New York for Carrie's birthday

Carrie invited me to join her on her first trip to New York City. I'm thrilled I said, "Yes!"

Day 1 - Wednesday

Carrie flew in from Las Vegas, so we met each other at the airport and took a couple of trains to Harlem where we'd be staying. We dropped off our stuff, I took a quick nap, Carrie freshened up, and then we went looking for some food.

Carrie's first ride on the Subway. I told her I was happy to figure out where to eat and activities (if needed), but she was in charge of figuring out how to get there. She did a great job.
Every single time I tried to navigate, we got lost. Every. Time.

Late lunch/early dinner at Carnegie Deli

The desserts looked amazing.
That white cake with the strawberries on top was $75.

I was a little afraid of our waiter -- he reminded me of a mobster who had broken knees all his life and was now living the quiet life as a humble deli waiter. I thought I ordered a Reuben, but he brought me this corned beef sandwich. I couldn't bear to send it back. The corned beef and bread sandwich WAS delicious. He scoffed when we asked if it came with fries.

Since they were celebrating the re-opening of the remodeled building, the sandwich came with free cheesecake. ALSO DELICIOUS!!

Times Square

I've only ever been to NYC in the spring, summer, or early fall, so the February cold was new to me. It was between 35-45 most of the trip. We wandered around Times Square for awhile looking for a hoodie Carrie could wear under her jacket. I was glad my mom had insisted I take a puffy coat -- I like to be warm!

Times Square photo bomb!

Musical #1 Fun Home

Carrie chose Fun Home as her first Broadway show. I'd never seen a Broadway show in-the-round before and I thought it was perfect for this story. Last year's Tony Award winner for Best Musical was a memoir of real-life cartoonist Alison Bechdel's coming out to her parents, and her childhood in a Funeral ("fun") Home with her closeted-gay dad. There were some light-hearted moments, and in spite of the heavy subject matter they manage to end it on a hopeful note. The storytelling and acting was terrific. I don't know that I would recommend it to everyone, but I'm glad that I saw it.

Day 2 - Thursday

We were disappointed when we realized there weren't any tickets for matinees that day. Luckily, Carrie is easy going, and we found plenty to do!

The Empire State Building

Carrie had a very short list of must-sees, and The Empire State Building was first on the list. This happened to be the sunniest (not most warm) day. And yet, being the off season, the lines weren't bad at all :)

Mini food crawl

Since we couldn't see a matinee, I suggested we try some of the famous eats. Fortunately, a bunch of my favorites are near each other. We were stuffed before we knew it!

New York pizza is a must.
I prefer the white pizza at Patsy's Pizza

Dylan's Candy Bar is fun to look around in. So many different types and flavors of candy. Carrie bought a bag of various gummy bears. I'm proud of myself for refraining this time.

We didn't buy anything at Bloomingdale's (the jewelry, shoes, and hats were tempting, though), so I asked a lady in Magnolia bakery if we could hold her bag for a photo. She didn't even bat an eye and offered to take it. Carrie ate banana pudding (she loved it!) and I bought a chocolate cupcake.

We decided not to wait for a table at Serendipity, but had to take a few photos. The place is so eclectic and fun!

Rockefeller Center

We were both disappointed that Jimmy Fallon was in California the week we were in town. We'll see you in person someday, Mr. Fallon!

We stopped in the warm basement to eat our treats. I had a lemon cupcake from Sprinkles (left) and the chocolate one from Magnolia Bakery. They were both great!

We had the most random adventure in the Swarovski crystal store. Carrie wanted to see how much some of the jewelry cost, and we ended up making friends with one of the sales associates. He was, like, my instant sassy gay best friend. He told me he was going to a Fashion Week party and I said I hated him. He insisted on making Carrie try on several expensive necklaces. And then he said, "Do you want to sit on the million-dollar couch?"

Uh, YEAH!

The crystals on this couch add up to $500,000, and the crystals on the curtain behind it were an other ridiculous amount. Our bestie had to help another client, so his assistant took a photo shoot for us. She gave us goblets and told us to be divas. It was hilarious. And awesome. Only in New York!

We grabbed some hot dogs at a stand while hurrying to our show that night. Another item off Carrie's bucket list. $7 for a hot dog. Good thing it tasted great!

Note: They split the hotdog down the middle so you could add more condiments. Genius!

Musical #2 - Finding Neverland

I don't care if it's cliche to say that Finding Neverland was magical. It was! It's the same story as the Johnny Depp movie, and the music added all the right things to it. Kelsey Grammar was funny, the lead actor (the understudy) was handsome and wonderful in spite of a terrible Scottish accent, and Laura Michelle Kelly was gorgeous as Sylvia. It was partway through the play-within-a-play when the company produces Peter Pan in the family's living room, that I started crying and realizing how much I don't want to grow up. I didn't want to go home and have to find a job and be an adult. And then they had the coolest special effect I've ever seen in a play. A simply and effective use of glitter and a wind machine. It was the coolest thing. Anyone who's seen the play knows what I'm talking about. I loved it.

It was freezing that night, but we waited at the stage door anyway. Neither Kelsey Grammar nor Laura Michelle Kelly came out for autographs, but all these other lovely people did!

I was kind of a bawling mess when the final curtain went down, so I needed some time to try to pull myself together. We were there so long, they pulled the curtain back up and started cleaning (how do they pick up all that glitter?). Kinda cool to get a glimpse of the behind-the-stage magic!

NYC trip part 2

January!

January went by faster than normal. This is what happens when you lose your job halfway through, get sick, and lose track of days while you're sleeping in and laying on the sofa in a haze of medication. On the upside, I've watched a lot of Supernatural.

It takes a long time to watch 10 seasons

On the other upside (twelve-sided die!) I had a lot of fun stuff planned to distract me!

Time at a temple

I went to the temple three times this month. The first was with lovely Liz. She had a coupon for brunch at Eggs in the City and then we did a session at the Salt Lake Temple. We've been planning to go together for at least 6 months and we finally did!

The night I lost my job, all I wanted to do was go to the temple. So I did. Here we have one of the worst photos of me ever. My eye make-up is all cried off, my face is puffy, and the lipstick didn't help as much as I'd hoped. But I'm smiling and I'm at my favorite place.

Sylinda's wedding

It always feels like a victory when a friend in her 30's gets married. Gorgeous Sylinda's reception was classy and understated and elegant -- all very her. I like her husband, I liked meeting her parents, and I love that she is so happy. Love conquers all!

Health highlights

I planned to do the Personal Trainer Food thing in January to offset any damage I did during the holidays. Ten days into it, I lost my job* so I gave permission not to worry about strict dieting for the time being. It's tough enough when everything is going well, but when life stinks I don't want to feel badly for eating a cupcake. It didn't hurt that I weighed myself and I wasn't as far off as I feared.

One hour after I was laid off, I took a photo of how good I look in these jeans I've had at least 8 years.
I'll miss working at the Gateway :(

Loquacious: talking or tending to talk much or freely; talkative, chattering; babbling; garrulous.
I don't think I have a problem with this in most circumstances.

Spotted this in the grocery store on the 26th OF JANUARY.
I'd say Easter needs to wait its turn, but I love Cadbury eggs.
I refrained from purchasing any. This time.

One of the best pieces of advice I got after I was laid off was to work out every day. I haven't quite followed it, but I've worked out at least twice a week and it always feels good. Even better when I'm still sore the next day. I'll whip this body into shape yet. (May I please kick this cold/sinus infection/whatever it is? Pretty please?)

Family time

Since I'm at home during the day time for now, I actually got to go on an outing with my stay-at-home mom, grandma, and sister-in-law (with her son)! It felt so good to be able to say "Yes!" for once! We drove to Provo for the Norman Rockwell exhibit at Brigham Young University's Museum of Art. It was terrific. Rockwell was prolific and hard-working, and I didn't realize before that his works are all paintings. So cool to see his famous Saturday Evening Post covers on canvas, brush strokes and all. My mom loves this kind of thing, and it's always fun to see her get excited. Makes me excited, too. I wish they'd let us take photos!

I forgot how lovely this view is on the road from Provo to Orem

Later that week, I baby-sat baby PJ for an hour or so. First time sitting with him! We played cars and play mobiles. He giggled uncontrollably when I kept throwing a firefighter in a building and yelling, "Ohhhhhh noooooo!" I love that stoic little boy. Any smile is a victory, and his laughter is magic.

Sundance Festival

Aaron invited me to join him and his girlfriend, Anna, to see Notes on Blindness at the Sundance Film Festival. We were numbers 10-12 on the waitlist and sat with one of Anna's filmmaker friends. The movie was snippets of an audio diary that writer John Hull kept while he went blind and learned to navigate his life and his family during that time (acted out and lip-synched by actors). It was powerful and beautiful and sad and funny. He had three kids that he never laid eyes on. But he knew them and they loved him. Such an excellent film.

Ice Castles in Midway

Have you been? You should go! We got to the castles just as it got dark, but I recommend you try to go about 5:30 or 6 so you can see it in the light and dark. The formations are so cool (pun not intended) and it was a lot of fun exploring the caves and sliding down the slide (note: if you wear jeans you'll get stuck). Anna and Elsa were there for photo ops, and it felt right. I kept expecting Superman to come and kick us out of his Fortress of Solitude.  

It was 23 degrees when we left. I realized too late I don't have cold-weather boots, so my feet were a little cold in my leather boots (luckily, they are waterproof, unluckily, they have no treads). Otherwise, I was nice and toasty. 

I wore the following:

• Thermal underwear - top and bottom
• Thick, over-the-knee socks
• Fuzzy socks
• Jeans
• Flannel shirt
• Sweater
• Coat
• Scarf
• Hat
• Gloves

On the balcony overlooking the courtyard, waiting for my turn at the slide

Thanks to this handsome guy for taking me. This photo is from the date when TK took me Go Karting :)

Blogging

In case you are interested, I finally got around to blogging about my Disney World trip. I also created a book on Shutterfly. Golly, that was a good trip!

Okay, February. You might be a tad hampered by a quickly dwindling bank account and the expectation (and reality?) of rejection and uncertainty, but you also have at least one fun vacation in your arsenal. You have historically been my least-favorite month of the year. Please don't be true this time. I'm choosing to be grateful, remember? Let's make that happen.

*I'll not apologize for mentioning the job loss so many times in one post. It obviously affected pretty much everything in my life, from vacation plans to theater auditions to, well, everything else. It's going to loom pretty large for a while.

Happy 2016!

As I reflect on the old year and think about who I want to be during the new, I've come to a conclusion:

I need to be more grateful.

I don't like to dwell on the negative for long. I make a point at looking at the silver lining.

I also feel jealous of my friends who have things I think I want, judgment when I see others behaving badly, and anger when treated badly.

I know that these feelings are normal from time to time. I don't want to make them a habit. So, I am choosing to look for the grateful. Because, let's be honest, the only one who suffers long-term for my negativity is me. And why make myself suffer any more than I have to? That seems silly.

It is amusing to me that only a few weeks into the new year and this determination, I lost my job. This is a BIG TEST! I'm not handling it entirely well. I have been crabby a lot in the last three weeks. But I am aware of the Pros along with the Cons, and one of the big Pros is that my friends have been coming out of the woodwork to help in whatever way they can.

The first Monday I didn't go to work, I asked my Facebook friends if anyone was making cupcakes and if I could have one.
Within 24 hours, I'd been gifted with lemon cake, chocolate/caramel cake pops, fudge, and chocolate muffins, and made a date to make cupcakes the next week.

Samoa cupcakes: chocolate with chocolate ganache and caramel/coconut mixture on top

Food, phone calls, text messages, job options, quality time, hugs, prayers, willingness to talk about something other than losing my job, books to keep me from getting bored, advice NOT to start looking right away if I don't feel like it, and so many other sweet gestures. How can I feel ungrateful when I have so much?

This gratitude thing will be a challenge. Life is going to happen and it will sometimes suck. Hopefully, losing my job will be the worst thing that happens to me this year. At least I have a good support system and a tiny bit of money saved if I need it.

Or, maybe gratitude will become a habit and it won't be a challenge after a while. Maybe it will be easy sooner than I think.

Let's find out, shall we?