New York Girl

Heaven on Earth

2010-09-12T21:08:00.005-04:00

As I announced earlier, I took a big jump in life and moved into my OWN apartment on the UWS. At first, it was a little weird but now that I am all moved in settled in, I am in LOVE! It may be small, but its mine. So here's a little photo tour of the place.

The entry way

My tiny kitchen...even though its small, everything in there is brand new

The best part: the closet

View from the entry way

The living room area

Come visit!

Belgium: Trip #2

2010-08-25T21:01:00.003-04:00

Work sent me to Belgium in July for 2 weeks again. My camera battery was dead when I got there so I don't have any pictures. I would have bought a replacement battery except for stores are only open from 10 to 6 Monday through Saturday and are closed on Sundays. I couldn't but one on a week day because I was (surprise) working. On Saturday, I went in a million stores but none of them had the right one. Next time I will be more careful before I leave for a trip. Anyways.....

Work was busy but that's good because I like to be busy. I didn't do much on weeknights except for eating and I love to eat so that's great. I found one restaurant that I have to recommend to you. It was recommended to me by my tourist book, the NYTimes, my parents, and some good family friends who live there. If you are ever in Brussels, you must go eat at the Belga Queen. Its amazing. Just go.

The first weekend I was there, I ventured to Antwerp. Antwerp is famous for 2 things: diamonds and Peter Paul Rubens. I started off the day going to Rubenshuis and checking out the artists former home which was filled with his work, work of his students and work of his contemporaries. It was a great museum because it had great things in it but only took an hour to go through it. Anything longer than that, i start to get bored.

I had lunch at a great Italian restaurant and had a fun 3 hour chat with my waiter. He was trying to get me drunk and was offering me shots (i refused) at 2 in the afternoon. He also wanted to take me out at night for lots of drinks and dancing by the water. hahaha He was a fun guy though and almost (note: almost) inspired me to get a tattoo. He had these great little stars behind his ears and I loved it. I have never wanted a tattoo ever and kind of feel like tattoos are something you get in college but I guess Europe got to me that day and I became obsessed with his tattoo.

Last stop was the diamond shops. Most of my friends hadn't ever even heard of Antwerp, but Antwerp is one of the largest diamond cities and does more than 6 times the amount of diamond sales than Amsterdam. Well, I learned (actually more like reminded of) that I have expensive taste. Next time I go diamond shopping, I need a man who's paying the bill to go with me. Any volunteers?!?! :)

Move on up! To the UWS!!!

2010-08-25T20:48:00.004-04:00

Tonight I'm bored. My roommate Rachel suggested I blogged. I laughed. And well now, I'm bored enough to stop laughing and actually blog.

I am about to make a really big change in life. I have decided that life happens in 4's: high school for 4 years, college for 4 years (okay 4 years plus 1 quarter which was really only 2 months), and living in downtown Manhattan for 4 years. I'd really been been itching for a change so I decided my change would be moving to a new neighborhood. So after 1 week of stressful apartment hunting, I found it. It has a walk-in closet. And its all mine. No roommates.

I'm not moving for a few days but I picked up the keys to the apartment today and it was so exciting. I was able to pick out the paint color after I signed the lease and they have been completely renovating the apartment the past few weeks. I can't wait for the renovations to be complete (all they have left is refinishing the floors and replacing the brand new refrigerator that was delivered broken...seriously?!?). Anyways, if I haven't said it enough yet, I am so exited and am counting the days. Here's to the next 4 years...

Brugge

2010-06-03T22:18:00.004-04:00

Monday through Friday was all work and no play. Fortunately, I made up for it on the weekends.

Friday night, I went to my family's friends Ed and Bonnie's house for dinner. I have known them my entire life but haven't seen them in 6 years. They had a gorgeous apartment in the Montgomery neighborhood and am completely jealous of their place. From the huge open windows to the eclectic furniture, I was in LOVE. I only dream to have a place like that one day. It was sooo fun to catch up with them. I hope to be able to travel to all the places they have been. I'm not going to lie, they are kind of my idols.

Anyways, on Saturday I was off to Brugge. Brugge is known as the best preserved historical city in Belgium. I had a lot of fun wondering around the city. First up was a boat tour of the town. It was full of great views and helped me understand the layout of the city.

Lots of cute little houses (and my tour guide's head)

More cute houses

This is the Belfort in Markt Square. There are 396 stairs to the top of the tour and I climbed every single one of them. Even though I have been working out a lot lately, I was totally out of breath. I guess I still need to hit the gym.

View of Markt Square from the tower. Amazing!

The churches of Brugge....thats for my mom

This is my in Burg Square. Behind me is the Basillica of the Holy Blood. Because there was a Holy Day that weekend, the church had their relic out on display. This wasn't just any relic. It is the relic of Christ's blood. I even got to go up and say a prayer over it. It was a really cool experience. I don't know if I believe in relics. My fifth grade teacher was a "retired" Catholic priest and told us once that if you added up the wood from all the different churches claiming they had a relic from the cross Christ was crucified, that there would be a total of 14 crosses. Even though I don't know if I believe in the relic, I hope that prayer gets answered because I really need it to be.

Taking a break from the touring...

Other tour stops included the Memling Museum at St John's Hospital, Groeninge Museum featuring work by van Eyck and Magritte, a Bigijnhof, and a FEW shops. Last stop was the Church of Our Lady. This was an amazing church but the highlight was this statue of the Madonna and Child by Michelangelo. It was the ONLY Michelangelo to ever leave Italy during Michelangelo's life.

XoXo

Compare and Contrast

2010-06-02T17:18:00.001-04:00

This trip was my first time working in Europe. I have been to Europe on vacation countless times but I have to say that working here is very different yet very much the same as in the US.
SAME
1) People working in the marketing department are always dressed way more hip than the accounting department. I always kind of wish I could be one of those girls…

2) The auditors (whether internal or external) get the worst room in the building to work in.

3) I am still glad that I am not working for KPMG. I loved the people I worked with from there but seeing some of the things they were doing, reminded me of why I don’t work there anymore.

4) Debits and debits and credits and credits.

DIFFERENT
1) The casual atmosphere. I didn’t have internet at work the entire first day I was there. The IT department (which only consists of 1 person) was out and I was told there was nothing to be done. Seriously?!?!? In New York, that would have been taken care of instantaneously.

2) Their English and my English. Most people I have contact with speak English well except for the fact the phrases and words we use are not the same. I feel like I need a translator to get me from American English to the English spoken by my Belgian colleagues.

3)The languages. I know this is obvious but it is really crazy here. Half the population speaks French and half Dutch. I will here 2 people to the left of me talking in Dutch and then 2 people to the right of me speaking in French. Lets talk overload. I was slightly overwhelmed my first few days.

4)Business Etiquette- Because of the different languages there is a simple etiquette rule to be followed in the workplace. When 2 people are talking, they always speak in the language of the inferior person. I thought it was weird at first because in the US, I feel like subordinates always accommodate their superiors. I was explained that the you would always want to make sure that the person who you are delegating the assignment to, fully understands what needs to be done.

More Brussels

2010-05-31T20:43:00.003-04:00

After my little bus tour of the city, I went on my own walking tour of the city. I was really shy feeling that day (actually I think I was just so tired and jet-lagged that I didn't feel like making an effort) so I didn't get any pictures with me in them. First up was the Grand Place. This place was full of beautifule architecture. There are really good restaurants along the Place and I ate many dinners there throughout my time. The last weekend I was there, there was a huge jazz festival on the Place. SOOOOO FUN!!!

Town Hall on the Grand Place

Shopping at the Galeries Royales St Hubert The ceiling totally reminds me of the Musee D'Orsay in Paris for some reason and that made me love this place.

This is the church of St Nicholas. It was beautiful inside but the coolest part is the outside/the background of the church. The original church burned down. The jewelers guild raised the money to rebuild the church. Since they paid to rebuild the church, the jewelers decided to build their shops into the side of the church. Nothing says religion like diamonds :)

A supposed must see is the Mannekin-Pis. I was less than impressed but I took my obligatory photo.

I loved my first day in Brussels but eventually Monday came and I was back to work.

Brussels

2010-05-31T20:20:00.004-04:00

I have spent the last 2 weeks in Belgium and it was absolutely amazing. Normally I would not describe work as absolutely amazing but I really did have am amazing time while over there. I stayed in the city center of Brussels but was working on the outskirts of town and also got to travel to some other well known towns in Brussels.

After I arrived on Sunday morning, I decided there was no better way to get to know the city than to go on a bus tour. First stop was the Bourse, the stock market building. It had beautiful architecture.

Among the stops were a Japanese Village. So random! I guess a Belgian prince visited Japan and really liked what he saw so he invited a Japanese architect to come build this place. Although it is really random, it is kind of a testament to Brussels because Brussels is a place where everything mixes.

Although the Japanese houses were random, the Atomium was definitely the strangest looking in Brussels. It was built for the 1958 World Fair and is a major attraction. It definitely makes a statement.

The Cinquantaire Arch was built in the 1950s to celebrate 50 years of independance for Belgium.

XoXo

Back to Bloging

2010-05-31T20:15:00.002-04:00

I don't know if bloging is supposed to be spelt blogging or bloging so sorry if the title of this post is spelt wrong. I do numbers not words. Anyways, in March I switched jobs and my new job involves a lot of travel. I decided in March that I needed to blog about each place i went to so I don't forget all the places I get to go.

Its May and I have yet to blog about Minnesota, Florida, or Belgium. But I decided tonight is the night. I'm catching up on my trips starting with Belgium.

Friday's Daily 10

2010-03-06T00:54:00.000-05:00

*Slept in (again)!
*Watched the first episode of the new season of The Real Housewives of New York. Love that trashy TV.
*My BF stoped by to say hello. It was great to see him even if was only for a few minutes. *Almost bought sweater in Zara but resisted. Then I went to Uniqlo and got the same sweater for $10 cheaper.
*Saw Crazy Heart and really enjoyed it. Jeff Bridges def deserved the nomination.
*Was able to get ready in record time
*Finsihed decorating the apartment for Easter
*Went to a fabulous birthday dinner for a fabulous friend.
*Ate Sugar, Sweet, Sunshine cupcakes
*Found out that there is a Blockbuster kiosk at my local Duane Reade.

Thursday Daily 10

2010-03-04T23:35:00.000-05:00

*Woke up at 7 but fell back asleep for another 2 hours. It feels great being well rested.
*Watched an episode of 90210. That show never gets old.
*Saw Valentine's Day. LOVED it!
*Was reminded of how great love is: feeling it, experiencing, watching it...its just amazing.
*Stayed true to my promise that I was going to do touristy things while not working and went to the New York Fire Museum. I loved it and I can't wait to take my nephews there one day. The curator was so nice that she gave me books to send to my nephews.
*Took a walk through SoHo...LOVE that neighborhood. *Bought some uber cute Easter decorations at Crate and Barrel
*Had a great phone conversation with my mom. My nephews were over and it was fun getting to hear their cute little voices and their funny imaginations.
*Saw the Young Victoria (yes, I saw 2 movies in 1 day). Great movie and I hope Emily Blunt gets the Oscar.
*Thursday night TV

Marry Poppins

2010-03-03T23:43:00.000-05:00

Tonight I saw Mary Poppins. I went by myself and after my sister said it was so sad I tried to explain to her that its just like going to a movie by yourself, only more expensive. And yes, it really is just like going to a movie by yourself, only more expensive.

Now, onto my thoughts on the play. At first I didn't like it at all and wished I had not spent so much money on the ticket. It was nothing at all like the movie and the little girl playing Jane was just completely ugly. I know that's mean to say, especially since she's a little girl, but its hard to find a child adorable when they are not. As I was thinking about the dispointment in it being nothing like the movie, I was reminded of a conversation I had at brunch last Saturday. My theories on entertainment is this: whatever you see, hear, read first, you will like it better than any other interpretation. For example, I loved the play Chicago but only thought the movie was so-so. The girl I was at brunch with, had the opposite feeling but had seen the two interpretations in opposite order.

Now, I know my theory does not always hold true so I don't need a bunch of messages telling me I am wrong along with a list of examples. I think though, in general, after we experience something, we have it in our minds that this is the way it is supposed to be and when we see it differently, we tend to react negatively.

I think I would recommend Mary Poppins but would also advise not to spend too much money on the tickets.

The Daily 10 is BACK!!!

2010-03-03T18:36:00.002-05:00

I quit my job so now I have free time to do things I like to do, such as blogging. So here's todays daily 10:
*It was raining as I walked into my doctors appointment but it had stopped bythe time I got out, which was great because I didn't have an umbrella.
*My doctor gave me a clean bill of health and I wasin and out of the office within 35 minutes
*Went to the American Indian Museum at the US Customs Building. The museum was interesting but the real highlight was the building itself. Great Beaux Arts archictecture and admission was free
*Had my favorite salad for lunch
*Made a home cooked meal for dinner...its so great not ordering in and eating at my desk
*Talked to both my sisters on the phone
*Had a funny email chain from my friends that I am in a weight loss challenge with
*Walked almost every where I went to today. It feelsgreat being more active!
*Second row seats to see Mary Poppins on Broadway AND there was a small child sitting in front of me in the first row so no big heads blocking my view
*Loved the play

The Daily 10 is BACK!!!

2010-03-03T18:36:00.001-05:00

DAILY 10

2010-01-24T22:32:00.001-05:00

*My roommate made me feel okay about skipping out on church when I was feeling bad about it
*A subway was pulling into the station right as I was walking down the stairs. Perfect timing!
*Ate a brownie with my cheerios this morning.
*Then ate some delicious cookies baked by my roommate April
*Caught up with an old friend...his life is so cool! Let's just say his new job requires a high security clearance
*Watched the Jets dominate the Colts until the second half of the game (what happened in the second half won't be mentioned here as this is a positive only thing)
*Started working on my taxes
*Vince "drove 5 hours to see me"
*Thought about how happy I was that I didn't have to iron my clothes for work
*took a Sunday afternoon nap

Dailey 10 Saturday

2010-01-23T19:59:00.000-05:00

*Slept in until 7 am, meaning I got a full 8 hours of sleep for the first time all week
*Wore a bright fuscia sweater and the bright color made me happy
*Looking at the Chrysler building against the pretty blue cloudless sky
*Discovering oreo cakes at work. Seriously they arethe most amazing junk food ever.
*Had enough time to watch 30 Rock and The Soup before I went into work
*got my favorite salad from Cosi for lunch today
*Helped some tourist find their way on the subway
*Burger Burger with Rachel and Maria
*Got my clothes ready for the week...one less stressful thing for the week is gone
*Watched Damages with Maria and Rachel for the first time...really good series and the episodes have really funny titles

Daily 10 Wednesday

2010-01-23T19:55:00.000-05:00

This week has been really busy. I didn't have time to post this on Wednesday but I guess its better late than never.

*Woke up to the news that Scott Brown won the MA Senate race...that's the kind of change I can get excited about!
*My admin told me that I didn't just look pretty today but that I look beautiful
*Was able to go out at lunch and buy some fab new tights for my outfit tomorrow
*Have a great assistant from my clients internal audit group to help me today
*The bathrooms at work were finally cleaned after too many days not being cleaned
*Invited to a Game Night this weekend
*Made my cab driver drive the way I wanted and not how he wanted
*Watched last nights episode of the Biggest Loser
*my soft sheets
*talked to my mom on the phone

Daily Ten

2010-01-19T23:19:00.000-05:00

*The big windows in my living room
*the line at Starbucks moved really fast even though it was really long
*My staff is getting really good and professional when talking with managers and the client. Go Joe!
*Got a black and white cookie from Juniors
*Went outside to pick up lunch
*Was so busy at work that I didn't even realize it was 5pm *Made a wager with a friend over the Colts/Jets game
*Ordering too much food for lunch ended up being a good thing bc it ended up being my dinner since I worked so late
*My mom received the flowers I ordered her
*Excited to go to work tomorrowo finnish everything and meet my deadline

The Daily Ten-Monday

2010-01-19T07:15:00.000-05:00

*the train was empty bc of the holiday...so nice to have personal space
*Was able to run an errand on lunch
*Laughed really hard when my coworker said "little people" over and over instead of children
*Pacman
*Got an email from Target saying my order had been shipped
*My college sorority got 30 new girls today
*Bachelor is on tv tonight
*Woke up and had an email from Groupon. Love it!
*Emailed with a friend I had not talked to in awhile
*A quiet evening at home

Sundays Daily 10

2010-01-18T07:18:00.000-05:00

*Jessica asked Sal if he was from the Jersey Shore. LMAO! In Jessicas defense, Sal is Italian and liberally uses hair gel, but no he's def not from the shore or a shore goer
*Was able to fall back asleep after waking up at 650 am
*Watched Meet The Press and appreciated the Haiti coverage
*I got to work from home instead of going to the office
*Cleaned my room and bathroom...nothing makes me happier than clean apartment
*Made some delicious banana chocolate chip pancakes
*Used my new dvd player for the first time
*Read an article in NY Mag about what makes people happy...it made me happy!
*Caught up on some old episodes of Weeds
*Jets won! J-E-T-S jets! jets! jets!

thE dailY teN

2010-01-16T22:20:00.000-05:00

*After I got ready for the day, I thought "wow, I look really good today"
*Took a cab to work this morning and the drive up the FDR was beautiful. Its seriously one of my favorite views of Manhattan and I miss getting to see it every morning on my drive out of the city
*Was the only one at the office when I got here. I'm. Not a loner or anything but its really nice not to have the 15 other people I share an office with here
*Found out my sister had a really fun night with friends
*Ate goldfish and Diet coke for lunch...reminded me of college
*Leighton Meester's Somebody to Love
*Caught up with some girlfriends
*Got all my clothes ready for the week
*Suishi dinner with Vince
*Met up with a lot of work friends at a party

Fridays Daily 10

2010-01-16T09:42:00.000-05:00

*Stood on the subway and enjoyed
*Got a key piece of information I've been needing for my audit
*Its Friday
*Read a story about 3 people who work for my company were on the plane that landed in the Hudson
*They ordered in lunch for us today
*Im not dreading going to work tomorrow like I normally do
*Listened to some great subway musicians
*Rachel did me the biggest favor ever and picked up my laundry
*Read an interesting article about my old client acquiring a new company
*was a smart spender

A Day Late in Posting: Thursdays Daily 10

2010-01-15T11:58:00.000-05:00

*Was able to snag a seat on the subway the whole way to work
*40 degree weather!
*Had a great professional call
*Ate crumbs cupcakes for my managers birthday
*Went to a meeting in a different building and was able to enjoy the beautiful weather
*Solve a problem at work that I have been working on for 2 months
*Jay Leno is back at 11:35
*Walked down the steps in the station right as a train pulled in. No wait = one happy commuter
*My coworker thinking the CEO had a stroke but no, he really just can't speak well
*Streaming Z100 made work this evening much more enjoyable

Daily 10

2010-01-13T22:27:00.003-05:00

*My dry cleaning bill was less than I expected*

*Was offered a free gymnastics class by Chealsea Piers after blogging about it yesterday*

*Something I thought was going to be disastrous at work was not disastrous at all*

*Something I thought was going to be a really big task at work turned into a small task*

*People started RSVPing to my sisters baby shower*

*I left work the earliest I have left all week*

*I had the apartment to myself for a few minutes tonight*

*Caught up on my friend Lauren's blog*

*Had a seat on the subway ride home*

*Was told by some readers that they like reading my daily 1o*

Daily 10

2010-01-12T22:00:00.000-05:00

*Woke up before my alarm (again)
*Had enough time to read an article of the Ensign before I went to work
*Was reminded that the past is to be learned from but not lived in
*Our intern went to the store and bought us a ton of candy to snack on. Yum!
*Realized my birthday is exactly 2 months away because its Jacobs birthday and in 9th grade I thought it was cool that my boyfriend and I had the same birthday except they were 2 months apart
*Found out they offer adult gymnastic classes at chelsea piers
*An old man at the deli in my office building told me I have a smiling face
*Took a cab home from work
*Watched part of All My Children from last week with Haley and Mateo aka Kelly Ripa and Mark Conseulos
*Was in bed by 10

Daily 10

2010-01-11T22:33:00.000-05:00

*I woke up before my alarm
*Got a really yummy free breakfast at work
*A funny story about a friend and her shoes was told at a Company meeting in front of 2,000 people
*A partner said breast knowledge instead of best knowledge and we all immaturely laughed. And I just laughed again as I wrote it.
*PS 161 from Harlem came to our Company meeting and sang for us. Definitely made a boring corporate meeting not so boring
*Got in a heated debate with my coworkers over the Jersey Shore with my coworkers
*They served tomato soup for lunch (my fav) at the cafeteria
*Told a coworker I would sue him for fraud if he proposed tome with a cubic zarconia (sp?) ring
*Didn't feel tired when I left work even though I didn't leave until 9
*Missed the subway but the next one came a lot sooner than I expected

Sunday's Daily 10

2010-01-10T22:01:00.002-05:00

*Ate brunch at Cafeteria with my parents*

*Found out there really are green eggs and ham and its not just a DR Suess book thing*

*Made a new friend at church*

*My mom told me my dress was too short....never am too old for some motherly advice*

*Made my parents come and look at my room after I made my bed so they could see what my room looks like when its clean and was proud of myself for my room being clean*

*Ate some wonderful desserts with some wonderful ladies after church*

*Watched Away We Go with John Krasinski....love that guy*

*Ate some ice cream....even though its cold outside I still love it*

*Got asked to speak at church and am not not looking forward to it*

*Watched Kelly Ripa and her husband Mark on last Monday's episode of All My Children that I had recorded*

I'm Baaaaack

2010-01-10T21:51:00.003-05:00

Its been noticed by a few people that I haven't blogged in awhile. I think I found the task of blogging to be daunting since I had gone so long not doing it. Recently, Rachel started blogging her "Top Ten" and I thought it was such a great idea. So I am jsut going to skip the last 5 months and give you todays top 10.

*My mom and dad came in town*

*Got 2nd row tickets to see South Pacific on Broadway*

*There were some really cute sailors/actors in the play that I now have crushes on*

*Finally ate a burger and fries at the Burger Joint*

*Went to the Museum of the City of New York and learned all about the history of New York....so interesting!*

*Laughed at my mom for being scared about being in Harlem*

*One of the architects featured at the museum designed the theatre we saw South Pacific in*

*Even though it was bitterly cold, it was sunny and the sky was so blue*

*Introduced my parents to Adrienne's pizza*

*Mailed out the invitations to my sisters baby shower....cant wait for those babies to come!*

Road Trip

2009-08-18T11:12:00.002-04:00

I've been really busy and haven't had time to blog much int he past 2 months and now that I am finally on here, I am still not really blogging. I just wanted to share this link with you all. My friends Vince, Vlad, and Sal are on a road trip. Not just any road trip- a 30 day road trip going from New York to California and back to New York. Follow the boys as they go cross country:

http://www.roundtrippin09.blogspot.com/

The CPA Exam is PAINFUL

2009-07-15T22:01:00.003-04:00

This is me:

The CPA exam is taking over my life. I passed the first section and now have until December 31, 2010 to finish the rest of the exam. I'm taking another section on Saturday and am hoping to have to home exam done by January 2010. Maybe then, I will be able to do something with friends and live a care free life. Until then, I'll be stuck with my nose in a book.

Thanks Drew!

2009-07-15T21:44:00.003-04:00

Its restaurant week in NYC. That means I gorge myself day after day in New York's best restaurants. Tonight Vincent and I went to Tribeca Grill, which is owned by Drew Neiporent. Drew is one of the city's most famous and successful restaurateurs. Despite owning 5 or so restaurants in NY alone and much to my surprise, Drew was at the restaurant tonight. I think its great that he is involved in his ventures each and every night.

What we ate:

Appetizers: Warm Asparagus Salad and Tomato Salad
Entrees: Roasted Striped Bass and Grilled Birkshire Pork Chop
Dessert (of course..no meal is complete without it): Roasted Peach Tart and Chocolate Mousse Cake

The appetizers were good but nothing special. Vince's pork chop was amazing. I don't normally eat pork chops but this was amazing and would def ordered it again. Overall this is a great place for a meal. Some entrees are a little expensive for what they are but they will taste great. Yum!

Paris

2009-06-29T21:16:00.005-04:00

Are you sick of reading about my trip to France? Probably. I am definitely sick of writing about it even though it was such a fun time. My dad had to work during the day so it was mainly just my mom and I touring around. We had both been to Paris numerous times but it had been about 10 years since the last time I had been so we started over and did lots of the basic tourist stops like:

The Paris Opera House, which inspired the Broadway hit, Phantom of the Opera

My favorite Parisian museum, the Musee D'Orsay which has a lot of great impressionism art

We walked by the Louvre but did not go in. One time was good enough and I intend never to go back inside that massive museum again.

Went to the top of the Eiffel Tower. It was incredibly freezing but provided a great view of Paris.

Visited the Arc De Triomphe and walked down the Champs Elysees

Notre Dame

and the much more impressive (at least in my mind) Saint Chapelle. This place seriously has the most amazing stained glass windows.

Paris was exhausting and but was a great time. I didn't get to do everything I wanted to do, but that only means I have to go back soon!

France Day 4

2009-06-29T20:44:00.005-04:00

Our next day was a continuation of Day 3: More D Day stuff. We started spent most of the day at the Normandy American Memorial and Cemetery at Omaha Beach. There were some really touching films shown, WWII history and memorabilia in the museum. Since we were there on the 65th anniversary of D-Day, we had the chance to meet and listen to stories of some of the men who survived the horrific day. I never full out cried but I was on the verge of tears all day. One man told the story of a bunch of guys who hopped in the water and drowned instantly because their backpacks were so heavy. HUMBLING is the only word I can use to describe the feeling I had that day.

After going through the museum, we walked down to Omaha Beach. Omaha Beach was a beach stormed by the American troops. Of the 50,000 troops who landed their on D-Day, 5,000 (or 10%) died. I don't think the pictures convey it very well but this was one steep hill they had to climb up. I was tired at the end of our walk back up and I cant even imagine what it would have been like running up it with a heavily backpack on and bullets flying at me.

After our long haul back up the mountain, we visited the cemetery where 9,952 Americans are buried. It was sad reading the gravestones. Most men were ranked Private or Private First Class. These were not men, they were boys who barely knew how to use a gun and died for our country, for France, and for liberty of all mankind.

These are the graves of the Niland brothers, in which the movie, Saving Private Ryan was inspired by. For any of you movie buffs out there, this cemetery was where the opening scene in the movie took place.

After the cemetery, we headed over to a different part of Omaha beach. There are still pieces of German bunkers remaining and HUGE craters left from bombs that were dropped here.

I know some/most of this is boring for you all to read, however, I would really like to encourage EVERYONE to go to the D-Day beaches so that you can more fully understand and appreciate the free world we live in today.

France Day 3

2009-06-29T19:46:00.009-04:00

Our third day in France was June 6, otherwise known as D-Day. To avoid the crowds and craziness that goes on with all the dignitaries being present at the D-Day beaches on D-Day, my parents and I went to the Caen Memorial Museum. The museum was amazingly touching and informational. It went through the history leading up to WWII, WWII, and the aftermath of WWII leading into the cold war. I learned about these events in history classes growing up, however learning these events through the French perspective furthered my knowledge. I normally get sick of museums but not this one....we spent almost 5 hours there.

From Caen, we drove to the town of Bayeux. As we got to Bayeux, we caught the tail end of a parade to commemorate D-Day. Maybe I am a big dork but I thought this was really cool. Apparently, the US brought a ton of jeeps and other equipment to France with them but decided it was too expensive to bring back to the US so they just left it in France. A lot of people have kept these cars and passed them down to the following generations. Each year to commemorate and thank the US, British, and Canadian soldiers that liberated their country, people dress up in period military uniforms and drive around in their old military vehicles.

Some soldiers

A jeep with netting on the front

Me with a jeep, and yes it was really cold and windy

After the parade and finding a place to park our lovely car, we headed to the Bayeux cathedral. During WWII the archbishop of Bayeux wrote to the US, requesting them to not bomb Bayeux as the city would provide them with no strategic advantage. The US granted this request and as a result, Bayeux is one of the few towns in Normandy that is well preserved.

The Cathedral in Bayeux

Our next stop was to see the Bayeux Tapestry. Growing up, my grandparents had a replica of the Tapestry. I never understood what it was a child so getting to see it in real life and learning all about it was really cool for me. The Bayeux Tapestry tells the story of the Norman Invasion of England and is over 1,000 years old.

Even though we had already done a ton of stuff that day, there was still more to do. We drove over to Aromanches. From the top of the town, you can get a great view of Gold and Juno Beaches, which were stormed by the British and Canadian, respectively.

The beaches here were really beautiful. I found it so sad that so many people lost their lives in such a beautiful place. The beaches all had such a solemn feeling about them. I don't know if I would call the experience spiritual but it definitely was a very moving experience to walk these beaches. Right now we are just a few days away from celebrating our country's independance. Going to the Normandy beaches was such a profound experience and made me feel sad at how much we take advantage of free world and how often we take it for granted.

France Day 2

2009-06-22T19:24:00.004-04:00

After a great stay in Versailles, we were off to our next stop: Mont Saint Micheal. Mont Saint Michael is an abbey built atop an island off the Normandy region of France, after a local priest received revelation that he needed to build an abbey. In medieval times, people would go on pilgrimages here across the coastal flats. It was really amazing how from how far away you could see the abbey and what a site it must have been for those on their pilgrimage.

Getting a little bit closer...

Those little ant like looking things are modern pilgrims coming to St Michael

My parents

The abbey was so huge and impressive however there are only 5 monks and 3 sisters living there. Here one sister is walking up the steps of the abbey.

My FAVORITE part of St Michael was the cloisters. They were beautiful!!!

France Day 1

2009-06-21T18:55:00.004-04:00

I am really happy to be blogging about day 1 of my trip to France with my parents. I almost didn't make it due to some craziness with the airlines. I thankfully met my parents at the airport and we jumped in our rental car and headed off to the Chateau Versailles. I had been to the chateau 10 years ago but had kind of forgotten a lot of things so it was great to go.

Here's my mom and I at the entrance. This place is MASSIVE!

We got the audio guide so we'd know what we were looking at. Here's my mom rocking out with her audio guide.

On our tour we got to see lots of amazing things like the chapel where royalty and other members of court worshipped...

....and the hall of mirrors

My dad and I outside, behind the chateau

I think all of our favorite part was going out to the gardens and to Marie Antoinette's hamlet

Summer Sabatical

2009-06-21T18:53:00.002-04:00

My Company offered a summer sabbatical program, meaning, you could take anywhere between 4 and 12 weeks off of work while getting paid at a reduced rate. I immediately took them up on this offer, found a subleasor, and was off. I'm half way through my time off so I figured I should start documenting it. Look for upcoming posts on my trips to Rhode Island, France, my parents house, and the Outer Banks!

Mother's Day

2009-05-30T16:56:00.003-04:00

My parents stopped in New York 2 weeks ago on their way up to Montreal for a business trip, which worked out great because I got to celebrate Mother’s Day with my mom! True to form, we spent a lot of our time eating out at great restaurants. My fav meal was Mother’s Day brunch at Tavern on the Green. Tavern is always good but it is exceptionally good on holidays. I def recommend it if you haven't been there. After our ginormous 3 course meal we walked around the park until it was time for my parents to leave. Thanks for coming mom and dad!

1 Week, 2 Plays

2009-05-18T14:27:00.003-04:00

Goal #5 from my New Years resolution is definitely being reached this year. I’m not quite so sure about the other goals but I am rockin’ goal #5 (go to plays, the ballet, and museums more often).

Two weeks ago my friend Jamar told me he was going to see Avenue Q on Broadway. I was sooo jealous! When I originally heard about his play I was like “puppets on Broadway….that’s stupid!” However, after countless raving reviews from friends, I changed my mind but didn’t have anyone to go see it with.

One of the girls Jamar was supposed to go to the play with, unfortunately, missed her flight back to New York, so fortunately for me, I got her ticket and got to go see Avenue Q! Its definitely not a play for everyone, especially those easily offended, but we had a blast!

That weekend my parents came in town for Mother’s Day and we got tickets to go see The 39 Steps, based on an Alfred Hitchcock story. It was hilarious! And unlike Avenue Q, it was completely family friendly. My favorite thing about the play was that there were only 4 actors so the actors had to be really creative. I found their acting skills way impressive. Here’s to me becoming a more cultured individual. Cheers!

Cooking at ICE

2009-05-17T19:37:00.005-04:00

Last night my friends Carly, Sara, Liz and I took a cooking class at the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) and had a fabulous time. Our class was called Anytime Appeteasers which focused on how you start entertaining your guests no matter what time of day it is: with appetizers! We made 12 different appetizers throughout the night at were divided into groups to do the mis en place and then regrouped together later on to learn from our instructor Daniel how to actually assembly and cook the food.

I was assigned to make a smoked trout salad in Endive. It was pretty easy to make except for having to flake the trout and making sure there were no bones.

Liz, Janelle, and Jinelle helped me with the assembly.

And the final product! Not only did they look pretty they tasted good too!

We also made curried crab wontons

and moroccan spiced chicken phyllo cigars

sundried tomato and herb goat cheese rugelach

savory pecan shortbread with a creamy blue cheese

artichoke fritters with a roasted pepper sauce

Thanks for the great night girls!

sublease my apartment PLEASE!!!!!

2009-05-13T10:23:00.002-04:00

I really need someone to sublease my apartment from me for the month of June. I am going on a sabbatical for work and am going home to VA to study. It will be available from June 1-the weekend of the 4th of July. If you want to come to NY, if your friend wants to come to NY, if your friend’s friend wants to come to NY, if your friend’s friend’s friend wants to come to NY, please let them know about my place. Rent is $1400 but I am so desperate that I am giving a $400 discount and renting my room for only $1000. My building has a doorman, free gym, laundry, dry cleaning, parking garage, and a roof deck. Here are some pictures of my place if you are interested. Email or place a comment in the “comments” section and we can work something out.

"WHOOT WHOOT" the little owl

2009-04-25T00:34:00.003-04:00

I have been dieing to go to dinner at the little owl for a really long time. So long, I cant even remember. My friend Jenn and I realized we both had this desire in common a few months ago and FINALLY we went tonight.

Let me tell you....we built this restaurant up in our heads so much and it did not disappoint one bit. This place seriously is at the top of my restaurant list in New York. I consistently read New York Magazine's Adam Platt rave about the meatball sliders. They were amazing! If you go here, order them! (note: a single order comes with 3 sliders so if you are there with a friend, ask to have a 4th slider so you don't have to share)

I had the gnocchi as my entree and Jenn had the halibut. Although they were both delicious, I couldn't help but be jealous of the couple seated next to us eating the stuffed pork chop. Next time I eat at the little owl, I will definitely be ordering the pork chop. As always, we saved room for dessert, which consisted of raspberry filled beignets served with a chocolate sauce for dipping. Seriously amazing. Most places would cut the corners and just put some kind of raspberry jelly or something of that sort, but the little owl went all out and used fresh raspberries. Eating dessert on this Friday night was the closest to heaven I've ever be.

Girls Weekend

2009-04-23T18:50:00.005-04:00

Last weekend my sister Cari, cousin Meagan, and Aunt Barb came to New York for a visit. We did tons of fun stuff like:

Went to the flower show at Macy's (and did some shopping too...)

Went out to eat at tons of yummy restaurants like:

Went and saw a fab Broadway show (I was really excited about my program!)

Got the world's LARGEST sandwhichs from Carnegie deli and enjoyed some time in Central Park (along with the rest of Manhattan....seriously the park was so crowded on Saturday)

This is the only picture Cari made it in since she was the photographer. This photo is evidence that she was in fact was having fun with us all weekend long.

Headed out to the NEW Yankee stadium to watch the Yankees loose miserably 22-4 to the Indians. So sad....but we still had tons of fun!

Restaurant Review

2009-04-05T18:50:00.006-04:00

This weekend I tried out two new restaurants in the city. Well, they aren't exactly new, but they were new to me.

Friday night we celebrated Krystal's birthday at Virgil's, a barbecue restaurant in the Times Square area. The company was great but the food was not so great. It was fun getting to see all my friends from church and to catch up with Jenn because its been FOREVER since I've seen her. Jenn and I order the hush puppies with maple syrup butter for an appetizer. This was actually pretty good but you cant screw up fried dough to bad. The barbecue was, on the other hand, was lack luster. The flavor was missing and the meat was a little dried out. On the upside, the service was really fast. I guess it wasn't really that bad for a Times Square place, but the cooks a Virgil's need a little trip down south to try some real bbq and work on their recipes.

Krystal, the birthday girl

Jenn and I

Saturday night, Carly and I went to Upstairs at Bouley, a New American/French/Sushi restaurant owned by Chef David Bouley. Usually I am a little weary of restaurants like this: How can a restaurant with so many different types of food, be good? I typically go with the philosophy that restaurants that specialize in one type of food (ie just French or just Mexican, etc) are better than restaurants with large, diverse menus.

Anyways, back to the the restaurant at hand. The restaurant is small and a little cramped but thats kind of the norm here I guess. They give you breads from the bakery downstairs to start off with and they are amazing. I could almost skipped my entree and just eaten bread it was that good. The kitchen was running slow so we got a complimentary California roll. I ordered the halibut and Carly ordered the salmon. Both of the entrees were delicious as well as the California roll. Upstairs at Bouley proved that a restaurant can have a diverse menu and delicious food.

Future Summer Fun

2009-04-02T20:35:00.004-04:00

Not working for the past 3 weeks kind of gave me a lot of time to plan my summer. I have some great plans and cant wait for summer to come. Here's a little preview of the next few months:

Montreal (May 15-18)

Duck Beach with friends (May 22-26) and with the fam (June 19-28)

Newport, Rhode Island (June 12-14)

Plus hopefully a trip to DC for the 4th of July and to Lake Anna for some boating. Hurry up summer!

Torn Labrum

2009-04-02T19:57:00.005-04:00

In December I was told I had a torn labrum. "A torn what?" I said. How can you hurt something you didnt know existed? Well it turns out labrum is jus a fancy word for cartilage and that I needed surgery to repair it. I decided to delay the surgery until March so I could help out my engagement team through busy season. January and February went by as a blur and before I knew it, it was time to go under the knife.

After the surgery they gave me this really cool machine that hooked up to this other really cool thing around my shoulder. It basically was like a hydrotherapy. You can tell I am real technical when it comes to medical stuff, huh? Well whatever that thing was it worked because i didnt ever hurt that bad.

Dont mind my hair...its a little crazy i know

This is my new look. Everyday for the past 4 weeks and everyday for the next I get to wear this fab sling. If only it came in multiple colors....

NYCB

2009-04-02T19:37:00.002-04:00

Ok its catch up time. A lot has happened so I'm gonna do multiple small entries to make this task of catching up more manageable. Anyways, back in February my amazing roommate Heidi organized a fab Friday night to go see the New York City Ballet. My mom and I used to come to the city every year to go to the ballet but for some reason, I have never been since I moved here. I was so excited to go and had a great time but was kind of sad my mom wasn't there.

They performed 4 short stories and it was absolutely breathtaking. My favorite was a pas de deux from Romeo and Juliette (pictured above). During the spring season (starting April 28) they are going to show a full length presentation of Romeo and Juliette so I'm hoping to find time in my busy spring schedule to go back for more fabulous dancing.

Keep Funding the MTA

2009-02-19T22:42:00.000-05:00

I am sitting on a broken down train right now. And I've been doing so for over 30 minutes. I left my house at 7 this morning worked for 14.5 hours, didn't get paid overtime, and now this?!? Recently in the news, there has been a lot of talk about the MTA making service cuts and then price increases. The trains are dirty, slow, inconsistent, they breakdown and they want cut train service and increase prices??? Now its almost been an hour and I'm still sitting here. We cannot allow the MTA to make service cuts!!!

Grand Central

2009-02-19T07:46:00.001-05:00

When commuting to Connecticut for work, I have to go through Grand Central. Normally,in the mornings I am always in big rush to catch my train and in the evenings I am always rushing to get home to go to sleep. For some unknown reason I was able to leave my apartment not only on time but early this morning. I decided to pick up breakfast and as I was was walking around, I noticed wow this place is pretty amazing. The ceilings are painted the coolest blue green and all the constellations are painted on it to simulate the sky. Even though I find astronomy incredibly boring the ceiling at Grand Central makes me wish I knew more. Overall grand central is such an amazing place to me. Its function is to be a transportation hub but its just so incredible architecturally.

In some ways, refalling in love with Grand Central made me kind of sad. There are so many amazing things to do in New York yet I (along with all other New Yorkers) are so busy with work and life we don't get to enjoy the great things that make New York, New York. Is it better to come to New york as a tourist so you can appreciate everything the city has to offer? Or are you not able to be aware of all New York offers unless you live her?

Jess Dont Go!

2009-02-15T13:40:00.015-05:00

So I think Friday tied for the second most sad day of work. After my many pleas for her not to leave, Jessica didn't listen and said goodbye to KPMG forever. Im slightly jealous of her but am still kind of mad at her. This year at the Christmas party, Jessica fed me because I was slightly disabled. So not only am I am worried about who I am going to talk to at, I am worried about who is going to feed me at the Christmas party. I know Christmas is 10 months away but yes I am already concerned about it.

Anyways, to celebrate her leaving, we had an amazingly fun happy hour and here are some highlights:

Evan and I

Even though the tops of our heads are cut off, I still really like this picture

Noelle acting like the tough girl from Queens that she is

Jessica and Anthony (How cute!)

Dan Sandler and Noelle

Jess and Angela

VILLANOVA friends

Me and Michelle, my GG lunch buddy

Dont leave me Jess!!!

Jess and Michelle

The girls

Valentine's Day, I love you!

2009-02-15T13:21:00.006-05:00

Yup. I'm single. And I had no one to celebrate Valentine's Day with. And I wouldn’t have had it any other way. This years Valentine’s Day seriously was one of the best Valentine’s Days I have EVER had. There were no flowers, romantic dinners, or hot make out sessions. There was however 5 hours of ME time.

I have been really stressed with work and life lately that I decided to go to a day spa in Tribeca. My massage, facial, manicure, and pedicure melted all the stress away. Between my treatments I got to hang out in one of their many saunas or pools, eat fresh fruit, and chocolate (I was really sad they had no diet coke but I guess not everyone is as addicted as I am). It was truly amazing and I was kind of glad I was single this year because instead of spending $300 on Knicks/Cavs tickets like I did last year, I got to spend all that money on me. Single or not, I love Valentine’s Day!

Month 1 of 2009

2009-02-01T17:00:00.003-05:00

Normally New Years resolutions only last a few weeks but this year I am determined to enforce them throughout the year. I decided the best way for me to be able to meet my goals was to publicly announce them and I am going to give a public update each month to monitor my progress. This may be boring to you so dont feel obligated to read.

1) Read more (both scriptures and regular books)- well I have not read any books other than the Doctrine and Covenants. Even though I have not read any "regular books" I feel like I am doing good in this goal because I am about 1/4 through the D&C

2) Exercise 4 times a week- I decided to hold off on this goal until April but I am definitely going to be hiring a personal trainer come late April and I am really excited for it. Yeaaa NYSC!!!!

3) Deminish friendships that dont enrich my life and improve friendships that do- Deminish bad friendships- CHECK!!!! Improving friendships is a work in progress. Last Friday I went to my friend Libby's birthday party and it was great to see her. She lives 4 blocks away but we never get to hang out due to my crappy work schedule.

4) Increase my savings- I did my taxes on January 16 and already got my return so yup the savings are increased but theres still room to grow.

5) Go to plays, the ballet, and museums more often- My fab roommate Heidi invited me to go to Swan Lake in February. We haven't bought our tickets yet but I am way excited!

6) Make a scrapbook of my trip to Turkey- no progress

7) Plan a fun trip to a foreign country- no progress :( but I am hoping to piggyback on one of my parents many European trips

8) Move into an apartment in the Village- no progress but it WILL happen come September

And even though this wasnt one resolutions, I would like to announce that I have gone 18 whole days without shopping. Yea me!

ahhhh The Life of a Senior Associate

2009-02-01T16:51:00.003-05:00

So its snowing and the car is covered in ice and snow. Who has to clean the car off? Not me..thats what staff are for! Look at what hard workers they are. Just kidding. We all took turns cleaning off the car in the mornings. We only had one scrapper so it really was a one person job but this one morning I ended up sitting in the car while my staff cleaned off the car and for some reason it just made me laugh/feel like a jerk watching her clean off the car.

I swear it has snowed more this year in New York than it had any other year I have lived here and it is particularly annoying being out of town and having to drive int he stuff. I am totally ready for winter to be over. I've got one more week in Jersey, 4 weeks in Connecticut, 2 weeks of surgery recovery and then hopefully winter will be over by the time busy season and surgery recovery is over.

31 Dates in 31 Days

2009-01-19T07:36:00.000-05:00

There are so many AMAZING blogsout there but I think this one myight top them all: 31datesin31days.blogspot.com.My friend Tamara might just be the most amazing person. She is going on 31 dates with 31 different guys in 31 days for at least 31 minutes and under $31. Enough of me writing about, check out her blog and see for yourself.

XoXo

Shopaholic Does New York

2009-01-18T19:43:00.004-05:00

So I had to go to my office tonight (tis the season). As I was sitting in my cab on the way home, I drove by Ann Taylor and all I could think is "Oh, I wonder if they have anything cute in there I can buy." Then, I realized, I dont really need any new clothes and made a new challenge to do: NO SHOPPING FROM NOW UNTIL MARCH 12 (my birthday).

I came home and counted the number shirts I own to make sure I could really do this. In my closet, I have 45 shirts hanging. Given that some of my clothes are dirty, some are in my suitcase, some are at the dry cleaners, and some are in my drawers, I am estimating I own approximately 70 shirts. After this count, the importance of this challenge really increased. Who needs 70 shirts? Well apparently I do/did.

But how do I plan on ending this challenge? By going shopping on my birthday...

Note- there are a few exceptions: I am getting 2 new pair of work pants (I am paying with a gift card so it doesnt count) and a pair of brown heels (bc I've been trying to find a pair that fit my small feet for the past 2 months with no success)

Christmas in the City

2009-01-11T19:51:00.014-05:00

Christmas has been over for a little while but I still thought I would post this. My sisters spent Christmas with their in-laws so my parents came up to NYC and celebrated the holiday with me. It was a blast.

We visited the big Christmas trees around the city but all of our favorite was the Wall Street Tree and lights.

Went to see the Radio City Rockettes Christmas Spectacular (a little cheesy at times but absolutely one of my fav NY Christmas activities)

Walked down 5th Ave to look at the store windows

My dad made the NAUGHTY list

We also went to Carnegie Hall to see a performance of Handel's Messiah, visited our friends the Whitings, went to Mass at Our Lady of Victory, attended a choral concert at Trinity Church, baked all of our traditional Christmas treats, had the missionaries over for Christmas morning breakfast, and spent some time hanging out at my apartment.

Even though my apartment is pretty small, I think we were able to make it look pretty nice for our Christmas Eve dinner.

This is me with my Christmas tree and gifts. My tree was a little bit smaller than the usual 16 foot tree I make my dad gets me when we are home in Virginia.

Anyways, Christmas in the City was super fun and I hope we get to repeat it again.

XOXO

Bride Wars- GiRLs NiGhT OuT

2009-01-10T11:56:00.003-05:00

It all started with an email from Heidi to 5 girls and it turned into 19 of us going to see Bride Wars. We were quite the group. We asked a random guy at the theatre to take our pic since there were so many of us there and I think everyone around us was confused as to how we got such a big group of girls together. The answer: Relief Society! yeaa for church!

Anyways, I loved the movie. It was definitely a chic flick but unlike most chick flick's whose story lines tend to be girl meets boy, girl falls in love with boy, girl and boy encounter problem, girl and boy overcome problem and live haoppily ever after, this movie really was more about friendship. So all you ladies out there need to have a girls night out and go see Bride Wars!

The Rules Girl

2009-01-08T13:19:00.000-05:00

I was recently made aware of a new blog that I had to share with you all. Its definitely my new favorite blog. Basically its about being a single girl. One of my new years resolutions was to end relationships with people well that didn’t add value to my life. I spent this past week cleaning the closet and ended relationships with 4 guys that fit in that category and I am trying to start my life this year with a clean slate and this blog definitely fits my current status.

http://therulesgirl.blogspot.com/

Happy New Year!

2009-01-04T17:52:00.002-05:00

2009 had a little bit of a rough start for me but I decided today that I am not going to let it set a tone for the rest of the year. In light of that, and a lesson taught in church today, I have decided to set some new years resolutions that will positively effect my life. None of my goals are too ambitious so hopefully I will be able to obtain them. So here they are:

1) Read more (both scriptures and regular books)
2) Exercise 4 times a week
3) Deminish friendships that dont enrich my life and improve friendships that do
4) Increase my savings
5) Go to plays, the ballet, and museums more often
6) Make a scrapbook of my trip to Turkey
7) Plan a fun trip to a foreign country
8) Move into an apartment in the Village

So who knows if I will meet those goals or not but I guess only time will tell.

Snow and the City

2008-12-29T21:51:00.006-05:00

Normally it doesn't snow in New York until January or February but this year we got an early surprise. I am always happy when it snows but unfortunately it didn't come at the best time ever. The day of the snow was the day we were doing the year end inventory count for my client out in New Jersey. Because of my shoulder, I couldn't drive and was forced to take car service to and from work. It normally takes 50 minutes to go from my home to my client but it took us 2.5 hours to get home because of the snow. The drive home was quite picturesque but I am not sure if it was worth all the extra time and almost crashing 10 times.

New York Downtown- My new favorite neighbor

2008-12-29T21:28:00.009-05:00

I've lived in New York for 2.5 years and have managed to avoid any encounters with New York Downtown, the hospital closest to my apartment. My luck ran out on the second week of December when I dislocated my shoulder for the millioneth time (or at least it seems so). I could try and document the experience but my roomate Ashley did such a good job that there's no way I could compete.

All snug in our beds, Heidi and I awoke to Ash screaming off her head!

We jumped out of bed, and ran into her room! Poor Ashley's shoulder was dislocated! Ash said it has happened several times (since she used to do gymnastics) but usually she can get it back in... not today though. Heidi called 9-1-1... poor Ash was in so much pain she couldn't move!

The ambulance arrived, and wheeled Ash away in a strange chair... she commented later it looked like a crazy person chair, and that people must think they were carting away a crazy person! When they got her downstairs, they transferred her to a regular stretcher and into the ambulance.

Ashley was in so much pain, she kept saying "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" the ambulance guy was like, "Where you from?" and Ash said "D.C." and the ambulance guy said "no wonduh, you keep sayin gosh, that's not how most people talk around here."On the bumpy ride, Ash did slip a swear word... the guy was like, "Now I can understand yuhs!"When we got to the hospital, the doctors gave Ash some drugs... after they put her arm back in the socket, I think she felt a lot better. While waiting for x-rays, the three of us roomies sat around and, despite the traumatic events of the day, had some good roommate laughs!

Ashley is doing much better now. When we got home, we were all so tired we just zonked out! Had you peeked into our living room this afternoon, this is what you would have found...

THE END.

Thanks Ashley for the great post and thanks to New York Downtown for putting me back together!

December

2008-12-29T21:26:00.001-05:00

Well, it looks like I'm starting to become a monthly blogger. Look soon for updates on the month of December.

November

2008-12-14T21:14:00.001-05:00

Ive been a bad blogger lately. But I do have some excuses. I always feel busy but November was more than busy. I spent a lot of time in New Jersey and Connecticut for work. Sometimes I stay in a hotel when I go there and other times I come home. Either way is bittersweet. If I am in a hotel, it means I am working really late and cant make the drive home and I don’t get to sleep in my bed, but I do get per diem and tend to get a full nights sleep. If I get to go home, I get to sleep in my own bed but I never get a full nights rest and have to get up extremely early.

Other than my work travels, I made 2 personal trips as well. I spent November 14-16 in Illinois with my parents to watch the Buckeyes beat the Fighting Illini. It was a really fun game to go to because my dad is an alumnus of the U of I and we definitely had some family rivalry. Before the game, we went to the OSU pregame party and it sucked. It sounded fun on paper but was not fun in real life. Oh well…we won the game and that’s all that matters. After standing in the cold for 3 hours, my dad gave us a campus tour which was really fun. I loved college so I always really love being back at college campuses.

I went home for Thanksgiving and it was really fun. Hooray for family time!

A few of my favorite things

2008-11-23T17:29:00.003-05:00

My roommate Heidi tagged me. She was gracious enough to reduce the number of responses to 5 so here are my favorite 5’s:

5 TV shows I love to watch:
1. Gossip Girl (I think that is a given. PS I spent my lunch break on Friday with my friend Michelle watching them film GG at the Palace Hotel)
2. Samantha Who?
3. Privileged
4. Ugly Betty
5. Flip that House

5 Favorite Restaurants:
1. Cuba (i recommend everything on the menu but go on friday or saturday nights for live music)
2. any of Jean-Georges' restaurants
3. Rare (i highly recommend the french fry tasting basket)
4. Moe’s
5. Bertucci’s (when I am home or out in Long Island)

5 Things that happened yesterday:
1. Ohio State beat M*ch*g*n
2. Ate a lot of wings with Vin while watching the game
3. I watched 27 Dresses with Heidi (and Steve) and rewound and watched certain parts multiple times hahaha
4. Went to Max Brenner’s with Steve and ate the most delicious crepe
5. Wished that it was not winter

5 things I'm looking forward to:
1. Going home for Thanksgiving and seeing my sister Andrea’s new house
2. My mom and sisters trip to NY (December 5-7)!!!
3. Spending Christmas in NY
4. Both busy season and winter being over
5. Working in the city for the month of December

5 things I love about Fall:
1. Buying sweaters
2. Buying new scarf, glove, and hat sets
3. Seeing the pretty trees
4. COLLEGE FOOTBALL
5. holidays (Halloween, thanksgiving)

5 Things on my wish list:
1. kitchen supplies (even though I don’t cook I have recently found a desire to own a lot of kitchen things)
2. knightsbidge charlotte bag by kate spade
3. par avion nickolette clutch by kate spade
4. to know what I want to do in life
5. to not loose my job

5 People I'm tagging:
1. Andrea
2. Cari
3. Ashley (bc she already has to do it)
4./5. anyone else who wants to do it

Life

2008-10-25T20:16:00.012-04:00

Even though I have been travelling Monday through Friday every week since I got back from Turkey, I have managed to have a lot of fun in the city on the weekends.

Saturday was a perfect day (despite the rain). I decided I would pretend I just got a stimulus check. It was fun. You should try iy. Brunch at Paris Commune with Carly and Jenn, shopping in Soho, and a fab new haircut complete with bangs. I had a little photo shoot so you all could see the do.

The perfectness continued at night. Vin and I went out to dinner at Yuca Bar with his childhood friends Joey, Phil, and Val who were visiting from Arizona. Val and I were really excited to go to Yuca because the boys alwaaaays talk about it. Afterwards we went out in the village which was way fun because i hadnt been out there in a long while.

Vince and I

Group shot

Two weeks ago, my friend Lauren and I saw Jeremy Piven, along with Elisabeth Moss (of Mad Men fame) and Raul Espranza (3 time Tony nominnee), star in Speed the Plow. It was a really great play and recommend anyone visiting New York in the next 12 weeks to go see it (its only a limited time engagement).

Up close with Jeremy

Jeremy signing autographs

Raul

Elisabeth

The play was great but the best part for me was getting to see Jeremy perform live. Jeremy is one of my favorite actors. My current love is Jeremy as Ari Gold, superagent, on HBO's Entourage. He really is seriosuly so amazing and I owe my love for Jeremy as Ari to Vincent who gave me seasons 1 and 2 of entourage on dvd. The other day at lunch, my friends and i rated who out of the entourage characters we would date and i put Ari at number 1. Andif I was a guy, I would totally want to be Ari.

My second favorite Jeremy role is Dean in the movie Serendipity. I am a hopeless romantic in general and this movie is perfect for a hopeless romantic like me. Here are a few of my fav quotes in Serendipity:

"You know the Greeks didn't write obituaries. They only asked one question after a man died: "Did he have passion?". "

"Yet even in certain defeat, the courageous Trager secretly clung to the belief that life is not merely a series of meaningless accidents or coincidences. Uh-uh. But rather, its a tapestry of events that culminate in an exquisite, sublime plan. Ultimately Trager concluded that if we are to live life in harmony with the universe, we must all possess a powerful faith in what the ancients used to call "fatum", what we currently refer to as destiny. "

Weekend Update

2008-10-19T19:43:00.012-04:00

The past couple of weekends have been really fun but really busy. Last weekend my cousin Brad got married to his beautiful wife Jodi at St. Stephens Catholic Church (the new north church). They were such a lovely couple and I almost cried during the ceremony.

After the wedding we went across the street and took a bunch of family pics by the Paul Revere statue (not pictured)

This is the one picture it was advantageous for me to not have a date so we could form a flying V (think Mighty Ducks).

I really love this picture. It is all of my girl cousins (minus 1) and the newest member of our family Jodi. I think my Grandma would love this picture. Every one of them has been so successful and I think it is a testament to the way my grandparents raised our parents and how our parents raised us.

This Saturday was my friend Jessica's not quite quarter life crisis birthday party. I have been working out in Jersey and have been isolated from society and all of my friends and city life in general so it was great getting to see everyone.

Me and Noelle with her fab new bangs

Jess and Michelle...I miss going to Bistro and eating lunch outside with these girls

Every picture I took of or with frank and Evan turned out horrible so instead of trying to pick the best to post, i chose the worst just because i think its really funny.

samantha who?

2008-10-13T22:05:00.000-04:00

If you have never watched Samantha Who? You seriously need to start watching. It premiered tonight and it was great and I don't know how anyone could not like it. So set your tivo to abc to 930 for next monday and get ready to laugh.

Turkey

2008-10-13T21:08:00.001-04:00

I’m back from my amazing trip to Turkey! It was sooo much fun and I really wish I was still on vacation and not at work. Oh well…you know what they say: all good things come to an end. Too much happened to tell everything so instead here’s a list of my 5 favorite and least favorite things I did while over there. Also check out my pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/amprosek/Turkey#

Favorite
1) We visited a Haman, a traditional Turkish bath, while in Istanbul. The Haman we went to is featured in the “1,000 Places to See Before You Die” book. It definitely was a unique experience that none of us will forget.
2) Apple Tea. Where ever and when ever you are shopping, the first thing the shopkeeper asks if you would like anything to drink. All the shops served this apple tea that was absolutely delish. It kind of reminded me of hot apple cider but thinner and better tasting.
3) Hiking in the Rose Valley. We had a private tour guide while in the Cappadocia region who took us on a wonderful hike. He showed us all these homes and churches cared into the soft rock, climbed up fruit trees to get us a snack, picked the best tasting grapes out of his friend’s vineyard for us, and answered all my silly questions.
4) Water. The color of the water over in Turkey is absolutely beautiful. The Bosphorus (the river that divides the European and Asian side of Istanbul) has a really pretty green-blue-turquoise color. We went down to the Aegean coast for a few days at the end of the trip and it was heavenly. I don’t even know how to describe the color of the water but it just made me smile.
5) The people. Everyone over there was so awesome. Ok so maybe some of the men in the grand bazaar were a little creepy but everyone was always willing to help us or wanted to talk to us. Even when we couldn’t understand their Turkish or they understand our English, there was this feeling that they really wanted to help us. I sat next to this man Mustafah on the way over and he was amazing. We talked nonstop for 3 hours and I learned all about Turkish history and geography from him.

Least Favorite
1) Grand Bazaar. My expectations were that there were going to be tons of really cool treasures to be found here. Basically, it is a tourist trap selling things made in China for a million times their value. I really wanted to but a high quality leather purse there but it just didn’t happen. It was like being in Chinatown and seeing knock-off after knock-off. I seriously didn’t travel 4,000 miles to go to Chinatown.
2) Lack of trashcans. Turkey lacks some of the infrastructure that we have. There are no trashcans anywhere so people leave there trash everywhere. GROSS!
3) National Rental Car. Our rental car broke down 5 miles away from our hotel in Kusadasi. Having your car break down is no fun but especially not in a foreign country. Next time I rent a car in Turkey, I am going to go with Avis.
4) Eating meat at EVERY meal. The food overall was really good. I never had a “bad meal” I just got really sick of eating lamb and beef at every meal.
5) I cant think of anything else
And since I couldn’t think of a 5th “least favorite” I decided to add one more favorite: Esbelli Evi, our cave hotel in the Cappadocias. So amazing and if you ever go there, you must stay there.

Recent Shenanigans

2008-09-24T16:17:00.002-04:00

Wow! I have been a bad blogger lately. Its been over 2 weeks since my last post so I figured I should give everyone an update since I am getting ready to go out of town for the next 10 days. The reason why I haven’t been able to blog is not because my life has been boring and I have had nothing to blog about….its the exact opposite. Things have been soooo busy lately. So here it goes….

I am actively involved in my firm’s recruiting events so I flew down to North Carolina to help interview students at Wake Forrest University. It was such a fun trip! I loved college and I love going to different college campuses and seeing what the campus is like. Not only did I get a taste of college life, I got to do a lot of great networking. I ate lunch with the dean of the business school, reconnected with one of my former interns, and reconnected with a professional in our Washington DC office that I met while interning in our DC office. My company always talks about building relationships and I always think it is really annoying but I do have to admit that the network of professionals I have made is pretty incredible.

My apartment has been pretty crazy lately. My roommate Sara moved out and my friend Heidi moved in. I am so excited to have Heidi as my new roommate!

One of my most exciting NY moments happened last Wednesday because I got to see the filming of Gossip Girl. They were conveniently filming at the Palace Hotel, which is about 1 block away from my apartment. GG is totally my fav show so getting to see Serena Van Der Woodsen (aka Blake Lively) in person was awesome. S is soooo pretty! I have lived in NY for 2 years and have never seen anything filmed so it was really cool in general getting to see it.

I have been working in the city a lot lately so I have been trying to go out with friends that I don’t get to see that often. My friends Mike and Noelle just moved in together so I went out to Astoria to check out their new apartment. They showed me all around their new neighborhood and it was really fun because I had never been to Astoria before. There are tons of cute restaurants and cafes and seems like a great place to live.

Yesterday I had 4 hour training for my new promotion (I was promoted to senior associate in July). The training was rather dry but they had a reception for us afterwards and it was amazing! With the way my job is set up, everyone is always at their individual client sites so I never get to see my friends from work unless it is at a firm wide event like this. It was so great reconnecting with old friends and getting to party for free on KPMG.

I am leaving on Friday for vacation in Turkey so I will post about my trip as soon as I get back!

O-H-I-O

2008-09-09T18:52:00.003-04:00

I was working from home today and decided I needed a break from my apartment so I headed to Crumbs bakery. As I walked in, to my surprise, the cashier saw me wearing my Ohio State tee shirt shouted"O-H" and of course I gave him a big "I-O" back. I love that Ohio State fans always find and instant comradeship. When at college, having an "O-H" shouted at you is normal but it is always really exciting when that occurs outside of Ohio.

After chatting with the cashier for a few minutes, I finally ordered by much anticipated cupcake. When I went to go pay, my new friend told me it was on the house for being an Ohio State fan. So not only did going to Ohio State, provide me with a great education, fun memories, and huge alumni network, it got me a FREE cupcake!

you know you love me...

XOXO,

little a

Hanna, You SUCK!

2008-09-08T19:26:00.007-04:00

Saturday, I was supposed to attend the US Open Women’s Finals. I was so excited to go see Serena Williams and Jalena Jankovic play. I’ve never played tennis nor do I really understand the rules or scoring of the game, but there is so much talk about the Open that I really wanted to go check it out. Hurricane Hanna brought torrential rains on Saturday and the match was cancelled. So sad.

However, there was a silver lining to this (literal) gray cloud. The men’s semi finals between Raffael Nadal and Andy Murray had been cancelled half way through the match on Saturday because the rain. My friend Carly’s parents had attended the match on Saturday but left New York early Sunday morning, resulting in her have two extra tickets so I got to go see Nadal and Murray play. Watching tennis is so different from any other sport. The arena is completely silent while they are playing, however the silence makes it even more intense. Another cool thing about the silence, is that you can hear the players grunting as they play. I really loved watching the men play because they hit the ball so fast. It really was incredible. After Murray won, he hit a couple of balls into the crowds. It was cool because he was able to get the balls really high up in the stadium.

Murray doing an interview after winning

Finally, after much waiting and anticipation the women’s finals started. Watching the women’s was definitely more fun then watching the men play. Serena and Jalena moved up and down the court and side to side making there be a lot more action to watch. Watching them play kind of inspired me to play, even though I have no hand-eye coordination.

Because of the date and time change (9pm on a work night), most of our group cancelled out but there still was a good sized group of us:

Me, Jenn, and Carly (19 days before our trip to Turkey!!)

Another group shot (kind of)

I cant wait to actually learn the rule of tennis so I can go back next year and understand what I am watching.

You know you love me....

XOXO,

little a

2008-08-31T21:13:00.004-04:00

That is how I feel I look like after this weekend (especially since I am going to the beach tomorrow). My parents came up this weekend and I got to share one of my favorite things in the city with them: the FOOD! My mom came up Friday night and we immediately headed up to Lombardi's for pizza. There are tons of great pizza places in the city, but Lombardi's is number one in my book. No night would be complete without dessert so we stopped at Rice to Riches for some AmAZiNg rice pudding. After eating all this food, the 25 minute walk home was more than welcome.

My dad flew up Saturday morning and we decided to take a break from eating and did a historic tour of Greenwich Village through the Big Onion. It was so fun getting to know the history behind the places I routinely walk by. It really helped me gain a greater appreciation for the Village.

The eating ensued Saturday night at Palma, an Italian restaurant in the Village. The food was really good, but the highlight was getting to sit in the beautiful garden. If we didn't have tickets to see Spam-A-Lot for that evening, I would have loved to have stayed their all night and just chat. The table behind us definitely had the plans to just sit there and chat all night. The table behind us was 3 people who had been friends for quite awhile. It was so interesting listening to their conversations (yes I was eavesdropping rather intensely). I love seeing people exemplify their friendships. Friendship is such an amazing thing and I love it when you can see relationships being manifested by just listening to the conversation or watching how they interact with each other.

Sunday was my favorite day of the weekend. After church we went up to Central Park and had brunch at the Boathouse, went for a walk, and read the newspaper in the park. It really was amazing. The park is another one of my favorite things in the city. I'm sad my parents are gone but its great getting to share some of my favorite things in the city with some of my favorite people in the world.

Meet Jason

2008-08-25T14:40:00.002-04:00

Who is that? That’s Jason Mesnick. Who is that? He’s the new BACHELOR on ABC’s the Bachelor. Why am I blogging about him? Because I applied to date him. Yes, that’s right. I applied to go on the Bachelor and meet and date Jason Mesnick (along with 24 other catty girls).

Last season of the Bachelorette, Jason was one of the finalists. I totally loved him throughout the show and would always comment to my roommate how hot I thought he was and how I totally wanted to date him. Well now I have my chance. So I wrote a little essay and sent in a picture. I doubt I will actually get picked to go one the show but it would be fun. Wish me luck!!!!

Flying the Friendly Skies

2008-08-21T13:26:00.002-04:00

Yesterday my roommate Ashley sent out an email asking a bunch of us if we would be interested in going to London this fall. I have really been wanting to go back there (London was my first European vacation at age 5) so I really wanted to say “YES! I’ll go!!!” but then I looked at my calendar. After looking at my calendar, I realized I have such a busy fall filled with lots of fun activities, vacation, and travel:

Aug 30- Sept 1: Parents come to visit (ok I know that’s still summer and I’m not going anywhere, but I consider it vacation time)
Sept 7: US Open at Arthur Ash
Sept 12-14: Michigan to see my friend Nino
Sept 26- Oct 5: TURKEY
Oct 10-12: Boston for my cousin’s wedding
Nov 14-16: Illinois to watch the Buckeyes beat the Fighting Illini
Nov 25-30: Virginia for Thanksgiving

Oh, and did I mention that Monday-Friday from mid-September through early November will be spent in a hotel in Princeton, NJ?

I guess I am going to have a lot of Marriot, Hertz and Star Alliance points by the end of this fall so if anyone wants to go to London (or on any other fun destination) this spring, I’ll definitely be up for another trip!

you know you love me

XOXO,

little a

Gone Swimming

2008-08-19T16:28:00.004-04:00

Last night my while watching the Olympics, my phone was so inspired by Michael Phelps' 8 gold medals, that it decided to go for a swim in my cup of water. Unfortunately, it drowned and I lost all of my numbers. So please, if you have not done so already, send me your phone number. Thanks!!

You know you love me...

XoXo,

little a

Best Decision of the Day

2008-08-18T20:46:00.003-04:00

When I went out to get lunch today, I noticed that the Dessert Truck was parked in front of my building. Although I had recently read many articles giving the Dessert Truck rave reviews, I refrained from getting anything while out getting lunch. However, my strength did not last very long and half way through the afternoon I made the best decision of the day and visited the Dessert Truck. I had the chocolate bread pudding and it tasted heavenly. It was sooooo amazing and I definitely think everyone needs to try it. I am looking forward to many more afternoon snacks at the Dessert Truck. Yuuuummmm!

You know you love me

XOXO,

little a

My New Couch!

2008-08-14T20:31:00.004-04:00

I've really been wanting a new couch or new chairs to replace the futon in our apartment. I was on craigslist today and there were some girls in my apartment building selling this cute couch and I jumped on the opportunity. The girls were so nice and helped me move it into my apartment. I LOVE my new couch!!!

You know you love me...

XOXO,

little a

I Love New York

2008-08-11T19:53:00.008-04:00

Last week was really boring at work, so I was really looking forward for a fun filled weekend. Lucky for me, my friend Jacob had planned a trip up to New York. Jacob and I met in 9th grade at regional basketball championship game that our high school was playing/winning. He was my first real boyfriend and we stayed friends all through high school. I went to college and we did not talk for 6 years but finally got together in July. Its been really fun hanging out with an old friend. I love having visitors in town because they remind me to look up at all the tall buildings and to appreciate all the cool things we have here. We spent most of the day walking through Chinatown, Little Italy, and Soho. After a nap and some quality movie watching we heading out for a really fun night.

We at dinner at Mesa Grill. It was a really great restaurant and definitely recommend it. We got the shrimp and corn tamale and it was amazing and we both wished there was more of it. I also recommend trying their steak because it was amazing. Anyways, after our amazing dinner we headed up to times square for some fun. We watched part of the Redskins game at ESPN Zone, played a few games, and walked around the rest of the square and checked out a few of the overcrowded stores.

Thanks to my trusty New York Magazine, I was able to get us tickets to see Horatio Sanz (Saturday Night Live) and the Kings of Improv. Who are the Kings of Improv you ask? Well I had no idea who they were but I knew I loved Horatio so I figured it would be good. My assumption was not only met but exceeded. Joining Horatio on stage was Rachel Dratch (SNL, 30 Rock), Rob Riggle (SNL, The Daily Show), and 6 people I had never heard of but were really funny. It was great getting to sit on the second row and watch such talented comedians.

Below is Horatio in the foreground with Rachel and Rob in the background.

you know you love me...

XOXO,

little a

Beach Day Rain Day

2008-08-03T09:05:00.007-04:00

Yesterday there was supposed to be a YSA beach day at Jones Beach. Unfortunately, the weather was overcast and rainy when we woke up so my friends and I decided to cancel beach day. I was so sad! I have not been to the beach all summer and was really looking forward to going. By late afternoon, the weather had cleared up so my friend Carly and I decided to head out and have some fun. Carly had the great idea of going on a boat ride to see the New York City Waterfalls, a public art exhibit by Olafur Eliasson. I had seen the waterfalls before but going out on the boat tour gave me a much better appreciation for the waterfalls. I think that is my favorite thing about the exhibit is that the waterfalls were constructed out of scaffolding because it is a common part of New York's landscape.

This is an up close view of the waterfall under the Brooklyn Bridge.

One of my favorite things about going on the boat ride was the interesting perspective of the city it gave me. Sometimes I forget that Manhattan is this amazing island of buildings. When walking around the city I forget to look up and notice all the towering buildings around me. I loved this picture of downtown because it looks like the buildings are floating on water.

you know you love me

XOXO,

little 1

Vacation Vacation

2008-08-03T08:33:00.004-04:00

Two weeks ago I went on my favorite family vacation. Every year (well almsot every year) my family rents a houes on Lake Anna in Southern Virginia. I really like going on vacation with my family. Whenever I go home to visit, it seems like everyone is so busy with life that I never get that much time to just hang with the fam. Going to Lake Anna gives us a great opportunity to just hang out. The week was filled with lots of water skiing, wakeboarding, tubing, kayaking, water volleyball, and all other sorts of avticivites. I didn't get a chance to take any pictures but I stole this one from my sister Cari's blog. This is my whole family including two of my uncles and 1 cousin.

you know you love me

XOXO,

little a

The BEST Day EvEr!!!

2008-07-23T21:34:00.022-04:00

Last Friday (the 18th), was possibly one of the best days of my life ever. Yes, I have had a lot of accomplishments such as graduating college and getting a job at a top accounting firm, but no day in my life has been quite so memorable. My friend Jessica is obsessed with Natasha Beddingfield and had been begging me to go see her in concert at the Today show. I had always kind of evaded giving her a definitive answer because I am not a huge Natasha fan. I mean I know some of her songs but she's not really someone I liked enough to get up at 5 am to see. The day before the show Jessica called me frantically to let me know she had landed us VIP passes to the Today show to see Natasha. Finally I gave her a definite yes, so this is me and Jess at 6:30 am

I was really super excited for our VIP passes and the blow guitars we got

Before the show started, we got to watch Natasha warm up. It was really fun to watch because she was coaching her back up choir on how long to hold the notes and stuff like that. Here are some pictures of her warming up:

Finally, the show started at 7am. I had already been up for 2 full hours and was absolutely exhausted but was so excited for it. The Today show has always been my favorite morning news show and I try to watch it as much as possible. With work, I really only watch it seldom but I still have a strong allegiance to it. Most of the show is filmed inside but they came outside for a couple of segments.

Somehow they knew I was going to be there so they did a segment on adults learning how to ride bikes.

I think Matt is sooo handsome

The show and concert were awesome and I would definitely go back to see the show again. Unfortunately, as soon as the show/concert were over, I had to race up town and spend 8 thrilling hours auditing a not-for-profit entity. The day seemed to drag at work knowing what the night was holding for me. Six months ago, my friends woke up early on a Saturday morning (ok they woke up early, I was already at work) to buy tickets to the Last Play at Shea Concert by Billy Joel. So at 8 o'clock I arrived at Shea Stadium for my second concert in 1 day. There were A LOT of people there

It was so fun to see Mike and Noelle

And Chris and Jeanine and Jessica

The concert was absolutely amazing. It lasted 3.5 hours and was the best concert I have ever been to. Billy Joel is amazing to see in concert, especially in New York. He is a native New Yorker and it was great being part of the home town crowd. As this was the last concert ever at Shea Stadium before it is knocked down, we knew we were in for a big treat. During the concert, there were guest appearances by Tony Bennett (he sang New York State of Mind, one of my favs), Garth Brooks (he sang Shameless...as a country fan I loved it but I think I was the only person in the stadium who actually knew the words), Steven Tyler (he sang Walk this Way and got the entire crowds going), and Roger Daltrey. There was one final guest but he was so amazing that I couldn't put it in the same sentence as the others.

On August 15, 1965 The Beatles came to America for their second concert tour and their first stop on their tour was Shea Stadium. As the Beatles were the first to ever sing at Shea, it was only appropriate for a Beatle to sing the last song ever sang at Shea. We were all sooo lucky to have Sir Paul McCartney to perform for us. It was so amazing. I still cannot believe that I saw Beatle performing live. He sang "I Saw her Standing There" and "Let It Be." Hearing Paul McCartney sing "let It Be" truly was a magical ending to an incredible day.

At the end of the concert Jess and I had officially been up for 20 hours. This is what we looked like after 2 amazing concerts and 1 tiring day:

you know you love me

XOXO,

little a

Welcome to my new blog!

2008-07-21T15:41:00.003-04:00

I used to hate blogs until about 3 months ago. Well, hate isn't exactly the right word, I just was not into them. But one day last spring, my client was incredibly behind schedule and I was really bored at work so I decided to check my roommate Ashley's blog and from there I ended clicking on link after link after link and checking up on every one's lives (including people I don't even know). Sooner than I knew it, I was hooked onto blog reading. Even though I loved reading blogs, I never had any interest in starting a blog until recently. I was always finding myself saying "that would make a great blog post" but I didn't have a bog to post it to. So here I am, starting a blog. I hope you all enjoy and don't find my life too boring.

XOXO

you know you love me,

little a