...hard to say goodbye...

the lyrics of boyz II men's awesome mid-90s hit "it's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday" are currently on repeat in my head.  the first concert i ever attended was viewing the wonderful harmonies of the men from philadelphia.  even saw them last summer twice during the 'package tour' with 98 degrees and NKOTB.  but i digress...

...the reason my mind keeps playing "how do i say goodbye to what we had...the good time that made us laugh, always come back.  i thought we'd get to see forever.  but forever's gone away.  it's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday...i don't know where this road is going to lead.  all i know is where we've been and what we've been through.  if we get to see tomorrow, i hope it's worth all the wait.  it's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday...and i'll take with me the memory to be my sunshine after the rain. it's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday."  those are some serious words.  and on july 29th it was all i could do to keep from singing them aloud in the middle of JFK airport.  it was the day i flew away from my beloved new york city for provo, utah.  yes, i moved to utah.  

a great opportunity to obtain an MBA degree from Brigham Young University presented itself and i took it.  the only painful part of this equation was that it required me to leave my beloved new york city.  i miss it everyday.  every. single. day.  thankfully i know it is temporary and my career path is already leading me back to my hometown.  i will be working as an intern this summer for a financial institution in new york and i couldn't be happier.  four more short months until i'm back.

i have been richly blessed thus far as a member of the BYU MBA community.  the people that walk the halls of the tanner building with me are fantastic and willing to help.  i know that i will emerge a better business leader, person and family member from my time in utah.  but it sometimes doesn't stem the sadness about leaving my beloved new york city.

waiting for the airplane to take me away from new york city

me and the bridge for the final class day

our last photo class homework assignment was to create a series of images about something that we love.  i adore new york and two of my absolute favorite places in new york are poets walk (aka the mall) in central park and the brooklyn bridge.  since i used poets walk for homework assignment number 4, i bet you can't guess what i chose as my subject for the final series...come on, one guess...
 

i chose the brooklyn bridge on a gorgeous sunshine filled blue sky evening.  the problem that i encountered was that it became quite difficult to compose my photos how i wanted them because the bridge was swarming with tourists.  this was not unexpected but i was disappointed that i didn't do exactly what i wanted.  maybe it's a blessing in disguise so that i can go back again to really get the shots i had composed in my head.
 

behold, i give you the 'me and the bridge' photography series.
 

we had to present our series at class.  my teacher told me i did a 'great job'.  woot woot.  i'm totally biased but i thought that my series was the most cohesive of the rest of my fellow classmates.  it had the same subject and color tone.
 

our last class we spent outdoors practicing our panning technique and learning how to use the built-in flash for those moments when it is absolutely necessary.  it was really funny to practice our panning.  we found a large gap between cars because of a fire hydrant so the 8 of us literally lined up shoulder-to-shoulder on this small stretch of road on 2nd avenue.  our teacher jumped up on the hydrant and would yell "biker, biker, biker" to alert us that a person was about to ride by our camera line up on a bicycle.  then she would jump off the fire hydrant and run in front of us along the street.  we laughed a lot and enjoyed the strange looks we got by people as we would start looking to our right and follow them to the left.

this is our teacher Patricia running back and forth so we can get "the shot"

captured using the focus panning technique

 

 

i must say one of the best compliments i have ever received happened while i was chatting with teacher patricia and owner francisco at the end of the very last class.  i've mentioned before that my camera is quite limited because it is over 4 years old.  so we were chatting about which model i should consider grabbing next.  then patricia told me that i take stunning photographs with a lesser camera than the others.  she was very impressed with my abilities when using a camera that wasn't as "high tech" as the others.  i love being praised for something that i have created.
 

i'm sad that there are no more classes for me in the photography realm right now.  my time and funds need to be focused in another direction.  maybe in a few years, after i upgrade my camera, i'll find my way back to photo uno for some more instruction.  because in a few years i'll have mastered shooting only in manual mode and will need some new challenges.

a typical tuesday night in new york city

i got free passes to an early screening of the new nicholas sparks penned movie "safe haven".  let me state that i would NOT have gone to see this movie if it required me to pay for the viewing pleasure.  i generally find nicholas sparks adaptions for screen annoying.  my one exception to this rule is "the notebook". 

 

any hoo...my buddy lauri agreed to accompany me to the screening, which was taking place at one of the largest movie theaters in the city.  so after work i trekked over to 42nd street in times square.  let me paint you a picture of my trek.

• tourists clogged every inch of space on the sidewalk.
• "characters" like the statue of liberty, mickey mouse and dora the explorer were out in force waiting for parents to shove their kids their way for a picture that would cost the parents $5.
• wind howling down broadway so it felt like my coat was a light wind breaker.
• sirens from two firetrucks screamed through the square as they tried to negotiate speed without injuring oblivious tourists.
• two NYPD vans parked with lights flashing directly outside the movie theater entrance.
• about 100 teenagers yelling and holding signs outside the movie theater entrance because some boy band was holding a free screening of their concert film.  pandemonium.
• about 12 cops barricading the entrance.
• the wind is now colder because i've ventured closer to the water (aka hudson river)
• was jostled while trying to make my way to front of crowd to have a little chat with an NYPD officer so i can gain entrance to the theater.
• finally a movie theater employee opened the door so i could walk through and stand in line with about 80 other women for the screening.

luckily once i got inside all was rosy.  the generous screening promoters didn't just offer us the free viewing but it came with a small popcorn and soda.  boo-yah!  throughout the movie, lauri and i had fun playing the game "guess what happens next".  the majority of our guesses were accurate.  well done us.

 

so that is a typical february tuesday night in manhattan. 

 

 

a movie marathon for me & nemo

i love how the city literally stops all function when bad weather approaches.  i think there were a total of 8 people in the office with me at 4pm on friday.  most had to depart in time to take public transit home before the blizzard nemo descended upon the tri-state area.  i was lucky to get home with only taking 12 steps outside in the slippery, windy, snowy ickiness.  there are definite perks to living so close to a subway station.

once i got home i realized that i would probably be stuck inside for at least 36 hours.  what's a girl to do?  well if you're me and have hundreds of movies/tv seasons on dvd or bluray, you pull some movies from the collection and set up your movie marathon during the raging storm named nemo. 

i pulled 12 movies ranging from kindergarden cop to roman holiday.  during my sojourn inside i was able to watch 8 of the 12 movies.  

 

i also cleaned my apartment like it hasn't been cleaned in quite some time.  i mean i mopped the floors, washed all my towels, bath rugs, bathrobe and used a dust cloth and wood polish instead of my trusty swiffer duster.  that is dedicated cleaning.

all in all i think nemo and i got along really well especially since the plows were out in force to shovel away the inches of snow he bestowed upon new england prior to my commute this morning.

new york fun day 2012

new york fun day 2012 took place in all the hustle and bustle of new york for the holidays.  netter and i added a couple of little somethings to this year's celebration of all things touristy.  we got manicures, ate at a steakhouse, saw the vienna boys choir at carnegie hall and bought fabulous jewelry.

it was a great time to be out in the magic and wonder of christmas decorations, music, shopping, lights, etc.  grateful i had netter to share it with me.  we missed the co-founder doc enormously but know she will be joining in the 2013 festivities. 

2012 - keep calm & carry on

Greatest vacation:  Walt Disney World twice!  Went in January with friends and my brother Corey then again in October with my mom and sister Alyssa. 

Greatest family time: weekend in March visiting the 9/11 Memorial and Highline with my mom, headed to California to celebrate my cousin’s wedding, made classic grandma Jewel “bunny” cake with nephews for Easter, spent a week in July with my entire family - went to the water park, played the piano with my niece, posed for family portrait and took an hour long walk with my 3 year old niece & nephew for entertainment. And our regular Sunday night video chats.

Greatest daily distractions:  Instagram photo sharing, Draw Something playing and Spoiler TV website viewing

Greatest concerts/Broadway shows: Newsies (3x), Kelly Clarkson @ Radio City, Peter and the Star Catcher, Snow Patrol @ Terminal 5 (2x), As You Like It, The Cranberries @ Terminal 5, Into the Woods, Keane @ Beacon Theater, Ed Sheeran @ Bowery Ballroom, Once, Ed Sheeran @ Terminal 5, Paloma Faith @ Mercury Lounge, The Heiress and Alfie Boe @ Berklee Performance Hall in Boston

Greatest evidence that my friends take priority: not attending the Men’s Final @ the US Open (which Andy Murray won in five sets!) to hang out with my friend Megan when her vacation plans changed at the last minute

Greatest guilty pleasures:  Purchase of 4 pairs of Salvatore Ferragamo shoes, facials @ Bliss Spa, US Open tickets, using miles to upgrade to First Class for trip to CA, drinking tea, watching TV on my Time Warner Cable iPad app and Call Me Maybe (Carly Rae Jepson)

Greatest songs played on my iPhone: the “+” album by Ed Sheeran, Burn It Down (Linkin Park), the “Our Version of Events” album by Emeli Sande, New York & Lifening (Snow Patrol), Catch My Breath (Kelly Clarkson), Amsterdam (Imagine Dragons) and Just Be (Paloma Faith)

Greatest time spent unwinding in front of my new HDTV: Revenge, Once Upon A Time, The Good Wife, Downton Abbey, The Big Bang Theory, Smash, Mad Men, Grey’s Anatomy & the coverage of the 2012 Olympics in London

Greatest hours spent in a movie theater: The Avengers, The Hunger Games, The Dark Knight Rises, The Vow, Les Miserables and Skyfall

Greatest purchases in lieu of annual European vacation:  diamond necklace, Walt Disney World annual pass and Bose home theater system

Greatest New York moments: earning “New Yorker” status on Sept. 19^th after a decade living in NYC, taking a bike ride through Central Park with my cousin Ali, escaping the screaming teenage girls cage outside my office because of One Direction concert, an early Sunday morning stroll through Central Park with friends who just arrived from AZ via a red-eye flight and witnessing compassion, service and kindness after the devastation of Hurricane Sandy

ode to helping hands and yellow vests

Hurricane Sandy Helping Hands from Joshua Brown on Vimeo.

this video shows the efforts made by some of my family (looking at you gooch), neighbors and strangers in the rockaways after the devasting superstorm sandy blew through area.  it reminds me of something my grandma jewel and then my mother always said "many hands make light work". 

me and my madison avenue

i ride a bus home each night.  the bus takes me up madison avenue from 50th street to 96th street.  i think i choose to take the bus home because i love looking in the windows of certain shops along madison avenue.  those certain shops include the following:

laduree macaroons @ 70th Street

graff diamonds @ 61st Street

christian louboutin @ 76th Street

dolce & gabbana @71st Street

whitney museum @ 75th Street

hermes @ 76th Street

crate & barrel @ 60th Street

vera wang @ 77th Street

valentino @ 65th Street

amsale @ 58th Street

but my absolute favorite store to look into its windows and dream belongs to carolina herrera on 75th Street.  the clothes in that store's windows beckon to me like no other.  they are so beautiful - like beacons of light in a dark and dreary world...ok, that might be a bit melodramatic.  i just love, love, love her clothes.  i could maybe only afford a belt with her name on it but a girl can dream.  so thank you carolina herrera and the other designers that broadcast their wares along madison avenue.  you make my commute home just a little bit brighter.

maybe one day i will have the courage to actually walk into one of the stores.  baby steps.

a city in light and dark

a photojournalist named iwan baan with the new yorker magazine was able to snag a helicopter with enough gasoline located in a hanger with no electricity to take some amazing shots of a city left in both the dark and the light.  the images are really beautiful and almost chilling at the same time.  (here's a link to more photos from his late night flight over the city)

photo by Iwan Baan for The New Yorker
(click for a larger view)

this place is my home and to see so many living in the dark was heart wrenching and humbling, especially as i sat in my home with power, hot water, heat and gas to cook.  i was truly amazed at the sheer number of people ready, willing and able to help our fellow new yorkers who were suffering in the dark.  the red cross literally had to turn away volunteers and donations because they didn't have the man power to sort the huge inventory of coats, blankets, clothes and shoes.  the hardest part was the locations that needed these items the most were still inhabitable or unable to be accessed because of the sheer destruction of our landscape.  

i'm not one to push my beliefs or agenda on anyone, but if you are able to donate to the red cross's efforts to help those who have lost everything, i urge you to do so.  please help any way that you can.  the website is www.redcross.org.