A beach, a burn, and a ballet.

Saturday was my first beach day of the summer, and it was major. Temperatures were in the 90s, but the breezes near the water made it relatively lovely. As always seems to happen, we went out with just a couple friends and managed to run into about a dozen more (so popular, I know). Impromptu beach party!

On the train home I started noticing some faint pinkish splotches on my knees and the tops of my feet, which any seasoned pale-face knows is a harbinger of future pain.  By evening time it was clear that I'd maybe, just maybe, missed a couple spots.  But I've definitely had worse, and it was worth it for time spent with friends soaking up some vitamin D (as well as like 50 Golden Oreos).

 Then it was off to the Metropolitan Opera House for the American Ballet Theatre's production of Swan Lake.  Going to the Met has been on my NYC bucket list for a while so I jumped at the chance to go, especially since it was freaking Swan Lake.

[source] 

I'm not a dancer, but it has always been a secret wish of mine to be a talented ballerina, if only for a day.  (I once had a dream that I made it to the Top 4 of So You Think You Can Dance, and I remember being super confused as to how I'd made it that far.)  I'm always amazed when dancers can do such difficult and athletic things with their bodies while somehow looking flawlessly graceful and light as a feather.  The ABT dancers were wonderful, and I was constantly in awe of their beautiful shapes and lines, as well as the obvious power with which they danced.  I also really love Tchaikovsky, so it was just a fantastic way to spend a couple hours and the perfect end to a pretty lovely day.

All the world's a stage.

One of my favorite things about summer in New York is the wealth of awesome (free!) outdoor activities around the city, including Shakespeare in the Park.  This year they're doing a month of As You Like It followed by Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods (which will star Amy Adams).

 

Since tickets are free, you can wait in one of a couple different standby lines, or try the "virtual line" on their website.  In three summers of attempting the virtual line dozens of times, I had never once gotten tickets that way and ended up having to do standby.  UNTIL!  On my first attempt this summer, I got an email telling me I had two tickets waiting for me that very night.  Victory!  

 

I was joined by the lovely Karrie, and it couldn't have been a more beautiful night: 

See?

I'd never seen or read As You Like It before, so I did a quick skim of the plot on Wikipedia to be able to follow along a little easier.  The sets were awesome, sort of a mid-19th century frontier setting with log cabins and banjo music.  Apparently it's known as Shakespeare's musical comedy because there are several songs included in the play.  For this production the music was folk/bluegrass played onstage with banjos, guitars, and fiddles, and was composed by none other than Steve Martin.  It was fantastic.  Karrie and I couldn't get over how much we loved the music--definitely one of the highlights of a very funny and enjoyable show.

Next week there will be a gala celebrating 50 years of Shakespeare in the Park that includes a one-night-only staging of Romeo and Juliet starring... Kevin Kline and Meryl Streep.  Anyone wanna spot me $1500 so I can go?

Spring fever.

March has been good to me thus far, and it just seems to be getting better. I don't get what Caesar was whining about, you know?

Like many places, we had a sudden burst of Spring weather a week or two ago. In New York City, this means that a population accustomed to surliness and the wearing of black is now dressing in bright colors and wandering the streets on balmy evenings acting like everyone just got out of jail.

I ran my fourth half marathon yesterday, and managed to barely hit a new PR (although I was a mere 4 SECONDS away from my goal--I laughed out loud when I saw my time). With how spastic my training, eating, and sleeping habits have been lately, I'll take it. I felt good and I got to see my friend Zach who was running his first (and totally killed it), so it was fun. Also, one nice thing about this city is that you can wear a space blanket cape on the subway and even if people didn't know there was a race, you definitely aren't the weirdest thing they've seen that day, so it's fine.

This is happening. Also happening this week? Company coming to visit, seeing The Black Keys at Madison Square Garden, Hunger Games coming out, and the long-awaited return of Mad Men. And I still have my space blanket cape, so I'm pretty much set for awesomeness.

Live from New York.

A few weeks ago, Karrie and I got to go see Saturday Night Live. Tickets to the show are hard to come by--you either get picked from a lottery (nearly impossible) or sleep out overnight for standby tickets, which don't even guarantee entry to the tapings. Being the hardcore fan she is, Karrie had tried the latter method a couple of times without success. Thankfully, one of my lovely clients was nice enough to get us in to the dress rehearsal, which they run through start-to-finish a few hours before the live show.


After messaging each other pictures of outfit possibilities back and forth, we met up outside 30 Rock and were led upstairs to wait in the hall with a bunch of other ticket holders. Soon, one of the NBC pages came through, pointed at us and a few others, and told us to follow him. We rounded a corner and the page leaned in conspiratorially: "I didn't want to tell you in front of everyone else, but you guys will be sitting on the floor." Obviously our outfit vetting had paid off and we impressed the producers with our stylishness. We were excited and I figured Karrie would probably have a heart attack. Then we passed through a back hallway and Seth Meyers walked right by me and I thought I would probably have a heart attack.


We ended up sitting on the center aisle, about 5 feet from the stage, so that most of the cast passed next to us going to and from the stage. I'm not even a regular viewer of the show, but it was really fun seeing how it all works behind the camera (the studio is relatively tiny and they just build up and break down sets in random corners in a matter of minutes). Zooey Deschanel was hosting, and there were guest appearances from Jean Dujardin and Nicolas Cage which were awesome. Also, Fred Armisen smiled at me which I'm pretty sure means we're BFFs.

After the show we stopped in at a Valentine's party some friends were throwing. We hadn't been there long when some neighbors from an apartment below came to ask us to keep it down. It was 11:30pm on a Saturday night in a New York City apartment. Sorry guys, I can be as curmudgeonly as the next person about noisy neighbors, but even I wouldn't be mad about that. Still, the music was turned off and some people started slowly trickling out. Then, around midnight, a few police officers showed up to tell everyone to leave. I hope the cops had a good laugh after the big group of Mormon kids were gone, leaving behind plates of sugar cookies and empty soda bottles, and they realized they'd just broken up the equivalent of an elementary school birthday party.

No matter! We took the after-party back to Karrie's where we baked (more) cookies, watched the live SNL show, and stayed up way too late. Not a bad way to end a night.

Manhattanniversary.

Yesterday was my four-year mark in New York City. Aside from my hometown, this is the longest I've lived anywhere. (Technically, I lived in Utah for 5 years during college, but between summers home, an internship, and study abroad, it was actually under 4 years cumulatively.) It's strange to think that so much time has passed when it many ways these years have seemed to go by faster than any other period in my life.

I have waxed poetic about New York many times in the past and likely will again in the future, so I'll spare you that now. But I will say that I have grown to love this city that has become my second home. I remember during my first weeks here, leaving my apartment in the mornings and just feeling like everything was right. I didn't really have any friends and I was making $12 an hour at my job, but I knew I was in the right place.

Something about this year (unrelated to Mayan shenanigans) feels like a year of change. I don't don't really have any idea what that change is, but I'm excited for more adventures to come.

Whipped.

So in love with New York today.

Top of the heap.

This weekend I ran the New York City marathon.

Part of me still can't believe that I did it--I mean, I couldn't really believe I was doing it while I was doing it. And it was especially amazing because as of about a month ago, I wasn't at all sure it was going to happen.

After my trip to Peru I had developed some patellar tendinitis in my left knee (more on this when I finally post about Peru, but basically the Inca Trail includes miles and miles of stone steps both up and down that were pretty hard on our knees). I discovered this after an attempt to run resulted in wrenching pain in my knee. Not really ideal when I was supposed to be hitting my highest training mileage. After a couple weeks of physical therapy I still couldn't get farther than a quarter mile or so without the pain coming back. I did some workouts on the elliptical trainer but I knew it wasn't enough, and I was starting to worry. After another week of no improvement, I almost had a heart attack when the doctor wondered aloud if I could have a torn ACL, but thankfully she was able to rule that out. She referred me to an orthopedist who prescribed me an anti-inflammatory. That weekend I went for a short jog/elliptical workout and the running was still fairly painful. I called Sarah, who was coming to New York to cheer me on, and tearfully told her I didn't know if I was going to be able to do it. I was heartbroken that after working for a year to get into the marathon and then going through months of training, I might have to defer it for another year.

On Monday the following week I went to the gym and tried a slow jog on the treadmill. My knee still felt a little sore but it was so much better than the pain I'd been experiencing for weeks. I nearly cried with joy at my ability to jog a 12-minute mile. Over the next couple of weeks I was able to work up to a few high-mileage runs, with 20 miles being my longest before I started tapering. Side note: any time you think that 12 miles seems like a short run, you know something is wrong with you. I felt ready, all things considered.


Sarah had an awesome jersey made for me. I knew from watching past marathons that it was essential to put my name on my shirt to maximize crowd support, so it was perfect.


On the ferry to Staten Island.


Start village.
The New York City marathon is the largest in the world, with over 47,000 runners this year. They split the runners into three waves, and each wave has three start groups. I was in the Green start of Wave 2, which started on the lower deck of the Verrazano bridge connecting Staten Island to Brooklyn. We got into our corrals and moved toward the base of the bridge to await out turn. Then the start gun went off and huge speakers blared Frank Sinatra singing "New York, New York," and the crowd of runners began singing along as they surged forward. It was a moment I will never forget.

For the first 10-15 miles I had a huge grin plastered on my face. The crowds in Brooklyn were great, and it didn't hurt that I had several hundred people wish me a happy birthday. Even knowing that none of these people had any idea who I was, the psychological boost of hearing people cheer your name is amazing. I was smiling, high-fiving children, shouting back at people, and generally having the time of my life. I didn't even listen to music for most of the time, just coasting by on the crowd's enthusiasm.

I knew that the Queensboro bridge at mile 16 or so (connecting Queens to Manhattan) was one of the toughest parts of the race. It's a pretty serious incline, and no spectators are allowed on the bridge so you don't have that support. I took a minute to stop and stretch my legs, which were starting to feel a little tight, put "Party Rock Anthem" on my iPod and kept going with the Manhattan skyline in front of me.

Exiting the bridge onto First Avenue was nuts. The crowds were several people deep and everyone was just going bananas. I was also excited because I knew I'd be seeing Sarah and lots of my friends in just a couple miles, so I had that to keep me going. My lovely friends were there with signs, costumes, and huge cheers. Around mile 19 I spotted Sarah and she started shrieking and jumped out of the crowd to run along next to me, clutching band-aids, chapstick, sport beans, and an array of other supplies. She ran with me for a few miles--through the Bronx and back down onto Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. Many people asked me when I "hit the wall." I honestly don't think that I did, and it's because I had Sarah there next to me as my own personal pit crew at probably the toughest part of the race. It made all the difference, and I'm so glad she was there. I stopped to stretch again and then we kept going--thankfully she has a gift for chatting while running so I could just listen and have her distract me. Around mile 21 she did as, "So, do you think you'll do this again?" NOT THE TIME, Sarah.


Taken by Sarah as we ran.
As we came down Fifth Avenue I said goodbye to Sarah around mile 23. At that point I was incredibly tired, and the long hill on Fifth Avenue was pretty brutal. I saw more friends (and some of the same ones who had also been on First), and I wanted to be able to run over and give them hugs and high fives, but at that point I just had to keep moving straight ahead. But having them there helped me keep putting one foot in front of the other. Also helpful was the random dude who shouted, "Laura, you are looking DEAD SEXY!" The course veered into the park for the final couple of miles, and I think it was at that point that I finally realized, "Hey, I'm running a marathon right now and I might actually finish it!" Those last miles felt incredibly long, but soon the finish line came into view. I don't think I had the energy left to cry, but I let out something between a laugh and a sob after I crossed that line. It was a surreal and pretty incredible moment.


To be honest, the worst part of the marathon was probably just after finishing. I got my heat sheet and my medal and a bag of food and drinks, and then began the long, slow walk to pick up my bag. They make you walk almost a mile to keep the flow of traffic moving and to prevent people from just sitting down and passing out. I was cold and exhausted and emotional, and all I wanted was to get out of the park, see Sarah and stretch (although I have to say, I am amazed at how well organized this race is--I can't even imagine the magnitude of planning that must go into it). I finally got my bag and made it to the steps of the Natural History Museum and put on my sweats, and immediately felt a lot better.


Please excuse my giant head and tiny tyrannosaurus arms.
I had originally planned to go home and shower and then get some dinner afterward, but I realized I was ravenous and that if I went home I probably wouldn't want to leave again. I had already selected Shake Shack as my post-marathon meal, so we headed there and gorged ourselves on burgers, cheese fries and ice cream. There were lots of other runners there and the employees were giving out free hot chocolate. After dinne, we came home and crashed on my couch and watched X-Men: First Class, because I had definitely earned some quality time with James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender.

Anyway, I really don't think I could have asked for a better day. The weather was perfect, I had fantastic cheerleaders, I didn't have any pain beyond what was to be expected, my knee felt fine, I didn't feel like puking, and all of my toenails are still intact. Now I just have to figure out how I'm going to top it for next year's birthday.

Here come the waterworks.

It's starting, you guys. Every year, Asics does a great ad campaign in the weeks leading up to the New York Marathon, and banners and posters have been popping up all over the city. Every time I see one, I get a little choked up. Totally normal to get emotional over an ad on the side of a bus, right?



Am I going to weep through this entire marathon? It's a distinct possibility.

Two weeks to go.

Starstruck.

Sometimes my life is so fancy that I can hardly stand it.

Last week they started arranging a portion of our office to use as a movie set.


I suppose that is just one of the perks of working at a glamorous music company in New York City, right? We knew that The Pfeiff would be shooting here but weren't sure who else from the cast would be in the scene. You can imagine the hearts set aflutter around the office when this teen heartthrob showed up:


I walked into the office kitchen to prepare my oatmeal this morning and there he was, piercing blue eyes and all.

P.S. Apparently my dad was about as nonplussed by this news as he is by "Justin Beaver" (sic). I'm sure he'll come around once we officially announce our engagement.

Birthmonth.

I've often thought that having a single day to commemorate my entry into the world was sadly inadequate. Luckily, I seem to be finding opportunities to more fully celebrate this wondrous event throughout the month of November.

Last year, watching the ING New York Marathon became one of my all-time favorite activities, and this year it just happened to fall ON my birthday. My friend Zach, who was my spectating companion last year, held a pre-marathon brunch at his apartment. We ate and made signs and tracked the pro runners on my iPhone (the winner averaged a 4:53 mile, no big deal) and then headed over to 5th Avenue to watch.

We loved watching the masses and yelling out random people's names (many runners put their names on their clothing). Our signs were a hit--mine especially, for obvious reasons--with many runners giving us thumbs up our shouting things back at us. One guy came over and gave me a hug before running on. I also got to see my friend Reagan running (who had given me my birthday haircut a couple days earlier!) as well as Suzette, one of my friends from work. It was so much fun, and made me even more excited to run it next year.

I rounded out the day with a trip to my beloved Shake Shack with a couple of the ladies, after which we laid around watching random movies on TBS and feeling cozy. I also had calls from various family members and got to listen to several children shout the Happy Birthday song at me over the phone, which is always a win.

Last weekend was our now-traditional roommate joint birthday party, which this year added another friend with a November birthday. With our combined ages, it's a wonder we didn't burn the apartment down, but we managed to have a good time without having to invite the fire department.

To counteract all this aging, my two best friends in the world and I will be embarking upon the Greatest Vacation Of All Time (TM) this Thursday in Orlando. After that, Becca comes back with me to New York for a week of Broadway, delicious food, holiday lights, and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. My excitement levels are about on par with a 5-year-old on Christmas Eve, so it's good to know that even after 26 years I haven't become too much of an adult yet.

Sometimes.

Sometimes I get really fed up with living here. Sometimes I wish I could get from Point A to Point B without having to rely on public transportation. Sometimes having my own big, new apartment with walk-in closets for less than I'm paying now doesn't sound so bad. Sometimes I just want simple tasks like doing my laundry or going to Ikea to not be a production that I have to plan my whole day around.

Last night was not one of those times. Lying in the grass in Central Park, listening to the New York Philharmonic play "Rhapsody In Blue" and selections from West Side Story, watching fireflies float lazily through the warm air, I felt perfectly content. When I hugged my friend goodbye later, I said, "This was magical." And for once, I wasn't being facetious.

People often ask me what I like best about living in New York, and I always have a hard time answering. Because it's those random, perfect moments that happen every now and then that make people so in love with this city. Running along the river at sunset, looking at the Rockefeller Christmas lights, people-watching in Columbus Circle--I freeze-frame those moments and put them in a mental album entitled This Is Why You Live Here (And Pay A Lot Of Money To Do So). And luckily, it's enough to get me through those other times that aren't quite so magical.

Of mermaids, pasties, and corn dogs.

A couple weekends ago was the Coney Island Mermaid Parade. The parade happens every year to celebrate the start of summer. And since anyone can march in the parade and New Yorkers love any excuse to let their freak flag fly, it's extremely entertaining. My favorite was seeing a woman with pasties on (a common sight at the parade) holding the hand of her young daughter. It's a family event!



A group of us made the long trip out, with a pit stop on the Lower East Side for donuts on the way (of course). It was fun to be on the train and see people get on at various stops with their costumes on. I'm already planning my outfit for next year.





There were more than a few oil spill-themed floats and costumes.



We finished off the afternoon with corn dogs and soft serve, because it would be criminal to leave Coney Island without enjoying all it has to offer. Plus, I was just happy I didn't have to run there, so I was milking it.

Runner's high.

As I stood shivering in my tank top in the half-light of Sunday morning, I couldn't help but wonder, "Why in the world am I doing this again?" Like, maybe when I had signed up a few months earlier to run 13 miles, I hadn't been seriously considering how comfortable my bed is. I wondered how many of the other 11,000 people there were thinking the same thing. But after training for weeks and quickly destroying the cold virus that had threatened me earlier in the week (including some Googling to contradict my friend's claim that high volumes of Vitamin C can lead to kidney stones), I wasn't about to turn back.

Thankfully, it was a beautiful day for a run, with clear skies and a cool breeze. My favorite part of the race was around mile 8, when--after coming out of Central Park and before turning down the West Side Highway toward the site of the World Trade Center--the course took us through midtown. There's something about being in a sea of runners going through Times Square while total strangers cheer you on that is pretty hard to beat. It was the perfect adrenaline boost for the last half of the race.

Photo from New York Road Runners

(Incidentally, my second favorite part was the group of people around mile 11 holding a sign that read "High Five Station" and slapping our hands as we ran past.)

My goal for my first one was basically to not die, which I managed pretty well and finished in 2 hours 20 minutes. This time, I was shooting for 2 hours. My official finish time was 2:00:23. I'll take it. And besides, I'll have a chance to break the 2-hour mark in 9 weeks, when I run the Brooklyn half marathon. I'm taking a week off while I hobble around on ridiculously sore legs like an 80-year-old, and then it's back to training. I think maybe I'm a glutton for punishment.

City lights.

Things I enjoy today:

1. The Hanson Christmas album
2. Starbucks salted caramel hot chocolate
3. The image stabilization on my new camera
4. Christmastime in NYC

Autumn in New York.

On my run in Central Park on Saturday, I noticed that the leaves are finally starting to change color. It made for a nice palette to enjoy and to distract me as I ran. By the time I got to the reservoir (one of my favorite places in the park), the sun was starting to set. The light was shimmering brilliantly on the water with the red, orange, and golden trees lining the edge and the Manhattan skyline rising up behind.

You know, New York, there are times every once in a while when I think that maybe I'm falling out of love with you. Mostly it's at 1 in the morning when I am willing the train to come so I can get home, or when I realize that half of my income disappears into my rent check, or when I am just so tired of there being so many people everywhere all the time. But then you inevitably pull something like this that reminds me of how amazing you are, and I know that I didn't really mean it at all.

Ryan started the fiiiiiiiire!

Tonight I was in attendance at the last ever concert at Shea Stadium, starring one William Joel (have I mentioned that I love my job?). Musical guest appearances included Garth Brooks singing "Shameless", Steven Tyler rocking "Walk This Way", and Roger Daltrey doing "My Generation" (during which Mr. Joel smashed his guitar). Tony Bennett and Billy Joel did a duet of "New York State of Mind" and I figured it was probably one of the coolest moments I would ever witness at a concert.

And then Sir Paul McFreakingCartney came on stage to the deafening cheers of 50,000 fans, and the two of them sang "Let It Be" as the final encore and totally blew my mind.