New York City and other things that make you go Hmmm...

First things first. A HUGE shout out to my parents who flew to Kansas City for two weeks so they could be here for Bennett's birthday party and so I could go to the Big Apple to celebrate my sister's birthday. I am so so thankful for them taking such good care of my kids while I was gone.

Should I mention the fact that my daughter got pneumonia while I was gone?

Nah, that was just coincidence. I couldn't have left my kids in more capable hands and I am so grateful. They also brought my youngest niece with them, so my kids had a full two weeks of playing with their cousin. We miss them all already.

And I miss having my little sidekick around. I wish my nieces all lived next door to me so I could see them every day. :-(

And while I was in New York they had a freak snow storm here in Kansas City. It melted in one day, but not before my family made this way cool snowman.

Let's hear it for cousins!

So, on to New York City. Let me stop and pause a moment. Okay, I'm done. I think I will have to create a separate blog post on how much I love NYC. I won't be able to fit it all on this post. Let's just say that I think most people fall into on of three camps.

1. They hate it. It's too dirty, too loud, and too crowded.
2. They like visiting every now and then, but would never want to live there.
3. They are head over heels and inexplicably in love with the city and everything about it, including all of its quirks and foibles.

You can put me squarely in the third camp. I took my first trip to NYC at age 14 and that was it. I was in love. I told my Dad right then and there that I would live there one day. I had posters of the skyline in my room from that day forward. I still have them in my basement. I went as often as my parents would let me in high school. I took friends from college there as much as I could. I spent a summer in Pennsylvania and drove into the city every time I had a spare second. I spent a while there apartment hunting right after 9/11 and moved there in January of 2002. I didn't stay as long as I would have liked, but I loved every second that I lived there.

Rob and I have been 4 times together, and after a LONG 3 1/2 year hiatus, I finally made it back to celebrate my sister's 40th birthday. She brought her two oldest daughters with her while her youngest was in KC visiting with my kids.


Here I am showing my nieces where I used to work in NYC- Applebees. Yes, Applebees. Don't laugh. It was a job, right? And it let me do what I was really there to do. Hang out in the city..... um.... I mean audition. Yeah, audition.


We bumped into some kids from the cast of Shake it Up in the Subway station. I don't know who these people are, but apparently they are on some Disney show and it made my nieces very happy, so that made me happy.

Taking our first carriage ride through Central Park. Yup, that was a first for me. Kind of shocking, huh?

It doesn't get much better than this.

We got up WAY too early to go to the TODAY show so we could stand behind the window with all the other sleep deprived lunatics hoping to get on TV for .5 seconds.

But Meredith Vieira did come over and wish my sister a Happy Birthday, so that was very cool.

My favorite sign in New York. Hands down.

Don't mess with Texas. Or should I say Alabama and Kansas? That doesn't sound nearly as intimidating.

They were filming the movie New Years Eve. We could have been extras, but we had places to go and things to see. We almost saw Ryan Seacrest filming his scenes and I did see Ashton Kutcher filming. Pretty cool.

I was able to catch up with two of my best friends from college, Jen and David. Otherwise known as Corbin and Dah-Veed T.

And I saw a dear friend from my summer stock days and also from my time living in New York, Dan.

And I was also able to hang out for a few minutes with wonderful friends from my summer at Main Street Theatre, Sheila Marie and Jovon. These two totally took me under their wings when I lived in NYC and I will always be grateful.

Lady Liberty. I hadn't been to the statue since high school, so that was pretty awesome for me.

Happy 40th birthday to my big sis, Lisa!! I am so glad we were able to celebrate your big day in New York City.

We saw Daniel Radcliffe in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. I was more excited to see Harry Potter than my niece was. I know. I'm lame.

What would a trip to NYC be without a frozen hot chocolate from Serendipity?

I'll just keep telling myself this.

Tourists rock!

A famous landmark every time you turn a corner.

What wonderful memories.


I took way too many pictures to post, so these are just a sampling. I have dozens more that I won't bore you with. But, I'm home. My babies survived without me. And now I am counting the days until I can go back.