Photo dump (Parks, food, Brooklyn Bridge)

Wednesday was mine and Kelly's last day of freedom. Once again we just wandered the city. Our main stops that day were:

High Line

Washington Square Park

Flatiron

This is honestly my all-time favorite building. I've always thought the Flatiron to be totally representative of New York. I was seriously in awe as Kelly and I walked around looking at it. I don't even know what it is about it that I love so much but seeing it was perhaps the highlight of my New York visit so far.

Madison Square Park

After our first day of work on Thursday, Kelly and I got back around 7 o'clock. We work 10-6 which are pretty good hours but it takes about 50 minutes to get from Morningside Heights to Brooklyn. At that point we were pretty tired so we looked up some restaurants with a 5 minute walking distance. I found this Italian restaurant super close by so we went to check it out. What a good choice. The first good sign the dinner would be good was that all the employees, at least that we encountered, which was probably three or four people, spoke Italian/were Italian. The second sign was that two men seated near Kelly and I were also speaking in Italian/were Italian. I got a margherita pizza and it was AMAZING. I love pizza napoletana and this did not disappoint.

Friday after work we met up with all our friends and then headed down near NYU to get Ukrainian food. Another journalism student, Stephanie, served her mission in Ukraine and she was absolutely thrilled people wanted to come with her to get Ukrainian food. I'm definitely a huge fan of it now. 

The food I got was all potato and cheese based, making it the most awesome food ever. I also thought about ordering borscht, which Lava Lounge occupant Trent often makes, but I don't think I could've eaten all of that food. According to Stephanie the borscht was delicious though.

Saturday was a big group adventure day. A bunch of us headed to Central Park and we relished the perfect spring weather. It was incredibly crowded but once we got on some lesser paths it was much nicer. I think what I love about Central Park is how much it reminds me of Wisconsin. There are trees everywhere, obviously, and all of them are super tall, like basically all the trees back home are. The problem with a lot of trees in Utah is they're too young. Also, Utah is a desert. New York greenery is awesome and whenever I make a return trip it will probably be in fall.

For lunch on Wednesday we stopped by a food cart for falafel sandwiches. As this was my first falafel I wasn't sure what to expect but everyone raved about them so I figured falafel had to be pretty delicious.  And it was. Central Park seemed like the perfect place to eat it too.

Then we headed to Canal Street, aka the place where you buy purses and scarves and watches and sunglasses for really cheap. It's a pretty crazy place, definitely the kind of place that would seem perfect for an anthropological study. After perusing the merchandise and getting sufficiently hungry once again, we stopped for dinner at the Excellent Dumpling House. And excellent it was! Canal Street is fairly close to both Little Italy and Chinatown and this Chinese food did not disappoint. 

After dinner it was time to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. It was slightly windy but that didn't stop Kelly, Bev and I from walking across it in its entirety. It's definitely another activity I'd do again.

So now everyone is updated on my New York adventures. I'm not sure if there's anything in particular planned for next week but later this month I'll probably be going to a Mets/Reds baseball game since Chelsey, a PR major, is from Ohio and I'm not one to turn down going to a baseball game.

I live in New York now

I've been in this state/city since 4:30 this afternoon and thus far I'm quite pleased. I woke up at 4:30 in the morning to get here but it was well worth it. (Thanks to the beautiful Benjamin for the ride to the airport!)

So far adventures have included exploring the Denver airport to find Starbucks for Kelly and finding a Jamba Juice for me, wandering around the housing complex just for kicks, directing everyone else to Chipotle for DELICIOUS burritos, and buying a metro card and using it for the first time.

My last days in Provo until June were pretty adventurous as well. So they weren't really adventurous at all but they were super awesome.

Thursday night, since Stacy graduated, her parents were kind enough to invite me to dinner with them, as well as Stacy's boyfriend. It was a really fun dinner and we ate delicious Chinese food! After dinner, I headed over to Lava Lounge for Ryan's little going away party. He's actually in Wisconsin doing an internship, which makes me so happy since he gets to experience my brilliant home state. A bunch of us ate ice cream and talked, relishing in the fact that exams were DONE.

Friday was super chill. All I really did was pack. That evening I decided to longboard since I hadn't gone all spring yet and I wouldn't be doing it until June. On my way back I stopped by Jeffrey's apartment. We ended up talking for at least 2 hours, as is customary with us. It was so good talking with him. Jeff has this incredible ability to give me awesome advice/counsel while slightly making fun of me at the same time; I absolutely love it.

When I left Jeff's around 10:30, I ended up at Peter's again. I wanted to make a Taco Bell run but Peter and his roommates had gone out to dinner so he wasn't hungry. But I found myself there nonetheless. I honestly don't even remember what we did. Well, besides watch Community because we always do that. Really we just talked and enjoyed each other's company.

Saturday afternoon turned into a time of goodbyes as Peter and I hung out for the last time until June. We ate Chick-Fil-A, my last free meal for a long while I suspect, hung out at the park since it was an absolutely gorgeous day and watched some Doctor Who. I have no complaints about how we spent that time. It was the kind of afternoon I truly love.

Saturday night I watched the BYU men's volleyball team win the MPSF Championship, or something like that, I don't quite remember the official name. But BYU won and it was awesome. The only other exciting part of the night was a last minute chat with Cameron. He's a gem of a person if there ever was one. It's always a good time when he sits me down to talk.

And that pretty much gets us to present day/night. I'm here in New York till the end of June. And it should be awesome.

life is good.