A little bit of Country in NYC

So, I'll admit I'm not the the number one country music fan in the world, however, that has never stopped me from going to a concert and having a good time. I do like to listen to it from time to time and plus, Kenny Chesney is such a little hottie and very fun to watch. We stole these cowboy hats off the heads of some guys and forced them to take our picture so we could live in the moment. Two NY city wall street girls donning cowboy hats at Madison Square Gardens. We did it up right with beer and hot dogs to boot. Yowsa.

Yet even more funny, I always seem to not realize that my camera is switched to video instead of "picture" mode and end up with these stupid videos where we are posing for pictures. They never fail to crack me up every time I watch them though. I probably have about 30 of them. (not all from this night of course!!)

The Old Gang

The old crowd was back together again - and some things never change. It was nice to be back in the comfort zone with old friends, having dinner at favorite old restaurants and drinks at favorite old bars. It reminds me of when I first moved to New York and Vinny and Christine were always showing me around - to this place or that. So here we are again, reminiscing the good old days when life was a little less complicated and we all shared together in our little part of the city. Such a big city can seem so small when you have good friends to pass the time.

My Sappy Post

As I sit back and reflect on the last 10 years of my life today, I realize how much I have changed. I know that I am not yet the person I want to be (we all have our flaws). But I am slowly getting there.

Years ago I would sit back and take things as they came. People would tell me what to do, and I would do it. I would let people take advantage of me, say things to disturb me emotionally and not show anger, avoid confrontation, and didn't ask for what I wanted.

I was thinking about the last few years and how moving to New York has helped me change. They say that New York people are hard.. and maybe they are. But, I am thankful that I have had my time here. Living here has given me confidence and strength.

I remember when I moved here alone in April 2004, only knowing my good friend Christine. I was scared and excited all at the same time. That was where I had my first change. I remember going to my interview for my job and thinking that I was just going to go in there and be a new person. I wasn't going to be demure and submissive. I was going to go in there and be the stronger person that I wanted to be. And, I did. I went in there and said things I would never say. I took the reigns.

From that point on, I began to start doing things for myself more and started to expect more things from others. Some didn't like this because my expectations for them had changed and they had to give more to me to be in my life - and when I say give more, I mean time and emotion not money. This created significant life changes for me but I am thankful now to be where I am and who I am.

I know that it will continue to be a journey for me to keep changing into who I want to be and learning about life along the way. But, there is something to be said about living in the moment and being satisfied.

Habitat for Humanity

This year for my corporate sponsored community service day I decided to sign up for Habitat for Humanity...partially because I waited so long to sign up and it was pretty much the only thing left, and partially because each year I consider it and then usually change to something else due to location and ease of getting there by train.

The house we worked on was in Patterson NJ. I have never really been to a city like Patterson - where the whole thing just seems like the town is dying and run down. I'm not going to lie, I was a little scared driving through there. I borrowed my friend's car and ended up getting lost because apparently the thing to do in Patterson is to steal the street signs. I'm not joking when I say that about 60% of the street signs were missing. I had no idea where I was going and the neighborhood was pretty shady.

After finding the place, we got right to work putting in subflooring which was kind of exciting for me. I hadn't done any real home improvement-type stuff since I left my house in Salt Lake (minus putting in a linoleum tile floor in my apartment).

There was a typical 'girly girl' that had signed up for the event. She stood around for a few hours and did NOTHING - which was very annoying. She did spend a lot of time texting though... I finally looked at her while the rest of us were working and asked her if she wanted me to show her how to hammer in nails. She reluctantly agreed and I got to watch her fumble with the hammer one nail at a time. It was actually kind of funny considering she was wearing her Juicy Coture and seemed worried about breaking a nail. She disappeared a few more times, then disappeared for good. Why on earth would she sign up for an event like this? Maybe she was in the same boat as me, ran out of choices. But I am guessing that it was more that she ran out of choices but still wanted a free day off of work. She is not in the pic since she disappeared or I would have pointed her out to you.

Happy Bday to Toddsky

21st birthdays only come along once in a lifetime and it's always fun when you get to be a part of one. My friend Todd turned 21 while on a business trip to NYC. We went to 230 5th Avenue which boasts that it is the largest rooftop bar in Manhattan (which I totally believe!). Its an upscale swanky type of lounge that was a lot of fun.

My favorite parts of the night.. watching the bday boy imbibe and totally enjoy himself and Maggie and I lying to men who were trying to pick us up. Here's the story behind that...

We have these two guys that work with us that lie like hell to girls all the time when they go out. They make up stories and tell them that they are traders to get them to like them and the girls always believe it. They put on sports coats and go out to make the story more believable. So... these guys were hitting on Maggie and I at the bar and they were slightly annoying - you know, trying to build themselves up and bragging about what they do. Come to find out they work at a competitor. We wanted to shut them down.. so we lied and told them we were international equity traders. It took about a full two minutes before they turned around and left. Hilarious. Success in life is measured by career, sucess in picking up men is measured by how much less intelligent you seem to them.