Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Talkin' 'bout my generation

We went to my parents' house for dinner last night, to spend some time with my Mahmon Bazorg (my dad's mom from Iran). Dave, Jess and Micah joined us too, so I got several sweet shots of Ari and Micah playing together.

She is really good about sharing her toys, and I love that. Here, she was pulling the beads apart and handing them to Micah one by one. (Man, she looks like a giant next to him...)



She spent half the night, it seemed, crawling around on the floor, just to be on Micah's level. (She also kept calling for him to follow her, and didn't seem to understand that he moves a bit slower than she does.) Here, she's giving him a kiss.



Micah is getting so big... he's crawling all over the place and pulling up on everything, and he's only 7 months old. I like this shot, although I think she was kind of taunting him that she was up on the table and he wasn't.



I got this shot as she was running out of the corner from playing peekaboo. I wish I could get her to smile like that on cue... but then again, there's nothing like a candid, genuine smile.



She loves to play the piano.



This is Ari refusing to take a picture with Grampa... but it came out pretty cute anyway.



I tried to get a good picture of Ari and Mahmon Bazorg together, and this was the best one, even though it's not that great. The colors are weird because I tried editing it to adjust the lighting on Ari's face, which was really washed-out by the flash. I obviously lack photo-editing skills. And good photo-editing software. Yeh, we'll blame the lack of software.



Jess came up with this idea, and I thought it was great--to get a shot of the 4 generations. We made a couple attempts...



I love Mahmon's and Ari's smiles in this one... if only Ari wasn't blocking Dad's head. I wish there were a way for me to combine the 2 pictures somehow. Oh well.



And that's that.

Monday, April 27, 2009

I don't know what makes your face implode

A few discoveries I made this weekend...

1. The AC in my car does not work. This is perplexing, because it worked fine all last summer. I'm hoping all it needs is one of those "recharge" things and that it's not a more serious problem. In the meantime, driving with the windows open makes it nigh impossible to hear Ari talking to me--which can be a good thing or a bad thing.

2. The AC in our bedroom is on the fritz, too. This is not surprising, because we have issues with it every year... it's gotten to the point where we've given up on calling maintenance about it, because nothing they do helps. Of course, the AC downstairs works great. Maybe we can get the maintenance guys to switch the 2? Though I'm sure as soon as they do, the second one will crap out.

3. I had to refill the oil in my car twice (or was it 3 times?) this past week, which means my car is still leaking oil just as badly, if not worse, than before. I fear for my car's future. Because it's either going to die on its own, or I'm going to kill it out of sheer frustration with its issues.

4. The killer bees are back. I used up the last of our wasp/hornet spray in a futile effort to kill them, so I am now defenseless and I think they know it. I'm fairly certain they are taunting me. They'll be sorry once Tony is home.

5. I suck at making coconut macaroons. Or, I suck at following directions. Either way, my attempt to make them was a gooey failure, and I'm a bit bummed that I cannot yet add coconut macaroons to my arsenal of Awesome Desserts That I Make.

The weekend wasn't all bad/frustrating, though...

I didn't do much on Saturday, which was fine with me. The week felt particularly busy, what with all the running around I had to do with getting Ari to/from various babysitters, so it was nice to have a slow day. Ari and I took a short walk together in the morning, then ran some errands, had lunch, ran some more errands (because I'm disorganized like that), and by then it was naptime for her. When she woke up, it was time to get ready for the church's spaghetti dinner, which took up the rest of our evening.

Yesterday afternoon, I headed to my parents' house right after church. My grandmother (my dad's mom, from Iran) arrived in the States last week, and will be spending this week with my parents. Ari has never met her before, so I tried to prep her for the meeting by explaining who she was going to meet and teaching her to say "Mahmon Bazorg." (That's a phonetical spelling of the Farsi word for "grandmother." "Mahmon" means "mother" and "bazorg" means "big." Heh.) Of course Ari was shy at first, which was no surprise, but she warmed up to her pretty quickly, which was also no surprise. Mahmon doesn't speak much English, but I know a few Farsi words and can often pick out what she's saying (with the help of context and hand gestures, too)--and when I can't, Mom or Dad helps me out. Ari didn't seem to notice--or, at least, wasn't bothered--by the language barrier, and by the time I left, she was happily showing off her puzzle-putting-together skills to Mahmon.

I didn't think to get any pictures (partly because me, Ari, and Mahmon all took naps in the afternoon, and then I got a lovely migraine on top of that), but we're going there for dinner on Tuesday night, so I will make sure to snap some shots then. I think it's way cool that Ari got to meet Mahmon. I never got to meet any of my great-grandparents, since they had all passed away before I was born, and right now, Ari's got 2 great-grandparents.

At one point in the afternoon, I tried to teach Ari the Farsi word for "kiss" (which is "boos" [kind of rhymes with "goose"]), since Mahmon had been saying it to her a lot. I thought Ari was kind of catching on, until she started saying, "Boos, boos... goose, goose... what's a goose say? Gobble, gobble!" Um... yeh.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

I'm a freak, an apparition


I've been doing these random-style entries a lot lately, huh? I'm not sure why. Maybe I'm more scatterbrained than usual? Or maybe I'm just too lazy to cobble my thoughts together into a coherent essay-type entry? Whatever. You know you love it when I ramble. So, you ready? Here we go...


Do you ever find yourself "forgetting" how old you are? Yeh, I know that poor choice of words leaves me wide open to jokes about my age. What I mean is... does it ever just randomly strike you that you're older than you seem to think? My mom said something the other day about how my brother Dave is going to be 30 this year, and my reaction was, "Wait, he's going to be 30?? Then how old am I?" It's not that I don't know I'm 32 right now... but I guess sometimes I still think I'm only 30 or 31... or maybe just in my late 20s. I mean, it's not like I really think about my age all that much... so when I do, I'm sometimes a bit startled at what it really is. Am I the only one who does this?


I have no willpower. The only thing keeping me from weighing, like, 300 pounds is the fact that I exercise. Seriously.

A friend of mine once told me that she'll keep a big bag of M&M's at her desk at work, and just allow herself a few each day. I can't even fathom that. If I tried that, I would eat the whole bag in a day. I know you're laughing because you think I'm kidding, but I am so totally not.


I was listening to the "Lilo and Stitch" soundtrack on the way the other morning--just got in the mood for some Elvis with a couple Hawaiian songs mixed in for fun, I guess. Listening to those songs brings back such fond memories for me... when I first started working at the Disney Store, the movie was about to be released, so everything in the store was focused on it, including the DVD that was played on the big screen in the back of the store.

Also, if you're curious... those DVDs are on a 30-minute loop... so just imagine how often one would see/hear the same stuff during an 8-hour shift. But you know... I never minded. Must be because I am a true Disney fan. Plus, once I had the entire DVD memorized, it was fun to impress my co-workers and startle the guests by randomly talking/singing along with it.


I'll end with a few Ari conversations... (If you follow me on Twitter, a couple of these may sound familiar...)

* * * * * * * * * *

As we came downstairs the other morning, getting ready to leave...

Ari: There's my doggies! Aww, they're so cute. I like my doggies! I want to pet my doggies. Can I go pet my doggies?

(You would think she hadn't seen them in months, the way she was carrying on.)

* * * * * * * * * *

Just before bedtime the other night...

Ari: Mommy carry me upstairs.

Me: No, you're a big girl. You can walk up yourself.

Ari: (whining) I don't know how to walk!

(Drama queen much?)

* * * * * * * * * *

While watching TV the other night...

Me: (randomly) Ari, you're pretty.

Ari: YOU'RE pretty. You're my cute girl. I love you!

(Can you tell that she's just parroting stuff we say to her a lot? I guess this reflects well on us...)

Friday, April 17, 2009

You'd be cooler if you were me

^ Hey, don't hate. That's just what my Happy Bunny calendar page of the day says, and I had nothing better for a title. Anyway, this entry is just another random, rambly entry...


It's going to be another good Friday... today is forecast to be the warmest day of 2009 so far, with highs in the low 70s. I'm loving my outfit today, too... I'm wearing jeans and sandals, and this shirt...



...except that I'm wearing the scarf as a belt. And minus the scarf and shoes, this is the exact outfit I wore for my big day alone in New York City a couple weeks ago. Ahh, happy memories.


It's my boss's birthday today, and she brought in her famous homemade key lime pie. I am almost drooling just thinking about it. I told her that key lime pie sounded like a perfect breakfast food (I mean, it's FRUIT, after all), but she just laughed as though I was joking. Anyway, the pie is out now, and I'm about ready to dive in.


Tonight we're going out to dinner with a few friends, and we have a babysitter all lined up for Ari, so that should be fun. It's a belated Christmas gift from one of the couples we're going with--they like to take us out to dinner as their gift to us, and who are we to protest? I'm definitely looking forward to some adult time.


I've come home to an empty house the past 2 days in a row, so I took advantage of that fact to go for a mile-long walk all by myself each evening (just around the apartment complex). I am loving being able to walk outside again. Sure, I have the Gazelle in our room to work out with when it's cold and crappy, but nothing beats walking in the fresh air, feeling the breeze on your bare skin and the sun on your face and the burn in your legs as you pick up speed. This glorious weather has done wonders for my mood and state of mind lately. I heart spring.


What else can I ramble about? Oh... FYI, jelly that comes in a squeeze bottle tastes different than the jelly that comes in a jar. Why is that? Do they do something weird to it to make it more squeezable? Anyway, me no likes. I'll be buying the old-fashioned jar kind next time.


I made a startling discovery when watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse the other day with Ari. See, I grew up on the classic Disney cartoons, so all these characters are familiar to me. If you know the show/characters, you'll know who Pete is--Mickey's part-time nemesis. (I say "part-time" because sometimes he's their nemesis, and sometimes he seems like he's their friend. But that's a whole other tangent.) Anyway, here's the discovery... are you ready for this? Pete is... a CAT. Yes, a cat. All this time, I thought for sure he was a dog, but it turns out, he's a cat.

And how do I know this? Because in the episode I was watching, he was chasing Mickey and friends, and they consulted their Mouskatools to find something to slow him down. All that was left was a ball of yarn, and Daisy said, "Will a ball of yarn slow down a cat?" *insert pause for kids to to answer* "Yes, it will!" And they tossed said ball of yarn at Pete, who got down on all fours, and started batting at it and playing with it.

I'm a little unnerved and mind-blown by this revelation. And yes, I'm aware how sad that is.


Hmm. I slipped getting into the shower last night and banged up my shin. I knew the tub was going to be slippery because Tony had sprayed it down with that Scrubbing Bubbles stuff, so I put down Ari's bathmat, feeling all smart. Problem was, the bathmat itself slid as I stepped in, and wham--my shin met the side of the tub in a rather unpleasant way. As of right now, there's a lump under the skin and it's just starting to turn blue. Is it weird that I'm looking forward to seeing how this bruise turns out? ...What? Bruises are cool.


And with that, I shall bid you adieu, and wish you a happy weekend. Until next time...

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Easter weekend, part 2

(In case it's not obvious from the title, there are more pictures in the previous entry.)

OK, before we get going with the pictures for Part 2, I have a few videos to share. They weren't working for me yesterday when I was writing the last entry, but I figured out the issue, so they should be fine. They relate to the pics in the last entry, but rather than edit it, I'll just add them here. There are 4 videos, but the longest one is only about a minute and a half.

These first 2 show Ari opening her Easter basket from Tony's mom. You can see the outfit on the couch next to her, though you can't tell what it is--it's purple shorts with a flowered shirt.


/>Ariana 4-11-09-1 from Sariana on Vimeo.

In this video, I got her to talk to Grammy and Uncle Chris.


/>Ariana 4-11-09-2 from Sariana on Vimeo.

These last 2 are from when we colored Easter eggs.


/>Ariana 4-11-09-3 from Sariana on Vimeo.

I feel like I should title this video "A little bit longer."


/>Ariana 4-11-09-4 from Sariana on Vimeo.

All right... on with the pictures.

Immediately after the church service, they had an Easter Egg Hunt for the kids outside. You can see it was a nice, sunny day... but it was chilly. That didn't stop the kids, though. I missed most of the hunt since I was busy inside, wrapping things up after the service, but I did manage to sneak out and get a couple quick pictures of Ari, who was almost done by the time I got there.

I asked her to show me her eggs...



And I got to see her find one, too. She looks so serious, huh? She was really just squinting in the sun.



I was hoping for a nice close-up shot of her and her egg here, but she was much too intent on opening it to pay any attention to me.



Then we went back inside to finish cleaning up and such. Because we rent the building we have church in, instead of owning it, we have to set up and tear down every week. We're always among the last to leave the building. But Ari has no problem keeping herself entertained while she waits on us. Here, she was dancing her little heart out on the now-empty stage.



The church service went well. I was battling a nasty cold most of last week, and I was actually starting to feel better... until Saturday night, when I swear I could literally feel it migrating from my head to my throat/chest. By late Saturday night, I was all croaky and froggish, and when I woke up Sunday morning, I could barely talk. When we got to church, my first few tries at singing were pretty miserable. I started to panic a little, because I had to sing a lot during the service, including several solo bits, but as I sang more, it got a little better. We made a couple amendments to a couple songs as well--for example, there was one song where I was supposed to sing the first verse alone, but Kerry joined me just in case my voice gave out. Of course, I am my own worst critic, so I was cringing through every song, but several people reassured me I did a good job, so either I did, or they're just being nice. Either way, there were no gigantic "oops"--no cracking or complete voice loss--so that's something.

The skit (that I wrote the script for) went really well, too. They even built a set for it too--one that can easily be reused with future drama presentations. I was really pleased with how it all came together--it was just how I pictured it, and even better. And it seemed like people really enjoyed it, too, which is always a plus.

So it was a good service. Lots of people in attendance, some visitors, some people we haven't seen in ages, and overall a really good spirit. But with all that said... I'm so glad it's over. These "special" Sundays exhaust me, and I usually don't really realize it until it's all over and I remember what it's like to breathe normally again.

Anyway... back to the pictures.

After a quick stop at home to let the dogs out, grab the dessert I'd made (those killer chocolate chip cookie dough brownies), and throw together a quick basket of laundry (hey, can't pass up a chance to do free laundry, right?), we headed down to my parents' house for Easter dinner. Mom was ready and waiting to give Ari her Easter "basket"... which turned out to be 2 gift bags full of stuff.

This picture cracks me up, because this is a common response when I ask her to pose--some kind of weird stare.



This little bear-dressed-as-a-bunny was probably Ari's favorite thing out of the gift bags... well, besides the candy, I'm sure.



My mom set up an Easter egg hunt for Ari in the family room, which I thought was such a sweet idea. Ari only got about 4 eggs from the church Easter egg hunt--which she was fine with, of course, because she doesn't know any better. But I think she really loved having all these eggs to herself. (Also, that horse in the background was my little brother's when he was little. Still in good shape, and Ari loves it.)



You can't quite tell in this picture, but the eggs were all shaped like animals or animal heads. Mom bought them as a set--they were called "Noah's Ark" eggs or something like that, because they all came in pairs. And they were pre-filled with candy, too. How cool is that?



Dave and Jess were there, too, along with Micah, of course. Ari just adores him, and I'm pretty sure the feeling is mutual.



See? He's pulling her hair out of love, I swear.



Ari gave him a nice hug goodbye before they left.



Another awesome father-daughter picture. Tony was tickling her... and I love the way she's biting her lower lip as she giggles.



Our last pictures of the day were an attempt at a nice family portrait... which I figured was a long shot, but was worth a try. This one kills me... this really should be the one I print and frame. Get a load of Little Miss Attitude.



We made a couple more attempts... this one is OK. I don't like the way I'm smiling, but Tony and Ari look good.



And yeh. I don't know what's going on with Ari's face, or with my hair. Oh well. We tried.



But I will end with this. This is one of my absolute favorite shots of the entire day... maybe ever.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Easter weekend, part 1

I've got a ton of pictures from this weekend, so I'm going to put them in 2 separate entries.

We started celebrating Easter on Saturday morning--Ari got an Easter package from Tony's mom and brother, and since we knew Sunday would be really hectic, we figured it made more sense to let her open it on Saturday. She got a basket full of goodies, plus an outfit and a card. Here, Tony's reading her the card while Ari admires her cash. The expression on her face cracks me up.



Later in the day, it was time to color Easter eggs. Here, we're waiting for the color tablets to dissolve. (And Tony would like me the point out to you how I put the orange tablet in the yellow cup and yellow tablet in the orange cup, and the blue one in the green cup, and so on. Hey, I got the pink one right!)



Tony showed her how to dip the eggs in the dye.



And she was handling it like a pro in no time.



And when she couldn't get the egg with the handy little dipper thingy, she just reached in with her hands...



I asked her to show me her dyed hand--don't you love the smirk? This wasn't the worst it got, though.. by the time we were done, her right hand was stained a lovely shade of greenish-blue. Luckily, after much scrubbing, most of it came off.



Once the eggs were dry, it was time to decorate them--we got a Disney princess egg coloring kit, which came with stickers and a bunch of little cardboard stands to prop the eggs in. Ari, of course, was most interested in the stickers.



I asked her to show me one of her eggs and she turned her head just as I snapped the picture...



And... our finished eggs. Yes, there are only 11... Ari got a little enthusiastic with her stickering and poked a hole in one egg, so Tony ate it. And if you look close, you can see a little dent in the purple egg (which I ate after I took this picture). Also, I should add... I'm not sure who had more fun decorating, Tony or Ari. The top 5 eggs in the picture were decorated by him, and he seemed pretty proud of them. Come to think of it, I was too busy taking pictures to decorate any eggs. Oh well. I will help eat them.



And now to Easter Sunday. I attempted to get a couple pictures of Ari before we left for church, but didn't have much luck, or much time. This was the only decent one I got. And I know, you can't see her whole outfit. Patience, people.



I took this one at church. Just ignore the prissy expression on her face, and instead admire her little outfit. Tony gets full credit for this... he picked out the dress, sweater, and even the shoes. He did a good job, huh?



I got a few shots of Tony and Ari together, and love them all.



But especially these last two...



She is SUCH a Daddy's girl...



And then I posed with her... and we get this face. If this isn't a devious little face, I don't know what is.



And so concludes Part 1. Next entry will be a few more pictures from church, and then pictures from dinner at my parents' in the afternoon.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Absolutely Ari

It's been a while since I've done an Ari entry, so here goes.


Ari knows that we have pictures on our cell phones--and she likes to ask to see certain ones. I watched in fascination the other day when she told Tony she wanted to see pictures of Sara (not me--the girl who cut her hair). Tony looked the pictures up for her, handed her his BlackBerry Storm, and she expertly swiped her finger across the screen to scroll through the pics. I laughed, but it really is an amazing thing, the kind of technology our kids are growing up with. I'm sure she will know more about computers than I do by the time she's 5.


She loves to count and will count everything in sight. (I'm hoping this is a sign she's inherited Tony's math skills and not mine.) Tony's been working with her, and she can pretty much count to 40. She still messes up (like, sometimes she'll say "twenty-ten" instead of "thirty"), but if you're helping her along, she can go pretty smoothly. Her favorite little "game" right now is to ask, "How many ____?" Of course, I reply, "I don't know... how many?" Then she'll say, "Count with me!" and start counting, whether I join in or not. Sometimes she's right, sometimes she's wrong... but either way, she counts so excitedly.


Lately, she is very aware of noises around her, and will often suddenly notice one, gasp dramatically, and ask, "What's that sound like?" (her way of asking what the sound is). And sometimes she'll make her own noises, and, with a gleam in her eye, pretend to be clueless as she asks, "What's that sound like?" When we ask her to tell us, sometimes she'll just tell us, and other times she'll make something up. It's fun to see her imagination take shape.


Her obsession with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is complete now--I think she'd watch it all day if we let her. And I'm not above admitting that we use it as a bargaining tool as well.

She's finally starting to participate with the show (saying the magic words, answering questions, counting, etc.). And her memory is really great too... if you ask her what an episode was about, she'll excitedly start telling you, and if you "quiz" her, she'll get almost every answer right. I am amazed at how much she recalls, even sometimes hours after she's watched the show.

She also has definite "favorite" episodes... though figuring out what she means when she says "The one with a cows!" can be a bit tricky--especially for me, since I'm not home as much with her.


A couple Saturdays ago, Ari woke up and started calling for us. Specifically, me. She started chanting, "Oh Mommy, oh Mommy."

I didn't want to get up, so I playfully replied, in a singsong voice, "Oh, Toodles!" (referring to a character on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse that they call to come help them).

There was a pause... then Ari quite-seriously replied, "Toodles not here, Mommy."


One time, a few months ago or so, I was being silly with Ari, so I told her, "Come here... I have a secret to tell you." When she came close, I whispered in her ear, "Let's go tickle Daddy." Now, apparently, that's what she thinks a "secret" is--telling someone to tickle someone else--because every time she tells us she has a secret, that's what it is. So I've been attempting to show her that there are other "secrets" you can whisper in someone's ear.

The other day, I told her I had a secret and whispered, "I love you."

She pulled back, grinning, but looking a tad confused. But she cheerily replied, "I love you!"

I playfully answered, "But I love YOU," poking her tummy on the word "you."

Without missing a beat, she mimicked my tone perfectly as she said, "But I love YOU!", poking me on the nose with her index finger as she said "YOU." I know she was only copying me, but it was still so sweet.


I was watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse with her the other night--she was snuggled next to me under a blanket. The show wasn't even over before she started asking to see another one. "I don't know," I replied. "It's almost bedtime."

She fell silent for the rest of the show (only a couple more minutes) and when it was over, she suddenly flung her little body against, hugged me tight, and said, "I love you, Mommy."

Yes, I'm fully aware that she was being manipulative. And yes, she got to watch another episode.


She's learning the fine art of bargaining, too, though she's not that good at it yet. When we tell her things like, "Only 5 more minutes until bedtime," she'll sometimes reply, "10 more minutes." She doesn't ask it as a question--she just states it calmly, as though saying it makes it true. It's even funnier, though, when she gets it all wrong and answers, "No, 2 more minutes." To which we'll reply, "OK, fine, if you insist. Two more minutes, then."

If she asks to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and we say no, she'll counter with, "Only ONE Mickey Mouse Clubhouse." I like to reply, "How about ZERO Mickey Mouse Clubhouse?" since she doesn't fully get the concept of what zero means. It's fun to watch her contemplate my "offer."


I was attempting to sing Ari her bedtime songs last night when she decided to start acting like a total nutjob. She started off by grabbing handfuls of hair on the side of her head and pulling on them while making a weird grimace with her mouth, and then quickly moved on to pulling at the corners of her eyes with her fingertips until they were all slanted. I burst out laughing, and then jokingly told her, "Knock that off, Ari. It's offensive."

"I 'fensive!" she chirped proudly.

"Ari, stop," I tried, but my laughter gave me away.

"What are you laughing at for?" she giggled, knowing full well what I was laughing at.

I tried my best to keep singing, but couldn't stop laughing. I finally laid her in her bed (I couldn't hold her anymore because I was laughing so hard) and tried singing to her with my eyes shut. I got through a few lines before I felt tiny fingers poking at my nose and heard her yelp, "I got you nose!"

She was so totally stalling. Devilish little thing.


One last story... from the babysitter, and passed on to me through Tony...

Ari: I winned!

Babysitter: Yes, you won!

Ari: I winned.

Babysitter: You won.

Ari: (annoyed) No, I two and a half!

Babysitter: (laughing) Fine, you "winned."

(Number of hours it took for it to dawn on me that Ari wasn't just being random but thought the babysitter was saying "one" instead of "won"... 6.)

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Honey, honey, how you thrill me

So, my trip to New York City. This will be a long entry... I'm just sayin'....

I got on the road a little after 9 AM. The forecasters had promised a beautiful day, but it was still a bit overcast and foggy. But by the time I arrived in the city, all the clouds were gone and it was gorgeous. I hit some traffic just outside the city, but that was no surprise. I still made it there within the time frame my Google Maps directions had predicted. The drive was so easy--the directions were simple and even though I was nervous about driving in and around the city, it was a piece of cake. As I turned on 48th Street, I squealed a little, because I knew I only had a couple blocks to go, and I had done it--I'd driven there all alone without getting lost or freaking out.

I parked in the garage we always park in when we go to the city--the one at the Crowne Plaza. I knew it was near my hotel, but I had no idea how close they were--my hotel was literally steps away from the parking garage. After parking (and texting Tony to tell him I'd arrived), I went to the hotel. I had requested early check-in, but they'd told me they couldn't guarantee that. But I knew I could leave my overnight bag with them, so I intended to do at least that. One lady started checking me in, and when I asked about the early check-in, she said nothing was available yet. Then she took a phone call and another lady continued checking me in, and suddenly announced that a room was indeed ready for me. So by noon, I was in my room.

I was more than impressed with the room--it was absolutely adorable, and clean and spacious, and just fantastic. I snapped a couple pics with my BlackBerry (didn't bring a real camera)--they're fuzzy, but you get the idea. (And just so you know, the only pictures I took were of my room. Sorry if that disappoints any of you.)

My bed. Now that I think about it, I'm trying to figure out if that's a king-size bed. I had only reserved a room with a queen-size bed, so I'm wondering if they upgraded me without telling me. Anyway, it doesn't matter. That bed was SO comfortable.



This was the desk beside the bed. I love the little cards hanging on the mirror.



A shot of the bathroom--very cute shelving. They provided a lot of amenities--shampoo and conditioner, like you'd expect, but also lotion and mouthwash.



I was amused that there was a phone in the bathroom, which made for a total of 3 phones in this little room (one on the desk and one on a nightstand beside the bed).



I didn't take pictures, but there was also a flat-screen plasma TV mounted on the wall, and a minibar.

After dumping off my bag, I headed out to hit the city. This is a crap picture, but I was fascinated with this... there was a mirrored wall right by the elevators in my hotel, and there was a little teeny TV embedded in the wall. The volume was really low, so I couldn't hear it, but I just thought it was the neatest thing. Yes, I am easily impressed.



Anyway, like I said, I headed outside. I knew I wanted to get in line for the TKTS booth around 2 (it opens at 3), so I didn't stray too far from the Times Square area. In my wanderings, I found a huge Barnes and Noble, and killed some time in there. I swear, I could spend hours in that store. But I didn't want to be cooped up inside on such a beautiful day. I finally settled on 2 books I've been dying to read and then headed to the TKTS booth. I was almost too hot standing there in the sun--that's what a perfect day it was. I read in line, trying not to get my hopes up about getting a ticket, since the line was pretty long.

While I was waiting in line, a Barack Obama look-alike (complete with a couple "Secret Service" companions) started hanging out around the booth. He ended up drawing quite a crowd--people were getting their pictures taken with him and even getting his autograph. That amused me--I don't know who those people thought they would fool with their pictures.

When the booth opened and I finally got up to the window, I couldn't decide between Mamma Mia! and Guys and Dolls so I ended up asking the guy which one was cheaper. When he told me Mamma Mia! was, my decision was made. I got my ticket, forked over my $62, and headed on my way. I ended up going back to the hotel to drop off my books and my jacket, and it wasn't until I got there that I thought to peek at the ticket and see what seat I got. I was thrilled to see I'd gotten a seat in the 6th row!

After ditching my jacket, I was back on the NYC streets again, just walking and walking and walking. I never did end up getting lunch--all I wanted to do was walk and enjoy the gorgeous day. I ended up at the Disney Store in 5th Avenue, where I got a couple NYC-themed souvenirs for Ari, and of course I had to stop by the NBC Experience Store in Rockefeller Center. I also stopped in various stores here and there whenever the mood struck me. I made my way up to Central Park, but despite my plan to camp out there and read, I just kept walking. I was in the mood to just keep moving, moving, moving.

I absolutely loved walking the city alone. It was nice not to have to wait on anyone else, to get dragged into stores or places I didn't really want to see, or to feel bad about asking to stop anywhere. I mean, don't get me wrong--it's lots of fun to see the city with friends. But it was so nice to have the freedom to do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. Plus, I loved strutting the streets like I owned the place.

Sometime mid-afternoon, I realized I was hungry. I considered the idea of getting an early dinner somewhere, to beat the rush, but nothing struck my fancy. I ended up getting a giant slice of pizza somewhere, but after a couple bites of that, I was done with it. It was kind of strange--I would have thought all that fresh and air and walking would have made me ravenous, but I couldn't muster up much of an appetite. I just wanted to go, go, go. And I think, somehow, the cheapskate in me took over, and I just didn't feel like forking over a bunch of money for a big dinner. So I guess that was the one thing I didn't get to do--treat myself to a nice dinner. But that's fine--it was my own choice.

I stopped back in my room before the show, and saw that they had given me "turn-down service"--the covers on the bed were pulled down and the pillows nicely arranged. Oh I forgot to mention, too--when I first arrived in the room, they had turned the radio on (a nice Bose stereo system) to a local station. I turned it off when I left the room, but they turned it back on when they did the turn-down service. I thought that was a nice touch.

And I discovered this on my nightstand...



I know it's blurry, but it says, "We wish you a good night and pleasant dreams. To better prepare you for your day tomorrow, the weather outlook is:" And they checked off the little rain cloud and wrote in the forecasted high and low temps. Again, another nice touch.

I've got to tell you, I was so impressed with the hotel. There were all these nice little luxurious extras that I'm not used to--the robes, the newspaper, the TV, etc. But even more than that, the staff was fantastic. When I was checking in, like I mentioned, the first lady checking me in had to take a phone call, so another lady continued checking me in. And when she did that, another man, who hadn't even been dealing with me, leaned over just to say, "Thank you for your patience." I shrugged it off and told him it was no problem--I mean, to me, I hadn't been waiting at all, but I loved that they were so concerned with customer service. The hotel even had a doorman--I've never stayed in a hotel with a doorman. I felt so spoiled and important, having someone hold the door for me every time I came and went, who would smile and wish me a good day.

Finally, it was time for Mamma Mia!. I joined the huge line outside the theater, waiting to get in, and called Tony and Ari while I waited. I knew Ari was about to go to bed, so I wanted to wish her a good night. We only chatted for a few moments and then the crowd started moving. An usher showed to my seat--I was about 8 seats away from the outer aisle, but it was still a fantastic seat. I glanced through the Playbill while I waited. One of the actresses, Brandi Burkhardt (playing the role of Sophie), caught my eye. It was her name more than her face that seemed familiar, and when I read her bio, it hit me. I don't know if any of you ever watched the soap "Passions" but I used to love that show--and this girl was the one who had played Siren. I thought it was kind of cool to see someone I "knew."

The show itself was awesome. The only "problem" with my seat was that I was right in front of a set of speakers, so sometimes the background music drowned out the singers--but it wasn't really a problem for me, since I knew most of the songs anyway. I've never seen the Broadway show, but I've seen (and love!) the movie. The show had a few more songs than the movie version did, and some of them were in a different order than in the movie. Plus, there were other things that were different--like the way songs were used. If you've seen both the play and the movie, you'll understand what I mean. Anyway, like I said, the show was amazing--and I think one of the favorite parts was after the curtain call. They all took their bows, but then ended up singing 3 more songs--2 that they'd already done in the show, plus another one (if you've seen the movie, it was that song they do during the end credits).

By the time I got out of the theater, it was about 10:30, and I didn't feel like going back to my room just yet. So I joined the massive crowd of people crawling through Times Square. And what do you know... I found myself at a Coldstone on 42nd Street. (OK, fine, I might have looked that up beforehand. Shut up.) As I got in line, I asked the guy in front of me if this was the end of the line (standard question, right?) and he seemed to take that as an invitation to talk to me the entire rest of the time we were in line. I finally took to just ignoring him, since he was totally getting on my nerves.

It was another long, slow walk back to my room, simply because of the massive crowd of people in the Times Square area. Once I got to my room, I kicked off my shoes (my feet were KILLING me at this point), and then all my clothes, donned one of the complimentary bathrobes...



...and settled on the bed with the TV remote and my melting ice cream. When I was done the ice cream, I took a nice steamy shower, put the robe back on, and crawled back into bed for the night.

For some reason, I slept horribly that night. I kept waking up every hour or so, and I'm not sure why. I had figured out at one point that my room was right next to the elevator shaft, which meant I could hear the "whoosh"ing sound of the elevator all the time. But other than that, there wasn't a lot of "city noise" in the background or anything... and even if there was, I'm not one who's usually bothered by noise when I'm trying to sleep, since I usually sleep like a rock. Anyway, I got to sleep in the next day, so it really didn't matter.

Another nice touch... I had a copy of that day's New York Times waiting outside my door for me on Friday morning.



I took my time getting ready on Friday morning, because I knew I didn't have much time before I needed to check out, and because it was a gross rainy day which wouldn't be great for walking around. When I finally did venture out, I was a little surprised to see just how hard it was raining. Of course I'd forgotten my umbrella, and I was too cheap to buy one, so I sucked it up and just got wet. I had one place I knew I wanted to go right before I left--the Magnolia Bakery, just a few blocks from my hotel. I had been there on Thursday and wanted to go back and get something for Tony. I made my purchase, scurried back to the hotel, and prepared to leave. Checking out was really easy and quick, which was good, since I wanted to pick up my car before the 24-hour mark passed and I got charged even more money for parking.

And so I picked up my car and bid farewell to my beloved New York City. I had no problems getting myself out of the city and finding my way back to the major highways I needed. But the rain matched my mood perfectly--I always feel so sad when I have to leave NYC and this time in particular, I felt even more reluctant to say goodbye. Here's hoping it won't be too long until I can pay that lovely city another visit.

But to end on a positive note here... this trip was absolute perfection, in every sense of the word. All the things I'd worried about were, as I'd suspected, no big deal. I did everything I wanted to do, I saw what I wanted to see, I didn't get lost or mugged or killed, and I felt confident and happy and amazing the whole time. I told Tony this was definitely something I could see myself doing again... a yearly tradition, perhaps? Hey, I can dream...