La mismísima página

So. I've found out I am a terrible person to try to surprise. My mom has taught me to be a conspiracy theorist and it apparently has carried over into my personal life. I'd decided I was about to be surprised with a concert for my oh-so-favorite redhead, and then made myself nervous that I wouldn't be able to hide my disappointment if I were wrong in my guess. 

Luckily, I'm never wrong. :) 

 

I felt like I was being mugged when we walked in the door and a crazy-eyed girl did a fairly rough search of my purse. This little Brit played (almost) all my favorites, but I critiqued his every move. Poor Ed.

This one's a winner due to his little shrug. He was saying "Would you stay now, and let me hold you?" To me. And actually, he was singing it. Possibly not just to me.

So, since I got exactly what I wanted the night before, I owed Nate back by tagging along to one of his favorite things. The auto show in Detroit. It was much more enjoyable than I could have imagined. I found a red sparkly car that is now on my Christmas list for next year. This. Is the truck Nate picked for me.

To kick off our gluttonous weekend, we went to the casino restaurant called "Brizoll-A", according to the very effeminate, very-offended-by-Nate's-pronunciation, young worker. Our IPad menus momentarily distracted us from our food eating goal. We played on them looking at pictures and wine-pairings until Nate's battery got low. Then I watched Nate eat 3 rolls and 3/4 of the raw tartar before his lobster mac & cheese and steak arrived. While he was gone to the bathroom, the waiter came to keep me company and steal his bread plate and even the butter so that he wouldn't make himself sick before dinner :).

 

Even after filling up on carbs and raw meat, he was THIS happy to see his meat and sauce trio. The food was great, our waiter was better, and the sauce trio was awful. Seriously awful. I tried all of them, and then my own, and only tried it a second time to be really sure that it tasted like floral scented hand soap. It did. We had enough leftovers that Nate had to pull out some of his Tetris skills to pack this and 5 desserts into the hotel mini fridge for later enjoyment. 

Some of the weirdest things I've ever seen all on one street called Heidelberg. I enjoyed the polka dot house with a portrait of MLK Jr hanging on the porch ceiling. I did not enjoy the dirty stuffed animals hanging by their ears from the nearby tree. I did enjoy the old fashioned rotary phones and the Little Shop of Horrors-esque giant metal plant.

This is the house I picked for Nate.

 

Eating ourselves sick round two. Roast in downtown Detroit was the best food I can remember having in this lifetime. Well, the steak. I have had better fries, but they only just inch ahead...and the sweetbreads...were not sweet. They were creepy. I regret my clothing choice, but that just means I'll have to return. Next time I'll wear something solid. And fancy. But I think I'll order the same steak, and bring the same boy.   

Empezar de nuevo

 I went back and forth about whether or not to write a blog for my most recent trips. The reason? I have very little proof that they actually took place. The picture below serves as the sole photo proving I made it to Boston. It'll have to suffice. It also happens to hi-light who I made the trek with.

 

The idea started a few months ago when I met my newest favorite Czech love, Monika...better known and loved as Kiki. We met in an airport in Austin, TX and the rest is history. (Why didn't I blog about my Texas wedding trip!? To come.) So Kiki and I hadn't had enough of each other quite yet, and she insisted I come to Boston for New Years. I proposed the idea to Nate: mostly because I wanted him to join, but also, selfishly, so that I would have a date in a suit who could make me look good. (It worked). Anyways, we found little Monika and had a lovely reunion in her apartment filled with pairs upon pairs of men's athletic shoes that she insists are hers and a 2 month old pumpkin that hadn't even begun to rot.

  

In between hunting down friends, we spent every waking moment in Quincy Market...walking and rewalking the same strip until we finally settled on something particularly delicious that left us feeling full but slightly unsatisfied because there was Oh so much more to be eaten. A return will be necessary. And I need a recipe for buffalo mac and cheese.

 

Giant bagel morning at Quincy. If you go early enough you can snag almost any spot you want on the upper level overlooking all the other greedily-hungry tourists. Makes you feel so much less alone, but no less fat.

The bridesmaid's reunion! We owed it to (middle) Monica for not being even remotely useful during the November wedding. We looked up to her as the perfect little MOH and literally let her do ev.ery.thing. Luckily, no responsibilities on New Years lead to an almost repeat of the bachelorette party (except less rugby boys and no wipe outs). What I've learned being around these two: you can never have enough Monic(k)as. 

Somehow, we found more Mercy girls in Boston than I think I've seen since high school graduation. Some lovely girls, for sure. I can't say I got to see them all as much as I had planned, but I tried to stick close the the one in the gold dress. I wish I had pictures of our dinner the night before with the cotton candy and churros dessert! I also wish I had a picture of her "we're closed" face that Emmy tossed us when we tried to sneak into her work just 5 minutes after they had closed. Alas. This is our only friend proof. She and my Monic(k)as would, however, be enough reason to move to lovely Boston. Find me some Spanish babies to teach!

See? I was there. With this boy. I even have a New Year's horn, and he has an equally-as-flashy necklace. It was my favorite New Year's yet, though the one thing I really wanted was refused to me. Over and over again. Ke$ha: Die Young. I think I requested it over 10 times, leaning over the DJ's little table, climbing on the chair next to him, getting tugged on by security. All for Ke$ha. No dice. I'm honestly not sure how I could have been any bossier. We will find out next year.

(Also, HIMYM fans. The coat check girl on New Year's looked eerily like the coat check girl in the club episode when Ted tries on all of the coats. I should have asked her.)

Mi casa o la tuya?

Staying up until 4 am the night before a 6 am flight will inevitably lead to the following crash. It made for an entertaining car ride and flight, an interesting run-in with an old high school teacher and purses well-stocked with 5 hour energies. But first, a nap and some recovery time in the big city. 

The sissys, mom and Wendy took a girls trip to the city with the primary purpose of bringing home at least one Newsie for every Sanna. Newsies on Broadway! The rest was just trivial fun, really. In bathrobes.

The best choice ever for breakfast. When the sign said "Singing Wait Staff", they really meant it. Mickie's boyfriend-waiter is behind her and he later professed his love to her in song form.

It looked way more like a nightclub than a diner, except for the fact that on every TV they were playing the Little Mermaid.

 

Sissys getting creeped on. 

In order to pre-game for the Newsies, we watched video interviews with the cast members and picked out which ones we would attempt to bring home. We scored them on various categories including looks, voice, looks again, and if they were single or not.

 

The show was unreal kinds of greatness. Brought me back to the days when we would sit in the living room rewinding our favorite parts, handwriting all of the lyrics so we could memorize them. Christian Bale wearing suspenders and singing on the fire escape (sigh). Megan sat behind the biggest giant in the history of giants and therefore needed a child booster seat, but it was well worth it to not miss the musical skills of beautiful and (mostly) straight young men.

20 photo attempts to get the sign. No luck still. After the show, my llama (mom) tried to convince us to go out to dessert and get away from the crowded street outside the theater. I, however, having downed a 5 hour energy and just witnessed my childhood dream come to life on stage, was not about to set foot off that curb. I insisted on waiting outside the stage door to meet the newsies. I then pushed a few small children to get to the front of the gate.

Beautiful newsie #1. I attempted to get this one to come out with us, seeing as how he only had a small part, he surely wasn't too famous to turn down my tempting offer. And yet he did. I think I even said please! It didn't help that I didn't know his name. Or his character. Or what he did in the show.

Beautiful newsie #2, and also most talented. pirouettes atop newspapers? Phenomenal. And I told him so.

My favorite newsie! I was shouting "Davey- you're my favorite!" and as Mickie later told me, I was  whipping innocent bystanders with my hair in the process. I told him I needed a nice picture of my favorite, and he gave me this lovely pose. It took two attempts, but here he is. I should possibly have learned his real name. Ben, maybe? A little more research may have helped me scoop this one up.

And. No substitute for Christian Bale, but here is our newest Jack Kelly. "MOM I NEED A PICTURE WITH JACK!" is what I remember shouting. I truly owe her for putting up with my waiting and screaming, but what I really owe her for is her mom-like-use of her iPhone. By that I mean it took her a solid 1.5 minutes and 6 photo attempts to get this shot, buying me plenty of time to stand next to and hold onto this lovely young boy. Who sadly scored low on the single category. And by that I mean he was engaged.

I would also like to take this time to apologize to my sisters Mickie and Megan who were also in love with the Newsies. Who I did not let get close enough to talk to the boys, take pictures of them, or touch them. In my selfish excitement, I totally forgot you would have loved to hug a newsie. Let's go back.

Post Newsies. Post 5 hour energy. The most hyper Leigh that there has ever been. Momma was ready to leave me out on the streets. She also loved the show- but was rather picky about the liberties they took in changing the music and details of the show. I would have agreed with her more had I not been so focused on how they looked.

Vivi and Leigh in front of the Newsies sign in Times Square...too hyper to go home.

 

Sleeping buddies.  

 

I love how busy Times Square is- I'm sure its the reason it's so exciting. But if for just one minute everyone would stop moving and talking, this would be the coolest place ever. Slow down the madness. 

Out on the streets Megan does her makeup. So so famous.

Bryant Park. Project Runway! Lovely Aunt Wendy. 

Took a picture of every single one of these I saw. Unnecessary? For sure.

Good find! My teal nails and leather bomber jacket make this already exciting find slightly more avant garde. Anyways. I like you. Remember that.

 

No trip would be complete without Wendy making friends with strangers. She fell in love with a very fashionable semi-deaf boy in his mid 20s at the clothing store who she asked if she could adopt. She then found this lovely gentleman who had an empty spot next to him on the bench that obviously needed to be filled, even if only for a minute. They look like old friends. She even snagged a kiss on the cheek and made him the happiest bench-sitter there ever was.

Los Canadienses son hippies

It's been too long since I've country-hopped, so I took my first long weekend and booked it to the border. Thank you, Canada, for being so close and for having a different currency. It makes the try feel more legit. So, mom, Jess and I stayed at a hotel right across the street from the Royal Ontario Museum. I remember a late night or two walking past here when I used to visit in college. The McDonalds next door looked strangely familiar as well. As for the museum, we checked out the gift shop but decided to hold off on the rest. Museum gift shops are the coolest.

This is why I love fall. Though not quite as colorful as it surely is now, the park was covered in leaves. There was also a group of college kids practicing tight rope walking between two trees. Cool? Possibly.

For as much as I enjoy walking around new cities and seeing all of the architecture, I am not great at remembering what each building is.

This is the view opposite the building above The building on the right gives an awesome reflection We took this route down to China town, I believe. It smelled better than last time (when they were on a garbage strike), but it was also less exciting. I'm undecided about bubble tea and how many fist pumping golden cat statues does one person really need?  

The CN tower. Which stands for....? Canadian National?  

Posting this just because it reminds me of Times Square/any touristy section of any big city, complete with double decker tour bus. We spent hours looking for good shopping and were semi disappointed. Canadians are hippies (it's true, Julie!). So the clothes reflected that. Toronto was really best for the stellar weather (a fluke), the food, the Canadian accents, and the Timmy Hos on every corner.

Here's a shot I took of the old City Hall which is next door to the very modern City Hall. It is where we started our Ghost Tour of the city. We walked around downtown Toronto for 2  1/2 hours with a crowd a group of people varying in beliefs in the paranormal. It was an incredibly warm night for it and interesting to hear all of the unexplained happenings in the buildings. One girl on a previous tour had an experience at one of the sights in the woman's bathroom. She was at the sink and saw an old lady waiting behind her through the mirror. When she bent over to rinse her hands, she felt the woman pull her hair behind her ear. She stood up and turned around, and there was no one there. Gave me the chills. We skipped out on using that bathroom...though we did sneak into a University of Toronto building and wandered through the girl's pitch black locker room til we found a bathroom. Equally as creepy. 

Hasta la próxima

So, my first and closest Spanish friend, Jaime, called to tell me he'd be visiting me in NY. He and his boyfriend were planning to fly into NYC and then head north, so I rounded up some of the friends and we headed out to what we thought we be the best contrast to the city: Penn Yan. Before the boys showed up, Eric, Meg, Jen and I headed off to the Windmill in Eric's rental. As he said, this car truly is made for "two normal sized people and two really short ones".

That night Jaime and Joona finally arrived. The last time I had seen them was on the beach in Gijon, Spain, so this setting was a little strange. Joona and Meg (our two boyscouts) made us a fire so we could show the boys the deliciousness of S'mores.

Brunch the next morning with a group of so many of my favorites. We even tried some Amish-made apple dumplings. More than one person said "those amish sure know how to bake". Jaime and Joona couldn't stop talking about the Amish, and we were on the hunt for more the entire time they were in Penn Yan.

Here we stopped at an Amish farm to take pictures of the buggies and to pet some cows and a puppy. I have never seen two boys so easy to make happy.

We took a little drive out to Watkins Glen to see the gorge and play with some chipmunks. Joona stashed an acorn in his pocket to try and lure a chipmunk into being his friend, but sadly had no luck. Apparently there aren't any of those little guys in Spain or Finland.

Later that day, after many failed attempts, the boys were able to get cash out of the ATM. At 10pm they were riding with the top down yelling "American Dream!" and waving money around. It was the most excitement this town has seen in ages. We then went on to cause a little bit of a scene in the ice cream parlor.

Here's Jaime and me in Oviedo, Spain in 2009 eating ice cream annnnnd...

Here we are in Penn Yan, NY in 2011. We can't stay away from each other...or from ice cream.

The girl behind the counter had a mega crush on both Jaime and Joona. She literally giggled as Jaime tried to find which coin was worth 10 cents. Why is it that our coins (apart from the penny) don't have their values on them? Makes life difficult for our lovely foreigners.



We tried to figure out just what it was that made our Spanish and Finnish boys stick out as foreign. We decided as a group that it must be their fitted, fashionable clothes and fabric sneakers. American boys should take a hint. If you want girls to stare at you, dress like my boys here and fake an accent. It'll work every time.

I am so thankful that Jaime and Joona came so far to see where I spend my summers and to spend time with me. Some wonderful Buffalo friends were also able to come and help this a very "American" weekend. Honestly, it made me miss being in Europe but it was a good reminder of the people I met who will continue to be a part of my life no matter where we live.