Day 10: NEW YEARS EVE

What a day! It was cold. We woke up in time for lunch, and had pizza at a famous pizza place called Gramauldi's. It was cold when we went, and by the time we finished, the wind was howling and it was snowing. Things were looking bleak as we thought about our plans to go to Times Square. But we buckled down and bundled up, and off we went!



We got to Times Square at about 2 PM. We got an excellent spot, though looking back on it, the concert spots would've been great too. Anyway, we stayed put from 2 PM. Honestly. It was snowing, the wind was howling, and we brought 4 granola bars to last us until midnight. What were we thinking???



But we did it! We did it! And along the way we saw some interesting things, like people randomly limbo-ing and singing songs from their native countries at the top of their lungs. And speaking of lungs, I think I second-hand smoked a pack of cigarettes tonight. ::shudder:: It was so cold, so cold, so cold. Good thing we had hand and toe warmers. I still don't know how we did it!



In related exciting news, we got to see Lionel Richie, Ludacris, Taylor Swift, and the Jonas Brothers perform!!!!!!! I loved the Pepsi balloons and the confetti, oh the confetti! When the ball dropped, we were delighted to see that not everyone around us was kissing, ha! We got home safely and I ate leftover prime rib. No food for 12 hours, I decided I deserved it. Take that, 2009!

Day 9

Today we really wandered New York City! We started on a walk entitled "From Prussians to Punks" where we learned about interesting historical facts around St. Marks. We saw cool buildings and learned about their history, interesting indeed!



We tried finding this one place to go shopping and ended up going in circles, haha, but the second time around we discovered a delicious Kosher bakery--yum! We had food from a street vendor, equally yum, and did more shopping.



We ended by doing a walk that concluded at the Empire State Building. More interesting facts about buildings and history of NYC.



True to our wandering nature today, we missed the stop headed home and ended up walking around looking for the Honduran restuarant I've been dying to try. Of course, it was closed. I know, figures, right? So we hopped back on the train and came home.



Ohmigosh! Tomorrow's new year's eve! YES we're planning on claiming our spot in Times Square...bring it on, 2009!

Day 8

We had another fun-filled day. In the morning we got tickets to see "Hairspray" and an excellent deal! Then we went to Coney Island and had Nathan's famous hot dogs. mmmMMMMmmm yum. It was fun to see the beach, yet bizzare to be all cold and dressed wintery at the same time.



Then we went shopping, oh boy did we go shopping! I got some cool stuff, Marie got lots of cool stuff, and we definitely did need to fight for this fashion. The stores didn't lie!



We had mexican food, then went to see "Hairspray" on Broadway. It was like entertainment on crack, it was so awesome! The music, the dancing, the acting, loved it loved it loved it! Walked around at Times Square for a bit afterwards, ohhhhh the big city, it's just so rad.........



Had some trouble w/ the trains coming home, but overall the weather was pretty nice today and we got home safely :)

Day 7

Sunday, we went to church. A little corner building. The couple that spoke in sacrament meeting had just moved from Utah. They got married a month ago, and the lady said it was her first move from Provo/Spanish Fork in 11 years. Marie and I rejoiced for her.

Slept.

Sorry, nothing too exciting today. On deck: Coney Island, Empire State Building, strollin'

some older pictures, since Facebook was being stubborn:


some reeds for Sam (they're actually papyrus)


for Patrick.


you got gangstas...you got wangstas...and then you got skanskas...

Day 6

Sorry people, no pictures today :( BUT that doesn't mean you need to stop reading! We had a spectacular day! We woke up a little late for the Jewish service, oops! But it turned out ok, because it turned out to be really long. And very Hebrew. The people were very nice to us and explained as much as time permitted. We left with more questions than perhaps when we entered, but it's ok. On the way back, Marie found a bagel place that was excellent. For your information, lox=salmon.

We came back and did laundry across town. Saw some really cool middle eastern shops, ohhhh delicious food. Delicious pita bread!

Came home and took a wonderful nap. Mmmmmmm sleep. Then got goin' to the ballet!!! New York City Ballet performing the Nutcracker! The Nutcracker!!! It was amazing, it rocked my world, I can't say enough about it. The music, the set, the dancing...aaaaah so good! So good!!!

We are coming up to a week here in New York, and I have to say, it's been fabulous! Today the weather was really cool, it was misty all day but it didn't get extraordinarily cold or wet. It's been a good time :)

Day 5

Today we went to Times Square in the late morning/afternoon. I don't know why it's so hard to get up in the mornings here, I feel like I can sleep til noon if there weren't so many cool things to do here. Actually, well...more about that later. Anyway, we went to Times Square and it was soooo cool during the day, I can't imagine how much cooler it'll be at night!


Then we went to Lincoln Center and though it's under construction, it's still pretty cool. It's so artsy. hehe. We got tickets to see the Nutcracker tomorrow night. The Nutcracker!!! yay, yay, yay! I picked up some flyers about the NY Philharmonic open rehearsals and classes at Julliard...I know, right, who am I???



Then we went to the Manhattan Temple. It's small, but pretty. Some BYU jokes that were thrown around. Or. At me.



We waited a couple of hours for dinner, went to this cool ramen place. Got a taste of the night life...oh man it's so cool. We're definitely going to have to do more of this night thing!

Day 4: Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! Today was a wonderfully relaxing day. Woke up late, did the whole Christmas routine...we got good presents! My mommy sent us gifts from home, and we got all kinds of goodies. Then we had a small breakfast, in preparation for our feast. Oh what a feast! We watched the Disneyworld parade after, merry Christmas from the Jonas Brothers!


Then we took a walk on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. It was a really pretty day outside, and we got some nice New Yorky pictures. There was a couple who got married and were taking their marriage pictures, so I said, well I guess normal people get married too. The walk also prepared us for dessert and Prince Caspian. I ate again.


We are just chillin some more. Tomorrow we start again. On deck: Manhattan temple, NYC night life. Stay tuned.

Day 3

Today was rainy. It wasn't as cold, but it was wet :( Oh well. Jenny made delicious cinnamon rolls for breakfast (lunch?). Then we went to the Met. It's huge. I had no idea what we were getting into. I was exhausted...I'm un-cultured like that. Don't get me wrong, there were lots of cool things! But soooooooooooo much.



Afterward, we wated to get to the place to get tickets to see Wicked. We went the wrong way for awhile, and kept putting off eating. We finally backtracked and got to the right place, Marie's so good at getting us to the right place, but we didn't end up getting the tickets.



By that time we needed to go home. I was so hungry! Lost in a city where there are a million places to eat, but couldn't decide on anything :( But everything was ok when we came home.



I like chillin' at home, especially after going aaaallll day. Today I just felt lazy because it was rainy. My cold continues. It's Christmas Eve! I like hanging out at home, despite the bustle around us. The world can wait for a little; after all, family: isn't it about...time? Hehe.

New York, Day 2

Today was another whirlwind of activity. We woke up kinda late, but it was still early. My throat really hurt, I think it's all this dirty air here. Well, we started out on Wall Street. Unfortunately, due to the holidays, it was not as busy as we antipated. Instead, we ate bagels and went to Staten Island. I saw the Statue of Liberty and thought of that math task we had. Hmm. Then we went and shopped a bit, we had to share the fitting room. I'm not going to lie, that was kinda weird, but oh well. Then we ate falafels. They're EVERYWHERE and delicious.


After lunch, we passed through Trinity Church and caught their Holy Eucharist service. It was pretty cool. We went to ground zero. Once again, we thought there was more than there actually was (we thought there would be a memorial up or something). Then we went to Greenwhich Village and wandered around NYU.


After that, we hit up Chinatown. We bought some pretty fun stuff there, and it kinda reminded me of Mayoreo. Funny, huh?



We decided to call it a day and headed home...I got lost...it scared the living daylights out of me. ::sigh:: But we all got home safely, and then we made the Christmas tree. Like, literally, made it.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve! On deck: museums, Carnegie Hall, icy weather!

New York, Day 1

We left Salt Lake City at 12:05 AM and had an uncomfortable direct flight to JFK. I was dead tired, even after sleeping all of Sunday, but got little sleep :( Jenny and Chad were late to get us, but that wasn't their fault. We met this cool girl waiting for the train, she came from California but is originally from Holland. Nice girl. The train came and we parted ways...finally got to Brooklyn, where Jenny and Chad live, and it was so cold I almost died. No really, there was this icy wind that blasted us and I wanted to giveup. Apparently it's not common, but welcome to New York anyway, right?




We had breakfast and then dove right into the thick of things. 2 subways later, we were at the Time Warner mall and strolling through Central Park. We hit up the cooooolest toy store ever, FAO Schwartz, and explored more of 5th Ave. We had lunch at this *awesome* Cuban place, seriously, so delicious. We went to the Rockefeller Plaza and went to the Top of the Rock. It was freezing.




Then we finished up at Grand Central Station. My favorite part was the market inside. We came back home and crashed. Then we had pizza for dinner, yum :)




New York is not for the faint of heart! I gave up trying to fit in almost as soon as we got here and I couldn't keep from gaping. One girl asked me which train we were waiting for, and I was like, um...I don't know. Haha. It's so cold, so cold, so cold!!!!!!!!!!!!!!