New York Day 2

Now, where was I? Oh, yes. Wow, Monday was amazing!! We decided to take the train into the city (New York City!!) Monday morning, hoping the weather would be at least decent. Well, it was above and beyond what we could have expected based on Sunday's brilliant display of...gloom. Monday was beautiful! It was sunny and warm. The morning was brisk and chilly but the sun was shining and it was so gorgeous out. By the afternoon, I had shed my winter coat and was pretty warm in my sweater. (BTW, Mom, I took your advice on the thin tank underneath to add a layer and it made all the difference in the world!) Kris and I took the train into the city which was part of the adventure for me.

















Kris had friends in town from California for a wedding so we hung out with them for a little bit until they had to go to the airport.

We all went to Ground Zero which was a pretty moving experience. All I could think about was where I was that day when I saw the footage of the towers. And it's hard to believe that two buildings the size of the towers actually stood in that small space. There are buildings all around and I could only imagine what the people who lived/worked in those buildings experienced that horrible day. It was very sobering and it’s just not possible to fully explain the feeling you get when you stand there.


Kris's friends had to leave pretty soon after that so we said our good-byes and amazingly enough we just happened to be right across the street from a yarn store! It was my first LYS other than a big box store. I got some sock yarn in beautiful colors and a lecture on buying nice yarn. The lady was so funny. We chatted a little when Kris and I first walked in and she asked Kris if she'd been to Rhinebeck. Poor Kris, she knows almost nothing about knitting or crocheting and had no idea what the lady was talking about. Later she said, "Rhinebeck? I thought the lady was talking about a ski place or something." She called it a "knitter language." So we shopped around a little and I found some sock yarn to give me inspiration to stick with this boring learner sock pattern I'm on right now. I took it to the front and the owner was telling me that maybe I wanted to buy cheaper sock yarn since I was a newer knitter because I wouldn't want to use the stuff I picked out on my first pair since I'd probably be frogging a lot and that wears out the fiber. I'm holding my little selection and she's giving me some good info about using wooden needles and how that's what she prefers but she refused to sell her needles to someone one time because she was sure they weren't going to use them. I said, “Well, are you going to sell me this yarn?” I started to think that since I wasn't a tried and true sock knitter yet she wasn't going to let me buy her sock yarn. She did but it was touch and go for a minute. And thank goodness she did because it is yummy. It’s my first nice yarn and I just want to carry it with me everywhere and pet it.


After that we walked over to get tickets to ride the ferry out to see the Statue of Liberty. I just wanted to get some good pictures. I was still getting over the chest cold that tried to kill me so just thinking about walking up a gazillion stairs made my lungs wheeze. I sounded like a man for a couple days and lost the lung capacity to even laugh, which is a really awful thing for me. I love to laugh and I'm on vacation. Double whammy. So something funny would happen and I'd open my mouth to laugh and my lungs would squeeze shut and no sound would come out. Ugh. By Monday, I sounded like a girl again...a wheezy girl. Anyway, we made it through the ticket line and went to get in line to get on the ferry. We're walking to the back of the line...and we're walking...and we round a corner and we're walking...and we round another corner and...you get the idea. Kris, my patience-challenged friend kept saying, "Oh no, I'm not waiting in that line...oh, no. Look it keeps going!" But we found the back of the line (eventually) and stuck it out. The line was so long, we passed a couple different street performers...a man playing a steel drum and another man playing a trumpet.



It didn't take as long as we were afraid it would. The line moved very quickly. It took less than an hour to wind all the way around. We both had books (the train ride is about an hour) so we were shuffling through the line reading. You can see the line behind Kris and me in the picture…


And the line in front of us in this one. It was crazy.


It was an absolutely beautiful day. Have I said that before? :-) I just stood at the back of the boat looking at the Lady Liberty and soaking up the sun. It was absolutely wonderful.


I took no less than 20 pictures of her. She was standing there so beautifully.

I also got a great shot of the skyline from the boat.


We didn't get to see a Broadway show, the timing was just wrong, but we headed back home on the train and tried to crash early to be up early to head to Philly. The night owl in me comes out in the extreme on vacation so early didn't happen for me. But Philly is another post.

New York Day 1

So I went out of town to visit my friend, Kris.


This is how far White Plains is from Orlando.


We had the BEST time. The weather was pretty icky the first few days so we laid low. I was fighting a nasty cold, which now that I think about it happened the last time I was traveling. It started off the exact same way, a sore throat that was more bothersome than anything and just when I thought I was going to be fine, I was struck down to the point of not wanting to touch yarn. I was feeling better when I landed in New York. I’d realized that morning that I was probably going to live and decided that I was OK with that.

Saturday we rode into the city (New York City!!) with Kris’s friends and went to the MOMA. What an amazing museum. I don’t pretend to know anything about art, I’m pretty clueless. I mean, how can you paint a yellow stripe on a blank wall and call it art?? I can do that. Anyway, we saw some really questionable, intriguing, beautiful things. Even though I was walking around with a very quizzical look on my face most of the time, I really enjoyed taking everything in.




Kris’s cousin and his friend met us at the museum and we headed to lunch. If you ever get a chance to eat at Dallas BBQ, I highly recommend the wings.


We had to take a cab to the restaurant from the museum. I’ve been in cabs before but never a NYC cab and I’m all about capturing this trip on film so I climb in and take a picture of the cab, and there’s a TV in the back of the seat so you can check out the news or how expensive your ride is getting. So I had to take a picture of that too. Now, I wanted to ride the subway and it was on my list of things to do (yes, I know how silly that sounds) but there’s a reason riding in a cab wasn’t on that list. Those guys are CRAZY! They’re changing lanes, cutting people off, speeding up really fast and then slamming on the brakes. And you’re just sitting there in the back seat along for the ride. Our group was really quiet so I leaned up and asked the cabby how long he’d lived in New York. “Two days,” he replied. I didn’t believe him. “Where are you from?” I tried again. “New Jersey.” I didn’t believe him when he said that either. Kris laughed at me and told me to stop trying to chat up the oh-so-talkative driver. She said, “You can tell you’re not from here.” I said, “Of course I’m not from here. I’m taking pictures of the inside of the cab!” I guess you can take the girl out of Indiana…

We were planning to head back into New York Sunday afternoon, do some sightseeing, catch a Broadway show, stay overnight and then do a few little touristy things Monday but when we woke up Sunday morning, it was not only bitter cold, it was drizzling and it didn't let up all day long. It ended up being such a nice, relaxing day for us. We slept in, went and got a mani/pedi, relaxed around the house, and I also got to go to the biggest dairy store in the world, Stew Leonards!


Even though it was freezing and still raining a little bit, we got some of their soft serve ice cream and walked around their maze of a store. I could have taken a whole bunch of pictures of the fun, moving, singing, dancing displays but Kris rolled her eyes and laughed at me when I asked her to take this one...


so I decided that while I will never see these people again and could probably get away with thinking the singing chicken was photo-worthy, she might run into that lady over by the cheese counter who's giving me funny looks again, and maybe I should do my mama proud and be on my best behavior! I did have to take a picture of the pumpkins.


There were so MANY of them. It was an ocean of orange.

Once we got home, we played Yahtzee. I won one game. I actually got Yahtzee! This is my goober "I'm winning!" face.


Isn't that lovely. Thanks, Kris. hehe

This post is getting very long and picture heavy so I will post about our second day in New York tomorrow. And yarn…yummy yarn!

Stalking My Favorite Band

For the longest time, I have been a HUGE fan of Sister Hazel. They are an amazing band and their music is amazing. It's poetic and beautiful and strong and they write their own lyrics and they have an incredible way of presenting their message. I've seen them several times at House of Blues in Orlando but as awesome as their CDs are, they are just so much MORE in concert. I highly recommend checking out their new album, Release, but all of their albums are fantastic. (I'm running out of adjectives here. hehe) Anyway, they were at Epcot during the Food & Wine festival so my friend, Kelly, was able to get me in.

There are a couple of really cool things about this particular concert.

1. Kelly is bold. We got there about ten minutes before the show started and we were able to snag seats five rows from the front. There was a space and Kelly just sat us down there. I would never have been able to get there. So I was sitting right in front of Jett Beres the entire concert.


Now, I don't know if he knew the girl who was dancing beside me or if he thought she was cute or maybe he just thought my goofy smile was funny but he was looking my way a lot. :-)

2. I was able to take pictures. Whenever they come to HOB, you are NOT allowed to take cameras in for some reason that I do not understand. Being at this concert to begin with and with the bonus of #1, I was able to get some great pictures of the guys.




It was a great show and I loved every minute of it.

And now I have followed them out of state. I am currently in Connecticut visiting my friend, Kris. We've had a blast the past few days doing sight seeing in New York and Philly. There will be several posts to come on those outings. We've walked miles and miles and my feet are begging for a break.

Sister Hazel was in Philly last night and we were there!! Kris is not a fan. It's not that she's heard them and doesn't like them, it's that I have been a bad friend up to this point and haven't tied her to a chair and "encouraged" her to listen. *wink* When we left last night, she was converted. She's talking about when they will be back in the area again so she can go to another concert!

So, my stalking career is short and sweet. I'm flying home tomorrow afternoon but they're going to be at the casino close to here tomorrow evening. If I was going to be here one more day I would be able to see them once more. When I saw the tour schedule, I told Kris I could try going to the airline ticket counter Friday and pretend that I didn't realize I was trying to fly out one day later than I was supposed to. She didn't think that would work. I hope it doesn't make me less of a devoted fan that I wasn't willing to try.

Hello, Dear Blog...I've Missed You

So, there for a while, I didn't write because there wasn't anything new to write about...and now all of a sudden there is so much to write about, I will have to stretch it out over a few days so as not to overwhelm you with all that has been happening.

First of all, I would just like to say how proud I am of my boyfriend's son (son of my heart). He is on the golf team for his school and I was able to go see him play last week. He did such a good job (the best on his team) and his school won the match! They've let me tag along when they've been to play golf for practice and instruction and I've seen his game improve by leaps and bounds. He's not only a good golfer, he is a good kid, er, I mean young man. I love him very much.


Secondly, I will be able to blog more regularly now because I have my own computer!!


My very cool roommate has been letting me use her computer to blog, surf the net, etc. but it was time for me to have my own "surfboard" so I shopped around, talked to a friend who knows something about computers (because I know nothing) and I'm so pleased with my little Acer...or the Drea-cer as I affectionately call it. It's super portable, light and it does everything I need it to do. I love it.

That's the news for now...yes, there's much more to tell but like I said, it's so nice to have blog fodder again that I'm going to stretch this out for a few days.

Here's a preview:

I'm stalking my favorite band.

I'm not in Orlando anymore...only temporarily. Where am I and what have I been up to?

New project? or two?