NYC Day 7 - Last one, I swear...

Free day! First, baptisms at the Manhattan Temple. (Sadly, no pics - we actually took one after carefully explaining to a passerby which building we wanted behind us since asking the first passerby to take our picture in front of the temple resulted in a picture of us with an office building - but they are on another camera.) The workers were all old and they were so sweet - they couldn't believe that we were from out of town but willing to come at 6:30 am to do baptisms! It was completely worth it - totally a new experience to do them somewhere outside of Utah where you don't have to wait in line and the changing room only has three stalls. There was one really sweet old man who would talk to us and after everything he said he would say, "The church is true!" He also gave us each a Manhattan Temple tie pin.

Next: breakfast at the corner cafe where we met the fattest cop ever.

Oh, sure, you can be in our picture with us...

So...there were NYPD everywhere because Obama was coming to speak. Turns out he was speaking about a block north of our hotel, so we went to stalk the scene. We naively thought maybe we could stand in the crowd and hear him speak, but of course, he was speaking inside this fire station, you had to be invited to be there, and the police cleared the area for a two block radius about two hours before. BUT we got to be on the scene a couple hours before he got there and we met lots of nice cops, and some grouchy ones, and we tried desperately to get interviewed by the news crews.

Off to Canal Street for some shopping! I bought another purse and some scarves. Much fun. Then, since it was a gorgeous day, we spent the afternoon simply wandering Central Park. Gorgeous. Pink blossoms everywhere.

Had to get hot dogs in Central Park. Of course.

Suddenly, off we were to the airport to fly home. Unfortunately, high winds and Obama's visit caused our plane to be two hours delayed (AFTER we boarded. Rude.) Fortunately, some benedryl and ibprofen let me sleep all the way home. Done. I hope you enjoyed my visit.

NYC Day 6

Not too many pictures for today - we spent mucho time in places where pics aren't allowed. Stop one, the ANNA SUI boutique. For any who don't know who that is, I'm sorry. My MIWW dress my senior year was patterned after one of her dresses and used her fabric. Awesome. She is my idol. The boutique had some really cool stuff - all priced completely over my head of course. I considered blowing $20 on a handkerchief just so I could say I owned an Anna Sui original from her NYC boutique. Plus it was cute. Apparently she comes to visit her store a lot - I openly wished she would walk in while we were there. Sigh...it was not to be.

After Anna Sui came a semi-boring tour of Macy's, which is apparently no longer the largest department store in the world. Shame. Then off to the Met for a peek at the exclusive ALEXANDER MCQUEEN exhibit, which had opened the night before. The exhibit both awed and terrified me. It's clear he was a genius, but his genius is a little erotic and dark. Thus, I did not spend too much time there.

So...we had awesome weather every day but this one. And folks, if you think the subways are disgusting? Ride one in the rain. The water pools at the bottom of every staircase, it gets muggy underground, there's a strange smell, and everything is just WET. Yuck. (As you can see by the garbage I found on my leg.)

After the Met...FREE TIME. So my friend, Kristi, and I ran to the theater to see if we could score student rush tickets to Memphis. Success! Abbie had been wanting to see it so she tagged along. We sat on the front row which was both great and terrible. This is my hand on the stage that was in front of my face. (Lucky Kristi got to sit in a box seat.)

So...although we had to crane our necks to see, and we missed some of the action about their feet, it was really fun to be almost IN the action. In the opening number a bead flew off an actress's costume and into my lap. Best free souvenir ever? PLUS we were sitting with the cast of Dreamgirls. Don't be jealous. The shows overlapped or something and they knew the girl who was the lead in Memphis, so they were all cheering, "Sing it Felicia!" all through the show. And they talked to us at intermission. Yes. And for the record, Memphis is AMAZING. At intermission Abbie and I just turned and looked at each other and exhaled. So. Good. Fun music, good story - totally captivating. When it ended, we stood and applauded and danced. Danced. BOOGIED. So fun.

After the show we met with some of my other friends from the group at Junior's for cheesecake and steak fries. We got three pieces to share - Raspberry Swirl, Chocolate Surprise, and Carrot Cake Cheesecake. We played a game of take and bit and pass it down so we could all share...SO YUMMY! (I can also vouch for the Cherry Cheesecake, in case you are ever there and trying to decide.) Our waiter thought we were crazy: "I'm never gonna visit You-Tah...Y'all crazy there!" He asked where we had just come from and we said Memphis. He thought we meant the city and asked if they drank a lot there. BUT he also got us free fries, wore the napkin boutonniere my roommate made him, and asked us to add him as a friend on Facebook. Terrence. My man.

Oh. And this is Kristi's condiment version of the New York skyline, featuring Abbie as the Statue of Liberty. Please laugh. We all did.

One day to go!

NYC Day 5

Parson Meares Costume Shop. Incredible. Probably the most exciting tour we had all week. Basically, it's a costume shop that does a lot of the costumes for Broadway. They do a lot of ice shows too, but the Broadway stuff was fascinating. The guy talked us through the process of creating for a show before taking us through the shop. Best part? It was just as MESSY as the HALE. For some reason I loved that. Even the professionals are a mess. Anyway, they were remaking a lot of cool costumes while we were there - in these pictures I am holding Nala's pants for "Lion King" and the half finished skirt for Christine in "Phantom." We also saw them making the monkeys for "Wicked" (third pic) and saw a half made matching bodice for Christine...we saw Spiderman stuff too but I'm not allowed to post that. Legalities.

The had boxes upon boxes upon boxes of all the patterns for every show they've done. Zoom in - you might recognize a few.

This contraption above me is used for fittings for characters who fly in harnesses. Apparently it's quite a shock for the UPS man to come in and find an actor hanging in front of the elevator waiting to be fitted by a costumer. The posters are all the shows they have done.

Next stop: The Fabric District!

First off, a special presentation at the FIT Design Lab: History of Fashion, via legit vintage apparel. Here we have a 1920s speakeasy (I also saw a Chanel. FYI.) and an ORIGINAL FORTUNY. They don't even unroll it, it's so precious. (This is the man who took his astounding pleating secret to his grave. Nobody has since recreated the look.)

So...great story? The lady who gives us the presentation is a grad student at FIT. She's getting her master's in fashion curatorial studies - previously she earned a bachelor's in ART HISTORY from some random school. Best part? The same program offers emphasis in fashion textile conservation. Folks, I just found my way to New York. I've been stalking the program ever since.

Quick peek at the FIT Museum exhibit, and then time for FABRIC SHOPPING!!! I had a $50.00 gift certificate to Paron that I have never been able to use...until now! I went a little crazy and bought some crazy expensive wool. No big. So fun.

And of course, no shopping trip is complete without Mood. "Project Runway" buffs, beware: I pet Swatch. I also bought some awesome silk.

As we strolled home from the Fabric District, we looked up at one of the screens in Times Square. The street was being filmed and we could see ourselves. We waved. I was on tv in Times Square! As I whipped out my camera for a pic, this lady walks on and waves back. Then she reaches out, plucks my friend and me off the street and takes us to Egypt...

...and put us on a camel. Yes. I rode a camel in Times Square. Astounding. Best moment ever? Yes.

That night? Wicked. :)

And then a "Can't Say No" sundae at Serendipity at midnight with friends. Heaven in a gallon-sized dish. It definitely took all six of us to finish it.

That's the short version. But then, I said most of this would be.

Peace out.

NYC Day 4

The "Today Show," (I was too lazy to ever try and get up early enough to actually witness the action...) yes, they are advertising Osama Bin Laden's death, Rockefeller, Easter lilies ALL over the city - gorgeous, St. Patrick's, again (!), and one of the many window displays advertising Alexander McQueen - AMAZING.

Kip's Bay House aka donated home where a bunch of famous designers each take a room to design and they charge tourists lots of money to see their designs and give the money to charity aka glorified Parade of Homes. Melia, you would have loved it. This is actually a view form the fourth floor patio - freaking amazing. The patio. And the view. We weren't allowed to take pics inside.

STELLAR trade show aka place where buyers come to buy their stock for the season from the sellers aka Lucky Brand selling all their clothes to various department stores for example etc. I was way more fascinated than my classmates. We were VIP.

Deep-fried zucchini fries at Carmine's. Probably the only thing I really ate there. A. Maze. Ing. If all vegetables could be deep-fried, I'd eat them way more often.

News de la Bin Ladin's death al la Times Square. No big.

Empire State Building - we went on the most PERFECT night. Now lines. No wind. Warm spring air. Gorgeous.

Tragically, none of my pictures of the flatiron building turned out - really a shame because it was one piece of architecture I really wanted to see. Well, I saw it. From King Kong's hideout. But no pics to prove it.

Cheers.