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Thanksgiving Break-Day 3

On the Friday after Thanksgiving, T.J. woke up and was very sick with a cold. Our plan was to venture into the city with everybody, but T.J. was not up to it and so he kept Eva at home with him. I missed them all day, but it was much easier to stay out all day long without Eva.

First, we visited the American Museum of Natural History. I brought T.J.’s work pass which got all of us in for free (tickets usually are $22 for an adult-ridiculous!), so thank you J&J for those complimentary tickets! The museum has an amazing Christmas tree decorated with beautiful origami ornaments. It was incredible. Definitely worth the trek to the museum. The kids loved the dinosaur exhibit, and I love all of the Native American exhibits… I am so fascinated with them! We got there right when it opened which was smart because by the time we were finished it was getting very crowded.

IMG_2136 IMG_2133 IMG_2123 IMG_2121 IMG_2120 IMG_2119We had lunch at Shake Shack, next door. Any day is good when you have a burger from Shake Shack. Delish. From there, we walked a couple blocks to a local market “where the locals go,” we had heard, called Zabar’s. It was actually pretty neat in there, and we all snacked on some cheese.

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We took the subway to Bryant Park, where we walked through their amazing Christmas market. That was probably the neatest thing we did all day, I think. I just love Bryant Park and it was so fun to see it with a ice skating rink and little shops.

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Mary Beth and Mark walked through the NYC Public library next door for a minute, then we walked over to Grand Central Terminal. Sometimes I feel like Kevin McCallister because I’m also obsessed with Christmas trees and love seeing all of the different ones through the area. Grand Central had a beautiful Christmas one and a little train display. The train display was free, thank goodness, but not very impressive compared to Santaland or Cincinnati’s train display. But the banana pudding from Magnolia’s made up for it!

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At this point we were all really exhausted, as you can imagine. But Mary Beth and the kids really wanted to see FAO Schwarz and this was their only chance since they were leaving the next morning. So, we hopped on another train and visited the notorious FAO Schwarz toy store. It was my first time at the store too and holy cow… it is impressive. I have been to the Toys R US on Times Square that has a ferris wheel inside, but this was even cooler! So many floors, so many toys, so much detail. Instead of just having a shelf for their baby dolls, they had a Baby delivery section, babies in little containers behind glass like at a hospital, and workers dressed up as doctors and nurses to help you decide which baby you want to take home. Amazing. I wanted to buy pretty much everything, but I buy 95% of my gifts on Amazon for obvious reasons, but it did give me a lot of Christmas ideas for the future. Anyway… the floor piano from Big is in this store, and little Amelia wasted no time and hopped on the floor before we even noticed she had taken off her shoes! It was such a fun time, and something worth seeing in NYC.

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Well, that was our Thanksgiving break! Thanks to my sister and her family for being willing to share it with us! We all needed a vacation after this vacation because it definitely wasn’t stress free or relaxing since we walked all over Manhattan… but it was a Thanksgiving we will never forget!

 

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How to do Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade

We decided way in advance that if we were going to be in NYC for Thanksgiving, we were going to do the parade and we were going to do it right! We had initially planned to have T.J. get there crazy early (like 5 am) to save us a spot, but T.J. had a bad cold and we decided we didn’t want to ruin his Thanksgiving by making him do that. So, he and Mark’s dad left at 7 and we left at 8:15 with the kids.

Because we didn’t leave crazy early, there was already a big crowd, but we were at least on Central Park West and not back an avenue. I found a spot against a church wall that worked perfectly for me, Mary Beth bought a stool to stand up on (definitely going to bring that next year), and then everybody else was up close with T.J. and Tom.

Where to watch: From Jersey, we took the Path train to 14th st and then tranferred over to the NYC subway a block away and then took the 1 train to the Lincoln Center stop. It was a little more inconvenient to do this, but we wanted to transfer early so it wouldn’t be so crazy busy. Totally worth it. Near Lincoln Center, there are a lot of little bakeries and coffee shops, so if anyone needs to use the bathroom, just buy a hot chocolate or muffin and it’s not a problem! I heard the farther away you are from 34th St, the better so we went up pretty far on the west side.

From there, we walked to the corner of 65th and Central Park West. There’s a church there with tons of steps. If you can arrive at about 7 am, you can be on the steps and it would be PERFECT! But we were a little later than that and were on the sidewalk instead.

What to bring: Handwarmers, a leash for your kid (not joking… this is one of the only times wear it’s really a good idea), snacks for the kids, a stool/ladder/chair to stand on, a bottle of water. Bring enough for the kids so they won’t want to complain while they’re waiting for the next float, but don’t overdo it because the parade is about 2 hours long and you don’t want to have to carry everything all morning. Do NOT bring a stroller unless it is very light, can be folded up, and carried. Even then, I still think it would be easier to just skip the stroller and hold your child the whole time. I was SO sore the next day from carrying my toddler for hours, but there is NO way you can push the stroller through the crowd. Some people tried and they were out of their mind.

What to wear: We bundled up like crazy. I put so many layers on Eva because I did not want her to be cold. I’m glad I put so much on her, but for myself-I might wear just one pair of leggings under my pants next year-not two! I was sweating at times because it wasn’t that cold when we were all crowded together watching the parade. The walk was very windy so make sure you have gloves and a hat for the walk!

After the parade: Make sure you head back on the train right away and don’t try to find a place to eat at for brunch after the parade (unless you can find a little place that takes reservations). Go much farther away. We tried to eat at Sarabeth’s on Central Park South and it was CRAZY, they weren’t taking any more names for the rest of the day. So, instead we found a little deli near the Flat Iron building where we transferred to the Path train. No one else was there and it was a perfect place to sit down and have a bite.

That’s about it! We’d definitely do it again, so I think that’s a good sign to show that it was worth it! It was so exciting to see all of the balloons and floats in real life. And Santa… that was amazing! I even teared up because it was so neat!

So, that being said… who is coming with us next year!?!IMG_2922

Train ride home

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Amelia and Claire had it pretty good up on the men’s shoulders.

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Train ride to the parade

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Me and my darling girl

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Elf on the Shelf

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Duck Dynasty!

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Claire and Amelia on Tom and Mark’s shoulders

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T.J.’s high school band is coming next year, so we definitely have to see that!

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My cute sister Mary Beth

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Walking down Central Park West without any cars! Very neat experience.

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Some of my favorites

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Buzz Lightyear was HUGE!

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All bundled up and ready to go!

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Hometown Reunion

A couple friends that I grew up with live in New York-one in Manhattan and one in Brooklyn. We had them over for dinner once before this summer with everybody, but we met up for dinner a couple weeks ago without Eva and it was so fun to catch up! We ate at Spice near Union Square which was delicious and such a fun atmosphere… I never get to eat at places like that anymore with Eva, so it was quite a treat.

Kelsa, Megan, and I go back to elementary school. I think 4th grade! In fact, Kelsa married her high school sweet heart who was in my second grade class (and many more classes for years to come). So, it’s really fun to meet up now and reminisce. Who would have thought we’d all be living in NYC 15 years later?

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Babysitting Swap

My friend Ashley in our ward who lives very close has a six month old. Two weeks ago, I watched Brooks for the afternoon on Tuesday when she ran errands in the city. Then on Wednesday, Ashley watched the kids while I went to the temple. Eva and I picked up Brooks from her apartment and then walked back to our place where I put both kids down for a nap. I was expecting it to be horrible and so hard, but of course both kids were angels and went down without crying and slept for hours. I made Ashley remind me how newborns don’t sleep well through the night to get rid of my VERY mild baby hunger. 🙂 It did the trick.

Anyway, it was really nice how it worked out. We both got a much-needed day out and the kids acted well on both days. I’m hoping we can do this more often since it’s hard to get out much in the winter with kids.

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Date Night

Three weeks ago, a couple in our ward who live nearby offered to watch Eva one evening so T.J. and I could go out on a date. We haven’t had a date without Eva since we moved here, so we quickly jumped on the offer.

I met T.J. in the city and we had dinner at Pie Face, which is a little restaurant that serves savory and sweet pies. They have mini pies too so you can try lots of different kinds. It was awesome. I definitely recommend the place.

Then we just walked up to Times Square and went in to a couple big stores, like Toys R Us and the Disney Store. I thought it was funny that we went to the places Eva actually really would have liked to see. But we didn’t want to spend much money on our date, so that’s why we didn’t plan anything too elaborate.

When we got off the subway in Jersey, we picked up hot chocolate to end the night. It was a fun simple date and so nice of our friends at church to give us a night off!

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Mommy/Daughter Date

One of my most favorite parts of NYC is Bryant park. It’s right behind the NYC Public Library, the trees create a canopy overhead, and it’s just a charming place-different from the surrounding concrete jungle. Well, I saw a couple months back that each Tuesday they have a little program where you can come meet some exotic birds. This week, Eva and I ventured into the city and spent a couple hours at the park, including time with the birds!

Eva didn’t want to touch the birds (neither did her mom), but we still had fun looking at them. Afterwards, we read books in the kid corner, rode the carousel, ran around the park (giving all the people on lunch break quite a show), stopped Eva from trying to swim in the fountain, and watched the jugglers.

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While we were in the city, we made two stops at a party store-which turned out to be one of the best times of Eva’s life looking at all the balloons, and a store called M&J Trimming. I have never seen so many buttons, ribbons, and other types of trims in one place! I bought some tassels to put on bracelets… but more on that later!

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And can I say that NYC in the fall is absolutely wonderful? There’s just something about walking in that city with an autumn crisp in the air!

There’s nothing quite like Autumn in New York.

But it’s not only the leaves that change.

Something in the air brings out the true colors in everyone.

Yes, I did just quote Gossip Girl.

Weekend Recap

This weekend, a friend of mine from college and her husband were visiting, so we went to the city on Saturday. We took the train to Columbus Circle, and then walked up Columbus Ave so we could show them Lincoln Center and the Temple. We ate lunch at the Shake Shack, filling my burger craving that I’ve had for some time, and then spent the rest of the afternoon at the American Natural History Museum.

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It was a really fun time, but Eva was on one that day! Turns out a new tooth has popped through, so I’m guessing that’s why she was such a diva. But that girl of ours did NOT want to sit in her stroller at the museum and so she ran through the halls and had the time of her life. She loved all the animals (“animolllll!”) and thought they were alive. That may or may not have had something to do with how I told her they were all sleeping… no way of knowing. The museum is so huge though, we barely made it through two of the four floors.

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I think my favorite part of the museum was an old tree trunk that is almost two thousand years old or the huge whale underneath the ceiling that is lit like the ocean. If you visit NY, this museum is a must-see, especially if you have kids!

Right around the time we got to the dinosaur bones, Eva had a huge tantrum (who can blame her though, she didn’t have a nap that day), so we left our friends and headed home.

The museum is right by Central Park, so we took the scenic route to the train stop and walked through park. The leaves have started to change and the weather was amazing!

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All in all, it was a great Saturday and fun to have some visitors in town!

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Summer Flashback

I can’t believe that summer is coming to an end. Part of me feels like we didn’t do a thing, but I think that’s because it wasn’t our typical summer at Seven Peaks and going on hikes in the mountains. But as much as I have obviously missed my Utah summer and a visit to Kentucky, we actually did do a lot and I feel like I’m okay with moving on to Fall.

We spent May going to BBQs, saying bye to friends, hanging out with the little kiddos, and just soaking up those last few days all together as an extended family.

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End of May, we moved out to NYC, had our first night in the city on our anniversary, and spent the first couple weeks in a hotel. We depleted our savings while we desperately searched for a place to live, but finally found a nice apartment in Jersey City, NJ.

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In June, we started to explore the city, went to Coney Island, had dinners on the Hudson, spent our days at the park and splash pad, and went to DC to visit my sister and her family.

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July we went on vacation with my family to Chincoteague Island, had my parents stay with us for a couple of days, did more exploring, and grew together as a little family.

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Finally, August. The weather cooled down, so we spent the days at Hamilton Park and splash pad again, made a step towards adulthood by buying a used TV, explored more fun sights in NYC, had visits from Hannah and Kendra, watched the Bachelorette finale with friends, and went to a couple ward activities.

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When I map it all out like that… holy cow, we really did have a great summer. But most of all, we made NJ our home. I don’t know if you remember, but the day before we moved out here, I had a quote from The Office:

“No matter how you get there or where you end up, human beings have this miraculous gift to make that place home.”

This summer, we made this crazy place our home and boy, does it feel good!

Oh yea, one last thing I did this summer was watch the finale of The Office and I’m still crying over it.

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Prospect Park Zoo

On August 24, T.J. and I took Eva to the Prospect Park Zoo in Brooklyn. I was expecting it to be just as busy and crowded as the Central Park Zoo (that place was packed) so when we strolled in around noon without even waiting in a line to get a ticket, we were delightfully surprised. The weather was absolutely perfect that day, as well, so our trip was fantastic and worth the hour ride on the subway.

If you are in NYC with kids, you should definitely check this zoo out. The subway stop with an elevator is right next to Prospect Park (which is beautiful to walk through too)-I’d feel comfortable taking Eva there by myself. It’s just $8 a person and Eva was free (which is much cheaper than Central Park’s). But if you’re expecting to see big animals, you will be disappointed. This zoo is small, yet quaint. A lot of little animals to see, including a petting zoo (which we do more of looking instead of petting) and if you’re lucky like us, everything will be out for you to look out. The sea lions even do a show every day which was the highlight of our visit.

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The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

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Usually when I’m on walks, I use the time to count my blessings because it’s finally a moment away from the media, entertaining Eva, or doing work. It feels good to get unplugged from the world every once in a while. And goodness knows I need that. It won’t come as a shock to you to hear that I love social media.

Well, today as I was pushing Eva, I was thinking of things that I’m thankful for here in Jersey (skyline above) and started looking around for ideas. Upon leaving the parking lot of Target, I saw a dead, smashed rat that I almost walked on last week (thank goodness Hannah warned me in time). And don’t confuse this gross rat with the dead mouse TJ ran over with the stroller last night. Two separate creatures, two horrifying sites. Anyway, the smashed rat kind of halted my blessings list and made me start thinking about the bad things out here. But then I came up with a little game in my head. For every bad thing, I tried to think of the bright side. The silver lining. Horray… the title of my blog is finally applicable!

No car. More exercise, lose weight, save money.

Our bed in the living room. Get to watch TV in bed… every kid’s dream.

Living in a city instead of suburb. H&M is within 100 steps of my door, and thousands of other incredible places to see are close-by.

Take the subway everywhere. See lots of interesting people, very humbling.

Very humid. Don’t have to do my hair, because the humidity would ruin it anyway.

Always smells like curry in our building. Maybe one day one of my Indian neighbors will teach me how to make authentic curry.

Roaches under sink. At least they’re not mice.

$3.25 to do a load of laundry. Not doing as much laundry anymore.

Rent costs a fortune and I want to cry each month as the money vanishes into thin air. At least it’s going to a mortgage… WAIT… no, it’s not. There’s no bright side to this one.

I haven’t been able to think of a silver lining to seeing a dead mouse and a dead rat either.  Let me know if you can.