Week 5: Made Justin a scrub hat

Ever since Justin started working at duke, 7 months or so ago, he has been looking for scrub hats. He has one he really likes and a couple others he uses. Several years ago I got a sewing machine for Christmas that has mostly just been used for crafts up to this point. So, when Justin asked if I could make him a hat I figured it was worth a try.
We went to Walmart to look at fabric and he picked out the Wolf Pack print he wanted. I have never made anything from a pattern nor have I ever made a pattern so I got some help. Katie sews a lot more than I do, so when she came over for dinner the other night (to test out our new deep fryer, this one even has a basket! ) I got her to help me figure out a pattern. She ended up making the pattern while I sat and watched.
The first attempt came pretty close, a little too long but not bad. Today, I made a new hat and it turned pretty good. I'm sure the next one will be better, but that will have to wait until I get more fabric.

Week 4: Part 2, RENT

After a great long weekend in NYC, we came back without seeing a show. Right after we got back I found out that RENT was going to be here in Durham. I had tried to get tickets to RENT last year while I was in NYC, but that didn't happen. So,having never been to the new Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC), we decided to go check it out.
We knew that Chris (one of the few people from H.S. I keep up with, who we like to hang out with whenever we can) was interested in checking out DPAC as well so we decided to go check it out Saturday. We go there too late for the lottery, which we weren't really expecting we would get. But, we did find out that an hr before the show tickets go on sale for 1/2 price. So we called mellow mushroom to order lunch and waited in line for an hour to buy half price tickets. We ended up getting balcony tickets for $24.50! The seats where pretty good, we could see everything well, and the price was hard to beat.
For the show it self, it was great. I had never seen RENT, I had only seen the movie. I really enjoyed. I am really glad we decided to go see it as there is no telling if the show will ever come back to Durham and unfortunately, it's no longer on Broadway.
While we were there we decided to get tickets for another show that will be coming to the DPAC, so that will be another experience I'll write about in March.
No pictures are allowed in the DPAC so later I'll take a picture of my ticket and post it.

week 4: Part 1, The Met

For my second new experience in NYC I was thinking of going to see a Broadway show. So Sunday morning after having breakfast Justin, Diego and I headed to TKTS to meet Helena and her boyfriend to try to get tickets. Once we got there we stood in line for a while and finally decided there was nothing we really wanted to see that we could get discounted tickets for. So, we decided to go shopping. Justin wanted to go to Nintendo World, which was actually really cool. In the middle of the store they have a little museum of old Nintendo video games, which was fun to see. They have every game ever made for Wii, many which I didn't know existed. After Nintendo world, we headed to H&M, and after a little shopping we decided to get some lunch then head to NBC studio to take one of their tours. As the tours leave every 15 minutes we figured if would be no problem to get in, we were wrong by 2 o clock they were sold out of tours for the day. So, after plan a and b failed we decided it was time to come up with something else.
I am not sure why we didn't think of it before, but we decided to go to The Met. I had heard the Met was gigantic and that it would take more than one day to go through it. Even so, I had no idea it would be so big. As it was Sunday we only had a couple hours before the museum closed. Ever since, we studied Egypt in 3rd grade I have been fascinated by the pyramids. So, it was no question that we had to start our tour in Egypt. It was really amazing to see all the mummies, tombs, art, etc. After Egypt we headed to the Armor section, which is what Justin wanted to see. It was really cool. I am not a big fan of guns but all the swords and armors were really interesting. It's amazing how detailed everything was. By this point we didn't have much time left before the museum closed, so we headed upstairs to look at the Monet pieces they had before we had to leave.
Next time I go to NYC I plan on going back and spend more time looking at all the things we didn't really have a chance to see.
After the Met we decided to split up and take a little break before dinner. Justin and I headed back to the hotel to get warm and relax for a little bit. We then went to Dale and Thomas popcorn and M&m world. If you have never had Dale and Thomas popcorn it's a must when you are in NYC, their popcorn is amazing! Our favorite is the white chocolate peanut butter (thanks Abby for introducing it to me a couple years ago!).
We attempted to go eat at Carmine's which Helena and her bf really liked when they had been to before, but the wait was 1.5 hrs at 8:30 so we decided we didn't really want to wait to eat at 10pm. So, we went down the street to John's Pizzeria, which is where I had eaten with Crusade 2 years ago when we went to see Phantom. The pizza was really good and we didn't have to wait. After dinner, we decided to cross off one more thing off Justin's list: Serendipity. I have been to Serendipity several times now but I am always happy to go back to have another frozen hot chocolate. Justin really enjoyed the experience, so did Helena and her bf. It was really great to be in such an amazing city with Justin and have a chance to catch up with Helena who I hadn't seen in almost 13 years! I didn't get a lot of pictures that night but I'll post some as soon as I get them from Helena.
Monday was our day to return home, but we had a couple more things planned before we did. It's amazing how things work out! It just happened that Denise, who is now in Jersey :(, was going to be in the city Monday. So, after we checked out of the hotel we met up with Denise, JJ, and Porter. Porter had never been to the city so we went to Time Square to walk around for a while and then had lunch at Planet Hollywood. I had never been to Planet Hollywood, so it was a fun experience. I don't know that I'll pay that much again for an ok lunch but it was really good to get to see Denise for a little bit. After lunch we walked around some more then Justin and I headed to the airport. If anyone is traveling to NYC I highly recommend Jetblue, or to anyone where else they fly. Because of weather our flight was delayed almost 2 hrs but we did get to sit in the plane and watch tv. We also got to experience our plane being deiced. I don't know how common it is, but for those who don't know what this is I'll explain it. Because the plane had sat for so long, snow and ice had started to accumulate on the plane. So, before we got to take off we had to go to this little area where 4 power wash time things surround the plane and spray it down. It looked and sounded a lot like a really big car wash.
As every trip to NYC I have taken (6 so far) this one was cold and a lot of fun. I got to experience lots of new things, see some great friends, eat some good food and relax. I love the city, but next time, for the first time I plan on going while it's warm!

Week 3: Intrepid Sea, air and space museum

This past weekend I had the pleasure to go to NYC once again for my birthday. Justin and I flew in early Saturday morning and left Monday night. So week 3 and 4 are both new experiences I had in NYC. This was my fifth trip to NYC in 3 years, I love to the city and had the great pleasure to meet up with some great friends. The experience of week 3 was the Intrepid Sea, air and space museum. The Intrepid is an aircraft carrier that has been transformed into a museum
This was one of the things Justin wanted to do while we were in the city so I figured we decided to go Saturday morning. So after getting into the city and meeting up with Diego we headed to the museum. On the way we ate at Market Diner, a cute little dinner right near the museum. The Diner had some of the best french fries I have ever had, and I love french fries! After Lunch we walked a couple more blocks to the museum. Of course, we had to pick the coldest day we were in town to go visit a museum that is mostly outdoors (with the wind chill it was about -12F) . Even with the cold weather and almost frozen toes (aloe socks and below freezing temperatures do not go well together!), it was a great museum. Justin really enjoyed looking at all the air planes and it was cool to get to see what accommodations inside a air craft carrier is like. If you are ever in the city while it's warmer I would recommend the Intrepid.


After the Museum we went to check into our hotel, Hotel Pennsylvania right outside of the Madison Square Garden. I forgot to take pictures of the hotel but we really enjoyed staying there. It was right next to a subway station, in the center of Midtown, clean, comfortable and pretty cheap for NYC. After getting to relax for a little while we got to do something else I hadn't done. I got to meet up with Helena, my best friend from childhood that I hadn't seen in almost 12 years! I also got to meet her boyfriend. (I'll post a picture in the next experience as she was a part of it) I think that is all for experience 3.

Week 2: IBS Intergalactic Bead Show

For several years now I have really enjoyed making jewelry. I have been buying my beads in local bead shops as well as AC Moore not knowing I had other options. I have a couple friends who also share this hobby. Angelique heard about this bead show that was coming to Durham, so we decided she should come to visit and we should check it out. We had no idea what to expect. I have never been to any sort of crafts show or anything of this kind. We figured if nothing else it would be something fun to do and it would give Angelique, Katie and I a chance to catch up as we hadn't seen Angelique since July.
The signs for the show made us a little nervous and we couldn't help but wonder if they couldn't come up with a better name or a better abbreviation.
We were pretty overwhelmed walking in, there were way more choices and seller than we had expected. The prices were amazing, before this show we would get really excited when the local bead store had new things in the $5 clearance wall. We were very excited to find fresh water pearls for as low as $3! We weren't sure how much of a discount the more expensive semi precious stones were, so Angelique and I ended up going to the local bead store to check out their prices. Turns out the prices at IBS were in many cases less than half of that of the local store. So Angelique and I ended up going back the next day to buy more things. We are now saving up to buy the more expensive supplies (like garnet, jade, etc) in the summer show.