New York! New York!

I had the crazy amazing opportunity to go to New York City this last weekend and man oh man was it a complete dream come true!!!!! I have a horrible habit where I build things up so big in my mind so when they actually happen it's such a disappointment and a total let down, but I can honestly say that every single moment of this trip completely exceeded all expectations that I had made.....if I didn't have pictures to prove that it was real then I would think it was all just a dream! I'm pretty sure I'll never go anywhere ever again because this experience was just too amazing and nothing could ever live up to it!!! (Sorry Kevin....hope you didn't want to travel anywhere!) 

Alot of people have asked me if I've been there before and why I went so let me give you a brief little history....

I went to New York for the first time when I was in seventh grade with my ballet studio and we performed at Carnagie Hall. It was so magical! Then I auditioned and was accepted to study at the School of American Ballet (SAB) when I was 15. I lived there for a summer and it was the most terrifying and wonderful experience I have ever had. I really grew so much during that summer and discovered who I was. My favorite part of that whole experience was truly gaining a testimony for myself of the Gospel. I was all alone in some huge scary city so my mom told me to turn to the scriptures to get me thru and instantly I was comforted and knew I was NOT alone. I opened my scriptures and the first verse I read was Alma 37;37.  Go look it up! You can imagine the peace it gave to a 15 year old girl who was crying in her bed all alone late one night :) Then the summer after I graduated high school I went to New York to perform in the Hill Cumorah pageant and that was a very different, but very incredible experience as well. So needless to say I LOVE NEW YORK!!!! 

When I danced in the Nutcracker as a party girl, my party brother was Robbie Fairchild. He also studied at SAB and went on to become a principal dancer with New York City Ballet. He is incredible! So when I heard that he was going to make his Broadway debut in An American in Paris I knew I had to go see that show. I grew up watching and loving that movie so there was no doubt I was going to go. He plays the Gene Kelly role and he was ABSOLUTELY PHENOMENAL. He has been nominated for a Tony for best actor in a musical and the show has a total of 12 Tony nominations. So the whole point of me going was originally to see him and this show, BUT I found out that Ramin Karimloo was playing the part of Jean Valjean in Les Mis so yea.....if you don't know who that is then please go on YouTube and look him up or never speak to me again.....JK!!! I love him as much as I love Michael Ball so ya.....that shows you how much I adore this guy. (If you don't know who Michael Ball is either then please go get help because I don't know how you are still alive...) Here's a pic of Ramin for obvious reasons ;) 

He made all the other performers look bad. Really bad. If you know what I mean ;)

My cute and awesome sister in law, Siena, is from Manhatten so we planned a trip together and we were able to stay with her dad which was wonderful and so much fun! She showed me a different side of the city and now I love it even more. It really was a perfect trip. Just wish my sister, Morgie, could have been there to share all of the magic with me. No one appreciates ballet and musicals the way I do more then her. One day :) I was so scared to go on this trip because I was afraid that New York wouldn't seem as magical as I have always remembered it to be......but thankfully it was even MORE magical then I ever could have imagined :) Here are some pics from my trip!!! Sorry there are so many! You've been warned!!!

New York City here we come!

Getting a little nervous to get on the plane! 😁 Ya so it turns out I am terrified of flying. I sat with my hands gripping my arm rests the entire flight. Not fun! 

My first night in New York..... I slept on a cute little roll away bed.

Siena's apartment she grew up in :)

The view from their home.

Making the subway look good and cheesy ;)

My first stop..... Lincoln Center! This is the home of the New York City Ballet and where I spent my summer.

I totally fit right in with them right? Right??? Why is no one answering?!? ;)

Home!

Inside.....there is Robbie Fairchilds pic :)

Couldnt be any happier right here at this moment :)

Juilliard! This is where I lived :)

All the glass is completely new......lots of changes!!!

Another big change.....where I went to church each week is now the temple! So cool to see it!

Upstairs is still a chapel and Siena showed me where she was Baptized!

Beautiful streets!

I loved the brown stones!!!

I decided I want to live here :)

I ate the most delicious cookie I've ever had! Those are globs of peanut butter you see there.... Mmmmm!

Central Park! This is for all you Beatles fans out there...

The bridge where they sing and dance across in Enchanted!!!

Beautiful view!

Cherry blossoms!!! ❤️❤️❤️

A giant bubble came right at me! Luckily it popped before it ran into me, or I could have been seriously injured.....

Big spot where they sing and dance to the song "That's how you know" from Enchanted!!!

"How does boo know he loves her?!?" :)

Here's where they dance with the old ladies and old men and the brides!

I found a stage so naturally I did something cool on it ;)

Took this pic for Kevin....if there is anything he loves more then me, it is definitely Apple :)

The plaza!

FAO Schwartz

This shows how itty bitty Siena is.....look how big that normal box of Mike and Ike's is compared to her tiny body! 

The piano from Big! Or one that looks like it ;)

Having fun exploring :)

Had to stop at Tiffany's ;)

Trump Tower

The most beautiful cathedral I've ever seen!

Rockefeller Center!

NBC studios......no one famous came out :(

The Tonight Show!

Super cool!

Radio City! 

I know this is a horrible pic of me, but the pizza was too good not to share! A slice of New York pizza!!!

Times Square!

You can see An American in Paris!!!!!!

Phantom and Les Mis.....so awesome :)

We found the theater for Les Mis! Gah!!!!! Ramin!!!!!!!!!!!!

Let me in!!!!

Carnagie Hall :)

Serendipity!!!

We got the famous frozen hot chocolate and it was delicious :)

An American in Paris....playing at the Palace Theater!

Times Square at night!

Ready to get my Broadway show on!!!

At the show!!!!

What a dream :)

We were soooooo excited!

Final bows!

I was sobbing hysterically at this point....... I am not exaggerating.... I was bawling!!!

Siena's dad googled where the stage door was hidden so we found it and waited to see if anyone would come out.....

This is Brandon Uranowitz...he played Adam the piano player and he was one of my favorite parts of the whole show. I predict that he wins the Tony for best supporting Actor! He was SO nice!!! He gave us his pen because we didn't have one. So sweet!

The amazing leading lady, Leanne Cope. She was the sweetest person I've ever met and one of the most beautiful dancers I have ever seen! She asked me if I was a ballet dancer and I told her I used to be and she told me that she could tell because I looked like a dancer. That's probably the nicest thing you could ever say to me....made my night!!!

The leading man Robbie Fairchild!!!! He was signing my program and I said, "sooooooo you were my party brother in the Nutcracker....." And he snapped his head up and said, "You! It's you!!! We've been facebooking! I'm so glad you came!" And he pulled me into a big hug and I said, "I'm so glad YOU came!.....Uh.......I uh......" Ya, so embarrassing!!!! I was a blubbering idiot the whole time we talked! Hehe!!!!

Here's the statue from Enchanted where she looks up at the statue and says, "she's beautiful!" Haha!

There is the location of the Fox Books superstore in You've Got Mail!

Cafe Lalo from You've got Mail!

I got sooooooo excited here! Just to think that I stood where Joe Fox stood when he realized his shop girl was Kathleen Kelly! Ah-mazing ;)

The view from inside....

We ate some lunch and had a red rose and a book on the table just in case Tom Hanks strolled in ;)

We made it on the jumbo tron in Times Square! Can you find me?!?

The Freedom Tower :)

The World Trade Center memorial....

It was huge! And sad.....

They always place a single white rose on a persons name if it's their birthday....

Beautiful city.

Had to summon my inner Gene Kelly and take a pic with a lamp post!

The Met. (We actually only went in to check out the gift shop....) hehe!

Waiting for the show to start!!!

Artsy pic ;)

Shot of the stage!

This was my view to the right....they sang right up there! A little awkward during the lovely ladies part..... 😁

You can see here how close we were to the stage!

Row B baby!!!

Siena and I at intermission.....can you tell how deliriously happy I am?!? Sooooo fun :)

Final bows!

Oh Ramin.....you are too wonderfully perfect!

Waiting at the stage door.... "Ramin? Are you there?!? Hello? Please come out!" --we waited for over an hour but sadly he didn't come out. I asked the guy who played Marius if he was coming and he said "oh no he never comes out this way. He's too big. He has to sneak out."-- Smart move on his part. I probably would have mauled him. :)

Last ride on the subway. Had to ride it for two hours to get to the airport.

Then I rode the Air Train to get to the airport. I saw this really cool cemetery on the way. It went on for miles!

I was getting really nervous to fly home by myself and then I looked out the window and saw a single white swan in this little river.....can you see him?.......tender mercy :) 

Goodbye New York! Until next time :)