Homesick Part II

I really want to see my family. Unfortunately, I don't have much vacation time saved up yet, and my parents' plans of visiting me are up in the air right now. Boo.

I had a dream last night that my parents, my cousins, and their 2 little girls, Natalie and Nicole, came to visit me. It felt so real. In my dream, my house looked just like it does in real life. I showed them to the guest bedroom and around the house. The only faces that I could see clearly were Natalie's and Nicole's. Their bright, smiling faces, running around my house as they explored. Then I woke up... only to find myself alone in the guest bedroom. I've been sleeping in there so that I don't get Brett sick.

It makes me sad that I don't get to see Natalie and Nicole grow up. I went from seeing them every day, to just once a year. They will always be ages 2 and 3 in my heart, because that's how old they were when I left. Kinda pathetic, huh?

Homesick

I haven't been feeling well for the past day or so. Boo. =( I wish my mommy was here to take care of me. I used to try to hide it from my mom when I was sick because I didn't want her to worry. It worked too. If she was here right now, I wouldn't pretend. I would tell her I'm sick and have her make me some Chinese rice porridge. My mom didn't do too much for me when I was sick besides make me what I want to eat, but that's all I needed. I liked it when she would quietly come into my room and check on me. I would pretend that I was asleep so she wouldn't ask me if I needed a million things. LOL! I think I'm just feeling homesick in general. I wish my parents would figure out their plans and visit me! I miss them.

New York New York

I got back from New York about a week ago. It was AMAZING!!! I want to go back. In fact, I wish I was there right now. My friends and I rented an apartment that was only a few blocks away from Times Square. It was only about a block away from the Hell's Kitchen area, but we didn't realize that until our last night there. How sad. We went to an Italian restaurant called Pietrasanta, and it was fantastic! Now that I've done all the touristy things, I want to go back and eat at all the yummy looking restaurants. I also want to go to a coffee shop called Joe's. My friend went to get some coffee when the rest of us went to get something at a store. I usually don't like black coffee, but I had a sip and it was soooo good!

We went to an outdoor rooftop club/lounge called 230 Fifth and I loved it! We got there around 11:30 p.m. or so and of course there was a line. We were in line for about 10-15 minutes when one of the bouncers tapped Brett on the shoulder and asked how many of us there were and told us to follow him. We totally cut in front of like 20+ people. Hahaha! I felt so special! Brett said that some lady totally gave him a dirty look as we walked passed. It's nice to have a good looking group of friends!

We explored some non-touristy parts. Thanks to one of Brett's friends that lives in NY, of course. He told us about some bars that had good happy hour specials. It was a great place for us to relax and chat. And one of the bartenders was super funny. My friend asked for a maitai and she said "I'm not making that for you. It's gay!" We also went to a bar called Niagra. It had Yoshitomo Nara's artwork there. That was so cool.

My only complaint is the Statue of Liberty. We spent about 3 hours there, but only did about 30 minutes of sight seeing. The rest was spent standing in line! We went through airport-like security, but slower, and TWICE! The only thing that was different was that we didn't have to take off our shoes. It was such a waste of time. We could've been doing other things! I think it isn't worth it unless you get to go up to the crown, which we didn't. Those tickets get sold out waaaay in advance. If you don't have those tickets, just take the Staten Island Ferry. It goes right past the Statue of Liberty. The sucky-ist part was that Brett had to give up his Swiss Army knife. He didn't realize that he had it in his pocket until we were about to walk through the metal detectors. Even if he had realized that ahead of time, there wasn't anywhere to put it except for hiding it in the park or something. They wouldn't give it back at the end even though they knew it was an innocent mistake. I understand that at the airport it's different. People know what not to take with them, but this was the Statue of Liberty! Tourists don't know what to expect and what they shouldn't bring with them! I gave Brett that knife for his birthday about 3 years ago. I think it was like the second birthday we were celebrating since we were together. We had a conversation about 6 months before his birthday and he told me that he wanted a Swiss Army knife. He forgot that he had told me that too, so he was very happy when I got it for him. It wasn't a small knife with just like 3 tools. It was a big one that had practically everything! Now one of the security people that works at the Statue of Liberty probably has it. They probably get to go through all the stuff and take what they want. What else would they do with it? I was so sad and upset that I had to turn away from my friends because I wanted to cry. Plus, we wasted so much time there that me and my girl friends didn't get to go shopping! It was our last day there so we really ran out of time.

It was still a good trip. I went to Vegas last summer and thought I wanted to go back. I would rather go to NY. The only souvenir I bought was an I Heart NY shirt. It makes me smile when I put it on.