my adventures

I was home for Christmas. You could count on me.

2012-01-08T16:22:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my parents for flying me home for Christmas. Fun was had by all. Get ready for a photo overload....

Cutest nieces ever!!

We went and looked at Christmas lights. There is a guy in Pleasanton that decks out his whole yard, front and back, I've never really seen anything like it. The girls loved it.

Uncle Gabe is the funnest!

Visiting extended family was fun too.

Not sure why I look so crazy in this photo...but we used the timer on the camera so that's a possible explanation.

My grandparents have been together 65 years.

Then Ani came to visit and we had adventures in SF and the bay area.

I got to meet Misty's cute baby Rylee and we did a little Christmas photo shoot.

Then we did the nativity on Christmas eve. Sophie want to be the donkey so Ani and I made her this costume that came in handy later. She was so cute.

Ani was the angel

These are the Wise People. ;)

Sophie loved baby Jesus

This holiday season I wanted to perfect my apple pie recipe so over the course of November and December I made the same recipe and tweaked it about 6 or 7 times. This was the final masterpiece, including a doubled crumb topping. It was delicious.

Dad got me MTA subway stop socks!

Mom loved Wizard of Oz UNO.

Listening to the ocean in a shell that Sam got.

Bella's reaction to the purse I got her. So cute!

Sam got me a pair of onsie pajamas. I used Sophie's donkey ears from the nativity the night before to complete my outfit.

Ok, I love my nieces and I think they're the cutest. What can I say?

Impromptu photo shoot with the sibs.

Playing Bananagrams. I love Sophie's hat and the expression on her face.

What a great trip! I got to see lots of friends and family and loved every minute. Laura, Ani and I even did Bikram Yoga one morning. Can't wait to see my family again. We live too far away from each other.

Thanksgiving

2011-12-04T11:20:00.001-07:00

I got to go home to California for Thanksgiving and it was the first time my whole family has been together since Christmas two years ago. It was so fun to be with everyone and my dad made an amazing dinner!!

CRAZY FACES!!!

Halloween

2011-11-10T09:12:00.001-07:00

As always Halloween inspires me to blog. I guess I love dressing up. Even though this year Halloween was on a Monday so the festivities could have lasted all weekend, I stayed pretty low key. I went to a trunk or treat with Amy's ward on Saturday. Her kids all dressed like super heroes.

Monday night I went to a huge dance party at the ASU LDS institute building. It was on the roof of the parking garage and there were some awesome costumes. I opted to wear the classic princess costume. (should I try being a blonde?) Becca was a hipster and my roommate Jen went as a Spanish Dancer.

Oh yeah...

2011-10-24T23:26:00.001-07:00

...remember when I blogged a lot... yeah, me neither. But I'm thinking of making a comeback. I've got some good stories to tell. In the mean time, watch this:

The great eye-liner experiment of February 2011

2011-03-04T15:42:00.002-07:00

As most of you may know, the wearing of make-up on a regular basis has been a gradual process for me. I would have my friends give me "make-overs" starting in middle-school through high school and I would put on make-up for special occasions like prom and other school dances. When I went to college, I started to wear it almost every Sunday for church and at other random times. Then, I went on my mission and it was a rule that we had to wear make-up everyday. So I got in the habit of at least wearing mascara and sometimes more.

Later, when I lived with my cousin Daisy in Tennessee, she taught me more about make-up and I found brands and types that I really liked. After that, I lived in New York and my friend Jessie was a make-up artist so she taught me more and it really became a consistent practice to wear at least some make-up every day, usually powder, blush, eyeshadow, mascara and lip gloss.

Since I've moved to AZ, my friend Becca convinced me try wearing eye-liner so I started wearing it once in a while. This leads to my February experiment. Honestly, I was really bad at putting on eye-liner, especially liquid eye-liner, so I decided that to improve that skill, I would wear eye-liner every day for the month of February. (btw Feb is a good month for goals like this because its only 28 days long)

I know this is second nature for a lot of women but it really was a challenge for me. At first it was tedious and took me a long time to apply it. It also added more time to my day when I had to wash it off at night. But over all it was a fun experience. Now I feel more confident about applying it quickly and effectively, but I still don't feel like I need to wear it everyday.

Thanks to Photo Booth on my Mac I was able to document some of the different styles I tried over the past month.

Cue photo blitz:

no eyeliner

a little bit

with my hat

dramatic

typical

after working out

photo booth fun

What are everyone else's thoughts on eye-liner and make-up in general?

Help Fictionist

2011-02-15T19:35:00.000-07:00

My cousin's very talented and awesome band is in a contest. If they win they will be on the cover of Rolling Stone and they will play on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.

Please go to this page and give them a 5 star rating! You won't be sorry!

Simply having a wonderful Christmas time.

2011-01-04T21:04:00.000-07:00

♪ Simply having a wonderful Christmas time ♪

I had to work on Christmas day and most of the week after so my parents and my brother Gabriel came to visit me in Arizona for Christmas. We had so much fun! We missed Sam, Steph and their girls who went to Utah for Christmas. Thanks Amy and Kurt for sharing your house!

We had lots of fun playing games, talking, eating good food, watching movies (mostly Lord of the Rings), seeing sights, etc.

It even snowed a little here...in Mesa!

Some of these pictures I stole from my dad's camera.

We video chatted with my brother and fam

My house with Christmas lights. Thanks to Becca.

Me and John Wayne in Scottsdale

Me and la virgin de guadalupe in El Barrio cafe. Best guacamole ever!

Hiking in the lost dutchman state park.

a bar with saddle barstools! in Tortilla Flat, AZ

Tortilla Flat is really classy

mom and I at Fountain Hills

Thanks for coming! I love you family!

Winter Break!

2010-12-09T18:54:00.001-07:00

Another semester of school has flown by for me. Today was my last final. I had a good semester. It was a little more challenging balancing my part time work with full time school, but everything ended well.

I've had some random and more sporadic adventures since I've been in school.

Here's some photos from recent fun times. Analiesa came to visit me for Thanksgiving.

Panoramic view in Sedona

Our reflection in a church window

Timer picture from ASU campus

Thanks for coming Ani!!

Halloween

2010-11-06T22:20:00.000-07:00

Finally posting pictures from Halloween fun. I opted to repeat my Jane Austen costume from 2 years ago. I went to a carnival and some parties. All in all good times.

Me and Roomie Katie as Red Riding-hood

Not just one but TWO Indiana Joneses

My friends Danielle (High School Yearbook Picture) and Robin (Flapper)

Me and a Rockstar

Some witch's feet

"Magical Ken", Jane Austen, Peacock lady?

Matching hats

From a spooky party that I attended. They decked out their whole house.

I helped my roommate Amy make this "Double Rainbow" costume

Fountain Hills

2010-10-18T19:00:00.000-07:00

I recently learned that I live near Fountain Hills, a place famous for having one of the world's largest fountains. Today I decided to check it out for myself. I used the timer on my camera to capture the joy of seeing such a gigantic explosion of water shooting in the air. If you come visit me, I'll take you to see it for yourself.

Are you using twitter?

2010-10-06T20:20:00.001-07:00

I joined twitter a while ago. I have fun tweeting once in a while. I recently found a website that will let you "graph your stats" to see your twitter usage. Here is my tweet cloud of most frequently used words.

What does this say about me?

Bizzzy Bee

2010-09-26T00:30:00.001-07:00

I have been a busy, busy bee. I'm back in school full time and working part time and socializing the rest of the time. I've been updating my art blog and photography blog a little bit. Instead of trying to recap all the fun/good/challenging/growing experiences I've had lately, I'll just post what I can when I can.

Tonight I went on a scooter ride with a friend to some Arizona wilderness. It was lovely, dark, and deep with a full moon lighting our way. I loved it!

I'm baa-aack

2010-08-18T00:16:00.001-07:00

I just got back from good times in California with my family and I took this great photo of my parents, grandparents and I with my new MacBook Pro. (I'll stop mentioning it soon. I am just really excited about it) More posts and pictures to follow.

New Posts Coming Soon.

2010-08-09T11:58:00.003-07:00

I finally bought myself a computer...prepare yourselves because new posts are coming soon!

Summer!

2010-05-30T01:04:00.002-07:00

Since my last post I:

finished my first semester at ASU
got a 4.0!
got a job with Apple for the summer
cut my hair a little bit
became a fan of the Suns long enough to watch them get beaten by the Lakers. :(

I am preparing myself for an Arizona summer. Everyone keeps telling me how hot its going to get. I'll let you know how it goes. Also lately, I've been BBQing some delicious meals. Check out my friend Jill's post about our kebabs if you want to see more pictures of my summer so far.

Phun

2010-04-19T18:31:00.000-07:00

On my trip to California I stopped at my favorite place and used a timer to take a picture of myself.

Like it?

HELP!

2010-04-13T18:34:00.002-07:00

Help me!

I'm doing a survey for a photography project. Click HERE and answer one question.

Thanks!!

The Other Guys

2010-04-13T15:01:00.000-07:00

Remember when I used to see people filming movies in New York? One of the trailers came out for the movie "The Other Guys" that I photographed a few times.

Check it out: HERE
Previous posts about this movie are HERE and HERE

Nieces

2010-04-11T00:32:00.000-07:00

Life has been jam packed with awesomeness lately. I came home to California to photograph a friend's wedding this weekend. As always I got to see my nieces. I did all of our hair in french braid "piggy tails" with matching headbands. Thanks mom for taking pics. I love these girls! We had a fun day Friday.

At School

2010-03-08T22:52:00.002-07:00

I am at school and I just finished my paper that's due at midnight with an hour plus to spare. I thought I'd share a picture of me in my new habitat.

Fictionist

2010-03-02T23:20:00.000-07:00

My cousin's band Fictionist came to Phoenix recently on their latest tour. I was so happy to see them live. They have a great sound and put on an awesome show. They released their newest CD "Lasting Echo" today. You can buy it here.

These are some of the photos I took at the show.

The whole band

My cousin Jacob plays the piano

Check out their music video. You won't be sorry:

You Are Toy

2010-03-01T22:17:00.000-07:00

I finally uploaded this adorable video of my niece from Christmas break. She loves Buzz Lightyear!

Rainbow

2010-02-23T13:22:00.000-07:00

On Saturday there was a rainbow across the whole sky here in AZ. I took this from in front of my house. It was more amazing than these pictures show. Did you know Arizona could look so green and wet? It has been raining and according to friends that have lived here for a while, this is A LOT more than normal.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T00:47:00.000-07:00

Several years ago I bought Lord of the Rings themed Valentine's. I have given them to some of you over the years. I haven't looked at them in a while but I pulled them out today and a few of them made me laugh out loud. Its funny to me to juxtapose these images with the day of love.

This year I took pictures of some of my favorites to share. Happy Valentine's Day! You know I love you all!

Shout Out

2010-02-11T10:45:00.002-07:00

I have been super busy with school but I am having a lot of fun and learning so much. I feel challenged in a good way. I want to rise to the occasion and succeed. I have been working on a blog for my art classes. Keep in mind that I am fairly new at this. I am enjoying myself and the work I've been doing, but I know I have a lot of room for improvement. Check it out HERE.

Also, my BFF since I was 18 months old Laura did a nice post about me a while ago. Check it out. She is right, we can always make each other laugh, and what's better than laughter? Her post is HERE.

Lastly, I've started posting on my photography blog again after a long hiatus. Go HERE to see those. Comments are always appreciated!

Lately

2010-01-15T10:15:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone.

The good news I was going to share is that I got my very own new computer. But, I've decided to wait a little longer on that purchase. As such, my blogging will most likely be kept to a minimum for a while. I'm still reading your blogs though. (my roommate shares her computer nicely since I fixed it for her)

I am enjoying Arizona a lot. I love that it has been in the high 60's to low 70's everyday for the past two weeks. I have met great people and I am having fun getting to know my roommates.

Christmas was so good. I got to be with my whole family for a whole week and then some. My nieces are so cute and I had fun with my brothers and sister-in-law. Its always great to be with my parents too. Thanks for a great holiday!

After the holidays I drove to Utah to get my scooter and bring it down to AZ. My dad came with and helped me fit it into the back of my parent's Honda Accord Wagon. Quite a feat if you ask me. Then I drove myself back to Arizona to be settled for good. Did you all know that from November of 2007 to November of 2009 I flew somewhere on a plane at least one time every month? Sometimes I even flew 4 times in one month. I am ready to take a break from the crazy traveling and focus on school.

I start school on Tuesday. I am excited and a little nervous. I am done with all of my generals so it will be nice to just take classes that I am interested in. Hope you enjoy the update. Once I get my own computer set up, I will be back with more frequent posts. Thanks for still checking.

Love,

Lydia

p.s. I took the photo outside the Mesa, AZ temple.

New Post

2010-01-10T22:23:00.002-07:00

Look for new posts later this week. And really good news. :)

in case you were wondering...

2009-12-10T15:18:00.001-07:00

This blog is on a

HIATUS

until further notice

Good-bye November

2009-11-30T02:03:00.001-07:00

Its hard to believe how time flies sometimes. I started this month with the intention of blogging everyday and not eating ice cream. But like most goals, they both fell apart around Thanksgiving.

The good news is that I had an awesome Thanksgiving with my family from both my mom's and dad's sides. It was all around great company and great food.

Here is me with my cute grandparents!

I have also been having fun with friends that were in California for the holidays. I'm glad we have these times to catch up and reconnect.

Here's to a December full of joy and more adventures!

San Francisco

2009-11-23T00:05:00.000-07:00

I am having a great time here in California. On Saturday I went to San Francisco with a friend and did a lot of the touristy things I never did growing up in the Bay Area. I ate clam chowder in a sour dough bowl at Boudin's in Fisherman's Wharf. I went to Golden Gate park, the Legion of Honor, the De Young, Union Square, and Ghirardelli Square. I even watched the sunset from one of the Twin Peaks. It was a great day!

Gotta love the bush man at Fisherman's Wharf. He hides behind this bush and then jumps out and scares unsuspecting tourists.

I maybe tried a little bit of this ice cream from Ghirardelli's. (it was a special occasion)

Nieces

2009-11-19T23:52:00.000-07:00

While it was hard to say goodbye to one chapter of my life, seeing my nieces today helped me get over it. We played and danced and read stories and just had a grand ol' time. I am glad they still know who I am and love me even though I don't get to see them very often.

California Here I Come

2009-11-17T07:00:00.003-07:00

Dear Beloved New York City,

Today I am flying home to California and leaving you behind. I'm moving to Arizona to go to school at ASU for photography. I am stopping over at my parents in California to get my stuff to then drive out to AZ after Thanksgiving.

I am really sad to leave you. I have learned a lot here. I've had amazing experiences and met great people. I've changed and grown and shrunk. (I lost 30 lbs) I learned to love running here. I had my first boyfriend and first kiss here. I went to Europe from here. I was here for Spring, Summer, and Fall. You will always hold a special place in my heart. You helped me realize that nothing is impossible.

Thank you Gabriel for making the last 6.5 months possible! Thank you all that came and visited and let me be your tour guide. Thank you new friends for making me feel welcome here. Thank you Battery Park for patiently waiting as I worked up to my first mile. Thank you Shake Shack for the best burger I've ever had. Thank you F.A.O. Schwartz piano for never getting sick of me. Thank you subway for not always smelling like hobo pee. Thank you Central Park for Sunday afternoon walks. Thank NY you for the memories!

I have high hopes of coming back at least to visit, so I don't think this is goodbye forever.

I get it now.

Love,

Lydia

Last Day In NYC

2009-11-16T10:20:00.000-07:00

Today is my last day here in the big apple. I'm posting a photo I took of Lady Liberty last night to commemorate my fun times here in New York City.

Live from New York, its Saturday Night!

2009-11-15T10:12:00.004-07:00

On Friday night, Cindy, Gabe and I waited all night outside NBC studios in the rain for standby tickets to see Saturday Night Live. It was quite an adventure. We got there around 8:30pm and we were 12th in line. I went home and got us camping chairs, sleeping bags, snacks, garbage sacks (to keep us dry), and a giant umbrella. It was wet and cold but we stayed pretty dry and warm with our supplies. At 7 am they gave us standby tickets. We could choose between the dress rehearsal and the live taping. We decided on the dress rehearsal because it is longer and we thought we would have a better chance at actually getting in.

We went back to the studios around 7 pm where we waited to see if there were any standby spots for us. Luckily there were and we got in! It was cool to be there and see all the actors and Lorne Michaels live. All in all it was a fun night. Not their funniest episode, but enjoyable. We watched the live show later and it turns out they take a lot of stuff out from the dress rehearsal. Also a lot of the skits were funnier in the dress rehearsal.

Below are some of our pictures from the night and my favorite clip from Saturday night's show.

my ticket

outside NBC studio right before the show

official wristband

p.s. Happy Birthday Cindy! 25 will be a great year! Thanks for coming to New York.

Lincoln Center

2009-11-14T15:15:00.002-07:00

Ever since I moved to New York, I have wanted to see the fountain at the Lincoln Center. This is in the square between where the NY Ballet, NY Philharmonic, and Metropolitan Opera perform. I have gone there several times and unfortunately for me the fountain was under construction all summer. Fortunately for me they finally finished working on it and turned it on Thursday night. My friend Cindy is in town and we saw it from far away and I made her run over and see it because I was so excited.

From afar

Wearing my NY Giants shirt with the fountain behind me.

Super happy!

With the Sputnik inspired chandeliers in the background.

p.s. I am going to try to get into see SNL tonight! Hopefully there will be a fun post about that tomorrow.

3 Years ago.

2009-11-12T22:00:00.003-07:00

Three years ago today I was on a plane flying home from Ecuador. I was wearing a black name tag and tapping anxiously on my armrest.

My dad and brother Gabriel came to Ecuador to pick me up so we spent my last week visiting all of my former areas and seeing some of the touristy stuff.

My brother Sam was waiting to get us from the airport with In and Out Burger. When I got home I gave my mom a huge hug and shortly thereafter I went to bed.

What were you doing?

The Daily Show

2009-11-12T09:15:00.002-07:00

My friend Cindy is in town for the weekend and she loves The Daily Show with John Stewart. We went online and got reservations to be in the audience today. They always overbook the show, so I hope we can get in. I'll let you know how it goes.

Here is the episode we saw live. Jane Goodall was the guest!

Sing It

2009-11-11T05:00:00.003-07:00

My friend Tyler sent me a link to a fun website where you can type in some words and it will find them in popular songs to play for you. Check it out if you got a few minutes to waste. Click HERE.

Taylor Swift on SNL

2009-11-10T09:13:00.000-07:00

I am going to wait in line for standby tickets to SNL this weekend. Wish me luck. For now enjoy this clip from last Saturday.

Some Yummies

2009-11-09T20:27:00.001-07:00

Recently I have been buying these two delicious treats. They are my new favorites. You should try them. They are both from Trader Joe's.

Brooklyn Botanic Garden

2009-11-07T23:39:00.001-07:00

On Friday after the parade, I decided to go to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden to see the Japanese garden change colors for the Fall. It is a beautiful place and very peaceful. I decided to listen to the "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" soundtrack as I walked around. They also have a Shakespeare garden, cherry tree orchard, conservatory, and lots of roses. I think it will be amazing to go there sometime during the Spring when everything is in full bloom.

Japanese Garden

I used the timer to take this one.

Go Yankees?

2009-11-07T15:00:00.028-07:00

I will admit that I didn't really get into the baseball spirit this year. I did however go to the Yankees victory parade. Its one of those most likely once in a lifetime scenarios right? It was crazy crowded but I had a fun time and took some cool pics of the papers flying out of all the office buildings. I guess this is a tradition called a "Ticker-tape Parade". If you come to New York City, you can see a list of different dates and names on the sidewalk walking North on Broadway. They are commemorating parades of the past. Hope you like the pictures. Laura there is one of Nick Swisher for you!

Not ticker-tape but shredded financial documents.

MVP Matsui?

More paper rain

Swish!

Jeter

Pastor?

Crazy crowded

Department of Sanitation officer Malloy waiting with his men to clean up the following.

Giuliani rode in this car, I saw it after the parade driving past my building.

AZ

2009-11-05T22:01:00.003-07:00

I guess I shouldn't just make announcements without explaining myself a little more. I'm going to Arizona for school starting in January. I'm going home to California for Thanksgiving, then moving to AZ to get settled and find a part time job before school starts. I'm also strategically avoiding Winter in New York.

If you haven't noticed yet from reading my blog, I really love photography. When I was little I read a series of books about a girl named Alice by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. In one of them Alice took a picture of her friend for her photo club. I love the way she described the photo capturing the mood of the subject. That's where my interest in photography started.

Then when I was 16, I would look at my brother Sam's photos from a Photography class he took at our high school. I loved them, I would look at them over and over. My parents had this old SLR camera and they let me use it to go around the neighborhood and take pictures of stuff. I enjoyed capturing objects in a cool way. I took the same class as my brother and then took another class at BYU Idaho. It became a steady hobby and I wanted to major in photography in school, but I didn't think I had the motivation/drive to make a career out of it. Instead, I got my Associates Degree in General Studies and subsequently quit school for a while.

Fast forward 5 years and here I am. I have learned a lot over the years but the most important thing I've realized is that I can do whatever I set my mind to. I want to be a professional photographer! I am going back to school to Arizona State University. I will be majoring in photography and working along the way. I am really excited and happy to finally be studying what I've always loved the most.

Sundevils watch out, here I come!

Look how happy these ASU students look. I'm ready to join the ranks.

Last Two Weeks

2009-11-04T22:00:00.001-07:00

Now is as good a time for an anouncement as any.
Drumroll please.....

I am moving to Arizona!

So that means I only have 2 weeks left in the city. Remember THIS post of things I wanted to do while I lived here? Lets take a moment to review. I've even added some of your suggestions from the comments.

~~Top of the empire state building~~ (Did this with Laura at sunset. Amazing!)
~~Statue of Liberty~~ (Went once with Tim and once with Laura)
~~Running in Central Park~~ (LOVE IT! especially around Jackie Onassis Reservoir.)
~~Metropolitan Museum of Art~~ (I've been a few different times; once with mom and dad, once with Chris, took a whirlwind tour with Adam, showed Maria and Jonathan, several times by myself, and possibly more times with some of you that I can't think of right now.)
~~Guggenheim~~ (Went here with Adam and half was closed to put in a new exhibit, but it was still cool)
Museum of Natural History (I've walked by it. I still need to go inside)
Frick (Same as above)
Meet Andy Samberg (I don't know how to do this without becoming a stalker...)
~~Eat real New York Pizza~~ (Grimaldi's and Lombardi's and some others. Yum. I even fold it in half like you always see in movies)
Be an extra in a movie or tv show (I tried out to be an extra, but it might have been a scam. I've walked through the set of many movies being filmed on the street. Does that count?)
Take 1,000,000 pictures (I've taken around 6,000)
Visit all the New England states (I've been to all of them except Vermont)
~~See Wicked again by winning the Wicked lottery~~ (Yay, Amy and I both won the lottery on the same night so Gabe got to go see it with us too!)
~~See many other Broadway shows~~ (Also saw, Mary Poppins, Phantom of the Opera, and The Lion King. I want to see Bye, Bye Birdie before I leave)
~~Late Night with Jimmy Fallon~~ (I got tickets but then got to the studio too late to see it, but luckily my friend Chelsea got us tickets for another night. We even made it on TV)
~~MOMA~~ (Its free on Friday nights. I went once by myself and once with Cindy and Cayla)

Your suggestions:

~~NYC pizza - Mozzerelli's~~ (Really good pizza and they have a bunch of gluten-free stuff.)
~~Walk around the East Village/Little India~~ (Love this part of town)
Shakespeare in the park (I walked by the line for this, does that count?)
~~Grimaldi's~~ (at least 3 times that I can remember. Maybe I'll go one more before I leave because its that good.)
Walk down the East River, starting at about 21st St. (will do this tomorrow, I forgot it was on the list)
~~Ess-a-Bagel~~ (Ok seriously, the best bagels I've ever had and I love bagels.)
~~South Street Seaport~~ (Fun to walk around, this is really close to where I live)
Mondel's Chocolates (still on the to do list)
Carnegie Deli's cheesecake (see above)
Junior's (see above)
UN (went with Laura)
~~Metropolitan Opera~~ (So awesome, I saw the opera of all operas. Thanks again Karlos!)
New York Philharmonic (this will have to wait until I come back to NYC richer and older)
NYC Ballet (see above)

That being said, I would also like to mention some cool things I've enjoyed that weren't on my original list.

Chinatown
Shake Shack
P'inch and S'mac
Trader Joe's
Union Square
The Lincoln Center
Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Prospect Park in Brooklyn
Mets game
Rode the carousel in Central Park (Thanks Rachel!)
Crumbs, Billy's, and Magnolia cupcakes
Pink Berry yogurt
The High Line park
SoHo
Washington Square Park
Battery Park
Riverside Park
LDS Temple
NBC Studio Tour
Long Beach on Long Island
B&H Photo
Le Creperie
Cloisters

I guess I could go on and on. There is quite a bit to see in this city. I've lived here for 6+ months and there is still so much I haven't seen. Any thoughts on something I'm missing that I must see or do in the next two weeks?

'NO'vember, NO Ice Cream

2009-11-03T22:00:00.000-07:00

I just found out that its National Blog Posting Month. The idea is to post something everyday in the month of November. Luckily I already started the month blogging so I haven't missed a day yet. I am going to attempt it and I invite you my fellow blogging friends to join in.

I've heard of people abstaining from things in 'NO'vember as well. I have been partly inspired by my friend Ryan and his experiments in abstinence. I will therefore not eat ANY ice cream for the duration of this month, not even with pie on Thanksgiving!* Believe me when I say that this will be a challenge for me. Ice cream is my favorite food and I'm pretty sure I have eaten some just about every day for the last few months.

Lastly, I invite all my guy friends to participate in 'No Shave November' because beards are hot.

*Dear Shake Shack, Please don't have any good flavors on your custard calendar this month! Love, Lydia

Halloween New York City Style

2009-11-02T22:29:00.001-07:00

This year's Halloween was a blast! My friend Rachel came to visit from Utah and her friend Liese came up from D.C. I knew Halloween in this city with so many people would be interesting, but I didn't realize how awesome it would be. I didn't even go to the parade. Its supposedly the biggest in the world.

I toyed with a lot of costume ideas; the Wicked Witch of the East, Pippi Longstocking, Anne of Green Gables, a robot from the Flight of the Conchords song, etc. In the end I went to Chinatown and bought a Chinese dress and went as a Chinese doll. Rachel was an angel and Liese went as Catwoman.

We saw so many people wearing costumes on the street, in the subway, on buses, everywhere. It felt like almost the whole city was in the Halloween spirit. We went to the church YSA(young single adult) dance and then to a friends party. We even rode on a rickshaw taxi for a few blocks. When we were tired, we came home to rest our feet. We ended up staying up until 2 am twice because of daylight savings.

Chinese Doll

These Chinese girls at the Halloween dance liked my costume

Wolverine was at the dance too. He let me try on his claws. "Shink"

This guy won the costume contest. It was funny to watch him dance with people.

One of my friends April dressed up as the sad French Mime/Clown Pierrot. I loved her costume.

Ringmaster Justin

Angel, Catwoman, doll

This picture is for Brie, Jill, and Katie. Yay for old friends!

Two fairy princesses

2009-11-02T10:51:00.007-07:00

My Halloween shenanigans are on the way, but for now, here is a photo of my adorable nieces and their super-hero friends trick-or-treating. I stole it from my friend Heidi's blog.

Oshyn, Bella, Cruz, Sophie

To walk or not to walk...

2009-11-01T21:59:00.000-07:00

Ever seen a broken cross walk signal? I saw this Saturday night while enjoying Halloween in the city. Since I usually ignore these things anyway, I went with walk.

I will be posting about my Halloween Festivities soon.

Watch This....

2009-10-29T10:54:00.003-07:00

High Line

2009-10-29T07:54:00.001-07:00

There is an awesome park in NYC called the 'High Line'. It opened to the public in June of this year. It was originally a railway for freight trains from the meat-packing district to other parts of the city. The last trains ran on it in the 80's and then it was closed for several years until a group got together and made it into a park. Read a more complete and accurate history HERE.

I kept hearing about how cool this park is so two weeks ago I decided to check it out. I loved it. I went there on a Tuesday right around sunset. The light there was amazing. While I was there I saw Jay Sean filming the following music video.

Don't love the song so much, but I took some pictures. I'm kind of becoming a paparazzo.

Speaking of paparazzi, I also saw Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson filming "The Other Guys" on Wall St. last Sunday. It always draws a crowd when they are filming movies on the street. Here are some of the shots I took.

Phew!

2009-10-21T05:00:00.000-07:00

As of this moment, my blog is caught up to my life. Time for more adventures!

Mason Jennings

2009-10-20T05:00:00.000-07:00

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you know that my favorite singer is Mason Jennings. I went to his concert the other day in Brooklyn and I actually got to meet him. I shook his hand and told him that I really like his music. He was gracious and very nice and then went on to play an awesome show. Thanks Mason!

Utah again?

2009-10-19T05:00:00.001-07:00

I went back to Utah for General Conference and a mission reunion. This time I stayed a little longer. I got to see my mission president who came all the way from Ecuador.

With Presidente Lara

I also saw lots of other mission friends including Chelsey!

On Saturday we went up Provo Canyon to enjoy and photograph the Fall Foliage. Gratuitous Fall leaf changing photos follow:

Me and Analiesa in our Fall hats

I also got to go to the Sunday morning session of Conference at the conference center. It was a great weekend as always. Very inspiring. Listen to the talks HERE.

I took these at the Conference Center and in the Visitor's Center.

I also had some fun with a new lens that I got for my camera. Its a 50mm prime 1.4. Thank mom and dad for the birthday present. Thanks all who participated in photo shoots with me. :)

This is what happens when you try and take a picture with the 2 second timer.

This is what happens when your JetBlue flight is delayed until 4 in the morning and then cancelled.

Gabriel's Birthday

2009-10-18T06:00:00.002-07:00

Happy Birthday Gabe a few weeks ago! Hope you had a fun day. I had fun at the party. Thanks for letting me live with you the past little while.

Some of the presents. Yes, I used Transformers wrapping paper.

Excited to open presents?

Did I mention it was a Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Party?

'Say Hi to your mother for me'

2009-10-17T06:00:00.001-07:00

A few Sunday's ago I took some photos of a movie being filmed near my aparment. Paparazzi style! The movie is called "The Other Guys" starring Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell. I wonder if it will be funny. If not this clip is:

Here are the pictures:

Surprise! I'm in Utah!

2009-10-16T05:00:00.005-07:00

On my way back to New York from Arizona, I decided to stop over in Utah to surprise Rachel for her birthday. I got a surprise too. Stephen and Melinda's cute baby was being blessed that Sunday so I was able to go to a get together with my extended fam. I love you Utah family and friends! It was good to see everyone again. Thanks for helping me with transportation and letting me sleep on your couches.

Purple is in this year!

I got to see Tim again!

Laura and I are good at making each other laugh

Cute first cousins once removed!

Halloween is upon us.

2009-10-15T05:00:00.004-07:00

In honor of being super excited for Halloween, my friend Jessi and I bought some Godiva chocolates. Mmm...so yummy. Do yourself a favor and try a pumpkin one.

On a side note: What should I be for Halloween? I love dressing up. In years past I have been a:

Princess
Indiana Jones
Showerer (see Halloween post from 2007)
Jane Austin
Widow
Bride
Butterfly
Jehovah's Witness (I didn't think anyone in 6th grade would dress up and when I showed up at school EVERYONE had a costume on except me so I told them I was dressed up as a Jehovah's Witness. I still feel kinda bad about it.)
Baby
Witch
Angel
Gypsy
Farmer
Vampire

Any and all suggestions for this year will be taken into consideration.

Arizona Visit

2009-10-13T21:15:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago I got to meet up with friends in Arizona. Amy and Jill live there so Katie, Brie and I all came down for a little reunion of college buddies. It was lots of fun. We talked and played with kids and cooked and crafted. Thanks for a great weekend!

Group picture with the timer

I made a collage from pictures I took of all the kiddos

Yummy Fruit Salad

Skater Dudettes

2009-10-10T08:59:00.000-07:00

My brother posted some sweet videos of my nieces skateboarding on his blog. They are the cutest! If you want to see them click HERE.

Loved and Lost

2009-10-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

Here is a question for the universe: Is it better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all?

This question ambiguously explains what my birthday wish was and why I fell off the grid for a few weeks.

I am curious to know all your thoughts on the matter. Please leave comments below.

Greetings from the Apple Store

2009-10-02T10:52:00.000-07:00

I totally made Rachel do this. Enjoy:

I know we are not as cool as this kid, but it was fun to make. By the way, I have totally seen this kid at the Apple Store in NYC.

New Hampshire

2009-09-30T21:16:00.006-07:00

For Labor Day weekend Gabe and I headed to Pine River Pond in New Hampshire to a friend's cabin along with 44 other singles from New York and Boston. We drove a Zipcar named "Schwanke" and arrived at the lake just in time for some wakeboading as the sunset.

Thank you Jeremy and family for hosting us! We played games, ate lots of food, jumped off the rope swing, put together puzzles, had Mexiacan Jumping Bean races, and participated in all kinds of other leisurely lake activities. One morning we went to the "Old People's Yard Sale" aka "Treasure Shop" where I bought a "Gone With the Wind" puzzle.

One night we had a "Talent/No Talent Show". It ended up being pretty hilarious. My talent was learning all 48 people names. I took about 1200 photos throughout the weekend including a bunch of stop motion pictures. My camera can shoot 6 frames per second so I got some sweet shots of mid air wake jumps and swinging into the water. I was also kind of obsessed with getting a cool photograph of the moon rising and reflecting off the lake.

On Sunday we went to church and saw Bill Marriott of Marriott hotels. I even got to go to Maine and try AMAZING lobster for $7.00.

I put together the following collage of some of my favorite photos from the weekend. Click on it to see it bigger.

Your blog is awesome!

2009-09-30T10:00:00.000-07:00

My photo blog was recently featured on 'Your blog is awesome!'. How about that? Christina recently started writing about her favorite blogs and asked if she could talk about mine. You can see the post HERE. Thanks for adding to the interweb chain of happiness!

More new friends and Tourism

2009-09-29T09:45:00.000-07:00

Hello loyal readers. You have probably noticed that I keep talking about showing people around NYC. After moving to New York, I quickly went from being a glorified tourist to a mediocre tour guide. It has been so fun to have visitors and make new friends. Also, I have gotten to see a lot of the city between the different visitor's desired destinations.

A few weeks ago Rachel's friend Adam came to visit. It was also Rachel's last week in the city. We had a lot of good times. Adam blogged about it HERE. He is also a photographer and he has a Canon so we had some fun swapping lenses and taking pictures of eachother.

Me and Adam. We were trying to figure out who is taller. I may or may not be standing on my tip-toes

In the Metropolitan Musuem of Art. I love this mirror. Can you see my reflection and the security guard's?

Walk like and Egyptian.

Adam took this one inside the Guggenheim. He was telling me to think "Frank Lloyd Wrightish" thoughts.

I thought these tourists taking a picture was a nice photo op.

We ate at Grimaldi's (Adam took this one too)

We tried on hats in F.A.O. Schwartz

Rachel and I are pirates.

We all had Sunday dinner picnic style...inside..because it was raining.

I miss you rachijan! We had a blast this summer, I'm glad you moved to the city at the same time as me!

Slacking

2009-09-27T21:57:00.003-07:00

I have seriously been slacking on blogging lately. I will be posting some fun stuff soon. In the mean time...

I made a hat!!! I recently learned how to crochet.

Its a pumpkin top hat for baby Jill's Halloween costume. I will get pictures of the actual costume from her mom after Halloween.

Birthday

2009-09-10T08:00:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone! I turned 26 a few weeks ago! I have to say that I really enjoyed being 25 and all the fun things I did last year. But time keeps on keepin' on so we gotta go with it.

I had a great birthday. Some friends and my brother met me at Shake Shack and we ate some delicious burgers, cheesefries, and floats. Rachel was kind enough to take pictures for me. Don't I look happy to be 26? I didn't blow out any candles but I did get my wish. (I will tell you what it was later)

Thanks for all the birthday wishes, cards and presents. Here's to another great year!

Cindy and Cayla visit

2009-09-09T08:00:00.000-07:00

You might look at this picture and think, "wow, I see two innocent looking women that are U.S. citizens standing in front of Grand Central Station" But you would be wrong...they are two wild and crazy girls. And they're from Canada.

The day my parents left, I had the pleasure of hosting my former mission companion Cindy a.k.a. Hermana Russell and her friend Cayla. They stopped over in NYC on their way back to Canada from Ecuador. It was so good to see them and we had a blast seeing the sights and eating delicious food as always. Enjoy some of the pictures they took in no particular order. (I stole them off Facebook)

Cindy brought me JET!!!! The best chocolate, made in Colombia and enjoyed daily in Ecuador. If you ever see it anywhere, try it! It even comes with collectible stickers.

We went to see the Phantom of the Opera. (inside my mind)

Inside the theater with the chandelier.

We tough in the Hard Rock Cafe store. No we did not eat there, but trying on hats was fun.

Rickshaw!!

Photo courtesy of rickshaw driver

We couldn't afford anything in Bloomingdales but we did play "The Price is Right" and asked for a free "little brown bag"

Next to Jackie O. Reservoir. I like running around this. Its a 2 mile loop.

Say Guggenheim three times fast.

I love fireflies a.k.a. lightening bugs and I caught two for Rachel in Central Park. Note the concentration on my face.

In Central Park holding recently caught fireflies in a box.

This made me smile today.

2009-09-08T20:10:00.001-07:00

Note the crazy red hair:

Parents Visit

2009-09-03T08:00:00.003-07:00

Several weeks ago my parents came to visit Gabe and I in NYC! It was so fun to have them come and show them around. Thanks for coming parents! We did so many fun things I couldn't even capture them all with my camera. But I did take a lot of pictures. Enjoy!It rained a ton while they were here. We took refuge under a tiny black umbrella in Central Park. This carriage driver wasn't so lucky.

We went to F.A.O. Schwartz and played dress up.

Gotta love the hats!

My mom got to play the giant piano.

We went to the apple store on 5th Ave. Its super glassy and posh.

We used the timer on my camera to get a picture of all of us by the Hudson River.

A guy had a tattoo of my name!!!!!

Looking towards Ms. Liberty

You can see Gabe's and my building in the background. Its got the yellow bricks.

We went to the cloisters and saw the unicorn tapestries!

Inside the cloisters

Yay for parents and the Brooklyn Bridge!

Royal Pains

2009-09-02T20:02:00.004-07:00

A few weeks ago, when my parents were here, the tv show "Royal Pains" was being filmed in my building and on my street. Living in the city, I've seen a lot of things being filmed including a movie with Neil Patrick Harris called "The Best and the Brightest" and "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" with Nicholas Cage . My mom enjoyed seeing it and thanks to her, I took the following pictures.

Watch episode 111 HERE and you can see what we saw.

Harry Potter

2009-08-16T06:00:00.001-07:00

I am straying a little from my typical blog post to discuss my thoughts on something rather than just tell you about my daily goings on. I guess I could wait for the last Harry Potter movie to come out before I write this post but that won't be for a while. I'm sure I'll revisit the topic then, but for now I will share my current thoughts on the subject.

I was really excited to see the newest instalment 'Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince'. I kept making people take pictures of me with the posters. I think that makes me a huge nerd but still likeable right? On the other hand I realized how grown up I've become when I opted out of seeing the movie at midnight and decided to wait until the next day so I wouldn't be so tired.

At first I was left kind of speechless at the end of the movie, but later decided it was very good, very good indeed. They did change some things from the book, and over all it was more about the characters than the plot lines, but the acting was great and I was entertained.

In the subway station. (I may or may not be pretending to hold a wand)

I have read all of the books at least once and listened to them all on tapes, cds and iPods throughout the years. For the the 5th and 7th books I went to midnight book release parties at Barnes and Noble. (I even dragged some of you along) I have seen all of the movies too, attending various midnight showings. I have convinced some friends to read them to and failed to convince others. You know who you are. ;) I even knitted my friend's little boy a Gryffindor scarf for his Halloween costume a few years ago. He was so cute by the way!

I am still not quite sure why I enjoy these books and movies so much. It could be the adventure or the good vs. evil plot or possibly the idea of using magic to clean my room (an idea I fell in love with when I used to watch Mary Poppins as a kid).

I recently read an interesting article about the appeal of this magical world. If you get a chance read it HERE. It compares our modern technology and the changing world to Harry's magical world. What ever the appeal or the controversy is, I say, thank you J.K. Rowling!

Please comment and let me know your thoughts on the books and movies. Do you love them, hate them, refuse to read them, like the movies but not the books or vice versa? Will you stop reading my blog now that you know how much I like them?

With the giant poster at Time Square

Tennessee Visit

2009-08-15T06:00:00.001-07:00

The day after Laura left I flew to Tennessee to visit my family there and photograph a friends wedding. It was so good to be back with my cousins and everyone! I miss y'all! We spent a lot of time at my aunt Darlene's farm, swimming, playing, corralling goats, building fences, harvesting tomatoes and canning pickles.

I also enjoyed photographing Ruth and Nick's wedding. More on that later.

With Byron, Daisy, Ryan and Madison. We used the timer for this one. Needless to say there were several failed and quite comical attempts before we got a good one.

Kami and Cora

I was practising family portraiture. Thanks for being patient with me and letting me take SO many pictures. This is one of my favorites!

Ryan and Madison jumping. I love taking jumping pictures!

Me holding cousin Cora at the farm

I love my Grammy!

Laura's Visit

2009-08-14T06:00:00.001-07:00

Right after my tour guiding with Tim and Jonathan, my good friend Laura B came in town the weekend. We have known eachother since we were two but this was our first grown up vacation time. We had a blast! Laura you are way fun to show around and laugh with! We did a lot of walking and saw the sights including but not limited to: the top of the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Max Brenner, Time Square, Grimaldi's Pizza, Crumbs cupcakes, Bryant Park, Central Park, etc. For more pictures check out her blog post about it.

With our tickets waiting to go to Lady Liberty's island

Laura the model.

Laura took this one of me with Ms. Liberty

With Laura and one of her friends in Washington Square Park.

Another friend Destiny with Crumbs cupcakes.

I dyed my hair again

2009-08-13T06:00:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to dye my hair red again for a while. Rachel finally agreed to do it for me but we ended up dying it in the laundry mat in Harlem while she waited for her clothes to wash and dry. It was really funny and we had our fair share of onlookers. Tim was there with his lens and my camera to document the experience. He also took pictures of me the following days when it was actually dry and somewhat styled. Just to warn you, new photographer friend + new hair color = lots of pictures of me. Crazy red hair continues, enjoy!

Waiting for the dye to set.

Right after I rinsed it out. Crazy mascara face. You can see Rachel in the background.

Curly red hair in the sun

Straight red hair in the shade.

New Friends

2009-08-12T06:00:00.000-07:00

Its been fun to meet so many new people recently. From friends of friends, to fellow subway dwellers, to other church goers, and friends of my brother, I enjoying getting to know all of you!

One friend Rachel and I met back in Provo when I moved into the Yellow House. We were roommates for 4 months about and have stayed friends. Luckily enough we both ended up moving to New York City around the same time.

My first week home from Europe, some friends of Rachel had their friends come visit from Utah. That's how I met Tim and Jonathan. Tim saw my camera and we had a instant connection. He is a photographer in Utah and so we talked all about photography and ended up spending a lot of time together during his visit. We took a TON of pictures and he even let me use his AMAZING 50mm prime lens on my camera. I mention him specifically because I am going to post some cool pictures he took of me in my next post. We even went to see the Lion King together. Glad you came Tim!

Tim and I (taken by another new friend Jordan)

Tim's lens and camera...(sigh, I am saving for a new lens)

Yay for the Lion King! It was awesome!

Other craziness ensued that week. A bunch of us were out at Columbus Circle around 10 pm and Rachel and I were issued a 'dollar challenge' from Justin to run through the fountain. Not something I would normally do but I was feeling rather adventurous after my escapades in Europe.

Rachel, Justin and I at VYNL before running through the fountain.

After running through the fountain.

Tim took this one of us speeding through the water. I'm on the right. He used a long exposure hence the blur. (I mean we run REALLY fast!)

Play Giant Piano Here?

2009-08-11T09:51:00.000-07:00

When I was in Spain I saw this street sign a lot. It is to tell the drivers that there is a cross-walk but it reminded me of the giant piano at F.A.O. Schwartz that Tom Hanks plays in 'Big'. I take almost all my NY visitors to F.A.O. Schwartz to at least show them the piano, and when my parents came to visit I had them take a picture of me playing. It was so fun!

Scene from 'Big'

Me playing 'Heart and Soul'

New Apartment

2009-08-10T21:49:00.002-07:00

The day I got back from Europe, (July 1) I helped Gabe move into his new apartment. It is about two blocks around the corner from where he was living before. It is a really new bulding downtown called the William Beaver House. My favorite part is the rain shower head and the screening room available to us on the 3rd floor. Tonight for FHE we watched 'The Court Jester' with Danny Kay in there. I feel so lucky to live here. Thanks Gabe for letting me stay. Thanks Jessi, Chris, and Rachel for helping us move and clean the other apartment.

Gabe and I with our building in the background. Its the one with the yellow bricks.

The kitchen. All of the appliances are hidden.

The AMAZING shower!

Wanderlust

2009-08-10T05:37:00.003-07:00

I got this idea from my friend Michelle.

visited 9 states (4%)
Create your own visited map of The World

I don't have any plans for more travels at the moment. But I do have an underlying desire to visit every country in the whole world. I want to see the people with my own eyes. What kind of body language do they use? What clothes will they wear? Are families important to them? How do they do their hair? What is their perspective of the world? I want walk in ancient and modern structures. I want to taste flavors I've never tasted. I want to hear and try to learn to other languages. I want to take photographs of things I've only seen in photographs. (and things I've never seen before too)

Luckily, for now, I live in New York City so I get a small taste of other cultures every day. What do you want to see? Where would you go if you could go anywhere in the world?

Also if you are still keeping track with me, here is one of all of the states I've visited.

visited 37 states (74%)
Create your own visited map of The United States
13 to go.

End of my trip details (finally)

2009-08-01T08:15:00.000-07:00

Thanks everyone for following along with all my Europe trip details. It was an awesome adventure and my life has been a whirlwind of activity since I got back. I can't believe its already been a month since I got home. I love traveling and I loved Europe. I met many interesting people and got a new perspective on life. I learned about myself and more about the world. I hope to be able to go back and see more countries someday. More to come on the last month of adventures and activities!

Me with the Rome skyline

Dave eating 5 different flavors of gelato. Did I mention we ate gelato everyday in Rome and I think I went to 4 different places on my last day there.

Vatican

2009-07-31T15:04:00.000-07:00

The Vatican is so huge. I went there a few time while in Rome and saw different parts of it. The Sistine Chapel is of course beautiful and amazing. From the floor to the top of the dome in St. Peter's is the size of a football field. My favorite statue is La Pieta by Michelangelo. Dave and I saw the back of the pope as we barely missed him speaking on the Sunday we were there. We had both recently seen Angels and Demons so it was cool to see everything in real life. The Catholic church is very old and very rich.

Me with the church. Its hard to tell how huge it is.

A Van Gogh painting in the Vaticna Musuem. I never knew he painted Christ and Mary.

I climbed to the top of the dome. This is me with the view from the top.

St. Peter's Square from the top of the dome.

Dave confessing his sins...

La Pieta by Michelangelo

An atempt to take a picture of my self from the top of the dome.

Part of the 551 stairs I climbed to get to the top of the dome. It was so hot and sweaty but totally worth it for the view.

Night Walks

2009-07-25T07:00:00.001-07:00

I read in Rick Steves' guidebook about a Dolce Vita night stroll. So Dave and I walked it almost every night in Rome. It took us by some Bernini fountains, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, delicious gelato places, the Spanish Steps, etc. It was perfect weather, rather delightful, and one of my favorite parts of the trip.

Bernini's Four Rivers

Nun's eating gelato.

We found a Lamborghini like the one on Mission Impossible 3

We also walked to the Vatican. More on that later...

Trevi Fountain (LOVE!)

Me with the four rivers.

Dave with the Pantheon columns

Florence

2009-07-24T10:00:00.000-07:00

While I was in Rome I took a day trip to Florence or Firenze as its named in Italian. Most of the stuff was closed because it was a holiday but I got to see the Duomo and a replica of the David. I really liked it and hope I get to go back some day.

Inside the Cathedral looking up at the dome.

Met some guys who offered to take my picture if I took theirs. Luckily they didn't steal my camera.

Outside the same dome.

Colosseo

2009-07-24T06:55:00.000-07:00

The first night in Rome, Dave and I walked around with our huge packs on looking for a cheap hotel until around 2 a.m. It turns out that we left the cheap part of town and wandered into the expensive part. As we tried each 4 star hotel they would take one look at us and say that they had no vacancies even when I know they did. Eventually Dave was starting to suggest sleeping in a park, so I got us a cab back to the cheaper hotel part of town and we got a room.

The next morning we went and looked for the Colosseum. It turns out it was in walking distance from where we were staying. Dave was really excited because he started his journey at the Colosseum at USC in L.A. and this was his goal. He started with no money and worked his way to the real Colosseum. It was amazing to see this huge ancient structure.

You can see how huge the Colosseum is compared to a person.

From inside

I think this is the only picture of Dave and I together that I didn't take from the whole trip. We met some girls from Ohio State that had Dave pose as the I in spelling Ohio so we asked them to take a picture for us.

I'm pointing at it, in case you can't tell what I'm taking a picture with...

Dave was so happy he reached his goal.

Mediterranean Cruise

2009-07-22T08:22:00.000-07:00

Back to my Europe trip details. After about a week in Barcelona I was ready to move on. Turns out there is a cruise that goes from Barcelona to Rome. Dave's final destination on his trip was Rome and so he came with. It was beautiful to be out on the Mediterranean Sea. I saw the sun rise and set over it. We also saw the news that Michael Jackson had died while we were walking on one of the decks. It was interesting to hear all the different people speaking different languages on the boat and hear MJ's name pronounced with different accents. We opted to get chairs on the boat even though it was an over night cruise so there wasn't much sleeping that happened. I did bring my camping mat with me so I used it to sleep on the floor between the rows of chairs. I also met a group of Spanish high school students that thought I was super cool because I live in New York City. It was a good ride but we were ready to be done with it once we arrived in Civitavecchia the port of Rome.

Leaving Barcelona with the sun setting.

Sunrise over the Mediterranean

More sunrise

Arriving in Italy with the sunset light reflecting on me.

busy

2009-07-21T09:03:00.004-07:00

I'm having a hard time finding time to keep my blog up to speed with my life. Since I got back from Europe, Laura came to visit and then I went to Tennessee for a week. For now you can check out Laura's post about her visit here: http://laurafromptown.blogspot.com/2009/07/nyc-09.html

Street Performers

2009-07-06T21:01:00.001-07:00

Barcelona has a lot of street performers. Some were good others not so much. Here are a few I enjoyed. (and gave some change to)

He played 'Tears in Heaven'

Love the reaction to these guys!

Montserrat

2009-07-06T20:51:00.005-07:00

While I was in Barcelona I decided to take a day trip to Montserrat. It is about an hour away on the train. There is a monastery there originally founded in 900 AD. They have a boys choir that sings for 10 minutes once a day and wooden version of the virgin Mary with the baby Jesus.

It was really fun to get there. I took a train and then a cable car up the mountain. I went by myself since Dave was looking for sources of income at this point. It was cool to go to the museum they have and hike around the cliffs to amazing views of the surrounding areas. I even bought some cookies made with an old recipe.

On the way back to Barcelona, I met a nice Irish man named Bernard who was also traveling around Europe with a backpack. He had a lovely accent and when I said that I have Irish ancestors he told me, "you do look like an Irish lass".

I used the timer on my camera. I even balanced it precariously on a wooden fence.

Some of the stairs leading up to the caves in the mountain. They remind me of the steps Gollum leads Frodo and Sam on the way to Mordor.

This is a far shot of where I hike to. See the small church on the left and some caves in the middle. I was sitting in the caves when I took the timed shot of myself.

Another timer shot. This time my camera was balanced on a rock.

View of the church nestled in the mountain.

Inside the church.

Guadi

2009-07-06T20:51:00.002-07:00

One of the defining parts of Barcelona is the architecture. It was cool to see all of the different styles of buildings. As I toured the city of Barcelona, I heard one architects name by far more often than any other. His name is Antoni Gaudi. He has a really interesting style and he incorporates organic and natural elements. Some say the word guady comes from his style.

He designed several buildings in the city but the one he is most famous for is the Sagrada Familia. He started it in the late 1800's and they continue to work on it today. It is enormous and the plan is to make it even bigger.

Rick Steves' guidebook talked about how each person that works on it is contributing to something they may not even see completed in their lifetime. Not unlike the ancient cathedrals. It is interesting to be a part of something so much greater than yourself. I had to pay 11 euros to go in and take a tour, so now I can say that I helped fund this massive endeavor. It is scheduled to be finished around 2026.

Bet you weren't expecting a history lesson.

La Perdrera

Part of la Sagrada Familia designed and carried out by another architect

La Sagrada Familia

Barcelona

2009-07-05T13:23:00.006-07:00

I really enjoyed Barcelona. I didn't know much about it before I left, just that the Olympics were held there once. Actually, the Barcelona Olympics are the firsts ones I really remember watching when I was little. It was the first time they allowed NBA professionals to play in the games. Who else remembers the Dream Team? As I learned on my trip the Olympics had an extremely positive impact on the city.

My favorite part of the city was the old Gothic Quarter and a part called La Ribera. They are near a main pedestrian area called Las Ramblas. It was so fun to walk around the old neighborhoods and see history unfold. On one corner you could see part of an ancient Roman wall, then a medieval cathedral, then an apartment from the 1920's to an H&M store. There are all kinds of amazing foods to try and plenty of ice cream, waffles, chocolate, and crepes for dessert.

Dave and I stayed from the 18th to the 25th so I had plenty of time to see all the sights. Dave is actually working his way from LA to Rome and back so he would mostly look for work or try and sell water or look for free places to stay during the day and I would go out and see all of the touristy things. Then we would meet up at night for a stroll around Las Ramblas or the Beach and the docks.

I decided to take the 2 story bus tour so that I could see all the places to go and then later decide which ones I wanted to stop at and explore. It was good because they had an audio guide to explain all of the important events and locations.

I tried some of the typical food called Tapas which are basically like little appetizers or small portions meals. Very tasty. I also tried Paella which I loved and I now have a goal to learn how to make it.

I went swimming in the Mediterranean Sea. It was so blue and refreshing with white sandy beaches nearby. It was a little funny to me to see all of the topless women of all ages and men in speedos laying out on the sand. There was a huge festival one night where I think all of Barcelona and the tourist came out to the beach and lit fires and fireworks and partied ALL NIGHT long. I went back to my hostel around midnight, but that night Dave didn't have a place to stay so he tried to sleep in a park but couldn't because of all the noise throughout the city.

As I walked around everyday and saw new things and new people I couldn't help but smile from ear to ear. I have always wanted to visit Europe. I even wrote in my little Moleskine notebook, "What is it like when your dreams come true?" I would often sit in the Plaza de Catalunya and watch people feed the pigeons and reflect on life. It is good to leave your comfort zone and have new experiences with new cultures to give you more perspective on life.

I met tons of people, from fellow travelers to receptionists at the hostel to native Spaniards. I met so many nice good people and we had interesting conversations about traveling, religion, politics, food, movies, you name it. I love, love, loved it!

New favorite: Fanta Limon

With the Christopher Columbus monument. He is ironically pointing east.

Las Ramblas = people, people, people

At the beach, don't mind the guy pulling his swim trunks off behind me.

Took this of myself while riding the double decker bus

Paella!

Girl feeding the pigeons in the Plaza de Catalunya

Back to the beginning: Dusseldorf

2009-07-04T07:33:00.015-07:00

Here come the pictures. I will start at the beginning of the trip.

First picture of the trip. Dave and I waiting to get on the airplane.

Upon arrival in Dusseldorf one of the first things we noticed were how nice the cars were. Yes this is a taxi and a Mercedes-Benz

I thought this was pretty.

Here I am with the view from the other side. We had to carry our packs around all day. I'm guessing mine weighed around 40 lbs.

View from the other side of the river.

There was a mirror on the side of the road...

We walked across this bridge over the Rhine river.

Don't feed the ducks cause they'll die...or this might happen

Tall statues

Truck full of beer kegs. Apparently they like their beer in Germany. We saw a lot of these making deliveries in the morning.

a tease

2009-07-02T23:12:00.002-07:00

I uploaded the pictures from my trip. There are a total of 1158. I will start posting them with stories soon. We can start off with a little taste. An appetizer if you will..or dare I say an amouz bouche. Yes, this is a picture of two grown men wearing burger king hats walking down the streets of Barcelona. Note the serious expressions on their faces. Perhaps the whopper wasn't as delicious as they would have liked? Insert your own caption as a comment if you'd like.

The enD is nigh

2009-06-30T10:55:00.005-07:00

I am coming to the close of this crazy trip. I didn't have time (obviously) to keep you all posted on my adventures, but let me say that I have had an AMAZING experience! I have taken a lot of pictures, so there will be a blitz on here soon. I'll be back in NYC tomorrow and I will start posting some of the fun/crazy/spooky strories from the last 2 weeks.

2 things to know for now:
I love Europe every bit as much as I thought I would....
and... I'll be back. (said in Terminator voice)

Trip Details so Far

2009-06-19T08:58:00.004-07:00

I finally have minute to share some of my travel experiences thus far. Dave and I had a layover in Dusseldorf Germany for about 10 hours. I was so excited to be in Europe I kept pinching myself to make sure that it was real. We took the train to downtown and walked around all morning surprised by how few people we saw. We walked down to the Rhine River admiring the unique architecture. We crossed one of the bridges to see the other side of town. There were rows and rows of cool houses. We tried some pastries...you know I have a weakness for them. Very delicious and Germanish. Then we walked back across a different bridge and eventually made it back to the train station. We accidentally took a train to the countryside instead of the airport, but it was a happy accident because it was beautiful where we ended up. Finally we made it back to the airport. Keep in mind we were carrying our 40 lb packs around ALL day long. It was way fun though and our burdens seemed light. We even learned some German words along the way.

Our flight Barcelona was short and we arrived here around 8 p.m. meaning that we had now been awake for a looong time. We quickly took a train to downtown and found a hostel. (Thank you Rick Steve and Venom) What a new and interesting experience! This hostel has around 450 beds throughout its rooms. We were put into a room that holds 16. On the one hand its cool to meet a lot of people from all over, but on the other its hard to sleep when there is so much going on. We met people from Brazil and even Tennessee.

Today I decided to find a smaller nicer hostel and I love the new one. Its called Somnio and it is run by two sisters from the USA. Today, Dave and I have mostly just walked around taking in the city. I love it here. I love to see the old buildings and how they have been mixed in with the new. Can't wait to tell you more about it. I most likely will not post pictures until I get back, but don't worry, I am taking a lot!

Spain

2009-06-17T15:45:00.000-07:00

I'm flying to Spain right now. I have a layover in Germany. Can't wait to tell you more details. Hasta Pronto!

Rhode Island

2009-06-15T21:30:00.002-07:00

Gabe and I and a group of friends went to Rhode Island for the weekend. It is about a three hour drive from the city. We went and stayed at the 'Boulder Cottages'. They were so adorable! There was a main house/lodge with an AMAZING kitchen an then a bunch of cabins that used to be army barracks. They were all redone recently. I went swimming in the Atlantic Ocean for the first time! It wasn't as cold as Santa Cruz can get. Sam later explained ocean currents to me and explained why. It was my first time in Rhode Island and I loved it. I also got to drive through Connecticut which I had never been to, so now I only have 13 states left to visit all 50.

Me with the caretaker's dog Gracie. My new favorite dog.

The cottage I stayed in with 3 other girls

with the grand ol' Atlantic

Semi-failed attempt at writing in the sand

Meet Dave

2009-06-15T20:53:00.002-07:00

Last week I met a guy named Dave. He is a friend of one of the guys I live with. He is traveling from L.A. to Rome and came to stay here for a few days on the way. I am now going to be joining him on his journey. We are flying together to Barcelona this Wednesday and we are going to travel together to Rome. I'll be back July 1st. It was pretty spontaneous and random of me to buy a plane ticket to travel with this new friend, but I am really excited about it! I have been wanting to go to Europe for a long while now. I will try to keep the blog updated while I'm there, so check back now and again. When I get back I will be posting lots and lots of pictures so prepare to be overwhelmed.

I took this of Dave in Central Park. He is the one wearing blue

Washington Square Park

2009-06-15T19:41:00.001-07:00

I have been a busy girl lately. There is so much to see and do on this relatively small island. This is me in Washington Square Park. The light was amazing this day around sunset. I like what the arch says, "Let us raise a standard to which the wise and the honest can repair. The event is in the hand of God." - Washington

Kaaterskill Falls

2009-06-14T20:53:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago Gabe and I went camping with a group of friends from the city. We went to the Catskill Mountains. It was beautiful and fun to meet new people. Some of the high lights were; s'mores, hiking, and my new hat. It turned out that two of the guys that came with us also went to Quito Ecuador on their missions. Here are some pictures of me by Kaaterskill Falls.

Harbor Cruise

2009-06-08T21:14:00.001-07:00

All of the Manhattan single members went on a cruise on the Hudson river. This is me and my new friend Chelsea and a view of the skyline. It was cool to meet new people and ride around the harbor.

Metropolitan Museum of Art

2009-06-08T21:09:00.002-07:00

This is me amongst some of the Egyptian artifacts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art from when Maria and Jonathan came to town.