bag

Um, perfect nautical beach bag? Yes please! Anyone want to go to Nantucket?

nyc

This, my friends, is my New York trip. In a nutshell.

Our hotel::

The Belvedere. Right in the middle of the theater district. Catherine Zeta-Jones and Kelsey Grammar both were performing on the street we stayed on. Nice, clean, happy hotel. With a little everything store down the road with flowers outside. I loved that there were flowers right there.

Musicals::
- Billy Elliot. We had good seats in the front mezzanine and the show was good, about a boy who's a really good dancer and a whole community that pulls together to help him get an audition to a school that would give them a better life than he'd have in their small town. As a whole, more impressive in the dancing than musically. And I'm a music freak, so it wasn't as cool to me.

- Promises, Promises. with Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth. It was super funny, they both have amazing voices. Sean Hayes has the best comedic timing, and there were a few extra characters that had smaller rolls but ones that added so much humor. We laughed a ton. During intermission the kid behind me noticed that Chris Colfer, Kurt from Glee, was sitting in the theater watching. So I figured I'd kick myself if I didn't go down and talk to him/get his autograph -- but I still felt like a moron being like "so...I like Glee...and yeah. Sign my program?" There's just not that much to say to someone famous that you really know nothing about. But I got the autograph and a story.

- Memphis. We got tickets last minute at the TKTS booth, and it turned out to be the best of the shows. We laughed and teared up and took in all the incredible dancing(the way those people can BEND!) and really impressive singing, what I love. It was about segregation -- a white guy who loves black music and stumbles into a black bar and falls in love with the singer, and her big brother is angry and his mother is angry, but he gets black music on the radio and people start to love it and accept those differences more, but they face challenges the whole way which is why it's so emotional because it's so hard to watch and know how black people were treated. But it was sooo goood.

- TKTS. Not a musical, but where we got the tickets for Memphis. It worked out really nice for us on the last day because we happened to be in Times Square when the line was super short and we hopped in with our gelato before it got too long. We had to wait about 45 minutes for the booth to open, and then another 30 before we got to the front. I wouldn’t have wanted to do that any other day, because it takes a lot of your time, and it’s right in the middle of the day. But it did work out nicely for us on the last day.

The bakeries::

On every corner. The yummy, yummy bakeries. We stopped at a few along the way, including Crumbs. THEY MAKE CUPCAKES. I was in love.

Shopping::
Oh my goodness. There are SO MANY STORES. And they’re all so BIG. Just big big big. I geeked out. I got to see Anthropologie and J Crew and H&M and all these stores that aren’t near by me. Went into Saks Fifth Avenue, touched a $2000 dress. And the SHOES. Everywhere, the shoes. The incredible, incredible shoes. I wanted these Gucci boots so bad. Little pricey and impractical, however. They cost more than I would spend on a wedding dress. Um, yeah.

Central Park::

Bigger than expected. It really is quite huge, you could get lost in there. It's still every much New York in the sense that wherever you go you see people, but you also see green everywhere. Horses and bikers and people running hills with their trainers. Lots of people go there to work out. Lots of groups of children too -- a bunch of kids went running by us where we were sitting to run down the hill in front of us. It's more than just trees and hills too -- there's fields for every kind of sport, playground equipment, a zoo, a carousel and boathouses on ponds.

Overall observations::
- I don't like people being everywhere when I'm trying to walk. The rush hour times were insane.
- People wear the coolest stuff, and ridiculous heels to walk blocks and blocks in.
- They give you bread in every restaurant! Score!
- I could live there for like a year. It's awesome and a psych experiment just walking around and I loved being close to things and all the little places to eat, plus I'd be happy knowing I lived someplace where the cops ride horses -- but I will forever want a family in a town, not a crazy city.

Stay tuned for a post about the clothing!

daily

Check out Central Park. It's a unique experience, being surrounded by trees but still hearing the city. Mom and I sat on this hill and read for a little while, soaking up the one sunny day we had in New York City.

daily

We learned about Sephora in my marketing class, and since then I've been totally interested in everything they've been doing, both in marketing and all their products. On our first day in New York we walked down to 5th Avenue and one of the first stores I saw was Sephora Fifth Avenue. Super exciting!

back

I am BACK from NYC -- and I had a fabulous time that I will update you all about later. I currently have to throw myself back into the real world and get ready for two weddings this weekend and moving on Sunday! Seriously exciting.

jamaica

I leave for New York in less than a week. I think that means I officially need to get a summary of Jamaica up here before New York happens and I’m behind with two vacations. So. Jamaica went like this:

The food.
Oh my goodness, the food. Spicy stuff with jerk sauce on it. Fresh cut fruit, I love fruit! This yummy cheese that you eat with crackers that taste like communion crackers, which I love and always want more of at church. Which is possibly slightly sacrilegious to be thinking about the taste of the communion cracker when you’re supposed to be thinking about the symbolism that it’s Jesus’ body. Anyway, the food. Tomato Lentil Cappuccino soup, so good, really tomato-y with a coffee kick. The best scallops of my life. Desserts with decorative bits of white and milk chocolate sticking out of them, which I’m now so going to add to my cupcakes sometimes. Mini cheesecakes, incredible banana bread, snapper and fried dumplings. I even ate mussels. And discovered that I'm not really a fan. But the rest -- so, so good!

The resort.
It wasn't touristy, it was built into the cliffs on the side of the ocean and we were really in the naturalness of Jamaica. It was cool. They had spa rooms on top of the cliffs next to the ocean. NEXT TO THE OCEAN. There were also an incredible amount of stairs, which made me feel better about all the food.

The Adam.
- He prefers to sit in air conditioning for meals. I like being out on the deck where I can see the ocean, because being warm doesn't bother me, he doesn’t like hot.
- Remembering room numbers, or how to get back to the room, is not his strong suit.
- He got called my husband. A lot. Which was bound to happen at a couples resort. The first time an employee asked me where my husband was I made such a disgusted face the guy was like, ‘oh, I’m sorry. Your boyfriend.’. Then I just laughed. No thank you!
- I can spend four days with him and not want to kill him at all.

The activities.
Sunbathing. And reading books. Oh how I LOVE to read books. Snorkeling. Seeing crazy cool fish and getting super close to them. Not packing a sports bra, and going on the elliptical anyway. Getting off after twenty minutes to swim, a lower-impact workout. Walking around the resort taking oodles of pictures, and discovering all sorts of knooks and crannies for people to relax in.

The area.
Our ride from the airport was long and took us through a lot of Jamaica. Immediately out of the airport we saw slums, half built buildings, buildings that were worn down, all with extra pieces of wood or paneling to make people homes. Shacks, but homes. When I saw them I felt conflicted, because they were beautiful, such visually compelling spaces that my mind immediately started creating images including them. But a half beat later my heart fell -- hurting for the people who live there. And I felt that, but…those people are still blessed. They're full of joy, their value system is entirely different than ours, and it's a completely different life than what we live, but it's not a life full of sadness and despair. It's a harder life physically, but the things that we get caught up in and that distract us from the things that matter in life aren't things they deal with. I looked at their situation and felt incredibly blessed for the things that I have, but also thankful for how joy can be found everywhere.

The wedding.
Bride = pretty, happy woman.
Groom = quiet, but once he got over it, hilarious man.
Super crazy about each other.
The guests = bride’s mom, groom’s mom, and bride’s brother. That’s it. Super intimate wedding, lots and lots of time for pictures -- different, but beautiful. Not what I'd want, because I’d want my family there – but it was neat to be a part of.

Basically, I have the best job ever!

hearts//parts

My Jamaican hearts::

1- Continental Airlines. I wasn’t expecting to get any food. The last how many times I’ve flown they haven’t had anything but pretzels. We got a meal on every plane! And it was all kind of yummy. I was happy.
2- MAC Tinted Moisturizer. So, when you’re on the beach with your boss and your clients who’s wedding you’re shooting the next day, you don’t want to be completely without makeup. This moisturizer has sunscreen in it and enough of a tint that it just smoothes over the little bumps I don’t care for the world to see.
3- iPod Touch. Magic little thing on a trip. It was my computer while we were down there, I kept in touch with my parents and Jilane, and on the plane and in the airports I watched a movie, listened to music, and played games.
4- Fresh fruit. That’s all cut up and ready to eat already. I ate so much fruit and loved it. The watermelon was my favorite.
5- Ocean. Hello, ocean. Swimming in it. Looking at pretty fishies in it. Reading a book in the sand by it. Perfection.

daily

This is where the reception was after they got married. Champagne and a cake. Hello paradise.

daily

So, there was a cactus. Well, more than one. But I wasn't expecting there to be any in Jamaica.

daily

Hello Jamaican bathroom. Windows and a bench in the shower. And no curtain.

nyc

I am going to New York City.

When is yet to be determined.

I have frequent flier miles. All of my college friends find this to be nuts. But I do kind of fly a lot. And when you fly a lot, you accumulate such things. And you get to go places. For free. Well, the flight will be free. The rest, not so much.

Which brings me to New York City. I'm pretty much positive that's where I want to go. Problem is, the flight isn't the expensive part about going to New York. It's the hotel. And the Broadway show I can't go to NYC without seeing. And the shopping I'd want to do there. Not even a lot of shopping, just some actual purchasing and mostly just looking in all these stores that I think are outrageously overpriced. And the fact that just MEALS cost more there.

And, then, you know, I have to find someone to go with me. Because I'm clearly far too social to go without someone else. And the small fact that I'm a broke college kid, and most of my friends are broke college kids...and while I'm one of those kids willing to spend money on travel, not all of my friends are. And if they are, they're not so interested in New York.

So I might use my frequent flier miles to go to a coast with a friend and chill on a beach for five days and stay in a Holiday Inn.

But. Before I die, I AM going to New York City.