New York New York!

Neew Yoooork, concrete buildings that dreams are made of, there is nothing you can't do!!
Alicia Keys is right! There is such an amazing energy in New York that you just can't find anywhere else in the world, and we have been many places!
We started our trip with a 4 day Anthony Robbins seminar in New Jersey. This time the experience was special to me because Will joined the event for the first time, while I volunteered as usual! Since this experience had made such a difference in my life it was important to share this with my husband. I was a bit nervous because I was not a hundred percent sure he was going to be as enthusiastic about it as I was. Luckily for me, he loved it and he felt he learned so much! I highly recommend A.R. empowering events to anybody.
After the seminar we went to New York City! We got a small hotel right in the middle of Manhattan. Perfect location because we were walking distance to almost everything!
Since we only had 4 days there, we had to see ALL the tourist staple sites. We walked with our mouths open on Time Square (which was EXACTLY as I always pictured it) gazing at all the bright lighted neon’s and billboards, we took the ferry to the statue of liberty, shopped on 5th avenue, bought a ring at Tiffany's.......oh no, sorry, I am confusing my dreams with reality, checked out the financial district with Wall street and ground zero, strolled around Central Park for a couple of hours (how huge and beautiful right smack in the middle of the busy city), and (even though I hardly eat meat anymore) had to eat a hot dog at one of the famous hot dog carts on the street corner.
We really wanted to see a Broadway play so we bought tickets to see "Rock of Ages" with Dee Snider. It was super good, especially if you like eighties rock. We loved it! As we left the show, we realized my gloves were still left inside the theatre (do not ask who's fault this was, because this is an open and ongoing investigation with the accused still not ready to enter a plea), we returned to the theatre just to find it closed, BUT, through the back door the actors were leaving! So we got an autograph and a picture with Dee Snider! Sooo worth losing the leather gloves for that were only 1 week old and later replaced with cloth ones by the accused :-) Oops, let it go Les, let it go.
We took the metro to go see the statue of Liberty on the second day, which was about a half hour subway ride. They told us it was the very last stop so we didn’t have to worry about getting off at the wrong stop. Sounds easy right? Well, Will and I do not do "easy" very well. We both fall asleep and wake up about 25 minutes into the ride. We start collecting our things for the soon arrival when we both come to the realization that...we took the subway into the wrong direction! We hear the intercom message: "now arriving at our last stop The Bronx!
Aaaalrighty then, here we are. We decided the Bronx was not the best place for us to go walking around by ourselves, so we stayed on the train and headed back into the opposite direction. Since it was too late to go all the way back to Liberty Island(we did go to see The Lady the next day which was a breath taking experience!) we decided to get off at a random stop close to Greenwich. Well, as life always seems to work out for us, we had the BEST time there that day. We walked around Greenwich which is a great small part of the city filled with local coffee shops, small boutiques, and small restaurants in the midst of lots of trees. Not a very touristy part of New York, but very popular with the locals. We just sat on benches to check out the locals and how they live (which we both really enjoy) even got a little choked up when I saw tons of little kids in uniforms get out of school to go home. I do not know why I got a bit emotional, but it was just like in the movies except these kids were real and this was their life in NY. I think it has something to do with me always having been fascinated with America as a young child and all the books with pictures and documentaries I watched were always about NY. I always wondered back then how the kids there were living compared to me. Now I was HERE and I saw these kids in real life. It is hard to explain the emotion.
Our hotel did not provide shampoo nor a hair dryer, so I came up with this great idea to get my hair washed and dried (called a "blow out" we were told) in Soho since this would most likely cost less than buying a blow dryer and shampoo, right? Not in Soho! After going in 4 hair salons we settled on the cheapest one and had my hair washed for 50 bucks!!! So much for my "money saving" theory :-)
I had never been to NY except for a one day flight only when I worked with United Airlines
What surprised me the most is to see how much the food industry changed! I remember all these fast food places and pizza joints and hot dog carts. This time, I was really pleasantly surprised to find a plethora of healthy food choices. To be honest, it felt as if there were more heath conscious places then junk food, which surprised me from last time I visited. Organic everything! We had Organic Soy Latte's, fresh fruit smoothies, organic soups, even ate at a hummus restaurant (one of many). I do not know if it is because we are eating healthier nowadays that we noticed the change (kind of like when you want to buy a new car and all of a sudden you see that particular car all over), but I do believe the country is starting to realize that we CAN make a difference in the quality of our lives. One of the places I personally really wanted to see was (I know I should say the Guggenheim museum) was the Plaza hotel! Remember the movie Bride Wars with Kate Hudson and An Hathaway? It is beautiful, and if you are ever in the area you should attend the tea service. You will feel like a millionaire for not much money :-) My dad told me about it but unfortunately we could not stay for the tea because we had to be at the airport, but we did go inside and were in luck to catch a wedding! One day when we win the Lottery we will renew our vows there and, of course, you are all invited.
We also combined our sight seeing trip with a small family reunion. We met up with Will's cousin Jaime (James, Jimmy,.. depending who you ask :-) Will had not seen him for about 20 years! In my family I don't even know my second cousins (barely have contact with some of my first cousins :-) but you know them Mexicanos and their familia! After about two tequila shots you would have thought they were brothers. It was cool to have a local take us to some wonderful restaurants in the city and show us some of the hot spots in the New York night life scene. We ate some remarkable food and had such a blast partying with him. I will spare everybody the details, but let’s just say neither Will nor Jaime remembered the cab ride home (la cucaracha..la cucaracha....tequila!!!) We had a great time, thanks Jimmy!
New York! It really is a special place with a unique feeling of endless possibilities! No wonder so many people write songs about this Big Apple! What a fantastic trip, definitely worthy of many more trips to come

Little child of mine say whaaat?

Lainey asked her dad if she could have a cookie before bedtime. Will had said no and she came to me asking for the same thing. I explained her dad had already said no and he would be really mad if I reversed his ruling. She replied with tears in her eyes:" you can do whatever you want because HE is not the boss of you, you are the same"

Chloe asked me when we were going to have a new baby brother or sister. I told her to pray to God and hopefully he will bless us with a baby. Chloe answered: " Okay mama, I can pray a lot, but without you and papa doing the "gross part", there is not going to be a baby!"

Until the next time,

Lesley