Easter

On Easter we went to church, and it was a beautiful day!  It was a great way to celebrate the resurrection of our Savior.  I love spring!

After church we celebrated the commercial part of Easter and dyed Easter eggs:

We decided to go all out and make all of the colors:)

Here are our eggs!

These are mine, including an egg I made to look like Scott.

These are Scott's eggs.

Here's Scott with his egg look-like

A few other pictures of us and our eggs

We turned a few of our Easter eggs into deviled eggs.  They were almost all gone by the time I decided to take a picture.

That night we went to our friends, the Scott's apartment, for a delicious Easter dinner!  It was a very enjoyable holiday, even though we were far away from family. Our families helped us to feel included by sending pieces of family traditions so we could still participate and not feel so left out:)  It was a good day!

Advice for Canal Street

Canal street is all about the game of trying to get people to lower their prices.  They always start out at a really high price which almost makes me want to laugh every time.  Do not buy anything from Canal without going back and forth a little bit.

First, think about the price you want for the bag or whatever it is.  My usual price is $25.00.  Once you have the price in your mind for the item that you want I first start out by asking, "How much?"   They will usually say like 50 dollars, then I'll just say no.  Then I think of the price that I want to get it for.  If it's $25.00 then I'll usually say $20.00.  They'll say, "No this bag is real leather, looks like real leather" trying to talk up the bag.  Then just wait, I usually just tell them I'm going to look around at other places and come back.  That is the worst thing they could ever hear.  They know that each place you go to is going to have a similar bag and you'll probably end up buying from someone else.  Then linger around the shop a bit on your way out.  In this time they'll probably start dropping their prices on their own.  Then as they come down a little you move yours up a little until you settle on something for a decent price.  My rule is if it’s within a couple of dollars within what you are asking I’ll go for it.  What’s 2 dollars?  To get an even better deal buy multiple things at the same place, it makes it easier to negotiate.  Follow the same bargaining as above.  If they aren’t going to give you what you want, walk away.  Go to another one of the many other shops and you can probably find the same thing and start all over again.  I find bags I want really fast at Canal, but sometimes it takes time to find “the bag” so be patient.  I used to hate bargaining for a better price but now I am better at it, and don’t make Scott do it for me anymore.

I have had random people on the street ask me who designed my bag.  Jokingly I say, "Oh, it's a Canal Street original."  Then they kind of give me a glare.  The truth is I don't know designers, I just know what I like which is why canal street bags are just fine for me.  I really have gotten a lot of compliments on my bags though, and I'm sure I will have a large bag collection when we leave someday:)

*Pictures from my mom's facebook album

Advice for Serendipity

My first piece of advice is to make a reservation! They take reservations for lunch or dinner but not just for dessert. I have heard of people waiting hours to get in. I don’t think it would be worth waiting that long. With a reservation you may end up waiting 10-15 minutes if your table is not open yet, but still a lot better than hours. Serendipity is known for their desserts. My second tip is to split your meal. Split the meal so you have room for dessert. Also the desserts are very large so you can split that too!

Advice for Regis and Kelly Standby

Finally, the NYC tourist advice I have been promising! I'm going to break these into a few posts.  First I'll start off with Regis and Kelly.  If any of my NYC friends have anything to add to any of these please comment:)

The line is at ABC Studios at 7 Lincoln Square (Columbus Ave. and West 67th Street). Arrive between 6:00-6:30 am to have the best chance of getting in. Our experience was on a very cold day I would expect that if the weather is better you’ll have to get their earlier. You wait in line until about 8:00 am. Then they give you a sheet with a number on it. You have to be back at the studio at 8:30 am. Then you wait some more until they announce how many they are letting in. If you make it in the doors of the building, don’t get too excited yet. They’ll have you wait there and take people from that line to fill in the seats. Once you make it into the studio you are good to go and enjoy!

The best option is of course to get tickets, but you can’t get tickets, you can always try standby:)

*Picture courtesy of Courtney Mortensen

Cody Got His Mission Call!

My youngest brother Cody got his mission call yesterday. 

We video chatted with the fam so we could "be there" in a sense. 

Here's are some pictures of my bro I stole from Facebook.

He's going to... Honolulu, Hawaii! 

He reports to the MTC on August 31, 2011. 

We are excited for him and we are very proud!

Family Visit! (I just added pictures)

My parents and younger sister Courtney came to visit us a few weekends ago! I was so excited for them to come. Three months without seeing any family seemed like such a long time.  I'm going to include the things we did for future reference for me and others that may visit.  Here's what we did: 

Wednesday
Their flight came in that night and we met up at their hotel downtown.

Seoul Garden - We went to dinner at Seoul Garden. It's our favorite Korean restaurant here to go to. It's in Koreatown and it is so good!

Thursday
Regis and Kelly - We decided to wait in the standby line to try to get into Regis and Kelly. Good thing we ended up getting there earlier around 6:30 am because there were already about 10 people ahead of us in line. It was freezing cold that morning! 2-1/2 hours later we barely made it into the studio and saw the show! I’m so glad we got in! It was fun to see the show

Serendipity - My mom wanted to go to Serendipity the last time they were there and we couldn't get a reservation.  It's a place where you have to go at least once to say you have. We tried again this time but decided to make a lunch reservation. I just have to say that reservations are the way to go. The thing about Serendipity is that the desserts are what the place is known for. So we split two meals between the four of us so we would have plenty of room for dessert. We split our desserts too, they were big!

After lunch we did some shopping, on the way back to the train station. Thursday night my sister was going to stay with us at our apartment so we all headed up to Washington Heights for dinner and American Idol results show.

Malecon - We ordered Dominican food from Malecon to be delivered to eat at our apartment. It's one of our favorite places to get food. Who doesn't love rotisserie chicken, black beans, and rice? Oh no I'm craving it now...

One of the things I love about New York is that just about every food place delivers. In Utah you would sound crazy if you asked any restaurant other than a pizza place to deliver.

My parents went back to their hotel, and Courtney slept over. I am not good at sleepovers because I get tired way too fast. Scott went to sleep at 10, I lasted until 11, and then poor Court was up by herself trying to fall asleep. I felt bad we were so tired, I wanted to do lots of fun things. Sorry Court! It was still fun to spend some time with her.

Friday
Lombardi's - Before beginning our shopping on Canal Street we decided to stop by Lombardi's.  It's a famous pizza place that is very good. 

Canal Street - We had a later start, and met up with my parents. We decided to head to Canal Street to do some shopping.  If you haven't been, Canal street is a crazy street with lots of people selling purses, sunglasses, etc. You have to bargain with the vendors to get a decent price.  I have taken people down there several times and know the drill. Courtney bought many colored pairs of sunglasses. Of course we bought purses. I found mine in the first place we went in.  Courtney had explained to me the kind of bag she wanted.  I thought that I had found what she wanted, but she said no.  So I bought it in a different color.  Come to find out, later in the night she decided that she really did want the bag.  So we planned another Canal street trip.

Basilica - We had dinner at Basilica down in Hell's Kitchen.  The food was very good, and the desserts even better:)

Wonderland - I have wanted to see the Broadway show Wonderland since it was announced.  When I found out my parents and sister would be coming into town I knew I should suggest going.  We were not disappointed!  It was an AMAZING show!  We went when it was still in previews, now it is officially opened. Go see it!

Saturday
Levain - On my way to meet up with my family I decided to stop by Levain Bakery.  We had it on the list of things to do but were running out of time and I wanted to make sure they got to try it.  Levain has these what I call "monster cookies."  They are very thick and large, and probably a million calories.  I picked up one of each flavor on the way to meet them as a surprise.  They loved them!  If you are ever in New York try them out.

Canal Street - We decided to hit up Canal street again to buy the bag Courtney wanted. 

Century 21 - Century 21 is like a discount department store.  It's kind of a crazy place reminds me of a giant TJMaxx.  They have some good things there for good prices, you just have to look really hard. 

Ground Zero - We stopped by Ground Zero to see the progress. 

Baluchi's - We love Indian food, and my family has never had it so we decided it would be perfect.  We like to go to Baluchi's, which is by my work, on Saturday afternoons when we go.  We go for lunch because everything is half off.  It's usually an expensive Indian place so half off is a major deal!  It was really good! 

Shake Shack - For dinner we took them to Shake Shack.  Everyone always raves about Shake Shack so we thought we'd give them the full New York experience.  I think it is good, but definitely not the best hamburger in the world.  Just like Serendipity it's something everyone has to try at least once.  We have been there a few times and I'm starting to believe that the long lines and fighting for a table aren't worth it. 

Wicked - Of course we saw Wicked which was really good.  We have seen it in different locations, but it was a first for all of us seeing it in New York.  I was disappointed that we got the understudy for Glinda. It was still good despite that.

Sunday
On Sunday they came to church with us and I made lunch afterwards before their flight.

It was so fun to have them in town!  Thanks for coming Mom, Dad, and Court!

P.S. I decided I'm going to make a few posts with tips on doing certain things in NYC.  These will include things like shopping at canal street, going standby at Regis and Kelly, etc.  I'll share my knowledge:)

Oh How I Love my Bernina

My poor sewing machine has been neglected since moving here.  Sure I have used it here and there but it has been living under it's cover for far too long.  Sometimes I have a love/hate relationship with sewing.  I love it when everything is going smoothly, I hate it when something goes wrong and I can't figure it out.  Every time I go to Utah I always buy fabric with good intentions to reunite with my Bernina but I kind of forget about the fabric/patterns after they are put away.  A few weeks ago as I was going through my fabric I found the fabric and pattern that I bought over Christmas to make my little niece Jovie a dress.  One of the parts I hate about sewing which usually stops me from sewing is all the prep work.  I'm probably missing some of the steps as I'm typing, those who sew a lot, ignore any mistakes:)

1. Prewashing the fabric:  I would go to start a project and realized that I hadn't washed the fabric yet.  So I'd stop right there.  I figured out how to solve this problem.  My new goal is to wash/iron the fabric right after I get it so it's good to go.  I know this is obvious.
2. Putting the fabric on grain:  Sometimes this is an easy thing and your fabric is just fine. Sometimes it takes a lot of work to make sure it will lay flat.  Scott is good at helping me stretch my fabric when I need it.
3. Cutting out the pattern pieces:  Sometimes there are a lot of little pieces to cut out.
4. Making any alterations to the pattern:  This can be tedious depending the changes that need to be made.
5. Positioning pattern pieces:  Figuring out how everything will fit on the fabric is very important.  Sometimes it takes a while to get it all to fit in the best way and double checking before cutting out.  My college sewing teachers voices are always ringing in my head when I sew, "measure twice, cut once."
6. Cutting out pattern pieces:  Cutting everything accurately takes time, sometimes a lot of time.
7. Marking fabric:  Now after all the fabric is cut out you now have to mark the fabric, with all of the markings from the patterns.  Sometimes I try to skimp on this step but I always regret it when I'm looking for that one marking that I really needed. 

So then after all of that, now you are ready to sew.  Then I remember, oh yeah I should probably staystitch.  After staystitching, I am finally ready to sew!  By the time I get to this point I'm usually too tired to start sewing.  I know that I work better with my mind fresh so I put off the sewing until another day.  Then finally once I start sewing pieces together I get in a groove and it's so fun! 

This weekend I was working on sewing a little dress for my niece Jovie.  I started it a few weeks ago, doing the initial steps.  Yesterday I got to put some of the main components together.  It's just so cute and small that it is so fun to work on.  I wish I had the time to just sit down and finish it all in one sitting instead of working on it a little here and there. 

While I was sewing I was thinking to myself how much I love to sew.  I have gone so long without doing any sewing that I felt like I was losing my skills.  I am back and love it so much!  I keep thinking of more and more projects to work on, oh I love it, I wish I had more time to sew!

Weight Watchers Week 2

My parents and little sister came into town which included eating lots of yummy food.  You can't explore NYC without eating out at restaurants.  We tried to be really good and split meals, and walked a lot.  Still, I was very nervous going to Weight Watchers since I had eaten more than I usually do.  I was even tempted not to go.  That's the whole reason though to be accountable.

I'm happy to report that this week I did not gain any weight!  I didn't lose any either, I stayed the same.  I was completely expecting to gain so I was happy.  On a usual week I probably wouldn't be happy at staying the same weight but this week I was thrilled!  I'm still on track and will do much better this week. 

P.S.  Once I get pictures from my family, I will post all about their trip!

Weight Watchers Week 1

I went to my first meeting (this time around) this afternoon during lunch.

And.... drumroll... I lost...

1.8 pounds!

I'm excited that I'm actually seeing some progress and I'm hopefully I can keep it up!

This week I didn't eat different foods than I usually do, I just watched the portions and kept account of what I ate with the points.  It made all the difference.  My goal this week is to "Move More" like we talked about in the meeting, and to also do well in my eating.

P.S. I felt really young at the meeting, but that's okay:) 

Creamy Lemon Pie

I made this WeightWatchers lemon pie yesterday.  If you know WeightWatchers it's 4 points for 1/10 of the pie.  It's very rich I thought so you don't need a lot.  It was super easy to make and I thought it was good.  Here's the recipe: 

Creamy Lemon Pie

 6 whole reduced-fat cinnamon graham crackers
2 Tbsp butter
11 oz fat-free sweetened condensed milk
2 large egg(s)
1/2 cup(s) fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp lemon zest

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Grind graham crackers in a food processor until fine crumbs form. Or place crackers in a resealable plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin. Place crumbs in a small bowl.

Melt butter on stove top or in microwave and pour over graham cracker crumbs, mixing with a fork until completely moistened. Press crumbs evenly onto bottom of a 9-inch pie pan; place crust in refrigerator while preparing lemon filling.

In a medium bowl, combine condensed milk and eggs; mix until smooth. Add lemon juice and zest; stir until incorporated and pour into prepared crust.

Bake pie for 15 minutes. Cool completely and for best flavor, serve chilled.

*This pie can be baked and frozen for up to two weeks. Defrost and serve chilled.

(Picture and recipe from www.weightwatchers.com)

Mid-Twenties Life Crisis at 24 (This is not an April Fool's joke)

Now that my birthday has happened this now feels stupid to even write about this but I'm going to anyways.  The day before my birthday I was having a major mid-twenties life crisis even though I was turning 24, not even 25.  It seems like this is happening every year lately. 

My thoughts: 

"I'm going to turn 24 I should be in the best shape of my life and happy with my body, but I'm not."

"Why don't I have a baby like everyone else?"

"When am I going to have a house?"

I started freaking out wondering what I have accomplished in my life and who I was.  Does anyone else do this?  I realized that some of these things I can't really have right now. 

Scott is going through medical school, and when he's done with that we'll move for residency.  This really isn't practical for wondering why I don't have a house right now.  First of all we are only in our 20's so I shouldn't even be thinking about a house until I'm 30. Secondly, we don't know when we will finally be settled and it's definitely not yet. 

I shouldn't be stressing about not having a baby because we aren't even trying to have one.  With our unstable life, and financial situation I shouldn't even be thinking about that right now.  It's just hard not to compare our "family status" to others my age and wonder when we will have that.  Right now is not the time, but I'm sure it's normal feeling this way, right?

There is one thing on this list that I can control and do something about it right now and that is my weight and health.  When I was thinking about my struggle with weight I was sitting at work and I decided that this is probably something that I will struggle with for my whole life.  Right then and there I decided that since it will be a struggle I should figure it out now while I'm young how to manage it and change my lifestyle.  So after I had this thought I decided that I would turn again to Weight Watchers.  It seems like the only times in my life where I could get back to a good weight in college was when I went to the meetings with my mom in the summers.  So I went to Weight Watchers by my work at lunch and signed up.  It was very scary for me to do this alone.  I had tried just doing the online tracking stuff but it didn't work for me.  I need accountability, which is why going to the meetings works. 

I am all signed up and am embarrassed to be posting this on our blog.  So why am I posting about this very personal stuff?  I'm posting because this is going to be accountability too.  I'm hoping to be able to share my progress and feelings along the way to keep me going.  My goal is to make a lifestyle change.  I'm only a few days into it but I'm feeling motivated.  I know I don't have a lot of weight to lose but it's more for me to learn to drop the weight I need to and then maintain.  The thing I like about Weight Watchers is that you don't feel like you are depriving yourself.  If you want a treat you can have it, you just have to budget your points for it.  This is why it's something that works for me.  I can't be one of those people with a lot of restrictions.

I'm probably going to be blogging more about other goals I have set for myself.  I hope you don't mind but this is mostly for me, but I hope that others can benefit as I know that all of us struggle with something.  Here's to goals and improving ourselves!