Week 6

This was probably the best week in NY yet.  Work is awesome and I am getting more and more independent.  I treat people by myself now and more than one patient has told me that they like me as their therapist.  It makes it all worth it at the end of the day.  My favorite patients are the little Italian ladies.  Between bringing me tomato seeds and teaching me how to make my own marinara sauce, I just just fell in love.  They talk to me about food and family and household life.  They laugh through the pain and smile every time I look their way.  I'm thinking that if things don't work out for me too well in the US, I'm headed to Italy.
This best past of my best week was that MY SISTER CAME TO VISIT!!!!  Chelsey came on the megabus and I went to pick her up on Saturday morning.  I picked her up on the corner of 7th and 28th and as I was waiting, I went exploring the local shops.  Little did I know, I was in the neighborhood of flowers!!!!  Beautiful blooms were everywhere!

After I picked her up, we went shopping for jewelry.  Chelsey loves the larger-than-life studs and every thing that sparkles and I found a few good places last time I was in the city.  I suggest starting on 6th and 38th and working your way downtown.  There are so many shops, you will be seeing bling for days.  

We then took the subway to Brooklyn.  A few lines were under construction so that took a little longer than expected, but we found our way.

We walked around Brooklyn and found some pizza!  We wanted to go to Grimaldi's, which is supposed to be the best pizza in all of NYC at 19 Old Fulton Street, but we didn't feel like waiting in the 2 hour line so we headed down the block for a less crowded and posher looking place called Ignazio's Pizza.  We only waited about 20 minutes and we got a window seat with a beautiful view of the Brooklyn bridge.  The best part was it was only $17 for a nice sized pie.  The place was packed full of scary, yet classy looking Italians (we were hoping they were in the real mob) and we loved it.

After lunch we headed to the bridge and started walking.  It is 1.3 miles across.  It was very sunny and nice, but windy.  Walking from Brooklyn to Manhattan is supposed to afford better views than the other direction and we were not disappointed!  The Brooklyn bridge was completed in 1883 and was the largest suspension bridge in the world and the first steel-wire suspension bridge.  It was designed to always be a walking bridge which is awesome because the walking part is on top and beautiful.  

Beautiful view of the Manhattan bridge, Empire State Building, and the Chrysler Building!

 I love Chelsey's hair in this one!

After our bridge walk, we went through town and walked down Broadway.  There were LOTS of jewelry and shoe stores and we just went and stopped at whatever we wanted to look at.  I want every pair of these boots, btw.  

At 5:30 we met some of my lady friends from work for a dinner out at Lucky Chengs.  It is an Asian restaurant, but what makes this place unique is that all of the waitstaff are transvestites.  A little crazy, but a fun night.  I love the ladies from work and it was super nice of them to take us out!

After our crazy dinner, we took the subway up to Times Square and went to our favorite place, the 4 story Forever 21, and saw the Naked Cowboy man and the lights and all that.  It was a beautiful night and a lot of fun!

The next day, while waiting for the train, Chelsey and I went to this nice park in Babylon out on Long Island.  It is such a cute little town.  Full of amazing old homes and sailboats and little shops.  

Apple Dumplings

Fall is a beautiful time of year and there is no better way to celebrate the season than to go pick some apples and make apple yummies with them.  Our choice for this weekend was apple dumplings.  SO easy and super tasty.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter
1 cup white sugar (can use 1/2 white and 1/2 brown)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 can Mountain Dew
2 large apples (Granny Smith is best) peeled, cored, and cut into 8ths
2 (8 ounce) packages refrigerated crescent roll dough

Directions:

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan.  Heat the butter, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla in a saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes.  Remove from heat; set aside. 

Divide the crescent roll dough into 16 triangles. Roll 1 slice of apple with the dough and arrange on the prepared pan. 

Pour the butter mixture over the wrapped apples, then pour the citrus-flavored soda on top.  It looks weird and watery, but trust me, you will not regret this.

Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, 40 to 45 minutes.  Serve hot with some vanilla ice cream.

Week 5: Maryland

I decided to go home this weekend for my little sister's senior homecoming dance.  I was on hair duty.  Five girls got ready at our house and it was great fun!

My favorite part!

My mom and I also went to Milburn Orchards.  It is a huge apple and pumpkin farm where you can pick your own apples or get them from their country store.  They also make fresh apple cider donuts that are to die for!

I want to make one of these real bad.

Week 5: New York

My big event for this week was...

That's right.  Phantom of the Opera ON Broadway!  Turns out if you buy tickets for weeknights in the second-to-last row, THEY ARE SUPER CHEAP.  Like $26.50 cheap.  As far as broadway goes, that's quite amazing!  I get out of work around 2:30 on Tuesdays so I left from work and headed into the city for some craft store stops.  I don't think I've ever been into the city on a weekday and there are lots of shops in the fashion district that are only open M - F.  My first stop was So Good Ribbons on 28 W 38th Street.  It was wonderful.  The owner was a funny black man that gave me a nice discount because they only took cash.  The shop is clearly ghetto, but fun at the same time.  I got some really cute navy blue ribbon with sailing flags on it.

My next stop was Trims De Carnival.  You can't not go into a store like that!  A little more sparkle, but not really what I needed.  It was just about three shops down.

My next and last ribbon stop was at Mokuba at 137 W 38th Street.  It is an amazing store.  They boast to have 50,000 types of ribbon and I think I believe them now.  Their selection is not so much crazy and unique in design, but unique in color and selection.  They will have simple ribbons but in 30 shades and 5 different widths.

  

Lastly, I had to make an homage to Mood.  I needed some knits, lace, and cheetah print for a scarf.  I found a beautiful silk cheetah print for on $14 a yard.  I'll have to do some modeling of it later.  This is some of the patterned and solid knits.

My good friend Brock worked in the theater district all summer so I asked him what his favorite restaurant is in the area.  He suggested Don Giovanni Ristorante at 358 W 44th Street.  Only about a block from my theater, it was the perfect stop.

As per Brock's instructions, I went for the garlic knots and lobster ravioli in pink sauce.  Only about $20 for dinner and I enjoyed every bite!

After that I walked around a bit and saw the sights of the theater district.  There are so many shows to see and so much going on.  It was a beautiful evening for walking around.

So, Phantom has been on Broadway since 1988, the longest running show of all time.  It has always been in the Majestic theater and it is the perfect place for it!  These are my crappy seats!  Which is still a great view, btw.

The run down theater look for the auction at the start of the show.

My view from my new seat for act 2.  I moved down because the theater was not totally full and nobody cared!  It was grand.  When all the black drapes get pulled off as we are going back in time, the theater transforms into the beautiful opera house.  You can also see the chandelier that "falls" into the audience when the Phantom cuts it down.

The beautiful architecture inside the theater.

It was an amazing show.  Seeing live human performance, no matter how flawed, will always hit the heart more than movies or studio recorded albums.  I can see how people get addicted to Broadway and all it's beauty and talent.

Times Square on my walk back to the train.  

Week 4

This has been a quite week.  Work was good and productive.  It is finally getting sunny but cool and the girls and I have been enjoying the fall weather.  This weekend was General Conference and we have been relaxing at home and listening to the leaders of the church.  It has been a great week to re-group and decided how I am going to spend the last few weeks here in NY.  I got to go to the beach this week and just walk for a while on the sand.  I would have to say that Long Island is becoming my new version of perfection.  Only an hour from the best variety of entertainment in the world and only twenty minutes from some of the best beaches I have ever seen.  I went to Robert Moses State Park and I think it's a mix between Cannon Beach and Outer Banks.  The waves are calm but stead and the sand is wide and soft.  There are lots of little shells and drift wood to look at and lots of deer and birds and trees around.  I'm not sure what it is, but there is something about the sea that both uplifts you and humbles you.

It was a cloudy day, but I still loved it.

Sea grass and little sand dunes.

First footprints of the day.

Sweet shells.

I think I need to learn to drill holes in shells so I can get my craft on.

This is gross, not pretty, but IT'S A REAL SHARK!!!!

Fire Island Lighthouse.

Bridge to Fire Island.