The Implusive NYC Getaway that Broke My Friend's Foot

Rachel and Lauren

Let me introduce you to my travel buddies: Rachel and Lauren. I met Lauren on Jan 13, 2014. How do I know that? Facebook, of course! It's a story I must tell. I met Lauren at FHE after Rachel convinced her to come. Rachel says she knew Lauren and I would hit it off immediately. I don't remember exactly what happened, but I remember her making snarky comments throughout the night which made me laugh....and I knew fate had brought us together. I sent her a creepy facebook message about how I am excited to be her new friend whether she wants to be friends or not. She responded saying that she was quite excited. It was a magical beginning. We hung out a handful of times before my impulsive behavior kicked in.

I was checking emails and saw an email from Playbill.com (yes, I subscribe to it, even though I'm not in NYC) stating that Idina Menzel was going to Broadway in an original new musical. I thought to myself, "cool. I'll go this fall." A few minutes later, I thought, "How do I know she'll still be there in the fall? What if she gets a better offer to do a movie or something else?" I tried to calm myself, and then I thought "If Aladdin (which I have been planning on seeing since I heard they were planning on making it to a Broadway show) has opened finally, I will to NYC now." Lo and behold, they were both in previews. I thought...who do I want to go to NYC with...and Rachel and Lauren popped into my head. I found out when Rachel's spring break was, and texted them. They both said yes. It was amazing.

We arrived in NYC about a month later for a long weekend. I convinced them to go get cronuts the first morning we were there, because it was supposed to be the warmest we were going to be there. (Winter in NYC is a lot colder than winter in Houston). The we made friends with the guy in front of us, Tommy, who is from NYC. He was super fun and ate with us before going to bring a girl a cronut too.

With our new bestie, Tommy

After the cronut, we did the 9/11 memorial and the gift shop. It took all our will power not to buy something. Rachel wanted a really expensive purse and I wanted an expensive scarf. It was just soooo pretty!!! The 9/11 memorial was quite moving and lovely. I would recommend it to anyone. We wandered to Battery Park and Wall Street before meeting up with Ben. Woohoo!

We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and it was beautiful! It was also really windy. Who knew? Still, the sun was out, so I was able to take off my coat and enjoy some much needed warmth! I think the best part was when Ben asked Lauren if she could tell him any of my crazy adventures and secrets, and Lauren was like "No. I don't really know that much about her" lol. We made it to the other side and wandered down to Grimaldi's for lunch. After waiting in line for an hour, I find out that there is a Grimaldi's very close to where I live in Texas. #jaded While we were waiting for our order, two older ladies (who we met in line previously) offered us their extra pizza slices. We were ravenous and said yes. #worthit It was an epic lunch followed by some ice cream on the windy dock. As we metro-ed back to Manhattan, Ben explained to me how to navigate and read the signs. They are quite unclear when you're unfamiliar with them. Seriously, there should be a website explaining how to read them. It was the best gift anyone could have given...the knowledge of how to get from Point A to Point B. He dropped us off at The Met and took a couple of Gossip Girl photos for us. (now that's a good friend)

Sadly, after he left, we talked and decided there wasn't enough time to wander around the Met and not feel very rushed. Instead, we went to the hotel to prep for a night on the town. We walked to Time Square before our showing of Aladdin. Can I just say, when we tried to book tickets for Aladdin, it was showing to be sold out. I was heartbroken, until I went to a new site and found a handful of scattered tickets throughout the theatre. I tried to buy three, but when I clicked to purchase them, it said the tickets were already sold. Luckily, third time is a charm, and we got seats....just not all together. NBD.

Wow. Wow. Wow. I LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was such a high energy show, with the razzle and dazzle expected from a Disney show. The costumes are so bright and vibrant. The dancing felt a little more Bollywood than anything, but it's still amazing. The genie was by far my favorite. I have never EVER seen an audience have an intense standing ovation during the middle of a show like I saw with "Friend Like Me". It was brilliant.

Sunday started with church and brunch with Dena! I haven't seen Dena since our reunion trip to Chicago in 2009. It was so good to see her. I wish I had more time to catch up with her. She is as fierce and fabulous as ever. We went to a french bakery, and of course, my eyes were bigger than my stomach. What else is new? As she walked us back to the metro stop, Lauren asked if we could go to a pharmacy and get an ankle wrap, because her ankle was hurting. We got back to the hotel room for her to rest a bit. She said she could still walk, but we decided to have a slow evening to not hurt it more so it would be better in the morning. Spoiler alert: it was not better in the morning.

We went to see If/Then...the show we had all been waiting for. Ladies and Gentlemen, it did NOT disappoint. The summary is a bit confusing, so I wasn't sure what to expect when we got there. All I knew was that it was a play about choices. The best part is that the show starts with Idina on a balcony, talking on the phone...first line "hey. it's me" and the audience goes wild. She is amazing live. Wow. Wow. Wow. Goosebumps. The show starts at the same point and shows how one decision can impact your entire life. It starts in a park where she is meeting two friends and the one decision of who she will spend the day with has a ripple effect and the play showing both possible lives she could have based on that one decision. It was one of those plays that makes you reflect on the decisions of your life, and how you got to where you are. It was so powerful that I probably spent the last 20 mins of the show in tears.

After the play we went to get some cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery and spend the rest of the night, resting Lauren's ankle and having much needed girl talk time. #girlsnight #bonding

Monday morning started with Lauren telling us that she didn't think she could walk. With the idea of "leave no man behind", we decided to change our plans a bit. We decided we should do an early dinner and see another Broadway show. Suggestions were thrown around, and the decision ended up being: Newsies. Lauren stayed in the hotel as Rachel and I faced the cold winter air. We went to Mecca...the New York Public Library. Sooooooooo pretty. Please note: Rachel and Lauren are English majors, and I'm just a huge nerd/book lover. It was magnificent! We took a free guided tour, which also allows you to get discounts in the gift shop.

I saw this and laughed.

After the Library, we wandered through The Met. It was pretty cool. However, the best part was when we saw our friend Tommy again! What a crazy coincidence. I loved it. After The Met, we went to pick up little Lauren. We took a taxi up to our dinner location of choice, the classic Serendipity's. Frozen Hot Chocolate. Check! Eating lots of food and spending lots of money on said food. Check! Then it was time for Newsies. Ever since I saw Elijah Kelley singing and dancing in Hairspray (the movie), I realized how dancing singing men are absolutely brilliant. This was more proof of that theory. It is a musical full of dancing men who sing, and I was in love. The choreography blew. me. away. I did have a fav newsie...Specs. Everyone loves a guy in glasses. We were on a musical high as we walked back to the hotel that night. It truly was a great sacrifice we made going to another Broadway show for Lauren. ;)

Our last day in NYC had us checking out Chinatown, stumbling upon an epic Sample Sale, and meandering through NYC towards Levain Bakery, all while Lauren waited in the lobby as a cripple. It really was a great trip! Lauren pointed out that Rachel and I say the same things, at the same time. #twins I have found great travel buddies.

While we were there, I was writing my previous blog post, which is a disclaimer of all my travel crazies. Since it was my first time traveling with them, I realized the little crazies I have that people who have traveled with me before don't notice anymore because we already have the ying-yang/give-take travel routine down. I started making notes of things that popped into my head throughout the trip. I was sharing it with them as I wrote it. On Tuesday, Rachel asks me, "are you hungry? because you said earlier that you act different when you're hungry, and you seem a little off." I *was* hungry! lol. See, the disclaimer was already effective.

Now I know what everyone is wondering. Is Lauren's ankle okay? It turns out she has an os peroneum fracture. Oops. We broke her. Nevertheless, she is still my friend, and we are all looking at another possible travel adventure later this year together. 

I Believe in a Thing Called Love

This is a love story. This will also be a "Natasha Story" as my high school bffs call it, meaning it will be a really long story and will take forever to get to the point. This love story starts on Sept 26, when I had to wake up really early and was miserable having to leave my wonderfully comfortable hotel bed to go to an early meeting, after staying up to work on a presentation I was going to give, but never ended up making changes to it, since my calculations were not making sense. I realized that I was a little Europe homesick. I have a group message on Whatapp with some of my friends from studying in Spain in this group. Becca tried to comfort me in my distress from the day saying, "don't worry, we will be in Guatemala soon. your job is paying for it!" and I said "I kinda want to switch Guatemala for Germany." She said "I'm okay with either, just as long as we go somewhere" wow. that was one of the greatest and easiest change of plans. It got me pretty excited. I was on cloud nine. Sadly, even though I was in a great mood, I was having some bad luck. Nevertheless, this news put a spring in my step all weekend.

I left work a little early to go pick up Teri Jo from work and start our weekend. It was gross stop-and-go traffic all to the airport. Bah humbug. The traffic wasn't as terrible as anticipated, so we arrived early. This was good because I was getting hangry for some food. The flight was good, and I got to start The Spy Who Loved, which is a biography about WWII spy who kept on blowing my mind with her quick thinking in super intense situations. We got to the LaGuardia pretty late and got in the taxi line, only for it to be ridiculously slow. The New Yorkers in line were getting very vocally upset and verbally assaulting the worker over the line. I was part amused and part horrified. Luckily, we got a taxi without any bloodshed, but after a super long wait.

We got to the hotel we were staying at, the W in Time Square. Teri Jo's friend is a chef for a super fancy hotel in Boston, and got us a friend-rate. So we walked into the hotel, and the lobby/check-in area is on the 7th floor. The 7th floor is also a club. There were people dancing,and great music. We checked in and got into a different set of elevators to get up to the room, except you have to insert your hotel card to get to the floor you needed. Teri Jo was having major problems with the key card. lol. I used my hotel expertise to get us to our room...and the room was super swanky with a beautiful view of Time Square. I hoped in the shower so I could sleep in a little more the next morning since we were going to get some CRONUTS!!!

Saturday morning began with waking up, putting on my red lipstick, and grabbing a scarf to keep me warm in the chilly weather...at 5:30am. We got a taxi to take us down to Dominique Ansel's Bakery, and figured out where it was at from the line that had already formed. We took a seat on the side walk and attempted to stay warm, and made a friend. She worked in fashion design for bathing suits at Target. She was pretty cool, and we became friends for the 3 hours we were in line. The bakery is pretty small, so you go into the bakery in groups. We were in the second group. There was someone waiting in line in a sleeping bag, napping. There was also another person with an office chair, which they claim they found outside by and took it to the line with them. lol.
We were waiting in line for the cronut inside the bakery. I spotted Dominique, and the New Yorker girl we became friends with said that he was really friendly and took pictures with tourists. I finally got up the courage to ask him for a picture. He looked at me and said, "No". My face dropped, and I said, "Oh. Ok." to which he smiled and said "of course! How can I say no to a face like that?" with a smile. He came from around the counter and took a picture with me and another one with me and Teri Jo. His French accent just melted me. I loved it. The cronut flavor of the month was fig. Honestly, you say fig, and I am not impressed. Oh snap. it was tasty. Was it as life-changing as everyone makes it out to be? Maybe not so much. But the experience of it all made it all worth it.  I ate a cronut and ate a few bites of a frozen smore. I'm pretty sure I was about to die from a sugar coma. Luckily, I got some milk to balance out the sugar. It was great. We then took a walk to the subway station. On the way there we walked past the Dash store, and I thought of Saryah. I didn't even notice it, since I'm super unobservant, but Teri Jo pointed it out to me. We got to the subway, only for me to realize, I don't understand the differences between the metro tickets. It took a few minutes and we just chose the $10 fare ticket you can reload with more money later. We hopped on the metro, switched lines to go up to Time Square. After a few stops, we started to suspect that we were going the wrong way, except we only were sure when the train went above ground and across the bridge into Brooklyn. It was ridiculous. But I couldn't find a map of where we were on the metro, and I didn't have signal in the underground metro to follow where we were on my phone. It was quite ridiculous; it's the first metro that ever got the best of me.

We miraculously found our way back to Time Square before heading off to book a bike tour of Central Park. Sadly, it was booked, so we had to go on the 1pm tour. Since this was the case, we went back to Time Square; Teri Jo wanted to see the Disney store (she's one of those Disney lovers). We were talking and saying how we would love to just love seeing another play on Sunday afternoon before we leave, even though we are going tonight. I was kinda happy that Teri Jo was so cool with this idea, because I could honestly come up to NYC and watch plays all weekend and be as happy as a clam. We went back to the bike tour place, and it was pretty fun. The biking was relaxing and nice. Teri Jo was getting a little annoyed with me always looking behind me to make sure I haven't lost her. She called me out on it, so I stopped. This backfired, because when we got to the lake in the part, she was not there. We lost her. She found her way back, but it was not unreasonable for me to check on her. She walks really slowly, so I wanted to check on her on the bike too.

I had texted Dan earlier in the week to tell him I was heading to NYC and how I wanted to meet up. We were texting to meet up. We finished the tour, and he called. The funny thing was, when I picked up the call, I thought, 'Why is a British person calling me?' and then I remembered...hahaha, it's my cousin; he has an accent. (i honestly forget my dad has an accent most times)

Teri Jo and I went to a little coffee shop on the corner, to meet up with Cool Cousin Dan. Plus, it was almost 3:30pm, and we hadn't ate any lunch. I needed a sugar level boost. Dan met up with us, and we had some great catch up time. I was teasing him about wearing a helmet as he was biking around. He said it was because he fell asleep on his bike one day and fell off. He really is the coolest. He introduced me to the concept of traveling the world for a year. I thought if I ever took time between jobs, it would be for two months or something, but when he said a year, it was like a light-bulb turned on in my brain and in my heart.

really cool art on the side of a building off the High Line

We went down to High Line to walk the trail. It was on a list of things to do that Saryah sent me. It was really beautiful, and was a nice place to walk. We were pretty hungry, and Dan recommended a pizza place off the line. We went, and it was delectable!!!!! The wait was a little longer than was desirable, since they didn't have any slice immediately ready. Nevertheless....sooo good. Dan and Teri Jo ate it so quickly, that I tried to eat it faster, and I'm pretty sure I burned my tongue. Dan then had to go get ready for a wedding reception, and Teri Jo and I needed to get back and get ready for our night on Broadway. I ended up passing out on the bed, while Teri Jo got ready. Teri Jo and I were headed off to two different plays. Teri Jo had the dream of going to Newsies on Broadway. I never had that dream. I was willing to go, but honestly wasn't too excited about it. Luckily, Teri Jo is pretty cool, and was like "you don't have to go to the same play as me" so i took that out like a Nox spell and went to Once. Oh my. Lindsay went to see this when she went to NYC last and told me how amazing it was. Before the show, the cast is on the stage singing Irish songs. It was brilliant. Then when the first song came on it, was soooo hauntingly beautiful. I was captivated. It as a totally British ending. I loved it.

After the musicals, we met up and walked around Manhattan at night, after Teri Jo got her pics with the Naked Cowboy. It was part amusing and part disturbing. lol. The walk was super relaxing and beautiful.We walked around for a while. We went to get some cupcakes for a midnight snack. We went to Rockefeller Center, Chrysler Building, Grand Central Station, NYC Public Library (they were having a black tie event in the library. i wish i was invited), and Empire State Building. It was a nice walk, even after being sexually propositioned by random guys I smiled at in a car.

We woke up and took a taxi to go to church with the Young Single Adult congregation in the Manhattan temple building. The bishop's wife was super nice to us. Everyone in the congregation looked like models. It was ridiculous. We took off after sacrament meeting to go to brunch at a restaurant Dena recommended. It was sooo good. Plus, there was live jazz playing. The ambiance was pretty legit. We then went down to see the Freedom Tower. I forgot to get us ticket to the 9/11 memorial beforehand, but the line to pick up those tickets was super long as well.

After the Freedom tower we went to Battery Park. It was beautiful. We got a ice cream and lemoneade as we sat on a bench and just relaxed. We were relaxing and waiting for Ben to show up #multitasking I honestly wanted to find a patch of grass and lay down to soak in some sun. Sadly, Battery Park seems to be more of a plant part rather than a grassy knoll park. Ben finally showed up, and we saw each other across the memorial and Ben started dramatically slow running toward me, so, of course, I had to join in the fun. Don't tell Ben, but I had forgotten how much I love that kid! I finally got to tell him, in person, how I've joined him in the i-dont-want-to-get-married-anytime-soon-slash-i-love-being-single club. I think Teri Jo was a little overwhelmed by the energy and excitement that Ben and I created. I had to explain to her that we were kindred spirits. Teri Jo told Ben that I was like a black widow, killing everyone who might be possibly interested in me. We caught up, we caught a taxi back up town to make it back in time for the musical Teri Jo and I were going to catch before our plane out. On the plane we were joking and having too much fun. I dont remember what the joke was, but I said one of my twisted humor jokes, and teri jo said "that is dark". ben said something along the lines of "there is no darkness with natasha, because she is the light". omg. I almost died. It rivaled my super cheesy comment to him i made earlier, which I do not remember, but it was too perfect to pass up. Ben dropped us off at the First Date, literally, right before it started. I miss that kid.

First date was amazing. I was laughing so hard with the first song. It is a "musical comedy", and when I heard that, I wasn't sure what to expect, and my expectations were pretty low. OMG. TOO FUNNY! It was as if anything awkward or ridiculous happened on a first date, it was in this musical. It was great. The best part...Zachary Levi. He is amazing. His singing voice was great. He was the voice of Flynn Rider in Tangled, and you always think that that Hollywood changes voices to make it better, but his voice was exactly the same as in the movie. Afterwards, we met him in real life after the play. We waited at the stage door, and the cast came out to tell everyone it was his birthday. We sang Happy Birthday to him, and he went around signing things for people. I got him to sign my ticket and play bill. The girl next to me bought a Flynn Rider doll (action figure?) for him to sign (the box, not the actual doll). There was another girl who was telling him how she asked her friend to get something signed from him and it didn't happened and she tweeted him. He responded that he received the tweet and wanted to talk to her and how grateful he was that she came, so he could sign her stuff. It was then time for photos. I got a photo with him, and as I walked away, I looked back at him, made eye contact, and I fell in love. It was beautiful. Maybe it's true love, or it goes to show how I can only love people who are unavailable. We'll see. See....I told you it was a love story.

It ended on a great note. We took another walk, feeling high off the love in our hearts for Zachary Levi. Taxied our way to the Newark Airport, because NYC metro and trains confuse me to no end. We ate sushi and slept on the flight back. The end. 

One Year Older and Wiser Too....maybe

I feel like the perfect prelude to my birthday is this article I found in BBC News this week. (Please note, in my blog when I refer to "this" or "that", you can 90% of the time click on the word and it will take you to a link of exactly what I'm talking about. For example, if you click in the phrase "this article" it will take you to said article) So this article talks about a new terminology in China, which translates to "leftover women" in English. It's a little sad, but I feel like this article is my friend. I showed my Chinese co-worker this article and he laughed, knowing exactly what it was talking about when I pointed to the word "sheng nu". He told me, "You have a few more years, but maybe you should ask for a boyfriend for your birthday". lol. Thanks Jimmy. Thanks. I know you are thinking, "wow, it's your birthday. why are you bringing up the topic of boys?" I bring up this topic to let the world know, I am happy! Please. I don't need you to tell me "you're so wonderful, smart, and pretty. I don't know why you don't have a boyfriend" or "guys are crazy to not be after you". People are always asking me about my relationship status, and you know what? I don't define my happiness on whether or not I'm dating anyone. Please don't apologize. Don't say anything. If I become a leftover woman, at least I know I will be in good company. For now, I'm going to keep living my life the best way I know how, and enjoying every moment of it: the good and the bad.

And now, the tale of my big birthday weekend!

I drove home after work and waited for Saryah before starting the drive to San Antonio. At the mid-point, we, of course, stopped at Bucee's for an energy boost. We got to San Antonio and checked into the Crowne Plaza. I was not impressed. You have to pay for parking. Who does that? And pay for internet. What kind of hotel does that in this day and age? #dumbdumb Anyway, we relax in the hotel until it is time to go pick up bff Erica, who was flying in from Arizona, from the airport. YAY! (best birthday ever!) I pick her up and the night is still young, so we go to Mi Tierra for a nighttime snack. It was funny because Erica was freaking out from excitement. I thought she was going to topple over.

We got some Mexican hot chocolate and it was soooo tastey. I also go myself a virgin margarita because, hey, gotta enjoy the nightlife :) After our midnight snack, we went back to the car, where erica was really excited to give me my gift and her excitement was contagious. First she gave me the birthday card. 1. it was in spanish. 2. it was a twilight card. lol. 3. there was a surprise note on the back from ben! Really, it was a perfect birthday card. Then for the gift! She got me a SNUGGIE! And not just any snuggie....a zebra print snuggie. If you're going to get a snuggie, you cannot be serious about it. Go crazy. I'm so excited to use it! After our adventure, we had to sneak back to our room and be very quiet because mom and saryah were fast asleep  even though my mom woke up when Erica and I were whispering together before sleeping and startled us by speaking. lol. Funny mommy.

Saturday morning started off with 4 females trying to get ready with only one bathroom. lol. Magically, it happened without major incident and we're all still friends. We went to Mi Guadalajara near gma's house for breakfast and met up with Jax and Davy. It was a fun breakfast which ended with us heading to get some yummy pan dulce!

Oh it was a great morning of mexican food and sharing stories. We then dropped of mom to start getting ready for the party as Erica, Saryah, and I went down to the riverwalk to take a stroll in the sun and see the Alamo. There was a long line to go inside, so we just settled on taking pictures! yay!

We then walked back along the river on the opposite side we walked on before, only to discover that on the side of the river we were on, didn't have an exit at the same place we entered. Uh oh. Luckily, we eventually escaped our entrapment on the river bank.  We then travelled to an HEB to pick up some flowers for my gma who LOVES flowers. We arrived and all my siblings where there. #bestfamilyever

The party, of course, was hip and happening. Everyone was there. We laughed, we ate, we talked to everyone. Then the mariachi band showed up. It was great. I love mariachis. They sang happy birthday to me and my grandma. They serenaded us, and it was great to finally understand what they were singing. #spanishpower It was great until they announced they were going to sing the last 2 songs. Then they turned to each other and started whispering, glancing at me, and pointing at me. Then I started to get nervous, because I new something was coming. They proceeded to sing to me exactly like this:

Ok. So maybe it wasn't exactly like this, Julia Stiles reacted a lot more gracefully than I did, but they sang the song. They started singing to me, and everyone stopped to stare at me. People even came in from outside just to stare at me. I laughed and hid my face. I started laughing so hard, I almost cried. aka i was feeling so awkward and overwhelmed, I almost cried. I didn't know how to react with so many eyes on me. I was just a hot mess of crazy. Oh well. It was something I will never forget. A memorable birthday indeed. They then sang gma a song and Ron asked her to dance. It was so cute. I have the coolest gma ever. The party didn't last long after that, as we all had the cops called on us. We're that crazy. #truestory

We inhaled helium, spoke in funny voices, cleaned up the room, and then only a few of us ended up going to the after-party in gma's apartment as she (really me) got to open her presents. She's a classy lady. People getting her purses and clothes. Eventually, it was time to head out for my party. So mom, saryah, erica, uncle john, headed to the other side of town to eat at The Magic Time Machine, except we weren't all that hungry. So we got seated, noticed they didn't have any good apetizers and were deciding if we wanted to stay and eat here. Then some teen girl  with a backpack came up to our table and was like "Hello!" in a really obnoxious voice. All I could think of was 'why are you here? go sit down with your family like a good girl'. Only to discover she is our waitress and is dressed as Dora the Explorer. Oh goodness. We all kinda just paused awkwardly and looked at each other. Luckily, Uncle John took the reigns and asked for a few more minutes, and we left the restaurant to go to a mexican place across the street. You cannot go wrong with mexican food in San Antonio. It's all good. We then drove to the Majestic Theatre to see the 2010 Tony winner for Best Musical, "Memphis". My review: It was wonderful! The music reverberated through your soul and the dancing was spectacular. It made you want to get up and dance with them. The plot was adorable, but the ending was not what I was hoping. However, the actors were phenomenal, and I want to some of the songs from the soundtrack. After the show, we were all wiped out. I couldn't have gone out after that even if I wanted to. T'was a wonderful birthday, and I couldn't have asked for a better day.

Sunday morning was sad because I had to drive Erica back to the airport to see her off. :( But I got to go back to bed afterwards, so that was a plus. Mom, Saryah, and I went to get some breakfast and more pan dulce. Then we went over to gma's to say goodbye  and pick up Saryah's sweater that got left behind before starting our drive home. Long drive when everyone falls asleep. So i just turned up my music and sang along for 3 hours. When we got back, it was a lazy day of reading and cleaning a bit more. (I'm in the process of cleaning our my room at home still) Then I went to my place at night to watch the Oscars and angst over my new facebook profile picture #firstworldproblems. I loved the ode to musicals, because I love musicals. and i love that Jennifer Lawrence won an oscar. She's legit.

Now as an end to my birthday tale, I will leave you all with the encouraging words I received from Jimmy on Monday morning after we talked about my birthday weekend. "Don't worry. You are not 'sheng nu' yet"
  lol
Thank you to everyone who sent birthday wishes. Y'all were blowing up my phone all day with facebook alerts and texts. :)

#YOLO

Foreword: YOLO = You Only Live Once. Please note that the use of "YOLO" in this blog post is meant in a manner of making fun of everyone who uses the word.  #YOLO

Warning: This is going to be a long post. You may want to get some snacks and water, because you'll need to stay hydrated.

Kevin, Me & Lindsay at Ammersee

So last Tuesday (14 Aug), Lindsay and I were coming home from the Augustiner, both tired and excited for the holiday the next day. That's right. Wednesday = holiday. So we were grabbing our keys out of our bags on the U-Bahn, only for Lindsay to realize...she had no keys. She had left them in her room and was locked out (this is the 3rd time this has happened). Every problem has a solution, so I gave lindsay a pair of my shorts and she discovered my couch has a fold out bed that's bigger than my current bed. #storyofmylife. Anyways, Lindsay was upset, and to make it better, we watched a couple episodes of Suits and skyped with Elo for a bit.

Wednesday morning, Lindsay was able to call the apartment office for them to come by and bring her keys. We got ready for the day...and went back to Puchheim (where we work) for our day off. haha. So we met up with Siv and when to her flat, which was SO CUTE! It was so awesome, and she decorated it herself. We made some risotto. It was kinda awesome. I cut up the mushrooms. Best cut mushrooms ever! We had a nice lunch and then Kevin came over to pick us up in his...wait for it....MUSTANG! So we were driving through Germany in a nice red Mustang. It was epic. We drove to the lake, Ammersee. The water was a little chilly, but the weather was a perfect temperature to balance it out. We swam, paddle boated, and ate a fish (with the head and eyes staring at you!). Then we went to Dachau to eat dinner and then toured the beautiful town of Fürstenfeldbruck. What a wonderful town! (shout out to Kevin!) It felt funny riding shotgun in a Ford Mustang going 100+mph listening to rap. Haha.

Last week I was also on a Radio Disney roll. I've been switching through different online music streaming websites, and I was so annoyed that all the music kept on cursing at me, so I decided I wanted something nice. So I turned to good ole fashion Disney to save the day. But after a few days, the music got super repetitive. But now I've found a new station with good music, so I'm happy.

I was at home on Thursday when the maids came to clean my room. I let them in, and one of the guys kept on trying to talk to me, so I talked back. He spoke in German, and I answered in English. It was a little difficult at time, but the funniest part was when I was able to explain to him that I don't smoke shisha because it's tobacco and tobacco is bad. We had a lot of fun in the 15 minutes he was in my room. We talked politics, life, and what we were doing in Germany. He was Iranian and AWESOME! My room also was cleaned more thoroughly than it ever had been before. That night, I fed the Sister Missionaries. It was so much fun! Jamie & Lindsay came over for dinner. I went to the Italian restaurant next door to get some pizzas and made some spaghetti, and Jaime brought some salad. The sisters brought dessert. It said it needed to go into the oven, but I dont have an oven in my room.  So I thought it was an already cooked apfelstrudel that just needed to be heated to be crisp, so i said we just put it in the microwave....turns out it wasn't pre-cooked. It was raw. So we did plan B....we cut it in half and got two skillet pans and cooked it over the stove. it was pretty creative. (I've been playing with my food a lot recently and my theory is that it's the sign of a creative mind. #fact)

Friday after work, Lindsay, Siv, and I went to Kempten for a festival. The best part...DIRNDLS!!!! (Definition of a dirndl: traditional Bavarian dress worn at festivals and other days you want to look smokin' hott) I was told on a tour that dirndls were the best because they emphasis all the good parts and hide all the bad parts. #testify. Since Lindsay and I do not have dirndls, Petra let us borrow hers. It fit really well on me...Lindsay's was a little big on top. Lolz. Granted, I'm not big on cleavage, so it was quite a feat that I was modest in the dirndl. It was cool because I did not see any dirndls that were exactly the same. Everyone looked unique. We have also decided lederhosen are super hott! And at this festival were beautiful dirndls, hott guys in lederhosen, good food, and great company galore. It was a really good night, even after meeting Diva-Lindsay on the journey home and having to pack after getting home and not going to bed till super late.

Petra's 2 friends...Petra, Lindsay, Me & Siv

I woke up after 5.5 hours of sleep, and to be honest, I was worried I wouldn't wake up to my alarm. So I got up and flew to Gatwick and got into London a little later than I anticipated. My original plan was to do the HP Studio Tour, but of course, this was the one Saturday it was closed. So I went and got a ticket for Les Miserables. My favourite play in the entire world. Now I must put a disclaimer, this will be the 4th time I've seen this play, and I remember loving it, but when I saw it this time, I fell in love all over again. Within the first few minutes, I was in tears over the beauty of the music and the power of the actors' voices. The emotions the play invoked were so powerful and wonderful. I was able to compose myself for a few moments, but when the Bishop came on the stage and showed such Christ-like love to the broken Jean Valjean saying:

"Come in sir for you are weary
And the night is cold out there
Though our lives are humble,
What we have we have to share"...I lost it again.

Then Valjean is brought back after stealing from the bishop, but the bishop pardons him and says:

"But remember this, my brother
See in this some higher plan,
You must use this precious silver
To become an honest man
By the witness of the martyrs
By the Passion and the Blood
God has raised you out of darkness
I have bought your soul for God"

Oh, the play just testified to my heart the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and how we can all change, repent, and be forgiven. For the rest of the play Valjean is working towards redemption and peace for his past crimes. There was Javert the entire time fighting against Valjean and his change, but Valjean endured and faced each trial with love and faith. I never realized how much the play focused on faith, and it touched my soul. I'm pretty sure that all my crying scared the guy sitting next to me because after intermission, he moved a seat over to be away from me. haha. Another wonderful thing about the play was... when I was 11, I saw my first play ever, The Phantom of the Opera, and it was in London. From that moment on, my mom made sure we had a tradition of whenever we saw a play in London, we would get ice cream during intermission. I am proud to say, I honored my family and our traditions by eating a yummy ice cream during intermission. :) After the play I went to Kate and Rachel's, where Kate and I hung out for the night partying (aka chatting it up!).

Sunday, I ruined an adorable moment between Rachel and (at the time, her fiancee) Ben, when he or she, I can't remember, said "the next time I see you we'll be getting married". I couldn't contain my "awwwww" and then felt bad I ruined their moment and went to the kitchen after apologizing. We had lunch with Kate's family. Rachel has 2 adorable little cousins who I got to hang out with during the wedding. Rachel and I went to run some late minute errands for the wedding and bake the rest of the night.

 On Monday...aka the WEDDING DAY!...I woke up and saw Rachel eating breakfast in the chair watching The Prince of Persia. Now I haven't hung out with many brides on their wedding day or the days leading up to the wedding day, but I'm pretty sure Rachel is the calmest bride ever. It was great. The wedding was in the Hedingham Castle. I arrived with Rachel's aunts, and we got there just a little later than expected, so we had about 10 minutes to walk from the car park up the little hill to get to the castle...plus we still needed to change. I ran into the forest area and had to change into my tight dress behind a tree. I ended up forgetting to change into my ankle boots I brought for the wedding :( and didn't remember to put my lip gloss into my purse. #timesarehard. The wedding was gorgeous. Words cannot describe how happy I was to see them get married, as soon as Rachel came out and the ceremony started, I... surprise, surprise...cried. Totally worth it. The reception was great. I was chatting with the DJ during the reception and he thought it was great that I was from Texas and decided he needed to play a line-dancing song for me. He played Cotton-Eyed Joe. (please click on that link so you know what I'm talking about and can see the dance). Now most people probably aren't as mentally scared as I am from that song, but it brought back memories of bad youth dances of the past. LOLZ!!!! He thought it was great, and afterwards, I had to explain to him that Cotton-Eyed Joe isn't any regular line but has it's very own special dance. His wife said she tried to explain that to him. haha. The entire night Rachel looked like a princess. I was talking to her husband, Ben, and every five minutes, he kept on saying "doesn't she look beautiful" and i would respond in equal awe, "YES :) she's AMAZING!!!!" I also hung out with Rachel's aunts a lot that night. They're legit. It was hot earlier that day, but by night, it was soooo cold. But nevertheless, Rachel was soooo pretty!!!!!!! It was a magical day.



























I stayed the night with Kate and her family in some rooms above a pub. It was awesome, because for breakfast, we had a good ole fashion English breakfast...which means....BAKED BEANS! my fav!!!!! Then I had to buy the Digestives so I can pay my entry fee to get back home to Texas. And Kate dropped me off at the airport early so I could spend the day doing work. I got home an hour and a half late though because my plane was late and then I missed my stop on the S-Bahn because I was reading a book and forgot to look up :/


Wednesday I was back at work in Puchheim. After work, Lindsay and I did some retail therapy, because we found out they are changing our program so we are not going to Brazil and China anymore, and I got some shoes. Shoes. We then met up with Kevin and his girlfriend, Anya at Hirschgarten. It was lovely and the weather had cooled down. They were telling us more about Germany and inviting us back for Oktoberfest. Kevin kept on asking me why I didn't drink, so I explained how it was part of my religious beliefs. His response "Does your religion have a holiday?". He thinks I really need to try the Oktoberfest beer. lol. Then we started teaching Kevin some slang words. This is where YOLO came in. We kept on saying it throughout the night.

At work on Thursday, it was really funny, becuase Lindsay and I were talking about things that had changed since we got to Germany. One thing that was mention was how out German lunches in the cantina no longer make us feel sick. Kevin's resonse? "Mine still do". #YOLO After work, we went to Siv's with Petra for a girl's night! Woot! I told Siv about King Ranch Chicken and how it's my favourite, so she's decided we have to make it, even thought Lindsay and I tried to explain how you can't really get the proper ingredients in Germany, but Siv wants to try it anyways. I've only seen one failed attempt at King Ranch Chicken before, and this time was not the second :) It was made with some improvised ingredients and we made our own rotel tomatoes from scratch. It was pretty awesome. I'm seriously going to miss Petra and Siv. Sad.

p.s. it's thursday night and i'm just now unpacking from my trip to england only because i have to repack for my trip to Cologne, Germany tomorrow. #exhausted #YOLO

The quote of the week:
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.