Top of the Rock

If you're visiting New York, do yourself a favor and skip the top of the Empire State Building and hit the Top of the Rock. Better views and less crowds.

At the MoMA: Misc.

We went to the Tim Burton exhibit (my second time.) Pictures aren't allowed, but it was very cool.

Just thought this was so cool.

At the MoMA: Balla

I loved this photo so much, and wish I could have gotten a better picture.

At the MoMA: Van Gogh

At the MoMA: Jackson Pollock

At the MoMA: Monet

Monet's Water Lillies are my favorites. I couldn't really get any good shots though.

Central Park after the snow day.

Too much light, but I still like it.

The (weekend's) daily ten

Delicious brunch at Agave with seven girls, all of whom only knew a few of each other, that ended up being a blast. We had so much to chat about and were there for about two hours.

Getting to catch up with Felicia who was in town for a girls' trip, and worked on convincing her to move out.

A beautiful weather day on Saturday.

Catching up with Mitch after (almost) five years.

Visiting the MoMA, one of my favorite museums.

Going to the Top of the Rock with very minimal crowds. We were able to walk right up, so nice.

A good spirit at church, as usual, and hearing exactly what I've needed, and have been thinking a lot about all week.

Yummy sugar cookies at Linger Longer.

Harry Reid (+ bodyguards) at our ward. Interesting.

Our awesome home teachers came over.

The daily ten

Chicken tiki masala for lunch. Mmmmm. So good.

Really pretty, big flake snowfall all day. I typically don't even like when it snows, but it was really pretty. Every time I looked out the window at work the snow was swirling and it looked just like a snow globe.

It was sort of a snow day in the city today, which meant people left work early, which meant I was told I could leave at 4pm-woohoo!

It wasn't terribly cold like I'd anticipated when I left the apartment tonight.

Went and saw Valentine's Day and actually liked it. I think because I went into it expecting it to be the worst movie ever, from everything I heard, but actually laughed a lot. It was entertaining.

Did you hear? Jason and Elise are buying a house!

Katie Rose stopped by to hang out for a bit-love her.

Had to wade through a giant puddle while walking to the movies and my wellies didn't quite make it. My socks got pretty wet, but I was wearing my super thick socks so it wasn't as bad, and when I got to the movies the DSW that's attached was still open so I could buy some new socks. Thank goodness, nothing's worse than cold wet feet!

Bonus day. Best day.

Paid all my bills.

The daily ten

Flat ironed my hair in maybe record time this morning.

Didn't have time to get breakfast this morning but it was lunch time before I knew it.

What started out to seem like a horrible day at work, was turned around by 10am.

Jeff put together a tentative itinerary for our trip and it made me super excited.

Meredith told me the best thing she did while in Rio was hang gliding so we looked into it and are thinking we're gonna do it. So excited.

Got a seat on a very crowded 4/5 coming home. I know I use this one a lot, but anyone who takes this line knows what a treat this is.

The first night with nothing to do in over a week. So nice.

Purged the dvr.

Watched women's figure skating with my roommates and have some of our own great commentary.

Kim Yu-Na's performance on the ice. Wow.

A few of you have asked

I got the Canon Rebel XS and I'm loving it. And I took the pictures in Grand Central with multiple shots of Ed using a really slow shutter speed. I think we did something like 30 seconds, so basically the camera recorded everything it picked up for 30 seconds, which is why there's also some obvious movement by other people in the background.

The daily ten

A huge problem at work was not really worked out, but we made it through the day. I am so lucky the boss man isn't a diva.

Helped the boss man move a desk in his office, which made me really laugh, because I felt like his wife trying to help and then "directing" him, as he said, when he decided he needed to do it himself. Hysterical.

Finally found a pair of yoga pants I think will be long enough. It's only taken four pairs.

Got a bunch of really cheap basics (tees, tanks) at VS.

Did my long overdue laundry.

Ran an extra mile at the gym. Don't know where that came from but I was pretty happy about it.

Fresh towels after my shower.

Fresh sheets for bed.

Good roommate chat.

Watched the last few minutes of the US hockey game on the tvs at work. Super exciting.

My friend's mom made it through brain surgery.

The daily ten*

Two Chinese dragons and a man playing a drum came up to the trading floor and did a little dance to celebrate the New Year. It was so cool.

Went to Amber's Test Nest and had such a great time. Met new friends, got to know acquaintances better, and caught up with old friends. (Not to mention had a delicious dinner!)

Finished some pending expenses.

Totally ran into my coworker's desk, and made a really loud noise that sounded like I should have been really hurt (and caused a lot of attention, which was embarrassing) but I wasn't hurt at all, thankfully (just mortified.)

Made plans with my dad who's coming in town next week.

Realized Brazil is only 10 days away!

Went to Hill Country BBQ with 17 friends. I'm not a BBQ girl, but I went to watch my friends sing karaokee. It was so worth it! Jamar sang When Doves Cry and he was incredible, and then Libby sang Tina Turner's Proud Mary and seriously brought. down. the. HOUSE. Everyone was on their feet and strangers were telling her what a great job she did. The back up band loved her as well and remembered her from the last time she was there. My roommate is a rock star.

Ran into Colin as he was leaving my apartment and I was coming home. I typically don't see him during the week since he has to go to bed early (starts work at 2am....killer.)

Dan came to dinner and we got to catch up, which was nice, since we haven't seen each other in ages, as he put it.

Got some compliance issues worked out which are typically such a pain.

*Yesterday's and today's.

Photo date with Ed.

Today Ed and I met up in Central Park so he could teach me a few things with my camera. I still have a lot to learn, but it was a really productive 2-3 hours.

Thanks Ed!

We shot at the reservoir.

My favorite of the day.

Ed's in a photography class which is teaching film. He bought this sweet camera from the 1930s. I told him it felt like a brick, and apparently that's the nickname for this model.

Under a bridge.

I wasn't exactly prepared for all the slush.

We didn't have much time with sunlight, but it still made for some cool shots.

Parts of the reservoir were frozen over.

Once it got too dark (and too cold) we headed to one of my other favorite places in the city; Grand Central Station. It was hard to get good pictures with the difficult lighting, but we had a lot of fun. We played around with really slow shutter speed. Can you see three Eds?

This one of Ed cracked me up, mostly watching him try to hold that second pose for about 15 seconds. I just stood at the camera laughing. Thanks for being such a good sport Ed. (For the record, this was all his idea.)

Handsome model.

If you haven't been to the main concourse in Grand Central you must go! It's beautiful.

I really want to come during rush hour. This place is a madhouse.

We finished it up with dessert. Apparently we both love red velvet from Magnolia's.

Thanks again Ed!!

Saturday

While walking to the subway we walked past a dog park. Mad loves doggies so we stopped to look for a minute.

We took Madeline to City Treehouse which was a lot of fun.

Mad got soaked.

After the City Treehouse we headed to the UWS to hit up the indoor Shake Shack. Poor Madeline made it about three minutes before passing out on the subway. She tried so hard to keep her eyes open but couldn't take it.

As usual I had so much fun with these guys. Thanks for coming down from Boston! Come back soon!

My Friday night date

Friday night Brad and Nadia went to see South Pacific so Mad and I got to have a little date night. She watched Shrek and Mickey, and I enjoyed having such an adorable subject on which to practice taking photos.

There's a lot of photos here. I know. They'll look like repeats to most of you, but obviously the parents, grandparents, and I can't get enough. :)

Later she decided she wanted Mickey and Shreck. Shreck's on the little dvd player, and Mickey's on tv. You can tell who her preference is.