Sunset on 42nd

Subway Series

The Empire State Building is lit up every night with random colors. However, during the Subway Series (when the Mets play the Yankees) the tower is lit up with the colors of the winning team...



Blue and white. Go Yankees!

I'm with the band

Randy has been talking about his album release show since we met last fall, so this was one show that I was not going to miss. Besides, how many times in your life do you actually get to say, "I'm with the band."

Not many.

Of course I have the album and I know all the songs. But it was such a kick to see him perform live with his whole band and do all original work. Not to meniton that they were performing at the Bitter End, legendary for launching careers of some of music's greatest talents.







Congratulations Randy. Great show, great music. Best of luck on your summer tour.

"I cheer for two teams...

...The Yankees and whoever beats the Red Sox. "

I saw that quote on a shirt at the stadium. Loved it.

Having chosen my side of the hometown rivalry last year (Who cheers for the Mets??), I was fully prepared this season to engage in the senseless frenzy that it means to be a die-hard Yankees fan.

With my new Johnny Damon jersey in hand (Thank you sister), I was eager to get out to the new Yankee Stadium and show off my pin-stripes.

#18, Johnny Damon!


When Niels saw my Yankees jersey, he decided he needed one too...


The new stadium doesn't have quite the nostalgia of the old stadium, but it ain't bad...

So technically, the Yankees lost this game to Tampa Bay, but Tampa Bay did win the World Series last year, so I was willing to cut our boys some slack.

525,600 minutes...

I decided that the one year anniversary of the day I moved to New York City was an occasion worth celebrating. But what to do...

I considered a variety of options from frisbee in Central Park to burgers at the Boat Basin Cafe, to some chi chi dinner at Staton Social, and eventually landed on the best idea ever:

Pizza and Cupcakes on the Roof!

And not just ANY cupcakes or ANY pizza... Tie-Dye and Red Velvet bite-sized cupcakes from "Baked by Melissa" in SoHo and Giovanni's New York Style Pepperoni Pizza.

Seriously, tie-dye flavor....


And nothing is more New York than Pizza...


Around noon that day the rain started pouring, and I nearly had to execute Plan B (which was good, but not as good as Plan A). Luckily, the clouds cleared at the last moment and the weather was literally perfect. Not to mention, the heart-breakingly-beautiful sunset...

The best part of any celebration, however, is obviously the people that come to celebrate with you. I was thrilled that so many of my favorite people were able to be there.

And to think that a year ago, I didn't know anyone...

And now I know a rooftop full of the coolest people on the planet...

Speaking of the coolest people alive, here are a few that deserve honorable mention. My 1st year in New York would not have been the same without them...

Melissa, Me and Sarah...

They call him Kevin, but we call him Kheaven...

The illustrious Miss Jane...

And last but not least, the one and only NJS...

Fun times had by all. Even Joey and Dustin.

Quite possibly it's been the best year of my life... So far.

If you can make it here...

... you can make it anywhere.

Or so the song says.

Today is June 2nd, which marks one year ago exactly that I moved to New York City. Such an occasion inevitably inspired me to reflect back on the last year, it's ups and downs, adventures and challenges, successes and failures... which led me to one overwhelming conclusion...

HOLY COW MY LIFE IS AMAZING.

I mean, it's really unbelievable how great my life is. Seriously.

I look at the cork board where I pin up tickets from all of the Broadway shows, museums, concerts, ballets, operas, and tours that I've been on this year. It's full.

I invite all of my closest friends to come over and eat pizza on my roof top. It's full.

I flip through the pages of my journal from the last year. It's full.

I skim through my hard drive looking at pictures. It's full.

In other words, my life here is so full and rich and dynamic and fascinating and challenging and interesting that its been one of the best years of my life. Clearly, my life has been blessed with fullness and joy beyond what I could reasonably take credit for. I am moved with gratitude to Heavenly Father for the blessings that pour out such that there is not room enough to receive them.

Thank you, my friends, for enriching my life. I am better because I came here, I'm better because I know you.

(The one year anniversary with celebrated with appropriate pomp and circumstances, pictures and details to follow...)

The Aussie Dinner Party

I remember reading and article once about a New York Upper East Side Socialite who was on a quest to assemble the correct participants for the ultimate dinner party. He met and interracted with the brightest and most interesting minds in politics, art, philathropy, science, finance, fashion... and was on a mission to host the perfect dinner party.

It was then that my desire to also participate in the ultimate dinner party** was born.

(Side note on the "ultimate" dinner party: Of course, this would have to fit my definition of the ultimate dinner party, which I would hazard to guess is vastly different from Mr. Socialite's definition. Some of the Manhattan 8th Ward dinner groups that I've attended have reached truly great heights in their combination of fascinating people and interesting conversation. And it is also true that I have often been suprised by people's contributions to the converation, indicating that I am perhaps not the ultimate judge of conversant abilities. However, interesting though they are, ward dinner group does lack a certain degree of finesse, that which without they cannot attain true dinner party greatness.)

So this idea of the sophisticated, grown up dinner party, was a part of my idealized image of the young professional New York lifestyle. And on Saturday, I actually attended one. And not just any dinner party, I attended a 100% Aussie Dinner Party.

Several weeks ago I made friends with some Australians down at O'Flaherty's (my previously oft-mentioned favorite hang out.) I beat them at pool and we've been friends ever since. This eventually resulted in my invitation to dine with the lot of them at an awesome apartment in Murray Hill last Saturday.

We arrived at 6 and stayed 'til past midnight. The food was amazing, Adrienne out did herself with brie and crackers, spinach salad, salmon, chicken, cous cous and baked straberries. We sat around chatting for at least 15 or 20 minutes between courses. They used strange Aussie vocabulary that I had to have decoded. They told hilarious and embarassing stories about one another, since they've all known each other for years. And by the end of dinner, they had pretty much decided that I was coming home to Sydney with them for Christmas. We teased, we joked, we laughed until we cried.

Not bad for my first NY dinner party.

Quilting

Ok, I know I brag about my FHE group a whole big bunch... but they are just so darn cool and blog-worthy, I can't help it.

A couple of months ago we started choosing a theme for each month. And the theme for this month is "Create," from Elder Uchtdorf's talk "Happiness, Your Heritage," (link for full talk: http://www.lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-947-37,00.html) as illustrated in this YouTube montage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhLlnq5yY7k.

So I asked Carolyn to be in charge of the activity this week, and we QUILTED! How fun is that! Our FHE group made a quilt together. She had a bunch of fabric squares left over from all of her fashion designing and crafts and such, and we cut up the squares and sewed them together. I'll take pictures of the finished product next week and post them.

See, to fully appreciate just how happy this made me, you have to understand that I have been wanting to quilt for FHE all year... I could just never had quite the means to pull it off.

So today I salute Carolyn, for allowing us to quilt for FHE.

Next week... origami!!!