Heather!

Heather visited me this weekend! We had a great time. I love having visitors!

Heather arrived around 2:00 on Saturday. I took the bus to the airport to meet her, then we took a cab back to my apartment. By the time we got home, it was pouring rain. Blah, not a good way to start the weekend! But, after grabbing some lunch, we decided to brave the weather and walked out to Times Square to get tickets for a Broadway show that night. We were successful, and after getting our tickets, we stopped in to the Hershey's store and the M&M store for some fun before heading home for a NY pizza dinner.

Fun with M&M pillows!

After dinner we went to see "Spring Awakening." We had heard really great things about it, and that it was a must-see. We did enjoy it, but weren't sure it totally lived up to the hype. It had been described to us as being sort of a new "Rent" - dealing with growing up, sex, abuse, suicide, and other various adolescent challenges. It was set in 1890s Germany, which was very interesting contrast to its rock-y music. I did really love the music. The subject matter was intense, but I didn't feel the attachment to the characters that I felt in "Rent," which is why I didn't love it. It was still really enjoyable though, and I've had the songs in my head ever since.

With Heather outside of the theater

After the show we went to a bar in our neighborhood called Valhalla (which makes me think of old NEHI homecomings!). One of Heather's Busch Gardens friends who recently moved to NYC met us there for some drinks, and we watched the Rays game (they lost, boo). Despite the Rays' loss, it was a nice evening out on the town!

On Sunday we walked up to Central Park to do a little sight-seeing. We enjoyed a nice walk in the park, checking out all the fall foliage. Some of the trees are such bright yellows and oranges, it was really beautiful. We saw the Imagine mosaic and Strawberry Fields, then headed east and had lunch in a cafe near the Central Park Zoo.

Heather and me amongst the fall

Being goofy - cheering on the runners in Central Park!

Imagine mosaic

Walking through the park

After lunch we left the park and went to FAO Schwartz, where we were just in time to catch the Big Piano show, which is always fun to watch! After that, it was time to catch our "Sex and the City" bus tour! We spent the next 3.5 hours driving around Manhattan, checking out many spots that were featured in the show. We were able to get out a few times and explore some of the places of interest, and it was a lot of fun. It was a good girly afternoon!

On the bus - somehow we ended up with the two seats at the very back!

One of the sights - a little bookstore in the Village. I bought a very silly book here called "The Book of Bunny Suicides: Little Furry Rabbits Who Just Don't Want to Live Anymore" by Andy Riley. It's a collection of ridiculous cartoons about poor bunnies who have just lost the will to live. It made me laugh, so I bought it.

A sample of the poor bunnies featured in my book. Get up, bunnies! Don't just lay there! Get on the ark! Now is not the time for tanning!

Enjoying cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery

Enjoying cosmopolitans at Steve and Aidan's bar!

After the tour, we went back to the apartment and spent the evening in. Eric made cheeseburgers and we watched the "Sex and the City" movie (what can I say, we were inspired) and then the Rays game. Another loss! Not good, Rays. Let's get it together.

Monday Heather and I were on our own all day, since Eric has that pesky job that occupies his time. I was pretty nervous about being in charge of the tour all day - I had never navigated these parts of NY by myself before. But I must say, I did a great job! I didn't get us lost once. We started off the day by taking the subway down to Battery Park to see the Statue of Liberty. We contemplated taking the ferry over for a closer look and to see Ellis Island, but decided against it. Instead, we just sat on a bench looking out at the water and the Statue and ate the lunch we had packed. So nice! As we were leaving, Heather was chosen from the crowed to be part of a street performance! She and a few other people were pulled into the center of the crowd and asked to crouch down, while one of the performers flipped over the line of "volunteers!" Crazy.

Heather with the Statue of Liberty behind her

Heather and the rest of the volunteers crouching down, about to be flipped over

From there we walked up to Wall Street and saw the Bull and the Stock Exchange, then continued on to Ground Zero. Then we hopped back on the subway and went up to 34th Street, where we saw the giant Herald Square Macy's and went up to the top of the Empire State Building! The view was, of course, amazing, and I was even able to quickly spot our apartment!

Heather and the Bull

On top of the Empire State Building

Looking northwest from the top of the Empire State Building

Looking south

Then we went to Times Square to get tickets to another show. This time, we decided to go off-Broadway and got tickets to Altar Boyz, which is playing at the New World Stages near our apartment. It was great! It's about a small-town Christian boy band, comprised of Matthew, Mark, Luke, Juan and Abraham, playing their first show in the Big Apple. It was thoroughly entertaining through the entire show. And, Eric got off work in time to join us! So that was also nice. After the show, we went straight home - it was SO COLD outside! Much too cold for any late-night meandering around the city.

With Eric after the show

Crazy walk signal on the way home - do we walk? Do we not walk? Who can tell?

On Tuesday, the lousy weather was back. The high was in the low 40s and it was pouring rain again. Heather and I did brave the elements and went to Times Square to see a movie ("The Changeling"), and then to...you guessed it!...get tickets to yet another show! This time we saw Chicago, and it was just us girls who went. It was also a great show, and after it was over, they had "Talkback Tuesdays." This Tuesday the costume designer for the show gave a little talk about how he developed the costumes and how they've changed over the years, so that was interesting. After that we went back home and called it a night.

Heather left around noon today, and that was our visit! It was so much fun, and I really appreciated the break from my studies for some quality sister time (and NYC time!). Now it's back to business. I'm leaving on Friday for Columbus, OH for a weekend of work, then when I get back it will be crunch time, because my first GRE test is a week from Saturday. Yikes! So, the party's over.