After putting in 78 hours of work in so far this month (60 hours of flying time), I had five days off in a row! Woo hoo! Time to have some fun!
So where did I go? Come on! You know me...I went to NYC! Getting there was going to be a challenge, because everything was booked, oversold, with lots of non-revs. My first choice flight to LaGuardia had three seats open, but 14 non-revs...and I was #10 on the list! But somehow, some way, I ended up with a cabin seat! AFTER the gate agent gave me that seat, I rewarded her with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups! I also had enough for the CPT, FO and all three flight attendants. I think they appreciated the early morning treat - it goes well with coffee.
I don't remember much of the flight. I put my headphones on, turned on my TV, and slept THE ENTIRE WAY. Given that the flight left at 7:00AM, that was a good thing cause I was tired!
When I got to Jen's apartment, I just kind of hung out, watched some TV, napped, and just relaxed. On Friday, she and I did a bit of shopping - she needed khakis and white button down shirts for her new job at the museum. That night, James took us to a Thai restaurant in the neighborhood - the Pad Thai Noodles and Chicken were delicious!!!
Late that night, Jen's friends Jenn and Stacy arrived from Baltimore - they came in for the "Main Event"...Wedding Dress Shopping at Kleinfeld in Manhattan. One of Jen's NYC friends, Liz, joined us as well, and we had a wonderful time shopping for a wedding gown. Kleinfeld is the store where "Say Yes to the Dress" is filmed. They had a sign that they were filming on Saturday, but we did not see any cameras. But we did see all the bridal consultants from the show. Our consultant was Judith - a very nice lady with 25 years at Kleinfeld. Jen showed her some pictures she had printed from the internet, we walked through the gowns displayed for the designer Lazaro's trunk show, and we ended up with three gowns for Jen to try.
The first was nice, but nothing exciting. The second one was much better, but still not "the one." The girls and I had seen the third one in the showroom, and when Jen saw it, she fell in love. It was a size 0, so only a toothpick could have tried it on, so Judith held it up in front of Jen and we all pretty much started crying. It's simple, elegant and gorgeous. That was at the 1/2 hour mark. It was that easy. The best thing is, is that Lazaro was there and made a personalized drawing of the dress for Jen! Jen's first dress fitting will be in 10 MONTHS!
So where did I go? Come on! You know me...I went to NYC! Getting there was going to be a challenge, because everything was booked, oversold, with lots of non-revs. My first choice flight to LaGuardia had three seats open, but 14 non-revs...and I was #10 on the list! But somehow, some way, I ended up with a cabin seat! AFTER the gate agent gave me that seat, I rewarded her with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups! I also had enough for the CPT, FO and all three flight attendants. I think they appreciated the early morning treat - it goes well with coffee.
I don't remember much of the flight. I put my headphones on, turned on my TV, and slept THE ENTIRE WAY. Given that the flight left at 7:00AM, that was a good thing cause I was tired!
When I got to Jen's apartment, I just kind of hung out, watched some TV, napped, and just relaxed. On Friday, she and I did a bit of shopping - she needed khakis and white button down shirts for her new job at the museum. That night, James took us to a Thai restaurant in the neighborhood - the Pad Thai Noodles and Chicken were delicious!!!
Late that night, Jen's friends Jenn and Stacy arrived from Baltimore - they came in for the "Main Event"...Wedding Dress Shopping at Kleinfeld in Manhattan. One of Jen's NYC friends, Liz, joined us as well, and we had a wonderful time shopping for a wedding gown. Kleinfeld is the store where "Say Yes to the Dress" is filmed. They had a sign that they were filming on Saturday, but we did not see any cameras. But we did see all the bridal consultants from the show. Our consultant was Judith - a very nice lady with 25 years at Kleinfeld. Jen showed her some pictures she had printed from the internet, we walked through the gowns displayed for the designer Lazaro's trunk show, and we ended up with three gowns for Jen to try.
The first was nice, but nothing exciting. The second one was much better, but still not "the one." The girls and I had seen the third one in the showroom, and when Jen saw it, she fell in love. It was a size 0, so only a toothpick could have tried it on, so Judith held it up in front of Jen and we all pretty much started crying. It's simple, elegant and gorgeous. That was at the 1/2 hour mark. It was that easy. The best thing is, is that Lazaro was there and made a personalized drawing of the dress for Jen! Jen's first dress fitting will be in 10 MONTHS!
Saying "YES" to the dress was relatively easy!
Stacy, Liz, Jen, and Jenn After a Successful Wedding Gown SearchWe celebrated by getting some cupcakes, then having lunch at a Cuban restaurant. Later, we played "Apples to Apples" on Jen's 11th floor patio - there was a nice breeze up there that made the hot, muggy day bearable!
Our next event was to meet Dan's family - Dan is one of Jen's good friends, and his family lives in NJ. His parents and I are Facebook friends, we "chat" every so often, and we've been dying to meet! They were coming into the city for Dan's Off-Broadway debut in "Yearbook - A High School Musical." But first, we all met at the Olive Garden in Times Square for dinner! We got a Mafia Room all to ourselves and enjoyed a wonderful meal with great conversation and good friends.
Momma Moore and Momma Navas Finally Meet!
The Navas Family - Sandy, Luis, Judy, and Dan
Jen's Friends - Liz, Stacy and Jenn
Next up was Dan's musical. Let's just say that he stole the show. It was held in a very small theater, with the audience consisting of friends/family of the cast members. I liked the ensemble songs, but not all the actors were as good as Dan. I think he's got a bright future - he has the talent and the personality to succeed!
The following day, James joined "the girls" for brunch at Serendipity, where the frozen hot chocolate is TO DIE FOR. We also visited Dylan's Candy Bar to pick up a few sweets to take with us to the Pride Parade that was being held down 5th Avenue. I got to attend four years ago when Jen attended CAP21, so I had "been there, done that" already. But it was definitely interesting to see this year's parade...
Men Dressed up like Little Girls
Men Dressed up Like Sailors
Men Dressed up as Ice Cream Cones
And Men Dressed up as All Sorts of Things!Sadly, I had to leave that evening so that I had a day at home to pull my act together before it was time to be back on duty on Tuesday. I decided to fly out of JFK on JetBlue - all went well until I got there. The flight was delayed by an hour. Then two hours. Then our gate changed. Then we were delayed another hour. Then our gate changed again. We finally took off FIVE HOURS late. All the cabin seats were full, so I got to sit on the flight attendant jumpseat - thank goodness! My only problem is that it was now 12:30AM and I had to stay awake for the next FOUR hours of flying!
Fortunately, the crew was very gracious to me, and we talked about all kinds of things during those four hours when they weren't doing their duties...we compared airlines, procedures, benefits, and we even discussed serial killers! Before I knew it, we were on the ground in Denver and I got to drive home. It was now 3:15AM and I SHOULD have just taken a cat nap in the car. But Noooooooooo. I had to just start driving. I did stop a couple times to get a donut or a bottle of water or just to walk around. I was exhausted. I finally got home at 5:15AM and I don't even remember crawling into bed!
It was a great trip - we got a lot accomplished, and I'd play "The Non-Rev Game" again if it meant I could do it all again!
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