AF ENY

I love the people I work with. I feel like it was the perfect transition after college - a group of people around the same age with similar interests. Since I live alone and have relatively few friends in the city, I am so lucky to have people at work that I can genuinely call my friends.

I still don't know how to upload YouTube videos... I'm behind on this technology. But watch this to see how awesome our school is. This was at a professional development event that gathers all AF teachers/staff from CT and NY. Each school performs a "cheer" and this was ours. It was a fun moment and fun experience with my coworkers. (Yes, I have a small singing part in the beginning... ignore that and watch the rapping sections!)

AFENY = awesome.

Oh and SPRING IS HERE!!! (Too bad for you OK/TX with your snow?! wtf...)

Oh AND 5 DAYS TILL IRELAND!!!!

resolutions and thoughts

How did my February resolution go?

Well... pretty good I guess. I did do something social every day, but I think what I realized was that I need more than a little convo or sending a note, etc. I need real, up front human interaction. I think part of it is that I work with kids all day and I crave more adult human interactions. Little short term steps - things to consider for longer terms.

What is my March resolution?

I'm doing okay at this... but when I do it right I feel really great about it! Work-Life separation. I cannot do work at home. I'll stay late at work or bring "work home" but I have to go somewhere else to do it. This way home is a relaxing, fun, happy place!

One of my work "personal priorities" that I'm working on my growth in is playing my flute. I have a chart at work and I have to play at least 2 hours every week. Its been really nice and really ...eye opening at the same time. I love playing so much, and it has really been my one major passion in life. I'm really glad to be playing more again.

In a way, however, it is a reminder that I'll never know if I made the right decision. I am happy now, and I genuinely think I'm more of a complete person... but I miss that part of my life. And in a way, its kind of comforting to have something define you.

Its made me realize too, that I got a lot of my confidence as a person from playing. I think its the only thing that I have ever felt really comfortable saying "I'm good at ______"... and even then I had some doubts. All in all, I have realized that I am in many ways a person who lacks confidence. We should all be confident - be aware of what we're good at and be proud of that. To not be ashamed of who we are - recognizing our flaws, but also proudly saying our strengths. Something for me to think about... and apparently blog about ;)

Oh, and... I'm going to Ireland in 17 days!!!!!!!!

snow day #2!

Amazing. NYC did not have a snow day for 6 years. And this year we got TWO! and this one made for a 3 day weekend!!! This was pretty much one of the best days ever! Started off with chatting with my coworkers at 5am talking about how we hoped it would happen... and then it did! I had a nice, relaxing morning - watched some tv, made some oatmeal, didn't get dressed until around noon! Then I headed up to the city.

Got a much needed hair cut and bought some MUCH needed rain boots - "plastic shoes" as I like to call them. These things are genius - they give you so much walking freedom its really amazing! Oh, big puddle? Nothing my plastic shoes can't handle. Oh, yucky slush? No problem! Love it.

Then we ventured into Central Park. I LOVE Central Park!! It had 20 inches of snow and it was a winter wonderland! So many people were out playing and sledding and chatting and living! I loved it!

We went to the Great Lawn to stay away from the trees (it was kind of dangerous out there!) Here is a video of Heather and Alison frolicking happily in the knee-high snow!

Then we built my first real snow man! It was so much fun! I loooove playing in the snow! It was kind of a work out too! I told Nisah (my coteacher) that I was going to build us a boyfriend... I must say - he's a looker! :)

For more pictures of our snow-filled fun in Central Park, check out my facebook album! :)

Then we headed over to "Halloween Bar" as we call it (Pat O'Briens) to have some drinks and ended up playing some beer pong!

Beer pong just makes 'going out for a drink' feel way more college-social-y. So much fun!

Earlier in the day, Emilie (my Broadway guru) told me that Hair was having a snow day special AND the cast is about to go to London and I wanted to see them before they left.

Wicked is my favorite 'story' of a show that I have seen but Hair is definitely my favorite show! When I saw it last time, I felt like I didn't get to enjoy it as much as I should have and knew I had to see it again! and i DID! It was AMAZING!!!! The audience was really great and I LOVE the tribe (aka. the cast). The story is great. The music - SO FUN. Ah! I LOVE IT! :)

I'm going to spill over into the weekend, because the snow ALSO gave me a free Saturday by cancelling grad school!

I got to see one of my friends, Lyndsey, perform in NYU's A Midsummer Night's Dream. It was soo good! It was really fun to see her perform - she did an awesome job! Shakespeare is a funny man. The show was geared towards families and such and the kids in the audience LOVED it - it was so nice to see little kids enjoy Shakespeare. There was question and answer time at the end and they were asking some awesome questions! I've decided that I want to take more advantage of NYU and other collegiate happenings around the city!

Aaaaand I finally hung out with Natalie in our neighborhood! Lived within blocks for months, and finally - we hang out! :) Here's a picture to prove it!

We've done it twice in two days... so I think the trend looks good!

This weekend only further restored my deep love for life, and NYC!

recipe #4

Minestrone Soup!

I discovered a recipe app on my phone! I think I'll end up using it more for inspiration than anything else (it doesn't use a lot of fresh ingredients, mostly canned/boxed/frozen stuff). But it does have tons of great ideas I can peruse during down time! I actually decided to make this when I was out to dinner with the fam and had a good cup of minestrone as an appetizer!

Ingredients:

Chicken broth, carrots, peas, green beans, celery, kidney beans, stewed tomatoes, pasta, basil, garlic, salt/pepper. (can we say eat your veggies?!)

Directions:

I just added some of all the above into a big pot and let it cook for about 15 minutes. haha

Laura's Review

I cooked this for Heather and Alison one night and it was really good! They enjoyed it as well! Suuuper easy to make, and pretty healthy! Everybody loves a good hot soup in the cold winter. :)

Then we had some Crumbs for dessert. I must say - Crumbs can make any day (good or bad) a better day. And Kirsten - you are right - sometimes the filling is the best part! (the Raspberry filling on the one we got was AMAZING)

winter break!

Soo much to blog about! I'm writing three blogs: winter break, recipe #4, and snow day #2! I decided combining these would not be good to read - too long - loses interest. So I'm spreading them out over a few days :)

WINTER BREAK

New York does this amazing thing - in February, we get a week off! Not really sure why, but I am not complaining! I shall include some highlights of my week:

Sarah and Heather

Sarah came in from Portland and we got to spend the weekend together! They were my Valentines and we had a splendid dinner with drinks! We had:

- flowers

- pomegranate martinis

- apple/raspberry salad

- chicken stuffed with fontina (side: green beans)

- chocolate fondue and fruits

- white wine

It was lovely! Valentine's Day is just as good with lovely ladies as it is with a man!

We also went to the Met!

This museum is straight up crazy - there is so much to see that you could go several times and always see something new. We took one of their free tours, which I really enjoy because then you find out information that you would have otherwise overlooked.

Callie!

Callie was in town to see her family so I got to see Callie!!! We had a day of fun and it was so lovely! What I love most about great friends is that you can not see them for months but when you get back together, its like nothing ever changed! (Love you, Callie!)

First we went to Yum Yum! (And it was Yummy!) Then, we went to the Museum of Natural History. We went through the galaxy several times in a maze of confusion, saw some dinos, lots of stuffed animals - etc. That museum is a bit confusing, we found, but fun and interesting all the same! Here's a picture of us, sitting in a clam!

Then we saw Princess and the Frog!

Naturally, I think of Callie whenever I think of Disney so she was the perfect person for me to see this with! It was SOOO funny! And I loved the story! I still giggle whenever I think "Go to bed! You are from Shreveport?!" hahaha Everybody should enjoy this film! Well done, Disney. Well done.

Then we met up with Callie's fam for some Ukranian dinner! I love Callie's family so much! They are so welcoming and just make you feel part of the group! I had never had Ukranian food, and I must say - pleasantly surprised! I shall return. Then we had some yummmmmy fro-yo at 16 Handles (which Callie and I thought was 16 Candles). It may have been freezing outside, but we enjoyed that fro-yo with the best of them! :)

I miss everybody so much, and it was great to see Callie!

The Family

Then my family came in town! (So many visitors, I know!) We haven't spent very much time as a whole family in the past years so it was good to have a chance to have everybody together! Some highlights:

- Walking around Central Park (a lot of walking! haha Central Park is one my favorite things about the city, so it was good to just leisurely walk through it and have some time to enjoy it)

- playing checkers and riding the carousel in Central Park (my mom was so excited, it was so cute!)

- Phantom of the Opera

- Comedy club with my brother (it was soo funny!)

- The Metropolitan Opera: La Boheme (opening night!)

La Boheme was probably my favorite New York memory so far - it was AMAZING. The sets were so impressive and the singing was soo beautiful! I absolutely loved it!

A big thanks to my family for coming out for the weekend in the big city! :)

It was kind of a weird break for me... I had a lot on my mind. But it was injected with so many good things that looking back, it was a great break! :)