Summer upstate and in the city

Since getting back from Utah I have tried to live up summer in NY as much as possible. It is pretty miserable outside considering it is about 90 degrees plus humidity but I've been trying to make the most of it. I went upstate and saw mom for a long weekend before the forth, which was amazing. It rained I think everyday I was there and I honestly didn't mind. I spent the majority of the time going through my room and reorganizing and getting rid of things I no longer need. Also, mom's garden is exploding because of all of the rain, which made for some pretty BOMB salads and snacks while I was home. MMM!

Me and mom also went and got our necessary mani-pedi at our favorite spot. We decided to go with gel nails in a french mani and I went with red toes, while mom went with purple. 

Worth every penny. 

The only other thing to do in NYC when it is this hot is to bike, run, and go to the beach! (Oh and go on one or two dates with my main man, of course) We are THRILLED they have a huge bike lane connecting Queens and Brooklyn. We have friends in Brooklyn so it makes is very convenient and safe(isn) to get there and back in only 30 minutes. 

 <- My favorite restaurant/date place right now. La Lanterina in Manhattan. Indoor patio which is adorable with divine italian food. As close to the real thing as I've found in NYC.

 <- The family I nanny is in Malaysia for 10 days, hence all  the play and little work I've been doing. I sure do miss this little nugget though. 

 <- There is an awesome and huge cemetary right down the road from the apartment where Zach and I go running. It has been super hot but it still feels cooler running through grass with trees then running on concrete through buildings. 

 <- Rockaway Beach is my new ultimate favorite spot this summer. Oh and Rockaway Tacos is a MUST for anyone that goes. $3.50 fish tacos, and at least a 30 minute wait but are well worth it. (picture to come with next visit, I ate it too fast and realized I missed the photo op)

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Oh I almost forgot, JULY 4th! We kinda celebrated on July 3rd and went to the Mets game. They had student tickets for $9 and had a firework show after! It was AWESOME. The fireworks went all around the top of the stadium, down in the field, and had a crazy light show included all synced to music! I was very pleased with the fireworks we got this year, even though it was a day early. 

On July 4th Zach had to work so I was left home organizing and unpacking from my trip upstate. I texted my friend from elementary school who I've recently gotten in touch with and went and met her on 2nd ave at her friend's apartment. Her friend just happens to dance with ABT (American Ballet Theater), no big deal slash really big deal. I think I talked his ear off about dance and was so excited to meet an actual NYC ABT male ballerina, who happens to be from Mobile, AL (shout out to Mom's birth place) I may have embarrassed myself a little by all the Q&A. Anyway, we spent the evening hanging out on his back porch and made our way to a southern BBQ restaurant where Zach was able to meet us and share some Southern BBQ nachos. Mmm. Three of the friends there were Auburn alumni where Allison and I are Alabama fans so there was the obvious rival of "war eagle" "roll tide" comments all night. They even had a bottle opener that played the Alabama fight song when it was used. Awesome. Oh how I miss the south. 

July 3rd fireworks at Citi Field - July 3rd

Me and Allison (Rollll Tide!) - July 4th

Zach and I at Rockaway Beach - July 5th

Until next time,

Vj

And by next time I mean AFTER the Taylor Swift concert this coming Saturday!
6 Days away! 

Summer so far

I am SO happy to live only 5 hours away from my mom. She came down a few weeks ago to go to a free concert in Brooklyn with me and it was INCREDIBLE. It is safe to say I am a HUGE fan of Patty Griffin now and look forward to choreographing dances to her songs in the future. 

Here is me and mom in Prospect Park at the concert:

It has been a crazy week! My vacation started a little earlier than expected by the passing of my Grandpa Smith. I drove down to Kentucky to attend his funeral on Thursday- Sunday. I was fortunate to be a part of the service and read a poem I wrote for and about him. Although it was hard to say goodbye it is so comforting to know he is back with Heavenly Father and my Grandma.

Back row: Brandon, Ashley, Step-Dave

Front row: Uncle David, Nancy, Uncle Gary, Mom, and me

I drove back from KY on Sunday and pulled back into Queens around 9pm. I woke up Monday morning and caught a flight to SLC then hoped in my Dad's jeep with Seth and Raegan and drove 4 hours to Moab. We camped at Slickrock park, hiked in Arches park, jeeped all over, ate yummy pasta and pizza, and barely slept. No thanks to Dad not knowing how to use his new alarm on his car and waking us all up at 6:30am when he was trying to get his book. We started our day early when that happened. Note to self: When going to Moab buy THE BEST eye drops and allergy medicine around. I was literally in tears after the first night. Ouch.

 

We drove back from Moab on Wednesday afternoon and headed up to Uncle Steve's Cabin in Weber Canyon. Seth and I went for a run my first day and I could barely breathe because of the altitude. We still ran 6.5 miles though, no big deal. We spent time going on nature walks with the kids, playing on the neighbors trampoline, catching snakes with Aunt Jessica, coloring, watching movies, watching Game 7 (Go San Antonio), eat burgers with friends, tandem riding, swimming in Kamas, etc. Seth was also able to bless Kate and Brigham bless Sam, which is always a beautiful thing. On my last night in Utah I decided I should go into town and see some friends. I went to Park City for a few hours and met some friends on Main Street. Although I was at the cabin with no internet, cell phone reception, or even a land line I felt like I had everyone I needed to talk to right there with me. Well, except for mom and Zach. They were worth driving to the gate for reception to make a phone call. Going to Kentucky and seeing family then going to Utah to see even more made it was one of the best vacations I've ever had. 

I love my family and I am one super lucky girl.

Juicy Big Apple & Art

I've really tried to be healthy these past few months. I bought my first juicer and couldn't be happier with it. I found it on amazon and based on the reviews I went with this Juicer. Some of my favorite juices so far that I created are:

Sweet Pink:

5 plump Strawberries

1 Lemon

6 Mint leaves

2 Apples

OJ+:

1 1/2 Oranges

2 Apples

I learned real quick the more veggies does NOT mean the better the juice. I'm pretty sure I ruined a pitcher of mine because I left some juice in there for too long that had beets, ginger, carrots, celery, etc. It was a disaster and I'm still scrubbing to get it clean. I also learned ginger is SPICY. It's a great addition if you want an extra kick, but beware of just how much you add. Also, celery is a great veggie to add if you want lots of juice. Oh, and carrot juice is super yummy.

I've had a lot of extra free time since I quit my retail job. I am about to start nannying full time starting in June for the remainder of the summer until I go back to school. Aside from juicing and cooking I've fallen re-"in love" with pinterest.  That's where I got this photo idea to do with Mr. Dobson. He had no idea what I was trying to do, but he was very supportive and loved the outcome. I'm pretty happy with it too. 

The other day I got an email from my friend Troy telling me he was in NYC! I was so excited I told him to meet up with me right away. We met in Central Park and had a great time catching up, playing frisbee, and enjoying a beautiful sunset in Sheep Meadow, Central Park. If you ever find yourself in Central Park with a bike though, be sure you leave before dusk. They lock the gates around the field, in other words you are left to lift your bike over the fence and jump it yourself. Good thing Troy was there to help! 

Yesterday was Memorial Day. Zach and I had already made plans with his mom and step-dad to go to Storm King Art Center. It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun hiking around and looking at art. My favorite was stopping at the ice cream shack a couple of miles outside of the park. Mmm... my sweet tooth never fails. 

My favorite "piece" of art was the rolling hills. Designed by the same artist that did the Vietnam Memorial in DC... so semi Memorial Day event in a round about way. 

Kentucky Derby and more through pictures

I haven't blogged in too long, but 

On our way to Louisville

Churchill Downs- Derby Weekend

Sportsnation live shooting- Times Sq

Confetti surprise at the end

When Evan came to visit NYC from PC

Park in TriBeCa where I walk my nanny families dog, Millie.

Langhorne Slim himself after we watched him play at a sold out show in Louisville...

after a day at the races. 

Sportsnation & some famous football players

Of course I get stuck standing behind the person with the funky hat. 

Go giants!

around 

TriBeCa

My daily walk on the Hudson

Entrance of Churchill

Zach by University of Louisville

New favorite fruit, pomelo. 

Bikes and Baby!

The little girl I nanny must be extra tired from our walk today. She's been sleeping for almost two hours! I guess all that sitting in the stroller is really exhausting. That's fine with me, time to blog!

Yesterday was absolutely STUNNING here in NYC. It reached a high of I think, 78 degrees! I was able to spend some time outside and it was glorious! Also last night I decided to take out my super lucky boyfriend so we jumped on our bikes and rode to Long Island City, in Queens and found a delicious Mexican, no South American, umm Latin (?) restaurant. It was sooo yummy! http://blen02.wix.com/blendnyc

It was great to pull out the road bike again and feel the burn on the last hill back to the apartment. Can't wait to get my biking booty back in shape! After living in Utah and upstate NY it's ironic that I finally found my love for road biking in NYC.

Also great news...I have a new niece! Kate was born on Sunday and I can't WAIT to meet her!

SPRING!

Spring is a great time for new beginnings. I'm going to start blogging again as my new beginning. Also, I am sitting in my apartment watching Hector (my super) take a sledgehammer to the wall in my kitchen because my apartment is slowly, no quite quickly filling up with water from the apartment upstairs. Being the OCD person I am, and can barely sit still having guests I invite into my apartment... I needed a distraction.

Things that have changed in the last 5 months since I blogged last.

Jobs

Graduate School

Church

WORK

I recently switched jobs because well, I had to. The family I was nannying for decided they no longer needed me because the mom decided to not return to work after having her last kid. I was already thinking about how I could leave this job on good terms so when she told me the news I may have reacted a little too happy for her than she expected. I am now nannying part time in TriBeCa (hallelujah) and can get there in 30 minutes (as opposed to an hour and a half). I watch the cutest little Chinese girl whose family is from Australia. I could listen to them talk all day. 

Since nannying 3 days a week won't pay the bills in the big apple I also picked up working retail. The retail job is meh, but it brings in a paycheck and I'm starting to really like the people I work with. It's amazing how much I missed adult interaction during my work week when I nannied for almost a year full time. 

Also, I am teaching in Brooklyn Saturday mornings for 3 hours. I teach third grade math and english and couldn't be happier. I love teaching and it is my favorite job I have and pays the most. Plus, today they asked me if I would be willing to teach summer school! Could potentially turn into full time for the summer months. So pumped. 

Oh, and yeah, you read that right... I have three jobs.

Spring in TriBeCa

GRAD SCHOOL

I've made the decision to go back to school and get my MA from NYU in Dance Education. Since looking into grad school this always looked and sounded like the right choice, but I'm not quick with making decisions. I applied and auditioned to a few other schools with similar programs, but deciding on NYU was not all up to me. In the middle of the decision making process I went to Philly to see my brother give my nephew a baby blessing. I asked if he could give me a blessing as well for guidance in the decision. The experience I had with the blessing and the auditions sealed the deal. NYU is where I need to be next year and I couldn't be happier or more excited.

Prettiest studio I've ever danced in at CUNY Hunter (upper east side)

CHURCH

It has been 3 weeks straight that I have attended church at the YSA Union Square ward (it would have been 5 except I went to mom's for Easter and like to watch conference at home in my jammies). I've never "stopped" going to church in my mind I just sorta stopped going 100% in the last few years. The ward I am in now feels so good and I am very excited to keep up the attendance. Plus, there is free parking all day in Manhattan and driving to church on Sunday morning from Queens only takes 20 minutes! I have no excuse.

Here's to keeping up with the recent changes and hopefully more blogging in the future! 

P.S.

Incase you missed the latest viral youtube video: Baby Afro Harlem Shake

Also, I bought my KY Derby dress: Derby Dress (except in Navy, NOT mint)

I used part of my tax refund to get tickets to see her. 

SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY made it to the Final Four! GO ORANGE!