Disclaimer: This is the longest post ever! Just a heads up�now you may read on�*grin*

Theme Songs for the New York Trip:

-Tony Lucca�s �Meet me in New York City, where we can drive away, sharing our shotgun loving tales�
-Maroon Five�s �This love has taken its toll, you said goodbye too many times before�
-Third Eye Blind�s �Chelsea and I don�t know what I�m doing in the City, the sun is always in my eyes��New York City�s evil�. but I could never do that, someone would see through that.�
-Bye Bye Birdie�s �Ed Sullivan, Ed Sullivan, ED SULLLIVAN�
-Akiva�s �This is life, you�ve got to live it, no matter what anybody else says, you�ve got to give a damn�

Day One: It all started on Thursday when I woke up in time to hit the bank (not literally *snicker*) and the gas station, then came back to meet up with Jonathan who was taking me to the airport. Oooh I was *so* excited.

Got to the airport and how much do I love the Orlando airport? A lot! It is so simple and comforting�*and* it is very quick�I was at my gate in no time. Literally sat for like five minutes and I boarded my plane. I got to choose my own seat, so I chose a window seat of course. It was a beautiful day! I love taking off�it�s the best feeling.

Was in da ATL in no time, headed to my next gate and found Jessica sitting there. Aww, good to see her! *grin* Got on the plane and headed on to New York. This is where we started our NY video diary and started to get our drink on. Good times on the plane.

Got to New York around 5pm. Let�s just say my first thoughts were �what a small airport� because literally�it was just a hallway and that was it *and* there were hardly any windows. Interesting. Didn�t really care for it.

We took the New York Airport Shuttle to the Port Authority (which is the main transportation hub-got to know that real well) and then decided to hang out around Times Square while waiting on Jocelyn to get out of a meeting.

We were trying to just stroll down 42nd street until we quickly realized that there could be no strolling in New York City. Immediately I fell into the groove of having to walk fast like I knew where I was going or had to get somewhere quick. Not liking that. Not that I am a slow walker�I never have been, but this was ridiculous. Plus, we had all of our luggage with us and that annoyed us the most in trying to get through the crowd and at the pace the rest of the pedestrians wanted us to be going.

So we duck into a pizza joint, which might have been my favorite pizza of the entire trip amazingly enough even though I was hesitant at first. It is one of those small independently owned places where the food is just sitting out everywhere, uncovered and who knows for how long, but it was *so* good. We waited there a bit then headed on to our next destination, which we decided would be Virgin�just to go.

After coming out of Virgin (which we realized was just like the Virgin in Orlando) we were about to cross the street when this guy was coming right up on me and then was about to turn when I thought to myself �he�s cute� and looked at him a bit closer and realized it was Doogie Howser! When I noticed who he was, he was already crossing the street in the other direction and I missed my opportunity to talk to him, but still very cool to see him randomly like that within the first half hour of my arrival to New York City.

We decided we just needed to sit down and relax while we waited for Jocelyn so we went to the Westin and hung out in the lobby. Bought Sprites and made them �spirited� and relaxed. Jocelyn called shortly after and we went and caught a bus to her place in Jersey City to meet up with her.

This day was our first experience via a few trips with the NY transportation and I fully understood why you would not want a car in the city. People are much worse drivers than in Atlanta, if you can imagine. It was crazy. But even though you wouldn�t want a car, I certainly did not enjoy the commute in general. The subway was fine�reminded me of Marta in the ATL, and the bus to �the city� from Jersey wasn�t too bad either, but the whole pathway train basically sucked.

Met up with Jocelyn and got warmed up in her cozy-little-pink-apartment-fit-for-just-one and it was *so* adorable. We were amazingly hungry by the time we got to her place for all the effort exerted during travel, so we ordered what Jocelyn called a �pie� but a New York Large pizza showed up at the door not too much later. Good times eating pizza for the second time that day!

Stayed up talking a long time that night then crashed�.hard. Jessica and I about froze ourselves to death�not realizing until about two days later that we could have turned on the heat. Send the heat up (sorry�.what movie? *grin*).

Day Two: Got up the next morning to start our adventure in New York City. Jocelyn had to work, so it was just Jessica and I discovering the city on our own. It was rainy and gross out that day. Not so good, but we continued on. We walked up 42nd and across towards 41st and saw the theater for Rent. Decided we would check that out soon. Hopped on the subway to make our way towards Harold Square, but hit 5th Avenue instead. Not in the plan, but we didn�t have a set plan so it was okay, right Jessica? *giggle* Went to H & M (per John Dontrich) and �the largest store in the world� Macy�s just to say that we did.

We went down Canal street so that Jessica could find some bling bling watches, stolen Gucci or Prada bags, or a rhinestone name belt buckle (which is what I was hoping for), when we really just found a lot of crap. We found out later that all of the �good� stuff was hidden underneath the cloths. Good to know for future hunting.

While in one of the Canal Street stops where they sold all this crazy fake merchandise, I heard Phil Collin�s You�ll Be in My Heart from Tarzan and I melted. I wanted to be back in Orlando so badly at that moment. I will explain later�

Had to pee (there you go Jordan-just for you�a urination reference *giggle*), but quickly realized that there is �no peeing in New York� and why is that? Cause there are NO FREE bathrooms in NY. You have to pay for *something* to use the restrooms. Every sign had �restrooms for customers ONLY� which I understand the concept for, but geez�everyone has the right to use the bathroom. So we skipped on the New York pizza that time and settled on McDonald�s because they had the bathroom and the pizza joint did not. Bastards. *grin*

Got all caught up at the Bleaker Street Pub. Relaxed for a bit. We wore ourselves out walking so much�lots of exercise, but it�s amazing how much we ate too. I think I gained thirty pounds in four days. Ugh.

Walked the entire Bleaker Street like eight times. We found The Bitter End and finally found Magnolia Bakery, which John Dontrich raved about�and for good reason. Good cupcakes. Kevin called and said he got John Mayer tickets. Good times! I was entirely jealous but happy for him at the same time.

Met up with Jocelyn to head over to the Peculiar Pub to get a drink and snacks. Nice little joint. Got some onion rings and rested for the show that night at The Lions Den. Honestly will be playing there next month. Lucky New York. *grin* And FYC has played there before as well.

Headed over there to see Akiva and other kids who were featured on the Decent Xposure CD that rocks it out. Akiva opened the night with an accompanist and was so good. I really enjoy him. Kind of a cross between Tony Lucca and John Mayer plus he was a really nice guy and that always a good thing! I could have watched him all night�literally! *grin*

Geez�this is getting long�are you still with me? I said�are YOU still with me? K..good.

Day Three: Woke up early the next morning to do a lot more walking and have some more fun. Jocelyn was with us this day as we went into the city. Started off with a visit to the Marriott Marquis where we went to the eighth floor, which is the floor that Alex�s dad designed. Very cool! Got a mini tour of it from Jocelyn and hung out a bit.

Headed on down Times Square when *it* happened. The highlight of my trip: I met the Naked Cowboy. Some of you might not be aware of just exactly who the naked cowboy is, but he is a star in Times Square. Apparently he doesn�t mind the cold�*giggle* He is a guy who basically has a guitar, long hair, boots, and obviously a cowboy hat who sings (not very well I might add) and looks good in his tighty-whities which is the only other thing he wears besides the previous items mentioned. So I got my picture taken with him and he told me �you know you want to, just grab on� *grin* Umm, no thank you. I am a �good girl� or so I want people to think. *giggle*

Good times with the Naked Cowboy.

Headed over to Rockefeller Center and the NBC studios. Got to see the ice skating rink, which looks a whole heck-of-a lot bigger on television, but still beautiful. Went by the NY library and saw some dancers who were *about* to dance to some old school Michael Jackson, but never quite got into it.

We were starving at this point so we found another pizza shop�yep NY pizza yet again cause we were on a mission. A mission to eat as much NY pizza as we possibly could. After lunch, it was raining a bit so we hurried on to our next destination, which was the Empire State Building. But on the way there we stopped in The Colony (which is my new favorite music store) and Jessica actually found someone she knew from GEORGIA! *giggle* and then headed to the Hershey store�yum, where we looked and drooled, then went outside and ate our �cheap, brought-from-home mini chocolate bars� that was in Jessica�s �bar� bag that included bars of all kinds�.including chocolate chip granola bars, Nutrigrain bars, and an actual bar with vodka and rum. The airport lady had commented on what the goal was in NY �to gain twenty pounds?� *giggle* I think we met that goal. Went into Tasti D-lites because of �code word�. We couldn�t mention certain shows in NYC because it made Jessica feel like a �real tourist� (not like we weren�t already looking like ones) so we would call them �code word� cause we couldn�t think up the actually code words for them. So Sex in the City, Friends, Felicity & Queer Eye for the Straight Guy quickly became �code word� when we wanted to reference anything to them directly. Needless to say it got difficult to figure out which �code word� we were talking about.

Onto The Empire State Building. This was probably some of the most fun on the trip cause we thought it was a great idea that wouldn�t take too long�but boy were we mistaken. Prior to actually getting in the line we went and got some juices to make �spirited� yet again and hopped in line for tickets�and then the line to go up. The whole process took about two hours, but we had fun making conversation about tattoos.

Jessica has been researching and wanting a tattoo for a long time. We were discussing all the options and ideas we had about them. The conversation took a turn�from my perspective. Originally and up until one line came out of Jessica�s mouth, I was against tattoos. Not against tattoos in general, but against me having one on *my* body. We started talking about how I have pencil lead stuck in my chin and how Jocelyn has it in her leg, and how Jessica�s friend had something similar in his arm, but instead of it being a piece of lead, it was an actually tattoo, but just a dot (from a testing he had done). Jessica said that he would tell people it was his mother looking down on him from Heaven (Friends reference) and I thought about it for a second. My piece of lead in my face is much like a tattoo. It is permanent and on my face. A tattoo could be anything I choose and anywhere on my body�and it is just like my conversation piece that is stuck in my face for all to see. It changed my look on things. Other people may not understand that thinking, but it�s my thinking and I certainly went on a different perspective from then on.

The conversation in line went from �I would like to get a tattoo one day� to �Let�s get tattoos tonight!� So�we went up in the Empire State Building finally (one ticket line, one get-to-the elevator line, one elevator ride to the 80th floor, another elevator ride to the 86th floor, and walk through the merchandise store later) and got a beautiful and freezing view of the city. So breath-taking. The viewing area was much smaller than it looks in Sleepless in Seattle to say the least. Saw the Chrysler Building from up there (�Till this place shines like the top of the Chrysler Building� Jessica/Annie quote).

Went on to eat dinner at Republic which was a trendy noodle restaurant that was *so* good! We all three got the glass noodles, which were incredible to say the least. But Doc Chey�s still has the cake in great noodle restaurants. The beer glasses had stars on them! I wanted one so bad, but they were unfortunately sold out. I was highly disappointed.

Headed on down the building to head to the tattoo parlor. �Whatever Tattoo!� is the place we went. It was shady, but the tattoo guy was hot, so that made it a bit better. *grin* We went downstairs in a hole to see all the options and talk pricing. The guy was really cool and tried to help as much as possible, but seeing as though $50 was the minimum for a tattoo, we said no thank you for now.

Went next door to a second chance at a tattoo and found the same pricing and same nice people, but this time we got to watch some tattooing being done. This one tattoo artist threw me for a loop. From the profile, he reminded me of someone. Someone from a few months ago�someone who I really cared about and someone who is no longer in my life. It was hard not to stare, but I had to get out of there, cause it was not helping to be reminded. So that pretty much killed a lot of the night for me.

Went to a place called Groove to see a band play some R&B stuff. So good. These guys were crazy and very fun! We had front row seats and were enjoying every moment. They played lots of covers that everyone knew so we all sang and clapped along. The keyboardist was a hottie with a nice smile, but the longest braid known to man since the New Kids on the Block. The drummer was nice looking as well, but the bassist guy was my favorite (AJ) who had the friendliest smile and he was just jamming. Good times! Headed home and crashed (yet again).

Day Four: Woke up to start the day with a hand full of activities. Jessica and I were finally getting used to the New York idea of tourism. We became big tourists this day. First started by getting to the city by 11am to go for the lottery for Rent tickets. Put our names in and went to grab a bite at McDonalds where I rocked it in McDonald�s trivia. Who knew I was such a smarty in that?

Headed back over to the Rent ticket area and waited (just hoping, hoping) for our names to be called since we were the FIRST (mind you the FIRST) to sign up for the lottery for that day�s matinee. We weren�t the only ones to get screwed. There were two other couples who were there at the same time who didn�t get their names called either and they looked *so* incredibly upset. BUT we had a back up plan�and a very good one. They did not. *frown*. IF our names would have been called, I would have gladly given them our seats, perhaps Jessica would not have liked that, but they wanted to go way more than we did, believe me. We were excited about our back up plan, which was�.the double decker bus. Good times ahead.

Made fun of all the tourists taking pictures with a wax version of Samuel L. Jackson�so what do we do the following day outside of Madame Toussand�s? Take photos with the wax version of Samuel L. Jackson. We are the biggest dorks in the world.

We purchased our ticket from Eduardo, who was perhaps the nicest Grey Line attendant we came across (oh except for the guys who tried to keep us in NY with them, or Sandy our wonderful tour guide, who we had to go through three buses to get). Hopped on a bus with another Eduardo who was our bus driver and started our way to the double decker adventure.

If you guys are still with me, I am giving you mad props�you must really want to read about my NY adventure�almost done�I think�

Basically it was COLD�COLD�COLD�COLD. But fun! We were on top, of course. Aw, don�t be dirty people. *grin* We made lots of stops and saw lots of touristy stuff. Went through China town, Little Italy, Soho (where we stopped and looked around for a bit), saw Macy�s, Rockefeller Center, Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, Brooklyn Bridge, the Empire State Building, The Chrysler Building, Central Park, The Plaza Hotel among other large expensive hotels, Madison Square Gardens, etc.

We exited the bus at the Brooklyn Bridge and decided to walk some of it. It was such a good time. I really wanted to get on a bridge, any of them to be quite honest and this was the perfect choice. Such a beautiful walk. Lots of photography moments. This is a great city for picture taking and video capturing. Not a great city for me (and I will explain why later), but a great city for those reasons alone if anything.

Had some �spirits� on the bus. Good times in a Blimpie cup, which I might add, we filled up in a park with �the f word, no..not *that* F word� *giggle*. Hopped back on the double decker and got the best tour guide in the world. Her name was Sandy and she was the funniest person in NYC & amazingly enough not on Saturday Night Live. It seemed like she had no clue just how funny she was, and so I felt bad for laughing, but everything was monotone and dry. The best tour guide we had by far. And it was SO cold at that point that the laughing was helping drown our misery away a little.

Got dropped off at Times Square and headed to the Marriott Marquis to defrost our frozen mind and bodies with our first ever New York Martinis at the Broadway Lounge on the eighth floor (which Alex�s dad had designed). We sat at the bar, slowly drinking our Martini�s (Jessica got a Dirty Martini and I got a French Martini) and eating bar nuts, which I had never participated in before. I had never been in a bar long enough to eat the nuts�very good I might add.

It took us two hours to drink our Martini�s. Mine was *so* incredibly strong that it was quite painful at times to get down. We made it through and once semi-thawed we met up with Jocelyn in the lounge and headed on to our next stop, which was dinner at the Falafful restaurant. It was good, but at that point, I was so full I thought I was gonna toss my cookies (or bar nuts mind you) everywhere.

Like the specifics, ey?

Went to Caf� Wha! Which rocked my world. It was like BlueStone Circle but even better if you can believe it. These guys were SO talented and rocked it out with cover songs ranging from The Beatle�s Blackbird to Green Day�s The Time of Your Life to Outkast�s Hey Ya. It was just like BSC but in NY. If I lived there, I would go every night. Good times with those kids�good times!

Which brings me to some things I need to vent about, but I will get to that in a moment after I conclude the NYC trip play by play recording.

We take the Path Train home which took FOREVER (not my favorite mode of transportation at all) and I get a message from Kevin saying he did not have a cool time at the John Mayer show. *frown* Not good my friend. I am sorry it went down like that, but glad you are all good now. I am looking forward to hearing all the details.

Day Five: We all wake up really early to take Jocelyn to work and it takes FOREVER to get there by Path Train, but when we finally get there, we drop off our luggage and hit the city while poor tired Jocelyn works. Jessica and I decide that although it is snowing lightly and freezing out, we would rather just go walk Central Park then go sit in a hotel and drink tea (or something) so we head out that way.

We hike a lot of Central Park and enjoy the quiet solitude and beautiful scenery. We saw the bridge where Home Alone 2 was filmed and the place where Jessica *thinks* the runners always run across with the scene of the park in the background. We also saw the ice skating rink in Central Park, and then tired and hungry headed out to a bagel shop, where we bought a sandwich on a New York bagel. Saw a guy on a Segway traveling down the sidewalk holding an umbrella in his hand. Funny.

Went searching for Grand Central Station, finally finding it and resting for a moment to catch our breaths and thaw out from the snowy cold weather. Went back to Jocelyn�s work to grab our luggage and say our goodbyes and head for the shuttle to take us back to the airport. You don�t know how happy I was to be going back home.

We go up to the bus driver and ask where we get the tickets for the LaGuardia ride and he points us to the right direction, we go buy our tickets which took less than two minutes and come back to find him pulling away right as we got up to the door of the bus. He *knew* we were coming and he left right then. Ugh. New York. Ugh. Although we did have a lot of nice people that we met in the city, but bus drivers, cab drivers, and shuttle bus drivers were not many of them.

Jocelyn: You ROCKED in letting us stay with you. Jessica and I had a GREAT time hanging out in NYC and were SO thankful in having you as an impromptu tour guide, but the thing I learned most from this trip was that NYC is not for me.

I have always had a dream. One that I am not always so quick to share and won�t get into too much details on here as of yet, but it has been coming more in strength into my head and into my heart (starts singing BBMak song *grin*) lately as into where I might be able to fulfill this dream of mine and New York was kinda in the forefront of the plans. My expectations of NYC were that I would fall in love with it, like many have. That I would fit with the pace, the lights, the sounds, and the people. That I would get there and never want to leave. That I would know exactly where I was going in my life and be able to get there by living in that city. Boy was I mistaken.

Don�t get me wrong though. I didn�t hate the city by far. I had a great time and loved spending some time there, but I really don�t think I have any desire to go back. There was more than one time when I really yearned to be at home�in Orlando. I craved to see a palm tree and not because of the weather, but because of how it makes me feel when I see one.

When I stepped off the plane back in Orlando, I was smiling again. A real smile. A happy smile. What was I thinking? If I didn�t like living in Atlanta, what would make me think I would like living in New York? I think I will stay here for the rest of my life and be happy.

This is not saying that my dream of what I want to do is dead, just a dream that needs another home. Not in NYC, but in Orlando. I think I can find it here as well. We shall just wait and see.

That was a long post folks�sorry bout that. If you stayed with me that entire time, kudos to you�you must be incredibly bored.

Got home late last night and headed to bed just to wake up at the break of dawn this morning to help with the UFW training class with Brad. Robert was back at work today. YAY! So good to see him back. Took me a few tries to get used to the whole script training thing, but it worked out well. Jim Korkis spoke today and I adore him. Such a wealth of knowledge, he has. Ate lunch with Amy J and caught up on all the activities I missed and told her a bit about next weekend. And now I am so exhausted at just writing about my trip that it is time for bed.

Jessica and Jocelyn: If I forgot anything, please let me know�I am sure my readers really want more information. *grin*