I’m Alive, I promise!

Remember that New Year’s Resolution I made? You know, the one where I said I’d update this thing more often? Yeah…well….three and a half months later and I’M BACK! That’s right Mom and Dad, you now get to read about everything I’ve already told you! Just kidding….I know the rest of my family reads this too.

Where, oh where to start? Per usual, this will be a collection of stories. There is no real plot to my life…just a bunch of little stories…and that is perfectly fine by me.

Ladies Night: No strippers. Promise. BUT Schwak, Monica, Kristen, Jen, Emily and myself did have a slumber party out in Brooklyn at Moni and Schwak’s awesome hipster pad. Margaritas were consumed. Tacos were destroyed. And queso was downright scraped off the bottom of the bowl (there is NO queso in NYC…so by “queso” I mean some semi-decent grocery brand). We also played a mean game of “Fish Bowl,” or “Naked” or “Celebrity”…whatever you want to call it. It’s pretty much just charades but acting out people. Hard to explain via blog…BUT it’s hysterical and I get way too into it as I do every game I play.

Compliments of Monica, the artist.

Next morning: Snooki hair tutorials.

Indoor Parks: only in NYC. It’s pretty safe to say that New York winters can be fairly depressing. Solution: create a real-life park smack dab in the middle of a building complete with grass, park benches, park scents, chirping bird sounds, special lighting, trees and wallpaper surrounding the entire place resembling a forrest. My friend Tiffany took Lindsay and I here one morning after Bible Study and the three of us just sat on the “grass” and talked as if we were really hanging out at a park on a spring day. It was incredibly how truly therapeutic this was for us. It also made me laugh and think “Only in New York City would such a thing exist…” Oh, New York, you never cease to amaze me in all your creativity….

Just your average afternoon at the park with Lindsay!

Food: So maybe, kinda, sorta, possibly there was this one time Emily and I (neither of us in college) went down to the NYU cafeteria just to eat Chik-fil-a because we missed it so. Don’t judge.

Worth feeling ridiculously out of place.

Speaking of food: Artichoke. Hands down the best pizza in New York City is this place called Artichoke. Even at 4am (not that I’ve ever been at that time of day) it’s insanely crowded and you have to wait in about a thirty minute line.  I’m pretty sure they just make spinach-artichoke dip and bake it on a piece of bread. But whatever they’re doing is working for them!

One slice. Two plates.

Entertainment: We all know my love of Joe Jonas. Well friends, he’s recently be trumped by the Biebs. Justin Bieber that is.

Enough said.

The girls in my Bible Study are some of the most ridiculously talented people I know. Pretty much all of them are performers…except me (but you better BELIEVE I like to pretend). My friend Krysta originated the part of Wednesday Addams in the Addams Family Musical with Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth on Broadway. She was incredible and even let us go backstage with her after the show. I’m not even gonna lie and say I didn’t feel cool as we walked out of the theatre with her and people were asking for her autograph. Cocky? Perhaps.

Rae, Tiffany, Krysta, Me

Subway Rides: I typically don’t ride the subways late at night because I’m a giant scaredy cat and also somewhat lazy. But this particular night was WELL worth it simply to get two of the best pictures I’ve possibly taken in NYC. This is what happens when you’re alone in the subway….

Don't ask how I did this.

Emmy-Lou (I've never called you that but think I'll start)

VISITORS: Remember all those times I said how obsessed I am with my parents? Well, they FINALLY came to see their favorite daughter. Side note: my dad always says I’m his favorite daughter and until about 6th grade I felt like the coolest person on the planet…then I realized I had no sisters and I’m his only daughter.

Back to the story: My momma and pops came to visit me and I had such an incredible time with them. They’re truly the best and I’m so blessed by them. Dad even put up with momma and I’s favorite past-time: SHOPPING! Shopping is something I most definitely inherited from my mom. We shopped, shopped, shopped. Dad was such a good sport…until he got far too bored and left us to go grab a beer by himself to wait. Typical.

I love them both and can’t WAIT to see them again at my grandparent’s SIXTIETH anniversary party in Kansas next month!

LOVE this guy.

LOVE this gal. (Don't judge my owl hat)

Other awesome visitors: Katie and Heather were two of my sorority sisters at OU and also my roomies at “The Treehouse” senior year. Don’t ask about the name….in fact, I’m not sure why we really named it that. Anyway, Heather, Katie and Michelle came to NYC over their Spring Break and it made me miss them like crazy. Heather…aka “Bartles”…and Katie….aka “Privo” are by far two of the funniest people on earth. Even though we hadn’t seen each other in almost a year, the inside jokes (mainly dirty) came back as if we were together last week. Our apartment looked like one giant (nothing about our apartment is giant..FYI) slumber party. Not to mention Emily’s little brother was also staying with us. We stayed up late every night laughing, telling funny stories, reliving college moments that I miss so dearly and of course, exploring New York. They were here during St. Patrick’s Day…which in New York is a HUGE deal. So down to Wall Street we went. There’s a fun street of bars down there that had a huge festival/party if you will. Bartles called it “The Cobblestone Death Street” because we of course were in heels walking along cobblestones…rookies. I miss you already and can’t wait for your return visit!

It's our holiday! (Redhead power)

Yep. Wore 'em.

Come back now!

Travels: Another item on our bucket list was to go to Washington DC for the Cherry Blossom Festival. So off we went via the super-awesome Megabus which was not super awesome that day. Funny story: after being delayed for 45 minutes standing in the freezing cold, we finally get on the bus and take off driving down the street. Five minutes later we pull over and stop and the driver comes walking back saying “Umm…we’re gonna have to have ya’ll transfer busses. This one’s bout to go ‘tick tick BOOM;” Not sure whether or not we should laugh or run for our lives, we quickly gathered our things yet continued to yell “tick tick BOOM” the remainder of the weekend.

We stayed at Lindsay’s friends adorable apartment in DC. I just love it there. It’s always so nice to get away from the city..especially to DC as I am somewhat of an American government lover.

Cherry Blossom festival gorgeous-ness. Afternoon naps on the lawn. Nighttime monument trolley tour. Perfection.

Reenacting a picture from when I was 12. SO STRONG!

Me and Lindsay. Honestly do not know what I'd do without her.

Friends + America = Happiness

LOVE the Cherry Blossoms!

WWII Monument is my fave. Makes me think of my Bobby :)

Church and church folk: I’ve found the most incredible church and church community in New York. It’s completely changed my life…well, God has…but you get the picture. The people are a blast and I’ve already gotten to close to so many of them. I’m forever grateful for my friendships with these people and all the fun we have.

Bad picture. Great friends. Kristi, Laurie, you know who and Greta

Some dapper young gentlemen and myself on Easter

(Totes wearing the same shirt in both pictures above…dangit)

Alright….so this one time I was having a bad day and I called my friend Tiffany to hang out. She mentioned she was dog sitting but I could come visit her. Upon arriving at the snazzy Upper East Side apartment, I find what seems to be Liberace’s condo. This was by far the biggest apartment I’ve been in in NYC…like HUGE and decorated with all sorts of crazy things like leopard carpet, golden lion looking things, Moroccan elephant gizmos…etc. And the dog she was “dog sitting?” It’s name was DeeDee and it was ancient. It looked like the sloth from Ice Age. No joke. It was such a pretty day out that we wanted to go on a walk. The problem however, it that DeeDee does not walk…DeeDee rides. Yes, I said “rides.” DeeDee literally has what looks like a baby stroller that she sits in while you push her around. To Central Park we went! Dog stroller and all. We were those people. Everyone was looking at us and laughing. One lady came up to see the baby and was quickly terrified.

So horrible. Yet SO SO SO awesome.

Ryanne’s visit and “Mouse in Da House: Part III:” Another friend from college, Ryanne, came to visit and it was all fun and games until a mouse ran across the floor while I was hosting Bible Study for the very first time. Eight girls…one mouse…intense screaming. I’m pretty sure I went from praising the Lord to screaming every curse word I knew in a matter of seconds. Later that night, Emily, Ryanne and I were winding down from the day when they saw it running across the floor again. Ryanne, Emily and I’s guest, is the only brave enough one to attempt to get it. And by brave I mean she was up on the counter with a Swiffer…as if that will catch a sneaky New York mouse. Needless to say, we haven’t caught it…but I’ve finally been able to sleep longer than three hours without scaring myself awake thinking it’s crawling on me.

Solid attempt.

And last but not least….I got a new job. Now my days look a lot like this….

I guess I've entered "Adult Life" :(

Well, folks. I guess I’ve filled ya’ll in on the last three months of my life. Until next time!!!

-Kelley

PS…and just because:

Emily and I at the Museum of Natural History

New York is far too cold

(Disclaimer: This post is extremely random. Think of it as a series of short stories, will you?)

I think we’re on day 4 of snow here in NYC. It. Is. Freaking. Cold. Don’t get me wrong, I love snow. Mostly when I’m skiing in it…but because that isn’t an option this year, snow in New York will have to suffice. It just doesn’t have the same impact when snow turns into a black mush from the dirty Manhattan streets. Luckily I have a monstrous coat that I refer to as “my sleeping bag”—it’s made out of sleeping bag material and covers pretty much my entire body (not my hottest look). BUT it is topped with a snazzy little lining of faux fur around my face….because the Clark Griswold “Christmas Vacation” look is really in this season. Duh. Anyway, I’ve found the Clark Griswold fur lining causes nothing but trouble. When I’m walking through these blizzards I put on my sleeping bag, pull my huge Clark Griswold hat over my head and just start walking without paying any attention to what is in front of me. I’ve almost walked into oncoming traffic multiple times simply because I can’t see a thing…and Lord knows I don’t want to get hit by a car again (see previous posts). There is no point to this story…except for the fact I AM OVER THE COLD. Big time. I’m tired of wearing huge clothes in order to survive walking across the street and then immediately dying of heatstroke the second I get inside. Horrible, I tell you.

Just a morning commute...through Antarctica.

This poor rat was so cold he just gave up.

Poor, frozen rat.

Mom & Dad: If you’re reading this, please find me this umbrella. A see-through bubble umbrella?! Genius.

Moon looks cute. Don't judge my appearance, please.

Emily and I still haven’t done too much decorating in the apartment. I take that back. We have the necessities: TV, couch, uncomfortable chairs for our guests, a yummy candle, one random attempt at creativity done by Emily which is simply a frame with 6 very old pictures of us, two beds and one giant wreath that we were going to throw away at work that I just didn’t have it in me to get rid of. So we are now the owners of a huge (very dead) Christmas wreath that hangs out behind our couch. I went to the Thunder/Knicks game a while back and made it home with Thunder playing cards so I thought to myself “Why not show some Okie pride in NYC and meticulously place Thunder playing cards in the wreath for extra decoration!?” I thought it was pure genius. Emily, not so much. Durant and the guys only lived on my wall for two days. Sad story.

Sorry, guys. I tried.

Oh!!! I mustn’t forget about the best idea we’ve ever had! Emily and I could 100% run a store out of our apartment. We’re both very into clothes and have more jewelry than we know what to do with. Empty wall space and lots of jewelry? I smell a craft.

Boom.

A few weeks ago some friends from church and I volunteered at the New York Aids/HIV center and hung out with people affected by the disease. I always love volunteering and need to do it more often. It was such a blast playing Scrabble all night with people whose outlooks on life are incredible. Really puts things into perspective. I’m not the greatest Scrabble player in the world but luckily we were extremely lenient with the rules…AKA, they let me get away with “B-U-S-T-I-N.”

Good times. Better people.

Have I mentioned we hang out with male models now? Well, we do. Unfortunately, RJ is the ripe old age of 18 but we still enjoy saying we hang out with models. Monica and RJ are family friends and he recently moved here after he was ‘discovered.’ He’s pretty dang easy on the eyes…and kid likes to boogie, so he’s more than welcome in our group.

Can't wait til Moni and I fight over who gets to walk the red carpet with him.

I love music. A lot. I love concerts. A lot. I love cool music venues. A lot. I love cute boys that play instruments. A lot.

Meet John Gallagher Jr. He’s in ‘American Idiot’ (current musical obsession) right now on Broadway and we love him. Jen, Emily, Kristen and I went to see him play at Rockwood Music Hall last Sunday night and he was incredible. I must say, living in a place like New York is awesome for music lovers. There is always an abundance of free/cheap shows. Awesome.

Music is good for my soul.

Schwak’s brother-in-law was in town last weekend which definitely called for a party. A ‘hipster’ Brooklyn party at that. “What is a hipster?” you might ask. A hipster is an individual in their 20s or 30s that is really into ‘cool’ music, wears things that are perfectly unmatched, more artistic types…and they are in abundance in NYC…especially Brooklyn where Lindsay and Monica live. Brooklyn hipster bars are definitely entertaining and wonderful for people watching. They also carry “Chi O Beer.” And by Chi O Beer I mean they have beer with owls on them. And that was the only part of this short story. Cool beers with owls. Oh, and go CHI O!

Lindsay's bro-in-law, Moni and I at the awesome Brooklyn Brewery.

Love myself some owls.

Ever tried Bikram Yoga? Yeah, well I shouldn’t have either. It’s yoga in a room that’s heated to something like 95 degrees. You walk in that room and immediately start sweating from places you didn’t know produced sweat. MISERABLE! Well, somewhere between downward dog and some other word I can’t pronounce, I passed out. Yep. Nausea, sweat, dehydration, the fact that I’d just had a ton of milk…they don’t do well in “Hell Yoga” as I am now calling it.

Namaste, people. Namaste.

I genuinely like living in New York. I really do…most of the time. But I can’t say I don’t get homesick. I’m supa close with my fam and friends back home and if it weren’t for frequent “Skype dates,” I’d be depressed. Words don’t describe how happy I get when I turn on the computer to see Mom, Pops, PUPPIES, Hannah, Allen, Casey, Andrew and others folks back home. I LOVE IT. I hope my friends know how much that means to me. :)

Meet Allen and Hannah. Two people who I love very much!

I guess that’s all the short stories I have for today. American Idol is on and sista’s gotta prioritize. Speaking of American Idol, I could write an entire post on our DVR. Pretty Little Liars, Bachelor, 19 Kids and Counting, American Idol, Kardashians, Thunder Basketball (if I’m feeling sporty), Jersey Shore, Gossip Girl, Glee…the list goes on and on. Hey, it’s cheap entertainment in NYC regardless of the fact that it’s pure trash.

And because I saw this at the drugstore the other day and thought it was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen: shapewear for me. Sick.

Men this is NEVER acceptable. Ever.

Adios amigos. Lots of love. -Kel

Holiday Loveliness

So, as I’m sure you’ve discovered, I’ve become very lazy updating the ‘ol blog. Although I shouldn’t make excuses for not doing something that I love (writing), I must say that I still haven’t gotten around to buy a new battery for my Mac (and by ‘gotten around’ I mean I don’t want to spend the money) and Emily and I have yet to figure out how to connect our wireless internet. Both of these things are my New Year’s Resolutions.

Enough with the excuses. Here we go:

Christmas in New York was just as magical as I’d imagined. I never go anywhere without my music and there’s just something about turning on Frank Sinatra’s Christmas album while walking the streets of Christmas-inspired NYC that made me feel like I was in a movie. I’m a sucker for all things Christmas and love getting into the “spirit” whether that be 1) suddenly wanting to become a baker just because I associate Christmas with the smell of cookies and cute, ruffled aprons or 2) watching Home Alone and Christmas Vacation as many times as I can and even 3) listening to Christmas music as soon as Halloween is over and then starting to get sick of it around the time it becomes acceptable to listen to Christmas music. Regardless, Christmas is awesome. The season is magical. and Christmas season in New York is something everyone should experience at some point in their lives.

My little gang in NYC and I had a very large bucket list of ‘Christmas in New York’ items that we desperately wanted to check off. Rockefeller Christmas tree. Skating in Central Park. Window displays on 5th Avenue. Macy’s. Radio City Rockettes. Frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity. Let me just say that we proudly checked all those bad boys off. For a bunch of disturbingly poor young New Yorkers, we sure did work on our ‘Christmas in New York’ bucket list.

It all started with a solid attempt at the ‘Lighting of the Rockefeller Christmas Tree.’ I say attempt because it didn’t happen. If there’s one single thing I dislike about Christmas in New York, it is absolutely, most definitely the insane amount of people that invade the city during the season. I can’t say I blame them; it is pretty magical. But seriously, you can barely walk the streets without people stopping to take pictures–it gets incredibly annoying. We had all planned to meet up at Radio City a couple hours before the lighting of the tree to ensure a great spot, but I’m fairly certain you would have had to spend the night the night before if you wanted that to be a possibility. Ummmmm, you COULD NOT even see two feet ahead of you within two blocks of the tree thanks to the insane amount of people. There must have been 283 million people with the exact same bucket list. It was horrible. Every street was barricaded off forcing me to walk out of my way 4 blocks just to cross the street to Radio City. Not only were there 283 million people, but when I finally arrived, there were too many people near the tree to even see it. Needless to say, we ditched the tree and opted for a bottle of wine, heat and a good night of television. A much better decision indeed!

Thankfully one of my best friends, and now fellow New Yorker, Jen, was visiting that weekend and we made a pit stop by the tree during her trip. It was still stupidly busy but we accomplished what we set out for: a glimpse of the infamous tree.

Jen and me at my favorite NYC Christmas spot.

Emily and me in front of the tree.

Another important item on our bucket list: Radio City Christmas Spectacular…AKA The Rockettes. Schwak is a performer, I like to pretend I’m a performer, Emily loves all types of performances and Kristen, well, we all like it when Kristen performs for us (it is truly a gloriously hysterical and wonderful moment). We knew we had to save our pennies and see some sort of Christmas show. It just so happened that one of Emily’s family friends was actually in Radio City Christmas Spectacular this year so that gave us even more reason to see the show. Schwak actually ended up having to perform the night we all bought tickets but the rest of us went to the show. It was so, so, so good and definitely made me wish I were a Rockette—ultimate New Year’s resolution. ;) Best part, other than Kristen studying the moves as best she could to do for us later, getting a backstage tour of Radio City after the show. I had to take a personal moment when we walked out on the empty stage and stared into the empty theatre. Some of the world’s best have been up on that historic stage and it was such an awesome experience.

Me, Dalton, Emily and a camel from the show.

Radio City Music Hall

The next night we spoke to Kristen and she said she had had a long day, so to cheer her up Emily and I recorded a little diddy of us recreating the Rockette’s moves. I would share the video with the blog—but is by far the most humiliating (yet awesome) video that is only to be seen by a select few. Let me just say, however, that Emily and I are going to need to work very hard in order to become Rockettes.

Next stop: SantaCon. How does one describe SantaCon??? Simply put, it’s a huge NYC bar crawl that consists of donning a Santa costume and parading around the city to different bars by following Twitter blasts of the next location. I had absolutely no idea what to expect. I seriously thought maybe 200 people would show up, it’d last a couple hours and you go home. Not at all. There were thousands of people. It was one of the craziest things I’ve ever experienced. 95% of the people dressed as Santa, but for the other 5% (us) that chose not to, you still dress in Christmas themed attire. We chose to go as presents A) because we didn’t know where to find Santa costumes and B) because we’re cheap and wanted to buy the least amount of stuff we needed to. We woke up the next morning at the crack of dawn (the thing started at 9am or something crazy) to go to a pre-party and immediately knew we were in for a treat. On our way to the pre-party, Emily and I rode the subway next to a group of about 15 Santas. We were no longer embarrassed dressed as presents walking the streets of NY on a Saturday morning; we were in for a treat. The day consisted of bar hopping while waiting to receive new tweets from SantaCon to guide us to our next mystery location. It was an awesome day…definitely one that I’ll never forget.

Cutest presents you ever did see.

BFF, coworker, Rudolph....Grant

Can you BELIEVE this!? So. Freaking. Awesome.

Central Park, how I love you. Skating in Central Park allowing me to pretend I’m in the movie ‘Serendipity,’ I love you more. One of the things on my “Life Bucket List,” not just my “Christmas in New York Bucket List” was to ice skate in Central Park. Granted, it would have been a tad bit cooler with a hot man on my arm, but Schwak, Moon, Emily and I bared the 20 degree temperatures one evening to do something that screams “Christmas in New York.” None of us are by any means great skaters, but we had a blast circling the rink, watching people worse than us fall, gazing at the Plaza Hotel through the Central Park trees and dreaming of how wonderful it would be if John Cusack would mysteriously show up. Unfortunately, he didn’t but we still had a blast.

Moon, Em, Schwak, me.

Figure skating champs.

Oh yeah, one of my best friends from college, Chezzarae, visited us in New York City. She was our first visitor and I was so excited to see her. My friends from college are some of the funniest people I know and Chezz-my-nezz definitely tops the list. Loved having you here, Chezz. Now to the rest of you, COME VISIT!

My #1 Diva

The night before I went back to Tulsa for Christmas, Moon, myself and some other friends went to watch the OKC Thunder play the NYC Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Although OKC lost, which we were pretty bummed about, it was a good time. I might not be the biggest sports fanatic out there which is weird considering the family I grew up in, but I love nothing more than the event itself. Also Kevin Durant is the only player I can name on my fantasy basketball team and I needed him to do well. Don’t ask why I entered a fantasy basketball league…I don’t know either. I am, however, proud of my team who jumped four spots this week after I figured out that I’m actually supposed to update their schedules. Whoops.

Home. Home was wonderful. Sometimes I ask myself why I left those people. I’m a little obsessed with my friends back home and am 100% certain I will never find people like them ever again. There’s just something about people from Oklahoma…I love them and everything they represent. I want them all to move to NYC and my life would be perfect. Until then, I will treasure going home and spending time with the people I love the most.

Christmas was wonderful as always. I love all traditions my family has. Dinner. Christmas Eve candlelight church service. Driving around looking at the lights while listening to music. And then obviously coming home and debating whether or not we’ll watch Home Alone or Christmas Vacation. I love it all.

My brother wrote this letter to Santa when he was six and I was three and I’m pretty sure it’s the cutest thing ever written. My dad brings it out every Christmas and it always plants a huge smile on my face.

Daer Santa. I hope you will git my sester and me some good prasns. Love Andy and Kelley

My pretty, pretty mama.

Best parents in the world. Mama and Pops.

Have I ever mentioned I love my dogs?

We always go to Wichita on Christmas day and one of the things I love most in life is my family. I have a HUGE family and we have a blast together. My Aunt Nancy (hey Nance—told ya I’d give you a shout out) and I actually counted how many people are on my dad’s side and we counted 52…..52!!!!! That’s insane. We always have a great, crazy time and I miss them all dearly.

My awesomely talented artist of a cousin, Austin.

GG (grandma) and great aunt, Tia.

Grandpa Bobby, whom I love very much.

Christmas was wonderful and I loved seeing everyone so much and meeting new little additions to my ever-growing family. But I was definitely glad to go home and spend more time with the best friends in the world. New Year’s Eve was to be celebrated and I only have so much time in good ‘ol Tulsa.

I forgot to take a lot of pics on NYE but it was definitely one for the record books. Starting the night with an impromptu trip to the sketchiest bar on earth. We had an hour to spare before our NYE party started and decided to stop by a little bar nearby….turned out that the bar is known around Tulsa to be a huge prostitution bar. Solid. Thank God I was too freaked out inside to order a drink. haha The rest of the night was a blast and I can’t get enough of my people. (I’m sad even writing about how much I love them—if any of my Tulsa gang reads this PLEASE COME VISIT ME…or at least video chat me)

Matt, me, Andrew, Jeff, Jason

Oh Hannah, thanks for always being down for a good time. I love you to pieces.

Oh yeah. Let’s hear it for that Sooner Win!!! I watched more sports when I was home for a week than I have in the past 4 months combined (thanks Dad, Mom and bubs). I love those Sooners…and I love a good win…I also love watching with good friends.

Leaving was hard, as I suspected it would be. This time was even more different than leaving when I moved. I knew I’d be home for Thanksgiving the first time but now I left without knowing when I’ll come back. Thank God my parents are coming in March. Can’t wait to get crazy with Dave and Becky! (bring your party pants…you’ll need them in this city)

Everything is going well back in the Big Apple. Work is wonderful and I’m so blessed in this new life. Emily and I are loving our new apartment and I still can’t get over the fact that I live here with some of my best friends. Emily, Kristen and I constantly crack each other up and have some of the greatest inside jokes ever…mainly pertaining to boys…Penn Badgley….funny nights…and more boys. No one shall ever know who CWB, HWB or LDB are…which makes me laugh outloud.

Schwak’s best friend from home, Monica, just moved here from Atlanta and one of my best friends from home, Jen, just moved here too! Can’t wait to add them into our circle. Good times, good stories and good memories will be made and I can’t wait for new adventures!

Here’s to the longest post ever. Cheers!

Thankful

Thanksgiving.

Good Oklahoma. Good family. Good friends. Good doggies. Good Kansas. Good Taco Bueno. Good talks. Good shopping. Good church. Good sleeping. Good laughs. Good food. Good Sooner win. Good sunsets. Good times. Many, many good things to be thankful for.

I was so extremely excited to go back to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving. I hadn’t seen my friends, family or Oklahoma in FOUR months…which is a long time for me considering my previous streak was 2.5 months last summer. Maybe it seems crazy, but I haven’t really been ‘homesick’ since I’ve lived in New York until the few weeks leading up to my trek back home. I guess it’s because it was constantly on my mind in those few weeks. Regardless, I was pumped to step foot on that beautiful red-dirt Oklahoma ground. I knew I was home when I walked off the plane to find countless men donning Wranglers, Carhartts, Bass Pro hats and cowboy boots. Pretty big change of scene from the tight jean and leather jacket look of the guys in NY. Can’t say I wasn’t a fan of those Wranglers…there’s just something about a cowboy.

My flight from NY left at 6am and my pops, being the excited, a tad crazy when it comes to his kids, father that we all love him for, suggested I leave my apartment at 3:15 AM to ensure I made it in time. You know…”with all the new TSA regulations”…”Kelley don’t freak out if you have to get the ‘pat down'”…and “the ‘busiest travel day of the year.'” I woke up that morning at two thirty…TWO THIRTY! I had been asleep for a total of three hours at 2:30 and was getting texts from friends back home in OK who were still out for the night. Needless to say I looked horrific. My outfit was disgraceful. My eyes could barely stay open. But by gosh I was NOT missin’ that flight. I made it to the airport in a solid 20 minutes, which according to my driver Abdul, was the “fastest time I’ve ever done this…no one is on the highways at this time.” Yeah, and no one is at the airport either, buddy. Not only did I arrive two and a half hours early, but the security line didn’t open for another hour forcing me to stand there like a zombie while I waited to merely ‘walk’ through security. No body scan. No pat down. Nothing. Total fail…I worked out for nothing! Kidding. Very poor planning on my part with the whole ‘you need to be there extra early’ thing. Pointless.

Oh well, no one was in the seat next to me so I took it upon myself to sprawl out across two seats and sleep for 3 hours until the flight attendant had to wake me up.

What do you think I did immediately after landing? (besides hugging my mom, dad and my sweet friends for surprising me at the airport) TACOOOOOOO BUENOOOOOOOO. Ohhh yeah. A perfect little outing to Taco Bueno with Mom, Pops, Casey and Jen was the perfect start to a perfect trip. I was also amazed to remember how stinking cheap things are back home. Five bucks for an entire meal including a drink? Heck, this round’s on me!

I asked my mom if I could drive home from lunch and you would have thought I was 15 again. “BREAKS! KELLEY! BREAKS!” “Slow. Slow. Slow!” (seriously Mom, I’ve been driving for 8 years. it doesn’t go away in four months) Her excuse? My ‘reflexes are probably off.’ Yes of course. I must have lost my reflexes living in New York.

Let me just say that the reunion with my dogs should have absolutely been captured on film. They FREAKED out. Bit me, licked me, hopped all over me for a solid twenty minutes and I loved every second of it. At one point I felt bad because my mom said “you only came home for the dogs, didn’t you?” No, I came home for my family and friends AND my dogs.

I beyond loved seeing my friends that night. My high school gang is still really close and we always manage to have the greatest time together. I’ve known most of them since elementary school. We know way too much about each other and therefore are forced to stick together. I love them and miss them dearly.

One of my oldest and dearest friends, Andrew:

He's totally not looking..but I still think it's cute.

Love these ladies.

I'm the tall, giant one.

The next day consisted of a Bennett Family Roadtrip to Kansas. We are truly the modern day Griswold’s. Four people, two insane dogs, fighting over music choices, “Wait, did we shut the garage door? We need to go back and check.” I love my family. I love them very much.

Did I mention I love my dogs yet? So much so that I forced my brother to take about twenty pictures of me with them until they both looked somewhat in the same direction. The result:

I know, I know. They're cute.

I also love food…my Aunt Nancy’s desserts in particular. The turkey, the stuffing..that stuff’s all fine and dandy. But what I really look forward to are her famous pumpkin bars, Connie’s cookies, and a new favorite: chocolate chip cookies with a Rolo melted into the center with marshmallows and chocolate on top. Yeah, you heard me. It’s gooooooood.

Food is great, but Thanksgiving is really about family. And when both of your parents were one of six, the aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins, cousin’s babies, etc. are countless. Since I’ve been gone I’ve gained three new baby cousins. I’m a baby addict and pretty much forget about everyone and everything else when a baby is in my presence.

I promise Caleb loved me…he was just a little camera shy.

Ah don't cry!

We finished our wonderful Thanksgiving at my parent’s best friend’s house. I’m pretty obsessed with the Oatsdean family and always love spending time with them…and Doug and Michael too! I’ve known Ali since she was born and people use to say we could be sisters. I’m not sure if you’d think that anymore…but I do know that Ali is almost taller than me, and looks about my age. She also has this painted on the wall of her room and it spoke to my heart in a big way: “God is the DJ. Life is the dance floor. Love is the rhythm. And we are the music.” I’d never heard it before but I love it…and think of those words often. Love you Ali Cat!

Ali-O

How ’bout that Sooner win!? Oh yeah, baby! Watching the Sooner victory with all OSU fans…awesome. They hated me that night. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because I scream at the top of my lungs every time we catch the ball, run more than five yards, or jump up and down like a maniac after we score? Perhaps.

I forgot an OU shirt. So a red bracelet and red lipstick had to suffice.

Only a few punches were thrown. I won. Duh.

The next few days consisted of sleeping like a little baby in my bed. Eating at my favorite Okie restaurants. Decorating the house for Christmas. Game night (my favorite). And spending more glorious time with family and friends.

My time in Oklahoma was magical. It was an awesome Thanksgiving and I’m very thankful for it. It’s always important to remember to be thankful. Getting to live out my dreams is wonderful and I’m so ‘thankful’ for this chapter in my life. But a warm place to lay my head every night, clean water, good health, people who love me—that’s what life’s about; that’s what I’m thankful for. And also skies like these: I sure do miss an Oklahoma sunset every once in a while…

No giant building in these here parts!

It’s crazy to think I’ll be home again in less than a month. Can’t wait to spend more lovely time back home for the greatest holiday of the year. I love Christmas and can’t imagine spending it anywhere else.

Pictures to leave you with…

Night out with Moon:

Moongrain. Mongoose. Moonster. Moon.

Attempted fun pictures with Emily in Times Square:

Success!

Scarf=total fail.

We found a bar that serves beer in coffee mugs. Genius. Pure genius.

Will this work at the office? Kidding.

Christmas in New York is in full swing. I can’t WAIT to skate in Central Park, see the Rockefeller tree, sip hot chocolate while watching Christmas movies, and most importantly…see the insane window displays at my favorite stores.

I should also mention that Chezzarae AND Jen are here this weekend so fun will be had by all. Can’t wait to tear up the town.

More of this to come later. I love Christmas in NY!!!!

Hello Again

Yes, I’m still alive. Don’t worry about the lack of posts. It has been a crazy month full of apartment moving, hatred towards the internet company, and most importantly…laziness.

But a good month it has been! I can’t BELIEVE Thanksgiving is this week. I’m so so so so so so excited to go home and see my friends and family. I’ve never been gone this long before and 5 days at home…with my parents and bubs…with my friends…with my Kansas folk…with my DOGS…with Taco Bueno..will be very awesome. And very needed.

Let’s see what’s happened since I last updated….

• Halloween: I can’t even begin to tell you how much fun my first New York Halloween was. Schwak, Moon, Emily and I tore up the town. While at the costume store, Emily found a really funny Geisha wig and started joking around about how funny it would be if we all went as Geishas. The joke turned into reality. We were all wearing the wigs around the store and dying of laughter and decided ‘why not?’ By far the greatest idea of the day was when Schwak decided she didn’t want to be a Geisha, but she wanted to be the old man…aka the Pimp Daddy. We found her the NASTIEST men’s grey wig with matching beard and even sicker matching grey eyebrows. We’re pretty certain her costume was supposed to be the guy from ‘Kill Bill’ but it did the job. And it did the job very well.

That's me on the right...I was pretty unrecognizable.

On a night where many girls wear short skirts and low cut tops…the three of us chose the ‘funny’ option. We started our evening at our friend’s Halloween party. Our friends Annie and Barry (who, by the way, are AWESOME) and their friend Jameson rented the top floor of a bar in mid-town and threw one HECK of a Halloween party. All three of them are insanely talented performers and Jameson, who works in Phantom of the Opera’s wig department, HAND MADE all three of their costumes. They went as the ‘Sanderson Sisters’ from Hocus Pocus and I have never in my entire life seen greater costumes. When I walked in and saw Barry, I genuinely had no idea who I was looking at. It took him coming up to me and saying hello before I knew who he was.

Oh yeah...they performed too. Enough said.

And because I can’t leave her out…even though she opted not to Geisha it out with the rest of us…my sweet little Moon.

Best Twister board you ever did see.

• Central Park loveliness: Fall in NYC is something I’ve dreamed about forever. I love all seasons but there is just something special about the fall. Fall in New York is incredible. It’s so beautiful and there is nothing more spectacular than the changing leaves in Central Park. One of the things that can get taken for granted when living in NY, is the fact that Central Park is always at your fingertips. I need to work on going more. It’s so beautiful, so relaxing, and so much fun to explore. A long walk through the Park was just what Emily, Moon and I needed after a very long, yet fun, Halloween weekend.

Cold, sunny day in our backyard.

• Kelley the Carpenter: Before I moved to New York, and more specifically–before I started my job, I couldn’t tell you the difference between a screw and a nail. (That’s a lie…but not too far fetched) But having lived on my own, without a dad or guy friends here to help build things, set things up, carry heavy stuff, etc., I am now on my way to becoming a professional carpenter, electrical engineer, Ikea put-together-er, and heavyweight champion of the world. Granted, most of the time Emily (roomie) and I resemble Lucy and Ethel, but the job gets done. Emily and I just moved into a new apartment. We LOVE it but it’s certainly a slow process in terms of furniture, decor, etc. For a solid two days we showered without a shower curtain because we didn’t want to spend money anywhere but Ikea. Side note: showering without a curtain is comical. You should have seen me putting together Emily and I’s new media center. Sweat dripping. Cursing. Hammering so loud I surely ticked off the neighbors. Making Emily get off the couch (our only piece of furniture…we’re poor) to come hold two pieces of wood together and then telling her it’s OK because part of me finds such great joy doing things like this on my own. But let’s just say, I use big words now like “Allen wrench” and “impact driver” thanks to my job. Part of event production is literally producing the events…aka building stuff. “Kelley the Carpenter” now knows what to do when asked to bring over a Phillip’s head or a hand-saw….because I’m that good.

Totally built, I mean 'assembled,' two of these suckers like a champ.

• The time I was hit by a car: Yes, you read correctly. I am now checking “get hit by a car” off the list. Grant and I ventured out to lunch last week, which we rarely do, and on our way back I’m taking in my surroundings, loving life, thinking about going back to Oklahoma and BAM! A lady backs into me! Before you all freak out, it wasn’t that bad. Thank God. BUT, I was hit nonetheless. We abided the law and waited for the crosswalk sign to turn white and this damn woman in her fancy silver car decided, while at a red light, that she didn’t like the positioning of her car in the street and that “Oh, I’ll just back up right here without looking behind me.” Crazy lady backed right into me scaring the HELL out of me causing me to jump back faster than you could imagine. You could hear people on the streets saying “Oh my gosh! Are you OK?!” and “Do you need anything?!” Grant literally checked to see if I was OK and once I said yes, he was over at the woman’s car yelling and screaming in her face. Glad to have a friend like him..and it was pretty awesomely funny listening to him scream at a lady saying she almost killed his friend. Good times. Good times.

• Tale of the nun and the joint roller: I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: NOTHING is greater than public transportation in NYC. On our way back from Ikea one Saturday afternoon, Emily and I were riding the subway home when Emily starts cracking up and whispers in my ear that directly across from us sat a nun and a man sitting side-by-side…and that the man was rolling a joint right next to her. We were laughing so hard. The irony of this was so comical. Seriously? This guy had the nerve to not only drink his beer from a brown paper bag right next to a nun..but roll a joint in public…next to a nun. Ohhhh, so priceless.

Nun and a joint-roller: A Love Story.

• Weekends, baby: When you live in a place as cool as New York, you live for the weekend. Regardless of being so tired come Friday evening, you have to get it together and see what the city has to offer. I should also mention that unlike Oklahoma, where bars stay open til 2, bars in New York stay open til 4. Nuts, right? Right. And fun!

Love this gang.

Who knows.

Really creepy skeleton person at a party last weekend. So random.

• Tulsa takes Manhattan: It’s incredible how small of a world New York can sometimes be. I ran into some of my brother’s friends from Tulsa this past weekend. I’ve known Allison since middle school and I’ve known Devin for TWENTY years. Twenty!! His little sister Casey is my best friend and Devin and Andy are best friends. Pretty crazy. I’m happy I’m “cool” enough now to hang out with Andy’s pals…that never would have happened growing up.

Small, small world.

• Greatest night of my life thus far: I’ve gotten to do and see some pretty cool things since I’ve been in New York. My job is really awesome and allows me to do things I might not otherwise get to do. I’ve seen some pretty cool people and even gotten to meet a few of them…but NOTHING will ever compare to this past weekend. Like every other girl my age, my friends and I are beyond obsessed with Gossip Girl. So when Emily, Moon, our friend Maria and I found ourselves hanging out with Penn Badgley on Saturday night, you can only imagine how flipping excited we were. He was the nicest, coolest, most attractive human ever. The only downside was that he is much shorter than I would have liked…but I’ll deal with it. We were with him for a few hours that night…just six of us…having wine…talking about nothing in particular. It was one of those things I’ll never forget. The story of how it happened is a long (yet funny) one that I’m not going to take the time to write out…but let’s just say that Penn and I are now on a first name basis, I stared at him all night, and our hands touched more than once. Although he tried a sip of Kristen’s wine so they practically kissed…damn her. There is so much more to this night including Kristen, Emily and I dancing obnoxiously down the street post-Penn hangout..but I don’t want this story to be any more creepy and girly than it already is. Oh yeah, we totally played it cool the whole night. We couldn’t let him know how much we were actually freaking out. Go us. We simply acted like it was no big deal. ‘Twas awesome.

We didn’t take any pictures. (remember, we were playing it cool) But just in case you don’t know who I’m talking about:

swoon.

Alright, well that’s about it I suppose. I’m pretty darn pumped to go home in TWO days but I’m sad to leave Penn. ;)

And I promise to never go this long without posting again.

Boston

I love to travel. Love love love it. I’m pretty sure there isn’t a place I wouldn’t go. Another reason that NYC is so awesome? You can get anywhere in the area so easily and fairly cheap!

Moon’s aunt lives in right outside Boston in Framingham (or as I called it “Farmington”) on the most beautiful piece of land. Emily, Moon and I had been talking about going to Boston since we moved up to New York but were determined to do it in the fall when the leaves were changing. The three of us bought bus passes on a whim and decided to see what Boston had to offer. All I had left to do was learn how to pronounce ‘Massachusetts.’ Without a doubt, I say “Mass-uh-two-shits” every single time…my parents have been working on that word with me as long as I can remember. No joke. At first I thought the whole ‘bus’ option sounded kind of crazy…I was thinking of some nasty old, rickety bus full of questionable individuals but I was so wrong. This bus was nuts! It was a double decker, with..wait for it…wireless internet! I couldn’t get over the fact that I was not only paying twenty dollars to get to Boston but I was also Facebooking and online shopping the whole way there.

We got in pretty late that night and upon arriving I immediately realized that I was extremely unprepared in terms the wardrobe I packed for the weekend. IT WAS FREEZING! Like..really stinkin’ cold. Moon’s cousin, and our personal tour guide Joel, picked us up and we drove out to their house in the outskirts of Boston. I’m pretty sure it’s the first time I’ve seen stars in 3 and half months. Man, I missed the stars. I also discovered how much I had missed a ‘home.’ Even being in the home of people I’ve never met was comforting. Not hearing the city noises, the smell of fresh baked banana nut bread that we ate entirely too much of, and sitting around a kitchen table were things I didn’t know I missed until I had them back in my life.

Cutest chapel in the world...also where I'm getting married someday.

The next day we were greeted with another round of insanely cold temperatures but the most beautiful MassaCHUsetts sun that attempted to make up for it. First stop on our tour of Boston: why a brewery, of course! Yep, we made our way to Harpoon Brewery at 11am. For a whoppin’ 5 bucks you get a thirty minute tour of the brewery, which included free tasting during the tour, AND another 30 minutes of tasting/drinking at their bar. Five bucks! Insane. While we were standing in line with our tour group showing our ID’s to the guide, the guide (who I should also mention was extremely attractive) mentions that he’d never seen an Oklahoma ID before and then the group of people behind us start laughing and say they were all from EDMOND..how crazy is that?! Small world.

Learning all about hops. Cheers!

The tour was obviously great and we were feeling pretty good by the time we left…all for five bucks. Awesome.

Bottoms up!

From the brewery we continued our tour of Boston checking out all the great spots around the city. Boston Common. Cool old cemetery where Paul Revere and Mother Goose (who knew she was real!?) were buried. Faneuil Hall. Southie. North End. Freedom Trail. Shopping. And I’m sure there were many more places that I can’t remember right now.

Me, Emily and Moon at Boston Common. So beautiful.

While we were walking through Boston Common we found a street performer. I’m a sucker for street/subway musicians and often find myself stopping to listen for far too long…but this particular musician was unlike anything I’d ever seen, except for in Mary Poppins. He was the modern day Dick Van Dyke…complete with cymbals attached to his feet! I was very impressed to say the least.

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome.

We had quite a long day and I think my feet were more tired from walking in Boston than they are in New York—if that’s possible. We decided to unwind at a traditional Irish pub in Southie (South Boston)…AKA the location of another genius ‘Emily Chancellor’ comment. We were discussing my family being Irish and Emily, the ‘word magician,’ asks me: “Does your family still speak Irish?” We almost died. Kristen and I were laughing so hard. “No Emily, they don’t still speak Irish…they never did. Ohhhh Emily…we love you.

Me and our tour guide, Joel!

We came back home and sat around a campfire while making smores. It was so wonderful and relaxing…and very “fallish,” which we were very happy about.

One of the things we were determined to do in Boston was take pictures with the leaves…as dumb as that sounds. I still can’t get over how beautiful it is in Boston and a “leaf” picture was essential. Another big thanks to Joel who not only played tour guide..he also answered our 2 thousand questions about his life as a true ‘outdoorsman’ but he was also our personal photographer all weekend. Good sport.

I'm moving to Boston someday. FYI.

No seriously…I think after NY I’m moving to Boston…then to LA for a while…then we’ll see what’s next. Life’s too short to have everything planned out. I’m just gonna see where life wants me. Yeah, that seems like a good plan.

Battling the cold down by the water.

I’m a bit of a nerd at heart. I love classical music. I LOVE musicals (I personally don’t consider this nerdy). And I really like American history. So when I learned I got to see the church where Paul Revere hung the lantern to warn of the British, my nerdy, history lovin’ self was pretty pumped. “One if by land, two if by see…” I actually think that the historical part of our tour of Boston might have been my favorite…well that or the pub. Hey, who says you’ve got to choose?

We went to the “most photographed street in America” in Beacon Hill and I now know why they call it that. It was gorgeous. Cobble stone streets, hilly, adorably decorated with fall touches, and starting around $3 million (chump change).

Location of my future home.

I loved Boston. Absolutely loved every second of it. I think it’s next on my “where I want to live” list.

What’s new:

I’m under strict orders to give one of my best friends from college, Chezzarae, a shout out on my blog. HEY CHEZZ! I miss you and love you and can’t WAIT til you visit in just a few short months! I also loved talking to you for 2 hours and 18 minutes the other night. :)

The other night Moon, Schwak and I went to Brooklyn to watch a family friend’s band play and this is how our night started out:

Happy.

And this is how we felt towards the end:

Crazy happy..apparently.

Needless to say…we had a really good time and consumed one too many drinks considering we had to be at work at 9 the next morning. I definitely paid for it the next day…but I suppose it was worth it…if I recall correctly, it was a pretty great show.

One of my best friends in NY, Grant, had his birthday party yesterday at his apartment rooftop in Brooklyn. He has an INSANE view and an awesome apartment. I love Brooklyn…and I love birthdays. We love you Grant!

I love this place.

What else..what else…Oh, Moon, Emily, some of Moon’s co-workers and I all entered a fantasy NBA league. I somehow ended up getting the first pick so I obviously chose Kevin Durant..but after that, I left the picking up to my guy friends. Emily, however, left her computer open during the draft and asked me to choose for her. She gave me a list of players she wanted but 95% of them were gone by the second round. Me, being the jokester (and stupid when it comes to the NBA) took it upon myself to choose her team based off the player’s names. Emily’s team consists of players named Pooh, Vladimir, Mustafa, Magnum, Tweety, Chucky, Primoz and Rasho. Emily wasn’t too thrilled when I told her what I’d done..but Kristen and I had a hell of a time laughing at my little trick. Don’t worry, Emily. I’m sure your team will do justtttt fine.

And lastly, Halloween is this weekend and I’m pretty pumped for my first NYC Halloween. On a holiday where many girls use this day as an excuse to dress provocatively, Schwak, Emily and I found some pretty magical costumes today that don’t quite fall into that category. I think they’re going to be pretty funny…but you’ll have to wait and see.

Until next time! Sorry this post was forever long! xoxo

Holy Feet Pain

For as long as I can remember I have been a lover of shoes. I think it stems from my super fashionable momma..woman has a killer shoe collection.

I love all shoes. Heels. Pumps. Wedges. Flats. Boots. Sandals. Espadrilles. All of the above. I’ve always prided myself as one who can wear heels 24/7 without much pain. Heck, I’ll even sport heels to a sporting event. Yes, I’m that girl sometimes. Heels just don’t phase me that much. Sure, my feet may hurt towards the end of the night but not in a way that would interfere with taking off my beloved peep toe. My friends back in Oklahoma would even laugh at me when we would go out. Without a doubt, if we were going out in T-town, I’d be one of the very few, if not the only one, in heels.

I knew that moving to New York City would mean I would spend the majority of my time traveling by foot. I even kinda liked the idea…I thought it was a surefire way to get in shape (total lie—the food here is really good). Never in a million years did I think that I, Kelley Bennett, Queen of the Pumps, would have one hell of a time pep-talking my feet into mobility.

In my entire 22 years of life I have never endured so much pain in my feet. Ever! And not just in heels. Oh no. Flats…flip flops…running shoes…EVERY shoe hurts when you live in New York. I don’t care if you’re wearing granny shoes all day..your feet are going to hurt after walking miles and miles each day. There is so much foot pain that comes with living in New York City that Emily and I now each carry our own box of bandaids in our PURSES. Embarrassing, I know. But don’t kid yourself…those puppies have been used by multiple people…including boys who ask for my bandaids when their feet are in distress thanks to NYC feet pain! See, even boy’s feet hurt in New York!

And there’s nothing worse than buying a new pair of shoes that you’re SO excited to wear, just to find out that they are the most horrifically painful, needles in your feet, “Oh my gosh, cut my feet off” kind of pain. I was so pumped to finally wear my new menswear flats..but by the end of the day I had depleted my purse’s bandaid collection and had three bandaids on EACH foot. Yeah, you heard me..that’s six bandaids TOTAL on my feet.

I resorted to wearing the most wide-open shoes I own for the next week, simply to give my feet a breather and let the sick-nasty blisters heal. (Please excuse the ugliness of my ‘NYC Feet’ as I share this picture with you)

 

Can you see all that madness? This doesn't even do it justice...

 

However…regardless of all the pain we endure, we will continue to wear our heels when we go out. I guess I figure “My feet are already pretty screwed up. What’s one more night in heels going to do?”

About, ohhhh, twenty minutes after making these decisions I immediately regret these decisions. It’s HORRIBLE, I tell you! Horrible to the point of wanting to take your shoes off and walk around barefoot. And you KNOW that if you’re willing to walk around barefoot in New York City, your feet must truly be on fire.

One of the funnier things that Emily has ever said, and trust me, she unknowingly says some of the funniest things, was one night when we were walking home from a night out. The two of us were stumbling home, not from too many drinks, but from some serious pain, when Emily looked at me and said “I really want to take my shoes off. Will you please take yours off with me?” As if me taking my shoes off with her would make her feet feel better. I turned back to her with a “No way. That’s disgusting. People PEE on these streets!” (see previous post) Emily: “Please, please, please take your shoes off. I don’t want to get hepatitis without you!” Ummm excuse me? If the word “hepatitis” comes up in a normal sentence…you know you have a problem.

What did I do? I caved. Yes, as disgusting as it may seem, I too took off my shoes. I mean, I couldn’t let my sweet little Emily get hepatitis ALONE! ;) Side note: neither of us have any idea if you can actually catch hepatitis from walking on dirty streets…it was just the first disease that popped into Emily’s mind.

 

 

Why helloooo nasty NYC sidewalks! Please note Emily's shoes in hand.

 

As you’ve probably noticed if you’re one of my devoted 3 readers, the trusty iPhone never ceases to amaze me in its “magic capturing” skills. One night Schwak, Emily, Moon and I were walking back to the subway from a night out in Brooklyn when Little Moon was suffering severe pain from new (and totally cute) booties she had bought that day. Such horrible pain that she found lunging down the street to be the best solution.

I couldn’t get over how funny she looked that I obviously whipped out trusty iPhone’s camera to capture the magic. She legitimately was lunging down the street…she swore that it was making the pain subside. I’m not sure if I believe her…but it sure as hell made for great footage. The best part, however, was that Emily, once again, unknowingly said some truly glorious words during the video…

(I never knew how much of a HICK I sound like…I need to work on that)

If you didn’t pick up on Emily’s comment, she said “It’s not my feet that hurt, it’s my balls.”

Now I’m not absolutely certain of what she meant, but if I had to guess, I would say her feet didn’t hurt too badly, but the balls of her feet did. Regardless…thanks again to Emily for providing us some entertainment to joke about for many, many years to come.

Moral of the story: No amount of pain will probably ever keep this girl from wearing high heels. My feet and I are currently in training with the hope that we will soon be able to wear heels in this city without excruciating pain. We still have a lot of work to do…so be it.

Pictures to leave you with:

Emily, Moon, Schwak and I went to a Yankees game a few weeks ago and it was a blast! Although I had no idea who they were playing when we bought the tickets, nor did I truly care, I can say that we may well have been the four best dressed people in attendance.

There are so many things on my “New York Bucket List” and I’m so happy that I got to cross this one off with three of my best friends. Oh yeah…GO YANKEES!

 

 

Oh trusty iPhone camera..you always amaze me.

 

Biggest Yankees fans you’ll ever know! ;)

 

Me and Little Moon. Totally into the game. DUH!

 

NEW AUNT, Schwak!

 

At least you have a Yankees hat...I wore red. Total fail.

 

Beer: $10. Nachos: $8. Pretending you’re avid Yankees fans all night long: Priceless.

 

Go Yankees! Beat the...umm...whoever you're playing!

 

And just because I’m semi-obsessed with Broadway: Me outside ‘Rock of Ages.’ Doesn’t compare to my latest Broadway obsession, ‘American Idiot,’ but there’s not a Broadway show I don’t like. :)

 

Rockstar wannabe.

 

Emily, Moon and I are off to Boston for the weekend. Planned a mini-vacation and we couldn’t be more excited. I’m sure I will have a post devoted to Boston in just a few short days. Stay tuned.

People of New York

I knew that moving to New York City meant I would be exposed to all types of people….and boy was I right.

Don’t get me wrong, Los Angeles has their fair share of unique individuals..and that is something I absolutely loved about LA. I think the world would be boring if we all looked the same, believed the same, etc. However, NYC has blown my mind. The things and people I’ve seen out here in such a short period of time…well, let’s just say New York City never ceases to amaze me.

I will use this particular post as an opportunity to not just share one story…but multiple short stories of the incredibly awesome and hysterical things I’ve witnessed in such a short period of time in New York City.

1) “Get yo ASS out my face!”: The subways never fail to disappoint. Not the subways themselves—the passengers on the subway. One Saturday night Lindsay, Emily and I hopped on the “C” going downtown to Soho. We were all dolled up for our night out and I was sportin’ some heels and little black shorts–nothing too “showy,” but  to be honest, they were kinda “leggy”. I step on to an unbelievably crowded to hear “GET YO ASSSSSS OUT MY FACE!!!” I immediately make eye contact with the girls and turn in circles wondering who the heck is saying this and who she is talking about. “You HEARD me. Get yo ASSSSS out my face!!” Oh my gosh, she’s talking about me. This is humiliating. At this point I’m embarrassed and obviously looking down at myself to see if, in fact, my “assssss” was keeping her from doing something of importance. She was an older homeless woman who obviously had problems of some sort but that didn’t mean other subway passengers knew that—or didn’t cause them to all look over in my direction to also check out my “asssss.”

Was that necessary, subway lady? Humiliate me on a crowded subway? As we were getting off the subway Schwak walked right in front of her and did a little booty pop just to tick her off. We laughed so stinkin’ hard at that little old lady—and continued to yell “Get yo ASSSS out my face!!!” for the remainder of the evening. It’s become quite the inside joke and I now find myself yelling it for now apparent reason.

2) Subway Sleepers: Like I mentioned above, subways make for the BEST people watching. A personal favorite thing to watch for on the subway are “sleepers.” People genuinely fall asleep on the subway. It’s hysterical. I could NEVER do such a thing. Not only would I be worried my stuff would get stolen, but no way in hell would I wake up to make my stop. I’d miss it every time and continue to circle the city while drooling from the side of my mouth while people, like me, watch and laugh–no doubt.

A personal favorite  picture of Moon on the subway back from Coney Island:

Facial expression: priceless. Person asleep next to her: even more priceless.

Note to people thinking about moving to NY who plan to use the subway: The sleepers sometimes fall into such a deep sleep that they think you’re their personal pillow. Prepare yourself.

3) “Peeing Man”: Now, I knew New York City had a reputation for smelling bad but I had never really put much thought into the cause of the smell until I actually moved here. However…once I moved here, smelled how horrible it can get (especially during the rain), thought about the cause, and paid more attention to my surroundings, it all made since..unfortunately. Picture this: Kelley walking down 8th Avenue in Chelsea one beautiful afternoon jammin’ to my iPod, lovin life. I look over and see a human being peeing in the street in broad daylight!!! This is one of those situations where you can’t help but stare. I freaked out and spun around in circles because I had no idea what to do. It was like I was nervous or something. Was this guy serious?! Isn’t that illegal?! I was shocked to see other people in the street walking right by this guy like it was no big deal. Am I supposed to get use to this?! It’s freaking sick if you ask me. Go find a public bathroom, dude.

4) “Finger Nails”: Once again, this scene takes place on the subway–AKA the “mecca” of all things classy. This one isn’t too great, but my handy-dandy iPhone captured some magic. Side note: that’s the best thing about the iPhone—you can take pictures of people while in disguise because you just have to pretend you’re texting. Genius. OK, back to “Finger Nails.” I found this guy riding home from Coney Island with Moon and Emily. His finger nails were something to applaud. I don’t know how he managed to grow them so long. It’s kind of nasty, actually and this picture doesn’t really do him justice because his other hand’s nails were way longer. But just keep in mind that these are boy’s fingers. Enjoy!

Hey Buddy--manicures are actually the only cheap thing in this city.

5) “Barber Shop Quartet”: I love myself some musical harmony, I really do. But when a group of four amateurs comes walking through the subway car with a giant tip bucket while belting out tunes like “Walk Like a Man” with the worst harmonies–not to mention the worst voices–all I can do is laugh. I know that’s rude but people in this city are crazy. They’re just trying to make a few extra bucks, and as a lover of the arts I should be more kind, but I can’t help it. I can’t find it in me to dish out money from my own (almost empty) pocket to support some of these folks. I was talking to Emily one day about bringing a little piano downstairs of the subway station to play a little ditty of my own to see what kind of money I could make. She kindly asked me not to. I don’t know why…

6) “Fight Club”: One Tuesday night I was staying up watching TV when I heard yelling coming from outside. I ran over to the window and looked down on the street to see two people yelling and fighting. At first I thought that something needed to be done to stop this but then I discovered that would be one of the dumbest things I could do: try to run into the street to break up a fight between two people that I couldn’t tell whether or not the fighters were homeless or not = potentially dangerous. So what did I do? I watched from the window for a solid 15 minutes. Yep, I sat on my window as if I were watching a game from the sideline…all I needed was some popcorn and it would have been perfect. There was screaming. There was yelling. There was punching. There was a series of words that cannot be written on this “semi-family friendly” blog. The best part about the whole thing was that I wasn’t the only watching the fight. The deli owners from across the street were also admiring from the sidelines. It. Was. Awesome. I ran to tell Emily that she needed to wake up…she looked at me like a moron then got mad at me for waking her up to tell her. By the time I made it back to my ‘seats,’ the fight had ended. And I didn’t even get to see who won!!!

7) “Homeless Singer”: This is one of my favorite stories thus far. Emily, Schwak, Moon and I were leaving a bar in Brooklyn one night to head back to the city and we were walking from the bar to the subway. We had just come from this awesome beer garden that was playing the most random music ever. The four of us were walking down the street dancing and singing “Twist and Shout” at the top of our lungs. We were laughing and having so much fun making fun of Moon lunging down the street because her feet her so bad (post on this story to come later) when this homeless man comes walking across the street and starts SINGING WITH US!!! Kelley, Moon, Schwak and Emily: “Shake it up babbbby nowwww. Shake it up baby. Twist and shoutttt” Homeless man: “TWIST AND SHOUT!!!!!!!!!! Come on come on babbbyyy now.” He seriously finished the song for us! It was beyond creepy. He came outta nowhere and belted “Twist and Shout.” How do things like this keep happening to us?! Not complaining; it’s awesome and funny. But in this particular instance, we freaked out and ran away before he could belt out any more notes. You have to admit it was kinda creepy.

8) “Street Shower”: Again with the awesome homeless people of NYC. They make for the best stories. Emily’s mom was in town and the three of us were walking in the Upper East Side when we noticed something that smelled like shampoo. We walked past a church, turned the corner and saw a man using  the church’s dripping fire hose connecter thing (no idea what that’s actually called) to shower!! He still had his clothes on, no worries. But how genius!?!?! I thought it was the greatest thing I’d ever seen! Such innovation! Ya gotta do what ya gotta do, people. And hey, at least this guy was showering!

And now—for the ULTIMATE GREATEST THING I’VE SEEN IN NEW YORK CITY THUS FAR. Drum roll please….

9) “Time Square Indecent Exposure”: Schwak, Hartleigh and I had just had the most glorious afternoon. We walked around the city all day and decided to go get coffee and pastries and sit on the steps in the middle of Times Square. We sat there talking about life for such a long time. It was awesome. Hartleigh and Linds were sitting on the step above me and I was now turned around facing the other direction just staring out into the distance. This man, who looked like the ultimate tourist, walks toward me and just stops. I must preface this story with the fact that these steps were perfectly positioned to where this man standing two steps below me had planted his (how do I say this?) “southern parts” right in front of me. I would have probably never paid attention to this guy but he literally walked right in my line of vision. I was looking straight ahead when I thought to myself “Oh this poor dad needs to zip up his pants. So sad and embarrassing for him.” WRONG WRONG WRONG! Not only was his fly unzipped, oh no. He wasn’t wearing underwear and you could see his manhood coming through his unzipped fly! I couldn’t believe my eyes. I freaked out. I turned around and the only thing I could get out of my mouth to Lindsay and Hartleigh was “OH MY GOD OH MY GOD. LOOK! LOOK! LOOK!” They were turning their heads in circles because they had no idea what I was talking about and their obvious reaction isn’t to look down at some random guy’s “southern parts!” Amidst all of my laughing and genuine disgust, I finally got out “That guy! Look at that guy! Right in front of us!!” Let me just say that when they finally noticed what I was talking about, the looks on their faces was the absolute greatest thing I will ever see in my entire life. I’m certain of that fact; they were PRICELESS. We are now all three dying of laughter. I’m sure everyone in Times Square could hear us laughing—we were that loud.

Although we were laughing insanely loud and were being extremely inappropriate laughing at this poor man whose “southern parts” were exposed to the world, Schwak whipped out her iPhone to capture this magical moment. I was so nervous that this guy would notice we were taking a picture. But…he didn’t. Lindsay managed to capture the moment in all of its glory. What if he was a dad on vacation with his family?! I mean, he was donning some serious cargo shorts and tube socks. But seriously, I felt so bad for him…he must be humiliated!!! I wonder if he heard us laughing? I’m not lying when I say he was less than 10 feet away. Surely he heard us laughing. His fault though—who doesn’t wear underwear?! That just asking for it.

He eventually walked away after we had captured that magical little photo. The three of us once again sat on the steps in hysteria reminiscing about what just happened. We sent the extremely inappropriate picture to everyone we could think of. I even sent it to my dad. His response: “Well, he should be embarrassed for multiple reasons!” Gosh, I love my pops…always the comedian. The responses I received from my friends were classic. Everything ranging from “What the $%#@ is that from!?” to “Wait, is that real?” Priceless. It wasn’t until later, after I had talked to almost everyone I know about the photo, that I started to doubt that he might have done that on purpose. It never crossed my mind that he might have been a sick flasher who exposes himself for some other reasoning. But the more I thought about the situation, the more I started to believe he was some freak psychopath. This was a real bummer. I like to think that he was still some innocent tourist dad who just had a minor (major) wardrobe malfunction.

Warning! Warning! Warning!

Like my perfectly positioned star? Still inappropriate..sorry.

Whether or not this was intentional or not, it still made for one of the funniest things that I’ve witnessed in my 22 years of life and DEFINITELY the funniest thing I’ve seen in NYC.

Moral of the story: Want good people watching? Move to New York City. I can tell you this however, the longer I’ve lived here, the more I forget to keep an eye out for these sort of things. I am starting to become immune to insanity…I find myself not caring about peeing on the street, or people saying crude things as I walk by. I’m going to work on reversing this…I want the stories to keep on a’comin!

Mouse in da house: Part II

Told you it was coming.

I don’t know if you’re like me or not, but I set my alarm for 7 yesterday morning and I immediately hit snooze in order to capture thirty more minutes of sleep. Those thirty minutes really can have an impact, I promise. I only mention the sleeping in aspect because I was supposed to wake up and shower before Emily, but now she woke up and got in the shower before me. Sucker.

I’m sound asleep, taking full advantage of those glorious thirty minutes, when I hear what sounds like a giant SPRINTING down the hallway! Emily bolts into the room with soaking wet hair (note: our other roommate was still peacefully sleeping next door) and proceeds to shriek “The mouse is caught on the sticky trap!!! It’s still ALIVE! I saw it KICKING! OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!”

So much for those thirty extra minutes. I’m wide-the-hell-awake now!

Mixed emotions are running through my head. I’m thrilled we captured the little rodent. I’m happy that we have a boy roommate who is brave enough to dispose of the creature…even though we would absolutely make him even if he weren’t brave enough. I’m terrified that we’ve now seen two mice in such a short period of time. And most importantly, I disgusted that it is not only caught, ALIVE, on the sticky trap but we can hear it squeaking from the other room. “EEK EEK EEK!!!” Seriously. It. Was. Horrible.

So now it’s time for me to man up and take a shower. The problem, however, is that little Mickey..or Ratatouille…is in stuck in the kitchen, which just so happens to be the room to which the bathroom is connected. In Kelley language that means: Holy crap, how am I supposed to get into the bathroom if the mouse is stuck in my way; I’m so NOT walking past it! I can’t look at it..I can hear it and that’s bad enough! But there aren’t any other options…

Emily and I sat there, curled up on the bed, freaking out while contemplating what to do. We were obviously not going to get near it to throw it away…but we couldn’t wake up our roommate while he was asleep.

Do I REALLY have to shower and brush my teeth?

Remember when I said Emily was the girliest person I know? Yeah, well I ripped the title right out  from under her that morning. I’m like a 5-year-old little girl when it comes to mice; they absolutely disgust me. I’m standing in the hallway in my towel wrap walking toward the kitchen then IMMEDIATELY turning back…over and over and over again. Emily was a total soccer mom chanting “You can do it. Just don’t look at it. You can do this!” I’m freaking out and don’t have the nerve to walk by it. What happens if I see it?! What if I peels itself off from the stickiness and runs by my feet as I’m walking to the shower!? I don’t want to hear it kicking and squeaking up close!

I finally got the nerve up, took a deep breath, put a towel over my head to keep from seeing Mickey/Ratatouille, and sprinted from the hallway through the kitchen and immediately into the bathroom where I slammed the door behind me. That shower never felt so good; it was like I was cleaning off mouse bacteria or something. Sick, I know. Even writing this creeps me out.

I stayed in the bathroom with the door locked a solid 10 minutes longer than I should because I was afraid to venture back out into Miceland. Emily wasn’t there to give me a pep-talk this time. It was all up to me. Another major problem with the trek back was that I actually needed to see where I was going this time, unlike on my way to the shower when I put the towel over my head to avoid any contact. Rookie mistake. I opened the bathroom door so incredibly slow and in true Kelley Fashion, peered my head out to where only my eyes were visible. All you need to do is figure out a route. Don’t look down. Just keep your head up and go.

Ultimate fail. Since I hadn’t seen the thing yet, I was under the impression that Mickey/Ratatouille was stuck on the sticky trap next to the pantry because that’s where the sticky trap had been the night before. What Emily so graciously forgot to mention was that our roommate, Josh, had moved the sticky trap to the other side of the pantry before he’d gone to bed.

So what do you think that means? Oh yeah…as I’m standing there mapping out my escape route I look down and see a dark moving blob right in front of me. It was at that very moment that I forgot about everything and took off running and gagging down the hallway. No stopping at Go; no collecting 200 dollars. Needless to say, I was incredibly loud as I was running on hardwood floors.

It was at this moment when Josh comes stumbling out of his bedroom. My immediate reaction was “YES! HE CAN TAKE CARE OF MOUSEY MOUSE AND I CAN GET READY IN PEACE!” I catch his attention and wave him over saying “We caught the mouse! It’s still alive! We can hear him!” Josh: “Yeah I figured. I could hear you running up and down the hallway. So I figured we had to have caught it.” (Dangit…my giant-running woke him up) Josh nonchalantly walks into the kitchen, bends over and gets up close and personal with Mickey/Ratatouille and proceeds to do a Jersey Shore fist pump with pride over finally catching the little rodent. Emily and I are still hiding from behind the wall watching Josh stare at his new friend all the while thinking “Yes…he’ll throw it away for us.”

NOPE. After becoming friends with the mouse for a bit, Josh goes to the bathroom then GETS BACK IN BED! Seriously?! You wake up because you hear us freaking out, stare at the mouse, pee, then get back in bed leaving us to fend for ourselves!?

Emily and I watch this whole scene play out and turn at each other with total “What-the-hell looks.” If he thinks we’re throwing that thing away, he’s dead wrong. He’d made it his personal goal to catch it and told us he’d take care of it if we ever caught it so that puppy was HIS.

We finished getting ready in the living room to avoid seeing Mickey/Ratatouille which was DEFINITELY better than having to continuously pass him…although I must admit, hearing the “squeak squeak” was almost as nauseating.

I left that morning with two things on my mind: 1) That thing better be freaking GONE by the time I get back from work. 2) How am I going to create some sort of contraption that catches mice in a box..or some other container to where I won’t have to look at it since it has become apparent that this will most likely be an issue I have to deal with for a while. We can’t keep relying on other people to do our dirty work. Nah, nevermind…yeah we can.

However, I will say that whoever created the “sticky trap” is a moron. I mean it works and everything (twice now to be exact) but it’s beyond disgusting when the mouse is sitting there in plain sight. It should have a little roof on it…almost like a pre-made mouse casket. Hey, it’d be more respectful to the mouse!

Good news, folks! Roommate Josh came to the rescue! He so graciously disposed of the mouse and kindly text me saying we were in the clear to come home. Thank God.

So there ya have it. Mouse in da house: Part II. Please pray that I don’t have to write Part III and IV. For the love…please please please! I don’t know how much more I can handle. It legitimately stresses me out.

RIP Mickey/Ratatouille. You should feel proud that you stuck around long enough to actually earn a name! Your other mouse friends are definitely jealous. And hey, you even got to have some sticky trap peanut butter on your way to heaven. The “Last Supper” if you will. God speed, my friend.

I die.

New York Fashion Week: Kelley’s childhood dream. 2010 Fashion Week: Kelley’s Playground.

Not your kid's playground.

This past week was ba-nan-as, as my pal Rachel Zoe would say.

Raise your hand if you think you know me well. Now put them down. Raise your hand if you think I freaked out when I heard that I got to go to Fashion Week for work. You are correct, dear friends.

It all started when Emily, Schwak, Moon and I decided to go to the Piperlime pop-up store for Fashion’s Night Out to see our beloved Rachel Zoe…aka major stylist. What we didn’t think of was that every other girl age 16-30 would have had the exact same idea. Fashion’s Night Out is pretty much a night designated to fashion, fashion icons and fancy stores in New York City. Celebs and designers are at different stores all over the city doing appearances and stand there as thousands of screaming fans show up hoping to catch a glimpse.

We put on outfits that we thought Rachel would approve of and hit the town.

We arrived and were greeted by pure chaos. A billion screaming girls. Paparazzi everywhere. A line around the corner just to get in the store. And the meanest security guards ever. Emily and Moon were over it but Schwak and I decided we’d stick around the front of the store and wait until she came out.

Success!

Do you die? I die.

OK so I know that really wasn’t “Fashion Week” but it was pretty freaking awesome. However, I was VERY upset that Brad wasn’t there. I adore him. But we did see Rodge..so that kind of made up for it.

Hey Rodge!

Onto fashion week. Upon stepping foot inside the tent, I immediately discovered that I needed to go home and burn my entire wardrobe. I’m someone who likes to believe I keep up with current trends relatively well, I was quickly proven wrong. The girls’ clothes were beyond incredible. Fur this. Knee-high that. $1500 Christian Louboutin‘s. Yes, I said $1500. Now, if only I had the money to start all over. Oh well, I’m pretty dang proud of my $69 Steve Madden purchase even though they’ve given me blisters the size of Texas. (The pain NYC has given my feet deserves its own post..seriously.)

Some day I will own you, pretty shoes with the red sole.

Another thing I discovered was that I should quit eating. Yep, no more food for Kelley. Ever! (Don’t worry…that’s obviously I lie) But seriously…I’m pretty sure my right quad was bigger than 95% of the girls there. And not just the models. EVERY girl. I need to know what you eat, sistas. One piece of lettuce a day? Maybe two if you’re going through a bad breakup?

One of my favorite moments of the week was during the Betsey Johnson show. She’s a designer known for her crazy, wacky dresses and she puts on some NUTS runway shows. I was standing inside the main tent watching the show with my good friend and co-worker Grant and right as I asked him if he’d seen anyone fall on the runway, girlfriend bites it. The theme of the show was very urban. The runway had yellow lines and orange cones as if the models were walking down the street. This poor girl comes walking down the runway with a skateboard in her hands and I kept thinking to myself “please don’t put that thing down and try to skate down the runway.” Well, she did….AND she was in 5 inch heels. Stupid if you ask me. But to say the least, it was dang funny. Not only did she fall on her bum BUT she also broke her heel during the skateboard malfunction forcing her to limp her way back down the runway.

Betsey doin' her thang after the finale.

Another beyond glorious part of fashion week, that people often forget, is that there are men’s shows. When I think of “Fashion Week,” I think designer gowns and pretty fabric for women. No. No. No. There are also men’s collections, and ya know what that means? Male models. Yes ladies, male models within arms reach. I had to constantly remind myself that I was at “work” and “professionals” wouldn’t salivate when the models walked by, therefore I needed to close my mouth and get my act together. Not gonna lie, that was hard.

YES PLEASE!

Because I was working (if you can call getting to go to Fashion Week work) I didn’t get to actually attend the shows themselves. I was inside the main tent where everyone goes on their way into the runway. That’s not a complaint; being inside the tent was so awesome! Although I didn’t see Karl Lagerfeld (Chanel) or Anna Wintour (Vogue) like Grant, I did see a lot of the Real Housewives of New York and you know my trashy, reality tv lovin’ self had to take a personal moment for a short freak-out session. Sad, right? I know. Ramona, Countess Luann, Alex…the whole gang minus the only one I would actually care to see (Bethenny). I saw a lot of other really cool people…but I won’t bore you with information that you probably don’t care about.

On the last night of Fashion Week, I had been working all day and was really tired but I had to run to the tent to drop something off for Grant for work. I literally planned on running inside, giving him what he needed, and leaving. But as soon as I saw him, he grabbed me by the arm and said “Come on. We’re going to Gwen Stefani’s L.A.M.B show.” Ummmmm…OK!!! We walked over to the entrance of the runway, Grant spoke some magic words, and soon enough I was being escorted to my seats by an usher. Granted, our seats weren’t the best but you better believe I pretended like I belonged there and was an up-and-coming fashion stylist and/or magazine editor. It was such a blast and I will NEVER forget my first fashion show. And to think it was someone as cool as Gwen Stefani is simply awesome.

L.A.M.B collection.

All in all my first New York Fashion Week was one giant success. A lot of dreams fulfilled….it’s amazing what living in this city can do for your dreams.

See ya later, Fashion Week. Spring Fashion Week to be exact… :)

Pictures to leave you with:

Schwak sticking with the “Fashion Week” theme.

Vintage shopping.

And your’s truly.

Really expensive, yet ancient hat.

And in honor of the return of Gossip Girl.

Cool shot Emily accidentally snapped of me in the taxi.

Peace and blessings!

P.S. Sorry this post is boring and there’s really not much to it. However, I felt like Fashion Week deserved a post regardless of the fact that it’s boring.

P.S.S. There’s another mouse in the new apartment….a MUCH nicer apartment. NO ONE cares when we tell them. They say it’s no big deal in the city. I disagree. We haven’t caught this stupid thing yet. We think he’s gone back into hiding…I’ll let you know what happens. There will most likely be a “Mouse in da house: Part II.” Stay tuned.