My Life Part 2

So, back to my life here in NYC. I have also learned a lot about how to live in the city and all the fun things to do here. There are so many activities, events, parades, festivals, etc. going on all the time. There are street performers, some are amazing and some not so much. I love all the things to do around here and the best part is most of them are free. During the summer they have free movies in a few parks and rooftops around the city, Shakespeare in the park, NY Philharmonic plays in the central park, and so much more. I think I might make a blog about the "must see" when visiting New York and the optional things that you really never hear about. If you are interested let me know.


If you have been to New York, you understand the metro system. You have 4 options: walk, bus, subway, or taxi. I am spoiled because I sometimes use a taxi for work and so when I am off work, it is a lot easier to hop in a taxi rather than walk a few blocks to the subway and wait for it. Driving in a New York taxi is like riding on an old wooden roller coaster. They weave in and out, slam on the brakes, turn sharply, cut people off. You are tossed around a bit in the back so if you get car sick easily be careful. Taxi's are more expensive but so convenient. Subways and buses are nice and cheap but you have to know where to go and expect to wait for sometime. When taking the bus or subway it is always nice to have a book or IPod, that way you have something to do while waiting and you have something to look at instead of trying to avoid looking at people. It also helps you from having strange people talk to you. If you walk around the city (especially in major tourist areas), be prepared to be pushed, shoved, stepped on, elbowed, yelled at, etc. but most people will say sorry. Everyone is just in a hurry. There are only a few that are just plain rude. New Yorkers are known for being rude but I have rarely met such rude people. The majority of the people here are extremely nice and helpful. I have been pleasantly surprised on numerous occasions from generous acts of kindness. I have been a tourist and now a local, so I have been in both situations but I must say some tourists are so annoying. For some people they drive their own cars. Now that I have my own car here, I occasionally drive around the city. It is not always fun but it is definitely challenging. I joke that I learned to drive from taxi drivers, which is only partially true. You must be an aggressive driver here or else you will get no where. I personally enjoy it when you are moving but get totally annoyed when it takes a half hour to go 2 miles (I am not exaggerating). I got to watch the NYC Marathon which travels through all 5 boroughs and it over 26 miles. The people who finished first finished in like two and half hours. I got to see the people who finished just over 6 hours. I joked around with people saying you cannot drive 26 miles in NYC in 6 hours, which is probably true.

Most people in New York are very much into fashion and are always up on the new trends. I have never cared about fashion and probably never will. I am always shocked to find out how much people spend on clothes and accessories. You could do so much more with that kind of money. I walk around the city and realize that some people are wearing more than I make in 2 months...just on their feet. Most people on the West Coast are familiar with Rodeo Drive in LA, well, here in NYC we have Fifth Avenue. They are both basically the same, big name designer stores that coast an arm and a leg for a bag. It is common to see a security guard just inside or outside the door. I do like to walk by and see the new window displays but I really don't care about the merchandise. My favorite store on Fifth Avenue is the World of Disney store. I go there often with Henry and Will, I know the store better than some employees. They have a special section for NYC Disney merchandise and they have Meet-n-Greets with some characters. It is a fun store and definitely a fun place to go if you have the time. I went inside Tiffany & Co. for the first time not too long ago. I realized then that it was there that Patrick Dempsey proposed to Reese Witherspoon in the movie Sweet Home Alabama. I didn't realize until after I left the store that it is like 5 stories. It was cool to see all the jewelry, they didn't have price tags but I can honestly tell you I probably couldn't offered most of it.

I have traveled so much this past year, it is crazy. I have flown from NY to AZ 5 times since moving here and I will be making my 6th trip this Tuesday to go home to celebrate Christmas. I have driven to Palmyra, NY and Niagara Falls, Newport, Rhode Island (twice), Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Mass, Conn, and I took a train to Pennsylvania. I have so many more trips planned next year before I come home. I plan to fly to North Carolina to visit my cousin, Tassi. I am going to either drive or take a bus or train to Washington DC to see all the sites and to see a fried from high school. I want to go back to Philadelphia but I don't know if I will. I want to take a trip to the Hamptons, non work related. Also, I am planning to go to London before I drive home. I am planning on staying in NY until the first part of May. My friend is going to be going to school in London and I might go visit her before she comes home for the summer. It is a whole lot cheaper to fly to England from NY than it is from AZ so I thought this would make a lot of sense. It is something I have been thinking about but I hope it will happen. I have this goal/dream, whatever you want to call it, that next year after I quit I must travel somewhere that I have to use my passport, that is my only stipulation. Oh, and it can't be Canada or Mexico. If I don't go to England, I might take a Caribbean cruise but with that I have to find people to go with. And my last trip for next year is my long awaited road trip with my parents from NY to AZ. I cannot wait for them to come pick me up. I have our whole trip mapped out, yes I know it is like 5 months away but I like to plan and I especially love to plan trips. I won't bore you with the details but we are going to go to most of LDS Church History sites and the one place my dad requested, Cooperstown, NY (the baseball hall of fame is there). So, you can say I have traveled a lot and by many different ways. I have also played tour guide twice this past year and I have my next tour starting Jan 5 with Jesse. I love to travel and I hope I can travel as much as possible in the coming years.

It has been an exciting and adventure filled year and it isn't even over. On Tuesday I leave to visit home to celebrate Christmas and then the following Monday, the 22nd, I leave to meet the family I work for in LA to go on vacation. We are spending 8 days in California. Some of that will be in Anaheim, LA, and San Diego. We were supposed to go to Hawaii but that fell through so we are going to Cali. I was a little bummed but I will get to see California from a different point of view. I'm excited.

One of the downsides of my job is working on Sunday. I can't wait to not have to work Sunday. I get to go to church but I never feel completely relaxed. I hate it! I am always afraid I am going to miss something or they need me to do something plus I rarely get to go to my ward. I usually go to the family ward that meets earlier but if I can I try to make my sacrament meeting. I have been in the ward for a year now but I still don't know very many people. The first week of next year the Lincoln Square church building will finally be done with its remodeling. That means that Manhattan 8th ward, which is the other singles ward that has been combined with us the past 8 months, will move back to their church building so we will finally be back at our regular time slot of 11AM and I will finally get to know MY ward. It is so difficult trying to figure out who is in what ward. It probably would have been a lot more fun if I could go to my ward more often and I could meet more people from the other ward but oh well, I have meet some great friends who aren't in my ward so if I am supposed to meet some people, it will happen.

I think I have said this before but what I love about the city is that you can walk everywhere. I always joke with my friends here that are from Arizona, that people (me included) back home will drive to the Wal-Greens around the corner. I have to walk a quarter of a mile just to get to the subway. Sometimes, not right now because it is too cold, I will walk to pick William up from school and that is about a mile away. I have walked 3 miles in one night just because I didn't feel like taking the bus or subway. From my parking garage to my apartment it is about 1 1/2-2 miles. I walk that frequently because the bus and subway are out of the way for that route and it is easier to just walk it. I sometime take a taxi to go there if I am in a hurry but that is only in desperate situations.

Well, I think I have said enough for this post. I promise to post more soon. If I have time before I leave I will write one more but if not it probably won't be until next year so Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year to all of you who read this. I hope you enjoy this time of year with your friends and family. I know I will.

Til next time,
Jeni