Continuing the adventures in the city. It's been a couple days since I have last wrote. Things get busy here as you can imagine. The hustle and bustle of the New York lifestyle has gotten to me a little bit. Since I leave the day after tomorrow, I have been trying to fit in as much as I can with my time.
Day Three rolled around. I decided to go to 5th Ave. Yes, ladies. This is where the REAL Saks 5th Ave resides. Also Tiffany & Co, Louis Vuitton, and the famous FAO Schwarz. Since I am not the kind of girl to be into big $5000 purses or super fancy things, I opted for the toy store. Now kids of my generation and earlier generations remember the movie "Big" with Tom Hanks where he goes and plays that huge piano; well that piano is still at FAO Schwarz and I had been dying to see it. This toy store is not like your average toy store. It has 5 floors of every kind of toy you can imgaine. Baby stuff, action figures, Harry Potter stuff galore, sports figurines, etc etc! I felt like a kid in a toy store. Haha. Well, I actually was...This store can bring out the kid in anyone. Not to mention they have almost a whole floor dedicated to CANDY! After spending a good half hour in here, I moved down the street and looked at St. Patricks Cathedral...HUGE. After walking for a mile or so I headed back to meet my friend for a drink at a bar called Point Break. Based on the popular 80's movie with Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves. Enjoyed a Bahama Mama and loved it! Met up with Cindy and Stevie in Central Park and went to Dallas BBQ where I had a DELICIOUS banana coloda and a veggie burger! I then took a cab to Zach's office and saw where he works. Pretty fancy office and has a great view of Ground Zero. This was a surreal experience for me. Though they have cleaned it up a lot and have started the rebuilding process, it was still very sad imagining all the innocent people who died in this building on September 11th, 2001.
On a lighter note, yesterday was top notch. I slept in before spending a day in downtown New York. We went to Wall Street where there is A LOT of US History. We went into an old church cemetary where Alexander Hamilton and Robert Fulton were buried. All the gravestones were from the 1800's. We then went to the sight where George Washington took his first presidential oath in 1789. Then it was off to the Staten Island Ferry where there were SO MANY people. Since it's a free ferry, you can imagine that there are tons and tons of people waiting to get on. This is part of most people's everyday commute. I got a delicious smoothie and chocolate crossiant to eat on the ride. I saw the ever-famous statue of liberty which was beautiful! After getting off the ferry and getting back on again to get back to Manhattan, we went to Century 21 which is quite possibly the best store EVER! If you are into clothes and shoes and are NYC, go here! They have everything half off. I am talking really nice designer stuff for super cheap!! I could have spent days in here looking at all the clothes. Since the line to the dressing room was approx. 80 people long, I decided to put my potential purchases on over my clothes to avoid the lines. I left with a few things that I absolutely love!
Since I have been riding germ infested subways, I seem to have picked up a nasty little bug somewhere along the way. So I ended the night with Lebanese food. A first for me and definately will not be my last! I have never been a huge fan of brusselsprouts but there was a way they cooked them to where I would eat them again!! So today I have been feeling under the weather, and I think New York felt that way too. There is a nice layer of fog and lots of cold rain. I opted for staying inside today and resting which was a great idea. I dont want to get any more sick than I already am! Lucky for me, a great movie is on...Mystic Pizza!! :) I bid you all a good night from the Big Apple!

I 'heart" New York

It's official. I am now a blogger. I have been inspired in many ways to use my creative writing skills and even if nobody cares about what I have to say, it's an outlet to help me put my thoughts and feelings and share them with the world. First things first, I. Love. To. Travel. This passion grew when I lived in Los Angeles and took weekend trips and day trips to the many fun things the city had to offer. Everyone had their own places that were their favorites and I was exposed to them through my friends. Whether it was spending an afternoon at the Getty or people watching at Venice Beach; everyday was a new and fresh adventure. I was bitten by the travel bug and it's venom has never escaped me. I desire to visit new places and experience new and spontanious things. In the past two years, I have been to Baja, Las Vegas, Portland, Palm Springs, various places in Colorado(my current residence) and though I am from Northen California originally, I saw many parts of it I have never been before. Such as Arcata, Eureka, and Sebastopal. I have been to the Bay Area MANY times too but there is always something new and fresh to experience in San Francisco.

April 20, 2010 rolled around and I could barely sit still. I am not a morning person. Anyone who knows me well knows this fact. I had to be up at 4:30 that morning to catch my flight. This pup was off to New York City. This sounds silly but ever since seeing Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, I have ALWAYS wanted to come here. It seemed so far and almost impossible to make the time to get to the east coast. The inspiration came from a couple friends who live here and talk about what an awesome place it is. I am now seeing first hand what they were talking about all this time! I sat in an aisle seat on my flight into LaGuardia so I wasnt able to see the buildings. It didnt really set in until I took my very first Subway ride into the city. The tall buildings were so surreal to me. Luckily I had someone with me who knew the city and rode the train with me. I would have gotten lost and probably ended up in New Jersey hanging out with Snookie or something. I was welcomed to "the city" with open arms by my wonderful friend Zach whom I met in L.A four years ago. I rode up an elevator for 50 floors to the PH level. Which stands for penthouse. The famous Empire State Building stands tall and proud right in front of the window. I can see people's cameras flashing most of the evening. I felt like a kid at Disneyland. I was in total and complete awe with my mouth hanging wide open. Once I gathered myself, closed my mouth, and able to utter more words than "wow," we went out for my first New York dinner. We went to a nice steakhouse. Ironically, I dont eat beef or pork and havent in 6 years so I opted for the crab cake. Super good btw. But the thing that made me smile was the cocktail I ordered. Since I am here during the Tribeca Film Festival, there is an official drink dedicated to this event. It was called "The Leading Lady." This devine cocktail was a martini and consisted of Stoli Vanilla, cinnamon schnapps, and a blackberry liquer. It was nicely garnished with fresh blackberries. Since I am a bartender, I like to "study" my craft and get new ideas! :) Though I am in the "city that never sleeps," I was tired after a long day of flying and needed some rest. I was suffering from serious jetlag and didnt go to sleep till 3:30 and woke up at 1 in the afternoon. So much for having a super productive day! I walked around the neighborhood and there was so much to look at and shops to visit just in the four block radius I stuck to. After I got ahold of my friend, I rode the subway to Union Square where we got a real New York pizza and a glass of wine. The restaurant was called Gemma and it was very authentic Italian. Candles were everywhere dripping wax and I imagine a restaurant in the heart of Italy would be like this. The culture in this city absolutely blows my mind. Almost every block feels like you are in a different country! It was pouring rain and I was wearing flip flops. I had an incident with the couch where I stubbed my toe and it turned into a pretty bad sprain. My whole toe is now purple and it looked like the size of my big toe. Needless to say comfortable walking shoes made my toe feel suffocated. My poor little toes were soaked and cold! So, we went to a funny little dive bar called Tom and Jerry's to warm up. This is where I discovered possibly my new favorite cocktail called a John Daly. Basically, it's an Arnold Palmer with a twist. Seagrams Sweet Tea Vodka+fresh lemon juice=heavenly! My first day here was amazing, but today is the day that really did it for me. I rode in my first New York cab and met a dear friend of mine at her apartment near Central Park. We started our adventure with PinkBerry. The most amazing frozen yogurt you will ever have in my opinion. I topped it with fresh raspberry, mochi, and coconut. We then walked to the American Museum of Natural History. Since we got there in the last hour it was open, it was free! We did a quick walk-through of the main exhibits and had a grand time. We then walked to a store called Tibet which was quite the experience for me. We went into the meditaion room and played with the singing bowls. The sound they make is something used for meditation in the Tibetan/Buddhist culture. There was something very peaceful about this experience. It was so quiet and seemed worlds away from the chaotic city life right above us. I left with a pashmina scarf that is so delightfully soft! Then we were off to my first Broadway play. We decided to see 39 Steps which is an Alfred Hitchcock play. There was a very small cast of four people who played 50 different characters. These actors are genius when it comes to their craft. Being an actress, I know that you really have to dedicate yourself to your character and become that person. I cant imagine dedicating yourself to 20 different people on stage and playing each part so amazingly well! After the show we walked around Times Square, which is basically the Hollywood Blvd of New York. Crowds and crowds of people all flocking to the huge novelty stores. It was cool to see and experience but I dont think I would purposely go there for anything. We topped off the evening with a slice of New York cheesecake and a cup of coffee(which may explain why I'm up at 2:30 blogging). I then took the taxi back home which seriously made me fear for my life and gave a bit of motion sickness. I would never drive in this city, I get impatient when Pagosa has traffic. My fuse would blow just trying to get out of a parking space I would think. The great thing about this city is you never have to drive. The public transportation is unbelievably amazing! Well, I'm off for the evening but I am here till Tuesday and will have more stories to tell. If you are reading this, thank you for making my typing attack worth while. Goodnight from New York City....