Wednesday, February 23, 2011
The Big Apple! 2/8/11-2/13/11
My friends Cassie, Julia, Angela, Jordin, and I took a trip to New York City just for fun!! The trip started off good. Everyone was in good spirits on the plane!
Well except for the fact that I was one seat in front of everyone else!
Jordin didn't seem to mind that she was separated from the group!
And then I saw my opportunity. A man walked down the aisle and was going to sit separated from his daughter. He was going to be next to Jordin and his daughter had the seat by me. Being the kind soul that I am, I offered to trade him so he could be by his daughter, and I got to sit by Jordin!
We arrived at our hotel, The Days Hotel which rated a whopping 2 stars! It was smaller than any Utah hotel. We scooted the beds together so the 5 of us could squish in!
This was pretty much my view the whole trip! I don't know how people so much shorter than me can walk so darn fast. Angela was nice enough to always hang back and walk at my pace! We just let them lead the way the whole trip. My favorite excuse was "too many cooks."
Our first day in the Big Apple, we decided to go to Times Square and try to win the wicked lottery! We had to arrive 2 1/2 hrs early to enter our names for the drawing and then wait outside. We took whatever measures we could to stay warm, ocassionally warming the other's faces!
We then had to wait 30 minutes for everyone to arrive and enter their names.
We tried to stand in the lobby of the Gershwin theatre but we soon got kicked out to go wait in the cold!
Then came the big drawing! On this particular day, around 75 people entered their names and 25 tickets for $26.25 cash are given away as winners. Cassie's name got drawn close to the beginning. After all the names were drawn, the worker man asked all the winners if they wanted their tickets. One group of guys had won 4 tickets despite there only being 3 of them. The worker man went back inside to draw one more name for the remaining ticket. He walked back outside to where the whole crowd was waiting anxiously and read the name on the ticket, "Holly Hall." I was so excited!! As a result, I got to see Wicked front and center for $26.25! Thus began my obsession!! "the wicked gods love me" became my favorite saying!
We still had 2 hours before the show started, so we went to get some food. It was at this point that Jordin showed us here jacket could also be worn as a backpack! It's the simple things in life that entertain most!
I wore my green "I won the wicked lottery button the whole trip!"
At one point we were walking down the streets on Times Square (which we honestly walked back and forth about 5 times that day) and I saw a cute Minnie Mouse to take pictures with. I had the others stop and pose for a picture with me. Then I started to walk away as Minnie held out her little money pouch! I was so confused and caught off guard and was already walking away, so I just kept on walking! Thus learning the lesson that nothing is free in New York City! Sorry for stiffing you, Minnie!
Later that night, we went to see "Mary Poppins" on Broadway. It was good but I was thining about "Wicked" most the time! Julia's friend Stefanie also got us into a comedy club.
We became very familiar with the Subways! My card kept acting up and not working when I swiped it. I think it was because it got slightly bent in my back pocket! Some nice lady felt sorry for me and grabbed my card to help me!
The entertainment in the Subway was awesome!! Once again, nothing in NYC is free! Most were wanting donations of some sort! I believe this man was playing something from the Little Mermaid!
Day 2 in NYC was dedicated to being tourists. We bought tickets for a double decker bus to take us around to all the popular spots! All the while, I still have "Wicked" in the back of my mind.
This is one of the oldest train stations in NYC.
This is a fence full of tiles that elementary kids made after 9/11.
We took a free ferry out to the statue of liberty. The glare from the sun is blocking Lady Liberty from view in this picture!
But there she is!
The whole trip I was craving a hot dog from a vendor on the side of the street! We decided to get one. It was pretty good except the liquid onions they put on it!
We couldn't visit NYC and not rub the Wall Street bull for good luck and prosperity. We even made sure to rub it's hind end for extra good luck!
We went to Rockefellar Square. This is in Lego Land. I was trying to do the "Grease" walk down the stairs! "you're the one that I love" running through my mind...oh and "Wicked" is still creeping in.
Not sure why we took this pic but it's cool!
Home of the TV show 30 Rock! We tried to do a staggered pose. Angela was supposed to put her hands down like me but decided to look cute instead!
In the background is the ice skating rink at Rockefellar. We originally wanted to go ice skating but this was by far the coldest day while we were there! We figured a picture would suffice!
While at Rockefellar, we went into the NBC store! It had so many fun TV props. We couldn't resist getting a picture with "The Office" bobbleheads!
They also had a section dedicated to "Chuck" Buymoria flags were too hard to pass up!
That night we went to see Stomp, which was phenominal!! A couple of the performers posed for a picture with us afterward! This was the 2nd best show...next to "Wicked" of course! ;)
Day 3 in NYC brought more double decker buses and tourist activities! At this point, Julia had left to Virginia, so there were only 4 of us remaining!
We went to see the Metropolitan Museum of Art...aka The Met. I don't think we were supposed to take pictures but I blame Jordin!
My favorite part was taking pictures of our reflections in the random shiny objects there! I also enjoyed looking at paintings and assigning each of us a character in the painting and explaining why we were that particular character!
We also went to one of the oldest Cathedrals in NYC. This statue is supposed to be Satan pulling someone down to Hell. It was interesting to say the least!
We also made a new friend to replace Julia. Andrea is from Switzerland or Sweden or somewhere in Europe and she came to New York by herself. She was on our double decker bus when I decided to talk to her and invite her to tour with us. She seemed anxious for some company! This is us posing in a pew inside the cathedral!
We had to figure out something to do while waiting out in the cold for the bus to come get us!
Our attempts to make animal mouths
As you can see, I am still wearing my green "I won the wicked lottery badge" 2 days later! This was Saturday morning. The previous night we went to see Phantom of the Opera, which is a show I have wanted to see for years! It was good, but I was sitting there wishing I was watching "Wicked" again. We went back to the hotel and started planning what we wanted to do our last full day in NYC. "Jersey Boys" or "Memphis" were thrown out there. I finally said that I wanted to see Wicked again. I understood if people didn't want to see it again, so I said I was ok splitting up and going by myself. I was even willing to pay full price to go again! The other said, "ok let's try for the wicked lottery again in the morning, and if we don't win we'll go do something else." I was adamant that we were not using "if" language and making backup plans cuz I was going to see "wicked" again no matter what! I had even saved my cash for this occassin cuz when you win, you have to pay cash on the spot for the tickets! We showed up at the lottery and this time there were around 150 people who had entered their names. The time came for the names to be drawn......the anticipation of whether or not the wicked gods loved us enough to win twice in a row was killing us....but alas, they did love us enough. Both Jordin's and Cassie's names were drawn, thus winning us 4 tickets. They both ran up to the front excitedly and then realized niether one of them had cash on hand for the tickets. I, on the other hand, had been preparing for this moment for days and had saved my cash. I walked up and gave cash enough for all 4 of us to buy our tickets. Front and Centere again bay-buh!!! Thank you "wicked" gods!
We were so excited we jumped for joy....so excitedly that the camera speed couldn't even keep up with us!
We went to breakfast before the show started. Can you see the excited glow on our faces?!
Posing for a picture before the show. you can't tell in this picture but we are front row and right in the center!! The show is a completely different experience when you're front row!
I absolutely fell in love with Glinda from "wicked"...this is my attempt to "toss, toss" while looking into a mirror!
Later that day we went to the M&M factory. One of the worker's there kept making this guy pose in everyone's pictures while stating "famous person, everyone" so we decided to humor them and let him pose in our picture! Maybe someday he will actually be famous! Jordin, Cassie, and I were all wearing our "I won the wicked lottery" buttons and we walked single file by this girl. It was so funny because her head turned and followed each one of us as we passed, and I overheard her say, "Damn, they all won the wicked lottery!"
We then ventured to the Manhattan temple. On our way I had a Marilyn Monroe moment! I think I gave the people behind me a show they didn't need to pay for! While at the temple, we met two really cool ladies from Boise, Idaho that we talked to a lot! I wish we would've gotten a picture with them!
We were also able to meet up with Leanna and her roommate for dinner while there!
At one point in the trip, Angela let me wear her cute white hat and ever since I was determined to get one! Earlier that day, we went on an unintentional detour and found my future cute white hat in the process. The detour was destiny to bring my hat and I together!
Angela really liked this sign...she thinks she a bad@$!
Sunday morning was our last ride on the subway! This is also when a big black man plowed into me and almost knocked me over. I learned that New York people aren't really the nicest! If someone started to talk to us on the subway, 9 times out of 10 they weren't from New York. We also learned that even though we didn't have any scary experiences on the subway, it is place where scary things happen. Saturday morning on the subway by our hotel that we took every day, there was man who slit some people's throats. Luckily, we weren't out and about yet for the day! The rest of the day was crazy! There were so many routes that were closed and we had to take so many detours to get where we needed to go!
By the time we arrived at the airport, we were exhausted!!
Cassie and Angela weren't as exhausted apparently! Cass is even giving the "OK" sign!
Despite the previous picture being staged, this picture unforunately is for real! I was pretty tired on the plane road back to Utah and my wonderful friends decided to take advantage of the moment!!
When I woke up, Angela and I played a trivia game against other passengers! We didn't do so well overall, but this game was our best. We are "AH" and took 3rd. Most games we were close to last place!
It was good to come back to Utah and finally relax and sleep in my own bed, but I had blast in NYC and will always remember my first vacation there with 4 of my best friends! Thanks for all the memories!! Sorry I was so obsessed with "wicked" the whole time, but I figure after 2 or 3 years the obsession will start to wear off! Hang in there!!
We did learn some interesting facts while there that I would like to share. I don't remember all the details, dates, and names but I'll recap the jist!
First, we learned the history of pizza: apparently it was the queen of Italy's birthday and some guy wanted to give her a special, unique gift, so he decided to make a flat bread designed with food that represented the country's colors: red, green, and white. So he put mozzarella cheese, basil, and tomotoes on it, thus creating the very first margarita pizza!
Second, we learned that the creator of the department store Macy's used to work on whaling boat. He owned his own boat before the age of 20, and it was customary for people who owned their own boats to wave a flag with a red star from it. This young, ambitious boy later attempted to start several stores which failed. After 5 or 6 attempts, he created Macy's, which has the red star as its logo. Rowland Macy was known for his hard work and never taking a vacation. He was finally talked into taking a vacation on the ship named Titanic, which is the same Titanic that sank. In the movie, Mr Macy is the portrayed as the older gentleman with his wife who remained calm in the dining area and didn't attempt to escape the boat.
We also learned that there are Starbucks everywhere! One of our tour guides on the double decker bus had us count the Starbucks as we were touring around the city. We got up to around 15 or 20 in a 30 minute period!
New York City Happy List:
1) "Jordin, are you ok?" Holly
2)"It smells good right here. It smells expensive!" Angela
3)"Damn! They all won the wicked lottery!"
4) "Jordin, are you ok?" Holly
5)Pushing the beds together so somone has to sleep on the crack, usually Jordin. "Jordin, are you ok?"
6)"Jordin, did you know you're sleeping on the crack. are you ok?" Holly
7)Jordin calling Holly "grumpy pants"
8)Angela pointing out the obvious "hat."
9)Our 2 hour subway detour
10) The serenading tour guide-1,2,3 starbucks and counting!
11) Getting a picture with Minnie Mouse and then stiffing her!
12)Angela and Holly's matching white hats
13) The subway machine kept telling Holly "please swipe again. please swipe again."
14)Angela and Holly always a half a block behind the others
15)Jordin calling Holly a "jibberbox" at the temple
16) The right arm of all the Japanese statues at The Met missing and the ocassional right breast missing.
17) 2 ladies at the temple, Andrea Sorenson and Sister Wood, joking with us. Red pencil, nothing more needs to be said.
18)The temple worker tourguide
19) singing "mamma mia" on the tourbus!
20) the "Grease" walk down the stairs.
21) sleeping guy on the subway who almost laid his head on Jordin's shoulder
22)hodge podge band on the subway
23)Julia calling Joridn a "whore" instead of finishing the nickname "hordeen" and Jordin not even noticing the difference
24) "the wicked gods love me!" Holly
25) the wonderfully nice people we talked to and became friends with: Andrea, Raphaela, Sisters Sorenson and Wood, singing tour guide, Anne Marie, Australia couple, the "wicked" boys, Halle.
And many more that I'm probably forgetting! Thanks for the amazing time!!!
Thanks
Well except for the fact that I was one seat in front of everyone else!
Jordin didn't seem to mind that she was separated from the group!
And then I saw my opportunity. A man walked down the aisle and was going to sit separated from his daughter. He was going to be next to Jordin and his daughter had the seat by me. Being the kind soul that I am, I offered to trade him so he could be by his daughter, and I got to sit by Jordin!
We arrived at our hotel, The Days Hotel which rated a whopping 2 stars! It was smaller than any Utah hotel. We scooted the beds together so the 5 of us could squish in!
This was pretty much my view the whole trip! I don't know how people so much shorter than me can walk so darn fast. Angela was nice enough to always hang back and walk at my pace! We just let them lead the way the whole trip. My favorite excuse was "too many cooks."
Our first day in the Big Apple, we decided to go to Times Square and try to win the wicked lottery! We had to arrive 2 1/2 hrs early to enter our names for the drawing and then wait outside. We took whatever measures we could to stay warm, ocassionally warming the other's faces!
We then had to wait 30 minutes for everyone to arrive and enter their names.
We tried to stand in the lobby of the Gershwin theatre but we soon got kicked out to go wait in the cold!
Then came the big drawing! On this particular day, around 75 people entered their names and 25 tickets for $26.25 cash are given away as winners. Cassie's name got drawn close to the beginning. After all the names were drawn, the worker man asked all the winners if they wanted their tickets. One group of guys had won 4 tickets despite there only being 3 of them. The worker man went back inside to draw one more name for the remaining ticket. He walked back outside to where the whole crowd was waiting anxiously and read the name on the ticket, "Holly Hall." I was so excited!! As a result, I got to see Wicked front and center for $26.25! Thus began my obsession!! "the wicked gods love me" became my favorite saying!
We still had 2 hours before the show started, so we went to get some food. It was at this point that Jordin showed us here jacket could also be worn as a backpack! It's the simple things in life that entertain most!
I wore my green "I won the wicked lottery button the whole trip!"
At one point we were walking down the streets on Times Square (which we honestly walked back and forth about 5 times that day) and I saw a cute Minnie Mouse to take pictures with. I had the others stop and pose for a picture with me. Then I started to walk away as Minnie held out her little money pouch! I was so confused and caught off guard and was already walking away, so I just kept on walking! Thus learning the lesson that nothing is free in New York City! Sorry for stiffing you, Minnie!
Later that night, we went to see "Mary Poppins" on Broadway. It was good but I was thining about "Wicked" most the time! Julia's friend Stefanie also got us into a comedy club.
We became very familiar with the Subways! My card kept acting up and not working when I swiped it. I think it was because it got slightly bent in my back pocket! Some nice lady felt sorry for me and grabbed my card to help me!
The entertainment in the Subway was awesome!! Once again, nothing in NYC is free! Most were wanting donations of some sort! I believe this man was playing something from the Little Mermaid!
Day 2 in NYC was dedicated to being tourists. We bought tickets for a double decker bus to take us around to all the popular spots! All the while, I still have "Wicked" in the back of my mind.
This is one of the oldest train stations in NYC.
This is a fence full of tiles that elementary kids made after 9/11.
We took a free ferry out to the statue of liberty. The glare from the sun is blocking Lady Liberty from view in this picture!
But there she is!
The whole trip I was craving a hot dog from a vendor on the side of the street! We decided to get one. It was pretty good except the liquid onions they put on it!
We couldn't visit NYC and not rub the Wall Street bull for good luck and prosperity. We even made sure to rub it's hind end for extra good luck!
We went to Rockefellar Square. This is in Lego Land. I was trying to do the "Grease" walk down the stairs! "you're the one that I love" running through my mind...oh and "Wicked" is still creeping in.
Not sure why we took this pic but it's cool!
Home of the TV show 30 Rock! We tried to do a staggered pose. Angela was supposed to put her hands down like me but decided to look cute instead!
In the background is the ice skating rink at Rockefellar. We originally wanted to go ice skating but this was by far the coldest day while we were there! We figured a picture would suffice!
While at Rockefellar, we went into the NBC store! It had so many fun TV props. We couldn't resist getting a picture with "The Office" bobbleheads!
They also had a section dedicated to "Chuck" Buymoria flags were too hard to pass up!
That night we went to see Stomp, which was phenominal!! A couple of the performers posed for a picture with us afterward! This was the 2nd best show...next to "Wicked" of course! ;)
Day 3 in NYC brought more double decker buses and tourist activities! At this point, Julia had left to Virginia, so there were only 4 of us remaining!
We went to see the Metropolitan Museum of Art...aka The Met. I don't think we were supposed to take pictures but I blame Jordin!
My favorite part was taking pictures of our reflections in the random shiny objects there! I also enjoyed looking at paintings and assigning each of us a character in the painting and explaining why we were that particular character!
We also went to one of the oldest Cathedrals in NYC. This statue is supposed to be Satan pulling someone down to Hell. It was interesting to say the least!
We also made a new friend to replace Julia. Andrea is from Switzerland or Sweden or somewhere in Europe and she came to New York by herself. She was on our double decker bus when I decided to talk to her and invite her to tour with us. She seemed anxious for some company! This is us posing in a pew inside the cathedral!
We had to figure out something to do while waiting out in the cold for the bus to come get us!
Our attempts to make animal mouths
As you can see, I am still wearing my green "I won the wicked lottery badge" 2 days later! This was Saturday morning. The previous night we went to see Phantom of the Opera, which is a show I have wanted to see for years! It was good, but I was sitting there wishing I was watching "Wicked" again. We went back to the hotel and started planning what we wanted to do our last full day in NYC. "Jersey Boys" or "Memphis" were thrown out there. I finally said that I wanted to see Wicked again. I understood if people didn't want to see it again, so I said I was ok splitting up and going by myself. I was even willing to pay full price to go again! The other said, "ok let's try for the wicked lottery again in the morning, and if we don't win we'll go do something else." I was adamant that we were not using "if" language and making backup plans cuz I was going to see "wicked" again no matter what! I had even saved my cash for this occassin cuz when you win, you have to pay cash on the spot for the tickets! We showed up at the lottery and this time there were around 150 people who had entered their names. The time came for the names to be drawn......the anticipation of whether or not the wicked gods loved us enough to win twice in a row was killing us....but alas, they did love us enough. Both Jordin's and Cassie's names were drawn, thus winning us 4 tickets. They both ran up to the front excitedly and then realized niether one of them had cash on hand for the tickets. I, on the other hand, had been preparing for this moment for days and had saved my cash. I walked up and gave cash enough for all 4 of us to buy our tickets. Front and Centere again bay-buh!!! Thank you "wicked" gods!
We were so excited we jumped for joy....so excitedly that the camera speed couldn't even keep up with us!
We went to breakfast before the show started. Can you see the excited glow on our faces?!
Posing for a picture before the show. you can't tell in this picture but we are front row and right in the center!! The show is a completely different experience when you're front row!
I absolutely fell in love with Glinda from "wicked"...this is my attempt to "toss, toss" while looking into a mirror!
Later that day we went to the M&M factory. One of the worker's there kept making this guy pose in everyone's pictures while stating "famous person, everyone" so we decided to humor them and let him pose in our picture! Maybe someday he will actually be famous! Jordin, Cassie, and I were all wearing our "I won the wicked lottery" buttons and we walked single file by this girl. It was so funny because her head turned and followed each one of us as we passed, and I overheard her say, "Damn, they all won the wicked lottery!"
We then ventured to the Manhattan temple. On our way I had a Marilyn Monroe moment! I think I gave the people behind me a show they didn't need to pay for! While at the temple, we met two really cool ladies from Boise, Idaho that we talked to a lot! I wish we would've gotten a picture with them!
We were also able to meet up with Leanna and her roommate for dinner while there!
At one point in the trip, Angela let me wear her cute white hat and ever since I was determined to get one! Earlier that day, we went on an unintentional detour and found my future cute white hat in the process. The detour was destiny to bring my hat and I together!
Angela really liked this sign...she thinks she a bad@$!
Sunday morning was our last ride on the subway! This is also when a big black man plowed into me and almost knocked me over. I learned that New York people aren't really the nicest! If someone started to talk to us on the subway, 9 times out of 10 they weren't from New York. We also learned that even though we didn't have any scary experiences on the subway, it is place where scary things happen. Saturday morning on the subway by our hotel that we took every day, there was man who slit some people's throats. Luckily, we weren't out and about yet for the day! The rest of the day was crazy! There were so many routes that were closed and we had to take so many detours to get where we needed to go!
By the time we arrived at the airport, we were exhausted!!
Cassie and Angela weren't as exhausted apparently! Cass is even giving the "OK" sign!
Despite the previous picture being staged, this picture unforunately is for real! I was pretty tired on the plane road back to Utah and my wonderful friends decided to take advantage of the moment!!
When I woke up, Angela and I played a trivia game against other passengers! We didn't do so well overall, but this game was our best. We are "AH" and took 3rd. Most games we were close to last place!
It was good to come back to Utah and finally relax and sleep in my own bed, but I had blast in NYC and will always remember my first vacation there with 4 of my best friends! Thanks for all the memories!! Sorry I was so obsessed with "wicked" the whole time, but I figure after 2 or 3 years the obsession will start to wear off! Hang in there!!
We did learn some interesting facts while there that I would like to share. I don't remember all the details, dates, and names but I'll recap the jist!
First, we learned the history of pizza: apparently it was the queen of Italy's birthday and some guy wanted to give her a special, unique gift, so he decided to make a flat bread designed with food that represented the country's colors: red, green, and white. So he put mozzarella cheese, basil, and tomotoes on it, thus creating the very first margarita pizza!
Second, we learned that the creator of the department store Macy's used to work on whaling boat. He owned his own boat before the age of 20, and it was customary for people who owned their own boats to wave a flag with a red star from it. This young, ambitious boy later attempted to start several stores which failed. After 5 or 6 attempts, he created Macy's, which has the red star as its logo. Rowland Macy was known for his hard work and never taking a vacation. He was finally talked into taking a vacation on the ship named Titanic, which is the same Titanic that sank. In the movie, Mr Macy is the portrayed as the older gentleman with his wife who remained calm in the dining area and didn't attempt to escape the boat.
We also learned that there are Starbucks everywhere! One of our tour guides on the double decker bus had us count the Starbucks as we were touring around the city. We got up to around 15 or 20 in a 30 minute period!
New York City Happy List:
1) "Jordin, are you ok?" Holly
2)"It smells good right here. It smells expensive!" Angela
3)"Damn! They all won the wicked lottery!"
4) "Jordin, are you ok?" Holly
5)Pushing the beds together so somone has to sleep on the crack, usually Jordin. "Jordin, are you ok?"
6)"Jordin, did you know you're sleeping on the crack. are you ok?" Holly
7)Jordin calling Holly "grumpy pants"
8)Angela pointing out the obvious "hat."
9)Our 2 hour subway detour
10) The serenading tour guide-1,2,3 starbucks and counting!
11) Getting a picture with Minnie Mouse and then stiffing her!
12)Angela and Holly's matching white hats
13) The subway machine kept telling Holly "please swipe again. please swipe again."
14)Angela and Holly always a half a block behind the others
15)Jordin calling Holly a "jibberbox" at the temple
16) The right arm of all the Japanese statues at The Met missing and the ocassional right breast missing.
17) 2 ladies at the temple, Andrea Sorenson and Sister Wood, joking with us. Red pencil, nothing more needs to be said.
18)The temple worker tourguide
19) singing "mamma mia" on the tourbus!
20) the "Grease" walk down the stairs.
21) sleeping guy on the subway who almost laid his head on Jordin's shoulder
22)hodge podge band on the subway
23)Julia calling Joridn a "whore" instead of finishing the nickname "hordeen" and Jordin not even noticing the difference
24) "the wicked gods love me!" Holly
25) the wonderfully nice people we talked to and became friends with: Andrea, Raphaela, Sisters Sorenson and Wood, singing tour guide, Anne Marie, Australia couple, the "wicked" boys, Halle.
And many more that I'm probably forgetting! Thanks for the amazing time!!!
Thanks
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