Brett Visit: Day 8

After all of the long nights, we do not wake up for Black Friday. I could only imagine what the stores were like. On our tour bus we saw people sitting outside of Best Buy at nine o’clock. The store didn’t open until five! So we head out at around 9:00 am. We did a little shopping and then headed to Macy’s. I finally found a grey coat that I have been looking for the whole trip. And Ashley finally bought some boots. I could hardly believe my eyes. She was in the checkout line and not because of me! We bought everything we wanted and took the wooden escalators to the main floor to head out. This guy steps in front of us and says, “Would you like to complete a survey about your shopping here today?” I'm like no way this is not happening; I just want to get some cool air. I was dying of heat because I had a coat and a hoodie on. And Ashley says, “How long will it take?” he says,” Well it’s a live interview with CNN.” She looks at me and with out hesitating I say “Do it!” You have to.

She gets ready to do the interview, so I call mom and everyone to let them know. I set our bags down and attempt to tape it with my phone and take pictures at the same time. Then some moron decides that he is more important and just stands in front of me and tapes it. I was like really? So I said, “Get out of my way!” He didn’t hear me so I said some things that aren’t worth repeating and he nicely moved out of the way. It was so cool to see her on camera. She did really good. She didn’t stutter or pause and have to think at all. Very impressive. I was happy for her. I couldn’t believe that out of the 500,000 people in this store, she was chosen.

Ashley has to work, so I go out again on my own. My goals were to go to the Air, Space and Sea Museum since I missed out the other day. And I was going to go to the library to look at how big it was. So I head to the museum. It is massive. The museum consists of the U.S.S. Intrepid, the Concord, and a submarine. It was so cool. They had all kinds of artifacts and old equipment and uniforms. They had the control rooms, the sonar rooms, and the stairs were the actual stairs of the ship. It was so cool. And on the main deck they had around 40 jets and helicopters. It was so cool to see them up close. There was so much information to soak in and it was all so interesting.

I spent a little longer than I planned there, so I had to decide to either go to the library or to Little Italy to the cheese deli. I obviously chose the deli. So I head to the train and Ashley gave me her pass that had no money on it. That was so nice of her! As I waited on the train this very attractive girl comes and asks if I live by her because she is lost. So I tell her, “Yeah I just moved here, what's your question?” I gave her the right directions. My parents would be impressed. So I get off at Little Italy and head to the deli. They are supposed to have the best sandwiches. I find my way there and it’s really authentic. The group in front of me ordered 12 sandwiches so I had to wait. Fine with me it was worth it. I ordered the Italian. It was Italian meats with provolone, and dried tomatoes with olive oil and vinegar. It was fabulous. The meats were all in hunks and the cheese in blocks. Every sandwich was cut to order. It was fantastic. I can’t wait to go back.

I walk around Times Square once more while I wait for Ashley. And I am walking to look at a pair of shoes I saw earlier, a pair of grey Nike Shox. I hear something like running water to my right, I look over and it’s a guy standing on the curb peeing in the middle of the street. By now I came to realize that nothing should surprise you in New York, so this didn’t even make me look twice, people just don’t think right in this city.

Then I head to Pinkberry. A frozen yogurt. It was phenomenal. I topped mine with strawberries and white chocolate. It was so good. A perfect treat while I wait for Ashley. I didn’t have it for long because it was so good to take a break from eating it. My dad would have sent me back to New York if I didn’t eat there before I left.

Ashley gets off work and we head out for our last dinner. We go to Arriba Arriba. A restaurant that is known for its abundance of homosexuals. That was a little awkward, but they played good music. We start off with margaritas, I got banana and she got raspberry. They were delicious. We ordered guacamole dip, because I have never had it. It was awesome. Ashley got some enchiladas that were muy bueno. Mine, not so much. I got enchiladas in chocolate sauce. It was actually chocolate. I wasn’t thinking actual chocolate, who does that? Anyway I didn’t eat very much of it. I held out for Max Brenner’s. It was an amazing chocolate factory. I ordered key lime pie in an Oreo cookie crust covered in white chocolate. Ashley ordered some chocolate cake with raspberry filling. Hers game on a platter with a strainer full of chocolate, ice cream and a chocolate shake in a shot glass. It was delicious. Mine was served with a mini old fashioned milk jug full of white chocolate. It was so amazing. We didn’t really talk all that much we were both overwhelmed with chocolate.

Next we head to the bar Snug. It has happy hour from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. It was a chill bar and a lot of fun. Ashley looked like she was about to fall into a coma. And I was pretty tired myself, so after a few drinks we call it a night.

Brett Visit: Day 5

We start out today with our coffee using the filters I bought. We took the cups with us and had Starbucks refill them with their Christmas blend, which was so good. We had to stay close to Ashley's apartment because our thanksgiving meats are on the way.

This is where I notice how cheap that Ashley really is. Unless it is close to free or 300 dollars she will not even look at it. Nothing in between, I don’t know why but nothing in the middle. Me on the other hand, if I like something or I want it, I spare no expense. We were talking about how cheap she was and opposite I was from that. I made a comment that “I like to make it rain,” and she came back with “I don’t even like to make it sprinkle.” Lol I thought that was funny.

After shopping we head to Sports New York. Ashley met the talent coordinator from the network and got a hookup for a backstage look and we got to set in on a live broadcast. I was so excited for this. We get there and it looks awesome. We check in like VIP and the lady comes and gets us. First we get to look at the control room and I don’t know how they have “control” in that room. There is so many buttons and TVs that I couldn’t keep track of them. We met the broadcasters and sat right behind the cameras as they were live. It was so cool to see how much detail they put into every angel. The camera coordinator works like a movie director. Fixings every small thing and changing camera angels constantly.

The broadcast was four men at a round table talking about all the sports stories and giving their opinions. It was so cool. It reminded me of being with my friends and talking about sports, except these guys make bank to do it. We also got to meet Damien Woody, an offensive lineman for the Jets. That was pretty cool. He was a beast. Too bad they didn’t have Mark Sanchez there; that would have just been too much. Overall, I thought that was so incredible to see what actually happens during a sports show. Thank you, Ashley, for that opportunity.

On our way to Little Italy, we walk through Bryant Park. It was like the Iowa State Fair but shops instead of food. They had all kinds of stores and a holiday feel to it. It was really neat. They had every kind of knick knack you could think of. One lady melted down liquor and beer bottles to made vases out of them. And one stand had all different flavors of oil and vinegars that you could sample with bread.

When we get to Little Italy it is smaller than I thought it would be. But it did not disappoint. It looked like I thought it would, like you would expect. It had the Italian restaurants, the shops, the dark haired Italians. It just had the Italy essence. I love Italian food and I could not wait to eat. This is the one place I wanted to eat at before I came back home. As we look for a place to eat, I caught myself gazing at all of the buildings and marveled on how genuine this place was. We finally pick a restaurant. This is hard because every place has an Italian in front trying to talk you in to eating at their place. We decided on Giovanna’s. They offered us free wine and we stepped in.

There was live music and the place looked legit. I looked at the menu just to see what they had. I already knew what I was getting but I wanted to look any way. The food they had sounded fabulous. We ordered our food and had an olive oil and bread appetizer which was very good. Our wine came with that and I almost gagged when I drank it. I don’t like red wine. I ordered manicotti and Ashley got lasagna. It was the best manicotti I have ever had. And Ashley's lasagna was the best lasagna I've had. The food was second to none, just like I was hoping. Next we got desert. Ashley got a canola and I was looking and seen spumoni. And the first thing I thought of was the movie Semi-Pro. Will Ferrell fights a bear and his safe word is spumoni. So I had to try it. It was an Italian ice cream that was half vanilla and half banana with tiny bits of fruit in it laying atop the filling that is in the canola. It was very good. So was Ashley's canola. I couldn’t have asked for a better meal or a better experience of Little Italy than the one we had.

Day 79

November 24, 2009

What a great day! It’s a jam-packed day of shopping, food, and sports! We start our morning like every other…with a nice cup of homemade coffee.  Let me just tell you, thank God for mom sending me a coffee maker and coffee. Brett and I use it daily to get us going in the morning!

Today, we wait around for our Thanksgiving boxes because they have frozen food in them. They don’t come for a while, and of course, I get inpatient. So, we leave. We stay around Midtown because guess what? The talent coordinator from Sports New York e-mailed me and set Brett and I up for a tour and the chance to sit in on a live broadcast at 5:00! Brett is way pumped and I am too! The broadcaster is beautiful! ;)

But onto serious business—shopping. I take Brett to stores we don’t have in Iowa. What’s the point of shopping at stores you have at home? Let’s make his money worthwhile! I am the cheapest person alive, and Brett’s not. Needless to say, he got quite irritated with me because I wouldn’t spend $30 on a shirt. I told him, “You just wait until you have to pay your own bills and it’s either $30 for a shirt, or a weeks worth of groceries!” I’ve become quite practical since hitting the real world. I want to go back to where money was no object! Ya’ know, when I was about seven! =)

Anyways, we get some great stuff! Now it’s time to head to Sports New York! We get there and she shows us the control room, which is insane! It seems so confusing and intense. I have some friends at Drake that are studying broadcast journalism, so all I could think of was them when we were standing in the room with thousands of buttons, head sets, and flat screen tv’s all along one wall! We meet the broadcasters and we head into the newsroom.

It’s a broadcast of the “round table.” A group of four guys sit around, talking about the Jets, Knicks, and the Mets. They also make general statements about other teams and about the sports in general. The whole time, out of the corner of my eye, I see Brett nodding or shaking his head whenever the broadcasters make a comment. He is totally in his element and loving it! We also get to meet Damien Woody—a linebacker for the Jets. He is huge! All I could think of was, Well hell, if this beast of a man was running at me, I’d throw the ball away too and run like hell! Now I know why quarterbacks are always sliding under the tackle. They’re not wimps, they’re smart! Why do men feel the need to put themselves in a position where another can crush your bones with one swift swipe? No way! I think I’ll stick to cheerleading! ;)

After SNY, we head to Little Italy. We make a pit stop at Bryant Park where there is a holiday pop-up shopping area, if you will. Stores from around the city make a pop-up store in the middle of the park, where they sell everything from bath and beauty products, to jewelry, to candles, to vases blown from liquor and beer bottles. Check out their website! We get some pretty nice Christmas gifts! Check us out on the carousel. I had a rabbit, Brett had a frog! Hehe!

Now…we are on our way to a part of town where Brett is going to be in heaven—Little Italy! The one eating area he had to go to while visiting! Little Italy has shrunk in size over the years, so you only have about a six block stretch of Italian restaurants, bakeries, cheese shops, cigar shops, and souvenir stores. Now, six blocks sounds like a ways, but in Little Italy and the Village areas in general, the blocks are the same size as they are in Iowa. They get smaller the farther downtown you go. Yay! That’s good news!

So, we make our walk up and down the streets, perusing menus and being hassled by Italian, mafia men in their polyester suits and slicked back hair. Yes, they really do like the people in the movies! We land on Giovanna’s Restaurant. They offer us a free glass of wine! How can you pass that up? Okay, all I can say about the food—YUM-O! So amazing! Brett got his traditional manicotti and I had lasagna. Check out the pictures below! It was fun! It’s a small, quaint restaurant, with a live singer. She was singing love songs, so every time she walked past our table, we both put our head down because we didn’t want her coming over and singing to us like we were dating. Awkward.

 

Dessert was just as good! Again, check out the pictures! I had a homemade cannoli and Brett had Spumoni. He got it because of some movie quote him and his buddies always say. It was pretty good, but my cannoli was better!

 

It was such a good day! Brett had most of his “must dos” accomplished in today’s series of events! It was great! Tomorrow is a big day, so we go back and get some rest. We still didn’t get home until late, but it was all worth it!

Note to self: Watch more movies to learn movie quotes. When your brother only has conversations with you, where his vocabulary consists of movie quotes only, you need to be able to follow. When you spend more time saying, “I don’t know where that’s from,” you know you have a lot of catching up to do. Or simply, your brother needs a life! =)