Guess what I got in the mail.....

For the past 3 or 4 years I've been obsessed with going to Italy.
My first challenge was overcoming my fear of flying which I did 2 years ago.
My second challenge has been to get my passport. It took me a year to actually go to the post office and get the application, then another year to get my birth certificate which I finally did in February.
Well for some reason while in new york Beth & I became obsessed with going to Canada.
So the day after we got back from New York I did it!!!
We went to Walgreen's and took a passport photo then we went to the airport post office filled out the form and paid some ridiculous fees.

and waited.......it takes up from 6 to 8 weeks for your application to be processed and for your passport to sent to you. That's snail mail, you can have them expedite your application process for a little extra $$$$. I didn't think that was necessary, considering I hadn't booked a flight.

WELL to my surprise a week and a half later I came home from work to find THIS precious little thing in my mailbox:

I'm sooo excited!!! There are sooooooo many places that I want to go, just can't decide!!!!

New York City

I recently took a trip east and took a bite out of the Big Apple. And what a bite it was!!! I must be some what of a Californian Belle (i e Southern Belle), because the first thing I noticed is that people there are RUDE they will push you out the way, and if you're walking too slow careful e you will get stepped on, oh and the men (and I DO use that term loosely), will not I repeat WILL NOT open or hold the door open for you. In fact the men there will actually push you aside so that they can enter a building first or they will politely wait for you to open the door for them.
AND NO I'M NOT KIDDING!!! I'm even going to tell you what happens when you cross the street, or if you fall (no I didn't fall).......
Having said that I'd like to give my Californians & the men especially a huge pat on the back for being SUCH wonderful people.

I just had to get that off my chest, lucky for me I'm a quick learner, and my survival instincts kicked in, after one day of that non sense the folks there thought I was a native (smile).

Anyhoo I had a BLAST!!! One week wasn't nearly enough time to see and do everything so another trip MUST be planned. Our hotel was right around the corner from Times Square, and down the street from broadway where we saw lion king which was phenomenal!!!
Here's a list of some of the places we went and things we saw:

• wall street
• the naked cowboy
• terrence howard (who is starring in Cat on a hot tin roof on broadway)
• the hershey store (chocolate galore!)
• bryant park
• 5th avenue
• grand central station
• penn station
• Junior's Famous Cheesecake (not impressed)
• lion king
• stomp ($ave your $$$-it's just a bunch of noise & dust)
• madison square garden
• empire state building
• central park
• WTC
• rockefeller center
• trump towers
• United Nations Plaza
• St. Patrick's cathedral
• NBC store
• CBS store
• NBA store (this store actually has a basketball court inside of it!!!)
• Woodbury Commons Outlet shopping center 220 stores (we only conquered about 180 of them)

and a partridge in a pear tree!!!!

We did alot of walking, but the best way to get around the city if you visit is via subway (traffic is ridiculous) we got a 7 day metrocard for $25. The subway system runs often and takes you practically everywhere.

We had a great time in the city, at one time I wanted to move there but I think I'll just stick to visiting. I can't wait to go back!!

New York City

Here are some pictures from around the BIG APPLE:

we saw Lion King, stayed around the corner from Times Square, shopped at Woodbury Commons, caught a glimpse of actor Terrence Howard

5th Avenue, Grand Central Station, Central Park, Radio City Music Hall, The Late Show

Rockefeller Center, St. Patricks Cathedral, Trump Tower, Madison Square Garden, GOING HOME!!

World Trade Center

The Empire State Building