I am ashamed to admit that I've been in hibernation mode these past couple of weeks. With the exception of the holidays, I have been a certified couch potato. As much as I love being home on break, the days filled with a whole lot of nothing get tedious and I long for the moments where I am running from library to lecture hall. I've always been like that though - while I look forward to breaks to have some down time and be with my family, I love how active life gets throughout the semesters.
Don't worry, it's not a real horse
This past Thursday, I met up with some high school friends to catch up over sushi. On Friday night, I babysat my little cousin, slept over, and made a quick trip down the next morning to the Upper East Side where I met up with my friends again for a tour of the Guggenheim Museum. The main exhibit by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, showcases his takes pieces of past exhibits by hanging them haphazardly on display from the top of the Guggenheim rafters. Everything is all mixed up and the pieces seem to be carelessly thrown next to each other. Because the pieces seemed to have been thrown together recklessly, when you moved around the exhibit, there were new pieces to discover behind the larger pieces that blocked it. Though I found it intriguing and fascinating, I really felt that the admission price of $15 was a bit steep. Here is a brief background on the artists and the exhibit from the Guggenheim site that you can visit here:
"Hailed simultaneously as a provocateur, prankster, and tragic poet of our times, Maurizio Cattelan has created some of the most unforgettable images in recent contemporary art. His source materials range widely, from popular culture, history, and organized religion to a meditation on the self that is at once humorous and profound. Working in a vein that can be described as hyperrealist, Cattelan creates unsettlingly veristic sculptures that reveal contradictions at the core of today’s society. While bold and irreverent, the work is also deadly serious in its scathing critique of authority and the abuse of power."
Other special exhibits on view included Kadinsky's Painting with White Border, Pop Objects and Icons from the Guggenheim Collection, and Surface, Support, Process: The 1960s Monochrome in the Guggenheim Collection.
Central Park
After spending some time in the museum, we grabbed a late lunch at Lexington Candy Shop, a cute little luncheon that is reminiscent of American "Pop" History. It was like eating at a place that was frozen in time from the 1940s. There are authentic dusty Coca-Cola bottles from around the world displayed in the two front windows, autographed pictures of celebrities that have visited, and an original menu displayed.
Belvedere Castle
The two bff's
Not a random stranger, just my friend :)
After grabbing a quick bite, we wandered around Central Park for a while and took silly pictures. By the end of the day I was exhausted and my feet hurt from all the walking. This upcoming weekend is going to be fairly busy as well. On Thursday, I'm meeting a friend that goes to school in Boston to catch up over lunch and frozen yogurt, on Friday I'm volunteering at a ballroom dance competition, Saturday I have a "Pampered Chief" party to attend, and Sunday, I'm volunteering my afternoon again to the dance competition.
I was never a fan of Taylor Swift. I find her songs to be irritating, not to mention that almost all of them sound the same from the lyrics to the notes and melodies. I also noted a trend in her lyrics where she puts other girls down when the guy of her affections no longer is focused on her (prime examples: You Belong With Me, Better Than Revenge, Speak Now). Regardless of what I hold against her, I went with my sister on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving to Swift's last concert of her Speak Now tour as an early Christmas gift from my brother. I knew most of the songs from always hearing them, but the few that I didn't know, I was easily able to pick up and sing along to the lyrics.
I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed myself! The concert was great - the sets were beautiful, the special effects included firework type sparklers, confetti, a rotating tree, a flying balcony, and a stage that threw the performers up from the stage. The background dancers were incredible and demonstrated various types of dance from ballet to acrobatics. I'll give credit where credit is due - the girl can perform. The only thing that bugged me was how she would pause at the end of every song and listen to the crowd scream. Yes, I understand that there must be no greater feeling than hearing all of the loud screams from the thousands of fans while performing in Madison Square Garden at the conclusion of your tour, but still, I grew tired of her smirking at the crowds. Maybe I'm bitter that 20,000 people weren't screaming for me. It is possible.
While I'm still not completely devoted to her, I have changed my opinion on Taylor Swift and respect her as an artist and definitely as a performer. Selena Gomez and James Taylor came out to duet with her which was a fun surprise although I'll admit that I have no idea who James Taylor is.
What are your thoughts on Taylor Swift? Do you love her, like her, dislike her, loathe her?
On this day, ten years later, stop for a minute to remember the brave police officers and firefighters who selflessly lost their lives to save innocent people, remember the innocent men and women lost, remember the families affected this devastating tragedy, and remember how love overcame hate. Do something selfless today to pay tribute to the innocent lives lost and never forget.
On Sunday, Nicole and I ventured down to Broadway to catch the 3:00 pm matinee performance of Daniel Radcliffe's show, How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. It was amazing, probably one of my favorite Broadway shows that I've seen so far. Even if you're not a Daniel Radcliffe fan, the story is cute, the music is a-mazing, the dances are wonderful, and the set production and costumes were so stylish and nostalgic of an old time 1960's New York City (think Down With Love). I definitely recommend seeing How To Succeed... if you were looking to see a Broadway Show.
John Larroquette signing autographs on the first night we were there
After the show, we were able to get the autographs of John Larroquette (J.B. Biggley) and the understudy for Bud Frump, but due to the rain, Daniel Radcliffe (J. Pierrepont Finch) signed extremely quickly and left. We were extremely bummed that we were unable to get his signature. However, the two of us were determined to get it, so after my internship yesterday, Nicole met me in Midtown, we grabbed dinner, and then we staked out the stage door for four hours. At the beginning, when the light was still out, the time passed so slowly. However, we were successful in getting Daniel Radlicffe's autograph along with John Larroquette (again) and Christopher Hanke (Bud Frump), it was worth it.
Christopher Hanke
John Larroquette
Daniel Radcliffe
Success in getting all the autographs!
I never thought I would be one of those people who wait incredibly long hours to see a premier or a show, but it was fun and totally worth it. Sometimes you have to get lucky but other times, you need to plan it out and be patient. We were standing right in the front, so not only did we get our playbills signed, but we were able to briefly talk to them. An awesome and exciting way to end my summer!
I remember the first time I heard of Harry Potter. I was in fourth grade, standing in line with my fellow fourth graders to go down to lunch when the classmate in front of me started talking about a book called Harry Potter. I thought it was a funny title to be named as it sounded like Hairy Potter and assumed that it was about a boy with a lot of hair.
Photo Credit: People.com
I remember the first time I laid my hands on the books. There were presents underneath our tree for Christmas and three of them were wrapped with the edges ripping (probably from me trying to get a peak of what kind of gifts I were getting that year.) I noticed that they were books and was excited as I was and still am quite the book worm. I opened them on Christmas morning and was delighted to get the first three books and proceed to read the first chapter of the second one first because I couldn't figure out how they were labeled. I then discovered the numbers on the spine and read all three in numerical order. I lost count of re-reading those books at 13 and that was when I was twelve years old.
Photo Credit: People.com
I remember the first time I saw the first movie. I was in sixth grade and went with my mom, sister, best friend at the time and her mom. We got in a little bit late and missed all of the previews. As we entered the theater, I looked up at the huge screen looming over me and saw an owl perched on a sign that read "Private Drive."
And now I can say that I remember the first time I saw the last movie in Harry Potter saga. I was on my way to meet up with friends on late Thursday evening to catch the midnight premier (12:35 actually as the earlier shows were all sold out) and got into a minor fender bender a couple of exits before I needed to get off. I was totally fine as was the other driver and my car was in perfect condition minus the fact that my driver's side mirror was swiped off and dangling on the side of my door due to it getting swiped. I got lucky in the sense that I was okay and that, for the most part, the car was fine, but I was so annoyed and upset that I couldn't see my beloved franchise coming to an end - my dad told me to come straight home.
I finally saw it on Sunday evening and I must say that I loved it! Everything from the acting, the scenes, the humor, and the sentiments, all of it. I, as well as all people my age, grew up with the three characters on screen and to see it wrap up beautifully was one of the most satisfying feelings. It was a two hour movie but it felt like it went by too quickly My only complaints was that they should have had a slightly better recap as I didn't get to watch Part 1 before I saw Part 2 and, while I know it wasn't in the book, I would have loved a better montage of the previous movies showing them growing up. Also, *spoiler alert!* while it was funny to watch Voldemort uncomfortably hug Draco towards the end of the movie, it didn't fit in with Voldemort's evil character and, though I got a good laugh, I felt they could have left that out. Other than that, it was all love, love, love.
On Monday, July 11, they held the premier in Lincoln Center, and while I knew that I wouldn't get anywhere close to the red carpet due to the massive amounts of fans waiting, I thought I needed to go, just to say that I was there and that I was a part of it. So after I got out of my internship at 4:00pm, I took the subway over to the west side with my fellow intern, and got to the place around 4:45pm, with celebrities due to arrive at 5:00pm. On a fluke whim, we went to the back of the theater where we had an awesome but distant view of the red carpet. I was going to see my favorite actors! Lo and behold, on sheer luck and good fortune, the police guards decided to take down the barrier and let us move closer to the red carpet. I was mere feet away from where they would stand and hopefully give autographs. Long story short, I got some great pictures (from my cell phone which makes them a bit blurry when increased in size), awesome videos, and autographs of Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, and Tom Felton in my Harry Potter book. It wasn't the seventh book as I brought the fifth one because I was re-reading it, but at least I got them in the cover! They rushed Daniel Radcliffe passed us and and Mathew Lewis was giving out very few autographs so I unfortunately missed his. Rupert was such a nice guy - he was taking pictures and trying to the best of his ability to get everyone's merchandise signed while Emma was nice but seemed a bit overwhelmed and was not as warm and friendly as Rupert. I still love her though! I also saw a bunch of other celebrities, as seen with the Sarah Jessica Parker shot above!
I have been home from Florence for a bit now and while I am ecstatic to be home with my family and friends, I miss living in the magic city horribly! All of the moments that I've shared with the city, some with friends, some by myself, will be the best memories that I can take away from my experience there. But now, I am back in New York! With the warm summer months ahead of me, I am looking forward to sipping cocktails by the beach in Cape Cod where some of my new friends live (legally! I turn 21 in June), interning at a NYC magazine, finding a second job (eh, not so excited about that one), getting ready to move into my new apartment off campus, and reading a lot of books. So, get ready for a terrific summer with me over here at EFL and get ready to soak up the sun!
This past weekend, I met up with some friends from the ballroom team in Manhattan. It was only a small group of us, but it was fun nonetheless. On Friday, after getting a flu shot, I went down to Greenich Village and met up with everyone at Peanut Butter & Co. a cute out of place "restaurant" slash sandwhich shop that sells various kinds of peanut butter sandwiches. While I couldn't justify spending $5.00 and up for a simple peanut butter sandwich, it was such a small and darling place. I felt bad for the patrons sitting in the cramped space with us; we're a really loud group, but in a good way!
We did reverse dining and went to a Chinese food restaurant where I got a delicious plate of Chicken Pad Tai with peppers. Chinese food really is one of my favorite types of cusine out there, among Italian and Mexican as well.
After finished dining, we were reluctant to leave because it was so cold outside. Since we were on Bleecker Street and it was a Friday night we decided to walk all the way down and see if we could stumble on anything fun to do. There were alot of bars and clubs and hot scenes available but unfortunately we could not go in as we were under 21. I can't wait until my 21 birthday in June! That way I can go into any place I desire without fear of being turned down. Since we couldn'tgo into any bars and party the night away, we went into random stores tucked along the street. One of them was this awesome record store that had vintage records and both old school and modern cds. After exploring, we went into a local bookstore and stayed in there for almost an hour, reading out loud from books and taking notes for books that I have to pick up and read.
After we left the bookstore, we traveled to a few more places that were still open and then I headed home, excited for the long weekend ahead and for the day off from work on Monday. Now I'm off to make lists of things to do as my preperation for my European Adventure winds down and the start moves closer.
On Wednesday, I was invited to go to the Yankee game with a friend of mine from college. I was really excited because I haven't been to a game all season and as much as I love watching the Yankees play on the T.V. screen, nothing compares to sitting in those seats, feeling the energy of the crowd, and seeing the action happen right in front of you. I was surprised when I saw how great the seats were...right behind home plate and just a couple of feet away from where all the players are. If I hopped the fence I could have touched them (and then inevitably get arrested hehe)
Our awesome seats!
A-Rod warming up
The game is just about to begin!
Since I'm from the Bronx, I grew up being a huge baseball fan; my father and brother have been religiously following the Yankees ever since I can remember; I'll never forget being ten years old and watching the Subway World Series with the two of them in my living room and my mom and sister in the kitchen and cheering loudly whenever they got a hit. When they won, my whole neighborhood was in celebration!
I am wearing: Jersey: (Dads); Jeans: (Sevens); Shoes: (Converse)
Before leaving for the game, I was so upset that I forgot to take a picture in the stands :(
Derek Jeter warming up...
Jeter at bat... (He is clearly my favorite hehe :)
A-Rod #13
Jeter once again (I'm in love!)
The game on Wednesday was exciting; they were losing by one until the bottom of the ninth when Nick Swisher got a hit and they won 3-2 against the Baltimore Orioles.
Home run!
While I consider myself a huge fan of baseball, I am mostly on the spirit side of being a fan; I know just enough about the rules of the game and grew up being a fan, I just don't follow them as closely as my dad does so if you asked me where they were in ranking I couldn't give you the right answer. All that matters to me is the simpe act of enjoying a good sports game :)
