New York June 2010

My good friend Jenny, who has been running with me for a couple of years, had her heart set on running a race in New York City before moving to Indiana. I thought it would be fun to make a trip out of it and invite anyone else who wanted to run or just come for a fun weekend to say goodbye to Jenny. So Crystal, Amber, and Jessica came too. We drove down Friday morning, did a session at the temple, and played the rest of the day. Saturday morning we ran the race. After playing all day Friday, my legs were not exactly happy with me. The first mile was horrible, but by the second half of the race, I felt pretty good. We stayed in New York the rest of the day and didn't get home until 3am! We were all exhausted at church the next day, but it was SO worth it!



The Manhattan Temple



Amber, Crystal, Me, and Jessica outside Radio City Music Hall



The view of Central Park from our hotel



Jessica, Crystal, Jenny, and me outside the Guggenhiem Museum. I have wanted to go into that museum my whole art loving life, and I still haven't been there! We decided to come back the next day when it was free, but we couldn't fit it in. At least I got to see the outside, which is better than I did on my honeymoon 13 years ago.



Isn't it just crazy?! I love Frank Lloyd Wright!



Outside the Met



Coordinating cell phones before wandering on our own for a few hours.



This is the painting that Shayne and I bought a print of on our honeymoon, which started our art-print-buying-on-vacation tradition. It has always hung in our baby's room. First Steps by Van Gogh.





I love Van Gogh's impasto. I just love sculptural paint!





Ah, Cezanne. . . .



I looked all through the glass case storage area to find George Inness, and I found some great pieces along the way. Instead of boxing things up and sticking them in a room somewhere, the museum stores pieces in rows and rows of glass cases. I guess they're renovating the American section. So, here is Robert Feke. . .



. . . and John Singleton Copley, the artists I did my final paper on for American Art History. Oh, how I loved that class! (Doesn't Copley just rock compared to Feke!?!?)







And here he is!! His pieces were on the LAST row of the glass cases, and we found him 10 minutes before closing!



St. Patrick's Cathedral - our honeymoon hotel is around here somewhere, the New York Palace.



Rockefeller Plaza



Race Day!



Look, we're running! Can you tell? (sarcasm, sarcasm. . . .)



Yeah!



And now we're done!



After walking around on Friday, our feet were killing us. So, we opted for more practical footwear on Saturday.



Ellen's Stardust Diner was so amazing. The wait staff are all Broadway singers, and they sing the whole time! When we came in, someone was singing "Part of Your World" from the Little Mermaid, one of my favorites!





They take requests, and these two servers sang "Lily's Eyes" from the Secret Garden for me. It was so beautiful I wanted to cry! It was SO worth the over-priced food.







Times Square with Jenny



Brooklyn Bridge - We found the nicest New Yorkers on this trip. We were trying to get to the bridge from the subway stop, so we asked someone for directions. After walking for about a block, this same guy comes running up behind us to tell us that he pointed us in the wrong direction. Who says all New Yorkers are mean?!?



We went to the Woodward Gallery, where my friend Margaret Morrison exhibits her art, but she only had one piece currently on display in the office. Her agent directed us to the Gourmet Garage, where she has some pieces installed, and recommended we stop at this candy place called Papa Bubbles. It was a great walk through Little Italy and Soho.









The Gourmet Garage









Gelato in Little Italy





My kids have read "It Happened on Mulberry Street" and "The Castle on Hester Street," so I thougth this was pretty funny.



Do you see the castle on Hester Street? Me neither.



Mmmm. . . .



We wanted to go to Battery Park, but we only had time to jump out of the subway, take a quick picture, and grab the next subway up town to see South Pacific at the Theater at Lincoln Center.





These pictures are from after the show (which was fabulous) because our train decided not to stop at Lincoln Center. We had to get off at the next stop and run 7 blocks (as if we hadn't run enough that day!) to pick up our tickets in time!

After the show, we picked up the car (which we had parked for free on the street somewhere in the Upper West Side) and headed back to the hotel to pick up our bags and get another Gyro before going home. The Gyro's were amazing! It was such a great trip, but it made going back to real life really difficult. Two whole days of doing whatever I wanted spoiled me for at least a week! I'm so grateful to all our great husbands/parents for watching all of our babies so we could have this awesome girls' getaway.