Adventures in the Big Apple

I love celebrating New Years Eve whenever I can.  Hosting a party, going to a piano bar, or spending it on a cruise; I've had some excellent NYE celebrations.  Bringing in 2013 takes the cake.  

First off, I've never been to New York before.  I've lived within a day's drive of it for most of my life, and never took the opportunity.  About a year ago, a good friend of mine got a job in the city and joined the race in corporate america.  This year, he invited myself and a few others to join him in his office's conference room.  Here's the view we had:

The street front and center there is 43rd street, also known as Times Square.  Does the pole look familiar   This picture was taken 12 or so hours before the crystal ball was raised to the top of it.  I don't think I've ever been so high up in a building before!  It made me think of being in a man-made version of the Grand Canyon.  It was incredible.

With a couple hours to kill in Manhattan, we did a little sight seeing... 

Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center

Radio City Music Hall

 Once night was beginning to fall, we decided to make our way back to the office and watch the crowd below.  Turns out there were 1 million people in the span of 8 blocks.  Incredible!

Ball rising around 7 or 8pm. 

Fireworks blasted off every hour, on the hour.

There really are no words to describe how beautiful the ball was from eye level.  With those bright LED lights, pictures also don't do it justice.

Happy New Year!!!  At the stroke of midnight, we watched the fireworks from right in front of us, and also over in Central Park.  

With a whirlwind trip, the hubby and I decided we have to make it back up for another trip.  It was excellent!

Summer Shows and Inspiration

Excessive heat- they're not lying!

This morning I went out for a craft fair benefiting a local childrens hospital, and had a great time.  I'm looking forward to hearing how much they raised to donate to the hospital.  I've decided I'm going to skip tomorrow's show as it's scheduled to be even hotter than today.  I'd rather transfer my booth fee to a later month than pass out from heat exhaustion!

Today I met some really neat people and was able to help out a fellow artist in need.  Last night I got an email asking if there was any way I could help out by picking up some art work for an artist who could not make it to the show today.  At first this struck me as strange, but then I was filled in a little more and was glad to help.  This woman was on the run and had been relocated for her own protection.  The art she had been creating was made with what she could find- mostly acrylic paint and cardboard.  With such simplistic supplies, her works carried an incredibly deep and heavy meaning: she would never give up no matter how hard things got.  After looking at the pieces, it really made me realize how much I take for granted.  I'm so lucky to be married to such a wonderfully sweet guy.  I'm so lucky to have a job that I love, and hobbies I am passionate about.  I am so lucky to have a supportive and caring family and friends to hold me up when I need it most.  And my appreciation for a warm bed and a private bathroom is greater than ever.  Today made me have a great feeling of hope for this woman I have never met, but have been touched by her paintings.  All around, today was about supporting others in need, even if you've never met them.

I'm excited to do some shows later this summer... Maybe when it's not a bajillion degrees.  Most likely I will wait until after we move, but we'll see.  

Until then, I will be brainstorming on what I can do to boost my booth and make it look even better.  
What do you think?

Song of the hour: Warrior by Kimbra, Mark Foster and A-Trak.  I felt like this was an appropriate song for today, plus it's so wonderfully addictive!!

4th of July on the 3rd?

Maybe it's because I've always worked jobs that worked on the 4th of July, but it seems that the Independence Day festivities are really kicking it off strong this year.  Tonight we went to our local theme park to watch the fireworks.  And as promised, they were excellent.

Here are a few snapshots I got on my phone.  Of course, it is a phone camera.  And it was night.  But I did get a kinda cool ollogram!  What's an ollogram?  It all started with the Olloclip for the iPhone.  It's a zoom lens and a wide angle lens that attaches to your phone camera.  I happen to be a fan of the Droid products, so I did a little research and found a lens that works for me.  Anyway, an ollogram is an image taken by holding the lens away from the camera and focusing on the subject.  It's a little something like this:

Of course the darkess didn't help my focus, but hey, fireworks are always great!!

Where will you be this 4th of July?

Song of the hour: Some Nights by Fun.  I'm obsessed with this whole album!  Good stuff.