First day in NYC

I got on my red-eye flight Wednesday night. I have to mention that JetBlue is really cool and gives you ear plugs and an eye mask. I arrived at JFK at 5:30 am. And Megan and Daniel were all dressed up for work and awake! Then we drove into the city to their place, and then they went back to bed. I had a really hard time falling asleep and laid there looking out the window at the skyscrapers thinking about how unfamiliar that view was. Plus I was super mesmerized by the air mattress they bought. Before I got there, I knew there was going to be an air mattress for me. When I got there, I casually noticed the queen-size bed in the room. OH WAIT! It's a really cool double-stacked-with-a-headboard air mattress! SO cool.

My first photo of the trip:



A few hours later (it felt like a different day) I got ready for my first day there. Megan told me, "just go out the front door, turn right, keep walking for two blocks, and you'll be in Times Square." The night before I saw total darkness and had no idea where I was, but it turns out her directions were perfect. Aaaand Times Square is hard to miss, so it's impossible to go too far.

I went to where she worked and we met up for lunch. My first exciting eating experience was at....drumroll...Subway! We shared a 5-dollar footlong. Haha! This is about the time when I figured out I should have packed/worn thermal underwear and warm boots. Megan gave me her earmuffs which pretty much saved me that day, and every day after that. HOLY moly that place was freezing.

So we went back to Megan's office where I saw all her cool awards in her glorious cubicle. And Chocolates that look like poker chips. No thanks. She looked for a good map for me online, printed one out, and we drew what would be my route that day. Start on Broadway, turn to go to Bryant Park and the huge city library, and then turn up 5th Avenue for more cool stuff.

Bryant Park ice skating with a few cool looking buildings. I was afraid of looking too touristy so I didn't take very many pictures for a few hours.


Then I went into the library. The place is huuuge and let's just say I wasn't interested in reading any books, so I got some pictures of the cool architecture and skidaddled. On to the fancy stores!

A glimpse of the rotunda

Entry


The Rockefeller Center was really cool. The ice skating there made it look pretty magical. So I called AJ and told him I was hanging out with Tina Fey at 30 Rock. Har har.



I went to the NBC store which was sooo cool. I didn't do the tour, but it looked fun. I realize all my friends are on TV because it was pretty exciting being around my friends' merchandise. Oh, The Office. They had a dog collar that said Dunder Mifflin on it! And these coffee mugs:

And they had lots of other really cool things, but you must remember, I had a budget.

AJ advised/threatened that I had $50 in my wallet, and I couldn't go over. Did I want to? No. Did I think I probably would? Yes. But we were suddenly income-less so I didn't get any Office souvenirs and I stayed out of all the stores I thought I'd want to spend money. Which is mostly clothing stores, and I don't need more clothes anyway. So...I went to The Apple Store!

The sun was going down and this picture turned out really neat.

That place was crazy, so I tried out CS4 for a minute and got out of there. See how it's all underground, under the cube? Kewl.

Window shopping at Tiffany's. Did. not. go. in.
Next door to the Apple store is another wonderful place for people who aren't going to buy anything. FAO Schwartz! Well, if I had kids I'd probably have gotten something, but it was just me :) I was greeted at the door by a guy dressed up as a nutcracker (?) who said "Welcome my lady". Hahaha... OH they have the coolest thing where you can put all kinds of Muppet parts together and make your very own customized Muppet character to take home. It's amazing! And expensive. But when I'm rich I'm gonna get one.

I forgot about THE big piano and then I started seeing signs for it everywhere, so I followed. There was a group of friends playing on it and getting pictures taken, so when they were done I asked the guy who worked there, "uh, can you take my picture on the piano?" And he was SO excited. It was funny. Yes I know he does it all day, but his enthusiasm was great. I just realized he probably wanted a tip...

Anyway, he took a few shots, and I look like a nerd, but hey, no one there knows me.


By then it was almost dark so I headed back to my sister's office. I took the scenic route. Here's the big snowflake.



Did. not. go in.


Pretty good shot of the Times Square splendor.

This is me trying to show the New Year's Eve ball. See it up there? It does NOT drop very far, and if I was there that night I would have been even further back than this. Sad huh!

Well that's about it for the first day. Hopefully the other days won't take so long to read :)