October 31, 2007

Happy Halloween!

Just FYI - people take this holiday serious here in NYC! Don't ask me how I missed it last year, but wow, there were some interesting costumes. If only I had remembered my camera to document it. Oh well, here are a couple photos from last weekend. Joined some friends for the Stake Halloween party - it required an extremely lengthy subway ride to get to the party but it was quite fun!
Heidi and Lyndee

Brittany, Me, Ashley and Kimberly

Thanks to the influence of my good friend Ashley, I actually dressed up this year. I was a porcelain doll. The costume was a bit thrown together but that is the way it works when one is a million miles away from one's sewing machine! Resorted to the junior-prom-hairstyle for the evening, guess my hair is long enough again. Only I had to style it myself this time - Marica wasn't around to help out. I did my best and hoped it was ok.

October 28, 2007

Shopping Adventure

For the first time in weeks, I had a free Saturday (no scheduled events during the middle of the day)! I convinced Lyndee that we should go shopping and run some errands together. We had a fabulously fun day - spent hours (7+) wandering around Canal Street and Herald Square, also venturing momentarily into the Garment District. We were veritable bag-ladies by the time we finally shoved our way onto the 2/3 train at Penn Station to head home. It was a beautiful day in NYC and the two of us had a great time!

Two high-lights:
About halfway through the day we decided to stop for some lunch (and to rest our weary feet). There was a McDonald's down the block, but as we headed towards it we came across a small pizza shop and decided that it held more appeal.
After ordering, we realized that the tables were all occupied. Lyndee promptly walked up to a table where an older man was sitting alone and asked if he would share with us. (Quite possibly something I never would have considered doing.) He made room and we enjoyed some fun conversation. We learned that he was a construction guy (the hard hat on the table should have tipped us off…) and he is managing the building of a brand new 32 story Hilton hotel directly across the street from the pizza place. It was an interesting experience and quite enjoyable to share lunch with a stranger.

As we were right next to Macy's we went in to take a quick ride on the wooden escalators - next to the annual flower show, the best part of Macy's!

Thanks Lyndee for a wonderful day!

October 27, 2007

Pyro

Maybe it was a bad idea to build a campfire with business cards in the ashtray...

Oops!

October 26, 2007

Moonlight

Late last night, as I walked into my bedroom, I realized that there was a full moon! I love it when the moon is full and it makes everything so bright outside (so maybe NYC doesn't need that much help!) It reminds me of home and walking between the farm and our house; along the gravel road…it was always so much less frightening when the moon was full enough to see one's shadow. I think the countryside is much more appealing by moonlight.

As I lay there, I thought it was so beautiful and soothing, after a very long day's work, to look up at the sky…I never thought I needed windows, but maybe I do.

This is how it appears from the vicinity of my pillow :)

October 21, 2007

Baking!

Over this past weekend I had a great time baking…here are a few fun things I made…

Bread - for the Enrichment activity - made whole wheat and it actually tasted good! Special thanks to Mom for the amazing recipe and for teaching me to make bread when I was young.

Pot Pie - this is Cory's favorite and she has been requesting it for months, as it was her birth-week I figured it was a good time to make it.

Farm-pan Apple Pie - Lyndee helped me peel the apples for a pie...then I realized that I had guessed wrong and there were way too many apples...so we resorted to a bigger pan!

Corn Bread - made it for the last week's ward social - fairly certain that it was the most corn bread I have ever made in one setting.

Needless to say, I spent many enjoyable hours in my kitchen over the past week. I wish that I had more time for cooking...and maybe more people to feed!

October 15, 2007

Monday Monday

So anyone who has ever lived with me is well aware that I am not a morning person (guess this is a formal apology to the 50+ roommates I have had since leaving home - love you girls, thanks for putting up with me!) Anyway - I have realized that I am also NOT a Monday person! Monday is always painful. I mean, think about it - if no one was working over the weekend - where do all these problems come from? What is it about being gone for two days that makes everyone lose communication abilities? Definitely not my favorite at all.

Now Sunday...I love Sunday.

October 12, 2007

Something Good

One thing I really love about the people in this city is that so many perform random acts of kindness. It always makes me smile whenever I see someone help out a stranger. And of course I realize how much we need one another - even if we have never seen each other before, nor is there any likelihood we will see the person again - when someone takes a moment out of their day to assist me.

Just the other day as I making my way to work, I had such an experience. As I passed through the turn-style I heard the subway train pull into the station.
I was trying to hurry down the stairs to the platform, but the crowd of Wall Street commuters were pushing up the stairs and I realized that the doors of the 3 Train would close before I could possibly make it down. Sure enough - I was two steps from the bottom (open car doors directly to the right of the stairs) when I heard those all-too-familiar words: "Stand clear of the closing doors, please." As my foot touched the bottom stairs (two steps from being inside the subway car), I saw the doors start to close - just at that moment, two men inside the subway stepped in front of the doors - effectively preventing them from closing. I slipped through and the doors closed behind me. My thanks went unnoticed as both men had already gone back to reading their newspapers.

Granted, the hundreds of people on the 3 Train may have been slightly annoyed that the doors took a moment longer than necessary to close, but it totally made my day that two strangers would help me.

October 7, 2007

The good kind


Now this is my kind of bar!

Very delicious milk-shakes, don't know what it is about milk, but it pretty much always tastes great.

Crazy 8

Inspired by my good friend Denisse - - -
8 Things I'm passionate about
1. Family
2. Learning
3. Service
4. The gospel
5. Freedom
6. Being bossy
7. Food
8. Life

8 Things I want to do before I die
1. Grow another garden
2. Have a family
3. Serve
4. Learn to be patient
5. Visit Europe
6. Sew something truly phenomenal
7. Be a hermit
8. Publish a cookbook

8 Things I say often
1. I have a question . . .
2. Ummmm
3. For serious
4. Like, for real
5. I don't know
6. Pardon me, I'm sorry (hastening through crowds)
7. Remember how I'm your favorite?!
8. I'm always good

8 Things that attract me to my best friends
1. They like to talk
2. They understand me
3. They are compassionate
4. They are good examples
5. They have similar goals and values
6. They are amusing
7. They are strong
8. They make me happy

8 Things I've learned this year
1. The world is a big place
2. I need to draw closer to Heavenly Father
3. How to make chocolate mousse
4. There is always room to improve our characters
5. Give more than you take
6. I need to be more kind
7. I can survive NYC
8. Most things are harder than they look

October 6, 2007

Light

There were over 7,000 people participating in Light the Night - it was an amazing experience for me. Each participant carried an illuminated balloon as they crossed the Brooklyn Bridge. The balloons were color-coded, red for supporters, white for survivors, and gold for in memory of. It was a very solemn yet inspiring experience.

A group of us from work were walking the bridge together. About a third of the way across, we paused for a group photo. After we took our picture a woman asked if we would take a picture of her. As my friend prepared to take the picture, the woman mentioned that she wished she had a group to walk with, that she had been participating in LTN for 10 years, always by herself and suggested that maybe we could be her group for one photo. I think we must have all felt at that moment a similar desire to help this woman as we each stepped forward and surrounded her for the snapshot. She thanked us, took her camera and turned away, continuing her walk of the bridge. My gaze was drawn to her as she walked away and I realized that she carried two balloons, a red one, signifying support, and also, on a shortened string and tied to the back of her belt (not visible from the front) a gold balloon, showing that she had lost someone to a blood cancer. It was a humbling moment for me as I witnessed her loss.

October 4, 2007

Had an Early Morning

I dragged Kim out very early this morning to go to 59th and 5th Avenue for the CBS Early Morning show. This evening I will be participating in the Light The Night Walk organized by the Leukaemia and Lymphoma Society to raise money for blood cancer research. We will be walking across the Brooklyn Bridge. Late yesterday afternoon, I received an email stating that they were seeking volunteers to hold balloons for the CBS Early Morning show. After trying to convince all my friends at work to go (without success), I guilted Kim into it and we planned to head out early to make it on time.

A slight detour was made to drop off my laptop at my office (building is a bit emptier at that time of the morning), and we arrived outside the Apple store where we joined others who will be participating in tonight's walk. I helped out by making a sign . . .
and then we stood around for a while and waited. It was quite interesting seeing what goes on in a "live" production. I especially enjoyed watching the makeup and hair artists hard at work trying to keep the anchors in top form despite the humidity.
Here is a side shot of the crowd, you can see Kim in the left corner.

That would be my balloon rising into the sky, oops! (the tiny red dot about half way up the building)

As my eyes were wandering over the organized chaos, they were attracted to a set across the way, where a mock kitchen was arranged. I was wondering what food was being prepared when the crowd parted and I saw that the chef was Bobby Flay! (My first star sighting!) I happen to enjoy watching the Food Network and he is one of the best.
We were caught on camera a couple times, standing in the background. I called my mom and she saw me on TV so that was fun! My favorite was definitely watching Bobby Flay cook.

As we had to hustle to work, I had another NYC first, I changed my shirt as we rushed down the street to the subway. Don't worry - I had on a Shade t-shirt beneath the LTN shirt and I was able to swap the LTN shirt out for my sweater to qualify for business casual by the time I walked into my office just in time for work!

October 1, 2007

Warning: May cause intense pain . . .

and damage to the fingers, resulting in a desire to scream.
I use this thing dozens of times daily, as I have since starting this job over a year ago. Today it decided to hate me (or possibly I momentarily lost my staple-removing skills) and pinched my finger - ouch! Hadn't realized how dangerous this job is. Someone should tell those staple-remover manufactures to include a warning label to prevent suffering by unsuspecting users - had I been made aware of the potential dangers, I am certain I would have been much more careful. It really was quite painful.