New York

The big apple! After two long flights (because of the anticipation and excitement of seeing my parents) we landed in the big apple and met our dad in the airport. I was so happy to see him. I missed him a lot! As I requested, he was holding a Levain Bakery bag which contained my absolute favorite cookies. We took the subway to our place and met my mom. My mom! I have a mom! I almost forgot ;) She was prepared with pizza and Coke. See how awesome my parents are??
We feasted on cheese pizza and huge chocolate-chip walnut Levain cookies while Ruby and I told them about our European adventures. It was awesome.

Together at last!!

 Brighton Beach. It was such a concentrated, authentic area of Russian/Ukrainian culture! Everyone was speaking Russian and there were shops and shops of real Russian food and signs in Russian. We got some really delicious food from one of the bakeries

 

 This Russian pear juice tasted JUST like a pear. Only a little more sugary. It was heaven

Coney Island

My lovely mom. Whoever says I look like her, I take it as a big compliment

 Going from Coney Island in Brooklyn to Lower Manhattan to see the 9-11 memorial.

 

SPICE MARKET! We went here for lunch on my Sweet Sixteen and I adore it. The food is wonderful and the ambiance is to die for

This mango salad was out of this world

 

 Hahaha my parents.

They're so cute

 

 

 St. Patrick's 

 

My mom got Ruby and I $8 Cokes to keep us awake from the jet lag. Luckily they came with cute mugs and the caffeine was just what we needed!

 Ruby is trying to keep her eyes open!  Ha ha ha!

 I've wanted to see this since I saw the movie. I remember thinking, they should make this into a Broadway show! And then they did!
I was ecstatic when my dad bought tickets! I had a countdown on my phone the whole time we were in Europe

It turned out to be spectacular! It was romantic, funny, classic, elegant, smooth. It had tons of jazzy-ballet choreography (by Christopher Weeldon!) and creative sets that were so Parisian and costumes that were simply eye candy. And Robbie Fairchild, principal with New York City Ballet was the star! It was a dream come true to see him dance live! And Lise, the main girl was played by Leanne Cope, principal with Royal Opera House!! They were a dream duet!!

 My mom and Ruby flew home first so Ruby could make it to Girls Camp. I was so grateful for two extra days to spend quality time with my dad before I move away to college.
On Saturday, we decided to see if we could get tickets to a show. We waited in line in Times Square and spontaneously decided to get tickets to Finding Neverland! I'd heard of it, but didn't know anything about what it was about.
Well, it turned out to be....a dream come true. Matthew Morrison was the lead! Since we were at a matinee, I didn't think we'd get to see him, but we did! And then Melanie Moore was in it! Melanie Moore! The winner of Season 8 So You Think You Can Dance! She's my all-time favorite dancer! When the curtain rose and she was onstage as Peter Pan, I literally gasped. She leaped through the air and laughed and it was seriously magical. She was holding "Tinker Bell" and seemed to fly in her leaps. It was one of the moments you want to snapshot and never forget. I love theater so much. And dance. Finding Neverland was just truly a magical experience for me. I was with my dad, in New York, after an amazing and independent trip to Europe, I was moving on from childhood to go off to college, the dancing and songs were breathtaking, I have loved Peter Pan since I was little...it was just a recipe for a wonderful show and experience. I savored every minute.

 I even got Melanie Moore's autograph! I told her I voted for her haha. She was so nice!

My head and Matthew Morrison. NBD

 And our seats! Row 8! They were amazing!

 After the show, we went to Pates & Traditions, the place we went for my Sweet Sixteen two years ago. How does time pass so quickly?? I had a curry chicken crepe and it was so so good.

 I made a display of my goodies purchased in Europe. Mostly gifts, but some things for my dorm, like the French cookbooks and the children's book. I collect them you know.

We went to the 9 am Manhattan ward and after sacrament meeting, they announced that some people from church headquarters in SLC were here to photograph the ward for missionary purposes. They took pictures of us pretending to sustain people. They explained that when investigators come to church for the first time, the congregation all raising their right hand is something they aren't familiar with. So now missionaries prepare them for attending church by explaining callings and sustainings. It was pretty cool. It would be so funny if when I'm a missionary, I might be using a handout I'm pictured in! ha!

It was so nice to finally go to a Mormon church, I hadn't been to one since Paris! The spirit was so strong and I felt especially grateful to take the sacrament 

 

 Levaaaaaaaain! Can you tell I'm obsessed?

Napping in Central Park

Lincoln Center

 So there were some dancers in the park doing choreography and talking. Turns out they were from the Bolshoi Ballet!!!!!!! The stage was locked, so they came outside to do the tests. The teachers were passing certification to teach/know the choreography of certain variations. They asked my dad to take a group picture. He really got into it and one teacher said "You need to turn out your foot!" It was so funny. My dad told them I was the dancer, and she said to work on his technique, hahaha

 We had lunch at Lincoln Center. It was the fanciest restaurant either of us have ever been to. This is a watermelon dessert with pistachios and white chocolate. My dad got an olive oil cornbread with raspberry sorbetto. Delectable!!

 Complimentary pastries! So scrumptious!

 HighLine!!

 Can you spot the Statue of Liberty?

Blueberry/Mango popsicle!!

 Chelsea Market

 Packing up

 Taking the train to the airport. It took almost two hours to get there and our flight was less than two hours! ha!

 Had to pick up some cookies the day before for our flight!

So happy to be headed home after 46 days!