New York City

Before I knew it, I was flying to New York City to see my cousin Kali and her husband Andy!  I'd planned out the trip earlier this summer with 3 main goals in mind; See the Book of Mormon on Broadway (again), see the World Trade Center Memorial and hangout with Kali and Andy.  I planned one major event each day so I didn't feel too rushed and it worked out wonderfully!

I got up at 4 something Thursday morning and headed to the Oakland airport for a 6:15am flight to Denver and then to LaGuardia.  I arrived at LGA about 5:30pm and took a cab to Kali's place on the upper east side of Manhattan.  We walked over to Slightly Oliver's for a delicious mozzarella pizza, salad and fried artichoke hearts.  Mmm!  For desert we hit up Cafe Lalo and I had cheesecake and Kali had the tiramisu.

Kali has the perfect place with a guest loft so I felt like I had my own space and could still be very much apart of the house.  The loft slept easy, and Kali had me up bright and early the next morning to go jogging along the Hudson river.  It was such a nice scenic route.  Then we went over to Irving Farms, a small Mom and Pop coffee and breakfast shop near her place.  We had the organic oatmeal with fresh berries and coffee.  SOOO GOOD!  That afternoon we went to the American Museum of Natural History (my only and favorite museum in New York).

There is never enough time for this museum, so Kali and me focused the time we had in the Hall of Minerals- by far my favorite section of the museum.

I can spend hours walking through this section reading about how all the minerals are formed, identified and everything there is to know about them. I tried not to take too long, thanks Kali for sticking it out with me!

After all the walking in the museum we were hungry! So we went to the Hummus Kitchen. It was phenomenal! We split some bread with hummus dip, red beats, and falafel. The falafels were so good I had to order a second plate - Mmm!

Then it was time to get ready for the play! Kali hadn't pre-purchased tickets so we went down to times square and entered into the lottery. The lottery gives up a certain number of preferred seats right before the show for only $32!!!! We both entered, but unfortunately neither of us were called. So we went and got dinner up the street at Thalia's.

After our shared dinner of pumpkin squash soup and mozzarella pizza, it was time to see Kali off and for me to head to The Book Of Mormon (on Broadway). There was a huge line of ticket holders out front at 7:30, still waiting for the doors to open for the 8pm show.

I was so excited once I got inside and found my seat. Front row mezzanine! YES! I snapped a picture of the set before the show started.

The only time I cried during the whole show was right in the beginning, and it was tears of excitement and joy as the opening number "Hello" kicked off.  The link is from the 2012 Tony Awards, but the song, setting, actors are all the same!  The rest of the play was just as enjoyable as the first time and totally worth the exorbitant ticket cost!  What a way to end my first full day back in New York City.

Saturday morning Kali and I went jogging in Central Park, and we went five miles!  I was really proud and impressed with Kali's fitness- she doesn't normally jog so far but she got up with me and ran five miles without any problem.

Saturday afternoon we went shopping and walking around New York City. We walked by the Julliard School and went shopping at Time Warner center. I grabbed a nice dress shirt from Zara. On the way out Kali noticed a Lego display with a Green Lantern figure- so I had to get a picture, of course!

That night Kali and I took the subway from Manhattan under the Hudson river to Brooklyn to have dinner and then drinks with Andy and their friends. Dinner was fabulous; at Wild Ginger, a Thai house near the bar. Then we met up with Chris, Amy, Billy, Andy and Mark. Their friend Jess was bar tending so we got some good drinks from her and had a good time with everyone.

Sunday we all slept in and it was so nice! When we finally were up to getting out all three of us headed down to the World Trade Center Memorial site. There was a ton of people in huge lines waiting to get inside. There were people from all over the world. Once we got inside, the views were a mixture of emotions; breathtaking, stunning, emotional.

All around the edges are the names of those who died. Water appears to stand still under their names and behind them it cascades over the edge into the reflecting pools below. Those pools then slowly move towards the middle and fall down beyond where you can see in the middle. Both of the footprints of the WTC buildings have these reflecting pool/memorials at their base. After that, we went to a Mexican restaurant nearby and had some relaxing us time before Monday and my departure and back to the work week.

Monday morning Kali and I got one last jog in along the Hudson river.  Not even time for the oatmeal and latte at Irving Farms afterwards, just enough time for me to shower, pack and hop a cab back to LaGuardia for my noon flight back to California.  It was a great visit, getting in all the things I wanted and most importantly spending time with my family.  Love you two!