They had it coming, they had it coming all along
Cause if they used us, and they abused us,
How could they tell us that we were wrong?
He had it coming, he had it coming all along
He only had himself to blame
If you had been there, if you had seen it,
I betcha you would have done the same.
-Chicago

AGGGGGGGGHHHH.

I am SO stressed right now. All of my school work for the rest of the semester has been condensed into this week - and I just got back from New York! I have the rest of tonight and tomorrow to finish two giant projects. KILL MEEEEEEEE.

But it was worth it. New York was fantastic. Arguably the best trip ever.

The first night we wandered around, to a lot of places, including St. Patrick's Cathedral (got to go inside this time), Sak's (got to sit on a chair made of hearts?), the Rockefeller Center, the Chrysler building, and Grand Central Station. And I shopped, of course. Then we went to dinner at a shady steak place and wandered around Times Square, since that's where our hotel was.

The next day, we took the subway (we did that a lot) down to the Financial District and saw Ground Zero. I thought that there was a park or museum there, but there's not. It's just a big hole, pretty much. Saddest thing in the world, even to me, and I don't really find anything like that upsetting. I just can't picture such a disaster right in the middle of New York, with all these other huge building around still standing. We even found a small church near the area with artifacts from 9/11.

Next was Wall St, which to me was equally depressing. Since then, security in the area has been excessively tight, and now cars can't go down there. When we went, it was fairly deserted (by NY standards) and kind of dark and dismal.

Then we took the subway up to Chinatown, where Canal St. is. We found a guy on a cell phone and asked him if he had any Chanel purses, which I was looking at for a friend. He shook his head and said, "No, sorry, too much cops." O.O Ooookay. Another block over we found a similar looking man and asked him. He nodded and motioned for us to follow him. We did for a few more blocks, then at a random spot on the sidewalk he stopped and said, "Ok, wait here." There was a woman there with a list of purses they had and the prices. I found one that I thought was pretty and asked her if I could see it. She made a call, and 5 minutes later, another woman showed up and handed me a garbage bag with the purse inside. O.O Wow. That was an experience, let me tell you.

Next was walking for an extremely long time to get to SoHo, where the first American Topshop had just opened. Dammit I love that store, but I couldn't afford anything at the time. Then we found Little Italy, which was cute. Then I shopped some more.

That night we saw Chicago (the musical, Amanda and Brigette lmfao), which was awesome. Can't decide which I like better, the movie or the musical. I want the shirt that says, "He had it coming." I think it suits me

The next day we took the subway to the Upper East Side. Before I left, I'd found the address of the place being used as Constance in Gossip Girl. It wasn't far from the Guggenheim (where we were supposed to be going), so I asked my parents if I could go. They let me, and it took a while to find since it's in an unknown residential area, but it was sooooo worth it. It looks a lot bigger on TV, I will say that.

Then my mom went to the Guggenheim (all I wanted to see was the building, not so much the art) while my dad and I tried to find a Starbucks (we couldn't - who can't find a Starbucks in NY?). Then we all went to Central Park and managed to avoid all the places I actually wanted to go, like Belvedere Castle, the zoo, and the famous statues. xD Then we looped around and went to the Plaza (hello, wedding location) and the Dakota, and my dad pointed out the exact corner where John Lennon was shot. From there was Strawberry Fields, which I've already been to. This time though, the flowers were arranged in a peace sign and there was a band playing Beatles songs. Everyone was acting like hippies, even my parents, it was great! I have an amazing video of it.

Then a miracle occurred - we headed back to the Theater District to check if there were rush seats for Phantom, 2 hours before the show. And we actually got them! Standing room for $25. Granted, it's really really painful to stand through a musical, especially when you can't see the top part of the stage where stuff is happening, but it was still soooooooo worth it. I am newly obsessed. Be very afraid.

As far as pictures go, I dunno. I don't really like any of the ones I took, but we'll see.

In other news...my 10 000th  pageview is rapidly approaching! This is the one I've been waiting for! In my mind, once you hit the cinqtuple digits, you look more important. So keep an eye out!





-Chelsea