Living the Life in NYC

Ben has been spoiled this summer!!! I've decided that I am going to law school just so I can have the summer he has. Not only is he getting paid very well, the firm also has all kinds of fun things planned for the summer associates. One of those events included the US Open. Instead of going to work the Monday of the US Open, Ben went to the practice round. Below are some of his pictures. He was thoughtful enough to get some golf balls for my dad and brothers. My brother, Russell, has a golf ball collection from different courses he has played on or been to...he is thrilled to add the US Open ball to his shelf.

Yep, that's Tiger Woods back there.

As if going to the US Open isn't enough, Ben has also been able to go to a charity event that Paul Simon and Willie Nelson sponsored (yes, they both played music), see Anne Hathaway star in a play at Shakespeare in the Park, go to numerous Yankees game and eat all of the food he wants while there, dine at delicious restaurants, go to Coney Island, play softball in Central Park, go on a walking tour of the city, and the list goes on. And all of this stuff is paid for by the firm. What a life, huh? He has worked some...but he has also played a lot!!! Oh, and he doesn't have to be at work until like 9:30am and he gets to leave around 5 or 5:30...can y'all tell I am jealous!?!?! Yes, I am! I'm jealous, but I'm also proud. He has worked really hard to get where he is...read way too many legal papers and studied a lot! I may not be playing in NYC with him, but I'm glad I benefit a little bit from his hard work! :)

Not really a race, but it was fun

This past Saturday, I ran with some friends in the "Race for the Cure" in Raleigh. I've never run any type of race before, but it was actually not too bad. I've decided I'm going to continue running in these types of events. I even bought new running shoes Saturday afternoon because my feet were killing me during and after the race. I'm sad to say that I walked for a couple of minutes, but I still did it in about 32-33 minutes. We're not really sure exactly when we started because there were soooo many people there, and the race started late, and we didn't really know where the start line was. I think we started timing ourselves before the start line. Either way, I'm not going to let myself walk in my next race. Since the race, I've learned a few things (in no particular order).
1. eat something before running 3 miles.
2. drink more than two sips of water before running 3 miles in 85 degree weather.
3. run in shoes that are less than 2-3 years old. Your feet will probably thank you.
4. Get more than 5 hours of sleep the two nights before. My sisters were in town, so we had fun, but we also stayed up way too late!!!

Here are some pictures from the race thanks to Jesika's super supportive husband who came out to support her and brought their two absolutely adorable children!


Jesika finished the race a couple of minutes ahead of me, but she decided to run the last 100 yards or so with me, so this is us after we crossed the finish line. She is so sweet!

Me with Ashley, Ceri, and Jesika. Ashley's husband, Carleton, ran the race with her, but I cropped him out of the picture (ha, sorry, Carleton. I don't think he'll mind.).

And a little later in the morning after eating some food and getting free stuff, here is Ceri, Ali (the organizer of our group), me and Jesika.

It was a lot of fun. I'm glad all of these ladies (and Carleton) ran it. It was a great experience, and I plan on doing it again. It was not only good to get out and exercise, but it was really moving to see all of the people with different t-shirts or signs on their shirts in memory or in celebration of women in their lives. It made me think of my mom some, even though she didn't pass away from breast cancer, she did pass away from bile duct cancer, and my grandmother (who is still living) had breast cancer years ago. I guess I should have run in celebration of her! Hopefully my registration fee really does go to something to help all of the women out there so we don't have to worry about cancer anymore. That would be nice!

Just a few pictures from New York City

Our anniversary night...after I finally made it!

Saturday morning. This is the view of Central Park from Ben's apartment balcony.

Saturday night after our delicious dinner at JoJo

Ben at his office.

Us on Staten Island with NYC behind us...I know, you can't see any of the city.

Our plate from our Sunday brunch.

Walking through Central Park on Monday before I left.

I have a lot of other pictures from the trip on my photo blog. Go see them!

I want one...

One day, when I have a cute little house on some land, I want one of these...
Exhibit A
Exhibit B

And if Ben doesn't let me get one of those, then I want one of these...
Exhibit C
Exhibit D
Exhibit E

Maybe I could even have both. Although, I'm not sure if bulldogs and labs get along very well. Only one way to find out! I would say I want one now, but I would never have time to play with it, and it would just have to stay in our apartment all by itself all day...that would make me sad! So, I'll continue to be patient and wait until we have a place where it could run and play! I just wish they would stay so cute and wrinkly!!!

5th Wedding Anniversary

On May 22, 2009, Ben and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary...we aren't newlyweds anymore! To celebrate, we went to New York City for the weekend.
My flight was scheduled to leave RDU at 4:00pm, so I left work around 12:30 to go home, pack, and meet my friend who so graciously took me to the airport. At 1:35, I get a call from Delta telling me my flight has been delayed and I won't be leaving until 5:41pm (my original arrival time in NYC) and will be landing at 7:22pm. Since we had dinner reservations at 8:30, I decided to go ahead and take a shower and get dressed for dinner...this meant putting on heels and I normally do not travel in heels ever!!! I also called my friend to let her know that we don't have to leave until 3:30pm. She picks me up then and we head for the airport. It took us an hour to get there...it normally takes 30 minutes at most! After getting to the airport, I check in at the Delta kiosk to find out that my flight has been delayed again!!! I will now be leaving RDU at 7:22pm and arriving in NY at 9:15pm, which means no anniversay dinner for us! :( Thankfully, I packed flip flops, a jean skirt, and t-shirt in my carry-on, so I changed asap and decided to grab some CPK for dinner. As I was eating my pizza, I hear the girl come on the speaker saying that flight whatever with service to LaGuardia has been CANCELLED!!! I grab my pizza and run to the counter to find out that yes, I did not hear wrong, my flight to NY has been cancelled. After waiting in line for a bit and talking to random people in my same boat, a Delta employee tells me to follow her to another gate. She is able to get me a seat on a flight to DC and tells me I will then be on a US Air flight to LGA. So, that's what I do. We land in DC...my first time there and I saw like all of the monuments and the capital building in the air. I don't even need to go in person now...joke, we're going for July 4th!!! I'm so excited! After landing in DC, we have 20 minutes to find the US Air gate. Of course, it is in a completely different concourse on the other side of the airport and we are flying out of gate 41 of like 45. We had to go through security again and everything. Luckily, I made it on the flight and we finally landed in LGA at 10:40pm...yes, that is five hours later than my original flight time. At least I got there safely and was able to spend an hour and twenty minutes with my husband on our anniversary, even if it was only being at his apartment in East Harlem (yes, East Harlem/Upper Upper East Side/ghetto) with his three other roommates.
The next morning, we slept in, ate a small breakfast, got dressed, and headed for our hotel, the Belvedere, in midtown. We were lucky enough to check-in early at noon instead of 3pm. It was nice to lay on a king size bed instead of a futon, which is what Ben has at his apartment. After dropping our bags off, we headed south on the subway to walk through Chinatown and Canal St, specifically. It was Ben's first time, and it was madness! There were so many people there, so we decided to get back on the subway to head further south to Battery Park. We were going to go on the Staten Island Ferry, but decided against it and just walked around down there for a while, laid in the grass, and relaxed. It was nice. Around 4, we left Battery Park and headed back to Canal St. I just couldn't get over coming to NYC and not buying anything from Canal St. We got there, and I tried on sooo many sunglasses. That was the problem...there were too many to decide from, so we left because I couldn't decide and we had dinner reservations at 6pm.
Our dinner that night was at JoJo. We didn't get there until 6:15, but we made it, and I am glad we did! This place was divine!!! We each got appetizers. I got Ricotta Ravioli and Ben got Coach Farms Goat Cheese. They were so good. And then for dinner, I got a chicken dish and Ben got duck. For dessert, yes, we ate a lot, we split the cheesecake that was topped with a cherry compote with pistachio ice cream and roasted pistachios on the side. Whoa, that dessert was amazing!!! After dinner, we just walked through downtown. Thankfully, I packed my flip flops in my purse, so I didn't have to walk in heels the whole night. We strolled upon Rockefeller Plaza, through Times Square, and went up to Ben's office in his building. It was on the 35th floor, and my ears were popping in the elevator because it took us up so fast. His office is about a block away from Times Square, so we could see a bunch of the lights from there. It was fun! Then, we went back to our room and watched the NBA finals game...we're so romantic! :)
Sunday, we went to church for sacrament meeting, and then went to One if by Land, Two is by Sea in the West Village for brunch. This was another absolutely delicious meal!!! I got the french toast dish and Ben got the Wild Mushroom and Leek Quiche. They were both so good, but so different. Mine was so sweet and Ben's was very earthy and healthy. Sooo yummy!!!! After brunch and walking around that neighborhood for a while, we headed down to Battery Park again. This time, we decided to go on the Staten Island Ferry. It was free, which is why we decided to go on that instead of the Ellis Island or Statue of Liberty ferries. It was really nice, and cool to see the city from the water. We didn't do anything on Staten Island. We just spent a while outside and got back on another ferry to NYC 30 minutes after we got there. After we got back, we took a nap in our hotel room, then went to this mexican restaurant near our hotel for chips and salsa...and that was our dinner! After "dinner" we again walked around! This time, we headed to the southwest corner of Central Park and Columbus Circle. They have all kinds of shops, restaurants, and art exhibits. It was neat. There was one carved crystal piece at the art exhibit that was being sold for $255,000.00!!! I couldn't believe it! Who in their right mind would pay that much for something to sit in their home or office?!?!?!? Please, you could buy another home or office for that much money! No doubt, it looked really cool, but $255,000.00??? That's crazy!
On Monday, I decided we had to go back to Canal St because I was going to buy a bag and sunglasses! So, we woke up early and got to Canal St around 9:15. I am so glad we did because no one was there. It was sweet! I went into a store, tried on a few sunglasses and decided against them. The girl looks at me, "You like Coach, Chanel? I show you. I have some." So, she pulls out this box from her cabinet that has Coach and Chanel sunglasses. I got a pair of Chanel's for $10. Yes, they are probably fake, but whatever! I don't pay more than $10 for sunglasses anyways. After leaving that store, I finally say to Ben, "Ok, are we going to follow one of these people or what? That is the only way we are going to get a decent bag." He responds, "If that's what we need to do to leave, then let's do it." So, this guy comes up to me and says, "Lady, you like Coach? Handbag? Prada? You want bag?" (in their chinese accent...it's funny), and I ask him "where?" and he says, "I show you, Follow me." We follow this guy half way down the block and then we meet up with this lady who takes us back down the block we just walked and then down a side street to this green van that is just sitting on the side of the street! Sketchy? YES! She tells us to get in the van so she can lock it. Ben was freaking out at this point and I just jumped in! Holy cow the bags!!!! Yes, most of them are probably fake, but they were still beautiful! Luckily, it is not illegal to buy those bags, but it is illegal to sell them. After negotiating a little and Ben telling me to hurry up and make a decision, I got a Gucci, and it is so pretty! To Ben's relief, I was happy to leave Chinatown after getting my bag and sunglasses. We checked out of our hotel, and took our bags to Ben's apartment. He lives on the northeast side of Central Park, so we decided to walk around there until I had to leave for the airport. It was really nice, but it was sooo crowded. It was Memorial Day, so that is somewhat expected. We got some street food outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art (we didn't go in...next time), and walked up 5th Avenue to his apartment. We also stopped for ice cream on the street...definitely not the best ice cream I have ever had, but it was an experience. We then grabbed my bags and headed for the airport. Luckily, this flight was only delayed about 20 minutes, so I got in around the correct time.
All in all, it was a fun weekend! I cannot imagine living in that city, but it is fun to visit! I look forward to going again at the end of the month. Next time, we are going to a show! We were going to go this time, but with my flight messing up our plans, we decided to postpone to my next trip up. Also, I have lots of pictures, but I haven't loaded them on my personal computer or my work computer, so no pictures right now...maybe later! Sorry this is so long...I didn't want to miss any details! :)