So busy being cool

I haven't worked out at all since my failed running attempt on Thanksgiving. Part of me is jealous of my JFK buddies already out there running again like champs, and antsy to return. But the other part is loving the freedom that comes from not training. I stayed out late Thursday night and even later Friday night, even though both were followed by early mornings. It was great not having to be a party pooper and rush home while everyone else was still having fun so I could fit in a run at the ass crack of dawn the next morning.

Even though we stayed in town for Thanksgiving this year, I've barely been home over the break. I'm just that busy being popular and having fun.

Friday morning, I went to work. After that, Eric, Casi and I went to Virginia to finally meet my BFF Katylin's beautiful daughter Nora, who was born in early September (aka Harrison's future girlfriend but not everyone knows/has agreed to that yet). 

She had the BEST facial expression.

Needless to say, she got along with Eric nicely.

It's such a relief that all my friends and family have absolutely gorgeous babies and I don't have to awkwardly pretend to think they're cute when I meet them. Seriously, so far everyone I know is batting a thousand. 

After getting in a good chunk of baby holding time, we rushed back to Baltimore to celebrate Carolyn's birthday at the magic bar. Yes, it's a bar where you drink and watch a magic comedy show.

Can you spot Eric and Casi?

Carolyn got to go onstage and help with the first trick.

It involved her hand in the magician's pants.

All the shows end with the magician doing a daring upside down straight jacket escape. He was on tour with America's Got Talent and did all sorts of crazy escapes!

Spoiler alert - he made it.

Then we went out dancing to a bar where the median age was 19. We were the anomalies who actually used our real IDs to get in.

Saturday, I took the bus to New York City to meet Kari. 

I'm originally from a suburb in upstate New York, and that's really hard to explain to people in other parts of the country. I've blown many a mind with my insistence that New York is actually a whole entire state and there are parts that weren't seen on Friends or Sex and the City. So even though I grew up in New York state, I lived a lot further from Manhattan than I do now (maybe 7 hours then vs. 3 now) so I didn't spend much time there growing up. 

My main goal for going was that I've always wanted to see the Rockefeller tree. As usual, I did my research impeccably and it was just as wonderful as I'd always dreamed it would be. 

Such beauty. 

At least I got to see Rockefeller center and all the decorated Macy's windows.

I got to see this tree.

We spent a significant amount of time in the American Girl Doll store. If you are in your late 20s and ever feel too young and full of life and want to do something to really solidify the fact that your youth is over, go here. Like every American woman who is remotely normal, I grew up reading the books, and desperately wanted a doll. When we got there, all we saw was new "girls" that we'd never heard of (Caroline? Who the hell is that?) and couldn't find the standards like Kirsten, Samantha, and Felicity. We finally discovered the "historic" section (it was actually called that, yes). Mollie was there, but even the rest of the historic dolls were ones we had never even heard of. We left depressed, confused, and unsettled. 

Next up - Sephora. Kari made a new best friend.

We also spent a long time in Macy's, but since both of us wanted to browse more than get specific items, we didn't end up getting any Christmas presents because it was more packed than Breaking Dawn was on opening night. 

We walked what seemed like a long, long way to Magnolia Bakery for cupcakes. The line went all the way outside and down the block, but we persisted and left with a red velvet and snickerdoodle cupcake. Again, we took another long walk back to Grand Central to get some coffee and sit inside out of the wind to enjoy our cupcakes. When we finally arrived, we realized there was a Magnolia Bakery there, and that one didn't have a line. 

Even more delicious than they looked.

Luckily, as we were chatting I double checked my confirmation email for my bus, and realized that the stop wasn't a few blocks away, as I'd thought, but more like two miles away. I'm revealing a lot of my anxieties lately and I have a major one about missing things like buses, planes, race starts, and the like, so I pretty much high tailed it out of the train station and race walked to the bus stop. This is the kind of walking I needed to be doing in JFK. It's crazy how your perception changes because I normally would never consider this exercise but after a week of nothing but sitting on my ass I was like "sweet, I totally worked out today".

Of course it was a total waste since I ended up standing on a random street corner in the middle of nowhere in below freezing weather with 30mph winds for about an hour wondering if this the Megabus company was real or an internet scam and trying to figure out who I knew in the area that could take me in until Eric could drive up and get me. Even after some random guy not in uniform told me to get on a bus with a handwritten "Megabus" sign in the window, I kept checking the GPS on my phone to see if we were actually heading towards Baltimore. 

Luckily for all you lucky readers, I made it, but I don't think I'll be giving Megabus my business again.

What was your favorite childhood book series? I also loved Goosebumps, Babysitter's Club, and Sweet Valley High.