Monday
It was a rainy day in NYC. Now I usually don't enjoy rain during the summer but here in NY it's great for two reasons: 1) it usually cools things down a bit 2) it gives me the perfect excuse to check out museums and exhibits! On this particular rainy day I met up with Liz to check out the "Body World: Pulse" exhibit at the Discovery Museum in Times Square. The exhibit was in a word: enthralling. For those of you who are new to my blog/don't know me very well, I am obsessed with anatomy. I took BYU's Anatomy class about a year ago and it changed my life. I lived in the Anatomy lab, and loved learning the terms for every part of the body. Unfortunately I haven't been very good about keeping up on my anatomy, and have lost quite a bit. But this exhibit brought a lot of it rushing back. It was magnificent. Poor Liz had to put up with 3 hours of me listing off every cool fact I could remember. I recommend taking the opportunity to see the Body World exhibits if there is ever one near by. You can really learn a lot about the functions of your body through the descriptions! Anyways, that's enough of my ramblings. Bodies are cool, anatomy is awesome, and this exhibit was so neat!
After being so studious in the exhibit we needed to reward ourselves with some sweets! There was a delicious cupcake shop inside the Discovery museum and they had some of the best cupcakes ever. They even have a show - DC cupcakes on TLC I think. And they deserved it. I had a mint chocolate cupcake and Liz got a toffee crunch one. YUM! We then met up with the other investment banking wives for a group dinner, banana grams, chick flicks, and more dessert. Banana pudding from Magnolia Bakery. My taste-buds were in heaven. Apparently there are some copycat recipes on Pinterest, which I will definitely try once I get home. I'll probably post a link to it as well!
Thanks Jani for letting me steal your cute instagram pic!
Tuesday
Tuesday was a wonderful day. On Tuesday we all met at the Manhattan New York Temple for a 2pm session. I have always loved the peaceful feelings I enjoy in every temple, but this temple has a special spirit. It's the only quiet and peaceful place I've found in the city so far. It's a perfect refuge from the world. Perhaps these feelings are strengthened by the fact that this temple really is a sanctuary in the middle of chaos. Most other temples have beautifully landscaped grounds, and are often somewhat removed from the rest of the world, whereas this temple is right next to the Lincoln Center, and is located off Broadway, one of the busiest streets in NY. And it is a gorgeous temple! Again, if you ever have an opportunity to go to this temple, take it! It's a sacred place. Another blessing I enjoy while I'm out here is going to church every Sunday in this building! I loved taking the Sacrament right next to the Sacramento Temple when I was younger, and I love being near a temple again now.
After enjoying the peace of the temple, we ran off to Times Square! Talk about contrast! We got some dinner, and then our search for a tasty treat began. (Yes, sweets seem to be a theme with our group. What do you expect with 6 lonely girls running around one of the most amazing culinary cities in the world? We are totally going to be on the look out for anything with sugar.) It just so happens that Camille loves the Food Network. And thanks to her we found the cutest little ice cream shop called je & jo's. They're organic ice cream makers that pair every fresh ice cream with delicious little bites of cookie dough! They have the most interesting flavors too. I got Fresh Mint with Lemon Lavender Shortbread Cookie Dough. Amazing right? It was so fresh and delicious. Although it's a bit pricey, it's definitely worth trying. And the most dangerous thing is, they are located just two blocks away from my apartment... YIKES/YUM!
The Investment Banking Wives Club (minus Emily)
Wednesday
Rain, rain go away. And it does for like two seconds, and then it's a torrential downpour. And then it's sunny, so I put away my umbrella. Cue more rain. That's Wednesday in a nutshell. So what did I do during this bipolar day? SO MUCH! Wednesday was a very adventure packed day. First I went shopping. That's just another reason why I love New York. There are so many styles, so many stores, and so much to see! I love the variety, and gaining outfit inspiration from everyone I see. Plus there were a ton of 4th of July sales, which I promptly took advantage of. I've been thinking... would it be weird if I started doing outfit posts? What are your thoughts?Anyways after my little shopping spree I met up with Camille for my first encounter with the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I have never been so overwhelmed by a museum as I was by the Met. There is SO much to see! Luckily I know a little New York secret. The suggested fee to view the Met is $25, but you can pay as you wish any day of the week! So for $1 I got to view some of the most amazing art in the world. And I didn't have to feel like I wasted my money since I only had an hour to peruse. But boy did I get my dollar's worth and more. Today we focused on the Egyptian exhibits.
I also saw a little bit of the Roman sculpture section.
This exhibit is built to be an exact replica of an ancient temple!
GO TO THE MET! And if you are short on time/don't want to spend your entire day there pay as you wish! After the Met I entered in the lottery for Wicked tickets, struck out, and then went to Strand bookstore. For all my bookworm friends, Strand is heavenly. 18 miles of books! And they have a section outside where the books are $1-2. I will say, you have to know what you are looking for when you go there. And if you're looking at their sale section, be prepared to spend a significant amount of time hunting for the perfect read. I had some success, and got two hardback books for $4! Then I got a call every investment banking wife dreams of. Clark got off at 6, and he didn't have to work on the 4th!!!! Miracle of miracles, we were able to go out to dinner together! Since we live in a restaurant saturated area we had a myriad of options open to us. We finally settled on some Thai food at Olieng's. Their pad see ew was amazing (broad rice noodles in a savory sauce with veggies and beef)! As was their prah rahm long song (sweet peanut sauce over chicken and veggies). If you're ever craving some Thai and you're near Hell's Kitchen I say try it out! After dinner, we rushed home, packed up, and ran to Grand Central for our escape to New Canaan, Connecticut.
Thursday - Happy 4th of July!
First off I have to thank the Rosdahl family for being wonderful generous people. They called us to see if we had 4th of July plans, and offered us their gorgeous home in New Canaan as a place to celebrate. They even let us bring some friends! It was perfect! We went to their ward breakfast for some delicious pancakes, and then we were off to Calf Pasture Beach. It was a hot and sunny day, perfect for wading in the water and soaking up some much needed sun.
The Credit Suisse couples!
After a couple hours on the beach we went back to the Rosdahl's to enjoy their backyard. We played frisbee, football, HORSE, and basically enjoyed having space to run around and be outside. Then like every true American we had a barbecue. We fired up the grill and had hot dogs, chicken, watermelon corn on the cob, and chips. It was a perfect all-American meal. And we all know what comes after barbecues... FIREWORKS! New Canaan has become pretty famous for their fireworks at Waveny Park. It was quite the celebration! Bounce houses, ice cream vendors, popcorn, food, and a brass band. Top it all off with 14,000 shells of fireworks and you get the perfect 4th of July party. Happy Birthday America!
I was in love with all the hydrangeas I saw out here!
The big band!
Friday
It was so hot and muggy in the city that Lane and I decided to escape again to Coney Island! We went to the New York Aquarium since it was "pay as you wish to see the fish" Friday. The aquarium was pretty severely damaged by Hurricane Sandy, so a lot of the exhibits were closed. But we still got to see the coral reef exhibit (reminds me of finding Nemo), the walruses (adorable blobs of blubber), harbor seals (I saw one jump!), and we could have stayed to see the sea lion show. I'm excited to go back when we live in NYC full time as the aquarium will hopefully be fixed by then. Since we didn't spend as much time at the aquarium as we thought we would we decided to relax on the beach for a while. It was nice! Even though it was a weekend, it wasn't too crowded. The sand was nice and soft, and the water was refreshing. It was nice to have a slow day after such a busy week. And it's only an hour or so away when I take the Subway!
After the beach I got another lucky call! Clark was off before midnight! Woot woot! For our date night we decided to take an evening cruise on the Staten Island ferry. It was wonderful. I highly recommend it! The ferry is free, you get an amazing view of the New York skyline and the Statue of Liberty.
Sorry the picture is tiny, but it really is an amazing view!
Saturday
Saturday was my first real experience as an investment banking wife. Up until Saturday, Clark and I had enjoyed very reasonable hours and our evening plants always worked out. Saturday morning I got student rush tickets to Jersey Boys and we were so excited to see this show! Unfortunately things got busy at Clarks office and we had to sell our tickets. It was hard to miss out on such a great evening. But I learned something. I learned am so grateful for the hours Clark usually enjoys. And I am so happy to be out in this amazing city. Even though it can be lonely at times, there is always something to do, and with a positive attitude you can always have fun. I am so happy Clark and I have a year left at BYU together, and that we can spend so much time together before entering the real world. And even though the investment banking schedule will be hard to endure for two years, because of Saturday/this summer I know we can make it through! Besides, while I was moping around by myself I stumbled across this fantastic crepe restaurant. Talk about comfort food in a time of need! :) And the next time Clark has an early night you can bet we will be at Viva la Crepe by Union Square.
Chicken + pesto + gruyere + tomato + basil + crepes = delicious!
Sunday
Wow! This has been a very long post. I apologize, and totally don't blame you if you just skim it. In the future, I'll try to do a better job summarizing my weeks. Sunday was great! We went to church, Jani and I went to the Met, went on a walk through Central Park, and Clark was home for dinner! It was a great day, the perfect end to a wonderful week. We love Manhattan, and I am so happy we are out here this summer. Sorry this post a couple days late! Have a great week :)
Belvedere Castle
From the American Wing in the Met
Knights in Shining Armor!
