Day 6: Tuesday aka Rock on! An extra day in NYC!

We got to sleep in this morning, which was so amazing. April, Tracie and another ballerina left around 9 to go observe a class at SAB but I slept until 10. Awesome. We took the subway down to Canal street to check out Chinatown and Little Italy.

I hung out with the Meiers and Shanay and we went to lunch at this great restaurant called "Da Genarros" or something. It was amazing. Great ambiance. Most of the group actually ended up eating there. They have guys, like Maitre d' people that walk the sidewalk singing and getting people to come in and sit down. Tons of competition. We went down the street to a bakery that sold sinful things. They had shelves of baked goods that looked way too good for anything. They had awesome gelato and connollis. Yum, yum, yum.

Isn't there a story by Dr. Seuss about something happening on Mulberry street? Wonder if it's the same place. . .Maybe someone didn't read one of these signs:

Ha ha. Italians.

April and I were waiting outside the bakery when everyone else came out, and if one girl touched the tummy, all of them had to. I bet this is awkward. I'm so excited for the little baby to come out already! I guess she won't be fully cooked for another 4 weeks, but I told April that I'm ready whenever. PS, April, Tracie and Missy all said that observing the classes were so worth staying the extra day, a dream come true, better than Christmas, etc.
We went back to the hotel and waited for our shuttle to come to take us to the airport so we could leave for real. We waited in the airport for a couple hours, and as you can see here, Tracie got a little bored. She's pretty good at entertaining herself, though.

Taylor (on the left) was singing little mermaid songs while Tracie lip synched animatedly.

This is when they both realized I had taken a picture. I wish I had video, it was great.

I kept snapping pictures, and this is where we ended up. I think it just might be her natural facial expression. Just a guess. Ha ha, be careful, your face might stay that way. Oops.

Then later, she thought splits on the window pane was a good idea.

This is your brain on drugs.

But, as persistant as she is, she nailed it. Nice product placement of the sweatshirt, superstar. Would you look at those ballerina hands? Such poise. I can't believe she didn't point her toes, though. Ick.
So, my friends, the vicarious journey through the Big City is now over. It was a great trip and I will work on my mood swings if we ever take a vacay together. If you actually read all of my posts, you should get a medal. I would have just looked at the pictures.

Day 5: Monday

Sorry that sounds whiney. I was very glad to be in NYC but we were all very tired. And it did rain. Almost all day, little drippy drips. Only a few times did it turn into downpour status.
We got up this morning and the girls and a few adults went to another class at a different broadway studio. Some of the chaperones went to Chinatown and Little Italy, and Mom, April and I went back to Lincoln Plaza to check out the School of American Ballet. Those of you who know April know that she is a quiet, reserved, polite and classy girl. Well, this was her "Wicked." She was still quiet and reserved, but she had such excitement in her eyes. We were told by a security guard to come back around noon and we may be able to get a tour, so we went to the Juilliard bookstore and then waited until we could go back. We finally jumped through enough hoops to get a short tour, and she was so giddy! It was fun seeing so many students walking around the plaza and if they weren't wearing leotards or tights, I wondered what sort of talent they had that got them to such a prestigious school. I think they should have to wear pins that says why they are there, so us tourists don't have to wonder. While we were there, Tracie sent me a text telling me not to panic and call her all in a flurry, but our flight (scheduled for that night) had been cancelled. Ok, no flurry here.
We met up with the rest of the group at the Empire state building, and April noted that if we had to stay another day, maybe they could go watch a class at SAB. I think she prayed for those tornado watches over Kansas. Luckily, most of us were ok being stuck in NY for another day, there were a few people who needed to work some things out with their jobs, and two of the younger chaperones ended up finding another flight home because they needed to be there the next day. The rest of us just sat back to enjoy the ride.
At the Empire State building, we were lucky to not have to wait in any lines, but it didn't seem to be very busy.

You might be surprised to find out that this picture was taken in front of a green screen. I know, it looks super real. My mom's so cute.
We finally got up to the top, and I swear (I didn't for real this time, that's a figure of speech) it was below freezing outside!

There is rain on the lens, which is why my sweater looks all tight and unattractive. Can't you feel the wind? Insane. I had packed my jacket, and was fa-reezing.


I don't know what is in these pictures besides coldness, buildings and teeny tiny micro-taxis, but you get the idea. We were pretty high. We could have paid $15 to go up the last 10 flights, but really, who does that? I bet they just see who is willing to waste their money, take them up and let them look through a tiny window and then tell them they are foolish suckers and make them take the stairs down. They'll show 'em.
We went to Macy's, which is enormous, but Mom, April and I went to exchange her Disney shirt on 5th ave. It was cold and rainy. My shoes were soaked. I was pretty tired when we finally got back to meet with the group, only to learn we were going to go see Ground Zero while we were out. Now, I mean absolutely no disrespect, but I didn't want to go. I was cold, and wet and tired, and you can't see anything there anyway. How awful and ungrateful do I sound? I'm sorry. It really is cool, but when we got there, it was raining harder and the wind was blowing, and the place where we got off the subway was not the right place to be if we wanted to see the work they were doing. I was a little frustrated (I know, everyone's shocked) when we just got right back on the subway and headed home.
Most of us ordered pizza in and settled in for a night at the hotel, but we didn't get very much relaxation in our room. Someone, who shall remain nameless, clogged our toilet. The boy at the reception desk gave us a plunger and was very unhelpful. When we asked him for help because we were a plungin' and a plungin' with no results except more water. Yes, we did turn off the water. He came up with more towels and was like, sucks to be you. While I was down waiting for the pizza, I listened to him talk to someone on the phone about it and then call our room and told them to just keep plunging. Great plan. I asked what would happen if that didn't work, and he said, "someone will be here to fix it in the morning." "So we'll be without a bathroom all night?" "Well, there's a bathroom in the basement." Nice. I asked if there was a mop or something we could clean the floor with and he left it for me in front of the elevator. Seriously? Why are we spending $200 a night to plunge our own toilet? I realize that isn't in his job description either, and he did come collect the soaked towels, but really. Housekeeping. Maintenance. You have to have some of them on staff. Finally, after a few more tries, my mom went down to have a chat with the lad. She told him that there was a pregnant lady and an old lady and there had to be something they could do. He told her about the bathroom in the basement. He did, really. Not smart. She said, no, there has to be something you can do. I want to talk to your supervisor. He noted that she would say the same thing, but let me see if we have any other double rooms. And that's how we moved up to the 10th floor. The penthouse, if you will. Still the size of a walk-in closet, but with a small fridge and microwave crammed in. We weren't complaining, though. Anymore, that is.
And we went to sleep.

Day 4: Sunday aka The Sabbath

My mom's favorite story to tell is that I swore on the sabbath. On the corner, in public, in the middle of NYC. Loudly. But how is that different from any other new yorker? Ba dum bum. It's true, I made a swear. That morning we got up early as usual and got ready to go to church. There were some people who were going to go to Chinatown and Little Italy, but we all left at the same time. We were excited to go to church in Manhattan because the church is actually in the same building as the temple. Anyway, the cussing. So we were all walking the same direction, but people from our group just kept trucking along, leading us past our subway stop. I was like, guys, I think we need to turn here. The other group was going toward the subway also, and really, typing this now I realize how silly and irrational I was, but as Dr. Phil would say, I was feeling out of control and powerless so I had to make a swear there in public. I learned that maybe it's better if I travel on my own after all. I don't remember ever being ornery when I was traveling the world by myself. . . Hmm. . .something to think about. Anyway. It was dumb, but I just threw up my hands and said, "where the hell are we going??" Yeah, there were two question marks. Seriously, I am so special and in need of anger management. Sorry.
Anyway, we got on the right train, got to church and were even early. It's a beautiful building in a great part of the city, right across from Lincoln plaza where Juilliard and the School of American Ballet and the New York Ballet and and and a lot of really great impressive groups.


Apparently my camera wasn't the most important one to look at. But this is what I got. It was a great meeting and the people were all very nice, and I feel really bad for the speakers because even though their talks were really good and prepared, there were so many of us nodding off in the congregation. They probably cried later.
After church we met up with the rest of our group on the stairs of the Museum of Natural History. I thought we were going to go in, and was sad to find out we could only go into the lobby because the girls (dance co) had voted to see the Met instead. Sad I wasn't in that vote.

I don't know what kind of dinosaur this is, but it was pretty big.
We headed into Central Park and I am just going to put this out there, If anyone ever wants to do their bridals in CP, I totally won't even charge you. If you fly me there. I might even go halfsees with you! It's so beautiful, and there were so many people walking, playing on the grass, and a lot of bikers and runners on the roads. There were so many daffodils everywhere, it was beautiful.

And they have this great fence all around the flower gardens, they have so much character!

This is just one of the big lakes on the property. We saw just a small part of the park. I wish we could have skipped the Met and spent all the time at the park. I would have loved to take more pictures.

Who doesn't love a castle in the middle of a park?

The girls had been singing songs from "Enchanted" (and everything else) the whole trip, so we took a picture of them singing "How does she knowwwwwwwwwwwww. . .you love her" as they ran down the hill. Precious.
After we spent about an hour and a half in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, we grabbed hot dogs from the venders (so so good) and headed up to 7th ave (broadway) for The Little Mermaid. We obviously walked through the nicer part of town, because I didn't see any flowers in the medians around Times Square.
But this was Park Ave, I think, and it's worth the most in Monopoly, so they have to have tulips.

So pretty.
We got up to Times Square and guess who we saw?

The naked cowboy. Seriously. How would you like to make your living taking pictures with tourists while you do the same poses all day? It was a dollar "tip" to take a picture with him, and this is Jocelyn. She's so funny, and when they turned around for the back side "You get both sides" said the boy in the briefs, she put her hand over his bum but didn't actually touch it, but it totally looks like it. I wasn't going to post it but hang on, let me grab it. Thanks for waiting.

Yes, friends, he is pulling her hair and Jo later told us that he kissed her head and it was weird. Well, little lamb, what do you expect from a world famous exhibitionist? Corruption of the innocence, right before your eyes.
We caught up to the rest of the group at "The Little Mermaid."

We were in the second to last row at the very top of the theater, but we were so excited. Tracie I think almost peed her pants. I was a little worried that it would be a little hokey, but had heard good things about it. All of the under the sea creatures/folk are wearing "heelie" shoes so they are more fluid, and contrary to what you skeptics may be thinking, it actually worked! The play was amazing. The additional songs were a lot of fun and the cast was so so great. I believe this is all the original cast, since the play is so new, so the songs you hear on the CD (they wanted $25 for it at the theater and I got it on Amazon downloads for $6.99. Roasted!) are the people we heard. I was especially impressed with Prince Eric, who sings a new song for the show called "Her Voice". So amazing. Click here to see a clip of it from youtube. It's my favorite song on the whole cd. I didn't care much for Ursula, the cartoon was better of her. But it was so fun.
We went to the Hard Rock cafe for dinner, and it was pretty good. You know, jacked up prices, loud music. Good times. Afterward, some people wanted to go back to the hotel and relax/go to bed, but April and I volunteered to stay with some of the girls who wanted to do some more shopping. We went to the huge Toys R Us and that was fun. They have a ferris wheel inside! Yeah, it's smaller scale, but, still.

They also had a huge collection of lego stuff, and this and the statue of liberty that was just as tall were made completely out of legos. How would you like to have that job? "So, what do you do?" "oh, you know, I play with legos." Right. I'm going to marry that guy. He probably makes a lot of money as a lego technician. I wonder if he could build our house out of legos. I hope it would pass inspection.
The best part was the Barbie world. I still love barbies, ok? Don't judge. I am waiting for the day that Victoria asks me to play Barbies with her. Someone give her the hint, ok? They have barbies for everything! Even an animal groomer barbie and a space camp barbie and a new york homeless barbie. . .ok, maybe not the last one, but I bet it would be a huge hit. My fave was the 1986 barbie, and it totally made my day and took me back.

TELL ME that you don't remember this barbie. I swear either I had her or Aubrey Wilkerson did, probably her because she had all the good dolls, clothes, furniture, crap. Wah, poor me. Anyway, doesn't that just make you happy? I know some of you are going to leave your computer and go straight to your box of happy old toys and push aside the carebears with the gum on the stomach and the purple my little pony with the ratty hair and eight hair clips so you can find this stellar doll with the knee high boots. I gotta get me some of those. And the pink hair extension? Step back, ladies. The rockers are in the building! I need to do a post on my 80's early 90's (same diff) memories. We do have Full House season one on request at our local library.
We took a cab back to our hotel and got ready for bed and another long day!

Trip Intermission

I've been meaning to scan this and post it, here is the picture of the "Miss Paul" graffiti my student did. Love it!

Day 3: Saturday aka Best Day of my Life

We got up this morning and met at 9 in the lobby. Mom, April and I followed later after the others left and I was really ornery and I am sorry. After mean-ness from me, and confusion on the subway because we got separated from the group, we made it to 5th avenue where we were going to shop before the girls had their first dance class at the Broadway dance place. We went to a Disney store and I got over my ornery-ness (really, sorry, nobody should go on trips with me) and then it was time for TIFFANY'S! I decided that I was going to buy myself a graduation present. I have had my eye on this Elsa Peretti starfish necklas for a long time, but it was $200 so I decided to go a little cheaper. I found another Elsa Peretti that I liked, a little sterling silver open heart charm. I love it! It was so exciting, happy grad to me! Mom said that she and Dad would go in half-sees with me, but they are paying for my grad party, so I told her that was enough. It was fun to see all of the other jewelry, there are some pretty phenomenal pieces of bling to be had there. We looked at the engagement rings and other diamonds, and I found one that I really liked. So, I hope the guy I marry is loaded. Actually, it wasn't too bad, only like 5 grand, and I'll just show him the picture and he can get the same thing for half the price at the Shane Co. I mean, it was only .3 carats.

After we left Tiffany's, we headed over to the Gershwin theater to participate in the Wicked lottery. We got there a little early, but then it was time and we (Mom, April and I) put our names in. Mom said that if her name was called, she would give April and I the tix because she would rather go to her dance class. Finally it was time for the 13 names to be called. Our chances weren't bad because there were probably only 100 people in the lottery, and I was due for some Karma payback. They called all 13 names and none of us were called. I was pretty bummed, but we decided to wait, just in case. They had one more ticket, so he drew one more name. The person had left (sucker). He called another name, but the girl was already going with her friend who had won and didn't need the tickets. One more name. IT WAS MINE!!!! I couldn't believe it. I'd been standing there with my fingers crossed on the sides of my face hoping hoping hoping and then it happened. I screamed and jumped and went to collect my tickets, when I learned it was only ONE TICKET. I told him I wanted it, and we would work out who was going. People were asking me to give them the ticket and one guy came up while I was in line and gave me this whole story about his girlfriend blah blah he was a slacker blah blah. . . but I kept it. I told April she could have it since she hadn't ever seen it, and she said that I could go since I wanted to so bad and she wanted to watch the dance classes. I'm so transparent and I could not believe that I would be watching Wicked for $26 on the FRONT ROW!!!! When I went to Wicked on my way to England, I paid $125 total for my ticket. Unreal!

We went to lunch and then we split up and I went back to the theater. I, of course, had put on the winner pin that I won. They showed me to my seat and really, really. FRONT ROW! I was so excited for the show to start and I don't think I breathed until intermission. I was so close I could see them spit when they talked. Ok, it only happened twice. It was so fantastic! When you sit in the back, it's amazing and wonderful, but you can only see colors in the costuming and set. On the front row, I could see texture and SHOES and wonderful things that I couldn't up in the mezzanine. Oh, their shoes. I wish I could have taken a picture, I really never realized how amazing their costumes were! Costume designer is a genious. Fiyero was a lot better this time than the last time I saw it but the most impressive to me was the girl who played Galinda. Oh my word, what talent! Her name is Alli Mauzey and she was second only to the original, Kristen Chenowith. If you click on Alli's name, it will take you to a you tube of her singing Popular in 2007, so you can only imagine how much better it was! Was that proper English? I've been writing these blogs for almost two hours.
Anyway, the show was beyond my wildest dreams and put me on a high for the rest of the day. After the show, I went back to our hotel and then we left to go to dinner and "Mamma Mia". It was sooo much better than the movie! There was definitely some poop in the punch, like in the movie, but so funny and entertaining! When we came out of the show, we were congregated on the sidewalk waiting to decide how we were going to get home. . .some of the girls wanted to take a taxi, others wanted to walk. When someone said loudly, "are we going to take a taxi?" a guy standing in front of a white stretch limo said, "take a limo! $5 person." Of course, we were all sold. It was a blast and the girls were totally enchanted. The first pic is of Nikea, Chandra and me, the second of all the girls. It really was such a fantastic day, definitely my favorite of the trip!

Day 2: Friday aka Longest Day of my Life

We got to the airport after a lo-o-ong flight, I wasn't able to sleep at all. It was pretty frustrating. Luckily jetblue has those personal tv's, which are nice when they work. It was funny how the girls were always dancing or posing or doing something besides just standing still.

We took our bags to the hotel to store them before we could check in. If you've ever been to NYC, you'll know that the drivers there have no concern for any lives. Our jamaican driver was on his phone, playing with the radio, all while dodging and swerving through rush hour traffic. We all had to just close our eyes and not pay attention to what he was doing. The interesting thing was that in our time there and with all the crazy drivers, we didn't see one accident. Maybe their years of psychotic driving has given them cat-like reflexes. We got on the subway and went to catch the ferry to the statue of liberty and ellis island. We were running late, so we were almost running. When we got there, we realized that we hurried just to wait. We should really call this the day of the lines. While we were in line to get on the ferry, there was this awesome guy entertaining all us waiters. He was really funny. He could say hello in like a million languages and he showed us. I dug his wig.

Once we got into the building, we had to do a security check and then wait again. When we finally got on the ferry, it was so crowded. I think they were lucky that there weren't any iceburgs out there because I'm fairly positive that there weren't enough lifeboats.

There were really so many people on the sundeck and it was hard to get any pictures. Well, without random people in them. But, let's be honest, who doesn't like random people in their pictures?

Seeing the statue of liberty was really cool. It is so huge! It was almost surreal, because it is something you see in movies and pictures but never really see in real life.

When we actually got on the island (getting on and off the boat is like a cattle drive... get those cheeky bulls on (or off) the big bloody ship), we walked over to where you go into the statue, and guess what? There was another line. While we waited, there were a few chairs that got used. The second picture is of an obvious tea party.


The line didn't look too long until you got inside the white tent, and then it snaked through the whole thing. It was like Disneyland without the excitement and distracting decorations. But we did have fun facts cards. I read them to those around me and they were impressed with my read-aloud skills. The only fact I remember now is that the statue weighs 450,000 tons. Insane! There was a really ornery guy who kept us in check, walking around and making sure that we were in two's and three's not single file. It was of the utmost importance that we get as many people as possible into that tent. We went through another security check point and were finally let into the building. I was with Alyssa, Jocelyn and Missy, and we booked it right up to the observation deck. This face is huge.

There was a line with a few people waiting for the elevator when we got up to the observation deck "entrance" but we decided to take the stairs. That was before we realized that there were 152 of them. Are you kidding me? My quads loved it. This is a picture off the observation deck, which was pretty cool. I didn't realize how high it was until you see how tiny the people are below!

The only drawback of this trip was trying to get everyone to meet in the same place at the same time. We didn't often have exact meeting times, it was just "when you were done" which we found did not work out. We finally got together and went to get on the ferry, where we waited again. By the time we got to Ellis island, we were all totally exhausted and starving. We Pauls were excited to go find the Simonsen's on the wall and take a picture of us pointing to it, but apparently they don't have that. They just have a dock of computers where you can research your family and print off the boat register page. I realize that there are over 20 million names, but I wanted them to have a wall. So Tracie went off with her friends and mom, April and I went out to find a seat. We laid down on the grass outside and took mini-naps. Mom took a picture of that, so I'll post it when I get it. If it's a good one. :) Why can't they create a right-side-up smiley face for blogger? Annoying. Anyway. We finally got together and headed off the island. It was cool to see Ellis island from the boat, because it was a good example as to what our family saw once upon a time when they first got to America. What a vision of hope and excitement that must have been! Thanks Simon and Karoline Simonsen for following your faith and coming to the United States.

Is this post long enough yet? After we got off the ferry we started walking through Battery Park to go to lunch we were stopped by these street performers, who were pretty impressive. I guess this is how they make their living, and do a couple of shows a day and they were funny. I wonder how much they make. . .

They pulled a few people from the crowd, two from our group. Alyssa and Nikea. They were standing there forever in "anticipation" of what was going to happen. The shirtless main guy had them all bend over like they were touching their toes, and then he jumped over them.

Seriously, it was really cool.

We went to lunch at this funky deli that was really yummy and then most of the girls wanted to go back to the park and get a few things, many of them wanted their charicatures done. This picture is of Sam getting drawn, and it was probably the best one until the artist gave her huge boobs and a mermaid tail. It was pretty funny. I don't know what it is with charicature artists and boobs. There was one guy who did two of the girls, and they were exactly the same but one had a beauty mark. It was pretty funny. The most annoying thing about Battery Park were the guys who walked around trying to sell their fake designer bags and jewelry. Seriously, they were so obnoxious. You couldn't go three steps without them asking you to buy something, they were so relentless.

This is a picture of Battery park as we were leaving.

We got on the subway to go check in to our hotels. The girls were hysterical on the train. They were always trying to do something. The girl next to Tracie, Emily, would often do handstands against the pole, which was funny. I wish I got a picture of that. Here, Trace and Em are trying to keep their footing as the train went. Funny little competitions.

We got back to the hotel, checked in, and slept for about an hour until we met up again to go to Times Square. See, if you're thinking this post is never going to end, imagine how we felt. We walked over to TS, it was only about 8 or 9 blocks away, but don't let that fool you because their blocks are like three of ours. I don't really know, I forgot my tape measure. We split up to explore and eat dinner, and Mom, April and I usually stayed together.

We went to the M & M store and where else? I don't remember. We ate dinner and then met up with Tracie, who was starving and ate the rest of mom's pizza. While mom went back to get Tracie a piece of pizza (nicest ever), we went in search of the wicked theater so I could buy a poster. We kept getting different directions or street names, so we were excited when we finally found it. They let us in to hurry up to the gift shop "Ozdust Boutique" and they told us about a lottery that takes place two hours before a sold-out show, where you put your name in and they choose 13 people to win the opportunity to buy front row tickets for only $26.25. Seriously. We were so excited, and decided to go back the next day to see if we could get tickets for the matinee.

I like how the harlot m&m is showing so much leg in that statue. Anyway. We met up with mom, went and bought some cheesecake to go, caught a cab to go and went back to the hotel. Just so you know, the cheesecake blew our minds. So so yummy. It was pretty funny because while everyone was getting ready for bed, we turned on the tv, which was a mistake. None of us have cable, so we were really excited to watch "what not to wear." We had to finish it before we went to bed, but then we all had a blissful sleep.