I'm the King of New York.

Recap of the constant adventure that is NYC...

A plane and bus ride, and a metro pass and a bit of walking later...

we came upon the Plaza !!

Which inspired plenty of "Home Alone 2" quotes,

and made me feel like I was inside one of my favorite children's books;

"Eloise at the Plaza"

Then, when Aubrey, Christina and Mandy headed off to see "Evita" on Broadway...

     

...I headed off to an art museum.

Of course.

And also happened to catch the season premier of Project Runway on Times Square.

Nooo big deal.

"Che" in Evita was played by none other than Ricky Martin.

Seriously y'all, no big deal.

And of course we stopped for some Max Brenner dessert afterwards.

Good thing I'd sampled the chocolate at Max Brenner in Australia;

before I couldn't eat chocolate any more!

(But a s'mores sundae is delicious with just vanilla, in case you were wondering)

Next morning; Central park (where some awesome people went running... I am not included... I walked around all art-nerdy and took tons of pictures...)

and then Statue of Liberty.

In some rather perfect weather.

Then, obviously, China town.

Anyone need a purse??

Adventures around every corner.

And Aubrey found some fruit!!

Great deals--she was so excited!

And,

Are you ready for this??

NEWSIES.

Seeing as we were SUCH fans,

we took the tip to stay and wait for the cast after the show.

Best. Idea. Ever.

Sooo many handsome boys.

Seriously; life changing.

And then we just wrapped it up with a little Brooklyn Bridge/pizza magic.

Can I just live there please??

Grateful for: Artwork on the subway.

And friends that don't get too embarrassed when I pull out my gargantuan camera to snap a photo of it.

Big. Fat. Donuts.

Today, to wrap up my week with Jesse, Max, Dylan and Emma,

before Mom and Dad got back from their big adventure in London,

I took the kids to Gourdough's.

For those unfamiliar with Austin cuisine,

Gourdough's is a part of the ever-growing, super hip,

"trailer food" industry in down-town Austin.

For some reason, we Austinites love the individuality and Austin "weirdness"

that comes from eating cool food from a cart or trailer.

Well Gourdough's is no exception when it comes to weird;

it's all about "Big. Fat. Donuts."

Huge donuts.

Slathered with lots of chocolate, ice cream, cookie bits, cake batter, icing, etc...

There's even one that has bacon on it.

When I told my brothers and sister about it, they wanted in.

They didn't quite think they could handle the donut with bacon on it,

but they had to go.

I think D-bob was especially excited.

(waiting impatiently.)

Dying in 99 degree weather...

but we still love Austin!

Here's the options.

And after much deliberation,

here's what we chose...

Clockwise from top left:

funky monkey

baby rattler

dirty berry

blackout

Watching them eat the chocolate ones reminded me of the book/movie "Matilda"

where Ms. Trunchbull makes a kid eat a whole chocolate cake.

It was against his will though.

These dudes were enjoying themselves.

(and I didn't make them finish them... we have lots of left-overs!!)

This was the most I could get Dylan to eat all week while my parents were gone.

Best sister ever?

No, probably more like worst! :)

...but maybe favorite

(at least for today...)

Grateful for:

such cool siblings to hang out with all week,

and a little sister who makes her brothers breakfast every morning.

They're just the bestest.

Why I went to NYC.

Okay, okay, there were actually a few reasons I went...

Like;

It's NEW YORK CITY,

I'd never been,

it was on the very tip-top of my travel-bucket-list

I got to go with some totally wonderful friends,

the statue of liberty,

times square,

central park,

seeing where scenes of Elf were filmed,

ETC...

and also it's simply an experience I should (and therefore, could) NOT miss out on,

But...

Here's what sealed the deal;

LIFE CHANGING.

I showed this to Emma, and then this is what happened...

(Do you like my shirt??)

More NYC pics to come a bit later...

But I had to share this video with you ASAP.

I love it so.

Grateful for: Really cool friends who take weekend trips to NY.

Also,

Spending the week with my brothers and sister

while my parentals are away...

and when my brother Max tells me my glasses are like Spongebob's

when he goes jelly-fishing.

Why yes, yes I do.

I love my life.  It's FULL, ALL THE TIME, with astounding people and opportunities.

Sometimes though,

I just wish I had a husband and babies.

Let's be honest for a minute.

Well here's a wee story about that.  The other day I was having a little chat with one of my bosses.  It was a serious chat about business.  He was filling me in on buisnessy-type issues and giving me updates.  He asked for my feedback.  He was very polite and professional.  At one point, he, in a very buisness-y way, asked about my plans for the future in regards to my schedule.

But then, he caught me off guard.

Still with a manner of professionalism, but now with a bit of a twinkle in his eye, he said, "I mean, I know you really want to fall in love and have babies..." and finished with something to the effect of "but for now you're going forward with other things...." (or some statement like that).

Then he flashed me a big grin.

And not even a facetious one, but a genuine one.

A bit of a smile that made light of a potentially uncomfortable subject, but also said,

"It's okay, I get it."

Now, I work really rather hard,

to fill my head with different thoughts

other than thoughts that dwell on things I don't currently have.

Thoughts such as:

Would I ever have chosen to do this  if I was married and had kids right now?

Look at what I've accomplished that I didn't even realize I ever wanted to!

I could go do that ?! I never even thought about that!!

(Being single and 24 is actually kind of rad.)

I'm also working very hard to take action on these thoughts too.

So my day-to-day existence is very much founded on that thought process.

But,

what my boss said that day kind of pulled the rug out from under me,

because,

well,

my boss is right.

I really  just want to fall in love and have babies.

In fact, sometimes I want it so bad, it hurts.

So here's a random thank you to you Mr Boss-man,

really.

It's an unexpectedly wonderful feeling,

that someone out there gets,

that despite all the things I'm involved with,

and trying hard to accomplish,

and the genuine smile on my face,

and honest gratitude and love for my current life,

the greatest desire of my heart is still to be

a wife and mother.

And without prodding me to get married ASAP,

you're simply cool with it.

thank you.

so much.

What a random blessing huh?

This could have been awkward,

and could have been 20 seconds of my day that meant nothing,

but I'm pretty sure what it actually did,

was remind me that I'm always being looked out for,

and this random 20 seconds

was precisely what my heart was in need of.

Tender mercies are rather tailored to our individual needs and personalities...

wouldn't you agree?

Grateful for:

My fabulous life as a single 24 year old;

a ticket to NYC in  days,

and also to see Newsies on Broadway.

I should never EVER complain right?!!!

Because I'm a Nerd.

So I have a serious problem.  It is called Les Miserables.  I'm sooooooo obsessed!!!! I CANNOT wait for the movie to come out in December, but I've also been a huge fan waaay before all this movie hype.  My brother Logan and I sat and watched the 10th anniversary concert of Les Miserables on PBS with our Mom when I was like 7 and he was 5 or 6... and since then, our family's been hooked! 

(and I'm pretty sure Logan's still as big of a fan as me, if I recall correctly, he "freaking wants to see that movie so bad!")

And as we became completely fascinated by the story, and the music, and the sheer epic-ness that is Les Miserables, my dear mother, ever the mom to support her children in any artistic endeavors, let us listen to the CD all the time.  I'm not kidding you, I could sing you the whole musical from start to finish.  Musical interludes included.

So as I've been preparing to go see it live this weekend for the second time in my life, and as the movie teaser trailer was just recently released, I've watched all the clips of all my favorite performances over and over these past few weeks.  And I feel like, before you get a chance to see the movie when it comes out in December, I have to show you some of the most noted and memorable performers in these beloved roles.  Obviously, these ones on my blog are my  favorites, but seeing as I'm such a huge fan and have seriously scoured the internet for as many different performances as I could possibly find (including even, Ricky Martin as Marius...), I feel like I can confidently tell you these really are some of the best.

So here goes:

     1. Ruthie Henshall as Fantine singing "I Dreamed a Dream" in the 10th anniversary edition.  I distinctly remember mocking her hair with Logan when we watched this for the first time... but this has become my FAVORITE recording of this song EVER.  Fantine also happens to be my favorite character and this is my favorite song... (therefore when I tell you that I'm not a fan of Anne Hathaway and I'm more than a little disappointed that she's cast as Fantine in the movie, you might understand why.)

     Honeslty though, I think Ruthie Henshall's voice is one of the most beautiful voices.  And she's got incredible control.  If I could choose, I would want my voice to be a combination of hers, my mom's and Billie Holiday's...   just sayin.

     2. Lea Salonga as Epoinine.  Ahh, Eponine, so romantically tragic and my favorite Les Mis character throughout my teenage years. (ha)  Lea Salonga though is just brilliant and super talented... you might recognize her voice... she's the singing voice of Jasmin and Mulan in the Disney movies.  Her tenacious style of singing though also does the character of Eponine justice and I love it!

(look out on this video... the music starts with a kind of loud boom!)

3. Next, you have to watch the newest Valjean, Alfie Boe.  He has one of the silkiest tenor voices I think I've ever heard (and I'm a fan of pretty tenor voices like my Grandpa Merlin's or Mandy Patinkin's), so you just have to listen for a bit to his version of "Bring Him Home".  It's really rather lovely.

4. But as for the best performance of Valjean, you must see Mr Colm Wilkinson.  He was the original Valjean at the Barbican theater in London.  He was Valjean at the 10th anniversary at the Royal Albert Hall.  He made a guest appearance at the end of the 25th anniversary, where he kind of out-sang Alfie Boe when they sang "Bring Him Home" together... and Colm was just like 67... no big deal.  Aaaand, he'll be appearing as the Bishop in the movie version.  Whew!  He's soooo good.

Obvs.

I cry every time.

So it's alright, don't worry I know I'm a nerd.

And I recognized that I'm obsessed.

And believe me, this only scrapes the surface of all I could tell you about this musical.

Grateful for: Tickets to Les Miserables on Saturday.

And YouTube.

So, California is a little bit rad.

Once upon a time (as in, a few weeks ago), I went to California with my mom.

I'd never had any desire to go to California before.

It just haven't ever appealed to me as much as a place like London or Paris.

And I'm dying to have an East-coast adventure,

so I just wasn't feeling this California thing.

But when my mom asked me to accompany her to my Aunt Tracy's graduation,

I thought, well why not?

And now that I've been,

I'll admit it....

California is pretty rad.

For starters, the weather is the definition of PERFECTION. 

Aaand, California is also the home of my very super adorable cousins.

Check out Mr. Ben and Zak at their mom's graduation.

The weather was so pleasant in the middle of the day,

that it was even a bit chilly in the morning.

It was May and we had to get some hot chocolate!

That's fine.

Zak and Ben had no complaints.

It was a marvelous little weekend with the whole extended Forster family too.

Complete with dearest Grandma Rosie.

And the lovely aunt Tracy and uncle Daan of course.

Tracy just got her masters degree and is all accomplished and stuff.

No big deal.

But, actually it was a big deal,

and we are all sooo proud of her!

(and I  especially love her because, as you can see,

she thinks I'm funny and laughs at my jokes...)

And we got to hang out with my favorite Angie in the whooole wide world!

Look at these beautiful ladies!!

I LOVE them!

And seriously, Tracy is a bit of a rock star.

She got this crazy, extra long cheer from her fellow graduates

when they read her name.

They just love her so.

And then because California is so lovely, and has such glorious weather,

we got to go have a big ol' party at Daan and Tracy's after graduation.

Complete of course,

with plenty of scrumptious food.

And also,

some hilarious "Olympic games".

I can't even remember who won...

Oh, it was such a lovely little weekend.

And, did I mention that Tracy's house looks like something

straight out of 'Vogue Living' ??

So, props to California.

You're way cooler than I anticipated.