New York Day 5

On Sunday we attended church with the Manhattan First Ward.  Robert Comstock, a fashion designer in New York, was the sacrament speaker.  If you click on his name, you can see his "I'm a Mormon" commercial.  He did a great job.  The bishop also asked to have his son share his testimony with the congregation.  He bore a powerful testimony.  It was an uplifting meeting.  My parents chose to stay for the rest of the meeting and I headed over to the Museum of Modern Art.  We were running out of time and there was still so much that I wanted to do!  I would still love to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Natural History Museum, among others places.

I was excited to go to the MOMA to see some of the pieces that we studied in college.  I only took two classes in college that had anything to do with art.  It was a Humanities at Ricks College and another art course at BYU.  My mission was to get to see, One by Jackson Pollock, The Starry, Night by Vincent Van Gogh.  Other pieces caught me by total surprise.  I didn't have as much time as I would have liked, but the time I had was great.  I was surprised at how big One was.  For some reason, seeing it in a textbook I always thought it was smaller.

There were some very odd exhibits at the museum, but also some very interesting ones.  It's always fascinating to see the many forms of creation that are called "art." 

After the museum, I met my parents at FAO Schwarz, the famous toy store.  I was in heaven and wishing that I could come back to get all of my Christmas shopping done there.  They have many regular toys you would find and Target and also many other unique one of a kind toys.  The highlight of being in the store was the BIG Piano.   They started out with songs like Chopsticks and Happy Birthday to You! but at the end they played Tocata & Fugue, which is hard with your hands let alone your feet!  It was really fun to watch.  Hopefully the video, posted a few pictures below, will work to catch a glimpse of their talent.  (I just realized I posted Chopsticks, I'll have to find the other one.)

Had to show Abby just how BIG this peanut butter cup was. 

The Apple Store was very cool.  There were stairs and an elevator that took you underground to the store inside that glass box.  I think this is the coolest entrance to a store I have ever seen.

And then it was off to a restaurant called Five Napkin Burger.  I enjoyed some yummy fish tacos and then we went back to the hotel to gather our things and called it a trip.  We headed back to the airport and reality.  There was so much more I wanted to see and do, but I kept telling myself, "I'll come back! I'll come back!"  If only it were so easy! A ginormous thank you goes to Joseph and Emily who made this trip possible.  I knew the kids were in great hands,  I didn't worry one bit.

New York Day 4

On Saturday, we had an appointment to do a session at the Manhattan LDS Temple.

 

We rode the Subway to get to the temple.  It was an interesting building.  Inside the building is a Family History Center, Public Affairs Office, a church/chapel with cultural hall and classrooms and also the temple. 

There was a Pinewood Derby going on the day we did a session.

After the session at the temple, we went walked down the street to a Whole Foods Grocery store and had a wonderful lunch.  Afterward, we walked through Central Park.  I can't wait to go again.  I would love to go in the Fall when things aren't totally dead.  The picture below is of Bethesda Pool.

After our walk through the park, I spotted the Plaza Hotel.  This was a place we just happened to run into.  This was a spot I have always wanted to see, so I as so glad to have found it.  There are movies like Big Business, Home Alone 2, and Eloise, just to name a few, that take place at the hotel.  I was surprised to see that they had a darling Eloise Store in the hotel.  I had to take pictures for my girls to see.  It was so cute! 

The steps to the Plaza Hotel.

They had a fun little eating area upstairs where they served tea.  It was fun to observe men, women, and children enjoying high tea as we walked through.  I loved it!

After walking through the hotel, we headed to Serendipity for some of their famous Frozen Hot Chocolate.  The wait was 2 1/2 hours!  We walked around the area and visited Bloomingdales's, Dylan's Candy Bar (where we got more samples), and other local shops.  The frozen hot chocolate was good, but I don't think I would wait another 2 1/2 hours to have another.  ;)

The waterfall inside one of the Trump Towers.

I wanted to walk back to the hotel instead of ride the Subway, so we could see everything along 5th Avenue.  I think Dad was ready to kill us, but he survived.  It was a great day!