The Journey

We had a plan for Sunday. We were going to go to church and then head to the museums. The plan was a good one, but life doesn't always seem to go according to plan, does it?


The moment I woke up I knew something wasn't right. Prone to getting bladder infections, I am pretty familiar with the symptoms. I was hesitant to bring up my predicament to my friends because I didn't want to ruin the plan, but I also knew that no amount of cranberry juice, water, or any other home remedies were about to fix my problem. Thankfully I have friends who not only roll with the punches, but know how to get stuff done. Within minutes of me relaying my problem, we were headed to a doctor/pharmacy.

Who knew that New York has 24hour clinics/pharmacies about every other block? Seriously once you pay attention you will see a Duanereade drugstore more often than an LDS church in Utah Valley. I was seen, treated, and drugged within thirty minutes. It was a little bit terrifying (when the doctor threw up my dress to examine me) and also absolutely incredible that they were so efficient. Everything seems to happen much quicker in New York.

After our pharmacy trip we were able to swing by the LDS church, where I was able to use the restroom. I don't really remember a lot of that walk because the doctor had given me something to take the pain away, and the pill worked really, really well. Maybe too well.

After our short visit to church, we headed on to Central Park. This has to be one of my most favorite things about New York. It is like magic. One moment you are surrounded by head-tilting buildings, angry taxi-drivers, and endless streams of people and the next you are transported into a peaceful paradise where you can see the ages of the years played out in the daring trees and vast fields of greenery. I LOVE this park.

     

Beautifully maintained, it felt like one of the most human, heart warming spots in the city.

After touring Central Park, we headed toward the the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

I had no idea this place would be as massive as it was. My friend Rachel is a talented artist on so many levels and was very interested in the museums, which was awesome for me because I'm not sure I would have gone without her there. One of the things that made our trip so amazing was that we each have different interests and therefore got to experience a variety of EVERYTHING! It was an amazing experience to step out of my box (and sometimes my comfort level) and try something new. I would highly recommend it. ;)

I think we stayed lost and highly interested in this building for a few hours but we could have easily spent the entire day. The one painting that I loved the most was this one.

  

Bohemia Lies by the Sea, 1996 

Poppies, the flowers of remembrance and forgetting.

This was one of the first large canvas paintings I saw and for some reason it stuck with me. I read the sign next to it first and realized that it was a vast field of poppies. I looked at it up close and couldn't see anything spectacular about it. Then I reached the other end of the room and looked back. All at once, I saw the little flowers bursting into life and having been thinking about perspective from the day before, I was immediately touched.

After the MET we decided to go home and got caught in the rain...and the Israeli Parade! It was a lot of fun and very, very cold. By the time we got back to our hotel, I was shivering incoherently and had to put on as many layers as I brought--which wasn't many because it was supposed to be summer.

That night, after a short recovery, we went out for Greek food.

It was my first taste of Greek and it was delicious. We ordered Topas, which is basically pita bread with a lot of amazing dips. My favorite was the red pepper dip. We also ordered a stinky cheese platter and all decided that we liked good old-fashioned cheddar cheese better.

After dinner, we strolled some more through the streets. Have I mentioned that we walked everywhere that day? When my friend tried to add it up on her GPS she said it was just over ten miles of walking. But I gotta say, it felt more like twenty.

As I went to bed that night, I couldn't stop thinking about the places I had seen and the people I had met and the thought struck me that it isn't about the destination...it's about the journey. It is about who we meet and what we learn that makes our lives mean something.

New York was wonderful. But it was the journey that made it priceless.  

Perspective

My first night in New York was a like walking into a movie. I had seen the skyscrapers, admired the endless streams of yellow taxis, and had marveled over the fast-paced steps of New York's sidewalk commuters from from the big screen. Most of the time while watching very silly romantic comedies like The Proposal. But I had never inserted myself into the chaos.

My first impression of the city was that it was almost the same as seeing it on the screen...except that it wasn't. It was dirtier, louder, smellier, and bigger than I had ever imagined. Oh yes. And it was absolutely FAN-TASTIC!

This was a picture I took of my very first taxi ride which was very expensive and very bumpy. Also our driver was wearing a turban, a fact that I love and just have to mention. Please note that I do look slightly crazed in this photo. This could be because of two things. One, I'd been eating a lot of Skittles at the airport while my friend and I waited for our other friend to arrive. Or two, I tend to portray a crazed look in most of my pictures, which is why I relish the ones where I look normal.

After our taxi dropped us off at our hotel, we set about getting set up for the week. The first thing that we did when we got to our room was rip back our thick, soundproof curtains to get a look at our view.

We were pleasantly surprised and immediately set about to welcome our new neighbors. Umm...the ones that had a direct view into our temporary living quarters the moment we peeled back our curtains. Needless to say, they were not as eager as we were to meet their acquaintance... and we kept our curtains closed most of the time. 

After freshening up, we decided that the Skittles we had inhaled at the airport were not sufficient and decided to go out to eat. Who am I kidding? We were DYING to get out of that room and explore our new surroundings. The first night we decided on Italian, and I ordered the best lasagna I have ever eaten in my life. My mom went to Italy last year and said that she had the same experience, so I'm guessing that the man that made her lasagna moved to New York this year because let me tell you, it was the real deal. I only wish that I'd taken a picture of it. 

That first night I learned from my friends that all the restaurants in New York are given a grade by the Health Department and that they only recommend eating in places where the letter A rests proudly in the window, a small tidbit that we sadly forgot to check one night.

After eating at the restaurant, we stopped at a market and all got a gelato cone, which we proceeded to eat as we walked down street after street, admiring the nightlife of the city and soaking in the freedom that was ours. It immediately became clear to me that this was a strange and foreign land. And all too soon I realized that while New York was so much bigger than I had ever imagined, the television shows it hosts, like The Today Show, for example, are not. I quickly relearned the idea of perspective, and realized yet again that seeing the same thing from a different view can drastically change your opinion. 

I can't leave this post without posting my picture with the naked window man. You see my friend Danylle got a picture at BEA of her standing in a group of real handsome young men--who were wearing white beaters and tight jeans--from the erotica section of the book conference. And my other friend, Rachel got her own picture with a pair of half-naked, black-winged angel boys who were walking around promoting Becca Fitzpatrick's book, Hush Hush. (I'm making the conference sound more racier than it actually was.) Sadly, this window man is all have. But I'll post him proudly because I actually look normal and this picture just makes me smile.   

     

New York, New York!

I always feel a certain amount of guilt when I click on the blogging tab. For me blogging is that like that messy office that you never have the time to clean. It's there staring you in the face and yet you will go weeks...or maybe even months and months... without cleaning it up. Regardless of my unpredictable blogging habits, I am here now so I might as well say a few things, right?

This past month has been insanely intense. The highest of the highs and some of the lowest of the lows. Sometimes I think life gives us the best and worst of both. At the same time. What a nice lady that life gal is, huh?

Example: having a new baby. Those little ones are so sweet and you are so in love with them, but at the same time you are mentally and physically exhausted and you don't fit a single thing in your closet. (or at least I didn't for a very long time...)

And how are we to appreciate the good without the bad? Isn't that what people always say? (I'm making a scrunchy face right now because I'm quite sure I could appreciate the good without anything bad happening to me at all if just given the chance!)

Still, that isn't how it works. Not by a long shot. And you know what? I think I'm okay with that. Because the good seems to always outweigh the bad every time.

At the beginning of this month I embarked on an adventure to which I invited myself and didn't take a lot of time to think through. When my friend Rachel said she was going with another friend to New York at the beginning of June to attend BEA, I literally begged her to take me. And because of my amazing friends and family who were able to help watch my children, I was able to go. It was right before my sister's wedding and it was really short notice for everyone involved. And yes, I freely admit... I was kind of running away.

But all of that craziness didn't seem to matter the moment I looked out the window of the plane and realized that the next week was mine. I had no one to worry about except myself for the next few days and I was going to enjoy every single minute of it. And I did.

Stay tuned if you want to hear the rest of my story. I fully intend to post all my thoughts and pictures--at least all the good looking ones--here. ;)