Ugly Sweater Invasion

Hard to believe I know, but this was actually my first ugly sweater party - whats the deal? THis year I was not missing out, especially when it was only two blocks away. Earlier in the day my friend Eric and I were trying to find some ugly sweaters, but with no avail, all of the upper west side had been picking over the thrift and goodwill stores and there was nothing left, so where do you go, Old Navy! So our attire wasn't ugly, but it still had the christmasy cheer in the air. Eric and arrived separtely as we planned not to "know" each other had the same outfit! Lo and behold, two other guys had the exact same t'shirts, PTL Old Navy as Rustin would say. There was plenty'o'ulgyness to go around. One friend found a used kleenex in his hand pocket of his cardigan that he picked up from Goodwill. The dance party was alot of fun, the "single ladies" got a shout out from Beyonce, and we all loved the repression being expelled as they danced. We even had a professional photo booth for classic pics to be taken. And of course, there was the infamous mistle toe which I won't lie, I made good use of it! If you haven' had the ugly sweater party experience, get on it and get to one or organize one!

Tree Lighting Par-TAY!!

One of the many wonderful things about my NYC life is that I work at 10 Rock! My office looks right into the Rockefeller Plaza and it made it the perfect spot for viewing the traditional tree lighing ceremony. I was lucky enough to have my mom and sister fly in that morning and come to my company party. People had started camping out that morning around 9 p.m, the tree was not lit till 8:55 p.m. It gets crazy in my end of town during the holidays but this day was out of control! While people were outside standing in the cold, holding their full bladders and not getting a great view, we had food galor, drinks a-plenty and much warmth. We got to see many celebs in all their christmas glory, Faith Hill and Harry Connick, Jr., being my favourite. With all the people there security was in full force, the snipers on the rooftops proved how serious they were taking this event. It truly was a great experience, but I don't think I would ever wait outside to do it, just a future reference for ya'll.

Too Hot Too Handle for 1 Day

The day has barely begun and already I am so overwhelmed. First of all my mom and sister arrived at my apartment this morning. I gave them the quick 5 minute intro and then let them go to sleep and I went to work. This was the most entertaining subway ride ever!! I got into the subway car and I heard some raised spanish voices, some ladies were mixing "holas". Acutally, one kept saying some stuff and all I recognized was "problema" and her attitude and facial expressions told me that she was havin' an issue with the other chica! They kept raising their voices, then all of a sudden, one chica swung a fist and then it was on like donkey kong! The other girl went straight for the hair (smart move), she ended up shoving the girls head into the side of the subway car. Thats when they started scream and they then stood up and other passengers were scattering all over the place, trying to avoid the spanish frenzie! Hair was being pulled, fingers were clawing and then one man jumped between the two ladies to end it! I was stunned, I couldn't even move. I was glad that someone had the sense to jump in. THe two girls still yelled at each other and one tried to re-ignite the fight, but that was not going to happen. We came to the next stop, on girl grabbed her shoe that had fallen off, her glasses and bag and exited. One man on the train yelled out into the subway stop that we needed NYPD, which they boarded at the next stop, and that is where I, and many others got off to transfer to the express train.

Now if that wasn't enough energy and excitement, imagine walking into my lobby at work and walkin' side by side with mr. Harry Connick, Jr., yup, take that! I do love my work location. Tonight we get to enjoy the christmas tree lighting ceremony with food and warmth at Rockefeller Plaza!!

Post Thanksgiving Thoughts

Thats American Thanksgiving BTW. I am always so lucky, I get 2 Thanksgiving each year, double the pleasure, double the fun. This past weekend I was lucky enough to have gone down to Washington, D.C. to see old friends and meet some new ones. Our host "M" was absolutely fantastic except for the minor detail that she was late in picking us up at 1 am, but I forgave her cause she came through on everything else, she made dreams come true that weekend!! Thanksgiving day was full of football and basketball and the best turkey ever, which we ate all weekend long. The following two days had us on a roadtrip to Philadelphia to view Independence Hall (don't waste your time, for us non-Americans) and the Rocky steps as well as a very cool museum. We also ate philly cheesesteaks, which unbeknownced to me, the "cheese" part of it is actually cheesewhiz, and it was so good. In D.C. we had a day of "death" as it was said. We hit up the Arlington Cemetery as well as the Halocaust Musuem (its a tear jerker, so don't take a date). To say the least we were a bit desheviled at the Wizards vs. Hawks basketball game until they did the "dancing" camera on the crowd and then the whole building was electrified. This is really one of those moments where you had to be there, but this old man, lets say in his 70's, was doing major pelvic thrusts that literally had me crying and almost peeing my pants, I haven't hurt like that in so long!

It was a great trip, I definately need to go back. I am thankful for friends to have spent time with and for the opportunity to have learned some US history that frankly has given me many freedoms!

Now its CHRISTMAS TIME!!!!!

Top 5 Christmas Flicks

So by now you all know that I love christmas time. Department stores have started decorating their windows or covering them up before they unveil their christmas display. I have been listening to christmas music for two weeks now, I just can't get enough of it. I haven't watched any movies yet....okay, just one of them, but I am waiting till December for that. I did want to give you my top 5 christmas flicks -all are awesome!










WARNING - WATCH EDITED VERSION

Honourable Mention

Who You Gonna Call....GHOSTBUSTERS!!

This past weekend I had two of my good friends from Mesa, Kristin and Maura, come and visit me. I know Kristin and Maura through my friend Regan, its that whole pest control connection thing. I have sprayed for Regans company for a summer and then I went out in May to spray for a month and lived half the time with Kristin and Maura and the other half of the time with our friend Steve.

Anyways, we did so much and I got to see more parts of the city that I hadn't seen yet, like SOHO and Battery Park. Central Park was absolutely stunning on Sunday, the colours are so amazing, I had no idea that it would be so jaw-dropping! We played at F.A.O Schwartz(the toy store), walked Fifth Ave., toured the Disney Store, saw the Ghostbusters fire station, ate Juniors Cheesecake, walked the Brooklyn Bridge, rode the subways, and ate some good food aka Grays Papaya hot dogs from the movie "You've Got Mail". The girls were fun to have and they left me with an awesome gift, my very own Voldemort Wand. They have them at F.A.O. Schwartz and they are the coolest things ever, they have everyones wand and well, I liked Voldemorts the best, I am practicing my aveda kedavra spell as we speak, and for good reason, here is the story.

Sunday night we were walking home from tht 96th street subway stop. I live on 108th street, so nothing too long. We were approaching a crosswalk and and across the street there is this deli. All of a sudden two thugs (yes I will call them that) came runnin' out of the deli like a bat out of hell - we knew something was up. The store owner, or I assume it was he, came out after them with this long rod and he was yelling. I quickly grabbed the girls arms and we B-lined it across to the other side of Broadway. My adrenalin was pumpin cause this was some serious stuff going down. The owner went back inside and we could see the two thugs comin' back for round 2. One of them quickly ran inside, tipped a whole bunch of stuff over and then came back out, followed by the deli owner who was weilding an AXE! Ya, the rod that we thought he was using, it was an axe. Dang Gina!!! The thing is the thug was taunting him, ah hello, are you retarted, but then I figured he must have a gun or something to back him up, I was ready for an drive by or something. The deli owner's friend was holding the deli owner back, and good thing, cause he was ready to shredd it! The two thugs finally ran off and we decided we had worn out our welcome across the street. The ironic thing about all of this, not more than 15 seconds earlier had I told the girls how much I loved my neighbour'hood'.

McCain or Obama?

Now that it is getting colder, the group of guys that hung out on the stoop now seek refuge inside our lobby. Not only do they want heat and shelter, but a private place to smoke the reefer and deal things, and we ain't talkin about cards. I get along good with them, we exchange nods and hellos, but last night, the 7 of em asked me "McCain or Obama?". Now being in NY for 3 months, I have seen how liberal the city is and how accepting of all different views the people are....as long as they are liberal views! Did I share my NYU experience? I know I was the only republican in that forum, but thats another story. As I said hi to the hoodlums, oops, I mean, dudes, they asked me "McCain or Obama?" At first I thought of saying McCain/Palin rock my world, but I figured ah might not be the best. Out of my mouth came, "I can't vote I am Canadian, so it really doesn't matter." They just laughed, so did I as I turned to go up the five flight of stairs! Now I was never scared, nor would I have been if I had said McCain but then again, you never know what some doobie/rollin rasta dudes might do? Mom and Jaime, its okay, still come and visit, they are nice guys, just don't interrupt any of their deals eh? I hope ya'll vote this next week!

Cravin' Some Sonic

Yesterday I was doing some on-site counseling at PricewaterhouseCoopers (big corporation) and when I went for a H20 break I noticed that the ice despenser despensed the infamous "Sonic" ice. I was so excited about this discovery that I couldn't wait to share this with my co-worker Heidi. Not only had she discovered it but she called it "sonic" ice too!!! Great ice, Happy Hour from 2-4 p.m., and their commercials are HILARIOUS!!!! (what else do you need from Fast Food)

Getting out of the City

This past weekend some friends and I were able to make our way up to a state park in NY. We took the train from the city to a town called Suffern where my friend Maya is a nanny. We then hopped in her car and made our way to the park, unfortunately due to a fireman parade we could not follow our lady friends instructions on our GPS. Good thing I had studied the map the day before on googlemaps - its a lifesaver! I am also pretty good with diretions, its a talent that the man upstairs blessed me with, just ask my travel buddies, when in doubt, yes, listen to me. As we drove along we made an exit here and there and finally got going and then decided to stop off at a little strip mall. The mom and pop deli was fabulous, not to mention full of helpful old men, just ask Sarah, they were all willing to help her find the "water" in the back of the store. The dad and his sons (thats what it looked like anyways) were running the deli counter and dang the sandwiches were delicious!! ) We loaded back up into the celine dion chrysler pacifica and drove. We took a random road and ended up at this beautiful lake and decided that spot was good as any. We ate lunch, hiked, photographed the area and then were on our way. We then made it to Bear Mtn. and we ended up forging our own path to the unknown. On the way we took engagement pics (doubled up on em cause NY is not cheap so thats what we do out here)and then just played in the leaves. It was just a fantastic way to get out of the city, but be close enough to see it from the highest peak of our climb!!!

Favourite Reality Quote of the Week

It goes out to my Southern Belles from "Amazing Race" and just to give some background, they are in the back of a jeep riding down the beach and its raining and one says "we're gonna get tan, yay.....I love Brazil...hey boys" and then some of the guys on the beach moon them....I love these girls!

Reality TV = Real Life

I know you are thinking the exact same thing, he is so right! For those of you who aren't into the reality tv, I make one important suggestion, DO IT! I do have my fellow supporters and you know who you are (jaime and dirk) and they can attest to the entertainment value, ah, I mean, educational value of such shows. For instance, by watching "Survivour" you really learn about what you can and can't take. I love to watch the episode where you have to eat disgusting things with my sister cause she has to leave the room cause its too disgusting. For her, this moment helps her realize that she has a weak stomach, for me, I know that if I ever got on the Amazing Race, sorry Jaime, I couldn't pick you as my partner, you gotta be tougher than that! The Amazing Race can teach you about relationships and the do's and dont's of those relations, thats where I get all my advice and so far....ya? Now lets not forget The Hills! We all know people like Lo and Audrina, just good friends. Then there are "playas" known as Doug and Brody, its hard bein' them!! But I would rather be them then the kniving Spencer and his ohh-so talented gfriend Heidi - If you find yourself as her, you might want to rethink some things!! Now who could forget ANTM - America's Next Top Model. If you want fashion tips and good educational info on posing for your facebook photo's, you get it all in one hour of entertainment, but you do have to suffer through Tyra, sorry bout that. There are plenty 'o' shows out there but I say you start with these and start takin' pointers, life's simple lessons can all be found here.

Gumboots = Fashion

I grew up working on my dads farm and on my grandpa Scoville's farm (where I learned all sorts of colourful language and terms for certain items - mom, you do remember what I use to call an udder right?) I bring this up because it was really the only place I ever wore gumboots due to the rain mixed with mud and crap!! Here in NYC these boots are strictly worn for fashion. Okay, so they might wear them for rain protection too, but I don't really buy into that. Maybe this is a trend that just hadn't hit Utah when I was there, but it is ridiculous how spiffy they makes these boots, drives me nuts that you would more than $5 for a pair of green or black gumboots.

A Few Reasons Why Europe Is Beckoning.....

I am not even sure how this happened, or wait, I do know, its cause I live so close to Europe now that its always sitting there in my mind, should I go??? Plus, with friends tempting me with trips and their adventures, its time. I thought I would just post a few pics of why its so magical.
I spent a day here hiking with my Swiss friends, stunning - Chamonix, France
Les Calanques - near Marseille, France
La Dordogne - central France
Friends you want to have - Beziers, France
Spanish candy - Barcelona, Spain
Elba Island, Italy

Bikin' in the Park

Central Park that is! My southern friend and I decided to organize a bike trip in central park. The loop is a six mile loop and you feel like you are in the Tour de France because you got those serious bikers with the shorts and fancy bikes whizzin all over the place. We decided to keep it real - mountain bikes and helmets! There were four us who went on this adventure, and to begin with, all the girls wouldn't even ride their bikes on the street, they wanted to walk them - WHY? Do NY drivers have a bad rap? We all made it safe to the Park(we crossed 3 avenues) and began the loop. We stopped here and there, had a picnic, took pictures and I personally watched my southern gal Kristin try and fix her backpack and ride right into some other biker! She will never try that manuever again. To top the 3 hour biking event, Amanda, our new friend decided to get lost. I ended up racing after her and caught her at 77th, the rest of the gang was at 96th ST. We then got to ride down Central Park West with all the cabbies, what a hoot!!

Just Can't Get Enough..

These movies are the top of the top, if you haven't seen them, please do. WARNING!! Amelie may be one that you i.e., mom and dad, will want to rent the edited version, and maybe some of you others who may not appreciate authentic french culture, which usually means some skin - there might be just a teensy bit.

"Express Yourself"

I just want say thanks to my friend Shauna, her blog has opened my eyes to what blogging is truly about, anything and everything, and as Madonna would say, "express yourself", or at least I think that is the title. So I do hope you guys get a better feel for who mr depew is through my blogging, its not just about what is going on in NYC. A mouse is still running around me room at night!

Celebrity Lusts

Is there a type for me?

September.....will cool me off right?

I thought summer was over, I was wrong!!! A month has past and oh the stories I have to share. 3 weeks ago I rented a u-haul mini van to transport my bed. I was so excited about driving in NY that I totally blanked all the one-way streets here. BIG NO NO!! I ended up turning onto Amsterdam Av and headed in the wrong direction. I had cars honking and flipping me off! I was laughing at the moment cause my two roommates were scared out of their whits! I made it down to the next street and got off, and was still laughing, sorry Andrew and Russ! I took a moment to gather my bearings and we proceeding on without any casualities.
My dad and Jack Salmon came for a visit and did the touristy things. I played personal tour guide while Jack was our own Canadian camera happy tourist, he was funny! They were so astonished to see all the people out and about at three thirty in the morning when I put them on the subway to JFK - next time we will just hail a cab from my street as they ended up in a cab an hour later.
I have been on a roll when it comes to celebrity sightings. In the past week I have walked past Carrie Underwood, seen Miley Cyrus, had lunch next to crusty man Howie Mandel, ran past Melrose for ANTM Cycle 8 in Central Park, and walked past Charlize Theron at the US Open. Not too forget all the tennis celebs I got to watch at matches, including Roger Federer, Venus and Serena Williams, Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal and James Blake. The US Open definately has been the best thing about NY so far. YA ROGER!
And to top it all off, I witnessed a drug deal going down on a sidewalk when I was coming back from Central Park. Word of advice to all future drug pushers - deal the dope in a concealed area or make sure you have excellent passes, unlike the USA relay teams in the Olympics!

Tips on NYC Living

I recieved a very valuable tip this past week that you should all adhere to: "don't open the building door for anyone you don't know, cause they are going to be that same person standin' in front of your apt. door with a crack pipe!" Well said by the man joining me on an elevator ride in a certain apt. building that I won't name. I am pretty sure he could be the one sellin the crack pipe.

Neil is my Buddy!!

Saturday night I was introduced to Madison Square Garden and a family friend, Neil Diamond!! Okay, so for those of you who don't know, Neil was a staple for us growing up and going on road trips with the family along with along mentionables - Barbara Streisand, The Oak Ridge Boys, Alabama, and of course the hits of the 50's, 60's, Teen Idols, and 70's!!! My friend got tickets from her boss to the concert and she asked if I knew of four people who would want to go, um hello, me!!! So four us end up going and listening to the old man, who still knows how to put on a show. We were definately the youngest there, by oh, 40 years! Ok, maybe not that much, but close! I loved the old couple in front of us who even though they couldn't get out of their seats due to the risk of breaking a hip, loved dancing in their seats. And, lets not forget the lady down the row with the huge sun visor glasses that she was wearing. Neil truly got us rockin!!!!

Finally Moved In!

As of sunday morning at 2 a.m. I finally moved in to my apartment. I had taken my stuff over at 10 p.m. but due to a faulty key I was not able to get in, argh!!! After waiting for 1/2 an hour, the guys above our apt who are members were home and I just put my couple of bags in their apt. and went to another friends. I returned when my roommates got home only to see one of them up by my window on the fire escape. Upon seeing that it occurred to me that they could not get in either, shoot dang!!! My roommate Russell scaled across a ledge to the roof of the building next door to see that his bedroom window was open. He then lowered himself over the ledge and finally found a footing and made it in his window!! PHoosh!!! THe apt is great though, I enjoy my room and my roommates!! Oh, and on the subway yesterday, loved the guy that got on with his ghetto blaster and his boomin tunes and the lady across from me who decided to subway dance in her seat, we became instant friends....sort of!!!

When Stuck in an Elevator

Yesterday night Malia, my friend, and I were leaving her apt. and had the experience of getting trapped inside her elevator. Now, for those of you who have had the experience in riding in her apt's elevator know that this is not something you would want to come upon you!!! I tried ripping the door open, we do have pics, but no success. Malia was freakin out and going kinda crazy! After about 5 mins. we got the elevator to go up one floor, and voila, the door opened. When we got to the main floor, a resident had a huge smile on her faced and started laughing discretely as she obviously heard Malia's cries for help and of despair!!!!

The Subway

The heat, short woman in low cut tops, the subway and me being tall, makes for a difficult subway ride home!!!!!

Out on the Town

Another week come and gone, geesh!!!! The weekend looks to be even more promising as I am going to a broadway show called Xanadu with Whoopi Goldberg and a guy from our ward is in it. "Roller skates and leg warmers" are in the description of the show, I can't wait!! Wednesday night I went out with some friends to the Hawaiian Tropic Zone!!! It was stump the band night, which our friend did with "like a virgin" by Madonna, they couldn't play it. My friend Jess does promotion for the owner of the restaurant so we got the hook up, even the waitresses came to play!! Tonight is a party for one of the kids in the ward and then tomorrow we are hitting the beach! OH, so what can I say about this week, oh ya, I pay $6 to have a lady do my laundry, and fold it, yahoo! Some of the smells are starting to get to me, sorry Malia, but I can't wait to leave 149th and Broadway.

First Week

Well the first work week has come and gone, and yes I know its a friday night and I am blogging, but I still don't know too many peeps here, but I am changing that, we have a ward rock band party tomorrow, so I am there.
The first day was really boring, won't lie, I met alot of the people involved in the comapny. Don't get me wrong, they are cool, and I really like the company, but I was a bit bored. EHE International is awesome!! They really care about preventitive health care and really believe in us as health coaches. My co-workers had a card and welcome balloon for me, very nice. My boss and I "did" lunch NY style, I could get used to this but I don't think my bank account can, yet!!!! Throughout the week I worked on role playing with all the other health coaches, there are five of us, soon to be four because one is leaving. I got to listen in on calls from patients as well, and that has helped alot. Today I did a role play with Jen, my boss, a bit intimidating at first, but I got through it and did a darn good job I might add.
Every wednesday we do "lunch and learns". This is where one health coach picks a restaurant around where we work, Rockefeller Centre, and we have it ordered in for the entire company, lots of food. The health coach then makes up a a sheet with info about the restaurant and how to make healthier food options. This week was "sushi", so we had tofu chicken, which was good, not lying, as well as fish as the main source of sushi, also avocados, spicy tuna, it was awesome. I am up for the lunch n learn in two weeks.
Last night I did hit the institute scene. I thought it would beat down Cheyenne's institute, but wow, crazies here! Not going to lie, some of them, straight out of the twilight zone!!!!! I guess institute is a hit and miss because everyone works so much out here.
BUT THE HIGHLIGHT.....yes, that little miss Miley Cyrus!!! The crowds starting lining up wednesday to see her, mentally retarded can I say, but hey, she was fun and I am developing a new crush, not that I can do anything about it cause she is jail bait! We do have a pretty good seat to watch all the Today Show concerts. Next week is Sheryl Crow, then Celine Dion, then Micheal Buble, so I am not complaining!!!!
Tomorrow is a day to get organized, and then the ward party tomorrow night. I have been running in Central Park, its great, but so many people running there!!!!

The Move

Alright, so I decided that the easiest way for me to let everyone know how i am doing, especially the family, why not blog. Even to my chagrin, I did not want to do this, it will be the easiest way for you to see my adventures, whether it be the events, the muggings, the scandals, and the ladies that I will be parusing with while I live the NYC life....not all as glamorous as you think!!! But then again, it is pretty amazing out here.
So I left Cheyenne/Denver yesterday morning and my good friends Erin and Jessica took me to the airport. I made all the weight resistrictions after I took my laptop out of my suitcase and was on my way. From Cincinatti to NY there was some humour on the flight, or well, some guy and some girl trying too hook up. I really thought they might try and make themselves apart of the mile high club, cause dang, I sure would have - only with my future spouse of course, but I could tell they were trying to get back to the bathroom. He even had the stewardess bring some champagne, if you call it that, in some plastic cups, how wooing eh! BUt I finally made it to JFK, got the luggage and made the trip to the island. On the subway some nice man asked me if I knew where i was going and if I needed his help, afterall, I was looking at my subway map constantly. I just wanted to have my plan down!! Then, when the beat boys/hip dancers boarded the subway with their ghetto blaster and did their dancing, I knew I had arrived! They were teens and not very good, except for the one move where two of them grab each others ankles, (Dirk don't laugh), and did a rolling ah what to can i say...oh, they rolled down the subway aisle, pretty dang cool!!! Then I switched trains, and sat next to a Geisha. No joke! SHe was more modern and in white leather aka in my opinion, a lady of the night!!!! She chatted with some fellow african american ladies who gave her a "you go girl" shout out!!!! To say the least, I was entertained for the whole 2 hour ride in...yup, it took that long....but I did have my luggage and I had to stop to pick up my keys to my friends place up here on 149th and Broadway.
Today I just opened a bank account, looked at some small, high priced apts, and then snoozed and then a friend and I got frozen yogurt and went to the west side pier and chatted. ALl and all, a good day!!!