Broadway and a sweet treat!

Last week my mom, sister, aunt, and cousin came to visit. Logan, my cousin, was accepted to NYU's LLM program and it was time for the big move to New York City. Mom and Lindsay came to help and to spend some time with me in NYC. We stayed very busy getting Logan settled and running around the city.  We ate so many great meals and did lots of fun things. We decided to brave the line at TKTS and ended up with 6 tickets to Grease. It was great! Taylor Hicks from American Idol made a cameo appearance which was fun to see! After the show, we walked through Times Square and then headed to Magnolia Bakery for their famous cupcakes and banana pudding. Here are some pictures.

Alias

Apparently moving to New York City warrants an involuntary name change. After almost 3 decades of being called Ashley, I have decided to call it quits. Moving from Texas to New York was a major decision. Nothing short of being deemed as life altering. In fact, I believe it is worthy of an alias. When choosing an alias, one would might pick a name they have always envied or something that will "stand out" and be easily remembered. Well, I decided to go for plain and simple: Amy. Amy Rodgers- compliments of our new bank. Here is a picture worthy of a few laughs. By the way, the checks have been reordered : )

A new friend

Ben and I bought a chair from Pottery Barn back in December and decided to keep it in its original packaging because it would be much easier to move. Well, the fact that we kept it in its original box and looked a little bit like white trash for 6 months (it sat in the corner of our bedroom) did us no good. The crazy movers decided to take it out of the box along the way and it made it to NYC all by its lonesome. The chair also turned out to be huge and there was no way it was going to fit in our living room. So, it has been sitting here for about a month as we debated over whether we should sell it on craig's list or just return it to the store. Today I decided I had enough of that chair and it was time to go. I was not about to try and mess with selling the thing. I was just going to head down to Pottery Barn and return it. Well, like I said this is not a small chair, but I was determined to carry it and take it on the subway with me. I managed to make it down to the train with lots of comments along the way. When I finally got on the train I was sweating and just praying I would make it to 59th and Lexington. This sweet lady happened to be sitting next to me and she turned and said, "You are brave. If I was your age, I would have done the same thing." The guy across from us thought it would be a good idea for me to ride the train all day and charge people to sit in it! Well, back to the sweet little lady. Her name is Henrietta and she has lived in New York for over 60 years. It just so happened that she was on her way to Pottery Barn too. She decided to be my little guardian as we walked off the train. She showed me where to go, opened doors for me, and kept me company along the way. Here is a picture that a sales associate took for me when I arrived. I had to document my newest friend!

Hello, Stranger

I know the age old saying that you should never talk to strangers can be very true, but in New York it is pretty much impossible to adhere to that rule. Apparently I am a magnet for some interesting "strangers" in New York City. I will share a couple stories from the past few weeks...

Story #1: Date at the Grocery store

Scene: cold food section-milk aisle looking at expiration dates 

Characters: Strange old man, Ashley

Strange old man:"Hey pretty lady. How do you keep yourself looking so fine?"

Ashley: speechless

Strange old man:"How about a date sometime?"

Ashley:"Well, I'm married."

Story#2: Do I know you?

Scene: Bailey and Ashley walking to meet Ben for lunch at the Shake Shack. Momentarily stopped at a street corner waiting for the walk signal.

Characters:Bailey, Ashley, man with guitar on his back

Man with guitar on his back: begins waving at Ashley on the street. "Hi, how are you? I've missed you."

Ashley: extremely confused. has he mistaken me for someone else or is he delusional? "Oh, I've been in Texas."

Man with guitar on his back: "Ok, I've been out playing today. My uncle taught me everything I know."

Ashley: still confused, trying not to laugh. "Wow. That is great. It must be nice to have a mentor in the family." 

Man with guitar on his back:"Yeah, he told me there are highs and lows with music."

Ashley: looking around for Ben hoping he is close by. "Yes, I hear the entertainment industry is tough." 

Man with guitar on his back: "Ok, well, I will see you tomorrow."

Ashley: "Bye"

Story#3: Poncho Man

Scene: Union Square Park. Bailey and Ashley are watching the "squirrel man" evoke every squirrel within a 50 ft. radius of the park with a bag of peanuts and some corn. Think Evan Almighty. A strange man wearing a colorful poncho (not a rain poncho, but the hooded poncho that was cool back when I was in the 8th grade) approaches us.

Characters: Bailey, Ashley, and Man wearing colorful poncho 

Poncho man: "How old is your dog?"

Ashley: "She is 5."

Poncho Man: "What is her name?"

Ashley: "Bailey"

Poncho Man: "Do you feed her table scraps?"

Ashley: giggle "Yes, she is pretty spoiled."

Poncho Man: "You need to feed her chicken and rice."

Ashley: "I'll think about that."

Poncho Man:"What is your favorite color?"

Ashley: "umm, green I guess"

Poncho Man: "Green is the color of the earth."

Ashley: "Very true."

Poncho Man: "I am a salsa instructor."

Ashley: "Really, that is great.

Poncho Man:"Do you salsa dance? I am looking for two girls for a performance."

Ashley: "Well, I like to eat salsa but I have never been salsa dancing. My husband is a great dancer. Are you looking for men too?"

Some of my favorite pictures taken this year that make me smile and remind me of home