The Time Has Come

When I decided to move to New York City, I never put a timeframe on how long I would stay here. I knew I could be here for a year, five years, or maybe even forever. I really had no idea! While I love pretty much everything about NYC, I have decided that it's time to head back down south. I have made wonderful friends while living here and have had some unforgettable experiences that you can only have in New York! Even though it will be a little difficult to leave such a magical city, I am looking forward to moving back to Birmingham! I am excited about being in the same city as my family and friends and getting back in to the slower, more peaceful lifestyle of southern culture. I am so glad that I was able to have this opportunity. I know it is something that I will never be able forget and that it is something I will always cherish! I know I am going to have to make a yearly trip to NYC to prevent any withdraws! Sadly enough, some of the things I am going to miss the most about New York include food!
       Shake Shack
       Trader Joe's
       Mr. Softee
       Molly's Cupcakes (The BEST in the city  World!)
       The food trucks! Most Importantly, Gorilla Cheese!

Of course I will miss the shopping and getting student rush tickets to Broadway shows, but I know I will have more opportunity to do that one day!

Peace Out NYC! Miss you already!

See Ya Sunday, Birmingham!

Winter Hibernation

Wow! Long time, no blog post. I must say, I was hibernating. Even though New York had the second warmest winter on record this year, It was still unbearable at some points. Now that spring has officially sprung, I plan on getting back into the blogging thing! Over the last four months, I have been back to Alabama twice, saw some Broadway shows, ate several, an embarrassing amount of cupcakes and have fallen in love with running in Central Park. In January, some of my best friends from home come and visit! It was SO great to see them and show them around the city that I love so much! Last month, my mom made her first trip to New York to come see me! I showed her the city through the eyes of a local. Instead of doing touristy things like seeing the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building, we walked through the villages, ran through the park, and even spent a day in Brooklyn. Instead of writing every detail of the last four months of my life here in NYC, I'll update you with pictures! 

 Bama Hoops Over Christmas Break

 The Naked Cowboy

 National Championship Game With The UA Alumni Association

 New Years Eve In Birmingham 

 Jane Came!

 Uhhhh

 Central Park 

 Spring Flowers

 My Friends Came To Visit 

 Jane Came!

 Highline Park 

 Mary Poppins on Broadway 

My Apartment 

October was dressed as January for Halloween

When I moved to New York, I knew I was going to see a lot of snow. When I found out snow was predicted for New York on Halloween weekend, everyone seemed so calm. Id snow was predicted in Alabama this early, everyone would be in a state of panic. Despite the weather predictions, My roommates and I decided to take the train to upstate NY for some apple picking and a trip to the Vanderbilt Mansion. Little did we know, we were in for an epic adventure. When we got off the train, our taxi driver that took us to the apple orchid warned us to get out of town by 2:00. Since we had just paid for our train ticket up there, we decided to ignore his advice and go on about our day. The snow really began to fall when we were at the orchid. After we were done picking apples, we decided to call the Vanderbilt mansion to make sure they were still opened before we made the trip. They said they were so we had a taxi pick us up at the orchid and drop us up at the house.The taxi ride there was terrifying, We could feel the taxi fishtailing on the icy roadways. After about 30 minutes and several flashes of the past 23 years later, we arrived at the Vanderbilt mansion only to discover that it had closed down for the day.  While we waited for the taxi to pick us back up, we had the entire Vanderbilt estate to our selves and tons of untouched snow top play in. It was amazingly beautiful. The entire day I kept feeling like I should be in Christmas Spirit, but then I kept remembering it was Halloween and I had a while before the Christmas spirit set in. 

After a nice, relaxing dinner at a picturesque, wood-pannaled wall tavern, we got back on the train for what we thought would be an hour and a half trip back to the city. What should have taken an hour and a half took four hours due to trees falling on the train and the train tracks. We ended up having to transfer to another train because the train we were on was damaged from the trees! Overall, we had a fun day that I know I will remember for a long time.

On Sunday, I knew I wanted to see how the city looked with its Halloween Snow. After a fantastically fattening lunch at Shake Shack, my friend Jenna and I decided to explore Central Park. With Jenna's camera in hand, we set out to capture the rare  October snow. 

This past weekend was sone to remember. I am hoping and praying it was not a sign of a cold, snow winter to come!

Six Months

I can't believe it has been exactly six months since the April, 27th tornados. I remember that day like it was yesterday and I am sure I will remember it forever. The entire day was just a strange day all together. I was woken up around 5:30 that morning by the threat of early morning storms. Thankfully, those storms did not hit where I was. Little did I know, I would be a direct target later that day. I sat in Starbucks in Tuscaloosa that day for several hours working on a final project that I would never have to turn in. I had a seat right by the window and I kept noticing the sky getting darker and darker. I finally decided that I should head over to a friend's apartment just in case the weather decided to take a turn for the worse. After getting Chick F Lay and attempting to do our homework, James Spann began to grab our attention more that our homework assignments. After several panicked phone calls from our families in Birmingham, we decided to go to another apartment on the bottom floor of the building. We continued working on our homework until we heard James Spann say, "If you are a student at the University of Alabama, take shelter now, It is heading straight for you". Right after this was said, the power went out. We stepped on to the back porch to check things out and after seeing the tornado, we ran inside for cover. We went into a closet underneath the stairs. Right when we closed the door to the closet, the apartment began to shake and we could hear the windows begin to shatter. The tornado sounded like a mix between a jet and an airplane. We new the exact moment when the tornado was over us because out ears were popping and the building was shaking violently. Suddenly, everything got quite and the worried phone calls began to pour in. 

This is the first things I saw when I walked outside 

I found these soldiers in my car when I was cleaning out the glass

Poor Heidi

When we stepped outside, I was shocked. The apartment I was in was not more than 300 yards from complete devastation. I had no idea that the storm was that bad. The further we walked, the worse it got. The Starbuck I was in just a few short ours earlier was destroyed. Friend's houses were complete loses. Even though I didn't know anyone who lost their life that day, the town that I lived in for a few years was gone. At that point, I had live in Alabama my entire life and had the threat of tornadoes occur countless times. So much in fact, that I had assumed this one would just bring rain, thunder and a little bit of lightning. For days, Tuscaloosa did not have phone service which made i very difficult to get in touch with friends that were also in Tuscaloosa. Finding out that all of my friends were safe was a wonderful feeling.

Even though my friends and family were safe, many people were not so lucky. Please remember to keep Tuscaloosa, and other places that were in the path of this storm in your thoughts and prayers. 

A Huge Mountain, Two Bruised Feet and One Bee Sting Later...

Last Saturday, The Recent College Grad Group at the church I have been attending took a hiking trip to Cold Springs, New York to hike up Breakneck Mountain. We all met a little after 8 am at Grand Central Station and took an hour long train ride to the town of Cold Springs. It is hard to believe that places like this exist so close to the city. Even though I love being in the city, it was nice to get out of it and enjoy the beauty of New York State. The hike was a lot tougher than I thought it was going to be. I pictured my self with a walking stick and a red bandana holding my hair back and I walked up the rolling hills of the mountain. I couldn't have been more wrong. The first mile of the hike was straight up hill. I wasn't walking along rolling hills. I was propelling my self up rocks and positioning my body in awkward angles in order to get higher up the mountain. Even though the mountain was challenging, I didn't realize how much work I was doing until the next day when I realized I was sore in places I didn't know existed. I guess I was too busy talking with amazing new friends and enjoying the beauty of what was around us!

Almost Halfway There

Picture Break!

The Top! Looking over West Point.

Group Shot!

This past Saturday has probably been my favorite Saturday in New York! I had so much fun meeting new people and taking in the beauty of everything around me! It is easy to forget how pretty nature can be!

Only In New York

This season, I have really gotten in to the new TV series Pan Am! After catching up on it last night, I couldn't stop thinking about how fabulous New York was back then. When I woke up this morning, I checked my Twitter account and learned some very exciting news! 

PAN AM IS FILMING IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD TODAY!! 

I texted my roommates and my mom to let them know the exciting news! Little did I know that as I was walking to the subway, I would stumble upon the set! I would be lying to you if I didn't say I didn't consider skipping work to watch the filming!

  

Weekend Trip

Even though I absolutely love New York City, it is nice to get out of the hustle and bustle every once in a while. On Saturday, I took the train from Penn Station to visit some friends in New Jersey. The next morning, we woke up and headed for the adorable town of Princeton, home of Princeton University. The town is amazing. It is full of charming shops and restaurants.

Princeton has a Kate Spade, J Crew and Lilly Pulitzer on campus.

My favorite store was the Olive Oil Store. This store has every flavor of Olive Oil you can think of. From Tuscan Herb olive oil to Dark Chocolate olive oil, I was in sample heaven. 

After shopping around town, we decided to walk around Princeton's campus. The campus is beautiful. The building reminded me of a castle. We had a lot of fun walking around and pretending we were Princeton students. 

After walking around the campus, we decided to go to one last store, J Crew. This was a problem because I have a slight obsession with J Crew. The only problem with my J Crew obsession is that I can't really afford it. This trip however, was a different story. The clearance items were marked down an extra 30% (THANKS COLUMBUS! USA! USA!) and since I had my student ID, I got an extra 15% off. I scored a great button up and a sweater vest, yes, a sweater vest, for $26.00! Before we left, we stopped by a great cupcake shop called House of Cupcakes. I know I raved about Magnolia Bakery's cupcakes, but this cupcakes was seriously the best cupcake I have ever had. I knew it would be good because The House of Cupcakes was featured on an episode of cupcake wars! They ended up winning first place and donated all of the prize money to St. Jude!

I couldn't have asked for a better weekend and will definitely make another trip to Princeton soon!