but knew we wanted to enjoy a show. soon found our way to the line at TKTS. we chatted with a friendly couple from denver who were enjoying the city after 30 years. after the discounted shows were illuminated on the info board clare and i decided to see "catch me if you can." hadn't really heard anything about the show but knew the leads were fantastic singers and more importantly very good looking. i have my priorities. picked up the tickets and headed for dinner.

our friend MC met us at famous dave's for a ton of BBQ food and chit chat. when i say a ton of food i'm really not embellishing all that much.

the show was great. the dancing was energetic. the singers were fabulous except at parts when the orchestra drowned them out. set design was minimalistic and classic. costumes were 1960s & 70s classic especially when the male lead was shirtless. all in all it was a fun show and didn't drag on like the movie did. thank goodness.

once we arrived at home i decided to take an allergy night pill because of all the crazy wind kicking up bloomage. my allergies weren't happy. went to sleep by midnight with my black out curtain drawn across my windows. i slept for 11 hours. seriously slept through the night with no random waking up for 11 hours. i don't know that i've ever done that before. it was fantastic!

sunday morning MC came over and ended up making clare and i breakfast. it was so good! we hung out for a bit and then headed out. clare and i ventured to the american museum of natural history. a place i had never been but always wanted to go. it was so much fun! we went close to closing so the kiddies were gone and enjoyed a relatively crowd free dinosaur wing. this is also the point where i took my camera out for some snap shots.

jumping for joy at being back in the desert

clare in the beauty of a new england autumn

wouldn't want this guy charging towards me

after our time with the natural history we went to shake shack on the west side for some din din and then walked our way across the park with a stop at the belvedere castle. it was a gorgeous early spring sunday evening.

found this field of wild daffodils

once we got home it was all about lounging on my most awesome couch and watching episodes of friday night lights. we watched 3 episodes but had the will power and determination to stop once the clock struck 10:30pm with 2 episodes left because we wanted to get some sleep for work the next day.

such a great weekend to be out and about in the city and end with a three episode marathon of friday night lights after wandering through central park. now only four short weeks until i head to connecticut to enjoy a facial, tanning, possible trip to the aquarium, eating at chain restaurants, hair trimmed, etc.

this week's simple moments

2011-04-11T09:53:00.000-04:00

1. scottish pride parade up 6th avenue on saturday meant a lot of men wearing kilts and playing bagpipes
2. attended opening night of "Catch Me if You Can" on broadway with hugh jackman in the audience
3. when entering a BBQ restaurant need to realize that it's a marathon not a sprint
4. saw a man wearing a full tuxedo and carrying a steam iron at 8:30am...hmmm
5. black out bedroom curtains create a cavelike environment allowing me to sleep for 11 hours