fast food

There are always fun new restaurants popping up around the village and the other day we happened to walk by the newest sushi place in the neighborhood and noticed it was conveyor belt sushi. We had heard of this concept and remembered seeing it in a movie, so we decided to go Friday night and check it out. The concept behind the conveyor belt sushi is to offer the freshest sushi at an inexpensive cost. Allowing diners to view the food and see what they are getting up front. With the use of the conveyor belt you get less interaction with the waiters and it makes it easier for you to get in, eat, and get out.

You walk in and are seated in a row of booths with a little conveyor belt that runs down the center. At each station there is a computer where you can check out the menu, read up on what everything is and even place an order if there is something you want but don't see on the conveyor belt. Our favorite was watching each plate as it passed and trying to figure out what it was. The plates are also color coded so you know how much it will cost you. I know the concept is to offer inexpensive sushi but once you start grabbing plates you can get carried away and it starts to add up. Jason isn't a huge fan of sushi, so I don't thing this will be a regular thing for us, but he humored me and it actually turned out to be a fun dinning experience!
After our sushi we walked over to the dessert truck for some wonderful chocolate bread pudding. The dessert truck is new to NY this summer and was started by one of Le Cirque's former pastry chef's. This truck is parked in the same place every night and provides a variety of gourmet desserts out of their truck. On the website it reads, "At our mobile food truck, there's no BS, no pretension. Just really good desserts." And that is just what you get. We were a little leery at first but we loved our bread pudding so much that we went back with some friends the next night.

I love that New York is so fast passed that everyone is starting to catch on to the idea and have started to provide good food to the impatient consumer. I am loving this new concept of "fast" food.

on the streets of philadelphia

One of the great things about living on the East Coast is that all the states are smaller - making it easier, and faster, to travel from one state to the next. Our goal is to try and visit all of the major cities, so we decided to take advantage of the long weekend and hop on a bus to Philly.

The first thing we noticed when we arrived in Philadelphia is that it doesn't hold a candle to NYC. I expected it to be much larger then it was. There were only a few sky scrapers and everything was within walking distance. I guess I had imagined it being more like Boston but it was very small. I may be stretching it, but I would say that their downtown wasn't much bigger then SLC. Their buildings were a lot taller but there weren't that many more than Salt Lake. Okay, I may be exaggerating a little, and they do have several monuments and museums that Salt Lake doesn't have, but I just wanted to prove to you that it wasn't that big.

First on our list of things to do was jump on the double-decker tour bus and check out the city. For those of you who don't know - tour buses are our favorite. We've been on the NY bus 3 times and the Philly bus didn't disappoint. We learned all about the history of the city, saw the Rocky steps, Independence Hall, Reading Terminal Market and Betsey Ross' house, but our two favorites were Elfreth's Alley and the Eastern State Penitentiary.



Betsey's House



Elfreth's Alley


Jason - trying his hand at photography


The ESP was the first Penitentiary, built in the 1800's by the Quakers to help prisoners become "penitent" (hence the name penitentiary). They believed that every person had some good in them so they locked prisoners up in complete isolation in hopes that they would find the good within. Unfortunately their plan failed and most of the prisoners went crazy. Now you can only imagine the crazy things that happened here and, of course, we loved hearing about it. It was so creepy looking in their tiny stalls and imagining someone being locked in one for 23 hours a day with only a bible and no contact with anyone. Throughout the prison they have statues of white cats in honor of the cats that lived in the prison after it was closed in 1971. The cats alone freaked me out. After our audio tour and a guided tour about the riots that took place in the prison, we learned there is a haunted house in the prison for Halloween. We also LOVE haunted houses and haven't been able to find a good one out here. It looks like we will be returning to Philadelphia in October so we can freak ourselves out.

The creepy cats inside ESP


The little doors are entrances to the cells


Al Capone's cell


After our creepy experience at the prison we couldn't get enough of the scary stuff and decided to go on a candlight ghost tour of Philadelphia. We learned that a lot of our founding fathers still come back to haunt this great city and that Benjamin Franklin was a ladies man even after he died. Our tour was kind of boring, so after walking around with a broken flip-flop and our tour guide making a couple of rude Mormon jokes, we decided we had enough and ditched the end of the tour.

The rest of our trip was great. We relaxed, ate Philly cheese steaks, walked around the city, ate more cheese steaks, brushed up on our history and ate a few more Philly cheese steaks. I think Jason's mission on this trip was to find the best cheese steak in town, and after trying out a lot of places, he concluded that Jim's was the best. I don't think I have ever eaten so much of one food in a weekend, but I do have to say that the cheese steaks in Philly are AMAZING!!



We were able to catch two different firework shows in town and had a wonderful time celebrating the 4th of July in the city of brotherly love. One common phrase used on our tour was when the tour guide would describe a building or monument they would always say it was the 2nd largest of its kind next to NY or that it was the most famous behind NYC!! We quickly discovered (and laughed each time it was said) that no matter how hard they try, Philadelphia will always be the second best - and that is why we LOVE NYC!!



* This song was in my head the entire trip.

4th of july - lewiston style

This year, Jason and I will be celebrating the birth of our independence in the town where it all started - Philadelphia. But I am a little sad to be missing out on all the festivities in Lewiston. Growing up the 4th of July was like Christmas to me, I remember sweeping the gutters, planting flowers, pulling weeds, and cleaning the store, all in preparation for the big day. Each little town in Cache Valley hosts a celebration and the 4th of July (the best celebration of them all) is Lewiston’s. For one day - Lewiston is the place to be.

It all starts with the firing of the canons at 6 am that use to always blow me out of bed. I would jump up and get ready as fast as I could so that I would be one of the first in line at the fireman's pancake breakfast. My dad was a fireman so it was always so fun to walk over to the rodeo grounds with my mom and brothers and see my dad back in the kitchen running the show. After filling our belly's we would run back home and set out our chairs for the parade (before someone else parked their car in my parent’s driveway - it really happens). My parents live in the center of town (the prime location for watching the parade) and the streets are lined with cars and flat bed trailers several days before the big day to save their spots.

After the parade the celebration continues across the street at the park with several food booths, entertainment, 3-on-3 basketball tournament, dunking machine and - my favorite, the firetruck hose. The fire truck would pull up on the lawn and turn on the big hose, spraying water in the air for all the kids to run through (Lewiston’s version of a water park).

When the park got boring we would usually go back to my parent’s house and play on the sports court or walk over and watch the rodeo. Later that afternoon we would watch the softball tournament while waiting for the sun to set for the big firework show. I had a perfect shot of the fireworks from my parent’s front porch but for some reason it was always more fun to go over and lay out our blankets on the baseball diamond and watch the fireworks fall onto the horse tracks. The night would end with a dance in the church parking lot for the youth and our own little firework show in my parents driveway. It was a perfect day and I was always so sad to see it end. Although I won't be able to make it to Lewiston this year, I can't wait to carry on the excitement of the tradition with my own kids someday. I hope you all have a happy 4th of July, wherever you are.

The church across the street from my parents house where all the booths are at.


Downtown Lewiston: The library, town hall, and the theater


The bank, the gas station, and my parent's store

pearl jam

For as long as I have known Jason he has loved Pearl Jam; most guys on a first date try to impress a girl with some romantic mood music ... not Jason. I remember riding in his silver rodeo to our first date while Pearl Jam played in the background (so sweet).

A few months ago Jason told me that the one band he really wanted to see in concert was Pearl Jam. Ironically, that week one of the guys at work told me he was really excited because Pearl Jam tickets were going on sale. I was soooo excited! The guy at work told me to get on Ticketmaster right when the tickets went on sale or I wouldn't get any. So I literally had 5 people waiting to search for tickets right when the clock struck 11, and thanks to Holly, I was able to score two tickets before they all sold out in 11 minutes (for both nights). At the time Jason was in the middle of his finals crunch so I decided to give them to him as a "Happy end of finals" present after he took his last test. He was very excited and even more so when he found out that it had been 5 years since their last appearance at the garden.

Last night was the big night and if you ask Jason, the concert exceeded all of his expectations, so much that the first sounds of Eddie's voice gave him goosebumps. I'm not a huge fan of Pearl Jam (I just don't listen to them enough to know their songs) but I have to admit that Eddie's voice was amazing live. The garden was pact with several 30 somethings trying to relive their youth and despite a few spilled beers and no "Yellow Ledbetter", I had a great time. I don't know what it is about concerts but even when I'm not a huge fan of the music it's so fun to be surrounded by all the crazy fans who are. And for those of you who aren't familiar with Pearl Jam, I've added a few of my favorites songs for your listening enjoyment.

Eddie shinning the light off his guitar

goodbye seniors

My first and only calling since moving to NY has been in the Young Women's and I have loved getting to know all of the wonderful girls and leaders in in our ward. This year we will be losing 3 of our seniors and I am so sad to see them go. Each girl will be moving on to college and I am so excited for them to start this exciting new chapter of their lives.

(Melissa, Denisse, Jenny)

When I first moved in Melissa was a recent convert to the church and was so shy. She is now one of the funniest, bubbliest girls I know. She has lived in NYC her whole life and has decided to make the plunge and move to "Happy Valley" Provo, Utah to attend BYU. I am so excited for her. I know this decision wasn't any easy one and that she is nervous to go, but she has been so brave and I can't wait for her to be among so many wonderful saints and experience BYU.
She was able to visit Provo a few months ago and when I asked her what she thought she said all the open space made her nervous (now that's a true New Yorker). One of my favorite memories of Melissa was the first conference session I watched with her after being called to the YW's. We were all sitting around listening to the membership report and they had just given the number for the new members in the last year and Melissa turned and told me that she was one of them. She was so excited to share that with me and it instantly brought tears to my eyes. This number is always exciting to hear but it meant so much more when one of those numbers was sitting next to me.
Jenny is also a native New Yorker, and one of the smartest girls I know. She has honestly read more books then I can even count and if you ask her a question about anything she'll more than likely know the answer. She is so strong, she attends an all girls catholic school and has had to defend her religion on more than one occasion. This fall she will be starting at Fordham College with hopes to become a doctor and I know she will become whatever she puts her mind to.
Denisse, will be the first person in her family to graduate from high school and the first to attend college. She is such a strong, beautiful girl and everyone who knows her, loves her. She always comes to church with a big smile and a hug for everyone. She is known as the ward babysitter and there are going to be several sad mothers in our ward when she moves upstate this fall to attend Buffalo College. I know she is scared to move away from the city that she has known her whole life and like Melissa, a little apprehensive of living in a much smaller city, but she knows what she wants, she's worked so hard to get it, and nothing is going stop her.
Last Saturday, we had a party to honor our seniors and luckily all the seniors were able to make it. We ate pizza and battled it out on the guitar hero. Jenny killed us all with her mad guitar skills and was so good, that she didn't even have to stand up to win. I had so much fun spending one last activity with these girls.

(Jenny - winning while sitting)

(Denisse and Melissa batteling it out)

I know you always hear stories of women talking about the impact their leaders had on their lives when they were in young women's but I can truly say that these girls have shown me just what it takes to stand strong and be a daughter of god. They have faced more challenges then I could ever imagine and each has touched my life for the better. I am so grateful that I was able to be their leader. I'm so proud of them and all that they have accomplished and I am so happy to know that there are beautiful young women like these 3 girls out there representing our church.

star struck

One of our favorite things about living in New York is the random encounters we have with celebrities. Usually Jason will spot one in passing on the street and then get upset because I missed them or because I disagree that who he saw wasn't really a celebrity. Obviously, I don't pay attention when I walk down the street, I guess I need to start looking at who I'm passing.
We've seen a few big ones; Julianne Moore, Johnny Knoxville, Tim Gunn and Ryan Gosling (to name a few) but on Friday we were truly star struck when we walked out of the theater and ran right in to ... Adam Sandler.


It was crazy! We were walking out of the movie and for some reason there weren't very many people around us but a few people ahead of us were staring at something. All I could see at first was a man shaking hands with all of the workers and then Jason stopped and said "You've got to be kidding me ..." (for those of you who don't know Jason, this is a common phrase he uses when something surprises him). We just froze and finally managed to say hello as he looked straight at us and said hello back. It was AMAZING!! He was going into another theater to surprise all the movie goers that were in watching Zohan. After a few minutes of regaining our thoughts and realizing just what happened we were a little upset with ourselves for not following him into the other theater. But I love that he was shaking hands with all of the workers, he seemed so down to earth. Despite his outfit (he was wearing a long brown trench coat with shorts, old shoes and an out grown mowhawk) he was all smiles. He is a little shorter than I imagined; I could see the top of his head so I'm guessing he's about 5'6".
Ironically, several clips from the movie Zohan were shot in front of the building where I work and last year, as they were filming, I got to see his stunt double film the scene where he is riding on top of the car (pictured above). I was so disappointed that I kept missing him when they were filming but seeing him up close is so much better.
The rest of the weekend Jason kept spotting people and saying they were a semi-celebrity but I didn't recognize any of them.

spiderman vists ny

Not one ... but TWO men scaled the NY Times building yesterday. Unfortunately, I missed out on the action but I found some great pictures of Alain Robert's climb and ascent. You would think the second guy could have been a little more original and at least try to scale a different building. Let's hope this doesn't spark a stream of copycats. Just one more reason to love NY!

Ashville, NC

Last weekend, Jason and I flew to Asheville, NC for my cousins wedding and it was a quick trip ... to say the least. We were scheduled to fly out at 9:30 Saturday morning but didn't end up leaving until around 12:30 (I'm really getting sick of all the delays out of NY) which gave us a total of 18 hours to spend with my family.
Asheville was beautiful. Very similar to Connecticut, but the trees seemed more green and much more dense then up here in the north. When we arrived we were rushed to the hotel, checked in, and had just enough time to rest before we were off to the wedding.
Asheville is home to the largest home in the U.S., the Biltmore Estates, and I can't describe to you how beautiful the home (castle) and grounds are. I felt like Elizabeth Bennett staring at Pemberley for the first time (I love Pride & Prejudice). The estate sits on thirteen thousand acres that include an Inn, Winery, two restaurants, several gardens, ponds and a waterfall. Before the wedding started we walked around the house and through some of the gardens and then on to the Deerfield restaurant for the wedding.
It was so nice to see my cousins, the last time I saw them was 12 years ago, and introduce them to Jason. The wedding venue was amazing, the couple was married in an old stable house followed by dinner and dancing in the courtyard in the middle of the restaurant. Despite a little fainting spell by the groom, all went well and the bride was beautiful. Unfortunately, I didn't take my camera to the wedding, but I took several pictures of Shea to make up for it.
We had so much fun seeing my family and playing with Shea, she has changed so much since the last time I saw her. It took her a minute to warm up to us but after that we were instant friends. She loved giving us kisses (especially Jason) and our favorite was when she would fall down and then stand up and "brush it off" (while literally brushing off her clothes) to show us how tough she was.
It was so nice to be with our family and see our cousins again. Thanks for the trip, Dad.

The Main House





The Family


Shea and Na'ma (Grandma)


When you tell Shea to smell the flower she blows on it


The Gardens






Shea pulling her fishy face before kissing her puppy

memorial day weekend and my first nyc race

This summer is going to be a busy one for Jason so we decided to take advantage of the three day weekend and treat ourselves to a little fun in Florida. Last year we went to Miami but this year we just wanted to relax on the beach without fighting the crowds. We heard Fort Lauderdale was a little quieter than Miami so we decided to give it a try.
We had such a nice time; we literally laid on the beach all day and ate seafood for dinner and nothing else. We found some great seafood places along the intercoastal waterway and it was so nice to sit out by the water while watching the yachts float by, secretly wishing we were on one.


Our hotel was only five months old with condo style rooms so it was fun to stay in a new place and pretend, for a couple of days, that it was our apartment, instead of the 500 sq ft. studio we are currently living in. One afternoon, right after we got back from the beach, they had a little tropical rainstorm so we decided to sit out on our balcony and listen to the calming rain. I've always loved summer rainstorms, it's still warm outside and the rain always seems so relaxing, unfortunately these types of rainstorms never occur in New York. In New York it just pours and you get soaked while sloshing through all the garbage on the streets, you never get that clean rain smell in the city. But I guess this is just one of the few faults of living in this practically perfect city.
Before our weekend began I was able to run in my first NYC race and LOVED it! KPMG is a sponsor of the AHA Downtown 5K run so I was able to invite some of my runner friends to join me for the race. I was a little nervous going into it, I have never ran in a large race and I didn't quite know what to expect with 12,000 other people running through the streets of New York. Luckily, my wonderful friends are frequent runners and knew exactly what to do.
It poured all day on the night of the race so I was a little worried that we were going to have a bad experience but it cleared up just as we were about to begin. It was so fun to run along Wall Street and around Battery Park while the crowds cheered us on, and having thousands of other runners around me made the race go by a lot faster. We ended on the World Financial Center esplanade where we were able to watch the sunset on the Hudson River. I had so much fun running with my little group of friends and hope that we can run in many more together.

After the race with all our bags of goodies

bookclub shower

When I first moved to NYC I was invited to join a bookclub and I am so glad that I did. The women in our bookclub are fabulous!! Each of these ladies bring so many different opinions to our discussions and it's amazing where our conversations can go when discussing something as boring as the Oxford English Dictionary. But lately, no matter what the book is, we always end up talking about scary labor and delivery stories. You would think with several pregnant women in the room we would try and avoid this subject but I guess they want to hear the good, the bad and the ugly.

Since joining the bookclub we have had many women come and go but we've had even more babies and we will soon be welcoming twins into our group. My friend Addy is having twin boys in July and to celebrate this exciting adventure we through her a bookclub baby shower. We had such a fun time chatting, playing games and seeing her "double" gifts. I am so excited for Addy and her husband Matt, they are going to be AMAZING parents and I can't wait to meet their "twinks".

Some of the ladies


"double" the gifts




BreAnna's cute favors

two down ... one to go

It's official ... Jason is FINALLY done with his finals. He took his last test this morning and then jumped in a cab and went straight to his first day of work. There will be no break for Jason this summer but he is very anxious and excited to be working at White & Case.



I really don't know who is more excited for finals to be over ... me or Jason. For some reason I have had a really hard time with his finals this semester, I've never thought of myself as a selfish person but my true side came out this past month. I hated that he was studying so much and all I wanted was his attention, I know it wasn't easy for Jason but I am so excited that I only have to go through this for one more year. We haven't done anything together for over a month and a half and I can't wait to finally be able to get out of our apartment and enjoy the city this summer.

gothamist

Jason found this blog, Gothamist, that keeps you up-to-date on all things NYC. Each day they post a picture of the day and I loved today's. Isn't the fog rolling across the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges amazing? Enjoy.