Murphy's Law...

If things were going right I should be sitting in the living room of my house in England next to Sam right now, but unfortunately that’s just not the case. A week ago I got the notification from UPS that my passport and what I thought would be my visa were on its way. This UPS website that I had been refreshing daily since December, thinking all my worries would vanish once that little blue dot would start to move. Last Tuesday I waited by my front door for UPS to pull up, I yelped with excitement when I saw the truck pull up and I opened the door to look down at a large envelope. But when I looked at it I immediately knew something was not right.

I ripped it open to find all the documents that I had sent to immigration with my passport on top. I franticly searched through my passport looking for my visa stickered in somewhere in the pages, but nothing was there. I flipped through it again hoping that I must have just overlooked it in my excitement, but again nothing. I tried to keep myself calm as I started looking through the pages of my documents to see if somehow the visa was slipped in among the hundreds of pages, but still nothing. That’s when I really started to lose my cool. I had my documents, my passport, but no visa, and no letter with an explanation of what this meant. What I did notice was that along with all the documents I was meant to send to immigration I also had to provide them with 2 passport sized photos, which were missing from the returned envelope. So all sorts of scenarios were running through my head. What was the mistake here? Was I granted the visa because my pictures were gone and they had sent my passport back? Or was I denied because they sent everything back and there was no visa inside of my passport? Could someone in immigration had messed up royally (pun intended) and just so happened to forget to attach the sticker in my passport before putting it inside the envelope?

Heartbroken, I called Sam to tell him what had happened. And it was really crap going from over the moon beyond excited the day before thinking that this was finally all coming to an end, only to find out that something was clearly wrong but we had no idea what it was. You would think that our paid solicitor would have some idea as to what this meant but even he was speechless and said that he had never encountered something like this before. So what were we to do? My flight was supposed to take off the following week and we had no answers. So we quickly contacted everyone we thought who could help us including the MP (government official in the UK) only to get told information that had us going round in circles, with still no idea if my visa was approved or denied.

When we got a hold of someone from the immigration hotline they had told Sam that they would email me a decision within the next 48-72 hours. Leaving it of course last minute before my flight on the Monday at 8pm. I had even called the same immigration hotline, not realizing we had contacted the same place and they told me the exact same thing. So 2 different people in 2 different countries that must be a safe bet to think that this information would lead us to finding out the results Monday before my flight. Sam and I discussed it a bunch, the pros and cons of flying on Monday if my visa was approved or denied. We thought if its approved great no worries, I get on the flight and we finally begin a real life in London. If it was denied then so what I still go back and at least see Sam for a couple of weeks before starting the process of appealing the denial (which has to be done in 28 days of the denial).

Sunday night I had a big family dinner as a little going away party for me/ celebration. As we were sitting there chatting we talked about how my flight was in 25 hours and they couldn’t believe the day was finally here. Only for me to laugh about missing my flight jokingly, when all of a sudden I said because I land on the 4^th. To which everyone looked at me and said tomorrow is the 4^th Nicole. As I nervous laughed I got up to double check my flight details to see that my calendar had showed March 4^th flight from JFK, but when I triple checked on my booking email it showed leaving the 3^rd and arriving on the 4^th at 8am! In an absolute panic I realized that my Virgin Atlantic app showed that the flight was currently boarding and I was about to miss the flight I waited 3 months to get on! I quickly called up with 50 minutes to take off and was able to change my flight no problem. And since I wasn’t planning on leaving until Monday night anyway I figured no sweat I was all set for being home Tuesday morning anyway. My family and I get a good chuckle of the situation (after I stopped hyperventilating) and continued to enjoy my last night in New York.

When yesterday rolls around I’m beyond excited that it’s finally the day I am supposed to leave and can finally be with Sam. As I started to get ready to go to the airport I was still waiting to receive the email to tell me about my visa. When it was just 3 hours before I had to leave for the airport I started to get worried and decided to call immigration to see what was happening (I should also mention that calling immigration costs $2 a minute on top of the charge to call the UK). When I finally get in touch with someone and I explain that I waited the full 72 hours for an answer the man on the phone tells me that Sam and I were told the wrong wait time. The email would come within a 15 business day waiting period. With absolute horror I demanded to talk to management in which the man left me on hold for $6 worth only to tell me that the management was unavailable and that they would be telling me the same thing he was. And that’s when I went full on yelling at the man stating how horrible this was being apart from my husband for so long and all I want to do is see him. The man told me that the immigration department would not be held accountable if I were to get on the plane and be detained for questioning at the airport. Here was my logic because I so wanted to see Sam and be in our home together I thought I might as well still leave that night. As a US citizen I have the right to enter the UK with no visa needed and without one I would simply be “visiting” the country. But because I was denied once and still have this visa in process there was the chance that I would be detained and questioned and potentially if they thought there was the possibility that I would try to remain illegally they could refuse my entry.

I cried for hours and after being told by our solicitor to not get on the plane I was completely distraught. Sam and I talked it over for another hour and came to the conclusion that it just wasn’t worth the risk for me to come back. Instead we were going to try to make a plan to have him come to New York and wait out the 15 business days with me. This will all be work pending for Sam since he’s put in leave several times already for the days he thought I was supposed to be home, we have my best friend’s wedding this summer he put time in for, and we are supposed to be going away with the Hayward family at the end of the month that he also had to put days in for. It’s looking likely that he should be able to come to New York, but this feeling of uncertainty and never actually knowing what is going on in my own life is gut wrenching.

I have tried so hard to remain positive in all of this but to be honest my life motto is expect the worst but hope for the best. I mentally prepare myself for the worst to happen so that I do not let my feelings get me down, or I am prepared in the worst case scenario with a backup plan. It is so hard to think about how much time we have been apart (more than anything we endured in our relationship), how I have not worked in a career that I love so much since June, and to feel like everything that I had planned for this year and the beginning of my marriage has been completely ripped from my hands. The feeling of having no control over anything in my life is honestly indescribable. I try very hard to see the light in it but there are more days that I find it difficult to do anything with my day. I know all the things that I could be doing and have the ability to, but my lack of motivation and desire to do it keeps me from it.

And my god I have to say how also very lucky that I am to have such amazing parents who have literally supported me 100% in all of this. They have picked me up at my very lows and let me express all my anger to support me emotionally. This uniquely horrible situation has allowed me to strengthen every bond I have with the people that are dearest in my life. My friends who constantly text me to make sure I am alright, my family that always asks for updates on the situation, and my work family who send me messages just to make me smile. And I know Sam feels the same way for everyone on his side of the pond. In my low of lows, I still find myself laughing which tells me I have not been defeated by this. And I always knew how much I loved my husband before this, but everything going on has made me realize even more that I chose the right person to spend my life with. I know that whatever happens to us in the future I am always going to have this amazing person by my side (even if he isn’t actually physically by my side). And for the record even when I was crying on the phone to him yesterday he was willing to do whatever it took to make me smile. I mean he promised to get me a dog when I’m finally home and now that multiple people are reading this you’re all accountable to see it through that I get this pup I was promised! (Lol sorry not sorry Sam I need a puppy).

As it stands I have now changed my flight to March 19^th, giving immigration their 15 business days and 5 extra cushion days in case anything else needs to be sorted. We know from speaking to people at immigration that a decision has been made but they cannot disclose it over the phone because they cannot see the answer to it, but merely know that it has completed processing.

To end this I will state all the positives of not being able to go back to London yesterday as big or small as they may seem they are the driving force keeping me a float. I get to spend more time with my beautiful niece who I love more than words and makes me instantly smile when I see. I get to have more Sunday meals with my family (all together that is a happiness like no other). I can see the finale to the bachelor and drink wine with my sister in law! I get to school my brother in our ping pong tournaments. I get to hang out with my friends. I can hopefully spend some time if he gets to come to New York soon. I get to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with my family (although giving up meat will be interesting when they start serving corn beef and cabbage). And I’ve finally started reading the Harry Potter books and can finish the second and potentially go on to the third!

 

  

New Year, New Fitness Addiction?

     Before the start of every New Year I make a list of things I want to improve in my life. This year (probably because the excess amount of free time I have) I’ve been able to really focus on those things and get off to a great start. I think where I’ve gone wrong in past years is that I have given myself too broad of an idea rather than little realistic things I can do everyday in order to get a significant result. My small changes that I wanted to keep up from last year are to write and read more. One of my big changes for this year is trying to become a pescatarian (with the exception of slip ups every now and then). Last night I struggled to stay away from the buffalo chicken spin dip at the super bowl party I was at. But it’s a working progress. My other improvement is the ever popular fitness goal. I am making a point to move/workout for at least 30 minutes a day. Having an apple watch helps massively in that I can see my daily movement, standing, and calories burnt in the day. I have already felt a massive change in that I don’t feel pressured to workout everyday but just move around, because really 30 minutes in a day isn’t that much. I have even started making up workouts by running up and down the stairs with intervals of push-ups and sit-ups in between sets. And of course when the weather is permitting I go for runs outside for however long I feel good for.

     After bumping into an old friend from high school last weekend we got to talking about how we used to run together on our track team and how he’s now working at the Peloton showroom in Chelsea in the city. If you don’t know what Peloton is, it’s a semi new fitness bike and now treadmill that’s very high tech. It has a large screen where you can log into workouts from home and take part in a class that’s going on live in the Peloton studios. Of course these machines cost you a pretty penny because of all these features, but you can also download the Peloton app that gives you the workouts to complete on any stationary bike or treadmill that you have at home or in your local gym.

https://studio.onepeloton.com/tread

     So when Kevin asked me if I wanted to come and take some classes I was jumping at the opportunity. I went to my first treadmill boot camp class on Thursday and now I am hooked! The studio itself is absolutely gorgeous! Let’s just say it wasn’t like walking into a Planet Fitness or any old gym. It felt like I was walking into a high end gallery. The locker room has everything a girl could need for her fitness essentials including deodorant, dry shampoo, hairspray, you name it really and they had it. So after I was done admiring the locker room it was time to get acquainted with the machine I would be doing my work out on.

     At first glance it doesn’t look much more than your average treadmill with the exception of the large screen on it, but after Kevin showed me all of its features it seemed like a runners dream. The belt in which you run on has grooves to prevent slipping and felt like to keep you in place. I know when I run on a regular treadmill I can sometimes feel myself swaying from left to right on the belt. It has a “free” button which allows you to run sprints at your own pace without the help of the speed up button, so basically it goes as fast as you can. The other main difference between a Peloton treadmill and a regular one is the two buttons on the sides. On the left there is the incline and on the right side is the speed, but instead of a + or – button it is a wheel that is just so much easier to use when in a work out. The screen shows you speed, distance, incline, and rank in the class. At home it would show all of these things and also the instructor doing the workout of your choice.

What I did not know about this workout I had signed up for at the Peloton showroom was that it would be recorded! The workout that I would be doing would be broadcasted live in front of every Peloton machine in the country! Thinking about this all my fears flashed through my head, the number one being falling off this machine and having it on tape FOREVER! And trust me if you know me well you know how clumsy of a person I am and this was a reasonable fear. Luckily for this session I was just out of sight of the camera if all went terribly wrong, but they also had a few staff in the room in case things did go wrong for me or anyone else.

     The class probably had about 10-15 people in it and I was all sorts of pumped up once I knew this would be recorded. Plus knowing that I would be competing with everyone in the class put my competitiveness into overdrive. I need a class that challenges me but also has the sense of competition because that will automatically make me push even harder. As the workout went on I was feeling really great honestly, it was quick to get into the groove and the instructor Jess had the sweetest demeanor that she really made me feel like I could run a marathon. She kept me pumped the whole time and her little shout outs during the class had me pushing harder for some recognition of my own. Every time I felt like I was getting winded I would just look up at the leaderboard and see how close I was to the person above me and increase my speed to catch up with them. I ended up finishing the class in fourth just behind Kevin and the two other trainers in the room who did the class so I was feeling pretty good about it.

     The class finished with 15 minutes of all lower body weights, which was probably the hardest part of the workout for me. The instructor Jess was an absolute machine busting out 15 reps of everything seamlessly while also talking into the mic (it really is a talent in itself). When the class completely finished I felt a rush of energy and felt really great. Seeing this I was asked a staff member if I wanted to complete a yoga class that was starting about 40 minutes later. I was skeptical because I had literally done one yoga class in my life and it went horribly wrong, but for some reason I also jumped at the opportunity to try another class and said yes.

     For all that don’t know my athletic/coordination/flexibility they have no correlation because although I can run for miles and have decent stamina, I cannot touch my toes or stand on one leg without toppling over. So yoga really isn’t something that should be in my vocabulary. As I was waiting to walk into the studio I had asked one of the staff members to put me somewhere in the back so that I wouldn’t be seen on camera (because this is also a class that gets broadcasted to all Peloton app users, there isn’t a machine for yoga). The girl responded that it is a small classroom with only 1 row so it would be hard to not be seen at some point or another. HA! Way to put the viewers at home at ease if they weren’t advanced yoga participants. To add insult to injury my instructor Jess and another trainer also did the class with me… oh and were right next to me to make me look extra gangly and uncoordinated. When the class finally starts the yoga instructor began by telling the people at home that this was not a beginner’s class so if they had only just started their method they should return to this video after more practice. WHAT AM I DOING IN THIS ROOM!?!? But it was too late, the camera was rolling and there was no escaping the next 45 minutes of my torture. BUT plot twist! I actually ended up getting the hang of all the moves relatively quickly, because really what choice did I have? There were a few times where I was thinking “I can’t believe I’m actually doing this but I think I’m doing it pretty damn well!” Well at least that was my thought because I don’t know about you but sometimes our mind tells us we're doing something really well but in reality you’re just not. Like when people are drunk and think they can dance but then watch it the next day on their friend’s Snapchat and they forward it in embarrassment (not that it has ever happened to me of course lol).

     So I finished the class strong and honestly felt like a million bucks. I wasn’t achy as I would usually be after running on a treadmill, and wasn’t as tight thanks to the yoga class. And the days after I definitely wasn’t as sore as I thought I would be. To be honest I would love to buy one of those treadmills for my house if I had the money for it because I 100% think they are worth it, but for the meantime I now have reconnected with Kevin who is happy to have me take classes whenever I want! That obviously meant I booked another class which is actually tonight! I cannot wait to get back and try another treadmill class. What is really great is that they are finally expanding to England and they have just opened up a show room in London! This could just be my new fitness addiction.

I really can't thank my friend Kevin and everyone at Peloton enough for such a great experience and not only that how incredibly friendly, helpful, and supportive everyone was! 

California Love...

Mama Shelter, Los Angeles
Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles
The Parlor, Melrose District
Dockweiler State Beach, Marina Del Ray
Brewco, Manhattan Beach
Universal Studios, Universal City
Beachwood Canyon, Los Angeles

     Since the moment that I landed back in New York I knew I would be here for some time (not nearly as long as its been but whatever). I wanted to plan things to keep me busy and that would be worth my while. Well on black Friday, Alaskan airlines had an incredible sale for flights to California. For the last 3 years my best friend Jordana has been living in LA and it has been so hard to find time to go there since Sam and I were long distance dating. Every time I was off from work I would go to England or Sam would be in New York visiting me. But now with all my free time I finally was able to make the trip! And really it could not have been better.

     The morning that I had left was absolute madness. I was on the phone with my solicitor from the minute that I woke up to the minute I arrived at JFK airport. I won’t get too into that part but I was not happy knowing that the paperwork was going to be submitted the upcoming Monday rather than that day, and my dad even tried to hand it in to the immigration center in the city and they wouldn’t except anything but a mail in (I get it but UGH GIVE ME A BREAK!) So that’s when it started to sink in that I wouldn’t be home in England for Christmas, which was the bad part. The good part was that I had the whole flipping row of seats on the plane to myself!!! Someone upstairs was looking out, or maybe the universe just had enough of poohing on me for one day. Knowing the reality of not having my visa as quickly as I had planned, I allowed myself to sulk on the plane by eating an entire family sized bag of Cheetos and let myself have a good cry while watching The Greatest Showman (excellent excuse to the reason of crying in front of strangers staring at me, also BEST MOVIE EVER!) And once I landed in LA I wanted to make sure I fully enjoyed my time and didn’t worry about everything else going on.

     I spent six glorious days in weather that had me in disbelief that it was actually December. Day one was spent mostly in travel because LA TRAFFIC IS THE DEVIL. But once Tommy (Jordana’s boyfriend) and I finally made it back to their place we were obviously famished and ready to hit the town while we waited for Jordana to finish up work for the weekend. Tommy and I had dinner at this restaurant called Mama Shelter that had a sick rooftop with a 360 view of LA. We perfectly planned to be there just as the sun was setting and it was magnificent! I really should have taken advantage of the view with more than the 1 picture I have that does not even remotely do it justice. The food hit the spot and I don’t think I have ever eaten that fast in my life. They also had some pretty great cocktails there. Literally still couldn’t believe I was at a rooftop bar in December wearing just a flannel. What I quickly noticed about the people in LA is that any weather under 70 degrees is taken advantage of by wearing winter coats, yes I said winter coats, it was bizarre. Most people around me were all bundled up as I was sitting there under a heat lamp that made me sweat like a roast pig, but the view was worth it. We finished the night off by smashing a bottle of red and hanging out with some dogs (so LA).

     On day two Jordana and I went for a midday hike up to Griffith observatory with Nyla Roo (Jordana’s dog) pulling us along the way. Again there were more breathtakingly beautiful views of the whole of LA and also every surrounding neighborhood within six miles. We then finished our day up with something even more LA than hiking with your dog, we got some Acai bowls! It was probably the best one I have ever had or will have in my life (challenge accepted London). That night we headed to a sports bar called The Parlor, for some drinks and to watch some UFC fights. That place had more tvs than I had seen in any one given area but it was great because you could watch all the fights at once and whatever other game was on at the same time. The Parlor was massive with loads of areas to hang out in, including a few fire pit sections that we opted for. We had our first celebrity siting of the trip, bumping into Jeremy Piven (plays Ari Gold in Entourage).

     Day three was probably the best day spent in Cali and the most relaxing Sunday activities I have ever done. We rented some cruiser bikes in Marina Del Ray and rode them a solid 4 to 5 miles to Manhattan Beach, where we stopped for lunch in the downtown area at bar called Brewco. A well-deserved beer and array of finger foods were devoured before heading back through Dockweiler State Beach. It was while riding that bike that I realized how much my balance had improved over the years, as I was seamlessly (only almost crashed a few times) taking pictures, videos, and even had a facetime session with Sam while riding. Of course we stopped for a few pictures off the bikes midway, when we were all in desperate need of a break. And to top it all off we got a free scoop of ice cream each from the rental shop for doing the max time on the bike! 

     Now the Mecca of my time in Cali was spent at Universal Studios on days four and five of my trip. Since Jordana and Tommy had to get back to work I had quite a bit of time to spend on my own to do what I like, I thought it over rationally. On the one side I could walk aimlessly through the streets of LA and do most things I had already done tourist wise the first time I had been to Cali with my dad back in 2011. BUT on the other side realistically I am horrible with directions and since I was on my own I was scared I would get lost. The next best thing and money savvy option was to buy a ticket to Universal Studios where I could run around aimlessly and not have to worry about being attacked by the street bums of LA (they might actually be scarier than NYC bums). Lucky enough the tickets were buy 1 day get the 2^nd free so that had me sorted for the rest of my time in LA. Plus I had the added bonus of it being only a few short miles from Jordana and Tommy’s apartment (Hello $4 Ubers!). I planned my time there wisely making sure day 1 in the park was spent going on all of the rides in the park. Day 2 at universal would be spent doing all the shows and studio tour. Since it was getting closer to Christmas everything from the buildings to the characters were dressed up in holiday spirit. It made me desperately wish I had an ugly sweater to wear.

 

     I have to say my biggest bit of advice I could give is to go and do things on your OWN. What a free feeling knowing I could go wherever I wanted without having to consult with anyone else or go back to things I wanted to spend more time in without hesitation. It’s just overall such a good experience to do things on your own really. You just get over all your insecurities of “What will people think of me on my own?” or “Do I look silly taking this selfie?” It literally does not matter because you’re doing you and you will also most likely never see these people ever again! So I was a shameless selfie taker at the park, I proudly asked strangers to take pictures of me, and I raised my hand sky high when the ride attendants asked if there were any single riders. I also found that people were a lot nicer to me? Lol maybe they felt bad that I was on my own but I was ok with it. Everyone was super friendly and made conversation with me. And all the characters that I stopped to take pictures with seemed to take the most time posing and just be silly with me. For example I was in a tug of war situation with Spongebob Squarepants and Patrick… I was the rope. I also had a good 10 minute chat with the Scooby Doo gang, where they asked me all about London and what the scariest ghost I’ve ever seen there was.  

     Although I had been to Universal Studios with my dad in 2011, most of the rides were new and with the addition of Harry Potter World, I had lots to explore. I mean maybe my worst decision at the park was that because I was on my own I felt too silly to ask questions to people about what was the Ollivander’s ride in HP World. Before going to Universal I wasn’t a HP fan, I recently was interested in starting the book series because I thought I would give it a whirl and see what everyone was raving about, but now you could say I’m a big fan! But walking through this section of the park made me realize that it is somewhat of a cult. People were dressed up in wizard robes and casting spells with their wands on things that would move or spark. Cute when it was kids, not so cute when it was a grown man or woman (I won’t discriminate the sexes). Ok so it was day 1 of being in the park and exploring HP World and this ride Ollivander’s Wand Shop, I’m thinking it was a cute interactive movie thing like the 4D movie I had just went on from Kung Fu Panda. NO NO NO. I wasted 50 minutes of my life waiting on a line that led me into a room full of wands that the people who worked there helped you pick out based on your wizard or witch aura (Excuse me? My what?). But it also wasn’t like these things were free, they were a solid 40 to 50 bucks! For a wand that was made of plastic that I could never use ever again besides for when I pretend I’m a witch and say a magic spell that will help me clean up the house, but really Sam does it instead. No thanks I’ll pass. Also I had never seen more than the first movie before that day, so I would be a complete fraud to pretend like I knew what I was doing. **side note: since this trip I have now completed the entire movie series and if I was back there… I probably still wouldn’t get a wand, really it is stupid expensive** But don’t get me wrong everything other than this part of HP World I was all about it. Dare I say I was obsessed with it because I must have went on those rides 10 times between the 2 days of being there. And OMG!! The butter beer is out of this world!!!!!

     By the second day at universal it was my mission to take as many pictures with different characters as possible and I think I did a pretty solid job. I also felt like I owned the place walking in knowing the ins and outs of it all, what time each ride would have the longest lines and what time each show was. I walked in that morning grabbed myself a gingerbread latte and breakfast sandwich from Starbucks and was on my way to the special effects show to watch some guy light himself on fire while I chewed away. Immediately after that I was on my way to the next show, Animal Actors, knowing exactly where I had to be at which time and taking the necessary water break. All the shows were really incredible and my sore legs from the day before thanked me for a day of mostly sitting. Literally the only thing that I refused to do at Universal was The Walking Dead haunted house, where you go through and actors dressed up as zombies scare the living day lights out of you. I despise when people pop out and scare me, it’s a one way ticket to being punched or kicked in the head. Not because it’s on purpose but it’s my first instinct and reflex to escape. I was almost even too scared to go on The Mummy ride even though I had been on it before! But I woman’d up and went on it. But I was still terrified and closed my eyes for 103% of it. I say 103 because I closed my eyes as soon as the car started moving and continued doing that until the attendant came over to help me out of my seat. Take a look at the front row of the picture to see my terrified face next to the innocent family that was sitting next to me.

     On the night before I left LA I had the pleasure of meeting my 3^rd cousin Billy, who is killing the Cali scene as a warm up act for America’s Funniest Home Video with Alfonso Riberio (Carlton from the Fresh Prince of Belair). We had dinner at a spot not far from Jordana’s place and the three of us shared life stories and drank lots of red wine, because that’s what you do when you meet family for the first time!

     On the last day of being in LA, Jordana and I took another hike. This time we ventured to Beachwood Canyon, and on the way drove past Busy Phillips (so LA). This is the place where they used to film the scenes from the old Batman show when he drives the Batmobile out of the Bat Cave. It was super creepy looking and there were rocks in a circle shape that looked like we had just missed some type of sacrifice ceremony, or perhaps it was the Harry Potter World cult members meeting. It did have a great view of the Hollywood sign though!

     So as you can tell from the 2500+ words of my trip to Cali was a fantastic and was much needed. I got to spend lots of time with my bestie, venture off on my own, meet a family member, and took my mind off of all the chaos that had been going on. Needless to say that will not be my last time to Cali, and also gave me the desire to go to Florida and check out the Harry Potter World there!

A New York State of Mind...

57th street and 6th ave
Single Cut Brewery, Astoria
Big aLIce Brewery, Long Island City
ST. Jame's Theatre  

       Yay I’m finally writing about some of the things I’ve been doing while being back in New York! Although this stuff was a month ago it was the start to my longer than expected return and I just haven’t had the chance to write about it all yet. There really is nothing like coming back to the motherland and seeing the New York City skyline pretty much every day. So literally night one of Sam and I landing in New York we got to have a good catch up with my parents and celebrate my dad’s birthday! A few days later we celebrated my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving! This one was even more special than usual as my dad was invited to partake in the parade as a marshal. It is my favorite tradition to wake up at the crack of dawn on thanksgiving day, put 2-20 layers of clothing on (weather depending) and stand in the middle of NYC braving whatever elements mother nature has conjured up that year. But the love I have for it is nothing compared to my dad, who started this whole tradition with us since I was a little one. This year Mother Nature decided to make it colder than Frosty the Snowman’s nuts as it was under 20 degrees (Fahrenheit sorry English readers I’ve not quite mastered Celsius yet) and a wind chill that brought the temperature into the teens! Now since I have literally gone just about every year, I’ve seen my fair share of cold days but this one was definitely one of the worst, and apparently one of the coldest days on record for the parade.

But talk about a kid in a candy store, I have never seen anyone more in their element and absolutely loving life than my dad was working that parade. It really made the day, and Sam and I were able to stand in a VIP section which gave us the perfect view of everything. And also some much needed coverage from the intense wind. Of course after the parade Sam and I spent some time in Legends bar (where we first met) while we waited for my dad to finish up his marshal duties (lol duty). Now you don’t understand what a feast is until you have been to my parent’s house for one of my mother’s infamous Thanksgiving Day dinners. I do mean dinners plural because the day consists of meatballs for breakfast, a first meal (you eat your favorite dishes), second meal (eat the things you were too stuffed to get to in meal 1), third meal is a combo of what were the favorites of the day and dessert. Add some naps and movies in there and you’ve summed up our day. Not to mention there’s left overs for about a week as my mom’s meal preparations are for a small army.

For the rest of the time that Sam was here that week we made it a point to see our friends and visit Astoria as much as possible since we both missed it so much. That also meant that we went to a lot of Queens Breweries. Probably our favorite thing to do while being in Queens. We stopped at our old local brewery Singlecut, then to my favorite Big aLICe. And even thought it wasn’t lit yet we stopped by Rockifeller Centre Christmas tree. Unexpectedly we stumbled upon the Candy Nations exhibit while on our way to Bryant Park. Their annual winter festival is probably the best holiday event going on in the city. They have a massive ice skating rink in the middle of the park with loads of small stands to buy handmade items and personalized gifts. And I have to say as I’ve done ice skating there a few times the prices aren’t horrible and when you buy the ticket you are allowed to come back the entire day and use that same ticket. Which is nice if you want to have dinner or a drink in the little restaurant and then go back to skating. But be advised if you want to save $15 on storage fee bring your own gym lock for their free lockers. They also sometimes have Groupon for it, which allow you to skip the line and get free hot coco when you’re done skating. I really do love this place and it’s always my number one recommendation when people ask me where to go in the city during Christmas time. This is also a place I had brought Sam on his first visit back to New York when we were dating, so it’s somewhat of a tradition to go.

http://www.jenkell.com/laurence-jenkell-exhibition-candy-nation-broadway-garment-district-new-york-october-2018

https://bryantpark.org/amenities/bank-of-america-winter-village-at-bryant-park

               

     Just after Sam left and I was feeling a bit down, my good friend Molly invited me to go see Frozen on Broadway, compliments of her sister Brittany. Honestly anything on Broadway that is put on by Broadway is just sensational. The affects they have leave me as an adult mesmerized so I can only imagine how kids must feel about it. I also saw Aladdin in September in London and that blew me away too. I would advise that you grab drinks beforehand because the prices were insane for their specialty cocktails named after characters in the show. Perhaps it was the sadness in my eyes or just the fact that the bartender over heard my sob story as I was telling Molly, but my “Arendelle” drink had more vodka in it than expected. But I appreciated the gesture none the less. I now feel like all other Broadway shows won’t be able to compare to the magicalness that is the world of Disney. That or I am just a giant child… probably just that.