Let's Hear It for New York

Today my story is... I'm missing New York City. Mara, author of A Blog about Love, one of my favorite blogs, posted the video (below) a while back (I was catching up today); watching it made me miss NYC so much.

I never thought me and NYC would ever have a relationship. Honestly, moving there was kind of an "I don't really know what I'm doing but it feels like the right thing to do" experience--the kind that requires great trust and courage. I turned my life upside down (quit my job, sold my house, etc) to follow this feeling....

I arrived in NYC with great apprehension and uncertainty. KShum, who had moved there in 2011, and I spent time exploring the city...and I fell in love with it. With all of the peculiar, crazy things you'd find only in New York. And with the people!

When I was offered a temporary job back in Utah, I wrestled with the decision for almost a week: I needed the money...but I didn't want to leave the city I loved. Practicality won out, and I returned to Utah. Unfortunately and fortunately I guess, that temporary job turned into another...and I've been here longer than I thought I'd be.

But I'm going back.

Soon.

Thanks to Mara for posting this video, for reminding me why I love NYC so much: the diversity and quality of the amazing New Yorkers!



P.S. Back in September I had the privilege of hearing Danny & Mara speak at a young single adults' conference near Lincoln Center. I arranged my teaching schedule to ensure I could hear them--and it was sooooo worth it! I couldn't take notes fast enough; I'm still pondering some of the insights they shared. And Mara was so kind when I spoke to her briefly after the conference concluded. Let's hear it for New York...and the wonderful people there!

Catching up: Scrapple in the Big Apple

Can I buy a vowel?

Whilst grocery shopping a few weeks ago in NYC, I noticed a packaged food called scrapple.Turns out, it's a spam-like substance with Pennsylvania Dutch origins (called "pon haus" by them). Leave it to those Germans to utilize every piece of an animal in their cooking and make it a "delicacy." Those resourceful Germans!

Now that I know what scrapple is, I'm more convinced that I will never be putting this in my shopping cart.

My New NYC BFFs

For youth conference, my girls and I stayed at the Orton's house up north in Inwood (close to the Bronx). They were so kind and very hospitable, especially considering that each night we arrived late and left early the next morning.

The first night we arrived, 3 of the Orton children greeted us as we exited the elevator on their floor and wanted to know everything about us. Sister O (who, btw, is 3 years older than I am...again, feeling old!) met us with Lily, their young daughter with Down syndrome, and welcomed us into their home. And guess who became my first best friend forever (BFF) in that house? Yep. Lily! She sat on my lap, tugged on my hand to follow her to play in her room, got angry when any of the other children started to talk to me, and so on. I was enamored with her, and she with me.

Later, however, I had another new BFF in SJ, a bright, talented, 10-yr-old girl with lots of energy. She sat next to me at the table during a brief time when Lily had wandered off. SJ saw my claddagh ring and asked if it was a different kind of CTR ring. I told her about the symbols of the claddagh and what it meant worn on the right hand versus the left. When I mentioned it being worn on the left hand and that someday when I get married I would like to have that as my wedding ring, she asked me seriously, "But aren't you too young to get married?" Her comment made my day! I laughed and told her that it was very sweet of her to think that I was one of the youth, but that I was actually their leader and was her mom's age. SJ told me I didn't "look as old as a mom" (LOL). How old are moms supposed to look?, I wonder.

SJ then asked if I'd like to see the drawings in the room she shares with her siblings. Wow! That little girl is very talented! What impressed me more than even her drawings (which were awesome) was what she had on her wall: pictures from The Friend magazine, sayings from inspiring leaders, and short paragraphs of stories she read in The Friend that she rereads to herself every day so she can remember to be kind to her siblings and other people. And this girl is only 10 years old!

The last night we stayed with the Orton family, we arrived too late and left too early the next morning to see the kids (they'd already gone to bed), so we didn't get to say goodbye. But SJ left us a drawing! Isn't it great?

SJ's picture for us

The Fountain of Youth

I spent most of last week as the "ma" (i.e., female leader) of a group of about 7 young people who attended the New York LDS stake's youth conference.

Youth conference was awesome. And exhausting. And fun. And did I mention tiring? I don't have the stamina of teenagers: all of the late nights, VERY early mornings, and lots of trekking all over Manhattan is too much for an old person like me. Yet, I was blessed with the strength to keep going...until I could stop. And then I slept for a LONG time.

There were about 70 young people who attended, split into 10 "families" each with a female leader (aka "ma") and a male leader (aka "pa"). Except for Friday night when we camped out at Inwood Hills park, we stayed over at other homes--all the boys going with the "pa" to one apartment, and all the girls in the family going with the "ma" to another place. I'll share with you in another post some of my experiences staying with my girls at the Orton family's apartment in Inwood.

Me with David (my 1st partner) and all the "kids"

Some interesting bits from the past week ('cuz there is too much, lemme sum up):

• Being around all of the youth (ages 13 to 17) made me feel young again. And as I focused on serving them, I forgot about my problems. What job search? What diminishing bank account?
• Seeing so much of Manhattan! Roosevelt Island, Times Square, Union Station, Central Park, Inwood Hills park (the place where the Hudson and the East rivers meet--which looks like it should be in upstate New York, not in Manhattan), Grand Central Station, Wall Street, and so on.
• Assisting the youth in my family as we did baptisms for the dead in the Manhattan temple. I got to be the towel girl and provide towels to each of the youth as they exited the font--and I received quite a few wet hugs. Very special.
• Providing the content for genealogy classes (including the handouts and Power Point presentations) and then seeing the 5 youth facilitators teach the others about how to research their ancestors. Incredible!
• Helping my group register to use new.FamilySearch.org...and noticing that most of them were born the year I graduated from high school. (That made me feel VERY old!)
• Associating with the other leaders and finding some kindred spirits and other quirky people like me.
• Dancing on a boat cruise around the East River. 'Nuff said.

Sunset from the deck of the boat. You can see the Statue of Liberty and other boats in the river. Pic taken by Christian, one of my "kids."

Put It on My Tab

Part of the general social scene here in NYC revolves around pubs, taverns, clubs, and the like--i.e., places where alcohol is served. Coming from a predominantly teetotaler environment, this focus on socially imbibing brings with it some challenges. Like what to order when they don't have sodas.

I'm learning quickly, though.

Every time I go out to one of these establishments, this NKOTB song comes to mind, particularly the phrase "Hey Mr Bartender, please make a pina colada, hold the alcohol please."

(This one's for you, Kerry!)

#DinnerWithKShum

Last night KShum and I went out to dinner in "Alphabet City" at this cool little place called Cornerstone Cafe, a cozy Italian bistro on Ave B. Thanks to KShum's foresight, we had a Groupon for dinner at said cafe (whoo-hoo!): she got the salmon, and I got the steak.

Yummy, Gluten-free (I checked) steak dinner -- and worth every calorie!

Did I also mention that they had AC? A nice, cool break from the suffocating heat outside.

All in all, a fun adventure with KShum!

#KShumRocks

The Happiest Place on Earth, Part 2: We Have Arrived!

After spending time at Liberty Island, we caught the next available ferry for Ellis Island. I was sooooooo excited! (Poor KShum...!)

And here we have Idaho, er, Ellis Island, winning her way to fame

We first wandered through the main floor of the building, first running into (of all people) 2 sister missionaries from the New Jersey mission who volunteer at the Ellis Island family history center once a month. (I'll post about that story later!), and then viewing an immigration exhibit.

My fascination with family trees, pictures of trees, and tree decorations continues

From a display about accordions and their ties to immigration

Leave it to the Germans to introduce the accordion to Mexican immigrants. I can thank my own people for the music I listen to whilst I am doing my laundry!

Wisconsin German immigrants introduced kindergarten to the US. You're welcome.

The concentration of German immigrant settlement in the US. Looks like a weather map you'd see on the nightly news, though. I don't think the burnt orange color means that it'll be in the 100s tomorrow....

A nation of immigrants, starring Germany. Size of font indicates size of immigrant population in the US.

And then...THEN we got to go upstairs to the Registry Room, which was by far one of the coolest things I've ever seen. (Again, go with my nerdy-ness on this, okay?) I tried to imagine what it would've been like to be in that room, how it felt to have come such a long way and to be stalled (sometimes quite literally) in the place with your future in the hands of people who could either make your dreams come true or send you back. Being in the Registry Room, imagining the millions of immigrants who endured this great uncertainty (including my great Uncle Jack and his sister Lena), I started to tear up...probably, you know, from all of the dust there, and what with my allergies and all....

The Registry Room as it looks today. A very special and sacred place to me--and to the millions of immigrants who passed through Ellis Island.

Ceiling of the Registry Room at Ellis Island

As we did more exploring through the exhibits, I learned much about the process an immigrant endured once arriving in the Port of New York. Fascinating stuff.

Literacy test given to immigrants. This card is for native Swedish speakers; Uncle Jack and his sister would've been tested with a card similar to this.

When restoring some of the pillars, they discovered original carvings made by immigrants who passed through Ellis Island. This is an example of some of those carvings.

A photo I took of a photo of the Registry Room with immigrants waiting to be processed

My artistic take on a set of the "separation stairs" the immigrants took during processing

A drawing of Castle Garden, the predecessor of Ellis Island. Castle Garden was in what is now known as Battery Park in Manhattan. Most of my immigrant ancestors arrived here.

Immigration brought the prospect of a new life, but it was also a hardship.

My First Visitor in NYC

And speaking of Jenga...she was my first visitor in NYC! She and her sister AJ came down to NYC for the ballet, and the 4 of us (Jenga, AJ, me, and KShum) had dinner at a cute little Mediterranean hummus bar near Lincoln Center called Nanoosh. I had a bowl of their uh-maze-ing, organic, locally-grown tomato soup and the hummus tahini plate. Soooo delish!

Seeing Jenga was so wonderful; I heart her very much! Talking with her about our friends (that includes you Suz, Mel, and JenE!) made me miss the familiar things in Utah and my friends there...but I know I need to be here in NYC and "give the Lord a chance" to show me why. So, here I am!

Good job, thankyouverymuch, amen.

The Happiest Place on Earth, Part 1: Getting There

For some the "happiest place on earth" (thanks to a great marketing team at Disney) is thought to be Disneyland.

Not so for me. My nerdy "Disneyland" isn't a theme park: it's Ellis Island. (I know, I know. SUPER nerdy, right?! Well, welcome to my world.)

And until last Saturday, I'd never been, which is kind of pathetic for a genealogist who is enamoured by the immigrant experience. However, every time I'd visited NYC, something always came up and I never made it; and my layovers at JFK, though quite lengthy, weren't long enough to leave the airport and trek to Ellis Island and return in time to fly out again.

My luck changed last weekend, though, when a very generous friend (Jenga) offered her tickets to me because she wasn't going to be able to use them. Would I take them, she asked. Um, HECK YEAH I would!

Thanks to our awesome tickets (thanks, Jenga!), we walked right by the loooooooooong, general admission line and quickly passed through security to board the (appropriately named) Miss Ellis Island ferry.

No, not a beauty contestant -- although I'd vote for her!

We made the obligatory stop at Liberty Island to see the Statue of Liberty, etc. I kept thinking to myself, "Green statue, yeah yeah. Let's get to the good stuff, people!"

Lady Liberty pic from the ferry

View 1 of the Liberty Bike. Couldn't Tell if it was a Harley Davidson or not....

View 2 of the Liberty Bike at Liberty Island

I did learn some cool things about Lady Liberty and her connection to the immigrant experience from some of the displays outside of the gift shop.

The Statue of Liberty welcomed over 14 million immigrants to the United States between 1886 and 1924

A poem written by Emma Lazarus captured how the Statue of Liberty offered hope to immigrants seeking refuge from the misery of their homeland situations.

98 Degrees and Rising

(For all of you 98 Degrees fans out there--and who isn't, really?--check out this article about the band reuniting for una noche at the Mixtape Festival in Hershey, PA. Coincidentally, NKOTB and BSB will be performing there as well. #JustSaying....)

It's hot. Very, very hot here today! Weather reports indicate that it could reach 98 or 99 degrees by 2pm.

KShum tells me that this is the beginning of the "Hot as H..." season in NYC. Awe-some...!

Thankfully so far today (knock on the wood floor), it hasn't felt too hot yet and all I have is a simple fan going (no AC). But give it time. When I go outside, I'm sure I'll feel all 98 or 99 degrees of it. Oh, and plus the humidity!

The Laundry Day Song

What KShum and I sing on laundry day when we're NOT humming along to the Latin accordian music.

WWDRD: What Would Danny Reagan Do?

Today whilst perusing the online job postings, the quiet of my morning thoughts was interrupted by a scene from Blue Bloods: 5 police officers stood outside of the apartment across the hall and started pounding on the door. The woman (who I guess is someone named "Miss Miller" because that's what the officer kept calling her) did not want to answer the door, despite the persistent police officer banging on the door and shouting for her to open it for quite some time.

I kept waiting for the police officer to Danny Reagan the door (i.e., impatiently kick it open), but I realized that that wasn't a good idea because the apartment door is made of steel or krytonite or something like that--very heavy and difficult to open, even when you have a key.

Finally, after 15-20 minutes of constant banging on the door, she must've finally opened it or something because the ruckus ceased...and I went back to my regularly-scheduled job search as if nothing ever happened (except, you know, I just blogged about it -- haha).

I think I'm becoming more of an official New Yorker every day!

C'Mon 'N Ride The Train

When navigating the Metro, it's important to know a few basic things.

First, you need to know the alphabet and then a few numbers (1 through 7 should be sufficient).

Next, your directions. Forget about north, south, east, and west. (There aren't mountains here anyway to help distinguish east and west.) All you really need to know are two little directions: UPTOWN and DOWNTOWN.

And finally, local or express? Local means the train stops at numerous stations along that line; express means the train is scheduled to stop only at specific stations (refer to the Metro map for which stations those are).

There you have it! You're a Metro pro now!

P.S. I think I've seen some of the people on the Metro dressed like this (like they are in this video). Just sayin'... LOL.

Rainy Days and Tuesdays

It rained yesterday. All. Day. Long.

So much rain that I didn't even venture out very much that day. My "big adventure" came later last evening when I went to procure a few items at the local grocery store. Despite having a "Tongan" umbrella to protect me from the downpour (ask KShum why the umbrella is called that, haha), I was quite drenched when I returned to the casa.


My cute toes in my wet flippy flops

Part of my drenched pant leg

And yes, I really DO wear my flip flops everywhere!

Following the Rules

Upclose and personal with my chicken over rice Halal food. The white sauce looks a little orange...but that's my "high quality" BB camera for you!

This post is dedicated to Em and her "photograph the food" rule. And to my "friend" at the Halal food truck who makes me yummy food.

Good job, thankyouverymuch, amen.

And We're Walking...

KShum and I went on a walking adventure last night through part of Central Park. One minute we were surrounded by ginormous skyscrapers...and then the next, we were surrounded by a canopy of trees. We wandered off the concrete path many times, following a rocky path and a stream. It was beautiful. And for almost an hour as we wandered, I forgot I was in NYC.

One of the highlights of the walk: seeing the Diana Ross Playground. All I could think was that it's soooo nice that NYC dedicated an entire playground where divas can play, belt out some tunes, and prance around with their mile-high afros. NYC Parks & Rec is very inclusive: even divas need a place of their own!

Pic taken by KShum

Brian Regan Was Right!

Yes, yes it DOES say "WE DELIVERY."

My New "Friend"

It's been hot and muggy in NYC lately, and I haven't wanted to turn on the gas range to cook anything. So KShum and I have frequented our local Halal food truck (I can't figure out if it's Greek food or some other Mediterranean mix...but that's a topic for another post)--as in we ate there "every day" during the last 2 days (haha). One of the workers (unfortunately not pictured here) took to calling me "my friend" when he saw me and even remembered my order when I came back for the second day. It's probably easy to remember the White Girl's order!

I was a little worried about cross-contamination (I do pay attention, Treeshka!) but I've watched them and they never put any bread on the stovetop. And I haven't been sick, so that's a good sign.

I tell you what, their chicken over rice is spectactular! And for $5...! In fact, maybe I'll go see my "friend" tonight and have him cook for me again--you know, since he's already up and cooking....

Spanish Soap Opera

Friday night is a special night: It's the night that the neighborhood laundry establishment is less crowded (because apparently other people have things to do on Friday nights--who knew?!).

KShum and I had a special "date" at our local "Latino Lavandería," complete with Spanish-language musak playing over the sound system. Oh how I love listening to the accordian whilst I'm waiting for my clothes to dry. 

And who knew that doing a load of laundry could be so expensive!?

Movin' on U-uuup!

KShum's apartment is a walk-up in Harlem. Translation: Lots, and lots, and lots of stairs--numerous flights of them, actually. Her building does have an elevator...but it's the size of a linen closet and in the 2+ weeks I've been here, has worked only a fraction of the time. So mostly, we take the stairs.

Add to that the numerous flights of stairs in and out of the subway, and that equals a lot of stair stepping. Definitely going to be good for my calves!