NEW YORK CITY!

I had the chance to go to NYC BABY-LESS to visit my friend Marissa from High School. It's something I've been wanting to do for a very long time but never found the opportunity to do so. So, I found a cheap airplane ticket, left Sean with a detailed scheduled for Isaac (which I later found wasn't used much at all...) and left to go meet Marissa in NYC at her work office. One of my goals for this trip was to do things the New Yorker way. Wait, I AM a New Yorker, but an upstate mentality is much different than city life:) I didn't want to take a cab from the airport...I instead got on AirTran, and then hopped onto the subway which brought me within a few blocks of her work office. Soooo much fun. To say the least, dressing for the chilly weather which was to be expected in NYC for that day was not the thing to do. I was sooooo hot and sweaty from jumping from one thing to the next, not that you needed to know that.

Can I just brag about Miss Marissa for a minute here? Of course I can because it's my blog! She has been one of the greatest friends a person could possibly have. When going to parties was the norm in High School, we often times would find ourselves hanging out in our comfy clothes, eating Ben and Jerry's "Cherry Garcia" (from the container) watching Miss America Pageants. She's the type of friend you can pick up a conversation with no matter the amount of time that has passed since the last conversation. And best of all, she checks people.com just like me. We're a sad sort, I know;) She's soooo great and I love her to bits!

Time flew by sooooo fast while visiting. There's truth to the saying/song "In a New York Minute." Everything is very hustle and bustle, but there is always a place to walk or visit that makes you feel like there isn't a city of 12 million people sitting outside the doors. She brought me to some incredible restaurants, which we certainly didn't let any food go to waste! And, she surprised me with tickets to the "Young Frankenstein" musical by Mel Brooks, which starred Megan Mullaly from Will & Grace. It was sooo funny. The set was so stunning. All within a few hours of arriving to NYC I felt like I had been dunked head first into this incredible melting pot of cultures!! In fact on my way to JFK, every person I talked with was from a different cultural background. First, a scientist from Egypt (a woman scientist who was the first woman ever to found a Cancer research program from her area of Egypt! Go Girl!), then two girls from Greece visiting their sister who is going to school in Ann Arbor, and then I sat next to a Russian man, who really wasn't friendly at all. Except for when he offered me his glass of water. Um, no thanks. I just find it fascinating! Everyone is living such different lives and I am intrigued by their individual situations.

Friday we went out to dinner at De Andrea's, and went to the Musical. I fulfilled one of my lifetime goals to go see Vincent van Gogh's "Starry Night" at the Museum of Modern Art. I'm not kidding....I seriously got teary eyed. That museum is PHENOMENAL! So many famous artworks by some incredibly famous artists. Oh, I was in heaven to say the least. Marissa brought along her incredible camera and we were able to have fun taking some pics throughout the day. We went out to eat that night at a very yummy Thai Restaurant and walked around Central Park and visited WTC Memorial Site. It will be interesting to see what that Memorial building will do to the landscape of downtown NYC. It will be pretty amazing.

Sunday we walked around SoHo and some other places and went to a fair that lined the street. And by that time it was time for me to get on the Long Island Railroad to head back to JFK. I'm leaving out so many other things we did! It was soooo much fun.

And I must thank Sean for being so patient and willing to watch Isaac while I was away. I know Isaac loved it. They've become such good buds over the past few weeks and it really makes me happy! Thank you Marissa for such a great weekend!!!