I'll Be Home For Christmas...If Only In My Dreams...

I should be boarding a plane any time now that should be taking off at about 4:30 to take me home to Utah for Christmas. I should be, but I'm not. The flight was cancelled because of the storm that is brewing in the Northeast...It would be easier to be not bitter if it was actually snowing...we haven't seen a single flake yet. At least I was lucky enough to get a different flight in a couple of days. I'll see you on Monday, Utah. boo hoo!

Stupid Martha

Do you know what I love? I love those little individually wrapped squares of Dove dark chocolate. You know the ones? And they have such nice little sayings on the inside of the wrapper. I especially love them during the holidays cause the wrapper message is all holiday-ish and it's so nice. Do you know what I hate? I hate that I bought a bag of those delicious and wonderful little treats, not only cause I love the candy but also cause I love the message on the inside of the wrapper, I got them home and carefully opened one to enjoy and on the inside of the wrapper was a stupid message from Martha Stewart! Stupid Martha! I didn't notice when I bought them that they are the special Martha Stewarts tips for making the holidays better type of Dove dark chocolates. Now instead of reading something like "Have a wonderful holiday season" I have to read something like "wallpaper and fabric remnants make inspired wrapping" or "Tie a sprig of holly to the bedpost in your guest room." Really Martha? Cause I think decorating my wreath with gumdrops will actually attract wild animals to my front door which I don't happen to think is a great idea! Stupid Martha!! I just want my chocolate to say something nice to me, not tell me how to decorate! And what if the chocolates were for guests? Now the guests are going to read the wrappers and know that it wasn't my idea to use a damask runner to create an elegant table setting...oh who am I kidding? I don't even know what a "damask runner" is! Stupid Martha!!

My Merry Christmas-ish Weekend

On Friday, I was invited by Megan to go into the city to enjoy some Christmas festivities with her and some of her friends. We went to Bryant Park and watched them do some synchronized ice skating and some singing and then the lighting of the tree. Then we went to see the tree at Rockefeller Center (which is pictured above) (and which was so amazing!) Then we went to a great thai restaurant called Room Service and ate dinner. We wandered around the city a bit then Megan let me crash at her apartment in Brooklyn so that I didn't have to ride the train back to Connecticut that night (did I mention that this was the first time I met this really wonderful girl? My sister-in-laws brother gave me her number when I was in Utah for Thanksgiving...thanks Kevin, she's really great!). The next morning Meg and I went to brunch in Brooklyn (FYI, I am now in LOVE with Brooklyn, I haven't spent much time there but its so great!) at this little restaurant that I WILL be back to because it was AMAZING! It was called Watty and Meg's and it was delicious, and quaint and spectacular. And delicious! Once back in Connecticut, I did some Christmas shopping and topped the weekend off with a little Christmas movie watching. Oh yeah, and on Saturday night, my dear friend Sadie came over with some chinese food and hung out for a while. It was such a great weekend!

Home from being home

I was going to post this on Monday but my laptop wasn't cooperating with me, so I'm posting now instead. I went home for a whole week for Thanksgiving, and it was SO great! I hung out with the people that I love, ate some great food, hung out some more with the people that I love, went to my nieces 2nd birthday party, played dress up with Kinley, and hung out some more with the people that I love. It was the best! Here are a few pictures from the week, I just wish I would have had a little more time to hang out with the people that I love...

Basically...

Today is Friday.
Tomorrow is Saturday, which is a day that I don't work.
The next day is Sunday, which is the day I'm flying home for holiday.
So since I don't work tomorrow, and I leave in the wee hours of the morning Sunday, BASICALLY I'm already on my way...basically.

YAY!

Jazz vs Knicks (part II)

Oh man, oh man, oh man! What an amazing night! My employer Chris found out earlier in the year that I am a Jazz fan so he told me he'd try to get me a ticket to the game when they're in town cause he knows a guy. It turns out, the guy he knows is actually an agent to some of the Jazz players so not only did he get me a ticket, he got himself a ticket as well, took me to the game, and got us both passes so that we could meet some of the players after the game! It was so amazing!! The Jazz didn't actually play the best game. In fact we tried really hard to loose there at the end, but we ended up pulling through and winning the Knicks 95 to 93. It was pretty stressful to watch, but I had a great time!

This is me at Madison Square Garden before the game

Our boys warming up

This is me with Marsha. Marsha Kirilenko. She was hanging out after the game waiting for her husband (Andrei) and so we were chatting. She told me I should come be their nanny when I'm done here. (They have two boys, and just adopted a baby girl) Not the most tempting offer since just before she said that she told me that she has been through half the nannies in Utah and she can't seem to keep them...

Me and Kosta Koufos. He was really nice, he asked my name and talked to me for a minute.

That's Carlos Boozer down there, that was as close as we saw him though

Here I am with Andrei Kirilenko. Mostly he just took the picture with me then hung around with his wife and entourage speaking in Russian

C.J. Miles was really nice too. This guy is my little brothers age...weird huh?

I walked up to Mehmet Okur and told him I was a fan and its great to meet you, blah, blah, blah and he shook my hand and said hi then later Chris' guy went to introduce me and he said "oh yeah, we met earlier" and smiled at me. I'm standing two steps higher than he is in this picture.

It was such an amazing experience. I didn't get to meet a lot of the guys but I was so happy to meet these ones. Chris told me that I should get these pictures printed out and he'll have his friend get them to sign them for me. What a night! Thanks so much Chris!

Jazz vs Knicks

Anyone who doesn't have anything to do this evening, maybe you should watch the Utah Jazz basketball game. They need our support! In fact maybe you should watch the game even if you do have something to do this evening. They will be playing the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden at 7:30 (that is eastern time....that means 5:30 to all you Utah folk). Turn on your television, grab a nice cold beverage and cheer for our Jazz. Oh, and while you are watching the game, maybe you should watch in the stands for a very happy red headed girl wearing a black t-shirt with the old style Jazz logo on it, cheering her little heart out because she is at Madison Square Garden watching her team play! THAT WILL BE ME!! GO JAZZ!!

I'm going to be sitting in Section 213 (that's the yellow one) and I am SUPER excited! So watch the game and help me cheer! YAY!

Happy Day

These are just some of the great things that happened today:

• I woke up 3 minutes before my alarm went off. I love not being jolted awake!
• It was a little chilly, but the sun was shining and it was a beautiful day
• I got to the train station just in time to buy my ticket when the train pulled in. I was able to walk right onto the train without having to wait at all
• It was an express train to NYC. Hooray for minimal stops!
• I did some shopping on Canal Street. I've never been to New York Citys Chinatown before, so this was kind of fun.
• I wandered Fifth Avenue and did some shopping at the expensive stores too.
• I found a couple of Christmas gift type items while spending the day shopping in the city.
• As I was walking back toward the train station to head home, I bumped into Jesse, a guy that I've met a few times who lives here and attends the local ward.
• We decided that since neither of us had a plan, we should wander around and hang out together.
• I got a chance to wander the city a little and sit down and chat with Jesse, who I came to find out is a pretty cool kid.
• I found out that Jesse and I actually went to high school together for a little while at Bountiful...small world, huh?
• I was able to sit at a seat with nobody next to me on the train ride home and was able to put my feet up on the seat across from me. You can't imagine how nice this is after a day of NYC shopping!

Halloween in NYC

My friend Sadie convinced me to get dressed up for Halloween and go into The City with her and her friend Rylee. We met up at Sadies house where she did all of our makeup, and we were off!

I was a witch, but the hat was really annoying so it got left at Sadies after a few photos were taken.

Sadie (Tinkerbell), Rylee (Angel of Death) and Me on the train headed to New York City.

We found Peter Pan and decided Sadie needed her picture taken with him.

These guys were probably my favorite. They were dressed up like this and just hanging out in front of the Chase Bank. I was about to take this picture when some guy walked behind me and was VERY rude to me. The redhead in me came out a little bit and I think I shocked not only the friends I was with, but also a big chunk of people hanging out at Times Square. The area got pretty quiet as I yelled pretty vigorously at him. He deserved it. Jerk!

We stayed out so late that I spent most of today sleeping. It was a lot of fun. New York City is kind of a freak show on Halloween, I love this place!!

My Wonderful Grandma Rose

This afternoon I went out to get the mail, like I do every afternoon, this particular afternoon though there was a great little surprise waiting in the mailbox for me. There was a package addressed to yours truly with two cute little stickers on it saying "thinking of you" and "I love you" and the return address was from my grandma! It was so unexpected and sweet!! She sent me this really cute little pair of pants...um...let me explain...it was a small decorative pair of overall pants that a scarecrow might wear, made out of a felt type material and filled to the top with little candy bars and some candy corn. hhhhmmm....I'm not sure that description does it justice, anyway, it was cute. And it was so sweet! Thanks for thinking of me Grandma! Love you!!

Be Nice

Chris and Dorothy went out of town for the night tonight, so its just me, Madeleine, Alex, and Cleo (she's the dog) at home. Before they left, Dorothy wrote us all little notes on post-its and left them on the counter for us to find. When I read them this morning Mads and Alexs said the same thing with their names being the only difference but maybe I didn't read them very closely cause tonight, Mads still says: "Mad, love you see you tomorrow, Mom" but Alexs now says "Alex, love you see you tomorrow, be nice, Mom" and oddly enough Dorothys handwriting changed just a little bit on the part that says "be nice" its almost like she reverted back to her youth and used the penmanship of her ten year old self....hhmmm.....

Or maybe...just maybe Mad altered her big brothers note just a little...I guess its a mystery....

Madeleine Playing Soccer

Sunday was a beautiful day. Sunshiny and warm and perfect for going to the park to watch a soccer game.

Mad and her team won!

Visitors!

Late last night I got a phone call from my moms big brother. Basically what he said was this:

Hey Michelle! We're in a hotel in a town about 10 miles from where you live. Wanna get together tomorrow for lunch?

Isn't that so great?! So today, I got to have lunch with my wonderful Uncle Harry and Aunt Judy! They came to my house to pick me up and we went to Pinocchio's Pizza. After we ate and talked for a while, we went back to my house where they met Alex and I gave them a little tour of the main floor and my room. Then Mad came home from school and they got to meet her too. What an amazing and wonderful surprise! Thanks Uncle Harry and Aunt Judy, it was so great to see you!

Apple Picking in New York

Last Saturday, my dear friend April called and suggested we go apple picking. So, I drove to New York (state people, not city...that's where she lives...its not far) and we spent the day enjoying Fall. It was such a nice day and we really had a great time!