The Day I almost Died : the flight home.

After a wonderful and exciting trip I was a little sad to have to go home, especially knowing that I would be starting school in  about a week, and summer was ending. But I got on the first leg of my trip back home. I was flying by myself again. My Parents flight left later that day. From Boston to Memphis was smooth sailing. I still wasn't feeling too great and was able to sleep a little, read a little and we landed with out any problems. Well my flight from Memphis back to Salt Lake was a different story. We took off fine, and about half way into the flight we started hitting turbulence. Nothing too abnormal but as we got closer and closer to our destination it kept getting worse and worse. I should mention that we were on this tiny little plane. One of the smallest I have ever been on.  I have never had a fear of flying, but I started right then to fear for my life. Finally we are circling around the SLC airport getting ready to land. We were flying down and hitting huge pockets of air. We were bouncing all over the place. I was starting to feel pretty light headed, I am sure I looked like most of the people around me, wide eyed and terrified. The Big Cowboy of a man next to me was cursing under his breath. He told me he doesn't like to fly. This was not helping. Well we get down to the runway and just as we are about to touch down a gust of wind sweeps under one of the wings of the plane causing the plane to tip to one side. Well the pilot immediately swooped back up and told us that we were going to have to circle around and try again. At this point a lady two rows behind me started to feel very sick, the flight attendants came back and decided it would be best to get the oxygen out and see if there was a doctor on board. Ok... wow this doesn't help anyones  nerves. The pilot gets on saying they are trying to figure out what to do... WHAT they don't know what to do. They are professionals, they have to know what to do. I can hear the Dr. and flight attendants talking a few rows back. He says the girl will be ok, she is just having a bit of an anxiety attack, and should get off the plane as soon as possible. That is when they say we are going to have to land soon no matter what because we are going to get low on gas. GAS. We need that to fly. At this point I am about to have an anxiety attack. I start having flash backs to what I said to my parents as I left. Did I thank them enough for the trip. Did they know how much I loved them. I am not exaggerating this all went through my head. I was thinking about how if we crashed what the chances were for survival. Maybe if we landed in the salt lake we would float? This was one time having an active imagination was not the greatest thing. It might have been my imagination but it felt like the air was getting thinner, it was definitely getting hotter. I of course was in the Exit row so I had to think about how I was going to help everyone else off the plane. It was terrible. Well finally after what felt like hours and after we had tried going down again unsuccessfully the pilot gets on and tells us we are going to have to land in Provo to fill up on gas and wait for the winds to pass Salt Lake. The flight attendants ask him if people can get off in Provo (mainly for the girl who is on oxygen.) The pilot comes back on saying whoever wants to get off in Provo  can but they would still have to pick up their bags in SLC. I was all over this. I only had carry on, I was a light packer, Thank goodness! The runway in Provo is short, the pilot told us, so our landing was going to be hard and they were going to have to hit the breaks right away. Well they were right. We hit down pretty hard and the breaks slammed us down. But we were on the ground. I was alive. I called Carly to see if she would be able to pick me up from the Provo airport, and then called Derek who was already waiting at the SLC airport (we were obviously running late at this point) and told him to turn around and start heading towards Provo. I hopped off the plane at first chance, and looked around at the anxious faces still on the plane. They had to wait for a fill up and then were going to head back up to the DEATH ZONE and land in SLC. A few others got off the plane with me. We were relieved to be on the ground and breathing fresh air. It was one of the best feelings in the world. I said about a million prayers that day, ending with a Thank you for keeping me alive prayer. Who knew that at one point in the day I would look out my window and see this and think how pretty.

And then a few hours later I would think I am GOING to DIE.  Well that is the story of how I thought I was going to die. True story. Also this was a long one, if you made it through Thanks. I hope it was worth your time.

A day of New York: Day 4

Someday I am going to wake up in New York because I live there. I am excited for that day. Until then this day was pretty close to perfect. We started by getting some breakfast and headed over to Tiffany's so I could  eat my breakfast there just like Audrey. On our way we window shopped, because all of the stores were still closed. It was fantastic. I think New York may have the best window shopping. Here are some of our favorites: 

Here I am with my breakfast and Tiffany & Co. I about died when I stepped inside this store. LOVE.

Then we went for a walk in Central Park. This park is Huge. We only touched the tip of it and I easily could have spent the whole day here. 

It was so fun to see the skyscrapers popping out from the tops of the trees. So cool.

My mom needed to stop by and see the Temple. It is also very unique, just stuck right there in the middle of the city. And as soon as you walk in it is so quiet and peaceful, a huge difference from the hustle and bustle of the city. 

On our way back we stopped by FAO swartz. It was much smaller then I thought it would be and well we kept comparing it to things in London and it was no where near  as cool as Hamleys. But this was a sweet toy. Beamz. Look it up. 

Next was a stop by Dylan's Candy Bar. I don't know what drove us here but why not. A store dedicated to Candy. Deal. I think we needed to go because it is Dylan's. and we like Dylan.

Mid day snack-Lunch in between some shopping and walking. Hot Dogs. Well my mom got the vendors last polish and my dad and I were stuck with regular hot dogs which tasted like, well regular hot dogs. Hers was much better. But it was on my list. Finally after years I got to eat a Hot Dog in New York.

My Favorite part of the day was the MOMA. I bet you were expecting shopping huh... Nope. I am in love with this museum. We all some how got lost in the shuffle of the art and I spent most of the time listening to my little headset and wandering through some of my favorite artists. I also could have spent all day here. It was so hard for me to pick what museum I wanted to go to (museum was my number one so I got to pick!) and I am so so so glad I picked this one. I loved seeing Van Gough, and Picasso and Warhol and Dali and Matisse and Seurat, and Cezanne and Monet and well basically it was beautiful and wonderful to see works I have studied and learned about. Love this place. We were getting very tired at this point. So much walking and seeing and doing.

This is Yoko Ono's Wish tree. I love this idea. Write you wish on a peice of paper and put it on the tree and hope it comes true. I want one. 

Next stop FIT. I have dreamed about going to FIT for a very long time. I was afraid if I saw it I might never want to leave. We went to their little fashion museum and I loved it. I would love to be able to attend any fashion school, especially in NY, and even more especially FIT. Someday? I am putting that on my dream tree.

After this we split up.My mom and I did a little more shopping. I had to step foot in a Topshop because I miss it. and my dad wanted to see the Statue of Liberty. So we split. We headed to soho and did a little more shopping. I loved the vibe and feel of soho and greenwich village. I could live there. (I could live anywhere on Manhattan and be happy I think.)
The place to catch the ferry to Staten Island.

This was about what my view of Lady Liberty was like, probably even smaller.

This was my Dads. He loved his boat ride. I am kinda sad I didn't go with him, but I also knew I would be sad not going to Topshop. Next time.

After we shopped until we could no longer stand, quite litterally we went back to our bus to meet my dad. We saw a bus coming our way and were on the other side of the street and for fear that we would have to walk further we ran to catch the bus. (at this point I am not sure why we didn't take a taxi but somehow it was easier to take a bus?) After making it on the bus after we ran for it we felt pretty accomplished. It is not everyday you catch a bus like that. We met up with my dad walked through the Wallstreet area, very businessy, and put together area, saw "ground zero" which now is a construction site, because there are building some memorial/building something. We were starting to get to the Feed Me Now point. There were NO resturants in the area so we had to come up with a plan. I was starting to feel sick, and tired. I was so sad I was feeling sick, which probably made me even more sick and only made the FMN (feed me now) even worse. So we got a couple drinks and some fries here. Come on, what is more American than McDonalds.

The Bull. I guess if you touch it you will have financial luck. I will let you know how that works out. Also lots of people take pictures coming out of it's butt. That was funny. We did not.

Then around 1030 or so at night we finally made it to one of the places on our list to eat. Katz's. WOW. Best sandwich ever. I could try and describe it to you but words aren't there. Just think of the best pastrami sandwich in the history of your life, now multiple it by 100. That is Katz's.

Look at the size of that thing. I was still feeling sick but I downed my part. Delicious isn't a good enough word for this sandwich.

YUM.

We got out of there pretty late and it was amazing. People were getting ready to go out and the town was as busy as it was that afternoon. Oh the city that nevers sleeps. Amazing. Well we were not ready to stay up all night. We headed back, my dad to get the car and my mom and I to Times square to get some last minute souvenirs. (the traditional I &hearts NY shirts) Once again I was baffled and overwhelmed with the lights and sounds. It looked like it was day time. We hopped in the car. I was as happy as I could be. My NYC experience everything I wanted and only left me wanting more. I was sad to leave but so tired I was soon asleep. We arrived in Boston at who knows what hour. My mom and I took turns talking to my dad to keep him awake. I slept like a baby. It was AMAZING. 

Travel Day (Birthday trip Day 3)

I am finally ready to continue my wonderful, fabulous, magnificent birthday trip story. The day started out with my mom and I dropping dad off at work, then we were off to find a store that sold comfy shoes. (Boston did a little number on our feet... we started to care a lot less what we looked like and a lot more about how comfortable we were going to be)  and we needed to kill some time as we waited for Dad to be done with his final touch ups at work. Well we thought we would check out a shop next to our hotel before we found some shoes. It is this little place called Cracker Barrel. I told my mom that we have some in Utah, but we had never been in one so we thought we would check it out. Well for those of you who don't know. IT is Utah. Don't believe me look at this:

In case you can't read  what is under Family it says "Family. Forever, for always.... and no matter what." On top of this there was country music in the background and lots of very crafty homey I made this at enrichment things. We were laughing so hard. This is proof. Boston loves Utah.

Well you will never guess where we ended up after that. LOWELL. What really Lowell. This place truly is a black hole of a place, sucking us in.

 We found some shoes and wandered around good ol' target until it was time to pick up Dad and get on the road. As we were getting off the freeway we saw a TURKEY. A real live wild turkey just chilling off the side of the road. I am not sure 1. I have ever seen a live turkey 2. I know I have never seen one roaming the streets 3. Is it legal?  I was shocked and in awe. Apparently my Dad said he had seen a few going to work. Weird.

After picking up Dad we had one last VERY Boston stop to make. Dunkin' Donuts. They were everywhere. On every corner of every street. And in the morning there was a huge line for the drive through. Well it is not like I had never had DD before but it was a must have Boston treat.

 After our fill of donuts our travels to NYC began. I was so excited. We hopped in the car and were off. We had long drive ahead of us and we used the time to plan out our trip, nap, and well drive. Somewhere in Connecticut we got a little lost  and were driving on this beautiful winding road through lovely countryside, little town and forested areas. It was fun. We stopped to fill up our car at a little town and the gas station didn't have a bathroom, so they told us to go to the next town to "The Big Cone." ok so we were thinking that was the name of the mini-mart or gas station or something like that. Then we came across this:

 The BIG Cone. Literally it was a big Cone. We were dying with laughter. It was one of the funniest things EVER. The big cone. I will tell you what not only did they have a bathroom but they had some fantastic ice cream (I mean how can you not try the ice cream at a place with this Cone-lady out front.) Our lost adventure continued when we saw a sign for Woodstock. Well this part makes us all sound a little dumb, but it is an easy mistake to make right. We thought it was the real Woodstock. We thought for a minute "I didn't remember it being in Connecticut" but were so pumped that we went with it anyway, pointing to any field and saying, it could have happened right there. I switched on the 60/70's channel on the satalite radio and we were jamming out laughing and my 3G wasn't working so we couldn't check if it was the real Woodstock but at that point we didn't care. For us right then and there it was the real Woodstock. We pulled to the side of the road and took a few pictures. It wasn't until after we got out of the country side we found out the truth.

I don't care where it really took place. In my heart it took place right here in this field. Can't you feel the love and music pulsating out of it. 

We finally made it to New York. The excitement was building up inside of me. We drove through the Bronx and I was so excited I started looking up the history of NYC random facts so I could feel more informed and a part of the city but mostly to pass time. Driving into Manhattan was like walking down Main Street in Disneyland. It was magical, I was moving from side to side of the car to see everything I could. I was in Love right from the start. New York is everything I ever dream it to be. Just thinking about it right now gets me all excited. I hadn't even stepped foot out of the car and I already knew I was born to be a New Yorker. 

My favorite building was probably the Chrysler Building. It is beautiful. After we checked into our hotel we were off. 

First stop food. We came fairly prepared with places we wanted to try and lucky for us there was one of the reccommeded places a few blocks from our hotel. Cosi. This food was enchanting. The best part of this was we sat looking out of the window and just watched as people walked by. I love people watching and people watching in a city is the best kind! One thing I loved about the whole east coast is how much style everyone had. Everyone's personality came out through their clothing. It was fantastic. I felt like I belonged there. 

After shoving food down as fast as I could and patiently (ok maybe not so patiently) waited for my parents to finish we hit the streets. We just started wandering. We didn't know where we wanted to go we just went. Well we only made it down about 25 steps before I had to step inside of Zara. LOVE. Lots of shopping took place on this trip. Give me a break it is NYC. I had to shop.  Here we are on the streets of New York. 

We walked around, visiting Grand Central, a few stores, and then walked down to the Empire State Building. I couldn't believe I was standing in front of it. We walked inside and took a couple pictures, and decided that we didn't need to go to the top. Since we were only in New York for a little over a day we had to come up with our top things we wanted to do so we could fit it all in! 

After we did some more shopping... ya more shopping, and more site seeing by foot we walked by:

and went in here: (ps although this may be the largest store it has nothing on Harrods)

There was a really cool fashion walk thing with really cool mannequins dressed in various different things. This was one of my favorite. 

And there is Times Square. WOW. Times Square. It is crazy. People everywhere, flashing lights, noise coming from everywhere, shops, theatres, everything is AWESOME. I was so overwhelmed and happy and  couldn't focus on just one thing. It was beyond anything I could have imagined.

We had to grab a NY pretzel!

Our last stop before going back to our hotel was Rockefeller Center. This building was HUGE. We all tried to imagine where the huge tree would go and how much fun ice skating would be. It is on my list of things to do before I die. 

I climbed into my bed so excited for tomorrow. A full day of New York. 

Beautiful Boston Day 2

I will now continue the tales of my journey to the other side of our nation. We packed as many things into day 2 as we possibly could. It was amazing. We started off our day by dropping dad off at work, we were very sad he had to work and couldn't play with us! We found a new park and ride place that saved us lots of time and were very proud, little did we know we would regret this later.... So we hopped on the T and were off. We had carefully mapped out our day so we wouldn't miss a thing. We started in little Italy. This was probably my favorite area of Boston. It was so fun. We wandered the streets and watched people open their shops, there were groups of old men gathered on the street talking away in Italian. It made me miss Italy a ton. We weren't hungry but we drooled at every turn. At that time I knew we would be coming back to eat there later.

 As we wandered the streets of little Italy we came across the Red Line/ Freedom Trail, which is a brick trail on the sidewalk that takes you to all of the historic places of Boston. We followed the trail popping into a few of the places. It was fun and informative!
I believe this is were Paul Revere came riding through. In the back is a cool church.

I thought this was a beautiful and artistic way to pay tribute to men and women who have lost their lives in the Middle East. 

Mom and I were joking about how funny it would be if our chapels were set up like this and each family had its own little section. 

Paul Revere's House. It was bigger than I imagined, and cooler. 

Book stores were kind of my thing while I was there. This one was on our list and I loved the sign. It reminded me of Harry Potter (hahah what doesn't these days) and it had stacks and stacks of old books inside. On a different note my mom loved the Max and Dylan signs everywhere because they reminded her of Mac and Dylan. Funny. 

As soon as I saw this I started singing "Stuck a feather in his had and called it Macaroni." 

 When lunch time rolled around we knew we had to go back to Little Italy. we found a fun pizza place and were sold. The pizza was Amazing. I loved every second of it.

Here is another bookstore we popped into and this one even had its own cat. We thought that was one of the best things ever. 

Next we went to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. It was unlike any museum you have ever seen. It is a personal collection of this lady, Isabella, inside of her Italian style villa. She had collected art from all around the world and arranged each and every piece inside of the museum herself.  It was so fun. Then we decided to walk through the park. I love parks in cities. They are my favorite type of parks. This one was constantly reminding me of Disneyland. I especially loved the swan boats. 

After our stroll through the park and some antique shopping we decided we were ready to have dinner (and sit down, our feet were killing us) We had heard of this seafood place and were dying to try it so we set out to find it. We hopped on the T, and were off. we got off at the supposed stop and then were looking at the map in the station trying to find this place. As we were doing this a cute little Asian girl came up and said she was looking for the same place. The man in the station gave us directions and all three of us were off.  The restaurant is on the water just in a fishing pier tucked away. We were so excited when we found it! Our new friend took our picture out in front. 

 My Mom invited her to eat with us. Here she is, she is from china and came to America to visit some friends then continued her travels alone. Her English was great, and she was a fun addition to our dinner.

 This was their famous chowder. Full of all types of fish.

 Our fish platter. YUM.

 At this point we were pretty tired and ready to head back, but there was one more place we had to go. Mike's.

We had gone by Mike's in the morning and were in awe of the beautiful Cannolis. At that time we weren't hungry so we decided to come back. After lunch we thought we would stop by Mike's and have a Cannoli after lunch. Once again we were too full. Well while we were sitting at dinner we asked some of the locals where we could go to get some good dessert. Guess where they told us we HAD to try. Mike's. So we headed back to Little Italy and made our way to Mike's. The store was packed. We made our way to the front and ordered our dessert to go. They packed it up in their cute little pastry box all tied up with string. We were so excited to eat them when we got home. 

Getting home was slightly more exciting then we thought. Remember that great place we found to park in the morning, turns out it's not so great at night. It was in a sketchier neighborhood and our car was parked way out there. Despite the throbbing pain in our feet from walking all day, my mom and I walked faster then we had ever walked before to make it to our car. Once we were in and the car was locked we laughed at how quickly we made it to our car because we were afraid someone was going to attack us. We made it home and finally were hungry enough to pop open our Mike's box and dug into the best thing we ate all day. They were amazing. It was a wonderful day and we both decided we were in love with Boston so much we wanted to move there. Hopefully someday it comes true.