Goodbye Summer!

I did it again... I went a whole month without blogging (ok, actually more)! I am the WORST. September really crept up on us around here! Sheesh! Let's get started. Soooo the Olympics came. And then they sadly went. I was really lucky, because my company ended up being just as big of an Olympics fan as I am, and they live streamed events for us each day on a big screen. Love.

July went by in a blur because it was my first full month at my new job! I must say, I really do love it. It's wonderful to be able to get up in the morning and not dread going in to work (now, if only someone would move the working day start to noon so I could sleep late... that would be an entirely different level of job loving!). I get to work from home 1 day a week, I have fantastic benefits, the vacation days are awesome, everyone has an incredible work/life balance, and my bosses are genuinely concerned with my growth as an employee. Oh, and I got a pay raise! All great things.

Anywho, boyfriend came to visit the end of July, and as usual, we failed in the picture taking department. We did actually go on a real date though! Big time for us broke folk. We went to Keen's Steakhouse, where the pipes line the ceiling and famous people (legit famous people, presidents and stuff) sign them. We did get one picture though! True to form, I got deathly ill the night he left. I will spare everyone the details, but I ended up in the ER with some tummy related issues. If you're ever in New York and need emergency care, go to Lenox Hill! I was alone from the late hours of the night until the next morning, and they could not have been more attentive and genuinely nice to me. I ended up having to have a colonoscopy done the next week, but we'll get to that later.

In between that week, I got to see Erica perform in her first professional ballroom competition! It was so so so much fun. Her mom came in from Arizona and we had a blast watching Erica perform! On the left is her crazy ballroom hair, and we are on the right showing off her intense pro costume! People came to the event in straight up ball gowns, it was intense. Also, a girl from Dancing with the Stars was a competitor. It was a great night! Sadly, a few days later, Erica decided to move back home to be with her fiance. We miss her dearly, and trying to get her to come back and visit already! All this to say, 3A is on the hunt for a new roommate again! We have some people interested, so stay tuned.

Oh! I also forgot to mention Heather's mom finally got to come visit! She hadn't been able to come out and see our apartment yet, and we had a blast with her too. So the next week, I had a colonoscopy (seriously... don't EVER have one if you don't have to.. the cleanse stuff... I think I died a little bit) and my gracious friend Mallory came to pick me up, along with our precious little baby Joel that we both babysit. It takes a true friend to bring a 1 year old out in the pouring rain to pick up a drugged up friend, and then babysit both baby and 23 year old. (See Facebook for the pictures of Joel cracking up at drugged up me). Thanks Mal!

The next weekend, my mom and aunt came to visit! They have both been talking about going to the US Open since I was about 2, so we were glad to play host and let them live out their dream. We went to the Frick, went shopping, ate, went to the New York Historical Society, did more shopping, and ate some more. I don't think it's been just the 3 of us since I was about 4 years old, and we had so much fun! Mom got stuck here an extra day because of the hurricane at home too, so she got to do lots of fun things while I worked, i.e. my laundry. Thanks mom :).


Oh, and in between all this time, Heather and I did some major redecorating to 3A! The apartment is officially pinterest-ed and ready for fall. So that brings us to today, Labor Day! Josh, Heather's boyfriend, spent this weekend with us, and I will be traveling home next weekend. We never stop around here! I will leave you with some pictures of the end of the summer. Happy Labor Day!

Celebrating Erica for her last week

Exploring the park

One of my Pinterest crafts!

Anniversaries, Babies, A New Job, and More Visitors!

Whew, so much has happened the last few weeks!! Stick with me, we have a LOT of ground to cover. Let's start with the most exciting news, I'm starting a new job this week! Some of you definitely started to wonder how I was just galavanting in the park every day. Well, surprise! I left my job in May. I learned so much there and it was a great experience, but it was time for me to move on. I had a lot of interviews, but it took me a little while to find a job that was the right fit for me. I will be starting as an assistant in the Information Technology department at the Teach for America National Headquarters. I'm really excited and will be sure to keep yall updated on how it's going!! Now, onto what's been happening the past few weeks!

Ellis came and visited for our 2 year anniversary. He hadn't been here in about three months so it was fun to get to go exploring again. We started by walking the Brooklyn Bridge. For some reason I'd never made it down there! I must say, it was beautiful, but the walk across it was kind of a let down. The whole way up the bridge is just a tunnel, so you can't see the view or where you are until you get under the arches. But, once under the big arches the view was great. It was something new and we really enjoyed it.

                                             

The next day we had brunch with some of my old friends that were in town after taking them to Redeemer with us to hear Tim Keller preach. Travis and I went to middle school together (most likely to succeed 8th grade thank you very much) and his mom is the best doctor I've ever had! It was so fun to get to catch up with them. That afternoon we decided to check out the New York Botanical Gardens. They currently have an exhibit in which they have recreated Monet's Garden. The gardens are WAY up in the Bronx. Just getting there was quite the adventure. We rode the subway line all the way to the last stop, then walked about a mile through some, ahem, interesting neighborhoods. The gardens were beautiful, though. Here's a few examples!

The next day was something Ellis had looked forward to for months (ok, I had too). We were going to see the Braves and the Yankees play at Yankee Stadium! We were lucky enough to get to go to the Yankees/Redsox game last May, and this one was even more fun, plus it was water bottle night (I love my freebies). The game was great and the perfect way to end the weekend!

Ellis left on Tuesday, and Dad arrived on Thursday. June was truly a month of many visitors (Erica and Heather also got lots of love from visitors this month too). Dad had a meeting in Times Square all day Friday, so he came to stay with us for a few days. A few reasons we love dads being here: the first thing he did was walk in and feel how hot it was, and we went straight to Home Depot and got an AC for the den. Awesome. The roommates and I took him to one of our fave spots (Calle Ocho) and then came home and installed the new ACs (Heather got one for her room, so we are officially cool in all rooms now). Dad also installed the great vintage lamp that I saved from my old office. We love the red lighting and neat addition to our living room!

I had dinner with his company on Friday night, and then we went to see the new play Peter and the Starcatcher. The hit play Wicked is the backstory of the Wizard of Oz, and this is very similar in that it is the backstory of Peter Pan. It just won a handful of Emmys and it was awesome! It was lighthearted and funny and I highly recommend it. As Dad loves Broadway, we went to see The Columnist, with one of Dad's favorites John Lithgow, on Saturday. We also went shopping and explored and walked lots and lots. It was fun! Always good to have him here. I have to brag that he just got bumped up to Vice President status at his company too, way to go father.


The next day, Erica's mom came to visit. She took a ton of professional pictures of us in the park, and we are so grateful to have these awesome pictures to have to look back on our time here in 3A when we all eventually disperse back to our different corners of the country!

The next week I spontaneously decided to use my Delta voucher to visit one of my oldest and dearest friends, Kati, in Nashville! She had sweet baby Annie in January and I had yet to get my hands on the kid, which was not cool because I have never missed out on a McCarver big family happening before! It was SO good to get out of the city and spend time with her and her great family!!! I won't bog you down with the millions of baby pictures I took, but let me just say she is the CUTEST baby on the planet. And yall know I love babies. I also got to see my cousin Haley and my other oldest best friend, Shannon. It was an awesome trip, and Kati obliged all of my southern food requests. I'd really call it an eating trip. Gotta get my fried food fix in!!!

Ok, so I got back and it was time for the 4th of July! Erica and I had a low key day and ate the traditional American summer holiday food, hamburgers. The NEXT day (told you this month was jam packed!) my great friends Allison and Mandy came to visit! I nannied for Allison and her (ok, I talk about them as if they are my kids too) 3 boys for 6 years. Mandy was their nanny before me, and we are all bonded for life! We have talked about doing a girls trip for years and I was so thrilled to have them come stay! Mandy had never been to New York before, so we had lots to show her! We shopped and ate and shopped and ate and talked and it was good for the soul. We also saw Once, the new Broadway smash hit. You must go see it. Awesome. They left a few hours ago, and here I am getting ready for my first day of work now! It's always hard to have people you love end their trips, but I feel so fortunate to be able to have seen so many people I love so much this month!!!

There are so many more details I wish I had the time to share! Bottom line: June was great! On to July!!!

The One With Lots of Shows

Oh man, for real where does the time go?! I'm serious. Whoever keeps speeding it up, give it back to me! All right, where did we leave off last time? Oh yes, not so little brother graduated and I headed to back the city again. I only had to wait a few days to see old friends again though, because Memorial Day was just around the corner, and my dear old Trail Maid Katie agreed to come celebrate in the city with me. She lives in Philly now, she it is so easy for us to go back and forth and see each other!

On Saturday morning, we decided to head to midtown to get student tickets (yes, we still use our student ID's all the time) to a Broadway show. We wanted to see Death of a Salesman with Andrew Garfield and Phillip Seymore Hoffman, but when we got in line (3 hours before the box office opened) the theater attendant told us that they had already given out wrist bands for tickets because people had been waiting in line since 11:30- THE NIGHT BEFORE. Ok, I love me some Broadway, but I've never heard of people doing this except for Saturday Night Live tickets (don't try it- you won't get in). Unless it's Brad Pitt on the stage, I'm not waiting all night long. And I might not even wait then. Anyway, we got coffee and traipsed around town to see if there were any other plays we would like to see. We ended up choosing The Best Man, starring James Earl Jones, Angela Lansbury, Eric McCormick, Candice Bergen, and John Laroquette. Yes, they are all before our time (except for Eric- Will and Grace anyone?) but they are seasoned on the stage and were wonderful. It was Katie's first Broadway show ever! We had a great time.






I also forced Katie to go see the ships at Fleet Week with me. I'd always heard about it and I really wanted to check it out. Yall, it was HOT. I know I'm from south Alabama where it's really really hot during the summer, but this day here was HOT. We were drenched in sweat by the time we had finished touring a ship. But, it was really cool to see so many different ships in the harbor and we toured a carrier and the view of the city from the deck was amazing. (The sailors weren't so bad to look at either.)

The next day we walked down to church, as it was my Sunday to keep the nursery, and then had a fabulous pancake brunch at one of my favorite places on the Upper West Side. We decided to try for the Wicked lottery (Katie was bitten by the Broadway bug and was dying to see the show- as was I) and sadly did not win tickets. She had never been to FAO Schwartz before, so we walked across town to 5th Avenue and explored the famed toy store and the shops on the famed money pit street. After hours of this, our feet were killing and we were hot (yes, it was really hot again) so we decided we wanted to see Men in Black 3. We headed back over to the West side and ate dinner at this amazing little authentic Italian place. Our pasta was homemade and it was delicious. The movie was (to my surprise) really, really good. I definitely recommend going to see it. It's really different than the other two and answers some fundamental questions about the series. On Memorial Day, we packed up a lunch from Whole Foods and had us a little picnic in Central Park. There were a lot of people celebrating and it was a really relaxing way to end the weekend. I love when Katie comes to town!

The next week, I found myself bored on a Wednesday and decided to randomly check The Colbert Report's website to see if they had any tickets for the show left for the day. They had 1 left, and I was the lucky winner! I headed down to my old neighborhood (Hell's Kitchen) and picked up my ticket for the show. They needed one last person to sit on the front row, and as I was by myself, I was the lucky winner again! Yes, I was one of those people who got to high-five Stephen. It was really fun and truly something you can't randomly decide to do in the middle of the week anywhere other than New York. I also caught one of the wristbands he throws out at the beginning of the show, so I got a little souvenir. The whole thing ran really smoothly, and everyone was incredibly nice. Another experience I would definitely recommend!

Next up, two of my sorority sisters are living in New York this summer (Meredith and Virginia), and my good friend Jac Shealy came to visit, so we all went out for drinks and it was so good to see everyone and catch up! That weekend was filled with lots of really good food and great friend time!

I think this catches me up for now. I have some really exciting news coming up next week, and boyfriend is coming to town this weekend for our 2 year anniversary so I will have plenty to post next week! 3A has seen lots of visitors this month already, and we've got a lot more in store :)

HAPPY SUMMER!

Planes, Plays, and Preschoolers on a Rope

My view for the past month

From the end of April to this week, much of my time has been spent traveling, hosting guests, and fun adventures! The end of April/first few days of May, I took a much needed week vacation back home (I hadn't been home since Christmas). I spent a lot of time in these pool chairs giving my skin some desperately needed UV rays.

My slice of Heaven 

I got to see SO many people who I love and miss. Sadly I forgot to take pictures with all of them, but know that you truly warmed my heart!

My Chauncey!

20 years later we're still going strong!

I love my home!

After the resting and relaxing came to an end, I headed back to my other home in the city. I came back to an engaged roommate!! Erica's boyfriend proposed on her birthday, and this meant only one thing for us: A TRIP TO KLEINFELDS. If you don't know what this is, we probably shouldn't be friends. Just kidding (sort of). Kleinfeld's is the dress boutique where TLC's Say Yes to the Dress is filmed. We had a blast, and Erica now has her dream dress in sight! 

They were filming while we were in the store

Also the first week of May, dad came to visit. When he moved me up here in October, he caught wind of the annual 5 Boro Bike Tour, where 32,000 riders come to the city and ride 40 miles through all 5 boroughs. Not only did he fix our air conditioners, but he took us to see Matthew Broderick's new play, Nice Work If You Can Get It. I should also mention it was Cinco De Mayo and Derby Day, so where else would we got but an Irish Pub? (Wait, it's not how normal people celebrate? Oh well!) 

The next couple of weeks, it rained. Literally every day. As I'm writing this, it's raining. I don't understand how it was sunny and hot in March, and the entire month of May has been nothing but rain. The sun has tried to come out a few times, and when it does, we run out to the park! Our part of the park is so stinkin cute. There have been little kid birthday parties consisting of butterfly hunts, lots of puppies, and of course the ice cream man. My favorite time of the afternoon is when the little Pre-K kids go on their walks. They wear bright vests, tied to a rope, and toddle along. They love it.

Time continued to fly by, as it so often does, and it was time to head back down south to watch little brother graduate! To me, he is still 5 years old, but apparently he's going off to college now. My whole family (minus Haley who is interning in Nashville this summer) plus Ellis joined in the festivities. There was no rain in the forecast, but when we pulled up to the (outdoor) stadium for the ceremony, it was a full on torrential downpour with impressive lightening. This turned into us all sitting in our cars for an hour, which made for some pretty hilarious fam time. Finally we went back in the stadium, had a shortened ceremony, grabbed the diploma, and headed to McDonald's to get the new Cherry Berry slushy we had talked about the ENTIRE time we were cooped up in the car. Fast forward to the guy telling us that the slushy machine was broken, and I'm pretty sure we busted his ear drums screaming. Do we sound like hillbillies yet? Either way, it was a blast and brother is now officially off to college. 

 

Whew, I think I'm finally caught up! Lots of exciting things coming soon, so stay tuned!

P.S.-Forgot to mention that we saw Ben Stiller filming his new movie in our neighborhood!