NYC

A couple weeks ago I went on an amazing trip to New York City. As I can't remember all the details, I'll inform you through some edited journal entries. Enjoy!

Friday, September 3, 2010

The airplane ride last night went well. After writing the day's journal entry, I read and then listened to the radio until the signal was lost. Then I actually managed to sleep for maybe three hours. When we reached the airport, we took a cab to my mom's aunt and uncle's apartment. After they showed us around and we chatted for a while, we slept for another three hours on a king-sized bed. I had never had less of a desire to get up before then, but my mom wanted to get going and not waste a day in New York sleeping. I agree with her.

We rode on the subway down to the World Trade Center. For a few hours following lunch, we shopped at a gigantic store called Century 21. I got a few shirts there, and some shoes when we stopped by Payless. We also spent a lot of time at a very cute store with stylish clothes and accessories called Strawberry. I got several headbands and a super cute hat there. Finally, we went to a sparkling shop called Gem Story and got some jeweled necklaces. I took tons of pictures, of the apartment and of the city. Besides meals and shopping, we wandered around, checked out the church, and spent some time in the awesome apartment. It really is cool here. But my feet are about to fall off and I’m exhausted, so that’s all I’ll say tonight.

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Today was an amazing day. I can hardly wrap my head around it. The first thing we did was walk around in the Juilliard School of Music, Dance, and Drama, which was awesome. Then my mom’s friend and her two daughters came over and we spent a bunch of time with them. After we showed them around and chatted, we went to an adorable restaurant called “Alice’s Teacup.” We ordered “The Jabberwocky,” which consisted of beverages, scones, and unlimited sandwiches. Some of the sandwiches were good, and others weren’t my favorite – and the same with the scones. But it was still really fun, and they sprinkled us with glitter at the end. We all had a great time.

After a long, hearty lunch, we took a cab to Times Square. We went shopping at Forever 21 for a long time, though we didn’t get much. On the way back we stopped by “Pinkberry” and got tasty frozen yogurt. Then we went back to the apartment and hung out for a while – we went up on the roof of the apartment complex, took pictures, and relaxed. And finally, the big moment came.

My mom’s friend dropped us off in her slick BMW convertible (I want one!). We walked into the Gershwin Theatre, registered our tickets, found our seats and waited for the show to begin.

It was amazing; every bit of it was either a laugh-out-loud moment or a heart-wrenching part of one wildly wonderful, well-done, Wicked production. If you haven’t seen it, you have to. It was truly amazing, and I hope I will never forget it. I don’t think I will. Nothing I write here will do it justice – some things can’t be expressed in words.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

This morning we got up a little earlier than usual to go to church. It was a singles ward, though there were members there that wouldn’t normally be in a singles ward (like us). At the end, my mom and I chatted with an old friend from Vermont who is now a fairly famous ballerina living here. It was nice to see her again, after such a long time.

We came back to the apartment and hung out until my mom’s aunt and uncle came over. We talked for a good amount of time and then took the subway to a place where we waited in line for quite a while. Then we hopped on a ferry and rode over to Governor’s Island. We circled the island, but on the way we got ice cream, took pictures of the Statue of Liberty (on an island a little ways away), checked out some extremely weird art exhibits, and then ferried home.

For dinner we went out to a very nice Chinese restaurant, Shun Lee. I ordered sweet and sour pork (something I am used to and I know I like), and tried some new things from everyone else’s dishes. It was delicious.

My relatives said their goodbyes and left tonight – now the only time we have left in New York is tomorrow morning and part of the afternoon. And we’ll do whatever we want with that time.

Monday, September 6, 2010

My day started out in New York City and ended a few thousand miles away from there. Though we only had a few short hours left in the big city, we got a lot of stuff done – packing (a given), a quick walk through the peaceful trees of Central Park, a short trip inside the Museum of Natural History (which was really cool; I wanted to stay much longer than we did), brunch at the Shake Shack (which everyone has been talking about), some frozen yogurt from Pinkberry (coconut!), we picked up a really amazing treat at the Magnolia Bakery called “Blueberry Jamboree,” and traveled back to the airport. I read and slept a little on the flight home.

Was that a successful trip or what? I sure think so. I can’t wait to go back, either.

Back

Summer, as usual, got busy - I spent more time than I thought with my cousins at my grandparents' house, less time than I would have guessed doing Night Games, and tons of time practicing the piano, organizing my desk and other parts of my room, and thinking about school.

So, school is back in. It became astonishingly overwhelming incredibly fast. I was having a hard time keeping up with my practicing and spending hours on homework that I couldn't spare. Losing sleep and skipping meals and feeling half-dead all the time were some things that were happening, so my mom decided I had had enough. She talked to my guidance counselor and I've had a change in schedule - I'm no longer in the GT (Gifted and Talented) classes. They don't count for college and I personally think they are meant for those who would be bored out of their minds in a normal class, so they're just not worth it.

I'll still technically be in GT science (because it really isn't different from the core science class), but for history and English, I'm done. I'm excited to meet new people and be with some of my other friends that I haven't had classes with, but I'm really sad to leave those in my GT classes. I went all through seventh grade with them and was planning on going through eighth grade too - but it became too much. Maybe that's my fault for spending more time than needed on homework, or getting less sleep that I should have, or maybe it's a change that was meant to happen. Maybe I'm just not cut out for it, at least right now. But for all my friends I'm leaving - I'll miss you! And to my other friends that I may get to see more often - I'll see you soon!