things i've done

Things I Did Yesterday

· Improv dance class – danced with eyes closed and just…went for it

· Drum circle

· Stopped by a party in the trailer park – there was a bonfire, a huge outdoor space

· Talked about astrology in the Long House

Things I Did Today

· Improv dance class, again

· Children’s Center orientation

· Meditation class

· Ate edible flowers (yum)

· Vegan gelato in a cone

· Talked to Dominic about Tegan and Sara

· Mike and Ruthie folk rock concert

Omega is amazing. Photos to come soon, and hopefully a more in-depth post later. I have a full day of work tomorrow, and then half-days until Sunday, which is my day off. But, with all the classes and socializing (meals can take hours…we just hang out and talk!), my days are very busy. And being on the computer is at the top of my priority list. But, I will try to update as much as possible.

P.S. There are so many people who work here. There are about 200, I guess, with 85 who have been here since April. I’m in the staff house (Long House) right now, and I haven’t recognized ANYONE who has come in, and I feel like I’ve met tooooooons of people. Geez.

stompin' grounds

Good morning! I’m sitting in Kim’s room, watching the rain fall from the window and the people running to find cover. I feel like Carrie from Sex and the City, typing a story on my Mac, pondering life. It’s quite beautiful outside, and BOY am I grateful that today is the rainy day (I just hope it doesn’t keep up like this because my shoes for today ARE really cute…). I walked around ALL day yesterday AGAIN, despite my feet hurting like hell. I actually had to walk on the sides of my feet because of my blisters, so now weird muscles all over my lower body are stiff and sore from awkwardly using them. OW, my blister hurts…I hope it doesn’t get infected or something. That’d be JUST what I need. Well, I’ve resolved to stick around home base area, which is convenient because everything that I want to do is right around here. I’m seeing La Cage Aux Folles today!!! I can’t wait…I was looking up videos and reviews for it last night, and it looks fantastic. Other than that, maybe hitting up a coffee shop and doing some reading, and finding another cool vegan restaurant to enjoy. Oh yea! I haven’t summarized my yesterday. Let’s start now, then.

Yesterday was deemed my “Museum Day,” but I actually ended up getting antsy about the museum part, so I ended up exploring SO much of New York. From the top:

Hell’s Kitchen/9^th Ave: I walked from Kim’s up to Central Park this way. It’s a very cute little area around here, with tons of local restaurants and coffee shops (and some Starbucks…I’m actually starting to get annoyed with all the Starbucks here…I bet they put a lot of great local places out of business. Suck). I bought a 35 cent banana from a street vendor, and it was the best banana of my life. Mmmmm.

Central Park: I walked the perimeter of the Park until I got to the Met. I passed by the Central Park Zoo, and saw the goats from the petting zoo. Awww! I wish I had time to explore the zoo. Other than that, the walk was shady and breezy, but I almost twisted my ankle about 10 times trying to walk with my blisters on the uneven brick walkway.

Metropolitan Museum of Art: WOW, this museum was huge. It was cool, however, because each major theme took up a whole wing of the museum. This allowed you to get totally submerged in one “type” of art or history, and for me, bought a deeper appreciation and sustained knowledge to what I was seeing. I ended up only dabbling in 3 sections (didn’t entirely finish any of them): Greek and Roman Sculptures, Egyptian Art, and Modern Art. The sculptures were obviously amazing. The highlight of the Egyptian Art was seeing the paintings inside tombs (they actually bought ENTIRE tombs that you could walk through and explore). In Modern Art, I saw a Dali painting. Oh, and I bought a guided tour MP3 device, which I strongly suggest...it’s hard to read the descriptions beside the artworks because it’s so crowded, so the audio tour was very helpful. Halfway through Modern Art, I started getting quite antsy and HUNGRY, and I resolved to find a place to eat on my vegan restaurant guide.

Upper West Side: This would be my second choice of where to live, after the East Village. Many walk-up apartments, local shops, bicyclists…it had an urban, but friendly, vibe. I find Peacefood Café, a vegan restaurant and juice bar. The menu was simple and healthy, and the atmosphere was the same: white walls, modest flower bouquets, and wooden tables and chairs. The people that worked there were super friendly! A guy working even came up and said: “You’re really pretty, by the way.” When I said, “Aww, thank you very much!” he said, “Don’ thank me, thank your parents.” Good one, sir. Well, I thought it was rather nice. So, I order a Summer Cooler smoothie (watermelon, mint, and agave), and a tempeh avocado sandwich (tempeh, avocado spread, shredded carrots, pickled radishes on really firm wheat bread). Delicious!!

Landmarks: I then took the 1 train down to the very last stop, South Ferry. I guess this wasn’t the best stop to see the Statue of Liberty, because the Ferry ride was $50. I did manage to catch a glimpse of her from a distance after going in the Port and looking through the window that was all greasy from others’ noses being pressed against it. Ah well. So, I take the 1 train back up to see the World Trade Center site. I’ve been having recurring 9/11 dreams lately, so I thought I’d try to calm those by actually seeing the area in which it happened. What I found slight mass confusion. I guess they are building all this stuff: another “One” World Trade Center, a 9/11 memorial site, a visitors center and museum, yadda yadda yadda. They had signs all over for all these things, making it seem like they actually DID exist at the current time, but they were actually all “coming soon.” So, seriously, there were people EVERYWHERE, trying to figure out where to go to get some piece of mind, but there were just contradicting signs (WTC site -->, followed shortly by <--- WTC site) and lots of gates and construction. I don’t know…I did not feel at ease or safe after going there. Note to New York government: people are still deeply scarred by 9/11, so make QUICKLY a destination where they can go and get some type of closure. Geeeeeez.

East Village/Greenwich Village: Of COURSE I had to make my way to Lula’s Apothecary again to indulge in another sweet confection. This time I got English Toffee Crunch in a cone. OM NOM NOM. I visited vintage shops in the East Village again before making my way to NYU areas. I came upon a bustling shopping area, and explored around the NYU bookstore and bought some essentials from American Apparel. After passing by NYU (it’s hard to spot…I only saw tall buildings, just like everything else…maybe I’m missing something?), I came into Greenwich Village. This was an AWESOME place to be, too. Maybe Greenwich Village is actually in the #2 spot, not Upper West Side. In any case, I ran into a huge open air street market, with people selling food and jewelry and clothing and art...it was great because all of it was genuinely local and very down-to-earth. I went into the local Amy’s Bread and bought something to gnaw on, then bought a $3 bamboo plant from one of the market booths. I then stumbled upon the gay district of Greenwich…YAY! Seriously, I turned a corner, and rainbow flags EVERYWHERE! And, of course, the first store I go into while exploring the street is a metaphysical/healing crystal/incense shop…haha.

Basically after that I head back to Kim’s place. ‘Twas a lovely day in the neighborhood. I believe it has currently stopped raining, so I think I will proceed to finish getting ready for the day. Can’t wait for the Broadway show today. And, tomorrow, it’s time for Omega!!!

i heart vegan ice cream.

YAY New York! Today’s been a great day! I just got done talking to Kim (I actually got to see her! Haha…I thought she’d be too busy the whole time I was here to even say hi. But, alas!). I was actually just talking to her about, out of all the places I’ve visited…Illinois, Ohio, New York…New York is definitely the most in my comfort zone. In a lot of ways, it actually reminds me of Flagstaff: walking everywhere, people watching, living in a nice, small apartment. BUT, today was AMAZING. Let’s see. It didn’t start off too amazing. I realized that doing touristy stuff just isn’t my thing. I tried it out this morning, though. I missed the Daughtry concert, so I settled to go on the NBC Studio Tour. It was at least an hour of bad trivia, bad puns, and boring stops. I got to see the sets for Nightly News with Brian Williams, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and Saturday Night Live. Okay, so the SNL set is pretty cool, especially since not many people ever get to see that set, but of course, it’s not as cool as on TV. The moral of the tour was that television can manipulate your perception of things, visually and otherwise. So, after the tour, I was antsy to get a move on. I walked to Grand Central Station. Such a cool building! From there I bought a MetCard and took the 6 train to Union Square. There was a farmers market there, which was pretty amazing because since the farmers didn’t live in NYC, everything was cheaper. The food looked so fresh and good…I wish I lived in New York at that moment! So, in that area I visited Free People, which had always been a dream of mine since obsessing over the brand. The store wasn’t really all that it was cracked up to be…but it may have been because I didn’t have much money to spend. I walked a couple more blocks to a vintage jewelry store I found online called Pippen Vintage Jewelry. What a quaint little shop! They had so many good finds there, and most of it was under $40. I ended up by this cute necklace from the 1950s that I plan to wear to the musical on Sunday. From there I took the 6 train further south to Spring Street, where I meandered the overpriced district of SoHo. The store All Saints was the highlight…they had an awesome vintage sewing urban western warehouse interior design theme going on. From SoHo I walked and walked and walked (got some mango and kiwi and strawberries from Whole Foods on the way…YUM), until I got into the heart of the East Village. If I ever live in New York, I would like to reside in the East Village. Vegan hubs, bicycles everywhere, walk-up apartments, local artists, rows of vintage clothing stores...this place was very home-y to me. So, my mission for the East Village was to locate Lula’s Sweet Apothecary, a small vegan ice cream place that opens at 3pm. I found the little diamond in the rough, that’s for sure. This place rocked! Their handmade chocolate chocolate chip ice cream was made out of cashews and was served in a crunchy cone. This was the first time I was able to enjoy a delicacy like this in about 5 years. It was nothing less than amazing. I’m thinking about slightly changing my plans tomorrow just to get another cone…maybe even a sundae. Eh heh heh. So, I walk with my cone through Thompkin’s Square, and eventually find the subway that takes me back up to homebase. I explore the 24/7 Apple Store (that place was PACKED…probably over 500 people), and the AWESOME, hands-on FAO Schwartz store (I wish I would have been able to experience this store when I was, like, 8). I then realize my feet have horrible blisters and are KILLING me, so I head back to Kim’s. I do my laundry at the nearby Laundromat, buy some Easy Mac at the Rite Aid next door, and relax. It was an awesome, unforgettable day :].

Tomorrow should be just as cool, but different. I plan to spend most of the day at the Met, but I was thinking of Lula’s again, and possibly a trip to see the 9/11 Memorial Site, and take a glance at the Statue of Liberty. Those last two might wait ‘til Sunday. The ice cream, however, probably can not wait.

selected pics from ohio

Oh yea, no big deal. That's just Bam's car. ....HE WISHES.

This cat was a little creepy when we first met him, but he turned out to be one of the cutest, most well-behaved cats I have met. NAWZ.

OM NOM SUSHI. My piece was falling apart, as you can see :O

bam and i on da boat :]

Cars, Sushi, Boating...Oh My!

Ahh, Bam’s seemed so busy that I did not have time to write. Actually, we were going to expedite the blogging process and make a video of us recounting the last few days. BUUUT, we were exhausted last night and both feeling sick this morning, so it didn’t happen. Just thought I’d mention that the thought was there. Oh well. Well, now I’m sitting in my friend Kim’s apartment, home alone, in her apartment on the border of the Theater District and Hell’s Kitchen (I can’t really decide which district it’s in, so I’ll settle with that). I’m feeling a little sickly today AGAIN, so I ordered some Thai food to be delivered….that’s a first for me!! I feel like I’m in Seinfeld or Sex in the City or something. Well, hopefully the yellow curry and brown rice will soothe my stomach. ANYWAYS, let me summarize the last 4-ish days.

Monday: First full day with Bam. We hung out with his Grandpa, who took us to his Eagle’s Clubhouse first. We played bar games and I got a hiiiigh score (I was a boss at the matching game). There was a car show outside, so we strolled around that for a while, while Bam drooled over the cars and I said, “oooh, that one’s pretty” a lot. Bam’s grandpa was very knowledgeable about cars…it was pretty cool. Then, we went back to Grandpa’s and watched about 3 hours of Cash Cab, ate burgers (veggie burger for me!...very nice), and then watched most of Bamboozled. ‘Twas a great day.

Tuesday: I convinced Bam (through my keen persuasive skills), to WALK around Cuyahoga Falls. Eh heh heh heh. We probably walked for a total of, like, 3 hours. It was a LITTLE hot, but still bearable and enjoyable. We went to get sushi first at the Golden Dragon. Chinese AND Japanese food. Interesting. We were the ONLY ones in the restaurant, no joke. We order, like, 6 rolls of sushi. They were all pretty good, nothing to call home about. But, Bam and I were determined to eat sushi that day, and it was satisfying enough. Then, we walked to the cemetery, meandered around, hung out with Billy, and found some bottles in the forest. We also witnessed the geese being white supremacists against the ducks. Stupid geese. We then went to CVS and bought mango sorbet. The sorbet was devoured when we got home and were snuggled up to watch Date Movie. I freakin’ feel asleep with FIFTEEN minutes left of the movie. I swear I can never keep awake for a full movie. grumble.

Wednesday: Today was a laaaaaazy day, for the first part, at least. We watched two movies: White Chicks (always funny…I think the Wayans brothers are SO cute), and Otis (creeper movie to the extreme…I don’t recommend it). While we were waiting for our pizza to be delivered, Bam’s dad tells us we’re gonna go out on the lake on his boat. Sweet! Kelly runs into the house not too long after and ushers me to her room to find me a swimsuit. After running around getting everything ready, we finally leave for the lake. And what a beautiful lake it was!! I guess I’m not used to big bodies of water in Arizona, so this was breathtaking. Also, the sun was on its way towards setting, so the way it reflected warm colors off the blue water added to the magnificence. So, the highlight of the trip was definitely being flung around on that raft/tube thing tied to the back of the boat. Bam, Kelly, and I all balanced ourselves on it, and Bam’s dad drove and swerved and circled and sped the boat around, giving us an awesome rollercoaster ride. I loved it!...quite the adrenaline rish. We returned home after about four hours on the lake, and spent the rest of the night outside, grilling burgers and enjoying the weather.

I had such a great time visiting Bam. I’m sad it’s over…who knows the next time I’ll see him. But I’m grateful for the short time I did have…hopefully I’ll be able to visit soon. Anyways, I am exhausted, so I will recount today’s adventures in New York in my next blog entry. Tomorrow brings a Daughtry concert during the Today Show (gotta get up early!), shoppin’ around SoHo and other lower districts, vegan goodies, and surprise adventures. Updates soon :]

Finally in Ohio w/ Baaaam!

Well, I’m officially laying in Bam’s room, doing what we do best: sitting next to each other on our computers, tumbling and facebooking and giggling and whatnot. It’s quite relaxing…reminds me of Flagstaff. The build up to seeing Bam was looooong…I was in the airport or on an airplane for a total of seven hours. I know it could be worse, but I was so antsy. And, then, before I got on my final flight, I started to get really dizzy. I’m still dizzy…I believe it’s from all the flying, so we’ll see if I’m better tomorrow. So, I come down the escalator, see Bam looking like a badass leaning against a pole right outside the security gate, and run, SHAKING, to him. Haha, I always do that when I’m excited to see someone. Dirt calls it the authentic River hug. Hee hee. So, we drive about 20 minutes to his town. All the towns on the way were small, green, and quaint, and his was no different. We stop at a local pizza place (we were the only ones in it…very relaxing), and ordered a great margharita pizza. Om nom nom nom. And, now we’re laying on his bed, chillin’. Oh, it feels like the good ‘ol days. I enjoy it :]. Ah, and we watched Date Movie, and we were giggling the whole time.

So, I don’t really know what our plans are for the next 3ish days, but they should be fun and relaxing and chill. I know we are going to the cemetery to see his brother, and I saw a cool looking sushi place on the way there that we shall have to hit up. I’m stoked!!

Fishin' Time

Fishing day at Grampy’s! It’s about 5pm, and the whole day has been either eating, chatting, or working on gettin’ me out to the lake and fishing. I woke up a little bit earlier (I think I’m getting used to the time zone difference), took a shower, and came out of my room to Grampy standing in the hallway with car keys. “Are you ready to go? We need to get our fishing licenses before the place closes again on us.” Uhhh, my Grampy doesn’t seem like he can drive anymore, so I started to get a little nervous. “Is Karen coming?” I asked. She wasn’t. “Are you allowed to drive?” He said he wasn’t allowed to.......but he had no restrictions on his license, “I’m only restricted to those who are too nervous to drive with me,” he chuckled. Haha! I told him I might be one of those people. So, long story short, I end up driving. It was a great experience, driving through the dirt roads and past corn patches and into the small town. Much more fun than city driving. Oh! And, while driving, I saw BUFFALO! I guess a guy breeds them as a hobby, and sells them individually. OOOH, they were so cute! Ok, back on subject. We get the damn fishing licenses, and go back to the house. It’s about 12:30pm, and we’re eating breakfast. This is a late-starting household (side note: I hope I can make it to the airport on time tomorrow…). We had eggs and toast. And my Grampy eats a lot! No kidding, like a pound of scrambled eggs and FIVE pieces of toast. He was even trying to steal Karen’s last piece to make a grand total of six. Damn. We ended up sitting at the dining room table for about 2 hours, talking about radioactive material, Harry Potter, New York City, caretaker drama, and all the silly things Grampy does (those stories are endless).

After breakfast (it’s about 2:30 now), I find out that Grampy actually doesn’t know much about fishing, and neither does Karen. But, I am determined. Karen brings me out a brand new fishing rod, and I can notttt figure it out. Oh, I get so frustrated…the line must have tangled on me about ten times before I even stepped outside. I should look up how to work one… I make it down to the lake, it’s hot as HELL, I’m already soaked from the humidity, and as I’m putting my bait in the water, my line TANGLES AGAIN! GAHHH. Grampy, meanwhile, is making his way very very very slowly down the 50 or so steps to the dock. I feel a little bad that I’m miserably failing as he’s patiently going down the steps to hang out with me, but AHH! He tells me to just use the good line I have and stand in the shade near the edge of the lake. So, I put my hot dog-baited line right at the edge of the lake, and within moments, a fish bites! WHOA! I swing it up to the dock…it’s about 8 inches, is blue and green, has sad, judging eyes, and is gasping for water!!! I didn’t expect my fish to be so helpless and cute looking! And, it’s flailing wildly. It ends up getting the hook out of it’s lip on it’s own, and I kind of nudge it into the water. Success? It was a good experience, one that I’ve wanted, for some reason, since I was a child. Especially with my grandpa looking on. So, yay.

The rest of the day was lazy. Tomorrow is a super travel day, culminating to my arrival to Ohio to visit BAM!!! I can’t wait….we’ve probably been talking too much on Skype, but in person will be 100000x better :D :D

I promised pictures, but the internet is going too slow to upload them. I'll add some as soon as I can.

Well, off to watch Notting Hill and attempt to sleep. Goodnight :]