Naughty or Nice...Part Deaux

Despite being in one of the most festive cities in the world for this holiday season, being away from home and having to work on Christmas Eve is making it difficult to fully get into the Christmas spirit. 

Good thing I have my annual naughty or nice list to get me feeling a bit more festive...

Naughty things I did this year: 

Wasted time 'Pinning' 476 items that I will probably never make, wear, or buy
Flashed a crowd of people
Forced Ty to go to the Macy's Day parade with me and 8 million other people
Made cookies to give away but ate all 36 of them on my own...in 3 days
Judged people for wearing rain boots that didn't say 'Hunter' on the front

Basically dropped a small child

Elbowed people out of my way to make sure I caught a train
Only made dinner once a week for 6 months

Nice things I did this year:

Graduated from college

Got a 'real' job

Learned to budget money using an Excel spreadsheet (I know, right?)

Drove across the country without complaining

Reunited someone with their long-lost wedding dress

Made a batch of cookies with the intent of giving them away
Made dinner once a week for 6 months

Wow the nice list was way harder to come up with...Hopefully Santa won't mind and hook me up anyway : )

Last year's post

Winter Solstice What???

 

WINTER SOLSTICE???

I don't care what they say...today is NOT the shortest day of the year!!!!

IN FACT

This week honestly feels like the longest of my LIFE.

I'll be honest, Christmastime in the City IS all it's cracked up to be (see above pics)

BUT

We are more than ready for a nice little break. 

A word to the wise: KIDS...stay in school.

You will miss it one day when you don't get a nice two-week long Christmas break and have to work on Christmas eve and only get to go home for 3 days.

Anyway...I hope your week before Christmas is extremely merry!

Note: the last collage is from a recent dinner outing to a new fav called Mexicana Mama. Loved the food and la-la-loved the decor. Where can I get one of those chihuahua candle holders?

number 2

Yes, two posts in one day.
I had to share.
Is this not THE most awkward thing you've ever seen?

HAHAHA
Sooo painful.

A lil recap

We had an unconventional Thanksgiving.
Not unconventional in a bad way, unconventional in a...you're-on-your-own-now kind of way.
Instead of sharing a home cooked meal with family we went out to eat with some new friends.
It ended up being a relaxing day not having to worry about burning a Turkey or doing dishes : )
We tried going to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade but we were pretty lazy didn't get there until like 10.
The crowds were so big we were literally blocks away from the action.
See?

I made Ty zoom in on this next one...but I don't think I'm fooling anyone.


[insert awesome pic of Ty and Sj at Macy's day parade with giant balloon here]

I always watched the parade on Thanksgiving morning growing up so it was still cool just being there.
I guess we know better for next year...It's waaay better on TV!

Now we're onto the Christmas season!
Even though it's been in the sixties here in NYC it still feels a lot like Christmas...

I like these giant ornaments


Even the pretzel guy is getting into the holiday spirit!

I like how New York City goes all out for the holidays.
The Christmas anticipation is already killing me!

Home

I went home for a full week!

Highlights include seeing my friends and family and eating at Cafe Rio :)The Salt Lake Temple
Me with my friends Aleesha and Michelle
Coach Miller directing her team at 5:30am (I'm such a good friend for going)
My niece and nephew in their new winter coats

There's me with the kids in a helicopter
Getting ma hair did by Michelle
A crazy rock concert (a.k.a the opening of the first H&M in Utah)
Lexi and Leesh doing an awkward pose at Cafe Rio

Rachel's football player bf got us all tickets to the game on Saturday.

Even though it was 30 degrees we had a good time cheering on our cougs and reminiscing about going to games together our freshman year.

Loved being home.

I was sad to leave...but figured I'd better get back to NY so Ty could stop eating cereal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner : )

Parentals

My parents came to visit!

Even though there was a total blizzard on Saturday (like, we got 3 inches of snow) we were still able to do a lot of fun shtuff!!!

The highlight of the weekend was seeing the newly completed 9/11 Memorial.

I had seen pictures but nothing can compare to what it looked like in person.

I didn't realize how HUGE it is.

Pops and I standing by the fountain built in the foundation of the south tower. HUGE and super cool. Puts it into perspective how big the buildings were and how many people were inside...

Mom and dad with the under-construction Freedom Tower in the background. The building directly to the left of it is Ty's second home I mean office.

Really? Since when do my parents text more than me?

Downtown with the Wall Street Bull

Yes....we went to Grimaldi's again. I know there's so many great places but I just LOVE this so much.

.

My mom was very excited about taking this picture. That's Lady Liberty she's pinching.

Other highlights of the weekend included taking cabs everywhere...bc I never get to do that.

Oh and drinking hot chocolate during a snow storm.

Happy November!

kickin it old school

Wanna know what's ironic?
That I lived less than an hour away from home all through college and only saw some of my dear high school friends a handful of times but now that I am all the way across the country I have seen two of them in the last week!
Worst friend ever.
My friend Brooke's hubby had business in town so she came along and we got to hang.
I hadn't seen her since she got engaged/married so we were due for a catchup sesh.
Of course we didn't take any pictures, so I thought I'd post some awkwards from way back when.

Go ahead and laugh.

Brooke and I became friends when we were on the cross country team together our freshman year.
As you can sense this was during my awkward stage.

Newport beach with Michelle and Aubree (who's about to be a mama!!!)
Why we are all wearing the exact same thing I don't know.

Then a few days ago I met up with my friend Kylee who will be here for a few months doing an internship.
Again, no recent pics...my bad.

She's the cowgirl on the left.

Just watching a soccer game or something....we were so cool.

Seeing them made me miss them.
Sometimes I think it'd be awesome to go back to high school for a day and just see what we were like...thinking about it makes me laugh a little.

What I saw on my way to work today

Mickey Mouse, a band, the Chrysler building, Times Square.
Usually I see Elmo and Woody from Toy Story but it was rainy today so I guess they stayed indoors.
Needless to say, my daily commute is pretty entertaining.
Also...today I saw a cute dog and asked the owner what "species" it is.
Idiot.

we're going to disneyland!

My cousin Paige (who happens to be the most amazing/creative person ever) posted this video on her blog today and it literally brought me to tears so I had to share.

Full on tears.
I watched it three times and cried more each time.
It's this week's viral video.
It was posted on Huffington Post, Perez Hilton, and others.
Hope it brought you as much joy as it did me!

A couple things...

First off, I'd like to announce that I have a new most embarrassing moment.
I don't know why I keep having awkward things happen to me while wearing skirts.
Perhaps it's a sign I should stick to pants.
Last night I was in the subway station on my way home from work and passed by this man as I was going down the stairs and he was going up.
Somehow, my lace skirt got snarled up into a zipper on the bag he was carrying as I brushed by him resulting in my skirt being lifted up to about the crotch area.
The worst part is that it was caught pretty badly so it took approx 6.3 seconds to untangle it.
Now, 6.3 seconds may not seem to be a very long time, but it felt like an eternity while standing there with my skirt all up and 300 people passing me. Staring.
It was super awk.
I guess this accurately defines some pros and cons of living in a big city...
Con: Many people are around to witness your most embarrassing moment.
Pro: You will most likely never see any of them again.
Con: After a humiliating event, it is normal to look for a familiar face, someone to help laugh it off. The odds of finding someone you know at that moment in NYC are slimmer than somewhere not as highly populated.
Pro: There are plenty of other weird things going on in this city so most people won't think your awkwardness is that weird at all.

Another thing...
Have you noticed that with every passing month people always say, "I can't believe it's already Jan/Feb/March/April etc!" or "Oh my gosh I feel like this month just started and it's already over!"
I've noticed this and have wondered if there will ever be a time when a new month starts and everyone says, "Yeah. It feels like it should be this month now."
Well, today is October 1st and I can say for myself at least that I am fully ready for this month to start.
It doesn't feel like it should still be summer and September did not fly by.
Now it's time start thinking about what I will be for Halloween this year...

Good Eats

One of our favorite things about living in NYC is all of the amazing restaurants it has to offer.
There are are SO many options.
I really think you could eat at a different place every night of the year, every year for as long as you live.
Really.
Since we aren't into the 'night scene' the perfect weekend night for us involves seeking out a cool and yummy restaurant with good reviews and then then journeying there to try it for ourselves.
Sometimes it's hard to find good reviews online because you have no idea how credible they are, so we've found the best way to hear about good eats is by word of mouth.
I don't know if this counts as word of mouth, but I have been waiting for Joanna Goddard from the blog 'A Cup of Jo' to come out with her 10 best restaurants in NYC post.
It did not disappoint!
I've never been to any of them so I am excited to have a new list of places conquer...
Here is her top ten (commentary added):
1. 'ino, West Village
2. Husdon Clearwater, West Village (this one is apparently a 'secret restaurant....cool! Not gonna lie the pics look sketch but I'm always up for an adventure.)
3. Tartine, West Village
4. Cafe Cluny, West Village
5. Mary's Fish Camp, West Village (I hate seafood...like all seafood...so I probably won't be going here but I'm sure it's great if you're into that.)
6. Co., Chelsea (She says it's the best pizza in the city. It would have to be pretty amazing to beat out my personal fav, Grimalid's, but I'm willing to give it a shot :))
7. Mermaid Inn, East Village
8. Hampton Chutney Co., Soho (Apparently good for brunch. I like brunch.)
9. Schiller's, Lower East
10. Frankies Spuntino, Brooklyn (She says it close enough to bike to this place from Manhattan)
See Joanna's Full post and other Top 10 NYC posts HERE

Happy Friday Everyone!

EMBED-Bollywood Break Dance In 1987 - Watch more free videos

You're welcome.
Shout out to my sis-in-law Holly for introducing me to this little gem.

AND

Have you heard of Boo?
Boo has been dubbed world's cutest dog and has over 1 million friends of Facebook.
He is a doggy model and has made appearances on Good Morning America, meets celebrities like Tory Burch, and even has own book.
Doncha jus wanna squish that lil face???
Ready for Fall!
Again, you're welcome.
Here's to a great weekend!

New York Fashion Week

My friend Pam scored tickets to a Fashion show during NYFW and invited Monica and myself to tag along.
This was my first fashion show and I didn't know what to expect...but it ended up being SO COOL!
The show was for a designer named Nami who is based out of L.A. and this was her debut show.
The event was held in the showroom of an Audi dealership on Park Ave.
All the cars were cleared out and a runway was formed down the middle of two sections of chairs:

The show started when the designer walked out and introduced her line and described her inspiration. She said that she was inspired by a trip to Japan where she sat one day and looked at all of the beautiful cherry blossoms. The colors and fabrics she used in the line reflect what she saw in nature. I could totally see it!



Then some heavy techno music began and out came the models:


I think this was the skinniest girl I've ever seen

Loved this outfit


Something funny....A crowd of men forming outside trying to get a peek at the models:

We even got to take pictures on the 'red carpet' hah! Good thing my pants matched the floor.

Ever wondered how TALL runway models are in person?

THX PAM!!!!

Webcam 101

I love this so much.



They remind my of my grandparents.
And I miss them.
Ty and I always talk about how weird it is that one day we will be the old, out-of- it grandparents trying to understand the latest technology.
Someday we will say things like, "When I was your age all we had were cell phones with the Internet."
We often try to guess what technology will be like in 50 years...
Perhaps we will have time travel or teleporting systems.
Or a refrigerator that can tell you what you're running low on and will email a grocery list to you.
Wait, does that already exist?
Anyway, we are looking forward to those confusing times and being senile and stuff.

September 11, 2011

I don't really have a personal 9/11 story to share.
I lived far away form New York on that day and was too young to get it.
I could tell something devastating had happened, but I didn't know anyone who lived here and had never even been to New York City so I didn't quite feel a personal loss at the time.
Flash forward 10 years later and I am living literally across the street from "ground zero."
I have noticed that it is something people living here still think about on a daily basis.
It was a life changing experience for them.
Being here on the anniversary yesterday, it was kind of an eerie feeling.
We watched a documentary on the History Chanel last night and saw what our neighborhood looked like a decade ago to the day.
People were running for their lives, ashes and inch thick covered the streets for blocks, and a lot of people lost their friends, family members, coworkers, etc.
In a city where people can sometimes be a little cold and often keep to themselves, I was surprised to see through the footage how New Yorkers came together on that day.
Complete strangers were picking each other up off the streets, offering a shoulder to cry on, and holding onto each other when it seemed like the world was ending.
That is not something you see everyday.

I took this picture on my phone while walking home from dinner on Saturday night. This new building is called the Freedom Tower and is being built at ground zero. It is already HUGE, towering over the tallest buildings downtown and is only about 3/4 of the way done. It was all lit up in red, white, and blue for the anniversary. Ty couldn't see the red bc of his colorblindness lol.

I didn't take this picture but I found it online and just thought it was so cool. The two pillars of light are commemorating the twin towers.
You have to make reservations to go see the memorial at ground zero and it is completely booked for the next month, but we will definitely be checking it out once the crowds die down.

Falling

This post is titled 'Falling' for 2 reasons...
1) I fell
2) It feels like Fall

I fell, flat on my face, while walking briskly down the street the other day.
The front of my flip flop got caught on one of those metal doors on the sidewalk that leads down into who knows where.
This wasn't like a slow, graceful, trip.
I was walking fast and seriously jolted onto the ground like a big fat idiot.
I even made this weird manly grunting noise as I fell.
It is still replaying in my mind.
And of course, I was in a knee-length, flowy a skirt : )
My underwear was exposed.
I scraped my hand and toe.
But mostly, it was my pride that was hurt.
It was bound to happen sooner or later.
I'm not the most coordinated kid on the block.
It's just so funny how awkward you feel after something like that happens.
I felt so surprised/embarrassed/shocked all at the same time.

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry as I was sitting there on the dirty sidewalk with a few strangers offering to help me up, my knickers staring them in the face.

So I just forced a half smile, dusted myself off, and went on my way.
I immediately got out my phone and started to text someone...anyone...just to make myself feel better and look like I had friends.

Now to my second point.
Being from Utah where the weather is CRAZYYYY (like It snows in July there) I wasn't prepared for this sudden change in seasons.
It seems like as soon as September 1st hit NYC someone flipped the Fall switch into the 'on' position and out came the boots and gloomy weather.
I'm fine with it.
To tell you the truth, I am fully ready and prepared for some cooler weather up in here.
I'll be the first one to admit I'm not a pretty sight in the extreme heat.
Plus....I get to wear these babies:

FALL!

"Tropical Storm" Irene

As I'm sure you heard, the hurricane that swept the east coast this past weekend got demoted to a "tropical storm" when it hit NYC.

The reported "over 100 mph winds" were actually around 30 mph when it finally arrived Sunday morning.
I feel bad for people who were more affected by the storm, but I'll be honest, also feel slightly cheated out of my first hurricane experience.
One great thing that came out of the weekend (besides no floods and stuff) was that work and just about everything else was cancelled so we literally got to stay inside and do absolutely nothing for the entire weekend.
: )
We sat around, watched movies, ate and...um....yeah that's it.
And have you heard of the "freshman 15?"
I think I gained the "hurricane 15."
Something about being locked up inside all weekend made me want to stuff my face.
Anyway, here are some pics we took.
Most of them are taken from the exact same spot, because like I said, we didn't really move for 48 hours.

The night before the storm was supposed to arrive we took a walk and were shocked at how DEAD the city was. It was seriously like a ghost town...
Closed Subways
Empty Streets
Even Times Square was literally empty
I wonder when was the last time the city that never sleeps was so quiet.


Here's what it looked like during the storm:



And here are some 'after' pics:


It even turned out to be a beautiful day!