if i die tell mindy kaling i love her

one of my favorite things about living in new york is how often people i love come to visit! last week my friends alexis and naomi came to stay with me and i had the best time catching up with them and playing tour guide. i met alexis and naomi when all three of us worked together in the library at BYU, and we quickly bonded over our mutual love of beyoncé, celebrity gossip, junk food, and feminism.

we packed in a whole lot of sightseeing—the high line, MoMA, met, brooklyn bridge, 9/11 memorial, central park, and madison square park, among other things. FYI, that beautiful pizza above is the bee sting (soppressata and honey) pizza from roberta's. yum. this was the first time i went up to the metropolitan museum rooftop, and it is truly stunning! the view is incredible and since the met is pay-what-you-wish, it's a lot cheaper than the observation decks in town. one night we managed to get rush tickets to the new musical, finding neverland, and ended up in the front row! the show was both magical and moving, and i highly recommend it. alexis was practically in tears at the stage door meeting matthew morrison because i'm pretty sure she's the only person still watching glee.

the best part of the weekend, by far, was going to see mindy kaling at bookcon. i've been obsessed with mindy kaling forever—kelly kapoor fans represent—so when i saw that she was doing a panel here in new york i knew i had to be there. luckily, alexis and naomi also love mindy more than anyone else i know, so the timing was perfect. mindy is possibly the cutest human ever and she was everything i hoped she would be. doesn't she look like such a rockstar in that photo with her handlers and all the adoring fans? #thatglammybookstarlife. the panel discussion was about her upcoming book, why not me?, and it was moderated by b.j. novak (whose book, one more thing, i also love). mindy talked about the book and also about television and celebrity crushes and female friendship and you've got mail and what it's really like to be a woman in hollywood. she shared some really beautiful and insightful advice and i just wanted to listen to her jokes and wisdom all day long. she also gave everyone in attendance the cutest pin and an excerpt of the book, so i can tell you it's gonna be great. if you need me anytime before september 29th, i'll be rereading is everyone hanging out without me? and rewatching all three seasons of the mindy project (bless you, hulu, for saving my favorite show). the entire panel is posted on youtube here if you want to watch it! (duh, you do.) and if you haven't watched the mindy project yet, please leave my blog immediately and rectify that situation. you'll thank me later!

give my regards to broadway (and jake gyllenhaal)

a better title for this post would probably be gratuitous photos of celebrities but whatever. i clearly have no shame.

moving to new york in january was perfect timing, because several of my favorite actors were on broadway and i was lucky enough to see them. i saw jake gyllenhaal and ruth wilson in their new play constellations, and they were both amazing. the show is kind of like sliding doors meets the last five years; it's about a couple and the course of their relationship, but it explores a variety of parallel scenes and possibilities. the play really showcased their acting talent because the set was very minimal and neither of them ever left the stage. they were constantly jumping from scene to scene and would have to switch to a different conversation and emotional state in a split second. i read that they do 65 scenes in 68 minutes! conceptually, it was really interesting, and i would've loved it anyway because both ruth and jake are such excellent actors. i only paid $27 for my ticket and my seat was in the fifth row, so it doesn't get better than that. i met jake after the show and i am officially in love with him. i thought i was before, but then his face was like a foot away from mine looking into my eyes, so now it's official.

i also met my favorite actress (and style icon) (and all-around girl crush) emma stone. she was in the musical cabaret, and her run was completely sold out so i couldn't get a ticket, but i did get to meet her after the show one night. she is so funny and beautiful and sweet. now whenever someone doesn't think i'm funny, i will take solace in the fact that i made emma stone and her bodyguard laugh.

for my birthday, my dad took me to see bradley cooper in the elephant man. thanks, mom and dad! best present ever. the show was phenomenal—probably the best thing i've ever seen on broadway. the play is based on the real "elephant man," joseph merrick. the story follows merrick as he befriends a doctor who rescued him from his life as a circus side show. he was a very intelligent and extraordinary person, and became quite beloved by the british nobility. the play is really beautiful, and leaves you in awe of bradley's talent because no makeup or prosthetics are used to portray merrick's deformity. it was suggested only by the way he physically manipulated his body, which was even more impressive because he did it for two hours straight. it actually reminded me a lot of eddie redmayne's performance in the theory of everything. meeting bradley after the show was very exciting. a huge crowd of people waited for him and he was so nice and signed autographs for everyone. i also think he has the bluest eyes in the world.

then while lauren was just in town, we got last-minute tickets to see idina menzel in if/then during its final week on broadway. i was expecting to love idina but feel kind of indifferent about the show, but i was so wrong because we completely loved it. and it totally had another sliding doors kind of premise. the story follows a woman named elizabeth and—starting with one very small decision—it plays out two different possible paths for her life. idina was unbelievable and this song gave me chills. lauren and i were very emotional by the end. i am so glad we went!

i love new york. the arts and culture scene here is amazing and really accessible. it was so cool to see my favorite people act in person. now i just need beyoncé to appear in a broadway revival of dreamgirls or something. can someone call her people and make that happen?

christmas break

christmas break was the best best best. besides having a wedding right in the middle of it, i got to spend lots of time with my parents and sisters, cousins and grandmas and aunts and uncles, and my best friends. we hung out in new jersey as well as visiting philadelphia and new york city several times and upstate new york where our extended family lives. it was so much fun, and much of that is probably due to the number of bakeries and museums we went to. bakeries and museums are my two favorite institutions in the world. anyway, here is a play-by-play of the photos above:

happiest reunion of lauren and scout

happiest reunion of shake shack and me

city of {sisterly} love

federal donuts, this one is gingerbread and giving me withdrawals

LOVE and christmas

selfies with babies at basketball games

times square and bryant park

girl with a pearl earring!

levain bakery and the cookies of my dreams

hannah and caro take new jersey

central park with my top dudes (thx dad for being our personal photographer)

starry night and golden marilyn, 2 faves from MoMA

LOVE my bffs

rockefeller plaza pals

i'm very much wishing i was back on the east coast playing instead of in utah studying. april, come quicker or someone plz mail me a dark chocolate peanut butter chip cookie from levain!

my best friend's wedding

we celebrated this new year's eve with the happiest new york wedding! everything went so well for cat and christian and i was so glad to be a part of it all. cat is my cousin and we have long been BFFs. we were born four months apart, were inseparable when we were little, and then were roommates when we got to BYU. my friends caroline and hannah also flew out for the wedding and we had so much fun hanging out and being bridesmaids. this day was so wonderful—what's more romantic than a new year's eve wedding in manhattan? i might even say that nearly freezing to death while taking photos in central park was worth it, and i definitely didn't mind stopping by levain for a post-wedding cookie (or two). liz posted more wedding photos on her blog here and here if you'd like to see. congratulations, cat and christian! we love you!

empire state of mind

lauren and i spent friday in new york, our favorite city. our dad went to the temple and we hung out in the flatiron district. we went to the empire state building, ate shake shack in madison square park, and then stuffed our faces at doughnut plant. it was delightful.

lauren made the cute video above and i've probably watched it a million times. she also just redesigned my blog for me and taught me how to make my blog posts look a bajillion times better with html. lauren is my little sister but she's always upstaging me with her talents. hopefully that doesn't sound bitter; i'm just constantly impressed by her and everything she has taught herself to do. lauren has this drive and determination and i'm really excited to see her grow and thrive at BYU. we leave this friday for utah and i can't wait to have both my sisters in provo with me! it's going to be so much fun. lauren, i sure love you!

things to do: new york city

this is going to be a long post, and i am definitely no expert, but i love traveling and i've spent quite a bit of time researching things to do in new york city. living only two hours away from one of the greatest cities in the world is something you need to take advantage of! this summer i've gone up to new york twice. neither of these two particular trips was very involved or elaborate, but i had a lot of fun. here's what we did.

somehow i convinced my dad to go up to new york with me in april to see (don't judge me) nick jonas in how to succeed in business without really trying before the show ended its run. he was fantastic, as was the entire show. we drove up to the city that morning and got tickets for $30 with general rush. some broadway shows have general or student "rush" policies where you can get pretty great tickets at great prices the morning of the show. if you want to see a particular show, look up their policy online to see if they have any deals like those. if they don't you can also purchase half-price tickets for broadway shows in the tkts booths in time square and south street seaport.

after we bought our tickets we headed to the metropolitan museum of art. i've been plenty of times before but it's so enormous there are always new things to see! at the time they had a pretty incredible exhibit displaying the stein family's art collection. (if you aren't familiar with the steins, maybe you remember gertrude stein is depicted in the movie midnight in paris!) they had an astounding collection, mostly picassos, matisses, and cezannes. my favorite part was seeing matisse's woman with a hat. it was incredible in person; the colors in reproductions just can't compare. it was really neat to read about each of the paintings and how the steins acquired them. they bought woman with a hat very inexpensively and at first none of them could stand to look at it!

before heading to our show we grabbed lunch at my fave, shake shack. it's a definite new york experience and i think their burgers and shakes are great. in fact, they just opened a shake shack in philadephia and i'm thinking i need to head over there and get a bite.

my other trip to new york this summer was with my mom and lauren. we did a little shopping in soho and then we went to see newsies. they got me tickets for my birthday, and oh man, was it fantastic! seriously, if you have the chance to go see it, go. we were in the second row and it blew. my. mind. the dancing is incredible, not to mention jeremy jordan aka jack kelly. as a long-time newsies fan, it was just about perfect.

here are some other new york recommendations i have based on my own new york experience and my online research.

THINGS TO DO
-go to the top of the empire state building.
-explore times square.
-walk the brooklyn bridge and brooklyn heights promenade.
-shop at the brooklyn flea market or hell's kitchen flea market.
-shop on broadway in soho: zara, h&m, madewell, etc.
-go to a broadway show.
-go to a taping of a tv show. martha stewart, jimmy fallon, and david letterman tapings are all free, but you have to sign up in advance.

-go to a museum. i love the moma and the met, but there are dozens of other art museums in new york, like the guggenheim, the cloisters, the frick, etc. target hosts some free or discounted museum nights like friday nights at the moma. if you have certain memberships to other museums you can often get in free as well. our membership to the philadelphia museum of art gets us into the met for free. there are plenty of other museums in new york besides art museums, too.
-(in the winter) go ice skating. bryant park is supposed to be the cheapest rink in the city.
-go to rockefeller center. do top of the rock or go ice skating or just shop.
-(in the summer) go to coney island.
-go to central park! find the balto statue and that gazebo/pavilion from enchanted
-ride bikes in central park.

-go to ellis island to see lady liberty.-just walk and wander. i like the idea of exploring a specific neighborhood (soho, noho, greenwich village, chelsea, financial district, upper east side, upper west side, theatre district, etc etc)

-check out the manhattan temple.
-ride the subway! it’s a must.

PLACES TO EAT
-shake shack. i’m obsessed. so good and they have locations all over the city.

-in brooklyn: grimaldi’s pizza (under the brooklyn bridge) and brooklyn ice cream factory. i haven’t been to either but they’re both highly recommended.
-levain bakery. supposedly the best cookies in nyc.

-momofuku milk bar. city bakery. sprinkles cupcakes.
-john’s pizzeria and bleecker street pizza. both in greenwich village.
-popbar. gelato popsicles. these were so good.
-more restaurants i’ve never been to but i’ve heard highly recommended so just google them if they sound intriguing? bubby’s in tribeca. eataly. stand. dinosaur bar-b-q in harlem. asia dog. brgr. nooï.
-chelsea market.
-ellen’s stardust diner. singing waiters! a real nyc experience.
-for the chick flick lover: café lalo (where meg ryan gets stood up slash “runs into” tom hanks in you’ve got mail) or serendipity (like in the movie serendipity! and the frozen hot chocolate is supposed to be amazing, though overpriced)
-doughnut plant. they’re supposed to have really amazing donuts with really unique flavors.
-for macarons: ladurée (probably the best but also the busiest and most expensive), macaron café, bisous ciao, la maison du macaron, bouchon bakery.

-also, when you're in the city, i highly recommend the urbanspoon app. you can look at all the restaurants near you based by distance, rating, or price, and you can even check out the menus. it's a life-saver.

i hope these are helpful! enjoy your next trip to the city!