"Wait, this isn't a dance class..."

Time is of the essence, my bloggin' peeps! It's time to catch up on weeks 3 & 4! I'd like to title these past couple weeks "spending time with strangers" or - if I wasn't an adult already - "the weeks I actually became an adult."

So to begin...let's go back to those time warner cable trips. But don't click out of this window! This is actually a light-hearted story! About friends! During that first trip of mine, I was literally about #137 in line...not a joke. So I turned to the girls next to me & asked where they got the starbucks they were holding. Then we struck up a conversation & turns out, they were awesome! (If Chelsea & Cameron are reading this, then hey ;) They're twins from Rhode Island, & we had all just moved in that weekend so we bonded over 5th floor walk-ups. By the end of the conversation, we were both kinda looking for a way to ask each other's numbers, but how do you do that?! ... It's like friend-dating! But then we all just kind of blurted it out & I was so relieved. So the next week, my roomies came along & we all went on our first "date" if you will ;) We got thai at our favorite place Yum Yum Too (& by favorite place, I just mean it's all we know) & had such a blast! Then last week, we went over to their place in the UES [Upper East Side] & what did they cook for us? Thai stir fry!

They had an awesome "railroad style" apartment which means you walk thru the kitchen to get to the bedrooms & you walk thru the bedrooms to get to the living room. Crazy layout but tons of space & so nice! Anyway, we had the best time. Hadn't laughed that hard in awhile & are so excited to have made some of our first "real NYC" friends. :)

But they're not the only new peeps we met these past couple weeks! (Also, you better hang on cuz I'm saving the best story for last...totally strategic;) So luckily for me, I chose the world's most in-the-know roommate. Literally, I never know about anything. Ever. And Alekza ALWAYS KNOWS. Because of this, I've gotten to go to a few cool par-tays these past couple weeks. Quick recap:

Das one of our new friends - Chelsea!

Bday Party Numero Uno - We were Alekza's +3's at a birthday party for 2 girls from Apostles - Anisha & Pekky - at a place in Union Square called "Headless Horseman." Super cool place - one of the only stone storefronts in new york - felt like we were in England! Alekza was convinced that this chillax place was about to turn into a dance floor, and I wasn't buying it. But it totally did! Everyone there was so fun, & we had a blast. (Besides the 20+ minutes it took to catch Chelsea a cab. TWENTY.)

Okay, then the next day was DOUG'S BDAY ----

This was the best I could do to capture the view!

Didn't even meet Doug until his actual bday party, but so appreciated the open invitation. Doug was turning 30, and he dun good in planning his party. He goes to Alekza's church as well (Apostles), and his party was literally on-a-ROOFTOP. This night - I will admit - was a pretty cool thing we got to do. Probably one of the coolest nights we've had since we moved here. (Wish Rachel could've gone!!) We danced the night away, and almost didn't even care that we had to stand outside in the rain after midnight trying to catch a cab. In the cold, cold rain. Cuz it was worth it!

Gals from Apostles...sweetest sweetest!

cutie ;) 

So on top of those fun occasions, I've been so excited to grab one-on-one time with some awesome people as well. For one, one of the girls Rachel & I almost tried to live with this summer - Casi! (If you're reading this, then heyyyy Casi;) She is good friends with my good friend Grayson, and I had always heard incredible things about her but never had the chance to meet her...until this week! We met up for dinner at the Chelsea Market, and OH! I just loved that place & that gal. We grabbed thai food (it's almost a joke how much I've eaten this stuff) & caught up on life & new york & all else. It was such a good time. It was so refreshing to finally chat about life with someone who is so like-minded & kind of in the same walk of life as I am. So thankful the Lord placed her in my path!

Also went to the broadway flea market with Rachel, and it. was. awesome. Only wish we had gone earlier! By the time we got there, all the Broadway celebs had long-since cleared out...but it wasn't all bad - people were literally throwing vintage playbills at us! They were trying to raise money for Broadway Cares, so Rachel & I were getting all sorts of amazing playbills for under $1. At one point, a woman literally slid me a stack of playbills and said, "I'll give you all these for a dollar." To which I responded, "I accept." To name a few of our snags: the original cast of Bells Are Ringing, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, War Horse, & a playbill that literally just had Danny Kaye on the front. (I am a Danny Kaye fanatic. Popo the puppet, anyone? A Martin family favorite ;) I even got a copy of You've Got Mail for $1! What? Random? But I didn't argue!

So anyway, after that we visited HillsongNYC with one of my best friends from junior high - Rachel Hull-Ryde! So crazy that we both live in the city now, but SO good to see her. We had a blast with Rachel & her roommate (she met her on "gypsy housing" - a NYC theatre Facebook page - and they just so happened to be completely normal & awesome...PTL, am I right? And her roomie was in the same theatre program as my previously mentioned friend Owen. Small world!)

Here's a pic of my cute roomies to break
up some of the words-ey-ness. ;) 

Also, here's a pic from the night that we all woke up - like clockwork - at 6am in the morning bc we were absolutely sweating. Sweating! Our A/C unit is only in our living room & doesn't circulate much fresh air to our bedrooms. How we went 2 whole weeks without bedroom fans is beyond me, but needless to say, there wasn't much sleeping going on. And then right when we bought fans, BAM! It turned into fall & we didn't much need them anymore! But hey, who's complaining? ;)

We ain't complainin! (That's Alekza on our rooftop:)

Okay, so for the grand "first date" finale:

Something kinda weird happened my second week in NYC. Hahahaha...ah, just thinking about it... So the day I got hired (I promise, I'll get to that eventually!) I wanted to celebrate, but Rachel had class & Alekza had Young Life... so I ventured out on my own. I only got as far as Bryant Park, but that ain't a terrible place to end up. :) So I was scanning my phone for nearby food joints when an Argentinian man in his 30's who is dressed to the absolute nines - suit, tie, & all - walks up to me & asks for directions. (I PROMISE this story is better when you can get the full effect of his accent. Trust me, I must've told it about 374 times by now.) He asks me where "Broadway Dance Space" is. And I, being the seasoned NY actress I am (ha!;) realize he's talking about "Broadway Dance Center" - and I actually know where that is! So I begin giving him directions as he tells me that he's stressed to be running late because he's actually teaching a salsa class that night. But he must not have been too stressed... bc he began to do like a 50 questions situation. Like, "Do you leev around here? Ah, you do?! I love dis area! What do you do? Oh, an actrees?! You do not SAY!" Anyway, when he found out I was an actress, he insisted that I come to this tango class he teaches for free every Friday, especially since they're "going to need extras for a tango movie soon!" ;) Well, those first couple weeks (& even still) I was trying to train myself to have a "just say yes" mentality, so I was like HECK, WHY NOT? I like tango...right? So anyway, he gave me his email address, & I knew he was harmless because...come on...he had on a pant suit & a skinny tie. Oh & also, he mentioned he's in NYC because he's working as a designer for Carolina Herrera. (Like what?! Who are you?) I might not be the most brand-label-savvy girl, but I KNOW that name. So then I looked at my watch & he asked if I had somewhere to be, & I said, "no, you do - a dance class!" So he did his whole European "kiss kiss" thing & was on his way. But then...

I couldn't get a pic that night of Martín, so I got a pic of the 
site of the crime -- Bryant Park (it's so beautiful!)

Skip ahead a couple emails later, & I officially make plans to meet Martín at his office that Friday. So after asking Rachel to say a few prayers, I show up to his office & thank the LORD, it's legit. Like, garment district & all. So he greets me & tells me we're heading to a dance studio first "to practice before class." Okay... Well, we show up to a pub. So I said, "Martín...you told me we were going to a dance studio." And he reassured me that he just liked loosening up before dancing. And he did. For the next hour, I listened to Martín tell tons of crazy - albeit incredibly interesting - stories about his time in NYC, time in Argentina, and dating life in those countries & several more. Those are stories that I would NOT trade hearing for anything, ha! Well, eventually I ask if he's still seeing any of these girls, and he says "No, no, no...I'm seeing new people. You know, like I'm seeing you now..." 

oh...thanks for telling me.

So this was kind of a confusing & yet enlightening moment. So apparently this was a date. I was on a date with Martín. So anyway, beginning to feel a little uncomfortable, I reminded Martín about the dance class. And he said, "oh, oh, yes, we're going to Union Square." So we hop on the subway together, and - as I told my roommates - I was on that train looking around at all the guys in my age-range thinking, "Why is this not a date with you that I'm on right now?" So about 5 stops & 45 compliments later, we stumbled upon a mexican restaurant. This was the moment when everything made sense. We would not be attending a dance class that day. But, in fact, I would be learning salsa lessons from Martín on the dance floor of a mexicano restaurante. And, oh how we danced. Hahaha... I have to admit, this part wasn't all that bad. It was kind of fun! And in the moment, I just kept thinking, "MAN, this is gonna be a good story someday." So I tried my best to actually enjoy myself, and had this not been recently labeled as a date, I would've truly enjoyed my outing with my pal Martín! He's a nice guy! But lo and behold, around hour 3 of this date (3 hours), I regretfully informed him that I needed to head home. So we hopped back on the train, did the whole cheek "kiss kiss" thing again, and I power-walked home like you've never seen. Mainly because I wanted to tell someone this story, but also a little because I was afraid he would casually bump into me at my doorstep someday if he knew where it was.

So that was my date with Martín the Argentinian.

Designer by day, saucy Latin choreographer by night. 

I realize I said I'd tell all about my job in this post, but I just spent 4 hours talking about Martín, so there is no way I'm going to make y'all read any further today!

But I p-r-o-m-i-s-e, next blog post is all about my new job & my newfound adulthood! (Please don't let that drive you away.) Oh and this really cool improv show Victoria took me too! And our first trip to [potentially] the only kolache place in NYC! There truly are some exciting things to come, soooo until next time...

I leave you with a pic of my favorite lunch spot... the
post office (across from madison square garden!)

Sincerely, your could-be-a-salsa-teacher-now-if-I-wanted-to,

Kelsey

Concrete Jungle Where Dreams Are Made Of...

...If your dreams are made of trips to Bed Bath & Beyond. Almost every day. (Bet you're glad you clicked on this post, huh?)

So here at the end of this week 3, I'm going to attempt to catch you up on weeks 1 & 2! So hopefully by next week, we'll be in REAL TIME. (There's a lot going on here in real time. Fasten your seat belts.)

After making it past move-in day, the rest of our time here has been GLORY. Yes, it's been a transition, yes there's been homesickness & yes there's been a realization of the power of budgeting... but truly, we are so fully aware of how much our cups our overflowing, and we love this little apartment we call home! Alekza & I were just talking about how we can't believe Sunday was only our 3-week friendaversary! Living underneath someone's loft bed (or the "downstairs" as we like to call it) bonds you quicker than you'd think! But if there's anything that has bonded us most in our time here so far, it has been the renovation of our home & what that looks like in this city.

It looks a lot like this.

But if you were to zoom in a little closer, you'd see that there came a point where we couldn't tell the difference between the pouring rain & our pouring sweat. Sorry for the visual. Also you'd see that I'm carrying a trashcan full of rain & 3 bags of groceries. And additionally, it always requires walking from the Times Square subway station to our apartment...so like, through Times Square. Where people are all taking group photos, sprawling across the sidewalk and waiting in line to get their caricatures drawn. (But honestly I don't even mind anymore because when you're holding a trashcan full of groceries, you get these looks from tourists like, "wow...they bought groceries. this homely girl must be a new yorker..." Until, of course, we stop on the sidewalk & ask a young girl to take a picture of us.) Really cool, right?! ;)

So besides registering 3 different emails for Bed Bath & Beyond coupons, drilling a stand-alone pantry into our wall (thanks tiff & ken!), & making 3+ trips to Time Warner Cable to get wifi & cable (why did no one tell us that would be SO HARD?), we've been doing a lot of other really fun things...

...liiiike making pic collages, mounting decorative deer heads & building Alekza's loft bed from the ground up -- the most rewarding task I have ever completed:

This is an old pic...but look at that bed!

The makings of our living room collage!

P.s. While assembling Alekza's bed while she was at work & Rachel was at class, I headed down to the nearby hardware store (I randomly have become a pretty frequent visitor) and - if you read my twitter, you already know - THAT'S when I ran into Zachary Quinto - Mr. Spock himself. I did the ultimate double-take and then actively reminded myself "be cool...be cool...you're a fellow artist, right?! it's just a normal day..." (pitch perfect, anyone?;) But anyway, here he is in Glass Menagerie on Broadway right now - which absolutely rocked our worlds, by the way! Victoria, Karina, Rachel & I could not recommend it more highly!

Photos Courtesy of "The Glass Menagerie" website!

And here we are at the show!

Yes, this was a snap chat;)

...to match Victoria's photo with Zachary Quinto

^^ This morning involved waiting in line catching up with these amazing friends, savoring our last moments with Karina before her ToUr DaYz, & grabbing bagels at Junior's - yummmm.

Other fun things we've done... that night we finally got to catch up with our precious friend from Springboard - Jackie Reynolds! Jackie just moved to "IN THE HEIGHTS!" (Washington Heights), and she, too, is going after that theatre dream! :) So naturally, we all decided to grab Shake Shack since Rachel & Jackie had never been! But we decided to head down to the cute lil Shake Shack in Madison Square Park (home of time warner cable). It finally started to get chilly, so this made for the perfect night - in addition to having a blast catching up with Jackie!

Our cutie friend Jackie!

Hmm...what else have we done...
Oh, yeah! Some AUDITIONS!

So, in preparation for moving to NYC, I spent most of July & half of August applying my BRAINS out for jobs in Journalism/copywriting/copyediting (can't remember if I've already mentioned this...) but when none of those brought many results, I decided that maybe that was God's way of telling me to focus in on auditioning while scoring some sort of sweet nannying gig or things of the like! So I immediately started looking out for auditions, and the first one I set my sights on was Oliver at Papermill Playhouse in New Jersey. I was so excited to find out that the audition was at Pearl Studios on 36th St. - a mere 7 blocks from our place! (And also incredibly ironically the same building that my new job is in! ... But more on that later;)

So anyway, there's this amazingly helpful site (thank you thank you, Laura Wetsel, for this golden treasure of information) called Audition Update that has different sections where people give their opinions on working with certain theatre companies, people update when shows have announced callbacks/casting, and - most helpful - people at auditions give play-by-plays of how the morning is panning out: how long the line is, if they're seeing non-eqs, etc. WHAT? It's brilliant, I know! So I read up on how long the Oliver line was & jetted over to Pearl Studios around 7:30am. It was kind of exciting to show up & recognize SO many girls from the Newsies auditions. I gave a few small smiles & nods at some of the girls I recognized - totally smooth - and felt sooo seasoned (as an auditioner, that is;). And who else did I run into? My friend OWEN from Springboard! It was so so good to see a familiar face & catch up with such a fun friend. (Lucky for Owen, the male auditions weren't til 2, so he was like, you know, #20 on the list...whatever.)

Kinda like a sleepover, right? Or a lock-in...in broad daylight...

So I killed time with clif bars, Shauna Niequist's Bittersweet, and when they said they were only at #20 (I was #135), a few girls left to grab some food & I even got to go home & chill for awhile! And YES, twas a very sweet thing. So I came back about 45 minutes later, they collected the first 140 girls' headshots, and then by the grace of God, I was in the last group of 10 that got seen that day! PHEW! After 5 hours, I gave my best 30 seconds of "Blow Gabriel Blow" from Anything Goes, & just like that, I went on with my normal day, ha! But the girls at this audition were incredibly cool, & I got to enjoy some awesome conversations - with mostly recent post-grads! We shared in each other's trials & victories. And gabbed over water & throat lozenges.

Then, the NEXT day (or the day after?) Rachel agreed to attend an audition with me! We went out for "Musicals Tonight" production of Smile about a pageant, and when we arrived at the Actors Equity building (3 blocks from our place!) we realized they were also having auditions for Seth Rudetsky's new show "Disaster! The Musical" so we signed in for that, too! We signed our names in & they told us to be back at 10am...so we went home & napped. Oh yeah, and we ran into this on our way home:

A Katy Perry pre-show on Good Morning America!

When we came back to the audition at 10am & saw how long the wait would be, Rachel & I decided to act like we knew what we were doing & head to Madison Square Park to hit up time warner cable & a few other errands in the meanwhile. When we got back to the audition, we made some friends & waited around for another hour, but eventually our odds looked futile, so most people headed out! (Plus, I had a job interview to be at!) But nonetheless, it was so fun to finally have a friend to do the audition thang with:)

Don't worry...this was pre-nap ;) Make-up DID enter the picture later on...

So anyway, besides these bigger happenings ^^ we've mainly just been exploring our new hood,  trying out every thai restaurant in Hell's Kitchen (especially "Yum Yum" thai...mainly because there are 3 of them on one block?), visiting amazing churches, meeting awesome Baylor Theatre alum at Karina's going-away dinner at the Frying Pan (a boat on the Hudson. um. so cool.) & bonding as roommates over things like...TLC...and PB&J sandwiches... :) Oh, also, our rooms don't have light switches, sooo the mood lighting makes every conversation that much more beautiful... ;) But seriously, we're having the best time. These 3 weeks haven't been without their difficulties, but we are constantly looking at each other in disbelief over how apparent God's provision, goodness & faithfulness has been in our lives. He is continually reaffirming how much we're supposed to be here, and we fall more & more in love with our new home everyday. At church yesterday, we literally almost cried! It's silly, I know! I think so too!

There's still so much more that's been going on that's so exciting! Like how to [attempt to] make friends in nyc, how to visit a gazillion churches & how to use self-control at the Brooklyn Flea Market -- oh wait...we haven't figured that out yet.

Sweet Lekz bought me a cookie from Schmackary's to celebrate
being newly employed! I have a boss! ... Rach was at class :(

Ordered chinese food to our door for din (seamless.com!
oh-ho-ho yes) & watched "You've Got Mail" for Rachel
& Alekza's FIRST TIME! ... 'twas a good night.

But there are just a few updates of this crazy September, & there are more to come!
Most notably: my new job!

Until next time,
Kelsey

Move-In Day & Easy Stuff Like That...

(That whole title was such a big lie.)

So, part of me is excited about beginning this post of hilarity & chaos, but part of me does not even know how I can begin to fully describe the events of Sunday, September 2nd. So here goes nothing...

Moment #1: Driving the Penske...without dad.

I woke up that morning around 8:30am and waited for the signal from the future roommates - Rachel & Alekza - that they were ready for me to begin my 30-minute trek from Queens to Brooklyn. Alekza was a live-in nanny for an awesome Brooklyn family this summer, and our first step was to load all of her stuff into the truck before heading into Manhattan. I was so afeared of driving this dinosaur-of-a-vehicle that I couldn't even bring myself to pull into McDonald's for breakfast. That's right...I went without breakfast & coffee...by choice.

Dumb decision #1. 

So I loaded up the rest of my stuff, locked up the truck and climbed into the driver's seat. Luckily, dad had allowed me to practice driving a little bit the day before so I was feeling quasi-qualified for the task. After a semi-terrifying 20 minutes of playing the Penske-driver AND navigator, I was finally on the home-stretch to Brooklyn. Big moment #2: realizing that the streets of Brooklyn are the width of a peanut. So I popped in the mirrors, said a prayer and sucked in, hoping on my LIFE that I wouldn't hear any scratches. Big moment #3: I spotted a SINGLE parking spot on Alekza's street big enough for the truck. I began to wedge myself into the spot in perfect parallel parking form...until I heard a squeak. The side of my truck was rubbing elbows with the bumper of a car.

Oh. The. HORROR.

I literally had no idea what to do. I mean, what do you do?!? No one taught me how to handle these adult-life situations!!!! So I did what any calm, cool & rational adult would do. I got out of the car & started directing angry New Yorker traffic, "I'm stuck! Just go around me! I'M STUCK, OKAY?" ... Not one of my prouder moments.

Big moment #4: Luckily, I'm a decently sensible driver (I know you're thinking, "HA, WHAT?" But I promise, I'm pretty okay;), so I managed to maneuver myself out of that situation, get into that parking spot and then walked over to check out the damage. And there was none! Praise the LORD! The Penske was scratch-free, and the owner of the other car was the most chill. She came out, shook my hand and we were able to wipe the yellow Penske mark right off her bumper. I'm telling you, the Lord was so with me in that 5 minutes of panic. The girl then re-parked and allowed us to have enough room to load our truck. Everything was going to be okay! (It wasn't until this moment that I was able to realize how tense my body had been for the past 45 minutes. So. Tense.)

And luckily for Alekza...her first time meeting me was in this state of absolute certifiable insanity. But she was able to see past that. ;) (P.s. Meanwhile, Rachel & Alekza had been signing the lease...& little did I know, due to a "This paper isn't notarized!" issue, we almost didn't get our apartment...so, bullet dodged, am I right?)

So we loaded up our truck and headed towards Manhattan! After about 15 minutes of "recalculating," we eventually made our way to the Hugh L. Carey tunnel toll station where they then spotted Rachel's lack-of-seat and asked us to remove a passenger before carrying on our way. Remove a passenger. Yeah, okay, no problem. (Do you know how long it took us to get here!?!) :p So poor lil Rae had to be dropped off at the nearest subway station to meet us at our destination. But if we're gonna be honest here, I left her with the statement, "Trust me. I would rather be getting on that subway right now than staying here in this truck." And oh-ho-ho did I mean it.

We got back on the road, showed the toll workers our "Penske papers," and FINALLY Alekza and I were making our way through the tunnel & onto the island of Manhattan! This was a good moment. We began passing through Lower Manhattan, Greenwich Village & then Chelsea, and besides playing the "get to know you" game, the only sounds that could be heard in our truck were "Oh my gosh! Is this real life? Wait, we live here! HOLY COW, look at all the little New York people!"

^^ This photo was taken by a very relieved and joyful version of myself! Even while still driving that Penske thang! So now for Moment #5: finding our final parking spot. The good news - at least so we thought - is that Sunday parking is free in most places in the city. The only problem attached to this good news is that everybody knows that...so everybody came out to park! It was like...a parking party! And let me tell you, not many oversized trucks are invited to the parking party...

So we finally made it to 43rd & 8th (OUR STREET CORNER!) and were forced to drive around the block when our greatest fear was realized: there was no parking available. & I couldn't tell if Alekza & Rachel fully realized the depth of that unfortunate news at the time. But luckily, about 15 minutes later, we stumbled upon a slightly illegal "unloading zone" space. But I mean...we were unloading, so why not?!

And if any heaven-sent blessings had fallen upon us that day, the most heavenly of all was that our truck was able to remain parked in this spot - for the next 4 hours! Still insanely grateful! Thank you, Lord! The other heaven-sent blessing came in the form of Alekza's two friends from church - Casey & Casey. These guys were native Texans who, also, had recently made the move up north. And they offered to help us move in! I know without a shadow of a doubt that they had NO idea (nor did we) what they got themselves into that day. But they stuck it out, and we quite literally would not have moved in that day without them...& if they're reading this right now, they're thinking, "I know das right." 

I mean, have you ever moved a Penske truck full of furniture to a 5th floor walk-up apartment?

Sounds kinda hard but "like, totally doable," right? Well, apparently it IS, in fact, doable, but it involves the pain and heat of a thousand suns. True, I was able to survive Faith Christian School athletics ;) but even so, this may have been the-most-difficult physical task any of us have ever completed. Even a bag of vitamins can feel like the anchor of a ship when being carried up 5 flights of stairs on a hot day. Rachel was even inwardly chanting Scripture to stay alive. 

"I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO GIVES ME STRENGTH... 

I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO GIVES ME STRENGTH... 

I mean, RIGHT?"

About two hours, 5 water bottles & buckets of sweat later.......we still weren't done. (I had you going there, didn't I?!) It was like The Myth of Sisyphus up in here.

Theatre History & Masterworks sHoUt OuT.

No matter how much stuff we brought up, somehow the truck seemed all-the-more packed! A little discouraging. But then some shirtless man (potentially homeless, but we can't say for sure) who had been unicycling up & down our street all day (come to find out, this is a pretty regular routine) came over & offered to carry something up. We were kinda like, "Oh, no, you don't have to-- BUT OKAY, SURE." Seemed as though he had something to prove, so we handed him some hefty furniture & up he went! Both of the Caseys agree that we might never have finished if not for that man carrying up even just a few pieces of furniture. So, back to the grind we went!

Roundabout 4:15pm, I started getting nervous because I knew the Penske truck either had to be dropped off by 5pm or I'd have to find an overnight parking space for it (in my mind, that wasn't even an option). So we tried to get everything out of the truck & up the stairs fast as possible, but it just wasn't happening. Around 4:55pm, I said "to heck with it," & began brainstorming for parking ideas. Then, around 6pm...

We did it. I mean...We REALLY DID IT!
That truck was empty. 

It was like we all sat there & thought..."Surely this is a mirage?" But it was real life!

All that was left was the sweet, sweet sight of furniture pads.

As we sat peering into our new place dreaming about the Shake Shack we'd eat for dinner that night, I thought, "Surely I can't possibly be stuck with this truck tonight. Surely there's a way out of this." So I made a few Penske phone calls (one of those being a phone call to my dad...who was even more frantic about the overnight-Penske situation than I was, sorry dad!). And I decided to forego Shake Shack and take a gamble: I went to the Penske truck yard anyway! And right as we pulled up to the location, sweaty, weary & praying for this small-but-life-changing-miracle, the miracle of all miracles became reality:

The man was locking up literally the MOMENT we pulled in!

I couldn't make that up if I tried. It was as if God made us move in until the last possible minute so that our arrival to the Penske lot would be that much more of a blessing. AND IT WAS! I'm not kidding...I could have weeped there in that lot. Rachel & I attempted to express to the man what a miracle this was, but I don't think he could ever know! As I dropped those keys in his hand and stepped into a taxi cab home (we were too weak to walk;), that's when I finally knew it. We were moved in, and we were New Yorkers! (Okay, so maybe I forgot to give him the keys to the trunk, so I ended up having to go back the next day, but STILL. It was basically official.)

^^ Recognize this picture? Now does it hold a little more meaning (and possibly a few tears)? That was the taxi ride of glory! We went on to eat our first meal of the day (stupid. decision. I. know.) at 6:30pm, and 2 salads & Alekza's 1 shake shack burger later, we were sitting in our living room. 43rd & 8th ave. Brainstorming about our little place & enjoying the new sounds of our city. Our city.

...And basking in the fact that we'd never have to re-live this day again...

Because we decided we're never moving out. 

So thanks for listening & I hope you can now more fully enjoy sitting in your home at your moved-in-furniture. Now, go grab yourself a soda. You deserve it!

Heck, I deserve it too. Love,
Kelsey

Now for some pics:

yeah, yeah, go ahead & judge me...

Our teeny tiny & sweet little apartment full of so much love & God's faithfulness!
(That was the first night! It's much more organized and home-like now...
but we'll save that for another day, another blog post. ;)

And On The Seventh Day...

...the Lord allowed us some REST. Can I get a PTL? Holy smokes. I don't even know where to begin, nor do I know how many blog posts it's going to take. So let's start...at the end! I'll let you know where we are NOW & get into the shambley deets later.

Guys. We made it.

Starting last Thursday morning at 6:15am, my dad & I began our 24-hour journey from Colleyville, TX, to Manhattan, New York. (Can I just take a sec to say that my dad is getting a "dad of the year" coffee mug for like the next 12 years?) So roundabout 7pm, we pulled into Nashville, TN - that was a good moment. My dad got settled in his hotel, and I waited anxiously in the lobby as my best friend - Mrs. Molly Bolton - and her husband (HUSBAND? Crazy.), Jeremy, picked up my dad & I and took us to an out-of-this-world burger joint called The Pharmacy. I then spent the rest of the night basking in the preciousness of their newlywed home (Jeremy built their headboard, table, bench & coffee table. What? I know, whatever.) & catching up after what seemed like years of separation from Molly Kat.

(My little 5-foot bundle of best friendliness.)

The next morning around 6:45am, Moll handed me a cup of coffee & a batch of cookies (H-O-M-E
M-A-K-E-R), & dad & I were on our way! After one Waffle House trip of heavenly waffledom and about 5 hours of dad's "secular oldies" tunes later, we made it to Dixie's Cafe in Virginia!

(No, Texans, this isn't heaven...this is called "the Northeast.")

Then, about 7 hours of my song choices [and more of dad's Amy Grant & Bread albums] later, we made it to Gabriella's Italian restaurant in Pennsylvania. The preceding conversation went something like this:

"Dad, are you sure we're dressed nice enough for this place?"
"Ha! Kelsey, in this 'seedy' area? I'm pretty confident we'll be overdressed..."

Right. Who knew Gabriella's Italian Ristorante was THE birthday/anniversary/celebratory dinner location of Harrisburg, PA. Well, after about 5 seconds in the door, WE sure did. I have never felt so out of place. I had to go in the bathroom & put my hair in a somewhat coiffed bun situation just to feel like I was high class enough to order off the appetizer menu. I then came back to my dad talking on his CELL PHONE to my mom. At the table. I was like...yes, let's draw more attention. But anyway.

(Not pictured: dad's camo cargo shorts. I won't even show you what I was wearing.)

With about three hours left to go, we passed through PA & New Jersey (where, HELLO, they pumped our gas! In fact...if I'm not mistaken, it is illegal to pump your own gas in New Jersey. Thanks a lot, Texas;) Then around 11:30pm, our night really began: we entered Manhattan, New York. I will never be able to relay to you - on social media or otherwise - the stress that entered my life when our Penske truck crossed the New York state line. I'm typically a pretty cool-headed navigator, but having to guide my dad through New York without letting on that we were "recalculating" every 4.5 seconds officially removed - WITHOUT question - at least 3 years from my life. And don't even get me started on the $13+ TOLLS. People, you ain't seen toll prices til you've driven a truck through the Lincoln Tunnel. (We tried to take a second to enjoy the "Elf" references involved in crossing thru the Lincoln Tunnel, but there was far too much stress involved for me to even relish in that moment. Sorry, dad.)

But just so you know - if you don't have enough cash for the tolls, you can pass through & get billed later. Boy, do I wish that completely common-sensical thought had passed through my brain as I frantically searched my bag chanting, "This is not good! This is not good!" Again, sorry dad. But just you know, saying "It's gonna be okay, Kels!" does not automatically translate in my mind to "We can just get billed later!"

You can never be too specific, people. ;) 

But anyway, we made it! We made it, we made it, we made it. Due to my dad's increasingly aggressive driving habits, I've always promised myself I will only marry a man who is "cool" behind the wheel. But I will say... I have never appreciated my dad's driving skills more than on this trip. He navigated those Times Square streets (yes, a Penske in TIMES SQUARE at midnight) with more grace & skill than I could've dreamed. If we're gonna be honest here... I think my dad was made for the driving streets of NYC. But alas, twas a short-lived reign of glory.

We finally arrived to our Pan American hotel in Queens (I'll spare you the details of the "where do we park this beast" saga ... never a dull moment), said a prayer of THANKS that we were still alive and slept a sweeter sleep than I had in months. 

"So, Kelsey, were you even happy?"

Okay, now that that's over, I know it sounded like a roller coaster... but I have to tell you, this road trip was one of the best things we could've ever done. I had such a good time! I do have a good relationship with my dad, but there's still something to be said about sitting in the cab of a truck with your dad for 24 hours, listening to his music & hearing about what moments in his past made those songs hold so much importance. I know I'm a pretty outgoing individual and love a good chance to talk, but a lot of the time I am much more at ease when I can get someone else talking for awhile and I just get to sit and listen (you might notice me doing this with you every once in a while;). And that's what this trip was like for me. And honestly, it's probably the best thing that could've happened to my dad and my relationship before I left home for good. And for that, I am so so thankful!

So anyway, the rest of our weekend trip was spent looking around with my dad at my new 'hood, imagining how many times I'd get coffee at Lenny's (my FAVORITE coffee shop when I was here for Springboard) & the 84 surrounding Starbucks's (Starbuckses? Whatever.), and then finally taking dad to SHAKE SHACK. Which is a whole half block from my place. #Danger.

Literally popped his collar. MY dad. You gotta do
what you gotta do to avoid that sunburn;)

We ended the night at a delicious restaurant overlooking 3rd ave called Anassa Taverna - aka, my last nice dinner for awhile ;) and then headed back to the hotel to catch the end of the Baylor game (SIC 'EM) & a couple episodes of "King of Queens" ... we watch it every night, but it's a lot more exciting when you're actually in Queens!

Dad headed off to the airport at 5:30am the next morning, and just like that, I became a full adult! But boy, did I have a DAY ahead... "Move-In Day."

(These were happy post-move-in tears...if you can believe it.)

I'll save ^^ that story and SO MUCH MORE that has happened this week for next time! Hope you made it through this one;) And thanks for reading!

Your "finally-a-new-york-blogger!",
Kelsey

All the states we saw! A combo of stress & nighttime caused us to miss the
New Jersey & New York signs... but we'll have other chances. ;)