that was a bad idea

We got dumped on last night. Like over a foot of snow dumped on. I think heaven will be like that...knee deep in fresh snow. But no drivers. Especially foreign taxi drivers that spin their tires outside your building for what feels like hours. And then when you finally go out to help them, they yell at you that "they know how to drive!" and then they proceed to hit every. single. parked. car. on the street. Yeah, none of them in heaven, please.

Back to the point...there a few things in life that I like more than snow. Snow, snow, snow! So capturing the theme for this week, "happy," was going to be easy!

PRETTY SNOW!!!!

We took an afternoon stroll down to the Art Museum. When it snows real big here, people go sledding down the steps of the Art Museum. And get this...it's totally legal. Haha. I thought one would get in trouble for doing something like that, but I was informed a few weeks ago that that is far from the case. Let's just say I was blown away that something so scandalous was legal! (And to think I lost at "Never Have I Ever")

So...there were definitely people snowboarding there. And Ryan and I just had to stand back and watch. And then we were both real sad. And then, as we were began our sulky walk back home, the Red Bull truck there started playing MGMT's "Kids." Which, hello, is only the. best. song. to snowboard to. PLUS it is featured in the best snowboarding movie ever made. Ever. ("That's It, That's All." Dude. Duuuude. So good. Do yourself a favor and go watch this. Beautiful right? Told you so. And your welcome.)

So that totally bummed us out. And cast quite the gloomy shadow on the happiness that was fresh snow. Dang you Red Bull truck and your fantastic taste in music for the snowboarders. Dang you people snowboarding on the Art Museum steps [see you next snowfall]

Edward Morra? Bradley Cooper?

So Ryan and I have been "arguing" about "Edward Morra's Headqurters" which popped up downtown a few weeks ago. There's signs all over advocating Edward Morra "a new vision for New York." (A little bit of misguided foreshadowing: Headquarters in Philadelphia for a guy running for something in New York should have been our first clue)

As I looked at the posters more and more, this Edward Morra guy was starting to look really familiar.
"Hey," I say, "that guy's an actor!" We kept walking down the building of posters, and it was bugging me (oh, and in case you didn't know, I've become a walking version of IMDb in the past few months.) "No, really, what movie is this guy from? How do I know him?"

We continued our walk but it was eating at me, until it hit me, "Oh! He's the guy from 'He's Just Not That Into You'...the cheating, jerky one." Ryan was all, "Yeah, okay, whatever." I came home and looked up that guy's name but was sorely disappointed to find out that it wasn't Edward Morra, but rather Bradley Cooper. Regardless, I looked up some pictures of him to show the disbelieving Ryan.

 "See? Don't they look alike?" I say to Ryan. He goes, "Meh, I guess a little bit."

And every time we walked by the "Edward Morra Headquarters" in the past few weeks I had to be like, "Seriously. This guy and Bradley Cooper are like identical twins! I can't believe you don't see it!" And Ryan was adamant on his stance that they only look a little bit alike.

Well, today I googled Edward Morra. It's been really bothering me, and I just HAD to prove that these guys were somehow related. Turns out, there is a new movie being filmed in Philadelphia, where the main character, Eddie Morra, is played by none other than...that's right, you guessed it, Bradley Cooper.

Bahahaha. Ryan and I both feel pretty dumb.

Oh, and also Ryan has agreed to now believe me whenever I say people look alike. Because he NEVER agrees with me when I say that, but this very clearly proved that I know what I'm talking about.

Documentaries

I sit at home all day. And a lot of times, most of the day is filled with Netflix. Instantly streamed netflix was the. best. idea. ever.
For a while, I was watching a lot of documentaries. And since I am so nice, I made a short list of my top three documentaries. These three documentaries are ones that you must watch.  No three movies have ever made me cry more. I truly believe they are films that everyone should see. So get on it.

3. The Cove

This follows Ric Barry (the trainer for Flipper) as he tries to capture footage of the killing of thousands of dolphins, which occurs every year in Taiji, Japan. The movie was really moving. It was sad, but like I said in my post about Greenpeace...they ARE still animals, so even though I was moved, it wasn't enough to get me to send them a $100 check or anything. BUT, it was enough to get me to vow to never go to Sea World or swim with dolphins again.
The thing I liked most about this movie was Ric Barry. I loved that he was DOING SOMETHING. He saw injustice in the world, and he went to work. Way to go, Ric Barry.

2. Born into Brothels
This documentary follows several children who live in the red light district in Calcutta, India. A woman went there initially to photograph the lives of the women, but got sucked in by the adorable and unfortunate children living there. She gave them all cameras, film and photography lessons and let them capture their day-to-day lives.

This film was much harder to watch than "The Cove" because, these are children. People. And they have so little hope to do anything or go anywhere in life. At one point, one of the little girls says, "I keep thinking if I could go someplace and get an education, I wonder what I would become..."
It's truly heartbreaking. And so many people don't even know that there are children living their lives like this all over the world.

Yet at the same time, it is inspiring. Because the woman who helped them wasn't in anyway "qualified" to do so. Like she said in the trailer, "I'm not a social worker, I'm not a teacher..." and yet she was able to give those children exactly what they needed. Hope for a better future. Love.The impossible mission to help these children was made possible. God can use us in so many ways, all we need to do is to be willing.

And the number 1 documentary that you must watch....
1. War Dance
This film really hits home with me because it follows refugee camp children from the war-torn Northern Uganda. They are attempting to not only make it to, but to win the National Music Competition. Just like the others, it is hard to watch at points. But like one little boy says, "...if we don't tell you [our stories], you won't know."

It is the perfect example of taking something horrific and turning it into beauty. Of not losing heart. I love this movie. I have already seen it 3 times, and I'm sure I'll be watching it again soon. It is heart-wrenching, yet so so beautiful.
I love it.
I love it.
I love it.
And you must watch it.

you capture: circles

I haven't been doing You Capture lately. I'm not sure why. I guess I just wasn't inspired by the themes or my surroundings. This week's You Capture theme was "circles" and I knew I just had to participate this week. How fun is that? I thoroughly enjoyed capturing this week :)

#1 Coins in the coin jar

#2 A new fruit to try...a pomelo

#3 The pomelo after being peeled and de-pulped, which was quite the task!

#4 A few of my Grandpa's piano rolls

#5 Pretty new thread

#6 Ryan's birthday treat: chocolate chip cookie sandwiches with homemade vanilla ice cream [Why yes, as a matter of fact, I DO eat my weight in sugar every week.]

#7 Eyelets on Ryan's new shoes

things that make [slash would make] me happy

1.Sewing projects
I've just finished my 3rd sewing project! A silvery tunic. I absolutely love how it turned out!

Isn't that bow just the cutest? I love it.

My 1st project was a neuro kit roll-up for Ryan. Not to toot my own horn, but it turned out great as well.

My 2nd project was an apron. But I had to put it on hold because In order to finish it, I have to get a few inches of elastic for the tops of the pockets. So, it's just sitting on top of my fabric box for now.

2. My boots

 These are my favorite shoes. And to think I almost passed up those purple boots because I didn't want to spend any money (Thanks again, Mom!)

3. Recent vintage purchases
One of my favorite vintage stores in the city had an "exclusive, invitation only" sale last week. I only phrase it that way because that's what the sign on the door said. And maybe because it makes me sound a lot more important than I actually am. I was simply on their email list. But still, the sale rocked my face off because everything in the store was only $5!! The dresses in that store normally start at $40 and can get up to over $100. So...I was super excited.

I got an ivory corduroy men's suit vest (for me, not Ryan), a brick red/orange sweater vest, a plaid red/grey high waist skirt (all from 1970's), a few skinny ties for Ryan (1960's) and a blue/purple paisley dress which screams 1980's. I'm not exactly sure how I'm gonna wear that one yet. Cause I have to be sure I'm not channeling something like this:

Yikes.

4. This area of our apartment

 I love our living room here. I especially love our fireplace area. I love those tin canister/jugs that my mom loaned to me for a while, our hand carved wood figurine made by my sister's boyfriend as a wedding gift, our silvery "S", my grandpa's frame sheet music, pictures of our siblings, the awesome original artwork we received as a wedding gift from some friends...I just love how it all comes together. And how it looks with our furniture and re-done thrifted coffee table. Our living room is just awesome, what can I say.

5. TJ's Lava Cakes

No, I didn't take this picture. But only because the one I did take is already on my external hard-drive (hardrive? harddrive? hard drive?).

Anyways, chocolate lava cakes are only the. best. dessert. ever. Fight me on it, I don't care. They will always come out on top. And $2.79 for two little pieces of heaven? Sounds good to me!
 

6. These shoes

Kegerries by Aldo.
Hi. I'm in love with them.
When I saw these in the window of Aldo, I froze. Then drooled. And decided that I needed them. But the "need them" where you just want them really, really, really bad and will wait until they go on super sale and hope they have your size. And then when they don't, you cry, but still live. That kind of "need them."
So...if anyone wants to get a jump start on a birthday present...here ya go. I'll take them in dark brown or cognac, size 6, please. Thank you!

7. This dog.

Isn't he just the cutest? I want him. To hug him and squeeze him and call him my squishy. And pet him and teach him tricks and take him for walks and to keep me company.
Feel free to buy him for me, as well as those Kegerries, and make me the happiest girl in the world [maybe, how do you even begin to verify a statement like that?]

8. This Man.
Because he is living exactly how I think Christ wants us to live and love. Incredible. Incredible. Incredible. I love it.

"Everybody has got 5.5 liters of blood. I am just a human being. For me, everybody is the same. There are thousands and thousands, lots of people suffering. What is the ultimate purpose of life? It is to give."

I.   love.    it.

celebrity boyfriend

Everyone, meet my boyfriend.
Boyfriend, meet everyone.

Chris Brown and I have an on-again-off-again type of relationship (besides the fact that it is always "off-again" because it's Chris Brown and he has no idea I exist...)  I mean, I've loved the dude for like, ever, but sometimes I forget that I love him. And then I see something like this:

And I'm all, "Oh hiiiii boyfriend! I missed you!"

Did you just watch that video?
Did you see him dancing?
Are you dead?
I thought so. Cause there is no way you just watched that video and DIDN'T DIE from those dance moves.
Ooooo, Chris Brown, you and your marvelous moves. 

 And I know, I know, he was abusive with Rhianna. And I should probably be "anti-Chris Brown cause he's a jerk" just like I'm "anti-Kanye West cause he's the biggest jerk ever and I hate him" but seriously...I can't get over those dance moves. So I'll just have to sweep that whole "sent his girlfriend to the hospital thing" under the rug.

Ryan, it will probably be to your benefit to learn how to dance like that. And by that, we all know I mean I want to brag to my friends about my husband's awesome dance moves, so...get on that. Also, I may or may not return your birthday presents in exchange for dance lessons. I know, best wife ever. You don't need to tell me.

cookies and cream cupcakes

I had a hankering to bake last night. [More so than usual, because seriously, when do I not want to bake?]
All we had in the cupboards were cake mixes and that was too boring for me. I wanted something with a little more pizazz.

So here's how I jazzed things up a bit...

I started out with a box of devil's food cake mix (the small size that you can get for a buck at K-mart, heck yes!), mixed it as usual but added in some sour cream for extra moisture.

After greasing the cupcake/muffin pan, I dipped one side of 6 Oreos into the batter and placed them on the bottom of each cupcake tin.

Then I poured the batter into the cups, like usual when baking cupcakes. And put some crushed Oreos in the mix.

Baked for 20 minutes.

Let them completely cool.

Then I frosted them.

Sprinkled with some Oreo crumbs and voila!

Then I ate them.
And I liked it.

girls night

For all of you who have told me that I need to make friends, this post is for you. Now you can leave me alone. And don't be all, "I told you so. You needed friends." Because I still stand strong on my statement that I. don't. want. friends. here.

Moving on.
A couple of Ryan's classmates hosted a girls night on Saturday. They included me, a fiance of and a girlfriend of guys who are in the program (so nice of them!) We had a wine and cheese night. We talked and talked, for hours! Girls will be girls, right?

We also played this game called "Never have I ever" or "10 fingers" or something. I had never played before. Everyone starts out with 10 fingers up, and you go around the circle and each person says something that they have never done. If anyone in the circle HAS done that thing they said, they must put a finger down. The point of the game, besides getting to know people better than you would in a regular conversation, is to be the last one with fingers still up. Obviously, this game does a great job at showcasing who the "badder" ones and the innocent ones of the group are. I knew that me and a girl named Ashley would be the last ones in the game, because we are both so innocent and naive. I just knew it.

Oh, but guess what?
I lost.

I lost the game.
I was the first one out. The ultimate loser.
I couldn't believe it! I kept being like, "No guys, really, I don't understand how I lost this game! I'm so innocent!"

But I'm pretty sure everyone was out to get me. You see, normally people say "naughty" things, sinful things, that they haven't done. Like "Never have I ever done drugs." Apparently, our game wasn't a normal game though. I lost to things like, having a piercing other than my ears, broken a bone, getting a speeding ticket and...get this...being married.
See? Told you they had it out for me.

why i will never ever give anything to greenpeace

People make me angry sometimes. Most of the time, it's when I'm watching Prison Break and yet another scum bag has taken advantage of Michael/Sarah/Lincoln/Sucre. And then I'm real angry.

But seriously, sometimes in the real world, people make me angry.

A while ago, when I was out on the town, I was approached by a man who was working for Greenpeace.
He yells out as he sees me walking towards him, "Now there's someone who loves orangutans!" I'm laughed. Obviously. I mean, that's a ridiculous thing to yell at someone. Not only that, but I couldn't care less about orangutans. Plus, they're pretty ugly.
Here's how the rest of our conversation went:

Greenpeace (GP) man: Do you have a minute to talk?

Me: If you're going to ask me for money, no.

GP man (clearly ignoring what I had said): Did you know that hundreds of orangutans are being killed every minute? [He went on to explain how fast food restaurants are cutting down forests for their own benefit, and in turn is killing a lot of orangutans, or something]

Me: Okay. That's sad.

GP man: You can do something about this! For only $35 a month, a donation made through Greenpeace, you can help save these orangutuans!

Me: Yeah, well, my husband and I sponsor a child for that much a month, and that's as much stretching as we can afford in our tight budget.

GP man: A child?

Me: Yeah.

GP man: What about the orangutans? A child is not orangutans. A child is not the environment.

Me: Exactly.

At that point I just walked away. Because that was one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard.
This man was seriously placing the value of an orangutan's life over "my" little Phoebe's! Or any child for that matter!

Stuff like that just irks me. Like those stupid save the puppies Sarah McLachlan commericals. Yes, I understand that lots of animals are abused everyday. Yes, that is sad. Yes, that is unnecessary and cruel. But NO, that is NOT more important than the tiny child who was abandoned and left for dead. That is not more important than the village that has no access to clean water. That is not more important than the family who hasn't eaten a real meal in weeks.
Don't people who donate their money to all this environment and save the animals crap realize how much more there money could be doing? How many lives they could be changing? I just want to shake people up sometimes and be like, "HELLO! DO YOU EVEN REALIZE WHAT IS GOING ON IN THIS WORLD?!"


Especially those stupid Greenpeace people.

what we did in philly

We started this weekend off by going out with some of Ryan's classmates to Alma de Cuba. They go out to a different place every weekend to try out various happy hour specials. Typically the same people pick the places to go, and they are generally pretty pricey, so we rarely go with them. We're looking forward to the day when "happy hour" actually means $2 beers and cheap nachos. But whatever. Back to Alma de Cuba...

I got sangria, and it was not very good. It had like bricks of cinnamon in it. No joke. I finished the drink and there was like rocks of cinnamon in the bottom of it. Sicknasty. Ryan had a "classico" mojito, and he said it was alright. We split the sliders appetizer, which was still overpriced during happy hour. AND they didn't come with fries or chips or a pickle or ANYTHING. What kind of business is this place running? I mean seriously.

Don't be fooled, they look much better than they actually were

We went out for lunch on Sunday at Darlings Cafe. Darlings is just around the corner from our apartment and we've been meaning to try it for some time now. They have won so many awards, so we thought we were in for a gooooood meal.

Oh but, suprise! It was nasty. And CRAZY overpriced. Member that one time we paid $20 for ONE waffle, a kid-sized chicken wrap and a small hot chocolate? Oh yeah. Thanks for that, Darlings.

Ryan had the Herb Roasted Chicken Wrap. Like I said, it was way too small and not very good. Oh and also, Ryan is really good at making pictures awkward, in case you couldn't tell.

I had the Wake-up Call Waffle, minus the cinnamon whipped cream and chocolate drizzle and undercooked, like mostly all mushy batter. Not because I ordered it that way, but because that's how Darlings served it. Excuse me while I barf. Yep, it was that good. I also got a "real" hot chocolate. Apparently "real" hot chocolate must be lousily steamed milk and Hershey's syrup (yes, milk can be steamed lousily. Yes, I am a snob.)
[I wasn't even going to upload this picture, because I look so sick and lop-sidey, but I thought it was an accurate picture of how good Darlings was.]

So, in summary, what we did in Philly was much less exciting and much more expensive than expected.

cookies

Today was a lousy day.
Like a bring ya way down type of day.
A no-good, stinky, rotten, stupid stupid day.

Remember when I was talking about my "new direction"? Well, today was a major step in my new direction. Or well, it was supposed to be. Prior to today, things seemed to be falling into place pretty well. I was feeling confident[ish] and excited[ish]. But I came home today completely shattered and crying. I'm not sure what God is doing with me, but it. is. not. fun.

[I have a post all ready to go explaining this new direction.Which I was going to post today, but after it all came crashing down, I'll just publish it whenever I feel good and ready.]


So I came home and made cookies.
Chocolate chip cookies make everything better.

 

And it just so happens that I make the best chocolate chip cookies ever. I know, I know, everyone and their mom makes the best chocolate chip cookies ever. But everyone and their mom are liars. Cause I really do make the best chocolate chip cookies ever. Maaaaybe if you're lucky I'll share my recipe one day. Don't count on it though.

Remember when I had, "Less dessert" on my New Year's Resolution list? Yeah, that was funny.

New Year's Resolutions

I had an idea one day for a twist on New Year's resolutions. Ryan and I would make a list for each other. Those lists wouldn't be "required" to be followed in the new year, but we could use that list to inspire things on our own list of resolutions. So I made a list of 10 things that I thought Ryan could improve on (but actually it turned into 11, haha) and he made a list of 10 for me.
My list for Ryan included things like: eat breakfast, leave my stuff alone (he has a nasty habit of tucking my stuff away into obscure places and then I can never find what I'm looking for!), clean out the stuff you don't wear from your closet, give me genuine compliments...

Ryan's list for me included: make a friend (haha, Philly's been good to me), make more choices, ask him for help more, have craft time...

The list I made for myself was as follows:
[I'm putting this on here because I know that by having it "out there" in the world, I'll hold myself more accountable]
1. Be a better wife
    -Be patient, encouraging and supportive
    - Ask for help, make a chore list
    - Make some of the decisions
2. Don't be in sweats all day (my fumpiness was getting to me, as you read a few posts ago)
3. Be more social (I halfheartedly put this on my list, because I'm still not really wanting to have friends out here)
4. Make an effort to be happy
5. Do laundry once a week and put it away right away
6. Keep the house clean
7. Have a more regular schedule for devotions
8. Have "craft time"
9. Less dessert (This was really halfheartedly added to my list. And let's be serious, it might only last a week. And by that, I mean I had Oreos last night.)
10. Have a better sleep schedule

We thoroughly enjoyed doing this. I think it was a great exercise for our marriage, cause a lot of times we're afraid to really voice how we're feeling or what we think the other person should do. Or we voice it, but it doesn't really do much to encourage one another. This way was more constructive, positive and actually a lot of fun. We've stuck our lists to the 'fridge', so we look at them numerous times during the day. It's a nice reminder to consciously try to grow ourselves. We're both so excited to see what this new year will hold for us!

NYE in NYC

Yep, we went to New York City for New Year's Eve (and New Year's.)
Sorry for all the people who were misled and were watching for us on TV, because although we were in the city for New Year's Eve, we were not in Times Square.

Let me start off by saying that NYC totally trumps Philadelphia. Like, compared to NYC, Philly is your smelly little cousin that wets the bed. So, in this analogy, New York City would be Kevin in "Home Alone" and Philadelphia would be Fuller, Kevin's dorky little cousin who drinks too much Pepsi the evening Kevin has to share a bed with him. Yeah, Fuller is cute and stuff. But Kevin is a sweet little kid who can build awesome traps and says stuff like, "Buzz, your girlfriend. Woof!"

New York City was cleaner than Philly. It's safer than Philly. It's way better than Philly...I mean, what's not to love? Except for maybe that big rat that ran in front of us while we were walking downtown (and by big, I seriously mean like 10 inches or longer. Thankfully I thought it was a piece of trash blowing in the wind until everyone informed me otherwise.)

Not to say that Philly isn't a great city to visit (please come see us!) but it is definitely not a great place to live. And although we both know that we don't love it here, we will continue to make that best of it and we do have fun here!

Annnnnyways, here's what our little trip looked like:

Our bus got to the city a few hours before my friend was returning from her visit home, so we had some time to kill just by ourselves. We had no plans, just roamed around. We first stopped at a Starbucks to see what was close to us and got a few ideas of what we might want to see that wouldn't be too far of a walk.
We headed to Times Square first. Which was shockingly clean! I was so impressed! (Apparently it's a lot dirtier and smellier in the summer.)
We saw where the ball was going to drop from, but didn't see the actual ball. Which is weird, because apparently it's up there year round. Maybe we're just not as bright as we seem. But if you look closely at the last picture, with just Ryan in it, you can see at the very tippy top the pole it's supposedly on and the "2011" sign at the bottom of the pole.

 

Then we went to the Hershey's "Factory" aka tourist store (and by "went to" I mean that I took this picture and then we decided it was too busy in there to actually waste our time walking around in it)

 

Across the street from the Hershey's store was THE M&M'S STORE! Which DUH, I had to go to and look at all the green M&M stuff, and get a picture by the green statue. I really like the M&M's store, and I basically want to work there. But only when I feel like it. I couldn't have a set schedule with them or anything, cause that's NOT fun.

Next we headed over to "Mood Designer Fabrics." And hello, if you don't recognize this, we can't be friends. (Except, I'm pretty sure that by saying that, I'm offending all 5 of my readers.) Mood fabrics is only THE BEST fabric store EVER! It's where they shop for fabrics on the TV show, Project Runway. And everytime they go there, I'm like, "Sigh...I want to LIVE at Mood."
It was closed :(
I was pretty much broken-hearted, but still grateful that Ryan was willing to find it with me (we may or may not have walked past it like 3 times before realizing where it was. That scaffolding sure was tricky!)
"Thanks, Mood!"

Then we went to Papaya's for lunch. And if you don't know what THAT is, don't worry, we can still be friends. It just means that you are one of the very few people in America who have never watched Seinfeld. Or remembers the episode where Kramer leaves the movie line because he is practically dying from his craving for a Papaya King hotdog. And even though we can still be friends, I'll probably look down on you.

Confession: We actually ate at Gray's Papaya, which I thought was the same as Papaya King, just in a different area. But apparently Gray's is one of Papaya King's competitors. So next time, we'll have to eat at the REAL Papaya's.

Then, my friend, Elisabeth, was back in town! So we went to her place for the evening. We just hung out, went shopping for wine for the evening and made some pizza! We left her place around 10:00pm, and went to a small bar down the road from her apartment.

Side note: Elisabeth's apartment is only 6 blocks away from Times Square! And her classes are in THE FREAKING EMPIRE STATE BUILDING! She's pretty much the coolest person I know.

 

That's us at the bar we went to. The bartender took a really blurry picture of us, but it was the only picture I got of all four of us (me, Ryan, David (Liz's boyfriend) and Liz) so I had to include it! Oh, and bonus! The bar gave us all a free glass of champagne at midnight! It wasn't the tastiests of champagne, but hey, it was free! And when you are basically broke, free is like the best thing ever! Okay, okay, free is like the best thing ever even when you aren't broke.

The next day, Liz and David took us out for a little tour of the town! We had lunch at John's pizza because we really wanted some legit New York style pizza. Mmmm, it was tasty. However, and this may be blasphemous considering I grew up in the Midwest and I now live on the East side, but I don't really like New York OR Chicago style pizza. Call me crazy but I kind of just love a pizza that's right in between the two.
But regardless, John's was good!

Of course we had to take a picture by "Smith's Bar"

The rest of the day was spent essentially wizzing by all the touristy spots. They took us downtown and we walked in Battery Park, where you can see the Statue of Liberty at a distance. We also went to Ground Zero. You can no longer walk right up to it because they are building the National 9/11 Memorial there, and it was very strange walking by it. I thought it would be a lot more...I dunno...respectful in a way. People were just walking by it like nothing ever happened, it seemed not right to me. But apparently, it used to be more of a memorial until they started building. Now it just looks like a construction site and it doesn't really stir up emotions, although it should. Hmmm.

After that, we just walked around downtown because that's Liz's favorite part of the city.
Oh, and we drove by Rockefeller Square...Circle...Center? Not sure, haha. I wanted to see the big tree, and that did not disappoint. Even though we just drove by it and it was like this,
"Okay, you'll see it right in between these buildings up here..."
"There it is! Oh wow, that was pretty!"
I wish I could have that tree in my front yard every year. It was beautiful.

And that was our NYC trip! We are already planning another visit sometime this summer! I can't wait!