Annelise

I know it's been... awhile... since I have posted but enough about that.

I am in NYC for the marathon (my cousin Beau is running!) and I am just so happy to be here that I want to share it with all of you.

I was lucky enough to be bumped off a flight from Boston last year so my flight to NY was free, which is exciting. And we found an apartment for rent right by Columbus Circle that sleeps up to 12 so we are all bunking it together (8-10 of us, depending on the night), which has also saved us a bundle. And as my cousin Brecke said, "I've always wanted to be on The Real World.", and that is how it feels in this 800 square foot apartment. Love it.

Our first night here (Thursday) we walked the Brooklyn Bridge, which was a first to me. Why have I never done this before? It was so beautiful. A little tip to those that may want to do this in the future - take the subway to Brooklyn and walk the bridge back to Manhattan because you get the beautiful skyline in front of you.

Friday we were in the audience for Martha Stewart's Halloween show! Her guest was Jimmy Falon, whom I love, and the show was fun. All the audience members got a new digital polaroid camera - how cool is that?!? We also got the hardcover book and a puzzle book of "Where The Wild Things Are". We had to dress as a woodland creature, so we made bird masks.

This is the before pics of our masks.

This is us practicing our excitement when Martha tells us that "everyone in the studio audience is getting one" (we were not sure what we were getting but were crossing our fingers. Good thing we did since we all got cameras!!!)

Miss Martha. After the show she answered questions from the audience and my cousin Polly got to ask her a question. She asked, "how come some of my cookies end up flat and others are fluffy?" The answer? Baking powder. If your baking powder is over a month old, toss it. Interesting, eh?

After Martha, we did A LOT of walking and shopping. We went to Canal St. for the knockoff handbags. If you have never done this, you need to find a man or woman standing around with a little book of pictures of handbags. Tell them are looking for a handbag and they will escort you to a van with the windows blacked out. You get in, they quickly shut the door, and the bargaining begins. The van is FULL of different purses. It's a fune experience, although definitely unnerving your first time.

We wanted to walk to the MOMA since it was free tonight but instead we walked to the Met. It was a 30-block walk and by the time we realized our mistake (or Matt's mistake) we were too tired to go to the MOMA.

Today I had lunch with my friend, Carl, and we walked around the Lower East Side. There were so many cute shops. Then I met up with my cousins for dinner and we walked around admiring all the insane Halloween costumes. We walked through Times Square and came home.