New York City: Day 1

My mom, grandma, and I ventured to the big apple a few weeks ago to celebrate my 21st birthday, a gift from my grandparents. To sum up our trip in one word would be to call it perfect. We couldn't have gone at a better time or had better weather. If you haven't experienced New York at Christmas time then you must plan a trip as quickly as possible... it's Beautiful! There's no way to describe the many events that happened during our 6 day getaway but I will do my best to share my experience of the city that truly NEVER sleeps! This will be the first post of many :)

Day 1
To start off our trip right, my mom and I nearly missed our redeye out of Cali. The security line was easily 200 people deep and took us 45 minutes to just get up to the scanners. We ran to our terminal, shoved our bags in the overhead compartments (which were already jammed pack beacuse it was a full flight), and took our seats with minutes to spare... no lie, minutes! And to make our rushed start even better, there were several screaming babies on the flight so I got a total of about 30 minutes of sleep.

We landed in Newerk at 6 am east coast time and my mom's cousin cheryl picked us and took us to her house in Jersey City beacuse its not possible to check-in to a hotel at 6 am in case you didn't know!
We had SO much fun with Cheryl, Jimmy, & the Baby (Little Jimmy). I don't think I have ever laughed as hard as I did with them. So many random hysterical events in such a short span of time. One being my mom, cheryl, and me driving around Jersey City at 6:30 in the morning trying to find a coffee truck to get pork roll, egg, and cheese sandwiches... we were successful!

The coffee truck we got our breakfast from

Some pictures of Jersey City...

Me and a HUGE clock

the view of NYC from across the Hudson River

My mom and Jimmy

Me, the baby, and my mom.... it was just a little windy

After a few hours rest, some food, and a shower, my mom and I headed to meet out with my Grandma at the hotel.

The PATH train to NYC with all of our luggage... yet another hilarious event. At this point I was not as knowledgable of the subway systems as I soon became, needless to say we ended up taking the wrong PATH train into NYC. We wanted to go into Times Square but we actually went to the World Trade Center (the COMPLETE opposite side where we should've been) :/ opps!

We did eventually make it to the Marriott and had big plans for that night so we just walked around Times Square for a little while and then headed back to the train station so we could head to Jackson, New Jersey (my hometown) to surprise my mom's best friend Cori at her birthday party :)

Times Square

Macy's

Off to Jersey we go again :)

My mom, Julie, Cori, Jessie, and me at Cori's birthday party :) It was so nice to see my friends and family while in Jersey seeing how I hadn't been back to visit in close to 10 years! Definitely made me realize that I need to go visit WAY more often.

After a long night of celebrating we headed back up to the city to get some rest for day 2... our best friends were coming up in the morning to continue the reunion :)

on the subway back

It's 2 am in this picture.... notice the lights are as bright as ever, cars & taxis still fill the streets, and people are still roaming around! The real city that never sleeps :)

Look who's 21!

That's right people, I am officially 21! I can easily say that this birthday was the absolute best one I have ever had. Thank you to all of the people who made my day perfect :)

My big 21st fell on a Monday this year which made celebrating a little difficult. Sunday night at midnight my mom and I headed to Pechanga to purchase my 1st drink. 

 I decided on a Lemon Drop to start the night. We had a really good time and even won a little bit of money gambling!

On Monday (my actual birthday), all the neighbors headed to Pechanga to celebrate :)

Wednesday brought on my Long Beach celebration with my lovely fam from my old sorority. We had several stops planned for the day with the first being the CSULB bar on campus, the Nugget. After class I met them up at the Nugget and was greeted with 3 girls wearing matching shirts with my face on them, posters, and of course birthday decorations for me to wear.

Must Salute Absolut!

  

My Big Sis and I at the Nugget.

My beautiful car that they had decorated for me :)

 We left the Nugget to head to our 2nd stop at Yankee Doodle for dinner. We played shuffle board, watched the World Series game, and had some very yummy food...

 3rd stop was Murphy's Pub to begin our passports. This pub serves 70 different beers from all over the world. 

 Every time you have one from the list you get a stamp in your passport.

4th stop was Legends where we met up with some of my friends from work.

Our 5th and final stop of the night was at Panama Joes to dance the night away :) 

We had SO much fun and like I said, it was the best birthday anyone could have :) I love my family!

Jimmy Buffett 2010

The Via Saltioville gang ventured to the Jimmy Buffett concert last month for my mom's 45th birthday. Three jam packed cars filled with over 20 people, tons of hawaiian decorations, and even more "beverages" made the way to the Verizon Amphitheater for the concert. We had an absolute blast! Attending his concert has become an ongoing tradition amongst the neighbors... one we plan to continue for many years :)

The "mommas" of the block.

 Family Photo :)

 The birthday girl & her cut out friends. Bobby & Janis weren't able to make it to the concert so we decided to make sure they were there in some form. 

 Happy Birthday Mom!

Cheer Rep 2010

These past 2 weeks have been so busy, fun, and have flown by. Our first day of traveling was extremely long. We got up at 3 am on Saturday to head to LAX and didn't get to Montreal until 9 pm because of all the delays throughout the day. We were exhausted when we finally got there and the very next morning camp began. Monday through Friday were nonstop teaching days for camp number 1. It was very tiring but at the same time very enjoyable. I taught stunts this year which was a nice change from baskets last year.

Wednesday nights were the coaches hang out night. The first week the theme was a traditional Quebec Christmas and the second was through the decades. Both were SO hilarious and fun. Stephania and I weren't exactly prepared for the decades theme so we went as 2010 :)

Thursday nights were pie nights. I was picked by a girl named Allie the first week; however I won the game and was able to pie her in the face :) .... the second week I wasn't so lucky.

 

What a mess!

Friday was the talent show night. Some of the girls performed their talents, the camp counselors did a dance, and the coaches performed a dance to Footloose to end the evening.

On Saturday we had the BIG performance for the cheerleaders' parents where the girls showed off all they learned throughout the week. It was so hectic and tiring but all the girls did great during my stunt rotation. After the girls were all finished with their rotations the coaches performed.

My second trip to Cheer Rep was even better than the first. It was great to see the friends I had made the year prior... we all picked up exactly where we left off. Thanks to all the coaches and cheerleaders of Cheer Rep 2010 for making my little work vacation so much fun!

Canada Bound

Wanna get away? Why yes, yes I do! & what better of a place to go then to Canada? Tomorrow I'll be heading to Montreal to teach a cheer camp. I'll be gone for 2 full weeks so that sadly means no new blog posts for me for a while, but I am very excited to go and will definitely write about my trip when I get back. These 2 weeks will be a much needed vacation from all the craziness. This is the 2nd year I'll be coaching at this camp. The first year was so much fun and I am sure this year will only top last. Who knows, maybe I'll even be on the shirt again? lol

We are literally in the middle of the woods.... TONS of trees, a lake, a grocery store about 30 minutes away, and little to no cell reception. It's definitely not like the cheer camps we have in the states but it's an experience I thoroughly enjoyed and am looking forward to. The Canadian coaches and girls are all extremely nice, I really can't wait to see them again.

The four California Girls that went last year :)

Turtle Cheesecake

Yesterday I decided to make this Ultimate Turtle Cheesecake recipe that I found from the Gourmet Mom on-the-go blog (recipe found here). Needless to say it is now in the "make again" pile. It is SO yummy, very rich, and best enjoyed with a big glass of milk. It's a must try if you like cheesecake, carmel, and hot fudge :)

(photo from Gourmet Mom On-The-Go)