SPAIN

I just got back from a wonderful vacation to Spain.
We had so much fun and saw so many cool things. There is probably WAY too much to share here, so I won't even try.

We stayed in Madrid, with Rachel's Aunt and Uncle. We mostly stayed in Madrid and saw a lot of things in the city, but a couple days we ventured out to see other cities. We saw art museums, old Mosques, Synagogues, and Cathedrals, as well as the royal palace. It was such a good trip. I would love to go back and visit again! Below are some of the pics from our vacation.

A busy street in Madrid, near the Puerta del Sol.

Aunt Mollie and I outside the Cathedral in Toledo.

Rachel on a street in Toledo.

(Toledo is an ancient walled-in city. All of the streets are really small like this)

A famous statue in the Plaza Mayor.

A picture of me in the open square of an old church in Toledo, over looking the Cloisters below. Rachel would not let me pose as Evita Peron in this picture. (Although, the picture does not show me singing 'Don't Cry For Me Toledo' to the patrons below j/k)

Rachel outside the Royal Palace.

I felt right at home there...

Another street in Madrid, with some art deco buildings.

Me outside the medieval walls of Avila.

Rachel's Uncle Nicasio is talking to a random stranger in the background.

The Basilica de San Vicente. A 12th Century romanesque Church, where we attended Mass. It was really awesome to attend a real mass in a church that old, even though we couldn't understand a word of it!

A lake at the Retiro Parque in Madrid.

Rachel in Madrid with her Spanish Fan (all the rage!) My favorite picture!

Adios Amigos

Hola! So its been awhile since I have blogged...
So I am leaving for my vacation to SPAIN!!! I am very excited. I will be sure to take lots of pictures to share.
It has been so crazy here... This morning there was a huge thunderstorm. There was a tornado warning in Brooklyn. The trains were closed and there was chaos in the streets (maybe I'm being a little dramatic), but I was definately feeling chaotic! Now the weather is hot and sticky- so yucky outside!
I just finished reading Harry Potter, which I loved. I won't give anything away for those of you who have not read it, but Harry Potter has pretty much been my existence for the last week or so. Now I am ready to move on with my life...

So, Jenny's Birthday will be when we are gone, so we went out and celebrated before our trip. We ate at this great restaurant in DUMBO and below are some pics...

I must admit, I'm an awesome photographer... Look at this shot of the BK bridge.
Jenny, Me and of course, Michael Scott
Beth, Jenny, Amber and Rachel outside of Superfine

This was a really neat post-it work of art.

A closer look... it was made of post-it notes, and you could write your own to-do list.

Well, that it's for now. I will miss all of you! Take care and I'll speak to you soon.

!Adios!

Happy Birthday Ashley!

It is Ashley's 23rd Birthday today! Happy Birthday sis-sis!

Coney Island and Slumber Party

Saturday we had a ysa activity at coney island. It was a beautiful day! We were there all day, ate junk food, made sand castles, played volleyball... then later that night we had a slumber party at my friend Amber's house.

A Cold Day In July

Jenny, Shilo, Jon, and Stacy and Dave (the mermaid)

Playing Cards

...

We went to the beach on the 4th of July, and the weather happened to be very crappy...but we still managed to have a good time. I even went swimming, which actually wasn't too bad! Then we went to a party at my friend's houe and watched the fireworks.

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!

(This picture was actually taken from New Years)

I love summertime! The weather has been beautiful this last week. I go to the beach, I dine outside... its been wonderful! I will spend my fourth at the beach with some friends, then I will go to a friends house at night to watch the fireworks over the east river. I hear that it is a pretty good show. (Hopefully it will measure up to Lucerne Valley's firework show at pioneer park, or Steve's fireworks extravaganza at the Edingtons)

I'll take some pics and let you know how it goes!

Happy Independence Day. I heart America!

Happy Birthday Shannon!

It is my Cousin Shannon's 21st Birthday today! Happy Birthday Girl :)

Yes, i hate this picture, but it was all i could find...

So, I realize that I haven't blogged in quite some time, and Summer seemed to sneak up on me! We have had gorgeous weather the last week! Unfortunately this has caused us to put off purchasing an air conditioner, but nonetheless, I am enjoying it!

Anyways, I have been busy as ever over here. I feel like I haven't been taking pictures lately... I'm sorry! I will try and take some more to post.

Happy Summer!

NY Mets Game

I somehow managed to acquire some tickets to a Mets game Friday Night. I took Rachel with me. They told us they were "good seats" but I didn't realize how good until we were there! We were sitting on the field just off of home plate, 1 row back! It was AWE-SOME!!! We sat in plush seats, they took our orders and brought us food so we didn't have to get up (not that the food wasn't expensive) We had hot dogs, nachos, ice cream, and candy.
Unfortunately we lost the game, 5-1... Arizona Diamondbacks :( But we did get to do some celeb sighting! It was really fun and I am so happy that I was able to go.

Rachel and I after the game

Look at that view! That is Kevin Costner in the red hat!
Looks like you're watching it on TV right?

American Idol

Okay, I can't believe it hasn't come up yet, and I don't know if any of my faithful readers partake of the rich, delight that is American Idol.

It is down to two people. What are my thoughts? I heart Blake. I think he is incredibly talented and he definitely keeps me tuned every week ;) As for Jordin, I think she has an amazing voice and deserves to win. What is going to happen? I will have to tune in Wed night to find out, but I almost can't wait that long. After tonights performances I think that Jordin will win. She has a more "pop" appeal and that "American idol" persona. Plus I am pretty sure that either one, win or lose, will get a record deal... I mean come on, who would refuse them?

BTW didn't Chris Daughtry sound wonderful at the end?

Lazy Saturday

I love Saturday's! Why? Because it just so happens that we go out for my favorite meal of the week... Brunch! Not quite breakfast, not quite lunch. It is that perfect balance between two tasty meals on a lazy weekend. Since I have moved out here, I have discovered the phenomenon of "Brunch". I wasn't aware of the healing, comfort, joy and satisfaction that one meal could provide. We have made a tradition of going out to brunch EVERY Saturday. It is what keeps me going during the week sometimes! This week we went to a lovely restaurant called "Five Front". It is in Brooklyn right under the Brooklyn Bridge. I had Huevos Rancheros, my roommates had Eggs Benedict. It was wonderful!

We explored the neighborhood for a while and came back to take naps. How I love Saturday's:)

The Ballet

There is so much culture in New York. It seems like there is always something going on here. I was fortunate enough to get tickets to the New York City Ballet to see Romeo + Juliet.

A woman I work with asked us if we wanted to go the ballet. Her mother is a teacher and was taking her students on a field trip there, but several of them cancelled and she wanted to find replacements. So Jen, Rachel and I happily agreed to go.

We sat on the 4th ring, which basically means the ceiling. We were way up there...four frightening flights up, but it didn't matter when the show started. It was absolutely gorgeous. The score was amazing and the dancers were SO talented. I was glad that I knew the story though, because I wasn't sure if I would be able to figure out what was going on otherwise. But, they did such a great job and I had a great experience at my first ballet.

Visitors from the West!

My Parents and Grandma came to visit me this week. We had the best time going to restaurants, touring the city, and taking in all the sites! They came in on Saturday and left this Saturday (Grandma left Friday because she is going to be in Europe for a few weeks). Luckily we were blessed with THE best weather imaginable! It was absolutely gorgeous this week. Spring is finally here! I am discovering that I love New York in the springtime :)

I am so happy that my family was able to come spend time with me and see how I live here on the east coast.

Grandma, Dad and Mom at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. The Cherry Blossom trees were in full bloom! The tulips were also an amazing site! The colors were so vibrant- they almost looked fake. Who knew this amazing place was in the heart of Brooklyn? Mom and I sharing the delectable, world-famous, "frozen hot chocolate" at Serendipity.

Dad and Grandma at FDR's home. We drove north of the city to tour President Roosevelt's home and library. It was very interesting, I learned a lot about FDR's presidency. The house and the property were amazing!

A beautiful masterpiece standing in the New York harbor... oh yeah, and that statue.

Coney Island

We had the best weather this weekend! It was absolutely gorgeous outside.

My friends and I went to Coney Island where we relaxed on the beach, ate hot dogs, rode roller coasters, ate ice cream. It was the best Saturday EVER!

Steve, Rachel, Ryan, Ladd, Rachel, Jenny, Shilo and Stacy
Me and my roomies on the boardwalk!

At the "original" Nathan's hot dog stand.

A Birthday Blog

Happy 24th Birthday to Me!

After watching General Conference all day at church, I went out to dinner with some of my friends, to a BBQ Restaurant called Bubby's. I broke my "no-meat- for-Lent" fast and ate a delicious pulled pork sandwich! Yum!
I had a great time!!

Jill, Rachel, and Steve (Manhattan Bridge in the distance)

Dave and Rachel

Me and Amber

Introducing Jenny- our new roomie!

Philadelphia Freedom!

Weekend Getaway: We decided that since NY is so close to everything, we would go on mini-vacations to nearby cities. A few weeks ago we decided to go to Philadelphia. (President's Day Weekend... how appropriate!)
Erin, Rachel and our friend Amber took the "Chinatown Bus" to Philly. (The china town bus is a $20 bus; roundtrip from NY Chinatown to Philadelphia Chinatown) It was only a two hour bus ride, then when we got there, I got us lost... The problem with being right all of time is sometimes you have to be humbled and be wrong once in a while :( We were trying to find Race st. and we thought we might ask someone for help, but everyone we encountered happend to be a different "race" than us, and we were worried that they might take it as an inappropriate comment! Luckily we found it and it was pretty close to where the bus dropped us off.
Then there was a problem with our room and they moved us twice! It was a fiasco and I intend to write a strongly worded letter to the hampton inn about our experience!
The highlight was the indoor pool and spa. I haven't been swimming in months and I found it very comforting to be in a pool after all this time.
The next day we went to see all of the historic sites: Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Betsey Ross' House...

We also went to the world famous "Geno's" for a Philly Cheesesteak. It turned out to be another fiasco as it started to snow pretty heavy and we were stranded in this strange neighborhood in South Philly! Luckily we grabbed a cab and took our cheesesteaks back to the room.

We ended up having a great time!

Happy Birthday Leilani

Leilani (my adorable neice) turned 2 years old February 3rd! Happy Birthday :)

Family Home Evening and other sad news

Erin and I are in charge of "Family Home Evenings" on Monday night, and this week we decorated cookies! My cookie was in the likeness of Van Gough's "Starry Night"... It tasted better than it looked :)

Also, in case you wanted to know, it is FREEZING here. I don't know how to deal with it. I am bundling up as much as possible, but it is this wretched wind chill that is killing me! But I will survive.

On another sad note, my roomate, Erin has decided that she is going to move back to home at the end of the month. :(