So, I'm going to try to make this post somewhat short, but since there's a lot to cover, it may end up being longer than I really want it to be.
I took the SAT on Saturday. Ugh, I hope I don't ever have to take it again. First of all, they said be there by 7:45am, which I take as get there anywhere between five to fifteen minutes early. Well, Sylvia and I got there at just after 7:30, and guess what? They wouldn't unlock the doors until 7:45 on the dot. So we stood out in the freezing cold for fifteen minutes, which made me majorly pissed because they should have said get there at 7:45 if they were just going to make us wait outside anyway. Okay, rant over.
So, we got inside, and went into our classrooms, and I think our group started at just after 8:15. We filled out our information on our answer sheets, and then started on the essay. I thought I had a pretty good topic, but I really struggled through it, and completely bungled the last sentence of my closing paragraph, because our proctor called "Please be finishing up your final sentence," and I freaked and completely blanked on what to write. Fortunately, I was able to stick in a (hopefully) decent and relevant outside-world reference, which I hope makes up for some of my less-than-perfect ideas. I really don't know how they can give us only 25 minutes. Haven't we been taught for all these years that we need to plan, write, edit, rewrite, etc. in order to create a decent essay?
Anyway, after that fiasco, we got into the rest of the sections, which went by pretty fast. I used the first snack break to sharpen my pencil, ate a breakfast bar during the second one, and then just sat in the classroom during the third. I know there were probably a few questions in each section that I had to make an educated guess at, but overall, I think I did okay. The only thing that bothered me was that you'd have a critical reading section, then a math one, then a writing/grammar one, then back to math, and my brain was having a hard time switching back and forth, but I managed.
And finally, it was over, and I headed outside, into the warm, spring-like air. Robyn and I talked for a few minutes while I waited for Sylvia, and there was a girl standing near us who asked what grade I was in because she said I was so tiny. And then, Sylvia came out, and we talked for a few minutes before getting into the car and heading to La Caretta for lunch. After we ate, I dropped her off, and then came home and took a nap and then got ready for work (Rebecca texted me just after I got out of the SAT, saying that they had some people call in sick, and asking if I could come in with my dad).
We clocked in at the tower, then took some food over to Bridger Field House, where we were going to be working for the evening, catering a Bat Mizvah. It actually turned out to be pretty fun. Normally, when we work at Bridger, there's either the standard, classical-sounding pieces playing over the stereo system, or, in the case of one luncheon we did, a live brass or string band. This time, there was an actual DJ, and I basically got to listen to "Stereo Hearts" and "Paradise" and "Brighter Than The Sun" and "I Gotta Feeling" and that sort of music all night long, which was amazing. They had a couple of dancers, and all the kids jumped around on the dance floor, and they did games, like "Thread the Needle" and "How Many Marshmellows Can You Stuff In Your Mouth?" and gave away raffle tickets and stuff.
They ordered a ton of food. They had the bar open, and three types of passing appetizers in the bar area, an appetizer table, a kid's drink table (plastic cups), an adult drink table (glass cups), a kid's buffet (salad, sliders, pasta), an adult buffet (I didn't see much of it, but I think there was chicken and beef, potatoes, veggies, salad, and rolls), and a beautiful cake, which, as Katie and I found out after eating some of the leftover pieces, was amazingly good. I had a teeny bit of the chocolate layer, which was awesome. It was really moist and rich, and what I think really made it taste awesome was the fact that it was chilled...I have no idea how it stayed cold, because it was out on the cake stand for hours. They finally finished around 11:30, and then we did our clean-up work, and ended up clocking out at around 12:30 in the morning.
On Sunday, I slept in until close to 11:00, and then Mom and I went to the grocery store, and then came home and tried out a new recipe for crab dip, which turned out amazing. We ate and watched One Day, which was pretty good. It was kinda sad at the end, though. Then, we came upstairs, ordered Frank's subs for dinner, and then went to pick it up. We came home, plated everything up, and then Mom and I went downstairs to watch Margin Call, which was really neat, actually. It had a a lot of actors we like - Jeremy Irons, Paul Bettany, Stanley Tucci, Simon Baker, Demi Moore, and Zachary Quinto, and was actually, considering it was about market volatility, and stocks, and computer models, pretty interesting. And then, I cleaned Ella's cage, and Mom and I watched Taken, again, because we both really love that movie, and FX had it running.
Today's been somewhat normal so far. Mom's working tonight, and then tomorrow, the three of us are going to go to Tokyo Japanese Steakhouse for my brithday dinner. Wednesday, I'm celebrating my brithday with Dad, and my grandmother and aunts and uncles, and then on Sunday, Mom, Quinn, and I will be having birthday dinner with my aunt and uncle. So, if there's anything good coming out of this separation, it's that I get three birthday celebrations...lol.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
This Week - Video Faves (#1)
So, since it is a brand new year, I've decided to implement a few brand new post ideas. I'm not sure whether these will be posted once a week or once every two weeks or what exactly, but I thought I'd give it a try and see how it goes. I'm calling it the "This Week" set...basically, I'll post whatever I find interesting that week (either video, music, movies, or books/reading, depending on the week). I might post two a week...just depends on what I get written and put in line to post.
Since I've been known to, on occasion, make videos...I've been trying to work on a few, but I get an idea, and move on to the next one before I finish the first. So, I thought I'd focus on videos I've found online and really like.
So, here's two videos. The first - The Joy of Books. I absolutely love stop-motion, and to combine it with books? Amazing. I love the Fred Astaire book dancing with the Vivien Leigh book at 1:14. Seriously though, can you imagine how much time and effort it took to do this?
Second video - Western Spaghetti. I found this one years ago, but I still love it. Makes me 1) want to make spaghetti and 2) want to make a video like this. I probably wouldn't have the creativity though. I mean, using the Rubix cube as garlic? So cool.
So, what do you think of this type of post? Good, bad, just so-so? Let me know what you think.
Since I've been known to, on occasion, make videos...I've been trying to work on a few, but I get an idea, and move on to the next one before I finish the first. So, I thought I'd focus on videos I've found online and really like.
So, here's two videos. The first - The Joy of Books. I absolutely love stop-motion, and to combine it with books? Amazing. I love the Fred Astaire book dancing with the Vivien Leigh book at 1:14. Seriously though, can you imagine how much time and effort it took to do this?
Second video - Western Spaghetti. I found this one years ago, but I still love it. Makes me 1) want to make spaghetti and 2) want to make a video like this. I probably wouldn't have the creativity though. I mean, using the Rubix cube as garlic? So cool.
So, what do you think of this type of post? Good, bad, just so-so? Let me know what you think.
Monday, January 23, 2012
The Artist
I have decided that this needs a post all to itself. Because it was that awesome. On Saturday evening, with Dad at work, Quinn asleep at the house, and Mom at work, I decided to get out of the house and go see The Artist at the Grand. It was ah-mazing.
So, I got there, and there were a ton of people in the ticket lines...like, seriously, they had four stations open, and there were probably half a dozen or more people in each line. But, anyway, I got my ticket, and headed inside, and went into the theatre and grabbed a seat a row from the top and right in the center. There were only two other people in there at the time. And boy, did it fill up quick. Mostly, it was old ladies, older couples, and what I assumed was ladies and their elderly mothers, but there were some younger couples and a group of twenty-something-year-old guys, which I thought was weird.
Anyway, the lights dimmed, and they had this weird-creepy promo for The Woman in Black, which involved shots of a crowd of people sitting in a movie theater, and then you saw the 'woman in black' behind one of them, and then she screamed, and I jumped a bit. Haha. There were some really good previews. Albert Nobbs looked really neat, Jeff Who Lives at Home looked somewhat cute, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen looked pretty cool, Moonrise Kingdom looked interesting, and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel looked cute.
And then, finally, the movie started. And oh my goodness, I loved every minute of it. Basically George is a big silent film star, who meets Peppy at the premiere of one of his films, when she accidentally bumps into him and cameras capture the moment to be featured in the newspaper the next morning. Peppy auditions as a dancer and gets a part in George's next film. They get along very well, almost too well, in fact, for they mess up take after take of a scene because they linger to long in each other's arms or cause the other to laugh. Two years later, the studio decides to completely focus on making sound pictures, which George thinks is just a fad. He quits and decides to produce, direct, star in, and personally finance his own film, while Peppy makes a name for herself in the sound film industry back at the studio.
Their films premiere on the same day; the theatre where George's film is running is practically empty, while the line for Peppy's movie is blocks long. The failed film and the stock market crash cause George to go into financial ruin. His wife kicks him out, and he finds himself living in an apartment with his valet, who he eventually has to fire because he can't pay his wages. George also has to auction off all his personal effects. Sitting in his apartment, he attempts to drink his sorrows away, but finds himself more enraged and desperate.
He angrily pushes the film canisters containing his earlier films off the shelves, ripping some open, and unspooling the film. He lights a match and drops it into the mess, which soon turns into a raging fire. George panics, searching through the fire and film for something, while his dog runs out and attracts the help of a nearby policeman. The policeman returns to the house, finding George unconscious and clutching a film canister, and drags him out into the yard.
Peppy hears the news, and leaves the studio to go to the hospital. The doctor tells her George is fine, just needing rest, and she notices the film canister on the table. Opening it, she realizes it is the film of them together, messing up take after take and laughing. She asks the doctor if George could recuperate at her house, and the doctor nods.
George awakens to find himself in Peppy's home. The two have breakfast, but as Peppy leaves for the studio, she sees the disappointment on George's face at the realization that he isn't working on films. While at work, she threatens to quit if George does not co-star in her next film. The studio boss complies with her terms, and sends her valet (George's former valet) to the house to bring George the script.
George gets out of bed, and while looking around the house, finds a room full of his auctioned-off effects, realizing that Peppy was the one who purchased everything. He leaves the house, returning to his burned-out apartment. Peppy arrives back at the house, finding that George is not there, and panics. She calls for her valet, but he isn't around, so she takes the car herself and starts frantically driving around, trying to locate him. Meanwhile, George takes a wooden box from a shelf, and sits in his armchair. He opens the box revealing a gun, and puts it in his mouth.
The screen cuts to a 'word-card' with "BANG!" on it, then cuts back to a shot of Peppy crashing the car into a tree outside his apartment. She runs in, saving him from committing suicide, and, remembering how George is a superb dancer, convinces him to do a musical with her. The scene changes, and they are now dancing on a set in the studio. As they complete their choreography, the sound comes in. "Cut! Brilliant!" the studio boss calls, "Could you give me one more?"
Peppy and George smile, and George, in his first and only speaking line of the movie, replies, in a very thick French accent, "With pleasure."
And oh my gosh, it was amazing. I loved everything about it. The actors were amazing, the story was so awesome, and even without color and spoken word, it was extremely interesting. The way they played with the sound was exceptional. There was a dream scene where George is sitting in his dressing room, and as he puts his glass of water back on the table, you hear the 'clunk'. He starts freaking out, and as he slides the chair back, you hear the squeak. Then, the telephone starts ringing, and the dog starts barking, but when he tries to talk, and then tries to scream, nothing comes out. It was very cool. They also had moments where there was absolutely no sound, not even an orchestration in the background, which was very neat.
And the soundtrack...oh my gosh. Just listen to it.
So, really, go see this movie. If tickets at the Grand weren't so expensive, I'd go see it again and again and again, because, really, it was that good. I'm going to be rooting for a Best Picture nomination, and hopefully, a win, for this film. I'm not normally one for rating films, because I like most everything I see, but The Artist gets five out of five stars from me. :)
So, I got there, and there were a ton of people in the ticket lines...like, seriously, they had four stations open, and there were probably half a dozen or more people in each line. But, anyway, I got my ticket, and headed inside, and went into the theatre and grabbed a seat a row from the top and right in the center. There were only two other people in there at the time. And boy, did it fill up quick. Mostly, it was old ladies, older couples, and what I assumed was ladies and their elderly mothers, but there were some younger couples and a group of twenty-something-year-old guys, which I thought was weird.
Anyway, the lights dimmed, and they had this weird-creepy promo for The Woman in Black, which involved shots of a crowd of people sitting in a movie theater, and then you saw the 'woman in black' behind one of them, and then she screamed, and I jumped a bit. Haha. There were some really good previews. Albert Nobbs looked really neat, Jeff Who Lives at Home looked somewhat cute, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen looked pretty cool, Moonrise Kingdom looked interesting, and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel looked cute.
And then, finally, the movie started. And oh my goodness, I loved every minute of it. Basically George is a big silent film star, who meets Peppy at the premiere of one of his films, when she accidentally bumps into him and cameras capture the moment to be featured in the newspaper the next morning. Peppy auditions as a dancer and gets a part in George's next film. They get along very well, almost too well, in fact, for they mess up take after take of a scene because they linger to long in each other's arms or cause the other to laugh. Two years later, the studio decides to completely focus on making sound pictures, which George thinks is just a fad. He quits and decides to produce, direct, star in, and personally finance his own film, while Peppy makes a name for herself in the sound film industry back at the studio.
Their films premiere on the same day; the theatre where George's film is running is practically empty, while the line for Peppy's movie is blocks long. The failed film and the stock market crash cause George to go into financial ruin. His wife kicks him out, and he finds himself living in an apartment with his valet, who he eventually has to fire because he can't pay his wages. George also has to auction off all his personal effects. Sitting in his apartment, he attempts to drink his sorrows away, but finds himself more enraged and desperate.
He angrily pushes the film canisters containing his earlier films off the shelves, ripping some open, and unspooling the film. He lights a match and drops it into the mess, which soon turns into a raging fire. George panics, searching through the fire and film for something, while his dog runs out and attracts the help of a nearby policeman. The policeman returns to the house, finding George unconscious and clutching a film canister, and drags him out into the yard.
Peppy hears the news, and leaves the studio to go to the hospital. The doctor tells her George is fine, just needing rest, and she notices the film canister on the table. Opening it, she realizes it is the film of them together, messing up take after take and laughing. She asks the doctor if George could recuperate at her house, and the doctor nods.
George awakens to find himself in Peppy's home. The two have breakfast, but as Peppy leaves for the studio, she sees the disappointment on George's face at the realization that he isn't working on films. While at work, she threatens to quit if George does not co-star in her next film. The studio boss complies with her terms, and sends her valet (George's former valet) to the house to bring George the script.
George gets out of bed, and while looking around the house, finds a room full of his auctioned-off effects, realizing that Peppy was the one who purchased everything. He leaves the house, returning to his burned-out apartment. Peppy arrives back at the house, finding that George is not there, and panics. She calls for her valet, but he isn't around, so she takes the car herself and starts frantically driving around, trying to locate him. Meanwhile, George takes a wooden box from a shelf, and sits in his armchair. He opens the box revealing a gun, and puts it in his mouth.
The screen cuts to a 'word-card' with "BANG!" on it, then cuts back to a shot of Peppy crashing the car into a tree outside his apartment. She runs in, saving him from committing suicide, and, remembering how George is a superb dancer, convinces him to do a musical with her. The scene changes, and they are now dancing on a set in the studio. As they complete their choreography, the sound comes in. "Cut! Brilliant!" the studio boss calls, "Could you give me one more?"
Peppy and George smile, and George, in his first and only speaking line of the movie, replies, in a very thick French accent, "With pleasure."
And oh my gosh, it was amazing. I loved everything about it. The actors were amazing, the story was so awesome, and even without color and spoken word, it was extremely interesting. The way they played with the sound was exceptional. There was a dream scene where George is sitting in his dressing room, and as he puts his glass of water back on the table, you hear the 'clunk'. He starts freaking out, and as he slides the chair back, you hear the squeak. Then, the telephone starts ringing, and the dog starts barking, but when he tries to talk, and then tries to scream, nothing comes out. It was very cool. They also had moments where there was absolutely no sound, not even an orchestration in the background, which was very neat.
And the soundtrack...oh my gosh. Just listen to it.
So, really, go see this movie. If tickets at the Grand weren't so expensive, I'd go see it again and again and again, because, really, it was that good. I'm going to be rooting for a Best Picture nomination, and hopefully, a win, for this film. I'm not normally one for rating films, because I like most everything I see, but The Artist gets five out of five stars from me. :)
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Part 1 - Christmas
Okay, yes, I know I only had one post for December. Yes, I'm sorry. Yes, I actually have a decent excuse...I was super busy. Seriously, my calendar was full. So, I think this post will have to be cut into two or three separate parts, because it covers such a long span of time.
So, first, we decorated at my grandmother's house on the 17th, which was fun. Then, Mom and I did 108 sun salutations (yoga thing) at Gold's gym on the 18th, which was really tiring and made me really sore, but I felt like I accomplished something.
On the 23rd, I got together with Anita, Emma, and Sylvia. We had lunch at Coppola's, exchanged Christmas gifts (I got a Spartina coin purse from Emma, Frosted Peppermint hand soap from Sylvia, and chocolates & an iTunes gift card from Anita), then went to the mall, tried on a bunch of Lilly Pulitzer dresses, went to American Eagle, Bath & Body Works, the calendar shop, etc, and then drove through the crazy mall traffic to Originals By You and painted pottery. Sylvia made an owl, Emma painted a little mug to look like a sweater, and I decorated a holly-themed square mug. We ended up staying way past closing, and then went to my house to chill for a while.
On the 24th, Mom, Quinn, and I had dinner at my aunt & uncle's house. We had a finger-food dinner...a little bit of everything...veggies & dip, ham & cheese roll-ups, crab dip, bacon-wrapped chestnuts, 7-layer dip, pecan cheese bake, etc. And then, we exchanged gifts (I received The Sound of Music on dvd, which I really wanted...love that movie), and then we had cheesecake for dessert. And then, we came home, read The Night Before Christmas, stuffed each other's stockings, and then went to bed.
Christmas morning came, and we opened gifts...I got money from my extended family, Mulan on dvd from Quinn, The Hunger Games trilogy, a Lego Grand Emporium set, the Harry Potter: Page to Screen book, a NYC snowglobe, and instead of just giving me money like I asked for, Mom and Dad decided to give me a box of crumpled bills, all different denominations, to unfold/un-crumple and count, which was a pain, but also very fun. Later that evening, we went over to my aunt & uncle's for dinner, and I ended up leaving early because I had to go home and pack for our trip to New York.
Scroll down for my NYC trip post!
So, first, we decorated at my grandmother's house on the 17th, which was fun. Then, Mom and I did 108 sun salutations (yoga thing) at Gold's gym on the 18th, which was really tiring and made me really sore, but I felt like I accomplished something.
On the 23rd, I got together with Anita, Emma, and Sylvia. We had lunch at Coppola's, exchanged Christmas gifts (I got a Spartina coin purse from Emma, Frosted Peppermint hand soap from Sylvia, and chocolates & an iTunes gift card from Anita), then went to the mall, tried on a bunch of Lilly Pulitzer dresses, went to American Eagle, Bath & Body Works, the calendar shop, etc, and then drove through the crazy mall traffic to Originals By You and painted pottery. Sylvia made an owl, Emma painted a little mug to look like a sweater, and I decorated a holly-themed square mug. We ended up staying way past closing, and then went to my house to chill for a while.
On the 24th, Mom, Quinn, and I had dinner at my aunt & uncle's house. We had a finger-food dinner...a little bit of everything...veggies & dip, ham & cheese roll-ups, crab dip, bacon-wrapped chestnuts, 7-layer dip, pecan cheese bake, etc. And then, we exchanged gifts (I received The Sound of Music on dvd, which I really wanted...love that movie), and then we had cheesecake for dessert. And then, we came home, read The Night Before Christmas, stuffed each other's stockings, and then went to bed.
Christmas morning came, and we opened gifts...I got money from my extended family, Mulan on dvd from Quinn, The Hunger Games trilogy, a Lego Grand Emporium set, the Harry Potter: Page to Screen book, a NYC snowglobe, and instead of just giving me money like I asked for, Mom and Dad decided to give me a box of crumpled bills, all different denominations, to unfold/un-crumple and count, which was a pain, but also very fun. Later that evening, we went over to my aunt & uncle's for dinner, and I ended up leaving early because I had to go home and pack for our trip to New York.
Scroll down for my NYC trip post!
Part 2 - NYC
Okay, part two. Basically, we got up the morning after Christmas, drove ten and a half hours (well, with a breakfast stop, a nap stop, a gas station stop, and a McDonald's stop) to my aunt & uncle's house in Fishkill, NY, and crashed for the night.
We got up on Tuesday morning, and ran a few errands with my aunt, and really just chilled out, which was nice. On Wednesday, we ran a few more errands, and had dinner, and then packed up what we needed for the morning, aka our trip into the city.
The next morning, we got up, got ready, and my aunt took us to the train station. We got our tickets, and waited around for the 8:57am train to pull in, and then we jumped on. It took just over an hour to get to Grand Central, and then we hopped off and started our adventure. We took a few minutes to admire just how pretty Grand Central was, and then we made our way outside. We ended up walking a couple blocks down and looking around at H&M, and then went down a few more blocks to get in line for the Empire State Building.
The line itself stretched around past the corner of the building, but we did it anyway. It ended up taking close to two and a half hours to get to the top, after getting into the building, going up the escalator, going through what I now refer to as "accordion lines" because basically you're just moving back and forth and back and forth in the same room for forever, then going through security, more accordion lines, getting our picture taken, more accordion lines, taking the elevator to the 80th floor, more lines, taking the elevator to the 86th floor, and finally getting out onto the observation deck. But, it was all worth it once we got out there. The view is gorgeous.
We came back down, bought our picture, Quinn picked up a souvenir, and then we walked over to Macy's just to look around. I really just wanted to get an idea of the size of the store...I mean, it has eight floors! It was pretty awesome.
Then, since it was like, two o'clock, and we hadn't had anything to eat since having breakfast bars on the train, we started looking around for a place to eat. We found this little place called W Cafe couple blocks from the Empire State building, where they have everything from soups, to salads, to pizza, to sandwiches, to paninis, all laid out behind the deli counter, and you just pick what you want. And it was so awesomely good. I had the chicken fajita panini, which was amazing. Mom had a mozzarella and tomato sandwich (also very good), and Quinn loved his chicken romano sandwich.
At that point, we decided to check into the hotel, so we walked about ten blocks up (not as long of a walk as I expected), checked in, and then went up to the room (22nd floor...as high as we could go), and basically crashed in the room for a little bit. We went back out at 6:00, and walked up to Rockefeller Center to see the tree and the ice-skating rink, and then walked through Times Square, where they were already setting up the stages for the performances on New Year's Eve, and testing the countdown graphics on the building. We walked down to 42nd Street, and entered the New Amsterdam theater to see Mary Poppins.
The theater itself was gorgeous...it was built in 1903, making it (and the Lyceum Theatre) the oldest house on Broadway. It was home to the famous Ziegfeld Follies shows in the 1920's, and it was at the New Amsterdam that Fred Astaire and his sister, Adele, performed their final show together (The Band Wagon) before Adele got married and Fred went to Hollywood. So, there's quite a bit of history in the place, too.
So, onto the show itself. It was amazing. I loved every minute of it. It was definitely different from the movie, but in a good way. They focused a lot more on the parents, Mr. and Mrs. Banks, which was neat, and switched around the order of some of the songs like "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" (yes, I just spelled that from memory...booyah) and "A Spoonful of Sugar", but I thought it worked well. The new songs written for the show blended well with the old standards from the movie we've come to know and love. And oh my gosh, the sets were gorgeous. The Banks' house was like a giant dollhouse...so cute.
This is why I can spell "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious". It's a shortened version though...the song is quite a bit longer.
The funny part was, we came out of the show all agreeing that Bert was our favorite character, not Mary Poppins. My guess is that Gavin Lee really made an impression on us, while Steffanie Leigh did not. Or maybe it's just because Bert gets the better (and funnier) lines. Anyway, I ended up buying a t-shirt on the way out, because I loved it, and then we walked back toward the hotel, grabbing hot chocolate from McDonald's on the way, and then went to bed.
We got up the next morning, had breakfast at the hotel, and then walked up to Central Park. We took a carriage ride, and then went over to FAO Schwarz. We didn't end up playing on the piano...the line wasn't that long, but everyone looked so dopey bouncing around on the thing, and they let six people on at a time, so you really can't differentiate between what you're playing and what everyone else is playing. But, we hung around for the little piano show, which was cute. They played Chopsticks, Heart and Soul, Fur Elise, and Jingle Bells.
And then, we walked down the block to Tiffany's, just to look around. I didn't find anything within my price range for my charm bracelet, but they really didn't have much "NYC" stuff anyway. I was looking for something like the Empire State Building or Statue of Liberty or a taxi cab or an apple or something, but no luck.
Anyway, then we walked to Rockefeller Center. The line for the Lego Store was super long, so we decided to not bother. We did go into the Nintendo Store, Quinn's one request, and he ended up buying a bunch of stuff. And then, we went over to the NBC Experience Store, but all their studio tours were booked for the day, so we just left. Then, we walked to Times Square and went into the M&M's store, and did the "fill your own bag" thing from the tubes on the wall, which was fun, but really expensive. $12.99 a pound...so totally overpriced, but I guess you pay for the experience.
Then, we started heading toward Grand Central. We had a quick lunch/snack at McDonald's (I would have rather had pizza from the place next door, but Quinn was cranky, so I ended up with a chocolate shake at Mickey D's), and then walked the rest of the way to Grand Central, and caught the 1:46pm train back to Beacon.
Part 3 below - New Year's at my aunt & uncle's house!
We got up on Tuesday morning, and ran a few errands with my aunt, and really just chilled out, which was nice. On Wednesday, we ran a few more errands, and had dinner, and then packed up what we needed for the morning, aka our trip into the city.
The next morning, we got up, got ready, and my aunt took us to the train station. We got our tickets, and waited around for the 8:57am train to pull in, and then we jumped on. It took just over an hour to get to Grand Central, and then we hopped off and started our adventure. We took a few minutes to admire just how pretty Grand Central was, and then we made our way outside. We ended up walking a couple blocks down and looking around at H&M, and then went down a few more blocks to get in line for the Empire State Building.
The line itself stretched around past the corner of the building, but we did it anyway. It ended up taking close to two and a half hours to get to the top, after getting into the building, going up the escalator, going through what I now refer to as "accordion lines" because basically you're just moving back and forth and back and forth in the same room for forever, then going through security, more accordion lines, getting our picture taken, more accordion lines, taking the elevator to the 80th floor, more lines, taking the elevator to the 86th floor, and finally getting out onto the observation deck. But, it was all worth it once we got out there. The view is gorgeous.
We came back down, bought our picture, Quinn picked up a souvenir, and then we walked over to Macy's just to look around. I really just wanted to get an idea of the size of the store...I mean, it has eight floors! It was pretty awesome.
Then, since it was like, two o'clock, and we hadn't had anything to eat since having breakfast bars on the train, we started looking around for a place to eat. We found this little place called W Cafe couple blocks from the Empire State building, where they have everything from soups, to salads, to pizza, to sandwiches, to paninis, all laid out behind the deli counter, and you just pick what you want. And it was so awesomely good. I had the chicken fajita panini, which was amazing. Mom had a mozzarella and tomato sandwich (also very good), and Quinn loved his chicken romano sandwich.
At that point, we decided to check into the hotel, so we walked about ten blocks up (not as long of a walk as I expected), checked in, and then went up to the room (22nd floor...as high as we could go), and basically crashed in the room for a little bit. We went back out at 6:00, and walked up to Rockefeller Center to see the tree and the ice-skating rink, and then walked through Times Square, where they were already setting up the stages for the performances on New Year's Eve, and testing the countdown graphics on the building. We walked down to 42nd Street, and entered the New Amsterdam theater to see Mary Poppins.
So, onto the show itself. It was amazing. I loved every minute of it. It was definitely different from the movie, but in a good way. They focused a lot more on the parents, Mr. and Mrs. Banks, which was neat, and switched around the order of some of the songs like "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" (yes, I just spelled that from memory...booyah) and "A Spoonful of Sugar", but I thought it worked well. The new songs written for the show blended well with the old standards from the movie we've come to know and love. And oh my gosh, the sets were gorgeous. The Banks' house was like a giant dollhouse...so cute.
This is why I can spell "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious". It's a shortened version though...the song is quite a bit longer.
The funny part was, we came out of the show all agreeing that Bert was our favorite character, not Mary Poppins. My guess is that Gavin Lee really made an impression on us, while Steffanie Leigh did not. Or maybe it's just because Bert gets the better (and funnier) lines. Anyway, I ended up buying a t-shirt on the way out, because I loved it, and then we walked back toward the hotel, grabbing hot chocolate from McDonald's on the way, and then went to bed.
We got up the next morning, had breakfast at the hotel, and then walked up to Central Park. We took a carriage ride, and then went over to FAO Schwarz. We didn't end up playing on the piano...the line wasn't that long, but everyone looked so dopey bouncing around on the thing, and they let six people on at a time, so you really can't differentiate between what you're playing and what everyone else is playing. But, we hung around for the little piano show, which was cute. They played Chopsticks, Heart and Soul, Fur Elise, and Jingle Bells.
And then, we walked down the block to Tiffany's, just to look around. I didn't find anything within my price range for my charm bracelet, but they really didn't have much "NYC" stuff anyway. I was looking for something like the Empire State Building or Statue of Liberty or a taxi cab or an apple or something, but no luck.
Anyway, then we walked to Rockefeller Center. The line for the Lego Store was super long, so we decided to not bother. We did go into the Nintendo Store, Quinn's one request, and he ended up buying a bunch of stuff. And then, we went over to the NBC Experience Store, but all their studio tours were booked for the day, so we just left. Then, we walked to Times Square and went into the M&M's store, and did the "fill your own bag" thing from the tubes on the wall, which was fun, but really expensive. $12.99 a pound...so totally overpriced, but I guess you pay for the experience.
Then, we started heading toward Grand Central. We had a quick lunch/snack at McDonald's (I would have rather had pizza from the place next door, but Quinn was cranky, so I ended up with a chocolate shake at Mickey D's), and then walked the rest of the way to Grand Central, and caught the 1:46pm train back to Beacon.
Part 3 below - New Year's at my aunt & uncle's house!
Part 3 - New Year's
So, we got back to my aunt & uncle's house, and greeted my grandparents and my aunt & uncle who had driven in from Buffalo the day before. The cousins, as planned, had gone into the city that morning, so they weren't there, and we had a feeling they wouldn't be home until late. So, we all sat around and chatted, and we had pizza for dinner, and then we all sat around and talked and baked cookies and such until they went to pick up the cousins from the train station. And basically, everyone crashed for the night.
On Saturday, Mom, two of my aunts, and my grandmother went into the neighboring town, Beacon, to do a little shopping, and when we came back to the house, we discovered that my other aunt and my little cousin, Ava, had arrived, even though they had said they weren't coming because Ava had gotten sick. So, that was a nice little surprise.
So the rest of the evening was basically spent chilling out. I played with Ava, and hung out around the house. We had a bunch of delicious food for dinner - bourbon chicken, rolls, macaroni salad, bacon-wrapped chestnuts, buffalo chicken wing dip, etc. And then, we all gathered around the tv and counted down to the New Year. And after all the screaming and hugs and everything, all the kids went out on the back porch and popped poppers and my uncle lit fireworks in the backyard. And then, everyone stayed up to watch some of the music performances, and then we all crashed and went to bed.
On Sunday, my grandparents and two of my cousins left, as well as my aunt and Ava, and then Mom, two of my aunts, and I went shoe shopping, and I ended up finding a cute pair of gray heeled ankle boots. And then, we stopped at a party a friend of my aunt's was throwing, and chatted for a while, and then we went back to the house, hung around for a while, and then had dinner and spent the evening relaxing and watching tv. And then, we packed up our belongings, and went to bed.
We left around nine the next morning, and stopped at Shoney's for lunch around one. Then, we stopped for gas and snacks around six, and that's when the fun began. We were driving through Virginia when the snow started to really fall. We'd been driving through flurries most of the way down, but they were few and far between. This was just snow falling everywhere. People were going 20 miles per hour on the highway, and there were a ton of accidents out ahead of us that the tow trucks had to clear, but no one around us was slipping on anything. Mom thinks there was probably a pretty quick temperature drop right before we came into the area, and that caused cars to start sliding off the road.
So, in the end, we got home around 9:30, so what should have been a ten and a half hour drive turned into a twelve and a half hour drive. Ugh. But, we got home, and then crashed, and I didn't wake up until 10:30 the next morning.
On Saturday, Mom, two of my aunts, and my grandmother went into the neighboring town, Beacon, to do a little shopping, and when we came back to the house, we discovered that my other aunt and my little cousin, Ava, had arrived, even though they had said they weren't coming because Ava had gotten sick. So, that was a nice little surprise.
So the rest of the evening was basically spent chilling out. I played with Ava, and hung out around the house. We had a bunch of delicious food for dinner - bourbon chicken, rolls, macaroni salad, bacon-wrapped chestnuts, buffalo chicken wing dip, etc. And then, we all gathered around the tv and counted down to the New Year. And after all the screaming and hugs and everything, all the kids went out on the back porch and popped poppers and my uncle lit fireworks in the backyard. And then, everyone stayed up to watch some of the music performances, and then we all crashed and went to bed.
On Sunday, my grandparents and two of my cousins left, as well as my aunt and Ava, and then Mom, two of my aunts, and I went shoe shopping, and I ended up finding a cute pair of gray heeled ankle boots. And then, we stopped at a party a friend of my aunt's was throwing, and chatted for a while, and then we went back to the house, hung around for a while, and then had dinner and spent the evening relaxing and watching tv. And then, we packed up our belongings, and went to bed.
We left around nine the next morning, and stopped at Shoney's for lunch around one. Then, we stopped for gas and snacks around six, and that's when the fun began. We were driving through Virginia when the snow started to really fall. We'd been driving through flurries most of the way down, but they were few and far between. This was just snow falling everywhere. People were going 20 miles per hour on the highway, and there were a ton of accidents out ahead of us that the tow trucks had to clear, but no one around us was slipping on anything. Mom thinks there was probably a pretty quick temperature drop right before we came into the area, and that caused cars to start sliding off the road.
So, in the end, we got home around 9:30, so what should have been a ten and a half hour drive turned into a twelve and a half hour drive. Ugh. But, we got home, and then crashed, and I didn't wake up until 10:30 the next morning.
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