We came, we saw, we conquered! - warning - extremely long!

Where do I even begin?  Seriously, where do I begin?  Do I start at the beginning and do a blow by blow for my own "journal" entry or just try to summarize quickly?

Sorry, I gotta lay it all out there with the sordid details.  No one has to read this but me later, when I want to relive the trip.

Our New York trip was awesome! :)  6 weeks ago my very good friend Sara Visser called from Arkansas (her husband is an exec in Walmart).  She is turning 40 this month and wanted to see Wicked in New York, with us!  So of course I couldn't turn that invitation down!  I tried to tell her we would love to come as long as they are paying, but they didn't buy into that part - darnit!  We visited them in China 3 years ago, had a blast and were dying to get together with them again.  They are one of those rare friendships where you all totally get along and have a blast and could live together (as we did for a week when we were total strangers 18 years ago) forever and be OK!  We love them!

We started out with a 4 1/2 hour direct flight.  Of course we were the lucky couple who got to sit by the single dad with his almost 2 year old on his lap.  Hey, I have 4 kids, so I have a lot of tolerance for that, because I have been there - yuck!  The problem with this was the guy was severely under-prepared for his job.  In fact he had not a thing except a bag of cheez-its to entertain that poor little kid the whole flight!

Jovan - or Baby J (as I later found out) was so cute, but very bored!  The dad apparently hadn't gotten enough sleep the night before, because he sat there sleeping while Baby J stood on the floor trapped between his dad's legs and the seat in front of him.  He whined, cried, bounced off the seat in front of him, climbed up and down on his dad, and just wanted someone to pay attention to him!  Apparently the  dad could dress the kid in his Laker's jersey and Nike shoes, but couldn't spend $5 for a new toy or two for the plane?  After about 2 hours, and feeding him some of our food, and giving him anything that could be construed as a toy to entertain him, Lane got up to walk around.  I was by the window, so I took Baby J on my lap and had him look out the window, sang songs with him, looked through the sky mall magazine and found dogs, cats, decorations, anything a kid would want to look at.  His dad slept.

Finally, he started getting tired.  I let him listen to some soft music on my i-pod and he was about to sleep when he decided he wanted to sleep on his dad's lap.  So I finally got the nerve to wake up the dad and ask him to take his kid back and hold him.  So, the dad took the kid and the kid fell asleep for the last hour of the flight.  What a sweet kid.  He kept patting my chest and calling me mommy.  (Should I be glad he still isn't nursing? ha!)

Yeah, the dad never did say a word to me.  Wow.  (Really I just felt bad for the kid - didn't need a big thanks, but it would have been nice anyway.)

So we get to JFK and get in line for a shuttle.  Some guy comes up and tells us he is $4 cheaper per person for his shuttle.  So we went with him.  It was a nice 11 passenger van, and was quite roomy until he filled it with 13 Germans and us.  At least Lane got the front seat!

We stayed in a really nice hotel called the Affinia 50.  Got it on Priceline for only $170 a night!  It even had a little kitchenette - which is really unheard of for Midtown Manhattan!  We only stayed there one night because I booked a different hotel to meet up with our friends.

Anyway, it was misty, rainy and cold.  We knew it was going to rain all the next day as well.  I was bummed, because I didn't want Sara's first time to NY to be all rainy!

We unloaded our stuff (after thoroughly checking for bed bugs because suddenly Lane has a paranoia about those) and headed out to explore.  We went to a great pizza place called Angelo's for real NY pizza.  So good.  Then we happened to walk by a bakery and just HAD to go in and buy a cupcake for each of us.

Lane doing his New Yorker face

We hit the hay planning to wake up early and try to get in standby to Regis and Kelly.  As you'll see below, we got in! :)

We first caught a taxi, and we are thinking the driver just got off the boat the day before.  Not sure if he really spoke English, and I know he didn't know how to turn the defroster on in the taxi, because the whole van was fogged up.  You couldn't see a thing, and he had a kleenex in his hand and was trying to wipe off the windshield in front of him to see!  Scary!

Anyway, man, TV is so very interesting to me.  I still would DIE to be a sports broadcaster (tennis or basketball) but, I digress.  Regis is little, and Kelly is littler!  They were supposed to have Tina Fey on, but her "live" interview had been pre-taped at another time.  BUMMER!  But we had Jessica Seinfeld cook her spinach something, and Jerry showed up as a surprise to help!  So that was cool.  He is very funny to me.  I miss his show.

Then we listened to the Neon Trees sing Animal.  Funny thing is - they are from Provo, UT.  Are you kidding?  Not a typical BYU student band.  Maybe they went to UVU???  Then after the show was over, they did a bonus taping of Michael Eisner (CEO of Disney) who wrote a new book.  Yawn.  But, oh well.  It really was fun!



P.S. - Kelly has a weird outie belly button.  How do I know this?  You could totally see it her dress was so tight.  I'm pretty sure she has enough money to get that fixed!

We then went to our hotel to change to our other hotel, the W, which as luck would have it was across the street! Good deal and great hotel - across from the Waldorf-Astoria.

That afternoon we did Times Square in the rain - not fun, and defrosted in Rockefeller Center doing the NBC Experience tour.  I really recommend this.  It was cool!  We were being guided through various sets and hearing all sorts of facts about the magic and fakeness of TV and all these shows!  The SNL info and set was very interesting.  Then, we happened to be on the set of Dr. Oz, and in walks Dr. Phil!  Maybe he was a little confused?  No, he was the guest on Jimmy Fallon which also tapes there, so he was just walking around checking out the studio.  Cool, huh?

Chocolate Cheesecake at Junior's at Times' Square

Hershey's Store at Times' Square

Famous skating rink at Rockafeller Center

That night we went to see Promises, Promises.  It stars Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenowith and Molly Shannon joined the cast recently.  Unfortunately, Kristin was off that night.  I wanted to see her so bad.  Sean and Molly were good though.  Lane gave the show a C, I gave it about a B.

Friday morning we woke up and met John and Sara.  Man I love those guys!  Isn't it funny how with good friends you pick up with like it was yesterday you saw them, and not 3 years ago?

We went to a NY Deli for breakfast, then went to Top of the Rock to get a view of the whole city.  Cool up there!  Then we took the Staten Island ferry to check out the Statue of Liberty.

On top of Top of the Rock

Next came Grimaldi's Pizza under the Brooklyn Bridge.  Apparently this pizza place is in all the books of the best places.  We went around 3 p.m. and there was a line waiting outside, so we decided it must be good.  It was.  I really like NY Pizza, now that I know what it really is! :)

After a 30 minute power nap for everyone but me, we headed to the Knicks game in Madison Square Garden.  Wow, the New York crowd is interesting!  I have to say I kinda like the Suns games better - there is more action during the breaks, etc.  But it was a good experience to check off the bucket list.

Going home we passed a deli that had cheesecake in the window.  Sara got a piece, so of course I had to get one too!  We got up to our rooms, and I hurried and ate the whole piece at around midnight.  Naughty me.

Next morning we checked out the Manhattan temple.  John, Sara and I went in.  Lane stayed in the Starbucks across the street because he left his wallet with his recommend in the hotel.  Grrr... Oh well.  We decided the flier someone gave him about the rapture coming in May next year would have to do for his religious training of the day! ha!

We then had breakfast at a great place in Columbus Ave. and met up with our friend Ryan who is from AZ but living in New Jersey and working in Manhattan.  We all decided to do the Grey Line tour.  I highly recommend these as they give you tons of information and you are able to see so much that wouldn't normally do on your own.

Lunch in Little Italy

We shopped in Chinatown, had lunch in Little Italy, checked out Ground Zero (which is kind of a let down because it is all fenced and covered up!) and Sara and I finished the day by shopping in Century 21.  Kind of like a Nordstrom Rack.  Don't worry - we sent the boys home one the subway and said we'd join them later.

We got a little caught up shopping, and found some OK deals, and filled some bags!  I of course even bought some of the Godiva chocolate at the counter just because I was having a chocolate craving. (I get those waaaayyyy too often)  

We then realized we were down in lower Manhattan and it was 6:45, and we had to be to Wicked in Times Square by 8.  We took off out to the subway.  Too bad we caught the express train that went right by the stop we needed.  So we got off the next one and got on the train going back the other way.  Then we got up to the street and took off running because it was now 7:15 and we had to leave at 7:30.  Ooops!  We were running the wrong way!  So we backtracked to our hotel, got to our rooms and quickly changed and freshened ourselves and took off for the show. 

Some of the NY marathon runners on the subway - I'm not kidding!

You really see all types down there!

 I am now in my cute black boots with heels and a *snug* skirt (it was a fitted skirt even before I started the NY eating frenzy).  We are going to get a taxi, yet they all are full.  So we start walk/running the mile toward the theater hoping to find a taxi on the way.  We never did.  However, I apparently gained a whole new level of respect from John for my ability to walk or run in my boots! The price we pay to look good, right ladies?

We made it in time, and the show was fantastic.  My 5th time seeing it.  My first time in NY though!

It was almost midnight as we were walking back to our hotel.  Sara saw a deli/pizza/bakery open.  Uh-oh.  We walked in . . . then had them warm up a piece of pizza for each of us.  Pizza at midnight.  Thank heaven there was only one piece of pecan pie bar left - Sara and John had it, thus saving me the job of having to say no to buying one of those!

The next morning was sadly our last day.  We got half price tickets to the Rockette's Christmas Spectacular.  I had heard it was very good, so we all decided to go.  You know what?  It is really good!  As we were sitting there I started to think, "Uh oh, I am going to owe Lane so bad for this."  But it was really good!  Whew!  I didn't need him holding that over my head for the next 20 years! :)

In Radio City Music hall for the Rockette's show

Finally, to finish our trip we headed to the Carnegie Deli - which also is very famous for its sandwiches. Yeah, if you haven't been there before I don't know if I can properly describe the food!  You order a Reuben sandwich and it is $24.95!!! It is the biggest, highest thing you've ever seen, and it is amazingly good. (I can't believe I didn't take a picture of it!)  So, you figure you can't eat the whole thing, so you'll share it with your date.  You know what?  They will let you share - all for the bargain price of $3!!  Yup, they charge you to share!!!  Although if you do some quick math, you will see that $3 to share a sandwich is a lot cheaper than $24.95 for another monstrosity!  Plus, they don't do refills on drinks.  Wow - what a racket!   Lunch only cost us $75 (cash) for the 4 of us, and each couple shared!   But it was yummy, and we rolled ourselves out of there and got back to the hotel.

We caught a taxi to the airport, and besides the fact that he asked us 3 different times which airport we were going to, the rest of the trip went off without a hitch.  What a great time!  We packed a ton of stuff in, and loved every second of it!  Sara summed it up nicely by saying, "This is not one of those trips you go home all relaxed from, is it?"  Nope!  Too much to see and do.  

So Happy 40th Birthday Sara!! I am so glad to have you as such a good, wise and wonderful friend.  Some day, somehow we will be next door neighbors and all will be right with the world! :)  Can't wait for my 40th birthday trip! :)

Now it's back to reality.  Thank heaven I like most of my reality.