1.2.11

I can't get over what an amazing time I'm having.

Yesterday Karen and I slept until 11am. Neither of us could get up. I felt so guilty for sleeping half the day away, but on the other hand, touring around when you're thrashed isn't fun, so I forgave myself. Plus, we ended up having a phenomenal day and night.

We headed to Notting Hill to go to Portobellow Road where they have an outdoor market. OH. MY. GOODNESS. I could spend all my money there. They had tons and tons of antiques, silver, souvenirs...tons.

We went to brunch on Portobellow at Electric which was recommended by Maria. She told me to get the Nutella crumpets, which I did, and they were life changing. So dang good! Then we headed over to St. Paul (where Princess Diana and Prince Charles were married.) There was supposed to be an evening choir, which is supposed to be so cool because of the acoustics, but sadly, it was canceled. We listened to their evening prayer meeting, which was nice, and then walked around a little. I'm hoping to go back tomorrow because I'd really like to take a tour and climb to the top of the dome.

Then we walked over to Covent Garden for a bit, which is a shopping area. Then Karen's friend Andy, his brother Mark, their friend Mike, and a girl named Brydee met up with us. We chatted at a Starbucks until they kicked us out and then Brydee left so it was just us with the boys. These Brits were cute, and so cool, and funny. We walked through Trafalgar Square, Picadilly Circus, Leicester Square, etc. We stopped and hung out at a bar for quite some time to chat.

We had tons of laughs but it was hard to understand those Brits with their accents and the loud noise! We wandered a bit more until we stopped to get some dinner at a dive restaurant. It was okay, but it'd be like eating at a restaurant in Times Square.

Acting super excited to see Trafalgar Square, London's Times Square.

We chatted more, laughed more, and then were on our way home. The boys are supposedly coming to New York in May so hopefully I'll see them then.

Mark, me, Andy, and Mike. Loved these guys.

Now here I am, a day behind again, too tired to write anymore.

1.1.11

I made it to London in one piece and have been going pretty nonstop since I got here.

I was so exhausted and hungry after I landed so I got some food at the airport and then hopped on the tube to meet Karen. We met near her work and then she took me to her flat. She's only been in London six weeks but she seems to adjust pretty quickly.

We got back to her place and chatted with her flatmate for a bit, and then I took a nap, which was so needed.

After I got up and showered we got ready for New Year's Eve. The party we were going to was circus themed so we dressed up like marionette puppet dolls. It was pretty cute.

We met six of her friends at the party at South Bank Centre at 8pm and didn't leave until it ended at 2am. It was a total blast.

The building was huge so there was lots going on. There was a great band called Bellowhead playing. There was food, circus acts, and other bands, and my favorite part, a silent disco. Everyone was given headphones and could listen to two different stations being DJed. So there we were, all dancing and singing, but if you took your headphones off it was silent except for random scuffs, claps, and some voices singing along. It was SO FUN. I danced like a crazy woman.

Karen's friends were great. Very friendly and welcoming. I found it very easy to be myself.

At about 11:30 we went to a room that had a great view of Big Ben and the London Eye. At midnight we counted down and then watched the best fireworks show I've ever seen. It was ten minutes long.

Then we spent the next almost two hours at the silent disco and then listening to the band. I was exhausted. It took us probably 40 minutes to get on the tube because so many stations were closed and there were so many people out in the streets. Definitely thousands. Luckily the weather was mild.

We finally got home around 3am or so. What a great New Year's Eve.

I'd love to write about today but I'm so tired...I may have to play catch up tomorrow.

Today was also a great day!

12.30.10

*I'm sitting on a plane waiting to go to London. My friend Karen (with whom I traveled to Australia) moved over there about a month ago and told me I could visit, so I am!

London and Paris have been on my short list for travel since I moved to New York (almost) four years ago. I didn't have enough time off though, so I just planned to do London and swore I'd still do Paris sometime.

And then...

On December 12 I was laid off. That's a whole other story, but basically, seeing as how I'd have some free time, I changed my ticket to fly back home from Paris, and I'd take the Eurostar in between. Hurray!

I asked Karen if she wanted to come, and a few other friends, but, understandably, no one could travel to Paris Tuesday-Friday right after Christmas.

I have to admit, part of me (okay, 90% of me) is super excited to go alone. Taking a solo-cation has been on my bucket list for about two years. I always figured it'd be a three day trip somewhere in the Caribbean, but I'm really excited it's going to be in Paris.

I'll be in Paris for 3 1/2 days. Maybe I should have made it 4 1/2, but I didn't know if I'd get lonely. I ended up booking an apartment for my stay, instead of a hotel. Apartments are cheaper, have a kitchen, and seemed much more "American girl seeing Paris on her own" to me than a hotel. I think coming home to an empty hotel would be lonely, but coming home to a charming pied-a-terre seems lovely.

So excited for this adventure. It's be a weird year, and even weirder last four months. I think this trip is coming at the perfect time.

I am ready for my Holiday/Eat Pray Love moment!

*From travel journal.

Paris, je t'aime

London

It's been better than I could ever have imagined.

Tomorrow, off to Paris.

My first Christmas tree!

I will be the first to admit, ever since I've lived outside my parents' house I've been a total scrooge about getting a Christmas tree. (Cindy, Chelse, and Chelsie will back me up on this.) It just always seemed like too much work, extra money I didn't have in December, too much mess, etc etc etc.

Then this year I found myself contemplating it when I realized there happened to be a little area a tree could go, ya know, if I felt like going through all that effort. I thought about getting a fake tree because a real tree would be too much hassle and I didn't want to deal with all the pine needles falling everywhere. But no, I thought to myself, if I'm getting a tree it's going to be a real one! But then I thought to myself, but no, there's all those pesky pine needles.

Then last night something happened. I'd happened to be in Macy*s on 34th Street and saw Santa (which is a whole other story in and of itself) and I was just feeling especially festive. So as I was walking through Lincoln Center on my way home I decided to walk through the tree lot on 67th. And then I saw it. My tree. I knew it when I saw it. I guess you could say I didn't choose this tree, it chose me. (Sadly, I'm serious.) So I talked to the tree lot lady for a few minutes and then boom, the tree was mine! It would be delivered by 10pm that night. Hurray!

I then went home to drop some things off, and happened to get three Christmas cards in my mailbox. Yay! Then as I was walking to meet some girlfriends for dinner, listening to some Christmas tunes, I realized I felt so incredibly happy!! Seriously I felt like I could burst, I was so happy about my tree and Christmas in general. I would never have thought in a million years I could be so happy about a 4'10" plant in my small space. But I was.

After dinner Court and I stopped at Duane Reade and Bed Bath and Beyond, and sadly, to my extreme disappointment, there wasn't any white lights or boxed ornaments. Lame! So I settled with the idea that I'd decorate tonight instead. Sigh.

So today during work I took a little break and bought lights and ornaments. I had a hard time deciding what to get. I just cannot pick out things that involve committing to colors. In my mind, my Christmas tree should be either gold and silver, or multi colored with homemade ornaments. (Hm....maybe because that's what I grew up with?) If there is a color scheme, it should definitely involve Christmas colors, like red and gold, or red and green. Definitely not non-Christmasy colors. (I don't mind it on other trees, just not mine.) And then I found myself purchasing a big gold bow (for the topper) gold ball ornaments, and pink and purple ball ornaments. Whaaaaat?

I kept telling Courtnie over and over, "I really don't want to have a slutty tree." (The check out people got a kick out of this.) But really though, a tree with pink and purple ornaments?

But, it worked. I texted a picture to Courtnie and got a confirmation. SO CUTE! Not slutty at all! YES!

So I added in my travel ornaments (I collect ornaments from places I've traveled to....except I only have a few at this point...and the one I got in Australia, the one that started the trend, is at my parents' house.)

So.......now that you have the background, meet Tanya (the Tannenbaum.) I can't help it. I love it so much I wanted to name it. :)

When I first moved here I decided I would buy an ornament every year, choosing something to symbolize that year. So far I've only bought one for 2009, woops. For the life of me I could not get a clear photo of this one.

My cable car from San Francisco this summer with Becky and Chelse.

From my trip to San Antonio with Dad last year.

With the lights out.

Merry Christmas!!!

You should be totally jeal'

Today I finally got to meet one of the most special girls in the world, Piper Jane. Little Pip is a giant in a tiny body. She touches the hearts of hundreds, probably thousands, all over the blogging world (and real world.) Her mama is a friend of mine, Reagan. Reags writes one of my favorite blogs, Reagan's Blob. She is entertaining, funny, has amazing fashion sense, and inspiring. I love her blob because it always lifts me up, makes me laugh, and shed a tear or two (the good kind.)

Reag and I met right after I moved to New York, and I'm so glad we did, because years later we reconnected on the blogging world and realized we'd already met and were already friends.

She's now my hair stylist (which is a huge deal because I'd been going to the same girl back in California since I was 15 and was scared to find someone new.) She also has a hair blog, which I love, Hair Dresser on Fire.

Anyway, I love this family. We don't get to hang out as much as I'd like because we live a good distance from each other (but thankfully not as much now that I moved!) and because life just gets insane. We've been trying to nail down a date to get together for weeks, but something always comes up. Luckily, when Reagan asked me yesterday if I was free this morning to go see Piper I could say yes! I was so excited to finally meet this little darling I've been loving to pieces through piptures and stories thanks to her mom and dad, Jake, who I should mention was one of the nicest, first people I met when I moved here.

It's no surprise this family is so loved in the real world and blogging world. Okay, enough gushing, thanks for being my friends Reagan, Jake and Piper! You are some of my favs! (PS Did I mention they totally inspired my this year by running the NYC marathon? They're hardcore.)

Piper giggling with her mama, in their matching stripes.

Piper taking a nappy.

When we had to leave Piper was still sleeping. Reagan put her in her bed and she immediately pulled her blankie over her head. How adorable is she, and how jealous are you of her cute shoes? I know. You should see her entire collection. I died over them.

PS Sadly I don't have a pipture to prove it, but you better believe I mauled little Piper. Thankfully she was super friendly and let me. (Don't be too deceived though, she is a spunky sassy little thing, and I did get backhanded once. And I loved it.) :)

Loving:

The changing leaves (as documented below from my girls only Berkshires trip last weekend.)

Living alone.

Trying out new classes at the gym (pole dancing, boxing, yoga.)

Meeting new people, especially new men.

Living on the Upper West Side.

Post season baseball (even though my Yankees are now out.)

Staying much more busy than I anticipated in my life without roommates.

All moved in.

Don't know where it's all gonna go. Happy as a clam.

Moving day!

Sitting on the floor of my very own place while the under the table, cash only, very little English speaking Craigslist movers unload the truck. (I'd help, especially since I'm paying by the hour, but it'd be one of those "too many cooks" situations.)
So so excited and so so happy. Feeling very blessed.
Happy Moving Day!

My friend is awesome

Jenna was at the Emmys tonight. She's so awesome! So excited to say I knew her when...
Way to go Jenna!!

Welcome baby Jared!

Now that I've seen that my sister has officially announced Jared's arrival on her blog I can announce it as well. Jared Steven came into the world on August 20, 2010 weighing a whopping 9 pounds 13 ounces, and was 21 inches long.

Way to go Rebecca! So happy for their family for their third little addition. Can't wait to meet that boy and smother him.

Today

Today was perfect. The weather was about 85 degrees and a small group of us went to Long Beach. It was only the second time I've been able to make it to the beach in New York this summer. As I've mentioned, I've had plans almost every weekend all summer to be out of town or have friends in town. Luckily I was able to make it to the beach twice in California earlier this month as well. I feel sufficiently tanned for the summer.

I have to admit, even though I was totally anti until last summer, I like the beach here more then back in California. I really didn't love the beach that much growing up. It just all seemed like such a hassle. Drive all the way down to San Clemente (where we always went growing up) try to find parking (and pay for it), schlep all your stuff down the beach, and then get all sandy, bring about half the beach home with you in your car, and go home. I'd much rather just go to the pool.

It's not as if going to the beach is the easiest thing ever here, but it just doesn't feel like as much as a hassle to me. Get yourself to Penn, buy a ticket for the LIRR, and sit on the train and chat with your friends for 40 minutes. Then it's a 5 minute walk.

One of the reasons I used to be a hater of beaches here is you have to pay to get in. Who pays to go to the beach? After experiencing the beach here (at least Long Beach) I totally don't mind. I think a combo ticket for the train and beach is like $14 and it's totally worth it. The beach is considered a state park, and the money goes towards keeping the beach nice. It's totally worth it. The sand is clean, which is so nice. No cigarette butts or wood chips or rocks. Just nice pure sand. I love it.

Not to mention, the water's warmer here! It makes no sense to me, but it is.

Lastly, and another reason why I love New York itself, is the public transportation. It's really nice that anyone can leave whenever they want. There's a train going back to the city basically every half hour. I love it.

Usually when we go to the beach there's a huge group, which is fine, and fun, but today it was just four of us, and it was really nice. The weather was perfect and the group was great.

When we got home the water was out in our building so we had to wait around for an hour or so to shower. That was a huge bummer but not the end of the world. After I finally could shower I just spent the evening at home alone, which was so nice. I didn't feel like going out so I just stayed in and got my laundry done and watched a little tv. It was perfect.

Oh yeah, also, while riding the 1 train to Penn this morning I noticed Jodi Foster get on and sit right across from me, right next to Britt and Brad. I've seen a lot of pictures in Us Weekly of celebrities in subways but I've never actually seen one. She looked great and was in really good shape.

Happy weekend!

So here's the thing...

Basically I don't feel like blogging. Maybe I will again one day. I hope I will. But for now, I don't. So here's a few of my favorite pics from the last few weeks.

Aimee and Jerry's wedding. Loved it. She wore her grandmother's dress. It wasn't altered, restored, or even dry cleaned. Perfect condition. Perfect size. Perfect for Aim. She made her own veil. So Aim. It was such a perfect day and perfect night. Love Jerry. Even though I only met him the night before I can tell he's so perfect for her. I was so happy to be a part of this wedding.

I picked raspberries with my grandpa in Rexburg. This was the first day of the second week of my vacation, and the first moment I actually felt truly relaxed. The first few days of vaca were kind of a whirlwind with the changes I mentioned in my last post, and then it was the wedding madness. It was so nice to spend this Monday morning in beautiful, peaceful Idaho, picking berries in the front yard.

Less than 48 hours in San Francisco was a quick trip but so worth it to see the city with two of my besties from college.

Last weekend I hit up the Berkshires with 15 friends. It was glorious. I have the best ex-BB ever. That pool was zen. It was like the stoner corner of the property. At one point we were just chillin in the pool, sitting on our noodles, not really saying anything to each other and just zoning out. Nothing says relaxation like a 95 degree pool. I wanna go back.

Okay here's the exciting news in a nutshell. I'm an auntie again! Rebecca had Jared Steven last Friday. He came in at a whopping 9 pounds 13 ounces, and 21 inches. My sister makes some linebackers.

The other exciting news.....I've been going through a long approval process for an apartment. It's taken almost a month but I found out I made it through the last of the approval process (meeting with the president of the co-op board) today. As of September 3 I will officially be living in my own apartment on the Upper West Side. I. Am. Stoked.

My heart's elsewhere.

I'm here, but mentally I'm somewhere else. On Sunday I got back from my core leave. I was away from New York for 16 days but it felt like at least 30. It's true what they say, in a New York minute everything can change.

So many pretty heavy changes have occurred, and so many to come. Some are my doing, and some were like a rug being pulled out from under me.

I feel like I have delayed jetlag and I just don't have the energy.

Friday I'm heading to the Berkshires for the weekend so if I don't blog tomorrow it'll be next week.

Sorry to leave you hanging. This is all I've got in me. For now, enjoy the big sky of Idaho. I miss it.

Dear Asians

Please stop leaving me comments on every single post in mandarin, cantonese, chinese........whatever. Sorry if I'm being offensive, but obviously I don't understand your language.

PLEASE STOP!!

All good things.

Me and Mad. Fourth of July weekend.

I have felt little-to-no desire to blog. Hence the silence. Things have been good though. Great, actually.

Here's the latest of what I've been up to, and what's to come, without pictures, because I just don't have the energy. It's basically a run down of the summer, Memorial Day to Labor Day, because it's pretty much all planned out. Insanity.

• I think I probably mentioned the fact that I went to Duck. I had a great time. It turns out when you go with the lowest expectations and little desire to scope out the dudes you have a much better time. I told myself I wouldn't stay anywhere longer than I wanted, or do anything I didn't want to, and it was the best decision. I was able to catch up with old friends and make new ones.
• The following weekend was my birthday, which was awesome, and I believe I recapped.
• The following weekend was Megan's wedding in California. Which was so great. I loved it. I'm so thrilled for her. The wedding was beautiful and the reception was a blast. It made me really decide that one day when I get married I want to have a small(er) wedding and not invite everyone I've ever met like most LDS people do. I would love to have everyone there, but I think it would be nice to have a smaller-ish affair, one that people come and stay and enjoy the evening, rather than just doing a driveby. I hate that. But that's just what happens when everyone invites everyone they know, so then everyone has several weddings to attend all summer, and can only go to so many. We'll see though. I'm sure everyone reading this probably thinks, "Yeah right, I wanted the same thing but it just doesn't turn out that way."
• The following weekend I went camping with some friends in the Catskills. It was super fun. There were eighteen of us. It was really well organized and we had a great time. We hung out, played bocce ball, frisbee, football, whiffle ball, cards, games, truth or dare, and chatted the night away. There were a million stars in the sky, the fire was endless, the food was good, the company was great. The weather was perfect. It was so, so fun. My favorite part was tubing down the river.
• The following weekend I didn't have major plans set in stone, which was nice. I organized a big group to go to the beach and it was one of the best beach days I've ever had. The group was great, the weather was perfect, and we just had a blast. Perfect combo of old friends and new, uptowners and downtowners. We got a lot of sun and really enjoyed ourselves. That night I took Mikey Perkey to a Sadie Hawkins dance with my roommate and another guy, and Monica and Jason. Mike and I wore Yankees garb, natch. I think the best part of the whole night was eating pizza in Central Park amongst the lightning bugs.
• The next weekend was the 4th of July. I headed up to Brad and Nadia's new home(!!) in New Hampshire. I loved it so much. I'm so happy for them. I can't believe all my siblings now have mortgages and kids. We celebrated the 4th, their new home, Nadia's birthday, and their second baby who is due in January!! So so exciting. I can't believe the three grandbabies will because six in six short months! I'm a happy aunty.
• This last weekend was very chill, which was really nice. The only commitment I had was Kam's birthday dinner Friday night which was really nice. A group of us went out in Little Italy. Saturday I slept in and then my roommates, Courtnie, and I went to the Shake Shack. We ended up going to the one on the UWS, and then I walked down the west side until hopping on the subway at Houston Street. It ended up being about 5 miles. I jogged at times, but mostly walked because I haven't been running and the humidity was killer. It was really nice to do that though. My body needed it and my psyche needed it even more.
• Speaking of the humidity, summer is here in full force, and I sort of love it. I have completely morphed into one of those people who loves the seasons, and I'm just fine with that.
• Tomorrow night I'm checking an item off the NY bucket list and going to the Philharmonic in Central Park.
• Last week a group of about 15 of us met up and rode bikes over to Artichoke for pizza. There were another five or so who met up with us there. It was a BLAST, to say the least. So fun to have so many riding bikes together. Loved it.
• Thursday Sean and Becky come into town and I'm so excited. Love those two. We'll be hitting up a Yankees' game because Sean is a huge fan. Becky is a die hard Cubs fan but she's humoring Sean (and me.) :)
• Cindy, Jake, and Blaine welcomed little Ty to the world, and he came home this week!
• Jill won Wipeout!!
• Next Monday my friends and I are taking a trapeze class!! This is another item that has been on my NY bucket list for a few years now. I am SO excited.
• Later in the week Chris comes into town, and then Melissa comes into town after.
• On the 30th I take off for California. I'll be there for a week to celebrate Aimee and Jerry's big day in LA. So excited for them and so honored to be a part of their wedding.
• I'll be spending a week at my parents' and I'm so excited. Usually when I go out it's for a long weekend, and if it's any longer it's Christmas time and so hectic. I have a feeling I'll still find a way to stay busy but I'm looking forward to the time out there anyways.
• Then I'll be roadtripping up to Salt Lake City, making stops in Vegas and St. George to see old friends. So excited. I decided to make my two week core leave a week of seeing family and friends. I'll be spending a few days in SLC at my grandma's visiting her and other friends.
• Then off to Boise to visit Shantay and meet baby Maya. Can't wait!
• Next stop, Rexburg, to visit the old stomping grounds, and more importantly my grandparents.
• Lastly, a big roadtrip with my love Chelse to San Francisco!! SF has been on my short list of US cities to visit (along with Seattle and New Orleans) for a while now. I haven't been there since my family lived there when I was a baby. I'm so excited to go back. I'm so excited to roadtrip with Chels, and so excited that Becky is meeting up with us there for a girls' trip.
• I'll get back to the city Aug 15 and then the following weekend am heading the Berkshires.
• The following weekend I'll be doing some last minute things in preparation to move to the UWS! So excited for this change. It's something I feel I really need and am really looking forward to. I don't have a place yet but am just starting to get more serious about looking (since apartments don't really open up until about 4-6 weeks before move in.) I can't wait for a new ward, to be closer to Central Park, to meet new friends, and become closer with old friends.

Life is good. Things can be hard at times but we get through it. I have a lot to pray for, and a lot to be grateful for. I am so happy to be where I am right now. On my long walk on Saturday things were just confirmed that I am in the right place. I love this city so much and can't imagine living anywhere else. I belong here.