It's Just Us..: I KNOW I'm Waaaaaay Behind on Blogging... Part 1

{So, I've had soooooo much to blog recently - I've been choosing the "don't blog at all" path.. Now, I am TRYING to catch up.. In no particular order!! (these will eventually be put in order, but for now, here they are!!)}

So, I had this brilliant idea.. Chelsea was going to need a getaway.. Pronto..

With Davy's approval, some help from my high school friend Gwen, a clever idea from Todd, and a great price from Delta, everything was in place!!!

With UVU starting (1/6) {Chelsea's first semester} AND Todd leaving on his mission (1/13), the MLK holiday was timed perfectly..

I decided to surprise Chelsea and take her to NYC for the weekend..

She knew I had a surprise that would occur after Todd left.. She didn't even know it was a trip..

Todd and I texted about it quite a bit, and he started sending her quotes from the Jay-Z/Alecia Keys song "New York State of Mind".. now, the funny thing is, she HATES this song, and he chose such obscure quotes, all they really did was confuse her..

So, Friday the 15th, she got home from school, and I told her she needed to pack for 3 days.. and that it would be cold.. {and she needed toiletries under 3 ounces..}

Here is where the adventure begins..

our lovely Salt Lake International Airport..

We were taking the Red-Eye.. Our flight was at 11:50 pm..

We left at 9:10 pm..

We left in PLENTY of time, right??

{stay tuned}

We received some inspiration, that, well, we didn't heed..

1. We got in the car and I HOUNDED her about making sure she had her driver's license..

2. We were hungry, but we decided not to stop and get anything in a drive thru {that, in itself is not common behavior for us}

3. We had about a half a tank of gas, and considered filling up..

::Sigh::

{why, oh why, oh why didn't we listen??}

So, we get on the freeway, and I couldn't wait any longer, and played her clue from Todd (as if speaking to her from the MTC..) "New York State of Mind"..

Now she knows, and we fill our drive with chat of what we will/could do..

We pull into Short-Term Parking at 10:20 and I ask Chelsea to hand me my credit card..

I left my purse at home..

I can't EVER remember leaving my purse behind..

Cash

Credit Cards

All sitting on the stairs at home..

An hour away..

I call Davy, who pulls the girls out of bed, hops in his car {which was, of course, out of gas} gets gas, and meets us with said purse..

We didn't meet up until the Lehi Roller Mills exit.. (sorry for those of you who don't have a frame of reference for that..)

We turn around and speed back to the airport..

Did I mention I got pulled over in the airport parking lot at 11:25??

Did I mention there was ONE person working security??

Did I mention that I had pre-printed our boarding passes?? ::WHEW::

Did I mention that our flight was NO LONGER on the departure board, so I just went with Gate C8, that Davy had mentioned in passing as something he'd read off his iPhone?? again, ::WHEW::

Did I mention we RAN to Gate C8, where there were NO lights on, and one woman standing all alone??

They were in the process of shutting the door..

Come to think of it, they never even looked at our tickets.. We just ran on..

Let's just say, it took us a while to get our heart rates down enough to THINK of falling asleep..

On to the trip..

Day One

We checked in to our hotel (the Residence Inn Times Square, where my old friend, Gwen is the General Manager) and, well, went to bed for about 3 hours..

We got up and went to our first order of business.. Tickets to Wicked!!

Well, they were sold out.. I was shocked we had FOUR possible times we could have gone.. all sold out.. BUMMER

On to our second choice.. Mary Poppins!! (got those for that night - Saturday - if you're keeping track)

We decided to check out the Discovery Channel Museum.. {I guess its fairly new}

It was, alright, I guess.. I thought it was kind of small??

And for the size it seemed a little pricey {especially after being in DC where all the museums are FREE}

They really tried to make it nice, but after awhile it was just a little monotonous..

{And it turned into something we just tried to "get through" , but not without cracking each other up, like Chelsea making her way up to the next case to {fake} excitedly exclaim, "SPOONS!!"} ..maybe you had to be there.. pretty much hi.lar.i.ous.

All-in-all.. It was a lot of dishes..

They did give you a name of someone who was actually on the Titanic, and at the end you could see if you lived.. Chelsea did.. I didn't..

We went to lunch, and continued the "Walkers REALLY know how to eat authentic New York Cuisine" and ate at Fridays..

Chelsea enjoying her Chicken Caesar Salad..

It was actually a great locale, since we were now on the hunt for another Broadway show to see.. We were right in the front window of Fridays, where we could see all the Times Square signs, added with our iPhones we did lots of research and chose our next musical.. {more on that later}, bought tickets, stopped at the Roxy for our "after-show" treat, and headed back to the hotel..

Well, I know its boring, but we were sleepy.. {yes, we took another nap}

The view out our window..^^

The view right next to me..^^

The view out our window AFTER our nap..^^

Chelsea in Times Square.. Before our show..

At Mary Poppins!!

We really liked it!! They do change the story line from the movie..

The set = AMAZING

{And Mr. Banks was played by the same guy who was Zazu the first time I saw Lion King!!}

We went back to the room.. and, well, went to bed..

AND we laughed at how we already felt like we'd been in NYC for 3 days, with our frequent napping..

Day Two

We slept in.. Shocker..

By the time we were ready, we were ready for lunch, and headed to the ESPN Zone..

We really do like the food there..

We MUST, because we weren't thinking, and got there for the beginning of the Vikings/Cowboys playoff game.. It was crazy loud.. But yummy..

It turned out to be a very rainy day, which seems to be all Chelsea gets in good ol' NYC..

We headed to the Natural History Museum..

And after a quick visit to underground Queens, we got there.. (my subway skills are still lacking)

This is the museum where "Night at the Museum" supposedly took place..

Some of it is right..

..like this.. ^^

..another view.. very cool, actually..

..Chelsea has a thing for otters..

..not really these stuffed kind, but she tries to keep that part out of her mind..

..I decided we weren't taking enough pictures..

..and we happened to be in the South America section..

..The ACTUAL main entrance..

No T-Rex like in the movie.. but dinos..

AND it was the LAST place we went to, (we came in the subway entrance)

Outside..

{that's actually just rain}

The Theodore Roosevelt Statue is actually outside the museum..

From here I had the brilliant idea to walk by "The Dakota".. The place where John Lennon was shot.. {not that we're huge Beatles fans, just something to say we'd seen}

With address in hand, we trudged thru the rain..

Long story short.. There isn't even a sign on the building to call it "The Dakota"!!

When we got back to the hotel I looked it up on Wikipedia.. We apparently stood right in front of it.. just didn't know.. So if you want to see it, look it up on Wiki, and imagine Chelsea in her orange coat standing there.. Thats what we do..

Wouldn't you know the next subway station was closed, so we hiked clear to Columbus Circle to take the Subway back to Times Square.. {you have to understand, it was POURING}

After a quick stop at our hotel, it was on to musical #2..

Billy Elliot..

Here are the facts:

All the music written by Elton John..

Won the Tony for best musical in 2008

This. Kid. Could. Dance.

And wow. Do they love the f-bomb in this show..

Its the first thing Billy Elliot says.. (he's 11)

Every cast member, down to a 6 year old says it..

There's one song where it's chanted.. {"F - F - F - F.." you get the picture}

Let's say we didn't buy the CD

All-in-all it really was a good show.. And the kid dancing.. FABULOUS

Oh, and Chelsea got to sit by 2 old gay snuggly men, which was an added bonus for her..

{ah, she's such a "big-city" girl..}

It was raining/blowing so hard on our way back, both of our umbrellas were thrashed..

Day Three

Rain gone!!

We went to the top of the Empire State Building..

It was very cold and windy..

This picture ^^ just makes me think of "Elf"

Back to Times Square where we ate, again, at the ESPN Zone..

Wacky.. We know..

The setting for the video "New York State of Mind".. and well, lots of other things..

^^Check out the dude in the FDNY hoodie..

Cute^^

I remember seeing this in December 2009,

and knowing Chelsea would love it..

AND we happened to run into it again!!

So, did you know World of Disney closed on December 31??

That's all I want to say about that..

We really wanted to go to Abercrombie & Fitch, since they aren't in Utah anymore..

This place is massive.. 4 floors..

They had A&F models in the entrance to greet you..

Every employee welcomed you with a "hey! how's it going?" or "what's up?"

{it was kind of weird}

We were about to head up the stairs when one of the models from the entrance stopped us..

Here's our conversation:

Model: "Are you in New York visiting?"

Marci & Chelsea: "Yes.."

M: "Where are you from?"

M&C: "Utah"

M: "Oh! Utah! Great! I am a recruiting model, and my boss saw you {Chelsea, not Marci, if you were wondering} come in, and we'd like you to come be a model for us.."

M&C: "ummm"

M: "Are you local?"

M&C: "Um, no, we're from Utah.."

M: "Oh, so you're not based in the city?"

M&C: "No" {realizing this guy, who by the way had a delicious British accent wasn't hired for his brains..}

M: "Darn, well, if you ever move to the city, we'd be very interested in you working for us!"

Wow.

All-in-all, a pretty cool experience.. who knows if it really would have turned into anything..

Now, as we walked through this massive store, we ended up getting a huge case of the giggles, because we started looking around at the photos of the models..

They were something like this: