Super Saturday

It was an early morning today, seeing as how my friend, Holly Glazebrook, flew in last night and got to the I-House around 1:00am. I slept until she came and then I went down to sign her in when she got here. For class I had to be down at City Hall at 9am and since its the weekend there are no express trains so we had to leave no later than 8am.

We were doing our presentations on our building, but there were quite a few of us so while I waited for my turn I took Holly around the area. We walked over to the Brooklyn Bridge, Ground Zero, Wall Street, New York Stock Exchange and the Financial District bull. There was a group of Chinese tourists in the area and when we got to the bull....ahhh!!!! We were just getting ready to take a picture when they swarmed us and all started running up and taking pictures in front of us...literally running. We stood there for about 10 minutes waiting for them all to leave but it just got worse. Finally we ran in and took pictures but people were crowding in everywhere.

We finished up and headed back over to City Hall. It was almost 11:30 so we headed over to Uno Pizzeria near the dock, where we were meeting with the rest of the BYU Interns for a lunch treated by BYU. It was on this cute little balcony that overlooked the pier. It was a really nice restaurant and we had a GREAT time! Great food + great people = great fun!!

Afterwards, Holly and I stopped at the TKTS booth down there to get Broadway tickets for Hairspray, and it was a success! We walked back to the subway and headed up to 66th Street/Lincoln Center for the Gladys Knight One Voice choir concert. Unfortunately we had to wait outside for an hour and a half before we got in and the sun was blaring hot! So by the time we got inside we were all hot and nasty. The concert was good but it was weird, mostly because of the setting. I felt like I was at a Baptist Church. The music was loud, gospel-sounding with amplifiers, clapping and everything. I didn't really feel like it was right for the setting, but felt like it could have been more enjoyable in another location. The best part of the whole thing was when Gladys' husband stood up and shared his testimony and conversion story and encouraged those visiting to listen to the message, not just his wife whom they love. It was cool.

We booked it out of the church to head to 50th and Broadway for Hairspray. It was a good show, but one I could go without seeing again. Wicked was DEFINITELY better, but you really just can't compare any of them to Wicked. It's just such a clean, fun, upbeat show.

It's almost midnight and we're EXHAUSTED!! Tomorrow's another long day.

G'night.

-mk

The grand finale

Today was the last day and because I'm so extremely exhausted I'm going to make this relatively short. Like I said before, hardly anyone was going to be in the office today so I knew it would be fairly light. I just finished up making some calls and doing some followup. I wrote my weekly report for this week and last. At the end of the day Melissa and I were supposed to meet with Alison to get back our Employer evaluation but she was crazy busy the whole day. The office closes down at 5:30pm on Fridays but we ended up not even being able to meet with Alison until about 6:10pm because she was so busy with emergency things. It was craziness.

Afterwards I went to the Spelling Bee lottery and the Drowsy Chaperone lottery and didn't win either. I met up with Laurel and Sherilyn at a diner on 82nd street but they were done by the time I got there. I walked all the way up to 100th to a diner there and ate a fabulous burger, but I couldn't even finish it. I also saw a movie crew, probably for Spiderman 3. They've been taping here in New York for the last few weeks.

Anyway, I came home and got ready for bed. My friend, Holly Glazebrook, will be flying in tonight but she won't get to the I-House for another 2 hours so I'm just going to take a nap until she calls me to check her in. My eyes are on fire I'm so tired.

Anyway, it was a good day. It was weird leaving because I felt like I was just going to be coming back on Monday...I didn't really have many goodbyes to say because I had to say them all yesterday. It was weird.

Ok, I'm off to bed. G'night.

-mk

Semi-last day

Because most of the people I work with will be out of town tomorrow, today might as well have been my last day. Work was good and I started making some lists of things I've been doing. I still have to write my weekly report from last week so maybe I'll do that tomorrow when everyone is gone. Tricia's birthday is on Sunday so they got another ice cream cake from Hallmark for us to enjoy. Tricia is one of the finance people for the company. We took a group picture, but Alison Reemer and Matt McQueen couldn't make it so I took a different one with them later. Alison is our internship contact at the company. She's the one we go to when there are problems or when we need time off. Matt is the one I've worked with on everything I've done for Staples. He's been great at involving me and helping me get some real experience. He's the one who took me to meet one of the editor's of Family Circle, invited me to the SMT (satellite media tour) and worked with me on all the magazines I've been pitching. It's been great. He actually got promoted this afternoon, so that's exciting. Today was the last day I saw Glenys, too. She's one of the receptionists and she's obsessed with french fries. I mean she's seriously obsessed. If she just hears the word she has to have them. She loves anything potato but she especially loves them as fries.

After work, Laurel and I went to the Spelling Bee lottery. We ran into Garth & Dallas, who also put their names in for us. But no luck. So, we walked down to the Drowsy Chaperone lottery to try our luck there, but still nothing. We all went to one of the many McDonald's in Times Square and ate. That was fun. The guys had won tickets to Wicked so they headed that way while Laurel and I headed to Dave & Busters for dessert...one of those banana foster. Those things are sooooooooooooooo dang good! We sat in the arcade area, thinking it would speed up the process, but not really. The service was really bad so we didn't give her much of a tip, but I still gave her at least 12 percent. We went to the bathroom, left the building, walked about 20 yards when I realized that I had forgotten a bag by the table. I had my dress shoes and a pair of flip flops (that I had left at work the day before) sitting in a bag together under the table. When we went back to get it the bag was gone. I asked the waitress, manager and checked the bathroom. Nothin. Oh well, I feel worse for the person who's going to open it and find my stinky tights, almost dead shoes and a pair of slightly worn flip flops. That's probably the best thing in the whole bag and you can buy them at Old Navy for $2.50. Anyway, it was fine. Those shoes needed to be tossed anyway because I'm too hard on the heel. I was just thinking earlier today that they were wearing thin in the sole so it's fine.

After we left, Laurel decided she wanted to have her portrait drawn. We finally found a guy that told her he'd do it for 15 and that it would only be like 15 minutes. Right from the beginning I could tell that it was going to take a while so I went to go see if I could have a caricature done. On 42nd street (Times Square) there are artists just lining the streets trying to get you to buy anything. I found one I liked and sat down. All though the picture really doesn't look anything like me except for it has the same hairdo, its something funny. I'll try to take a picture of it and post it. Laurel's looked good too but ended up taking about 45 minutes.

Anyway, its late and tomorrow's my last day! I gotta get some sleep.

G'night!

-mk


Don't worry, I haven't been scantily clad and drinking during my time in New York but apparently the artist thought I must just be like all the rest of them, no matter what my real outfit said.

The end is coming

Today I started becoming really reflective on my internship, seeing as how it ends in two days. It's sad, really. I've really enjoyed my time here and I know I'm gonna tear up if not cry on Friday when I have to leave it all. It actually is going to start tomorrow and probably be even worse then. Matt & Meredith that I have worked with on the Staples account, as well as Glenys (one of the receptionists), will all be off on Friday for their "summer Fridays." Matt has by far been the one to take me under his wing, but Meredith has been a close second. Glenys and Maria both have kept us surviving the slow periods and laughing throughout the day. I'm going to miss it around there. I told Glenys and Maria today that when they heard rumors flying about a west coast office to let the partners know I'd start it up for them. I wish I could just pick up the office and move it to the west. I've enjoyed the east coast to some degree, but if I was going to stay on the east, it'd have to be further inland or further south. Boston was far from a place I'd want to be and New York is too crowded...and smoky. I miss being able to breathe as I walk down the street. Anyway, it's gonna be sad.

Tonight I just did laundry and watched TV between. It was weird and almost nice to watch it again. Haha...I thought I was supposed to appreciate not watching it, not want to watch it more. Nah, it wasn't that bad. But I have missed just being able to watch a movie whenever. I can count three times I've watched TV since I've been here: 1) Tonight, 2) David Blaine, 3) American Idol final night. Crazy.

Anyways, I've got to call Kate and finish up some speaker stuff for Conference. Take care!

-mk

We found the garden!

Boy am I tired tonight. Things were fine at work and I got some new assignments. I also finished putting together a list of the speakers and their status. I think it was really helpful. I had a talk with Professor Wakefield during lunch for about 20 minutes, talking about what needs to be done with Conference and where it needs to be going. I'm excited to get back and sit down with the faculty and Committee and get things all together and organized. It'll be good.

On my way home from work, Laurel called and said that she had stopped at 72nd street to see Gray's Papaya and the little crossway from You've Got Mail so I met her there. We decided to walk up to the garden at 91st street where they meet at the end of the movie. We found it, too. Pics are below.

I came home and Susan Walton had already made it to the I-House and checked in. Laurel and I met her down in the cafeteria for dinner. Meridth, Matt, John, Lyndsey, Noelle and Angie all had the chance to meet her, as well. She's coming to us from Harley Davidson and its obvious she loves motorcycles, too. Anyway, I think she'll enjoy BYU.

I'm totally exhausted so I'm headed to bed. Pics are below. G'night.

-mk

In the movie Tom Hanks lives at 152 Riverside Dr. But this space is between 150 & 155. You can see there's a space between the building...surely that's where he lived. We were sad to see it wasn't there.


This is the place...Tom Hanks & Meg Ryan met here at the 91st Street Garden.


Laurel shows off with the garden.

NY Times

Work was pretty usual and nothing out of the ordinary. I'm starting to feel ready to be in Utah and almost miss it. I can't wait to have fresh air again and stop gagging on 2nd hand smoke. I swear my likelyhood of getting lung cancer has shot up about 50% in the last 6 weeks.

Things are going well with my accounts and I'm really enjoying my time at Alan Taylor. If I could just move the entire office to the west coast, I'd be set and keep working for them. But unfortunately that's not the case. I guess I'll just have to open their first west coast office. :o) Haha.

Tonight we went to the New York Times for a tour. Here's a picture of us outside (since you can't take any inside). We visited the 3rd floor where their news divisions are. Brian C., I asked about the Times crossword puzzle man for you but he was already gone for the day. Sorry. We also visited the 11th floor where, what our guide calls, the Hall of Intimidation resides. It's a hall with pictures and article up for every Times reporter who has won a Pulitzer Prize. That was kinda cool.

Afterwards I came home to...you guessed it...work on Conference. I think I'm obsessed and need a life. Haha! Oh well. I love it! I spoke with Susan Walton who told me she would be coming in tomorrow night, so I'll meet with her instead of doing the class tour. I was excited about the tour, but I told Dr. Cressman & Prof. Walton both that I would show her around the I-House. Besides, I know she has some questions for me about Conference anyway.

Lyndsey came in to use my computer tonight and I totally fell asleep while she did it. I woke up sometime during the night once I realized my light was on and finished this. Anyway, it's time to get back to bed!

-mk


Before we met up with the rest of the group we stopped at Ben & Jerry's. The entire stay in New York all I've seen are these MASSIVE cupcakes in every bakery. So, I decided it was about time I tried one. It was great but big enough for 2!

While we were waiting outside, this advertisement came up on one of the billboards in Times Square. It's for MasterCard PayPass...one of the clients I've been working on. :o) The Reuters building on the right is where we filmed the MasterCard SMT with Tom Seaver at the beginning of the internship.

Lyndsey & Valerie waiting for the rest of the group. Aren't these two cute? Oh! And I just noticed the MasterCard ad playing in the back again. :o)

Archiving

All,

Because it has been taking forever to load up my blog because of the number of pictures on it, I have started to archive it by week instead of month, so you can see past posts by going to the archive button and looking through other weeks. Hopefully this will help speed up the download speed for you and me, both.

-mk

Central Park, Baby!

It was a beautiful day outside today. I slept in and enjoyed some breakfast before heading to church. I brought a bag with a blanket and lunch in it too to go to Central Park afterwards.

Church was really good today. In Relief Society the lesson was on Joseph Smith and his experience. It was cool because at the beginning of class today a girl introduced herself as visiting from San Francisco and getting baptized in a few weeks. So, that was cool. Sunday School was about trusting in the Lord's counsel without questions it because it is a trusted source. The instructor compared it to information in the dictionary. When we don't know what something means we go to the dictionary to find it out and we don't question what it has to say at all. It's just true because the dictionary says so. So why don't we do that with the Lord or his appointed leaders. Interesting, huh? I never thought of it that way, but so true! One of the girls in the class compared it to when President Hinckley said girls were only to have one piercing and that was in their ears. Although many people didn't understand why, it was a matter of obedience and trusting the source. It was cool.

Sacrament was tied into that in that it talked about sustaining our leaders and following in faith from the beginning instead of with skeptism.

After church, Lyndsey, Laurel & I were getting ready to go to the park, when Taylor, Valerie, Jacob and Dallas decided to join us. It was a fun little outing. We sat on this huge grassy area in what's called Sheep Meadow and enjoyed Fritos, Peanut Butter & Banana sandwiches with some gummy bears to top it off. It was great!

Afterwards, Laurel, Jacob, Dallas and I set off to find Bethesda Fountain & Terrace, which was used in the movie One Fine Day. You can see the picture below, but in the movie it was from another angle and it was raining.

Then Laurel and I split off from the guys and went exploring to find some picturesque settings and found a few. Afterwards we went to the Great Lawn where she wrote in her journal and I enjoyed a nice relaxing 30 minute nap. It was FABULOUS!

We came back to the I-House where we ran into Dr. Cressman in the cafeteria. He asked me if I had talked to Susan Walton yet, the new PR faculty member who's coming to BYU from Harley Davidson. I said I hadn't spoken to her personally but was on a conference call with her on Friday and wondered if she was trying to reach me. He said no, but that she would be coming into town on Wednesday and Thursday (the days Cressman would be in D.C.) and he wondered if I would show her around the I-House and a little bit of the area. I agreed, figuring it was a good opportunity to meet her...I just hope it's not weird.

Anyway, Lyndsey's going to work on designing her wedding website now so I'm off.

G'night!

-mk


Valerie, Laurel, Dallas, Jacob, Taylor and Lyndsey at our picnic spot.


A view of the city from the north end of Sheep Meadow.


Bethesda Fountain & Terrace (from One Fine Day)


A beautiful view of the city.