New York, New York

I have been on the east coast now for almost a year and I had not made it up to New York City yet. So my birthday wish this year was to take a trip up there. My two roommates were very obliging and were great to accompany me. To avoid toll roads and parking fees, we decided it would be much easier to take the mega bus, which was actually pretty nice and we could all nap at the same time! We left Friday morning and made pretty good time. My roommate Jenny works for GWU and got us a great deal on a hotel just a couple of blocks from Times Square (it was much nicer than the hostel I stayed in last time I went to NYC)!! It was a most fortunate coincidence that NYC was having their restaurant week at the same time we were there. There were hundreds of restaurants participating in this event, and we finally narrowed it down to a nice restaurant that was just a few blocks from our hotel called 'Club 21'. It was the nicest restaurant I have ever eaten at in my life. As we were being seated, the waiter pulled out our chairs and pushed them in for us, I don't think that we ever got half way through our water without a refill and the atmosphere was beautiful, even the bathroom was amazing...it had nice sofas inside and it was perfectly clean. There was even an attendant there just waiting to give you a fresh, real clean towel after you washed your hands. Jenny got a picture of Crystal and I touching up our lipstick!

Phantom of the Opera

Our next stop was Broadway!! Jenny and I got tickets to Phantom of the Opera and Crystal went to see the Lion King. Since we were doing dinner and a show we decided that we needed to dress up for the occasion so we put on our 'little black dresses' and got all dolled up! It was SO much fun!! I bought a pair of new heels for the occasion and as we were walking down the street this random lady stopped me and said, "I know this is a really weird request, but can I take a picture of your feet? I am a photographer and I just love those shoes!" I told her that she could and so she had me pose my feet at just the right angle and then she took a picture of them. I guess they were a good investment...maybe I should charged her... :) The opera was amazing! I have always loved the music of Phantom of the Opera and it was great to see it live! After the show we walked around Times Square and got to experience a little of the night life before we walked back to our hotel.

Central Park, etc...

On Saturday we toook a nice stroll through Central park, (after our train took a little detour to Harlem...eek!) that park is ginormous!! We walked by the waterfall, turtle pond, Belvedere Castle, Shakespeare Garden, the Boathouse and the famous fountain from 'Enchanted' , 'Home Alone 2', etc. We spent a couple of hours walking through the park and I loved it! We even passed by a wedding ceremony, right off of a jogging trail, no thank you. After our fabulous walk in the park we went over to Penn Station where we got some lunch, then we went to Macy's-the world's largest department store! We sauntered through the first floor looking at ties and expensive jewelry, we then made our way up to the shoe department and then to housewares. Of course we rode up and down on the wooden escalators, simple joys! We were going to ride the Staten Ferry, but the subway had changed some of their routes and we ended up in Brooklyn! We got off the train there and waited over half an hour for a train to take us back. By then we were pretty exhausted so we went back to the hotel to relax before we went to dinner. We weren't sure what we were going to do for dinner so we just walked around until we found a nice place that wasn't too pricey. We ended up going to a cute little Italian restaurant called Caffe Cielo, apparently Oprah ate there and enjoyed it so we thought we would give it a shot. They did not disappoint, it was really good! After we ate dinner we walked around for awhile and ended up Rockefeller Center, where we sat down by the fountain and just took it all in! It was wonderful! On Sunday we went to a singles ward in Union Square. It was not your typical church building, it was in levels, like everything else in NYC. It was kind of different. After church we grabbed some sandwiches and headed to the bus stop and made our way back home. Visiting NYC was a blast, but it definitely made me appreciate living in DC SO much more! DC is a lot cleaner and not nearly as crowded. I absolutely love living here!! Jenny got me a birthday cupcake from Magnolia Bakery. It was so great! All in all, my birthday weekend was everything I hoped for...and then some!! Thanks to everyone who helped to make it special!! I love you all!!!

Quick Trip to Palmyra

So my sister called me a couple of weeks ago and asked if I would be interested in going up to Palmyra for the Hill Cumorah pageant with her and her family. Of course my answer was YES!! They came up to my house from Richmond on Thursday evening and we drove up to Gettysburg and spent the night there. They hadn't been to Gettysburg before so we explored the visitor center on Friday morning before making the long trek up to Palmyra. Since the pageant starts kind of late we didn't want to bring the kids out so we decided to go in shifts. I got the short straw and had to on Friday night in the rain. Not really, my friend Emily had come up for the pageant that night and I met her there so I wouldn't have to sit all by myself. It rained for quite awhile just before the program started, but after the opening prayer it only sprinkled for a little while, I didn't even need my umbrella. The pageant was AMAZING!!!! I had the most wonderful time there and the spirit was so strong. Julie and Austin went on Saturday night while I stayed back to put the kids to bed. They are so cute!! On Saturday morning we headed to the Palmyra Temple first. We walked around the grounds and got some pictures there. It is really beautiful! From there we drove over to Joseph Smith's house and went on a tour there. I can't believe that such a large family lived in something so small. One of my favorite things was walking through the Sacred Grove. Although there were a lot of people passing through, it still had a very calm and peaceful feeling. It truly is a sacred place and I will always remember the way I felt there. I even heard the bees humming and the sweet birds singing! What a wonderful and beautiful place!! Another thing we got to do was tour the Grandin Printing Press where the firstBook of Mormon was printed. It was amazing to see all of the steps it took to produce the Book of Mormon. I absolutely loved my trip to Palmyra!! It was especially great to spend time with Julie, Austin, Caleb and Brooklyn.

Slip n' Slide Extravaganza

Since it gets ridiculously hot and humid out here my neighbors at the 'Tramp House' decided to celebrate our independence by having a Slip n' Slide Extravaganza!! They bought a roll of plastic that was 8x100 feet and layed it out on their lawn with two sprinklers and a kiddie pool. It was great fun, although today I am definitely feeling the effects of hurling myself at the ground. I don't remember it hurting so much as a kid...I guess I am just getting too old for that stuff! And of course what would a party be without food? These guys had a fabulous barbecue which included homemade hamburgers with all the fixins. We were all supposed to bring a salad or dessert...I went with the traditional Jello cake although I don't like doing the traditional flag shape because I think that the blueberries need to be spread out over the cake and not just in the corner.

This will show you what a horrible slip n' skidder I am!! I never made it down to the pool!

A Capitol Fourth Celebration

So for the Fourth of July I went to the Capitol for DC's big concert and fireworks. We sat in the hot sun for hours before the concert actually started. We played cards, had a picnic and we got to watch Gladys Knight warm up. The concert was fantastic, it included stars like David Archuletta, Reba McIntire, Darius Rucker, Gladys Knight and John Schneider. The fireworks were also incredible, it was great to see all the fireworks going off above the Washington Monument. What a sight!! I am so lucky!!