Stars, Food, and Hostels oh my!

I just realized I need to assess some fun times I've had.

June 4-8 Lydia, Lani, and I went to NYC to see some shows, the city, and eat Korean food. We had a jam-packed, fun-filled agenda for the four days we were there. Lydia had never been, and we got to visit my friend Monica who let us stay with her...so nice! The first night we were there we did the lottery for tickets to "9-5" with Allison Janney....and Lani, Lydia, and myself all won. 4 tickets for $25 and 5th row orchestra...amazing. Once we were sitting down ready to see the show, I realized I knew someone in the cast!! Kathy Fitzgerald had come to Sedona when I was in 6th grade and then again when I was a senior in high school. Awesome! Afterward we got to meet them both! Here's a picture with Monica and Allison:

NY was awesome and we got to see Wicked and In the Heights also!!!

I will share this...on the last night we couldn't stay with Monica since she was going out of town, so we thought we would go to a hostel...cheap, easy for travelers, etc. We booked it that morning and figured we'd be in room with mostly girls. (We weren't thrilled that guys would be there, but there really wasn't another option) We spent the morning on the lower east side, ate some delicious mac and cheese and (HUGE) cupcakes, and then took the subway up to our hostel....on 114th street...we were on 6th street. I happened to notice at about 90th, we were the only white people on the train. Then when we got to 114th, we were also the only one's who spoke English. We get off at the cross between Spanish Harlem and Harlem, and I was praying the entire time for Heavenly Father to keep us safe. We checked in to the hostel, which was only like 8 blocks from the subway, but when we turned the corner I notice a NYPD van and four cab cars. Super. Once we checked in...we decided to leave again to go out. The hubbub was a couple blocks from where we were, but we were still moving quickly. I was praying pretty much harder than I had in a while and when we looked up....who was there? Missionaries!!! Oh I just breathed audibly and said, "Hold on girls...we need to say hi, they were sent for us" Oh it was just so cool!! 

We went off to see a show and grab dinner, but didn't want to be returning to our hostel in Harlem too late. When we arrived, we were the last ones in our room....which was now filled with 7 European boys in their tightie whities, one of which was modeling a shirt he just purchased that day. Oh. My. Word. At that moment I was glad we had already been to the Temple...because ugh. Naturally there weren't three beds together so Lydia had a bottom bunk, Lani had a top bunk next to Lydia's bunk beds, and then Sasha was on the other side of the room on a top bunk with a perfect view of Mr.-Dutch-I-adjust-myself-every-5-seconds man. I didn't get into PJs, I read until 2:30am, and we were outta there by 7:30am. 

This trip taught me a lot

1) Don't be surprised at who you see on stage...you may know them

2) Always have a camera with you

3) Friendships can last miles

4) People in the subway are willing to sing about anything...even cankles

5) Cupcakes that are bigger than your fists should be admired not eaten

6) Always bring Lani to a show lottery (she won for In the Heights too...first one called BOTH times)

7) European boys adjust themselves constantly and smell.