Dear New York City,

Dear New York City,

Oh how nice it was to get away!  Although both my Amtrack trains were both over an hour late upon arrival, it was worth it.  That two day vacation felt like a week.  I enjoyed the time reading Crazy Love on the way to visit you.  You should totally read Crazy Love!  For real, I knew that believing in God and Jesus Christ was so much more than knowledge, but action because of the love for God, but now I know how to put it in words. READ THE BOOK!

When I got to New York City, I was able to meet up with 5 of my friends, and my other friend allowed me to couch surf at her casa. ;)  I'm glad you didn't let me get lost while visiting you.  You have so many distractions.  Although, they are mostly all based on commerce, which I'm not a total fan of.  If I had gotten lost in the "commerce and concrete jungle central," 

we both know how that would 

have ended...frustration omega.  

Although, I would have made it into an adventure.  In case you forget the people that I met up while visiting you, I made a little spread below!  There are also a lot of exciting photos from the M&M store, the Sanrio store, the bamboo weaver, and playing dress-up at the Disney store in Time Square. I am laughing just thinking about it!  Oh how fun dress up is. I had so much fun in that sparkly, poofy, yellow dress and tiara.  *Momentary Daydream Occurrence* Moving on, I do recall that there was a free activity playing mini golf, even though I didn't participate.  Oh yes, there was also Empire Cakes, where I bought a minion cupcake.  That was the cutest thing ever.  I felt so fancy buying that minion cupcake and the macaroons I bought earlier from Macaron. hehe. 

Even though one of the main purposes of me visiting you was to have a reunion with my Truman Finalist friends, I think playing dress up with my McNair conference friends completely overshadowed that great reunion!  

I suppose I just can't tell myself 

"no" to that dream of auditioning 

to being a Disney Princess. 

*COMPLETELY DRAMATIC SIGH* Well New York City, overall I would give this trip an 8.5 out of 10.  That's pretty stinkin' good!  Oh yes, one last thing- I will never not laugh when I recall that moment when Susan was taking a photo of me and a random guy asked if he could join me in my photo. For some reason I said "yes" then after the photo, taken with my camera, he looked at Susan then walked away as he said "thank you."  INTERESTING! Okiedokie, check out the photos below now.

M&M World

Sanrio (AKA Hello Kitty Shopping)

Bamboo Weaving (they take 1-5 hours!)

The Disney Store

Toys "R" Us

Mini-Golf

Book Browsing

Empire Cakes

New York 2013 Truman Finalist Reunion

What a blast!  And below is the book I brought to read on my train ride home.  Although, much of that ride was spent taking care of the young woman next to me that got really drunk on the train ride.  I have absolutely no idea how the bar tender on the train couldn't tell that she was at her limit before her last drink, but let me tell you, SHE WAS AT HER LIMIT two drinks ago!  

I didn't mind cleaning her off, 

I actually felt like a total mama hen 

with a grown up baby chick. 

Following her between train cars to make sure she didn't like walk out of the train did not bother me.  Cleaning up the wine she pilled didn't upset me either.  However, I was upset and mostly saddened that the bartender had a lapse of judgement. Someone my size should not have 4-6 cups of wine continuously! HELLO OBVIOUSNESS!  I know that families in our train car were upset by her drunken profanity.  I heard some of them snickering at her, but in her defense it wasn't completely her fault.  This may sound unbelievable to you, but this would be the second time that I ever witnessed/interacted with drunk people, and each time I do, I am reminded what I do not want to act like.  

Oh yes, if that wasn't enough commotion for the train ride, I got up to use the restroom and when I opened the door I was face to face with a teenage boy who forgot to lock the door as he used the restroom. 

THEN, when I went to close the 

door it bounced back 

open... THREE TIMES!  

So, in complete embarrassment for him, I went back to my seat with a full bladder and a bit frazzled.  *Fun trips riding the train, no?*  I think next time, I'll consider riding a bus or flying. Collectively, aside from the ride home, which makes for good storytelling, this mini vacation was a fun and blithe (GRE word) trip!

Dreaming of Playing Dress Up,

Christine