NEW YORK!!

I am back in Texas!

I don't even know where to begin!! This whole weekend has seriously been one of the best ever, and it went way too quickly! And I have about a million other things that still need to get done tonight, so I'll try to make this short. (yeah right)

We left about 5 am Thursday morning, and spent the next 6ish hours traveling. When we got to NYC, we basically just walked around Time Square (where our hotel was), and just got the lay of the land...and some food! Planet Hollywood was one of the first things we found, so we settled for that. We really didn't do too much because we were tired, however....we did find possibly the two greatest stores ever. Right across the street from each other. That's right. The Hershey store and M&M World. Seriously. THREE floors of nothing but M&Ms and M&M paraphanalia! Such greatness! Then it started to rain so we were forced back into our hotel for the evening. But since I was running on an hour of sleep, I was grateful for an early evening. Which in turn was actually a really rough night for me. My muscles do not handle traveling well anymore, and I slept for about an hour or two, and then was awake because I couldn't sleep through the pain that was ALL OVER my body. I just ached all over and couldn't sleep, and even my pain medicine didn't help. Rough night. However, I was in NY....couldn't let it get to me!

The next day we got tickets on the double decker buses that toured Downtown/Midtown/Uptown Manhattan, and Brooklyn. The great thing about this bus was we had tickets for two days, could ride as we pleased and get off and on wherever we wanted! The first day we basically just took the whole tour because we wanted to see everything. We ended up at Staten Island and got on the ferry to go see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island!! It was SO cool to see those places/things in person!! Basically that's how the whole trip was...finally being at all these famous places and not having to just look at pictures. (Although now I have my own facebook album of pics, if you're interested!) I was surprised that I didn't take more, but really it was hard on the bus, and at the shows we weren't really allowed to much. After that we headed back to the hotel (the whole tour, depending on the RIDICULOUS traffic took about 3 hours) and got ready for...WICKED!! We ended up being able to walk to the theater because it was relatively close. So that was nice...but cold! It was in the 50s most of the time, and the windchill made it much colder! Wicked was, I don't even know, absolutely incredible!! It was my first Broadway show, and it was one I've wanted to see for years. It was such a great production. And the woman who played Glinda graduated from Sam Houston! Small world. After the show we went to this Irish pub called Charley O's to grab some dinner and I had some of the best ribs I've ever eaten.

Saturday we just did kind of whatever. We rode the bus to a different shopping district and messed around in midtown Manhattan for a while, and then went to the Rockefeller Center, or The Rock. One of the tour guides told us that if we were choosing between the observation decks of the Rock and the Empire State building to pick this one. And it was SO AMAZING!!! It's about 850 feet above the streets, and the only thing separating you from it is a clear, thin wall. SO GREAT!!! My dad was getting really nervous, but mom and I weren't at all even slightly freaked out. It was so awesome!! The view was absolutely INCREDIBLE! Pics are on my facebook if you want to see...and we had the perfect view of the Empire State building, and Central park....the whole city really. We didn't last too long up there just because the wind made it absolutely freezing!! Then we rode back to our hotel and got ready for....Blue Man Group!!!! We had to take a taxi for this show, because it was in Grenwich Village. My first taxi by the way. So much fun! We got there a little early, so we went in a Starbucks a few blocks away to wait...and it was HUGE! By far the biggest Starbucks I've ever seen. I guess it has to be if it's going to be in NY, and right by the Subway. But the performance was SO GREAT! I've wanted to see them for so many years, and it's even more awesome than watching their videos. We were in the second row, part of the "poncho section". The Blue Men had thoughtfully provided us with ponchos as to not ruin our clothes with their various materials that happened to go into the audience. In our case, a few splatters of paint and chewed up Twinkies, and some Cap'N Crunch haha. And I can now officially say that audience participation is terrifying. All 3 of us got picked for various parts of it. Before the show started they lit up our seats and said we would be leading the audience in the Star Spangled Banner...and just as mom started singing they said just kidding. Later one of the blue men started climbing on the seats through the audience...and he thoughtfully stopped on my chair. So hes literally standing on my armrests over my head and I was trying SO hard not to move! I was so scared he was going to fall or if I moved I would knock him off! And everyone was laughing because apparently he was making faces at me. And then towards the end they had those strobe lights that make you look like you're moving really choppy and you can't see swift movements, and one of the blue men magically appeared about an inch from my moms face and just stared at her. She screamed. Haha it was so great. One of the greatest shows, even though it's technically off Broadway.

And today was all traveling, and I unfortunately have a stats test tomorrow that is calling my name. But it was SUCH an amazing experience and I can't wait to go back. I can't decide if I could make it on the streets of New York. I'd love to, but only for a very short time period I think. Oh my gosh, the driving is CRAZY!!! I thought we were going to crash so many times. They don't even have street lines in most of the city, mostly because even if they were there no one would follow them. Cars/Taxis just zoom in and out of lanes like it's nothing. And when they stop they are literally less than an inch away from the one in front!!! So nerve wracking. But they all drive crazy together, so it all works out, right?

That's the crazy cliff note version of my trip, and I'll have more details if you ask. But seriously, LOVED it and had such a great time!