Spreadin' the News

Just got back. Happy to report that New York City is still there. Not only is it still there, its hotter and humider (no, that's not a word. Until NOW!) than ever. I was melting 10 of the 14 days I was in the city, and it was pretty gross. We moved forward, though, and good times were still had. Recognizing that you, the reader, probably don't want a play-by-play of a fourteen-day trip, let's just hit the highlights, shall we?

1. Friends: I adore Mariah and her fiancee, Ryan. So much fun to chat and hang out with them. I also got to spend an afternoon with Jake G. He showed me around the Wall Street/Trinity Church area--and we had yummy Afghan food for lunch! And then Gregory B. came into town for the last week and I had another chum to join in NYC playtime. Good stuff!

2. Broadway: We saw Tony Award Winner, Douglas Hodge in the matinee of La Cage Aux Folles. Brilliant! He was wonderful and the show was a riot. I loved so much about it!! "If he loved me, he'd vacuum!" So great. That night we had box seats to a major Tony winner--Billy Elliot. I can't say enough how much I loved this show! Great music, amazing acting and dancing, wonderful story--maybe the perfect show. Love love love.

3. Breakfast: I had at least two A-Mazing breakfasts in the city. Community Food & Juice provided one of the best things I have ever eaten in a 7-Grain Waffle served with Lemon/Raspberry Cream sauce. I wanted to weep with joy when I was eating it, and that's not exaggerating by much. The next week we ventured to Greenwich for Creme Brulee French Toast at a place called Jane. Yum, Yum, and some more YUM.

4. Coney Island: I love this place. Shelling out $8 for the crazy wild roller coaster, Cyclone, was just the beginning of the happiness. A hotdog from Nathan's and a jaunt on the boardwalk were also wonderful. But nothing tops the pure delicious glee I found in watching the Side Show. A Contortionist, the Seal Boy, a well-endowed Sword swallower/Flame-eater, and of course--our host--a Carnie who literally hammered a nail into his own head. WOWZA!! Love love love.

5. Bakeries: Any followers of my Facebook status updates should be aware that I made a major effort to visit a plethora of bakeries in Manhattan. First prize goes to Levain on 74th and Amsterdam for the most luscious cookie EVER. Second prize goes to Amy's Bread for the best carrot cake I have ever eaten in my life. Also a good sticky bun. And butter cookie. Third prize to Jacques Torres for another brilliant chocolate-chip cookie. Honorable Mentions go to Crumbs (because you gotta love a huge Crumbs cupcake!!), Fat Witch Bakery, Magnolia (good brownie!!), and Bombolini. The final entry providing not only tasty Italian donuts, but tasty Italian eye candy as well. I should note--no pictures from the bakeries. I always intended to, but the goodies seemed to disappear into my belly too fast for me to remember the need for a photo shoot. Oh well!

6. Sights o' the City: I've done a lot of the "touristy" things before, but still managed to take in some awesome spots in the Big Apple. I especially loved the American Museum of Natural History (though their charge for special exhibits is ridiculous) and the big model blue whale. There were some great exhibits at the Met. And I really loved walking along Highline Park with a yummy coconut-almond ice cream shake from the Chelsea Markets.

So...there was a lot more that happened in my 14-day adventure to New York City, and a lot more amazing foods I got to eat. Heck, I didn't really say anything here about the Gilder Lehrman seminar at Columbia University that got me out to the city in the first place!! If you want to hear more about adventures, Reconstruction seminars, and/or great NYC food, feel free to ask*. I Love New York!!

*Obviously, I like to talk--especially about food.

Summer Happenings, including #5

Anybody else wondering where the heck June went? How did the first month of summer go by so fast?! This means I've got only 1 1/2 months left to make the summer break Awesome to the Max. Before we get to that, however, some catch up on the events of the past few weeks of Summer Magic.

Last week I hit up the water park with my sisters and two of the little one's--Lyric and Spencer (pictured here in all his summertime glee and glory). It was a madcap day of water, tubes, lazy rivering, slides, fried chicken, and lots and lots of sun. And it was a total blast! I definitely got sunburned, despite reapplying my SPF 50 sunblock on numerous occasions, but its all good now. Look at that picture again! Can you doubt how much fun we had?! AWESOME!

Father's Day weekend took the family to our timeshare condo at East Canyon Resort. We played at the pool, read books, watched a bunch of mostly mediocre movies (Boo on you Leap Year and Dear John), and had a ton of fun fishing at the reservoir. I re-learned how to gut a fish (that just sounds gross...), and practiced tying on my own hook and swivel. Woohoo!

In case you've been living under a rock for the past few days and hadn't heard, the newest Twilight film, Eclipse, opened in theaters on Wednesday. My amazing friend, Charisse, got free tickets and we hit up the 12:10 showing Wednesday morning at Jordan Commons. We tried to blend in with all the "Twi-hards" by dressing appropriately (I sported my homemade "Team Taylor Lautner" shirt (because I am)) and cheering at perfectly sculpted abs whenever they appeared. It was a serious good time, and I really did enjoy the movie.

These are happy smiles brought to you by the Salt Lake Real and Rio Tinto Stadium. I went to the game on Friday with my sister and parents--part of our Father's Day gift to Dad. The game was fun, even if it ended at 0 - 0. At least we didn't lose! I love soccer!! After the game we headed to Leatherby's and feasted on Toasted Almond Ice Cream, hot fudge and cheese fries. YUM!

Surely one of the highlights of my summer occurred last night--110 in the Shade at Hale Center Theater Orem, starring Audra McDonald. I got a ticket thanks to that amazing friend I mentioned before--Charisse. Isn't she the best!!? I don't think I'm a gifted enough writer to capture in words how extraordinary the performance proved to be. I was goosebumpy and enthralled and feel all sorts of lucky to have seen it. Really the entire cast was awesome, but Audra was phenomenal. I chalk this one up to "Best Theater Experience EVER in the State of Utah." Standing O, all the way.

And that finally brings us to a MAJOR accomplishment of the summer! I can check #5 Finish the quilt I started last year off the 27 in 27 list, because I finished it! Pictured above is the quilt I started sewing last summer--now, all done. It has been quilted and bound and it is lovely. Its currently the highlighted piece in my barely-decorated living room. Now I'm just waiting for an invite to an outdoor venue so I have reason to show it off!

Keep up the good work, folks, and happy summering!

The Problem of Summer

I love summer. Summer is popsicles, sleeping in and staying up late, reading fluff books, going to the movies, and basically doing whatever you want. Just reading that list makes me happy!! As it is, however, my summer hasn't entirely felt like that. Oh sure I've had my quick vacations to California, and yes I can sleep in when I want to. But this summer there's a boat load of work I still find myself having to do.

First I've got this Gilder Lehrman conference coming up in July. By the time I get on that plane to go to New York City, I must have completed three nonfiction history books. One of which is over 600 pages in length. Interesting, but definitely not the fluffy, beach reads I would hope to crack open in the summer.

Second, I'm working on a project for the Teaching With Primary Sources grant. I have to put together Primary Resource Sets for individual Indicators in the State Core. In fact, I am signed up to complete 18 of these sets. Yes, I get paid, but wow...I'm at "1 down, 17 to go" at this point. *sigh*

Third, I would really like to get up and going on my Curriculum plans for my night school classes next year. Life in the 2010-2011 school year will be MUCHO simpler if that gets done before September.

But going back to The Problem of Summer. The real problem is that IDEA of summer. I want to play! But my blasted logical mind is struggling to let me really enjoy the play time I take when there are all these other RESPONSIBLE things I should be doing. Blast.

I think the universe is trying to make me work too. When I asked my two-year old nephew last Sunday if we could "hang out sometime this week"--as long as it was okay with his mom, of course--she responded that he was pretty busy with playdates and other such things. Yeah, that's right. My two-year old nephew has a busier social calendar than me. Thank goodness I have those Resource Sets to keep me company, right?