Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

My favorite Christmasy poem, by Robert Frost.

Manicure Monday: Essie Winter/Holiday

Gasp, I almost missed Manicure Monday!

Today's polishes are a little random...they aren't all from the same collection because I just bought what looked prettiest to me at the time.  I have a polish from Essie Winter 2010 collection, Essie Winter 2011 collection, and Essie Luxeffects (Holiday) 2011 collection.

This is Brooch the Subject from Essie 2011 Winter collection.  When I saw this bottle in the store, I fell in love with it.  But I changed my mind once it was on my nails.  It's so close to my skin color that it gives me mannequin hands, and I'm just not crazy about the way that looks.  I guess it would be good in a situation where I wanted to wear polish that wasn't too noticable.  Not too much to say, other than that it's a beige creme.  The formula was perfect, as usual.  I love Essie's formula.

This is Going Incognito from Essie 2010 Winter collection.  I think this is one of my favorite polishes of all time.  It's an emerald green creme.  Again, perfect formula.

Here's one more picture of Going Incognito.  It looks even prettier in the sunlight!

I had been searching for Essie Shine of the Times for a long time.  It's part of their Holiday 2011 Luxeffects collection, but I couldn't find it anywhere because it's been such a popular color.  My favorite nail polish store finally got it back in stock last week and I snagged a bottle.  It's a flakie glitter topcoat.  The best thing about this polish is that it shows up differently depending on the color you layer it over.  My favorite nail blogger Scrangie suggested layering it over white, so I had to try that.  Here's a link to her Essie Luxeffects post.  Her Shine of the Times pictures are waaaay better than mine.

This is the polish I chose to put under Shine of the Times.  It's Sally Hansen Polar Bare, a semi sheer white.  I love this color even by itself, but it's really pretty with the Essie top coat.

My pictures just do not do this polish justice!  Only my pinky really shows the fun color of the top coat.  This is one coat of Shine of the Times over two coats of Polar Bare.  Shine of the Times is an iridescent flakie glitter that shifts between red, pink, orange, and green.  I'll post some pictures of Shine of the Times after I put it over a darker color.  The flakie glitter really pops over black, dark blue, and purple.  It's more subtle, but really beautiful and wintery over white.  It reminds me of sun shining on snow.

Billy Elliot...is closing. CLOSING. WAAAAH!

As promised in the Newsies post, this is my rant about Billy Elliot closing.

It was embarassing because I was at a Starbucks when I first read the news on my phone, and I almost broke down right there in middle of my Chai latte.  Why, why, WHY?  I know it's about money...but this is one of the best shows on Broadway.  In my opinion, this show is the perfect formula for a Broadway musical.  The songs are amazing, the dancing is incredible, the script is well written.  It's hilarious and sad and full of heart and hope. (I sound like a commercial.  No one's paying me to say this, I swear!)  It's heavy on ballet and tap, but there are also elements of modern and jazz.  And the majority of the dancing is performed by children who range from about five to thirteen years old.

I've seen the show several times but my favorite Billy (by far) was Trent Kowalik.  He's from Long Island, but he nailed that British dialect.  He performed in the West End Billy Elliot first, and then was one of the three original Billys when it opened on Broadway in 2008.  He and the other two Billys (David Alvarez and Kiril Kulish) all won the Tony Award for best actor in a musical in 2009.  Trent was chosen to perform the "angry dance" at the 2009 Tony Awards, and it isn't hard to see why.  I don't know how such a young kid managed to channel so much emotion into a tap dance.  Do yourself a favor and watch this if you haven't already seen it...

Sadly, he's too old to be Billy now. His last performance was on March 7, 2010.  Thank heavens for YouTube!

Billy Elliot is playing at the Imperial Theatre through January 8, 2012.  If you're here and you haven't seen it, you really should go.  The national tour is still going on too, so if you don't get to see it on Broadway, all is not lost.

What's that?  You want one more Billy Elliot video?  Okay, okay, I'll help you out :)



This is a collection of various clips of the show.  It was filmed live during one of Trent's Billy performances.  It's a little hard to grasp the greatness when you're watching random clips out of context of the story, but it's still good stuff.  (There's an eensy bit of language in one of the clips, so maybe don't watch if you're easily offended)  This video is a little long, so if you don't want to watch the whole thing, you should skip to 5:20 for "Electricity."

Manicure Monday: LA Splash

A while back I was at a Duane Reade and saw a display of polish I had never heard of before!  So of course I had to make a purchase :)  I have now discovered LA Splash polish and I'm kinda in love with it.  I've never seen it anywhere other than Duane Reade (NY based drugstore) but I'm sure they sell it at other places.  I'm going to keep my eyes out for it...

First up: Diamonds.  This is a holographic, silver glitter in a clear base.

Blurry so you can see the pretty holographic-ness

I wanted to layer it over red, but didn't like the way it looked.  The glitter is so densely packed that the red barely showed through.  So I painted a layer of a red jelly polish over it.

This is one coat of Essie Limited Addiction painted over LA Splash Diamonds.  Actually, Limited Addiction isn't a true jelly, just a sheer-ish red.  Diamonds would sparkle through a true jelly even better, but I still think this looks pretty.  I love red sparkly for Christmastime!

And this is LA Splash Glitz & Berry.

The name kind of speaks for itself on this one.  It's a berry colored jelly polish loaded with glitzy silver and red glitter.  The color on this one seemed to shift with what I was wearing (more pink with my pink clothes and more red with my red clothes).  I would call the color cranberry or raspberry.  This one is also perfect for Christmas :)

Baylor Football in NYC

Last Saturday I went to a Baylor football viewing at the Mason Jar in Midtown East.  My parents were shocked to hear that I voluntarily watched football, and I have to admit, I even shocked myself a little bit.  I decided to go because some of my Baylor Theatre friends (who live here too) decided it would be a fun way for us to have sort of a mini reunion.  It was such a fun night.  I saw some friends I haven’t seen since I graduated and some friends I’ve kept up with but just don’t see often enough.  I did do more socializing than game watching, but I watched enough to know that we destroyed UT  :)

The Mason Jar is sort of your run of the mill, upscale-ish bar, but still fun.  They serve Southern style cuisine—maybe that’s why the Baylor Alumni group picked it?  I didn’t order any food, but my friend Hillary had Sweet Potato and Andouille soup.  She said it was really good and it looked amazing!

Anyway, I love making New Year’s resolutions and I’ve already started on next year’s list.  One of my new resolutions is to see more of my Baylor friends who live in NYC.  I really need to make more of an effort to spend quality time with these lovely people.  They were my family in college and I miss seeing them every day.

Yay resolutions, football, Baylor theatre, and NYC!  SIC 'EM!!!

Dennis Quaid on The Ellen Show

Sometimes in the evenings instead of being productive, Amber likes to distract me by making me go to her room to watch YouTube clips from The Ellen DeGeneres Show.  Apparently Ellen likes to set up hidden cameras and send out celebrities who don't mind making fools of themselves.  There are some pretty hilarious clips, but this one is ridiculously amazing.  I know this is completely random and has absolutely nothing to do with my life...or New York...but this is too funny not to share.

Just try to watch this without smiling.

Shake Shack

After church on Sunday, Amber and I went to Shake Shack to grab lunch.  I don't think I've ever had anything more delicious.  I like hamburgers just as much as the next person, but I’m not hamburger crazy.  And I normally don’t even like milkshakes, but I can’t get over the amazingness of Shake Shack's food.  They are most famous for their burgers and shakes, but they also have hot dogs, cheese fries, frozen custard, ice cream sodas, and pretty much anything you can think of that might cause cardiac arrest.  There are several locations in the city, but we went to the Upper West Side location, which is near the Museum of Natural History (I've also been to the one in Midtown West--it's just as good).  It was super crowded and we stood in line for about half an hour, but it was totally worth it.  I've heard all the locations can get crazy busy, so if you're going with a group and want to eat in the restaurant, it's best to avoid the lunch and dinner crowds.

They have a different custard flavor every day of the week (plus chocolate, vanilla, and peanut butter available every day).  You can enjoy the custard plain, have it mixed with candy, or made into a shake.  I think I'll have to come back one Wednesday for a Christmas Cookie shake...

The atmosphere is cute and cozy.

They have fun merchandise, too.  I love the "small fry" onesie!

I forgot to take a picture of the food before I inhaled it...but trust me, it was perfect!  

Yay Shake Shack!

Manicure Monday: OPI Muppet Collection

Yay, it's Manicure Monday again!  :)

I'm going to show you guys two polishes from OPI's Muppet-themed holiday 2011 collection.  I really like all of the muppet polishes, but ended up only getting my two favorite...and they are both amazing.  And I also have one lone polish from Nicole by OPI's glitter holiday 2011 collection.  I wanted to get more from that collection but can't seem to find them anywhere!  I finally found this little guy sitting all alone on the shelf at a Target in Connecticut. 

Here they are!

This is Excuse Moi!, named after Miss Piggy, of course!  It's a bubblegum pink sheer-ish base, loaded with multicolored glitter.  This picture does not do it justice.  It is so amazing in person.

Warm and Fozzie is named for Fozzie Bear (obviously).  It is a coppery brown foil finish, with some pink and green shimmer (if you look really close).

And this is Snow-Man of My Dreams, the lone Nicole by OPI polish.  It's sort of like the blue version of Excuse Moi! except the glitter is a little smaller.  It's a sheer blue base with blue and multicolored glitter.  Super fun and wintery!

Happy December!

I wanted to do a crafty post today and show some of what I've been knitting over the past few weeks...but I can't because I'm giving them as Christmas presents.

So instead, I'll just do another Christmasy post :)  I am so excited that it's the first day of December.  Christmas is just around the corner!

I got this cutesy Christmas ring at Target last week. 

It's metal, and looks just like a gift wrap bow.

Amber's mom gave us each a sparkly, real mini Christmas tree to take home afer Thanksgiving! It's covered in silver glitter...so pretty!  I made the picture on the right blurry so you can really see the sparkles.

And last but not least, look what was on sale on Black Friday at Target!  Only $5!  I can't believe I didn't already own this, because I am all about Christmas movies...

Newsies

I missed the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade this year, so I've been on YouTube catching up on the Broadway performances I missed.  Of course I love them all (even Spider-Man...go ahead and hate, haters) but ohmygosh, NEWSIES!  It was as good and better than I was expecting.  I seriously cannot wait for this to open.  I was sad that I didn't get to see it when it was at Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey, but now I don't have to be!  I'm a longtime fan of the movie musical and am so glad it's finally coming to Broadway.  What's better than fifty tap dancing teenage boys?  Nothing, that's what.  I'm going to need some children tap dancers in my life since Billy Elliot is closing, but I'll rant about that later...(Does that make me seem a little creepy?)...Anyway, I'm especially excited that they switched the reporter role from male to female.  The boys don't need all the good roles.

Of course, there's no singing Christian Bale in this production. 

I just felt the need to include this picture because, well...isn't it obvious?  Drool.

It's set to open on Broadway on March 15th at the Nederlander Theatre.  Right now it's only supposed to run through June 10th, but let's hope it's super popular and becomes an open ended run.

If you missed the parade, you should definitely check out the video.  And if you saw the parade, you'll probably want to check out the video again :)  So here it is!

The Temper Trap

Advertising definitely works on me...as soon as I see a commercial I like I feel the need to run out and make a purchase...probably not the best thing :/

Anyway, about a year ago I started seeing this amazing Diet Coke commercial.  The commercial is beautiful, and a bit inspiring to me.  I've always liked Diet Coke, so that's not really the part of the commercial that got to me.  I was obsessed with the song!  I shazam-ed it on my iPhone and discovered it was "Sweet Disposition" by The Temper Trap.  They are a relatively new Australian band, formed in 2005.  I ended up purchasing their debut album, Conditions, on iTunes and love it so much.  Every song is awesome, but I especially like "Sweet Disposition," "Love Lost," and "Down River."  "Sweet Disposition" is also featured in the film 500 Days of Summer.  And "Love Lost" plays at the end of No Strings Attached (a film I definitely don't recommend).  It's the kind of album that's great to listen to on your iPod as you're walking down the sidewalk...makes you feel kind of epic...even if you kind of aren't :)

Here's the commercial that started my obsession.  Enjoy!

Manicure Monday: Essie Fall 2011

Today I have two polishes from Essie's Fall 2011 collection, and one random Essie color.  The first two are from Essie's fall handbag inspired collection.  The third is just a pretty polish from Essie's retail collection that came out earlier this year (Spring, I think).  I love all three of these polishes so much!  Essie's formula is perfect and these are all easy to apply.  Even though they're easy to apply, I still managed to do a sloppy job.  These are not the greatest pictures, so sorry about that.

This is Carry On.  It's a very basic dark purple creme, but still super pretty.  I took this picture after I had already been wearing it for a few days, so it looks pretty scuffed up.

Very Structured is a creme that lives somewhere between burnt orange and brown.  In real life it isn't as orangey as it seems in the picture...I like this one a lot.

Master Plan is a beige/gray that looks almost lavender in some lights.  I love it and have been wearing it all fall.  One of my favorite polishes ever!



Fall Wreath

My darling friend Alicia got me hooked on Pinterest a few months back.  I saw this great idea for fall wreaths on the site, and decided to try and make my own. 

My favorite was this one, by blogger Craftberry Bush:

Here is the link to her post about this wreath: http://craftberrybush.blogspot.com/2011/09/moment-of-clarity.html



I decided I had to try and recreate this for my front door...but then my wreath hanger didn't fit on my front door...so it's on my dining room door instead.

She made hers from coffee filters dyed in coffee, but I just dyed mine in watered down brown paint.  It was pretty easy and super fun to make.  Mine didn't turn out nearly as cute as hers, but I still like it :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Sorry I didn't get to blog yesterday.  I spent most of the day getting ready to travel to Connecticut.  I left out of Grand Central station at 5pm and let me tell you, that place was a mad house!  And it's going to be a short one today, just wanted to say a little something about my Thanksgiving...

I am very blessed, because for the third year in a row Amber's family took me in for Thanksgiving.  We just finished eating, and I am stuffed.  Amber's mom went all out and I am in a delicious tryptophan coma.  

This year I have so much to be thankful for.  My family and friends are all happy and healthy, which is definitely the most important thing.  I am loving my life in the city, and feel like things are really starting to fall into place.  I am going to be in Texas in about 3 weeks, and that always makes me thankful :)  I have a job, a home, and plenty of food to eat.  Today I'm trying to think about all the people who aren't so fortunate.  Sometimes I don't realize how good I have it.

I hope you've all had a blessed year and a very happy Thanksgiving!

Tony Awards - In the Heights

Okay, I stayed up waaaay too late last night watching Tony Awards performances on YouTube.  I couldn't help it, it's impossible to just watch one. 

Anyway, I re-fell in love with "In the Heights."  It's the 2008 Best New Musical winner about my neighborhood, so obviously I love it for that reason...but mostly I just love it because it's awesome.  It opened in 2008 while I was still at Baylor, and I obsessively listened to the cast recording until I actually moved to the Heights in 2009.  When I finally saw it on Broadway, it didn't disappoint, and I think I saw it four times before it closed this past January.

It's a great story about acceptance and respect for others, and learning to love yourself and your life right where you are.  And the dancing and music are amazing.  Even though you can't see it on Broadway anymore, you can get a sense of how terrific it is through their Tony Award performance.  And don't worry, sometimes I wander around my neighborhood dancing and singing these songs, just to keep the spirit alive.  Just kidding...kind of :)

PS-The non-equity tour of "In the Heights" just started in October and I'm sure they are incredible.  They'll be performing in Tyler at the UTT Cowan Center on December 3rd.  All my east Texas people should go see it!!

http://www.intheheightsontour.com/

Manicure Monday: OPI Touring America

My nail polish obsession really took off with OPI's Spring 2011 collection, because the theme was "Texas."  So I was really excited to see the Fall 2011 line, "Touring America."  Unfortunately, it turned out to be my least favorite of all the fall collections.  I only ended up buying three of the shades because they all seemed kind of boring to me...They're still great colors and apply really well, but I guess I just like bright, summery colors more than the muddled, earthy fall colors.

Anyway, here are the three I ended up with! 

A-Taupe the Space Needle

-an earthy-looking brown creme

Uh-Oh Roll Down the Window

-an army green creme (with a disgusting but funny name)

Road House Blues

-a dark (almost black in some lights) navy blue creme.

Definitely my favorite of the collection.

Time Warner Center at Christmas

It really is beginning to look a lot like Christmas!  I was in the Time Warner Center last night and saw that they've already put up their enormous Christmas stars.  In my opinion, this is one of the most beautiful Christmas displays in the city, and there are a lot to choose from.  These stars hang in the middle of the shopping center and are synchronized to change colors with the Christmas music.  Definitely worth a stop if you are in the area during the holiday season!

ABC's of NYC

I wish I could take credit for this cute photo idea, but I can’t.  I saw a similar project in an issue of DIY magazine and decided to give it my own spin with the ABC’s of NYC.  I can’t seem to find the issue that has this particular craft, but if I find it I’ll update this post with that info…

I got a cheap black frame from Michael’s and cut a piece of white poster board to fit inside.  Then I took ABC stencils and spaced and cut them out evenly in the frame.  I thought of an iconic New York symbol to go with each letter and then found a black and white picture of each to go behind their respective letter.  There were a few letters that didn’t have a good picture, so I filled those in with red scrapbook paper.  I think it turned out pretty cute!

A-     is for apple (couldn’t find a normal looking picture!)

B-      is for bridge (in Central Park)

C-      is for Chinatown

D-     is for dance

E-      is for Empire State building

F-      is for ?

G-     is for Grand Central Station

H-     is for Hudson River

I-        is for I Heart NY

J-       is for jazz (that’s a picture of the Apollo Theatre in Harlem)

K-      is for ?

L-       is for Lady Liberty

M-   is for musicals (of course!)

N-     is for nighttime skyline

O-     is for Opera

P-      is for ?

Q-     is for Queensboro Bridge

R-      is for Radio City Music Hall

S-      is for subways

T-      is for Times Square

U-     is for Upper West Side (my favorite neighborhood)

V-     is for view

W-   is for Washington Heights (my neighborhood—that’s the George Washington Bridge)

X-      is for ?

Y-      is for yellow taxi cabs

Z-      is for Zabars

Meet Scooter!

WARNING:  This is a crazy cat lady-ish post.  Below are many pictures of my cat.  There's still time to turn back.  :)

In early July I was at the East Harlem Target (I’m pretty much obsessed and there every weekend…it’s so much nicer than the Bronx Target!) and decided to also go into PetSmart to look at the adoptable cats.  I immediately saw, and fell in love with Scooter.  He was the only orange cat, and I am a total sucker for orange kitties.  I really wanted to adopt him, but knew I had to wait because one of my roommates was allergic to cats.  So I snapped a picture for remembrance but basically tried to put him out of my mind.

Scooter in his PetSmart cage

In late August, my allergic roomie decided to move out.  I was sad (and still am) because we loved living with her, but since she left, I decided to go ahead and adopt a cat.  On a whim I checked the website of the adoption agency that Scooter was a part of, Anjellicle Cats Rescue.  I couldn’t believe it, but he was still available for adoption, and living in a foster home (all PetSmart animals were relocated during Hurricane Irene).  I put in my application, went to visit him, and a week later had him in my apartment!

His story is kind of sad and kind of amazing.  His owners of three years took him to Animal Care and Control (the NYC kill shelter) because they couldn’t afford to take care of him anymore.  He was put on the shelter’s kill list, and was supposed to be put to sleep on June 29^th.  For some reason, they skipped him, and he was rescheduled to be put down on June 30^th—and that’s the day Anjellicle Cats Rescue saved him!  Anjellicle Cats is an amazing organization.  They save cats from the euth list and are “no kill” which means all cats rescued by them stay with the organization until being adopted.  If you are in NYC and want to adopt a cat, I highly recommend going through them.  They are wonderful! 

It took Scooter a while to really trust me once he arrived, but he is doing so great.  He is so funny and has quite a strong personality.  If he thinks I’ve missed breakfast or dinner time, he lets the whole neighborhood know about it—he has a very powerful meow.  He is always sitting at the front door when I come home from work, and even though he hates being held, he’s usually so excited to see me that he’ll tolerate it for a few minutes :)  He is enormous—14 pounds, but not fat at all…it’s sort of like living with a little lion.

Caught him red handed

He watches Glee every Tuesday

If I'm trying to work on something, you can bet he'll be right in the middle of it

I just love him!  Thanks, Anjellicle Cats Rescue!



Christmas Decorations

Okay, okay, I know it isn’t even Thanksgiving yet…but I am in the Christmas spirit!  I can’t help it!

Christmas is definitely my favorite time of year.  1. I’m a Christian, so it obviously has spiritual significance to me.  2. There is no better time of year for knitting and crafting than Christmastime.  3. Christmas always means I get to go home and spend time with family and friends in Texas.  As much as I love New York, I think Texas will always feel like home.

This year I decided to make at least a small effort to decorate my apartment.  And since I’m going to Texas in less than five weeks (yay!), I wanted to go ahead and decorate super early so I could enjoy it as long as possible.

Amber and I went to Target last weekend and went a little Christmas crazy.  We got a tree, lights, ornaments, and garland.  Then we decorated while we watched Home Alone...gosh, I love that movie..."Look what you did, you little jerk."  Never gets old :)

This was the cheapest tree, only $20!  Of course, you get what you pay for...it's pretty scraggly.  The box said 6ft, but it's only just over 5ft.  We put it on an end table to make it a little bit taller.

Living room window garland

I even did a little decorating in my room!  This dainty jingle bell garland is also from Target.
I like it so much I might just leave it up year round.

Merry (very early) Christmas!

Voice Lessons

Voice lessons in NYC can run anywhere from $70-$250 an hour.  On my babysitting budget, that’s just not something I can do, but voice lessons are just something I need to do for my career.

I had been shopping around for a voice teacher for a long time, and kept ending up on the New York Vocal Coaching website.  Everything they talk about on the site was exciting to me, and I knew I wanted to study there.  There is a tiny part on the website that talks about scholarship opportunities for students with an extreme need and an extreme passion for singing.  After wrestling with it for a few days, I decided to go ahead and apply.  I wasn’t really expecting anything to come of it, so I was thrilled when I found out that I had been awarded a scholarship!

Yesterday was my first voice lesson, and it exceeded all my expectations.  My teacher is supportive, encouraging, and incredibly knowledgeable.  Our lesson was an hour long, and I feel like he presented me with enough challenges to keep me busy for ages!  I am so excited to see how I grow as a performer over the coming months.

Manicure Monday

I have recently turned into a bit of a nail polish fanatic.  Earlier this year I decided to start eating healthier, which meant cutting back on my candy intake.  I have a major sweet tooth and candy was my biggest weakness.  So I decided anytime I had the urge to buy candy at the store, I would use the money to buy a bottle of nail polish instead.  I like to think of it as non-fattening candy for my nails :)  Well, I guess I used to buy a lot of candy, because I have a huge (and growing) nail polish collection.

So I think I’ll use Mondays to show off my nails!

Since it is autumn for another month, I'll show you guys some of the Fall 2011 polish I've acquired...

Here are three polishes from Zoya’s Smoke and Mirrors collection:

  Zara is an olive green with tiny gold fleck glitter.  It's so pretty, and I think it is my favorite polish of the fall.

Neeka is a grayish-blueish-purple with the same gold glitter as Zara.

And last, but not least, Jem is a gorgeous, dark, jewel-toned purple.

Central Park

On Tuesday, I babysat all day long.  The boy I babysit (I’ll just call him “B” for the sake of privacy) and I went bird watching in Central Park.  His class is doing a unit on birds and he is obsessed with bird watching.  He is seven years old and extremely intelligent.  Animals are his area of expertise (along with chess, guitar playing, and The Beatles) and he is filled with bird trivia.  He always tells me animal facts that I doubt are true…and then I google them and find out that he is always right.  The other day he informed me that Peregrine Falcons are the fastest animal on the planet, reaching speeds above 200 mph when dive bombing their prey.  I mean, that sounds totally made up, right?  I argued with him, saying everyone knows that cheetahs are the fastest animals.  Long story short, he’s correct again.  I googled it, and in 2005, a man named Ken Franklin recorded a Peregrine Falcon diving at a top speed of 242 mph.

Anyway, we decided to head to Central Park to try and see some birds.  He wanted to go to the Ramble, a part of Central Park famous for bird watching, but it was closed.  So we settled on visiting Belvedere Castle, the Alice in Wonderland statue (we just watched the movie), and the sailboat pond.

Belvedere Castle
(image taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belvedere_Castle)

Belvedere Castle is cool and everything, but the statue and the boat pond were the highlight of my Tuesday. 

Alice in Wonderland statue
(image taken from http://www.flickr.com/photos/ruthanddave/42257595/)

The Alice in Wonderland statue is located at East 74^th street, just inside the park, and it’s so cool!  It’s a must see if you have kids in the city.  It  includes many of the characters from the book; Alice, of course, along with Dinah, the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, the dormouse, the Cheshire cat, and the caterpillar.  It’s huge and more like a playground than a statue.  Kids are allowed to climb all over it, and B had a lot of fun doing just that.

Sailboat Pond
Just to tie it back to bird watching, see the smaller building with three windows in between the two taller buildings?  There is a tiny dark spot on the arch of the top, middle window.  It's a Peregrine Falcon nest!

The sailboat pond is right beside the statue and it’s awesome too!  People of all ages come here to sail their toy boats through the pond.  We were sitting on the edge of the water, watching the sailboats, ducks, and falling leaves, when it happened.  I had one of those amazing New York moments, where I look around and realize how completely happy I am to live in such an interesting and beautiful place.