I've been here long enough, I'm now the tour guide

7 weeks. Is that all it takes to become a regular New Yorker? Had to be for me! Last week, my first of many visitors came to see what the big city is really like. Elyse, one of my roommates from Iowa State, flew into New York on Wednesday morning and spent 5 days seeing the sights. A few of the places we visited, I have seen before, but surprisingly, there were many "firsts" for me during her stay.

I had to go to work during Elyse's first 2 days in the city. Since she enjoys walking (thank goodness!), Elyse saw a lot of my neighborhood on her own while I was at the office. Top of the Rock at Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall, 5th Ave, Bryant Park, Times Square, FAO, and Central Park took up a lot of her time. So much to see here! She recently posted her pictures on Facebook and besides the entertaining captions the girl is known for writing, I truly enjoyed seeing the city through another perspective! How fast I have become accustomed to some of the sights and sounds of the city that a visitor finds fascinating.

Friday was a day off for many in the city, including employees at Scholastic, so our group headed to Governors Island for the views of the Statue of Liberty and Lower Manhattan. Natalie had a friend from Iowa State visiting as well, Sam. It was a Cyclone weekend! I reminded Elyse to bring an umbrella because of the notorious wet weather here in New York. Here we are with the tiny Statue in the distance while we wait in the sprinkles for the ferry to leave for Governors Island. Yes, sunglasses and umbrellas at the same time were necessary. :)

Within the time it took us to get to Governors Island, the sun came out and made for a beautiful pictures of Lower Manhattan in the background. Or maybe it was just the beautiful ladies posing for the photo? Haha

Even though this was my second trip to Governors Island, we found a new fort that I swear had a moat around it at one time. You could go down in this secret chamber where they had an electric flame being projected on the wall while a voice spoke, telling the story of the fort. Naturally, I stood "in the flame."

Walking back in Lower Manhattan towards Wall Street, we saw this tour bus advertising flip-flop sandals that apparently work your leg muscles as you walk around wearing them. My feet hurt enough after a day of walking that I don't need my legs doing EXTRA work, thank you very much!

The Ground Zero area of 9/11 doesn't provide much to see, except to take a moment to ponder the idea that two massive towers used to stand where there is now an obvious space. The tallest building on the right was playing tricks on our eyes because of its reflective glass windows lining the structure top to bottom.

Up the street from the Ground Zero area is this cross made famous after it was recovered from the wreckage back in 2001. Check out the sign below that is attached to the base of the cross.


Friday night, the gang of Iowa Staters and our London-influence, Emily, headed down to Little Italy for supper. It is wild how you can be walking along the street and all the sudden turn the corner and you have arrived in a different world, or rather a different country!? :) The streets were closed to traffic and full of people. The restaurants had tables spilling out on the sidewalks so we picked one and dined on fine Italian pasta!

Here's the gang in Little Italy: Natalie, Emily, Elyse, and Sam.

After supper, we continued roaming and came to this bakery. Having been in it before, Emily insisted we step inside "just for the smells." Wow. So this is where they bottle up the scent for all of those candles, lotions, and soaps, only the real thing was 10 times better!

As soon as we walked into Little Italy, we walked right out of it and into another country- China...town! The outdoor markets were overflowing with fresh foods I probably wouldn't touch if my life depended on it. Ok, maybe if it was the last food on earth, I would consider eating it. Mona definitely never cooked for us with this stuff!

Market after market we passed by on the street. Just as I thought they were all starting to look and smell the same, we walked by this one that had these fish- still alive, soaking in bloody water. Mmmmm, fresh! My dad and uncle were texting me at this point because they were with the family at Grandma Jolliffe's apartment eating pizza to celebrate her birthday. I'll take pizza over these fish, thank you very much!

We moved on from the markets and towards these kind of shops where the STUFF is plenty. Stuff animal chains? How about t-shirts, jewelry, purses, handbags, fans, beads, wall decorations, keychains, etc., etc., etc. Besides these crazy shops, there are the people on the street repetitively chanting/asking in their thick accents, "You want to buy a purse, no? Chanel, Chanel, Gucci, Gucci, fake ID, fake ID?"

I have a little tourist book that has come into good use because of its maps with subway routes, cross streets, and local attractions. Somehow the "Chinatown Ice Cream Factory" made it on the map. HUGE disappointment! There was no "factory," but rather a tiny ice cream shop that could go unnoticed unless you were, erm...looking for it. :)

As nightfall came to Chinatown, the numerous fresh produce vendors stayed open by illuminating their stands on the street.

After returning to Midtown, Elyse and I walked over to Times Square to stimulate our senses. Ha! Of course it was packed with people- when isn't it?

What is Lady Liberty doing on the mainland? Maybe she needed one last trip to Times Square before her crown opened to visitors the next day- first time since 9/11!

Elyse and I got this great idea to get up early on Saturday morning and check out the CBS Early Show. We were expecting mass amounts of people crowding on the plaza. Not the case. We walked up seeing no crowds and thinking we were in the wrong place when the producer- the squirrelly, little fellow in the blue plaid shirt on the right- personally came up to us and invited us to the show.

Out of the millions of people in the city, there were about 20 that made up the "crowd of thousands" that morning. Needless to say, were were instantly famous! Here is a snippet of Elyse's description of our experience: "See that beach ball? Later in the show the stand-in weather man thought it would be a great idea to toss it in the air and someone spiked it right into my face ON NATIONAL TV. We also sat on that picnic table and got interviewed (not kidding, they were desperate) So much for our national tv debut! haha"
The best part is, we called our third roommate who is working at an internship in Arizona to let her know we were on TV. Jess is not a morning person, but got up at 6 AM on a Saturday to watch her roomies make fools of themselves! Thankfully the rest of our friends are NOT up that early on a Saturday.

This is Sean, the stand-in (yes, stand-in) weather guy for the Saturday version of The Early Show. He was the one that interviewed Elyse while we sat at the picnic table in the photo above. Guess what? He's an Iowa State Alum!

Ok, so the anchor thought he was a hot shot. He dressed in khaki pants pulled up too high, a short-sleeve button-up shirt that had little buttons on the sleeves, this blue plaid suit jacket, and these awful black VELVET shoes. Apparently he didn't feel the need to put socks on this morning? I was able to capture this picture because he made the comment to the producer, "Keep them (us, the crowd) back. I don't want them on top of me." Not like you're a big enough deal that we would be trying to smother you, dude.

So excited to sit in the chairs where the weekend hosts sit!
Yeaaaaaah right.

To top off the whole Early Show experience, LEE GREENWOOD was the featured performer. You can see the legend in his All-American jacket between Elyse and I. His performance of "Proud to Be an American" was appropriate with the holiday weekend. Yet in the words of my mother who caught his performance at home on the TV, "He needs to hang it up." Click here for the video from CBS of Lee's performance. You'll feel more American just watching it! :)

Elyse wanted to see ALL parts of the city, so we made a trip up to Harlem. We found where the LeBron's of this world come from- true street ballers!

Since I didn't have my camera when I lived in the Harlem neighborhood, finally here is a photo of where I lived with Sara, Meghan, and Emilee. The top floor of the white building was "home!"

Another blast from the past: This is the view looking south down the Hudson River towards Lower Manhattan where I work. This is a small pier along the Riverside Park that was a few blocks down from the apartment in Harlem. I came here in the mornings to run along the path before going to work. This particular morning was clear, but there were a few mornings I would look down towards the city and a cloud of smog was hanging above the skyscrapers. Made me feel good to know I was breathing in that air when I went to work....

This is for you, Dad. Down by Madison Square Gardens is this GIANT post office. You can't read it in the picture, but above the pillars are the words of the USPS motto engraved in the stone: "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."

Being rookies at the NY-style July 4th celebration, Natalie, Sam, Elyse, and I went to the West Side to secure a spot to see the fireworks. We were plenty early so ended up spending 3 hours playing cards, reading, and chatting. We were so focused on getting a spot to sit, we ended up going without dinner or bathrooms until 11 that night because the NYPD closed down our areas in attempt to separate the crowds of people along the avenue. If you went out, you didn't come back in. (Photo by Natalie)

With less than an hour left to wait, our boredom increased and what do most girls do? Take pictures! Elyse, Natalie, and I took a whole slew of candid pictures. Here is the most normal-looking picture- haha!

This year marked the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson discovering the area that is Manhattan. To celebrate this milestone, the city reversed its fireworks display so instead of being shot off from the East River, 6 barges lined up on the Hudson River to shoot off 1500 fireworks/minute. It would have been a fabulous show except we got behind a bridge. Still, you can't beat fireworks on the 4th of July!



For Elyse's last day in New York, we took the subway down to Coney Island to soak up the sun that was FINALLY shining here! The best grab of the day was this fresh-cut watermelon for only a dollar!

Something you've seen before, but never in person- 5 planes flew across the sky at the beach spelling out advertisements for a new museum at the Intrepid Aircraft Carrier. It was fascinating to watch the planes release spots of "white" (to be non-scientific about it) as they spelled out the words.

Elyse and I joined fellow Iowa Staters in March last year for a Spring Break trip to California where we learned how to surf. Before we left, our roommate Jess strictly reminded me to keep Elyse out of the sun (haha!), but if necessary, to make sure she wore sunscreen. Heatstroke is a common occurance with Elyse. Oops, I broke the roommate cardinal rule again and took Elyse out in the sun! :) She flew home that evening and has reported to me that she is back in Iowa looking like a lobster. Lesson learned as a tour guide-have sunscreen in your bag! Glad you came Elyse! I've missed laughing at the most ridiculous things with you!