One Year Later: Reflections on Frozen

A little over a week ago was the one year anniversary of the theatrical release of one of the most amazing movies of all time, Disney’s Frozen. In case you were unaware, I, just like millions of others around the world, am OBSESSED with all things Frozen. I sing “Let It Go” on a daily basis, dressed up like Elsa for Halloween, and basically cried the other day when I saw the Frozen-themed light show these people in Austin created this year. (Here’s a link if you want to see it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FX2d1LamXb0). Frozen has created something so special and one year later the mania is still off the charts! I decided to share some of the reasons I love Frozen and why I think it continues to inspire one year later.

1.      Anna is perfectly imperfect

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Let’s be honest, we all look like crap in the morning. It’s just a fact of life. So, the moment they showed Princess Anna wake up from what clearly must have been the world’s greatest sleep looking like an absolute hot mess, I knew she was going to be perfectly imperfect. When I was a kid, I used to watch Cinderella wake up from her restful slumber looking like she just wrapped a photo shoot. This isn’t a bad thing, but as I said before, nobody looks like that when they wake up. This scene of Anna with unkempt hair and DROOL on her face instantly made her more relatable, and I loved her for it.

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Another thing about Anna that I love is her awkwardness. She runs into a hot guy and she instantly has no idea how to behave. I know a lot of girls who that resonates with. While a three-year old may not understand that, they will when their older and they’ll appreciate that about Anna. She isn’t afraid to speak her mind, to do what she wants, and marches to her own drum. She’s confident and spunky, spirited and passionate.

All of this aside, perhaps one of my favorite things about Anna is the way she fiercely stands by her sister, her family. Family truly is one of the most important thing in the world. They’re the people who will always stand by you no matter what. Anna doesn’t give up on her sister, even though she’s been shut out for years. Even after she sees the power within her sister, she still goes after her. She sees the best in people and she does whatever it takes to make sure her sister knows she’s loved.

The scene at the end of the film, sorry for those who haven’t seen it but come on it’s been a year, where Anna sacrifices herself to save her sister is one of my favorite moments in any Disney Princess movie I have ever seen. Anna is selfless, brave, and a heroine for any little girl or boy to look up to.

2.      Olaf. Enough said.

Source: Google

Who doesn’t love this snowman? I mean, for real! He is the most quotable character in this movie. He is hilarious. He makes you happy just by looking at his goofy little snowman face. And even though he’s just a sidekick, he is such an important part of the movie. He’s a symbol of Elsa’s love for her sister. When Elsa creates him, it’s from the memories of her and Anna as a child. He guides Anna through the movie when Elsa can’t. He’s caring and has the biggest heart of them all. You just gotta love Olaf!

3.      The Men

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There is not one, but two love interests in this movie. I must admit, when I first saw the movie I was absolutely blinded by Hans’s perfection that I audibly gasped when he turned on Anna in the end. I couldn’t believe that handsome prince would end up being the VILLIAN! This is a Disney movie! However, upon watching the movie about a hundred more times I absolutely love that they made Hans the villain. It shows that you can’t always judge a book by its cover. Just because he looks like a perfect prince, walks like a perfect prince, and talks like a perfect prince doesn’t mean he is a perfect prince.

Enough about Hans, let’s move on to the real man in this movie, Kristoff. 

Source: Google

Perhaps one of the funniest Disney men ever, Kristoff is honestly just a huge dork. He “talks” to his pet reindeer, was raised by rock trolls, and gets choked up at the sight of beautiful ice structures. With all this aside, the reason I love Kristoff so much is because he treats Anna as an equal and falls in love with her because of her strength and bravery, not just her pretty face. Kristoff doesn’t treat Anna like some weak girl, he speaks his mind regardless of her feelings and doesn’t care if he says something she doesn’t want to here.

One of my favorite Kristoff and Anna moments is when she lets go of the mountain she was trying to scale and just assumes he’s going to catch her. Kristoff is totally caught off-guard by this girl. He just sets her down and watches her walk away. He knows she’s different, that she’s strong and smart. Kristoff respects Anna and I think their relationship is so refreshing. It was built on something more than just love at first sight.

4.      “Let It Go” and the whole soundtrack, basically

This song is an anthem for anyone who has ever been afraid to be who they truly are. It’s empowering and just makes you feel good when you belt it at the top of your lungs. The sequence in the movie where Elsa sings “Let It Go” is perhaps my favorite sequence in any Disney movie I have ever seen. You see her slowly becoming more and more comfortable as she sheds off the layers and gives in to her true self. By the end of the song, she is strutting it in her ice palace rocking that daring blue ice dress. Elsa is so much happier after she’s let it go and become who she truly is after being so scared for so long. It’s just truly a beautiful scene and I could watch it over and over again. If you’ve never seen it, you can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moSFlvxnbgk

Source: Google

All of the other amazing songs the Lopezes wrote, as well as the instrumental score, make for such a wonderful soundtrack. “Do You Wanna Build A Snowman?” has caught on like wildfire and “In Summer” is such a catchy little song. The score is sweeping and grand. All of these elements just helped add to the amazing story that the writers created, which brings me to my next point.

5.      The Story

Did you know that Elsa actually started as a villain? It wasn’t until the Lopezes wrote “Let It Go” that the writers decided that Elsa wasn’t the villain, she was just misunderstood and lost. That’s when the story shifted to not just be a story about true love, but to be a story about acceptance and the power of family.

I could go on and on about how much I love this story but I’ll try to keep it short. Disney broke so many of their clichés with this one. First, Elsa scoffs at Anna’s admission that she and Hans are in love…after one day. Perfect! The handsome prince ends up being the villain. What a twist! Princess Anna’s sacrifice is the act of true love, not a kiss from a man. This is by far one of my favorite moments in the entire movie. Anna knows she’s close to completely freezing up, yet when she sees her sister in trouble without hesitation she runs to save her. After everything the two sisters have gone through, Anna still rushes to Elsa’s side and saves her life. In that moment, Elsa is absolutely overcome with emotion. How could Anna still care for her so much after everything she’d done? It’s such an emotionally heavy scene.

When Anna begins to unthaw, Elsa realizes that love is the answer to her powers. She can control them through love. Elsa never knew this because she was always so terrified of what she could do, terrified of hurting people. When she finally realizes she can control her powers, that she’s capable of being herself and doesn’t have to live in fear anymore, Elsa is able to FINALLY completely let it go.

6.      The Animation

Source: Google

Not only is the story of Frozen amazing, but visually it’s truly a work of art. The animators spent so much time researching snow and ice in order to make sure the film looked as believable as possible. They used special technology to generate all of the snowflakes that were in the film, which helped to make each snowflake unique. Elsa actually has more animated hairs on her head than Rapunzel had! Which is why Elsa’s hair is so amazing!! They researched traditional Norwegian dress in order to create the costumes worn by the characters. Oh, and let us not forget that amazing “Let It Go” sequence I mentioned earlier. I mean, wow! The winter landscapes, Olaf, Anna’s act of true love, everything was just so beautiful to look at.

7.      Queen Elsa

First of all, she’s a queen, not a princess. Don’t forget it. Moving on. I think the reason I love Elsa so much is because she’s a character almost anyone can identify with. We’ve all, at some point in our lives, been insecure about who we are. I know there have been plenty of times where I’ve thought to myself, would people like me if they really saw the whole me? Or maybe you have a talent that you’re afraid to show the world. You’re afraid of what people will think. Elsa is a symbol of hope for all those who have ever struggled with acceptance and self-doubt.

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After hurting her sister when she was a little girl, Elsa lived in isolation and fear of her powers. She learned to hide them, “conceal, don’t feel, don’t let it show.” When she finally reaches her limit and cracks that strong, cold façade she’d created for herself she immediately runs away. Once Elsa is far up in the mountains, she decides to embrace her powers. As I said earlier, during her transformation you can see how her body language changes, her confidence soars, and she begins to feel comfortable in her own skin.

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It isn’t until the very end, after Anna’s sacrifice, that she realizes she needs more than just herself to be happy. She needs to be surrounded by love and those who love her for who she is. Anna’s selfless act proves to Elsa that people can and will accept her for who she is. They’ll even love her for it. I’m never happier than when I’m being my true self and surrounded by people who love me. While I’m still scared to share my gift of singing with people, I hope that one day I can have the courage to get up and belt out “Let It Go” in front of a room full of people. Elsa shows that overcoming insecurity, having the confidence to be yourself and sharing your gifts with the world can be magical.

Source: Google

So there you have it, my, albeit, exhaustive list of reasons why I love Frozen. If you took the time to read all of that I applaud you! And I hope you now go and pop Frozen into your DVD or Blu-Ray player…like, right now.

May you have the best of luck finding all of the Frozen-themed toys your child most likely put on their Christmas List!

Happy Holidays,

Alex

The Epic Finale-Part 2

I can’t even remember when my big city dreams started. Maybe it was when I saw New York in movies or on TV. Maybe it was when I read about the city in a book or a magazine. Or maybe it was once I learned that New York was a place where you could see Broadways shows every day of the week, all year around. I honestly don’t remember a time when I didn’t want to be fabulous and live in New York City.

I took my first trip there the summer I turned thirteen. It was a gift from my Nana for my birthday and I was SO excited to finally see the city I’d been dreaming about. I remember my first glimpse of Times Square, the yellow cabs racing by. I remember the weird smells that grossed me out at first but then just became normal NYC scents. I fell in love with all of the buildings that had been built years and years before. The city just held so much history, but was full of people who just wanted to create.

Getting on the plane to leave that very first time, I remember crying. It may have mostly been due to the fact that I was exhausted after four long days in the Big Apple, BUT I recall being so sad about leaving…I didn’t want to go! Luckily, I was able to visit the city several times after that first visit and every time, my love for the city grew and my desire to eventually move there strengthened.

When it came time to select location preferences for my auditing internship last summer, I knew New York was number one. It was a little bit discouraging when I heard it may be difficult for me to secure an internship in NYC due to my GPA; It is good by most standards, but New York usually looked for higher. I almost cried thinking my way to the city may be thwarted because of my GPA! Needless to say, as the recruitment process continued I was so ecstatic that two of the Big Four firms’ New York offices were interested in me. My advisor told me to prepare to be asked why I wanted to intern in New York. I told him I’d always wanted to live there after college and he said that was an excellent answer. As the story goes, eventually I decided Deloitte was the firm for me and so began a year-long wait to finally get to experience life in the city.

The weeks leading up to my stay in New York, I started getting anxious, as any normal human being would. I was concerned about the internship, worried I wasn’t prepared enough or that I wasn’t going to like the work. Fear of the unknown, mostly. I also found myself getting nervous about living in the city. I was terrified that I would get there and end up HATING living in the city I’d always dreamed about living in!

As I’m sure my blog posts over the past few months have alluded to, I absolutely LOVED living in New York. I miss so many little things about it now that I’m back home and back to my college student lifestyle. It’s a place of opportunity and endless possibilities. You can feel it in the air and see it everywhere you go. Looking at people as you walk down the street, you can’t help but wonder what they’re doing in New York. What are they trying to achieve?

The biggest shock of the summer was, honestly, how much I enjoyed my internship. I went in with so many preconceived notions (which is NEVER smart, people!) but that’s just how I am. However, I will be the first person to admit I’m wrong…and I was wrong about the internship. I am so thankful that I was put on the client I worked on all summer because the engagement team was so amazing. They took care of us and helped us get the most out of our eight weeks there. Had I been assigned to a different team, I think the experience could have been a lot different. Accountants get a stereotype of being boring, serious people but the team I was on was full of people who liked to joke around and have fun, while also being productive and serious when necessary. It showed me that accountants could have a good time! I made two wonderful friends in the other interns who were on my client and started creating a solid network within the firm.

On the last day of my internship, I was given an offer for full-time employment with Deloitte in their New York office beginning Fall 2015. Such a wide mix of emotions settled over me in the moment they handed me the offer letter. Excitement, relief, pride, and…a touch of panic. I was going to have to decide my future in less than 30 days…and anyone who is close to me knows I don’t handle making big life-changing decisions easily.

I had this amazing opportunity sitting in front of me that would allow me to move to the city I always dreamed of, work for an incredible company, have a pretty good salary, and have the ability to get through my last year of college knowing a job was waiting for me. The answer seemed simple. Why wouldn’t I take it? But as usual, the what-ifs started floating into my head. All of the little things that stress me out about decisions. The big “what if this doesn’t make me happy?” It was all there in my head…and for the first time, I pushed it all out. I wanted to make this decision on my own and I wanted to be proud of that decision.

The fact of the matter is, this summer I was happy. I never dreaded going into work. I was confident in my skills and in the education I’ve gotten from Texas A&M. I was proud of everything I did while I was interning. I was proud of myself for taking the chance to go to a city where I didn’t know anyone so that I could intern doing a job I didn’t have any hands-on experience doing and finishing it strong!

I find myself thinking about the path I’m on and convincing myself this isn’t the right path and I should be doing something else. I’m meant to be somewhere else. But the truth is, there’s a reason God put me on the path I’m traveling down. The decisions I’ve made over the years have led me to this and I made all of those myself. At the time they may not have been the choices I wanted to make, but I made them and that’s how I got where I am today. God gives us the free will to make these decisions. Maybe one day I’ll make a decision that changes my course in life, but right now I’m sticking to the path I’m on.

I have officially accepted my offer of employment from Deloitte and I’m oh so excited to say I will be moving to New York City next Fall. If you would have told my 13-year old self that I was ACTUALLY going to move to NYC one day, I doubt she would have believed it. Hard work and determination can get you anywhere. These are qualities my parents instilled in me and I am so thankful that they did.

Dreams do come true, everyone! It may not be the way I always thought it would happen, but it is happening. I’m so excited about this new opportunity and can’t wait to see what the future holds.

A big thank you to EVERYONE who has always been there for me and encouraged me along the way. Especially my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, teachers, etc! I love you all!!

Until next time,

Alex

The Epic Finale-Part 1

And the award for world’s worst blogger goes to…ME!!

This post has been a long time coming and I apologize! It’s been two weeks since I returned from my summer in New York City and I’m finally going to fill you in on the last week and a half of my stay a la a two-blog post special!

The last week of my internship was quite bittersweet. I was excited about having the rest of the summer off but sad because I had made some amazing friends and wasn’t ready to leave the city. For our farewell event, we took a boat ride on the Hudson and got to spend time just catching up with all of the other interns and having fun. On the very last day, we had our exit interviews and found out if we received an offer for full-time employment. (More on this in Part 2!) After the other two Company ABC interns and I finished with our exit interviews, we went out to lunch at Lavo, an awesome Italian restaurant in Midtown, as our final hoorah. When we parted ways, we were sad but knew there was a good chance we would all be reuniting in the future.

View from the Hudson

Inside Lavo for the Last Lunch

The following day my parents arrived in NYC and I moved out of my little dorm. I pulled up to their hotel just as they were arriving from the airport and there was lots of hugging and smiling. After getting our bags situated at the hotel, we headed to Carnegie Deli for lunch. There was a long line down the side of the building that shocked me! This place is a deli, why would the line be so long?! Of course, Carnegie Deli is world-famous and for good reason. The pastrami and corned beef sandwiches that they are known for are GINORMOUS! Plus, the cheesecake has got to be the absolute BEST cheesecake I have ever eaten in my entire life! I’m pretty sure I had a dream about it the other night…no shame!

"The Woody Allen"

After that, we went back to the hotel so Mom and Dad could nap (a theme that emerges for the rest of the trip). However, this nap was necessary given they had woken up rather early and traveled to the city so they were exhausted. A couple of hours later, I took Mom and Dad on a tour around Midtown and showed them the buildings where I worked, the subway station I got off at, and all of the other little things parents like to see. We then walked to Grand Central Station, the New York Public Library, and Bryant Park. After that, we walked over to John’s Pizza, our absolute favorite pizza place, and had dinner.

Standing on Park Ave

Grand Central Station

Times Square

On Sunday, we woke up and took the subway down to Union Square so that I could show them around what had been my stomping grounds for the past two months. First, we went to brunch at Friend of a Farmer, where Mom and I each got a delectable stack of those pumpkin pancakes I spoke about in my previous post. I then walked them down to Gramercy Park before bringing them over to where my dorm was. On the way there, we took a short break while next to Union Square so that Dad could go over to Starbucks for a quick bathroom break. While Mom and I were waiting, we saw my good friend Alec Baldwin, his wife, and their baby heading over to Baby’s R Us! I quickly pointed them out to Mom and she remarked that had I not pointed him out, she never would’ve known it was him!

Breakfast at Friend of a Farmer

Look closely...You'll see Alec!

I showed the parents my dorm and they took pics, then I walked them down the streets showing them all of the different places I frequented until we got to Washington Square Park. There, we took a little break and just sat on a bench, taking in all of the sights and sounds. This is where Dad had his first “celebrity” sighting. While we’re sitting there relaxing, having a conversation amongst ourselves, Dad suddenly turns to me and in an extremely loud whisper says, “Is this Ralph Lauren sitting next to me?” I glance over at the very distinguished looking man who’s wearing sunglasses, decent clothing, reading a newspaper and I instantly burst out laughing! First of all, Ralph Lauren was just the most random person my Dad could have thrown out. Second, the man most likely heard him because he said it SO LOUD. And third, the man was definitely not Ralph Lauren. Once we were done just sitting in the park, we walked around SoHo and then went to Little Italy to grab lunch.

Relaxin' in Washington Square Park

After lunch another nap was in order, so we headed back to the hotel, rested up, then headed back down to Greenwich so that we could go to church at St. Joseph’s. While we were waiting for the subway, we had a real celebrity sighting: Willie Garson! You may know him as Stanford Blatch from Sex and the City or Mozzie from White Collar. He was literally standing right next to us! And once we got on the subway, he and I held onto the same pole! Had his nephew not been with him, we probably would have said something but didn’t want to impose. After Mass, Mom and Dad instantly understood why I kept going back to St. Joseph’s, because the choir was AMAZING! As I’ve been saying for the past like 4 blog posts! When it was over, we took the subway back to Times Square where Dad had his second faux celebrity sighting. He thought Hank Azaria was on our subway but it was definitely just a Middle Eastern man who was far too tan to be Hank Azaria anyway. We grabbed dinner at Junior’s and then called it a night!

Monday morning, we woke up and did a bit of 5^th Avenue shopping. I got my friends some gifts at the NBC Store and then headed to Tiffany & Co. so that I could get myself a gift. I’d decided I wanted to get myself something nice as a reward for all of my hard work this summer and as sort of a belated birthday present. I fell in love with a necklace that’s part of the Tiffany Enchant collection and knew that was what I wanted. I’ve never made a purchase like that before but I absolutely love my necklace! I’ve gotten so many compliments on it and I know it’s something I’ll cherish for years and years to come!

Once I had secured my little blue box, we headed off to Carmine’s for our lunch reservation. My Mom had been wanting to eat at Carmine’s for a long time and I was glad we finally got to go. The unique thing about Carmine’s is that it’s a family-style restaurant, meaning everything comes in giant portions meant for 4-5 people to split. Let’s just say, we ordered WAY too much food but everything was delicious! We had a salad, stuffed artichokes, rigatoni with Bolognese and the spaghetti and meatballs! I highly recommend this restaurant if you’re going with a large group, but be sure to make a reservation well in advance if you’re hoping for a table at dinner time!

Stuffed Artichoke

Spaghetti and Meatballs...An Italian Girl's Dream!!!

After lunch, we rested up (told you naps were a theme) and prepared for our journey to the Bronx! Dad wanted to go to a Yankee game and I was all for it. However, the Bronx scares me. I’ve only ever heard bad things. If you stay near the stadium it’s fine, but wander too far and there could be a safety issue. We get off the subway right at Yankee Stadium, I start feeling a bit safer…and that’s when Dad decided to look up where the Stub Hub office is. You can imagine my absolute excitement at finding out it was about 20 blocks away! So off we go, wandering down the streets towards the Stub Hub office, Dad with his phone out making it blatantly obvious we aren’t sure where we’re going, and me getting more and more apprehensive the further we get from the stadium! FINALLY, we find the office, get our tickets and head back to the stadium. Our seats were pretty awesome and I think this may have been the first time I actually paid attention to a baseball game. That also might have been because we were sitting in an area that had signs saying to watch out for balls and bats. What?! Every single time there was a pop-fly headed in our direction I started freaking out! Needless to say, we had a great time and made it back to our hotel in one piece.

Yankee Stadium

Tuesday morning we woke up and headed down to the Brooklyn Bridge. It was a pretty hot day, mind you, so walking up that bridge was quite the sweaty occasion. Once we got to the first arches, Mom and I said we were good but Dad wanted to journey on to the second arch. We let him go by himself and we waited. While we were waiting, we took some shameless selfies and witnessed a man peeing on the bridge. Yes, you read that right! A man peeing on the Brooklyn Bridge about 4 feet away from us! Mom and I were just standing near the railing, chatting about the day when she looks over my shoulder and says, “Oh my God, there’s a man peeing in the corner.” I slowly turned around and sure enough, there’s a man, very discreetly and out of the NYPD officer’s sight, peeing on the bridge. I think Mom and I were both in shock as we watched him casually walk away. Then we started laughing hysterically. When Dad returned, we told him the story and walked back down the bridge.

I decided I was going to bring Mom to the Century 21 Department Store where dreams come true, so we headed there in all of our smelly, sweaty glory. On the way, we stopped at a cute little park with a gorgeous fountain to rehydrate with some bottled water. After a successful shopping trip, we decided it was time to head back to the hotel. Given that we’d bought a new suitcase for my stuff, I figured it may be easier to just take a taxi back instead of the subway. And here is where I made a mistake. Enter the taxi ride from HELL! I swear, we almost died at least 10 times. It was the most frightening taxi ride I have ever taken in my life! My parents told me they would rather stick to the subway, and I definitely agreed!

Gorgeous fountain in a random park

We went to John’s Pizza again for lunch, because why not, and then, you guessed it, NAPS! After those, we got dressed and then went to see A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. Yes, you will remember I saw this at the beginning of the summer, but Dad was watching the Broadway channel and decided that was the show he wanted to see. I was more than happy to see it again and so we went. And WE LOVED IT, naturally! After the show, we went and grabbed a bite to eat at this place my parent’s love called West End Grill. I will admit, their burger was super delicious! Back at the hotel, I packed up everything and got ready for my return home.

Selfie at Gentleman's Guide

Flying back was also bittersweet. I was ready to see my family and friends again, but I wasn’t ready to leave the city. I will say, being away from Texas for an extended period of time made me value it a lot more than ever before. There’s so much green and blue, so much fresh air! People smile when they walk by and are polite. However, I miss not being able to walk everywhere or hop on a subway and get off at an amazing art museum. Surprisingly, I miss the sirens and the hustle and bustle.

Back in Texas

I was so glad my parents got to come up to NYC and spend those last days with me! It was a lot of fun and I am so grateful they helped me make this dream come true.

Part Two and the epic conclusion to my summer in New York will be posted soon!

XOXO,

Alex

Crazy Eight

You thought I’d forgotten about you, didn’t you??? No?? Oh, okay. Well, for those who were a perturbed that a blog post didn’t go up yesterday, I apologize for your confused emotional state. It was another busy Sunday and I just didn’t have time to sit down and write up a post. Alas, now I do and here’s your Week Eight, yes EIGHT, update!!

This weekend was actually quite relaxed. As it was basically my last weekend to kind of be lazy before my parents arrive this weekend, I slept in on Saturday and then did some shopping. Living down in The Village, I’ve become accustomed to a more laid back Manhattan with fewer people roaming the sidewalks. This means that going into Times Square now seems like a chore. It legitimately gives me anxiety because I just can’t get where I want to go as fast as I would like to because there are SO MANY PEOPLE. In the past, I wouldn’t have thought anything of it, but now it just isn’t fun. The reason I am bringing this up is because there are only two things I brave Times Square for now: Broadway shows and the Disney Store. This weekend I made my probably tenth appearance at the Disney Store and I actually made some purchases (they were gifts, not for myself…but there’s still time). I just love being anywhere that has anything to do with Disney and the Times Square Disney Store is no exception. The store itself is really neat but mostly I just love the magical energy of the store. Every single kid who walks in there just lights up! I am a pretty emotional person, I get a bit weepy when I witness beautiful moments. It’s a problem and I really should get it together. My eyes dampened up at least five times while I was in there. There were just some really adorable children who got so excited. Little girls picking out princess costumes. One little birthday girl with her birthday dress and tiara getting an Elsa doll. And then…’Let It Go’ came on and that just did me in! In conclusion, the Disney Store was a raging success and one of my favorite parts of the weekend!

After I finally pulled myself away from Disney, I stumbled upon a street fair and did some browsing. Then, I found myself near Herald Square and the original Macy’s! I actually had never been inside it before so I figured I’d finally go in. HOLY CRAP! I have never been so overwhelmed in my entire life! It really is some sort of shopping paradise but there are just so many options! So many floors! So many products! I only explored two floors before I decided it probably best I leave (too many people and too many expensive pairs of shoes I wanted to buy). Afterwards, I walked to the Manhattan Mall and bought a cute dress at JCPenney. After I wrapped up my shopping excursion, I headed home to read and do some writing.

On Sunday morning I met up with a friend for Brunch at a little place in Gramercy called Friend of a Farmer. The little restaurant was so adorable on the inside. It really felt like you were over at your farmer friend’s house! Everything had a very rustic charm to it. My orange juice was even served in a mason jar! While this isn’t usually my style, being in a restaurant like that right smack dab in the middle of New York City is really really neat. The best part about Friend of a Farmer: Their absolutely heavenly, oh so delicious, super amazing Pumpkin Pancakes! Also, their bacon was delish! It was thick and crispy…in other words, perfection. But the pumpkin pancakes were just SO GOOD! And the syrup that came with them wasn’t just a traditional maple syrup but some sort of nectar from the gods! (I actually don’t know what the syrup was…all I know is when poured on top of the pumpkin pancakes, it was yum!)

Photo Credit: http://teamfenom.com/wp-content/uploads
/2013/01/Friend-of-a-Farmer.jpg

Inside Friend of a Farmer
Photo Credit: http://fritosandfoiegras.com/

After we wrapped up at Friend of a Farmer, we walked down to Gramercy Park. Now, for anyone who saw the recent romantic comedy That Awkward Moment, starring Zac Efron, Miles Teller, and Michael B. Jordan, this is the park that Zac’s character steals the key to for the girl he’s trying to woo. The park really is exclusive…you can’t get in without a special key. For this reason, the park seems even more beautiful than it probably is. Exclusivity always makes one believe something is better simply because few people can have it. Anyway, Gramercy Park was gorgeous and all of the buildings surrounding it just screamed ‘classy’. I would recommend taking a stroll by it. The area is very quiet and low-key.

Gateway to Gramercy Park

After we finished up in Gramercy, my friend and I went our separate ways. She went to go shopping and I went to try on bridesmaid dresses! My amazing college roommate/one of my best friends, Sarah, asked me to be her Maid of Honor for her upcoming nuptials. I tried on several dresses she’d sent me pictures of and she said yes to the bridesmaid dress! I love it, but more importantly she loves it! So I’d say it was a success!

Later in the day, I went to Mass at St. Joseph’s and the priest who was saying Mass was from the Diocese of London. In other words, he had a delightful British accent. He also gave an amazing homily about needing to discern what is most important in life from what isn’t.

After Mass, I met up with some familiar faces from home! We met up for drinks at a super classy bar near Little Italy and drank super classy drinks like the girls do on Sex and the City! Afterwards, we walked around Little Italy for a bit and it is so cute down there at night! It was so great getting to spend time with some great friends and catch up! It was so much fun!

Today was a long day of work and now I’m relaxing and watching The Bachelorette season finale! (Don’t judge me, I can’t help how addicted I am to this show!)

Hope everyone has a lovely week! The next time you hear from me, I will have finished up my internship (Friday is my last day!) and be reunited with my amazing family!

XOXO,

Alex

Alex and Haley Take NYC!

Hope the wait for this blog post wasn’t too painful for anyone! Wouldn’t want to upset my trusty readers!!

Week 7 was definitely one for the books! Work was again, business as usual. As many of you know, one of my very best friends in the whole world came to visit me this weekend! She is a New York lover just like me! Due to her job, she gets to travel a lot and decided to come up to the Big Apple for the weekend to see me!

Haley got in late Thursday night so the fun didn’t begin until Friday after I got off of work! Our mission for Friday night was to win tickets to see Disney’s Aladdin! Several shows in New York do lotteries where you can enter your name into a drawing for a chance to win discounted tickets for the performance that night. The way Aladdin’s lottery works is that two and a half hours before the performance, you can put your name into the hopper and check whether or not you want one or two tickets. Then, thirty minutes later they pull names out of the hopper to win $30 tickets to the show for that night! On Friday night, they were giving away seven pairs of tickets and six single tickets. Haley and I got there right at 5:30 on the dot, ready to put our names into the hat. Thirty minutes later, we anxiously waited while they began drawing names out of the hopper. Now, you must understand that Haley and I are two people who NEVER win anything! So, you can imagine our surprise when the lady pulls out a card and says, “Haley H---.” As soon as she began struggling on the last name (because Haley’s last name is challenging to pronounce if you’ve never heard it said before) we knew it was us! So we shouted her last name and the girl says, “Yeah!!” WE WON TWO TICKETS TO SEE ALADDIN!!! We were seriously so SO excited!! Probably more excited than any child would have been!! It was insane!!

Now, the main event—Aladdin!! It was absolutely AMAZING!!! Disney never does anything halfway, as I’m sure you all know. They go big! Aladdin was no exception. The sets were over the top, the stage had so many nuances that allowed the performers to come up from underneath, they utilized lots of pyrotechnics and the costumes were to die for! There were so many bright colors and TONS of Swarovski crystals! Jasmine’s costume…SO BEAUTIFUL!! All of the songs you love from the movie are in the show, plus some new additions. The cast was amazing BUT James Monroe Iglehart absolutely STOLE THE SHOW! He won the Tony Award for a reason! The best number of the entire show, and quite possibly the most spectacular musical number I have ever seen, was the “Friend Like Me” number. If you remember from the movie, this is when Genie is explaining to Aladdin about all of the amazing things he can do and how lucky Aladdin is to have rubbed the lamp. It was just so completely over the top!! There were dancers coming up from under the stage, fireworks, a super amazing medley of other famous Disney songs, and Genie was just dancing his heart out! It was phenomenal!! The second best number, “A Whole New World,” obviously. They actually flew in the sky on a magic carpet. I repeat…they flew around the stage on a magic carpet!!! I STILL cannot figure out what kind of theatre magic they used to pull that one off but it was amazing! In conclusion, Haley and I had a spectacular time seeing Aladdin and we HIGHLY recommend it to everyone!

On Saturday, we decided to just explore SoHo and do some shopping. We went into several luxury consignment stores where they were selling vintage handbags…as in Chanel…and Louis Vuitton…but mainly Chanel…beautiful, gorgeous Chanel. Of course, they cost a small fortune but they were beautiful to look at! We went into several big designer flagship stores too and fell in love with all of the handbags and shoes we’ll one day have. After several hours we became famished and decided to grab a bite to eat in Little Italy. Once we finished our lovely Italian lunch, we did a bit more shopping before going back to my place to get ready for dinner.

We ate at a cool seafood place we found called City Crab & Seafood Company. We ordered several small dishes to eat from and one of those dishes was lobster mashed potatoes. Just in case you were wondering what lobster mashed potatoes taste like, the answer is heaven. If ever presented with an opportunity to eat lobster mashed potatoes, you would be making a life-changing decision by ordering them and eating them until they are all gone!

Yesterday morning we went to brunch at The Grey Dog, the adorably hipster café I talked about in one of my previous posts. I got the French toast this time and oh my goodness! SO YUM!! After we finished our food, we headed uptown to spend the day in Central Park. We decided that it was a good day to FINALLY ride in a row boat in the Central Park lake! While I always imagined that riding around in a row boat in the middle of Central Park would be glamorous…let’s just say it really isn’t! I mean, when you’re trying to row that thing and navigate around all of the other row boats (some with people who are so NOT paying attention) in the blazing sun, it gets very...sweaty, for lack of a better word!! But despite all of that, when you find a nice place to just stop rowing and take in all of the scenery around you it is all worth it. And even though it took a lot of muscle to row that boat, I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Though I’d prefer it if a gentlemen suitor were the one rowing me around!

Row, row, row your boat!

After we finished up in Central Park, we went to one of our favorite places: Tiffany’s on 5^th Avenue. We looked at several different floors and dreamed about the day we’d get our Tiffany diamonds. I’m quite content with where I’m at in life and my singleness…but walking around on the engagement ring floor seeing all of that sparkle, it definitely makes me wish the day I find The One comes sooner rather than later!! Hahaha

We finished up our day at our other favorite place, Serendipity! We, in a not so very ladylike way, ate a super delicious Forbidden Broadway Sundae. Okay maybe it was just me that ate it in a very unladylike way, but regardless it was SO YUMMY!!!

Forbidden Broadway Sundae

I was definitely sad to see my best friend leave (bright and early this morning) but I know this won’t be the last time Alex and Haley take New York City!!

Just want to give a Happy Birthday shout out to my amazing little brother, Tristan!!! I can’t wait to have him up in Aggieland with me next year!! Also, wishing a very happy 1^st birthday a day early to little Prince George!

Hope everyone has a lovely week!

XOXO,

Alex

P.S. As I was walking home today, I saw an adorable little girl skipping and twirling down the sidewalk singing “For the First Time in Forever” from Frozen. It was just about the cutest thing I have ever seen!  It’s the little things in life that can make you remember just how lucky we are to be alive. 

A Birthday, Two Mets, and...Wait, Was That Alec Baldwin?!

6 weeks! I’ve been in NYC for 6 whole weeks and I still love it! I feel like when people live in a place that millions of tourists visit every year all of the iconic spots lose their shine. To me, they’re still beautiful. I walk past Rockefeller Plaza now and I see all of the people taking pictures and pointing. It’s just so surreal to me that I get to walk by there anytime I have to go to a meeting at 30 Rock. I feel as though I’m having a very Carrie Bradshaw-esque love affair with the city…and I hope it never ends.

Work this week was business as usual so let’s just skip over that and get to the fun stuff, shall we!

This past Monday was my 22^nd birthday and despite getting sick with a cold, it was a really good day!! The engagement team surprised me with a card they all signed at the end of the day! They were really sneaky because I had no idea they’d been passing it around. That afternoon, one of the other interns and I had a work event and then we went to dinner. She told me it was my choice and I opted for my favorite pizza place, John’s Pizzeria. After sharing a delicious margherita pizza, we went our separate ways. I stopped and got some Ben & Jerry’s (chocolate chip cookie dough, in case you were wondering) and ate it while watching The Mindy Project in my PJ’s. It was wonderful!

Birthday Cards from my amazing family!

On Tuesday I was definitely feeling my cold. After I got off of work, I went straight home, took a shower, and climbed into bed.

Wednesday morning I woke up feeling much better. As I walked out of my building I noticed Alec Baldwin on the opposite sidewalk taking a morning stroll with his wife, their baby, and their dog. It was funny because I was in the middle of texting my mom and I immediately typed, “and I’m pretty sure I just saw Alec Baldwin.” When I crossed the street, which I had to do because that’s the direction my subway is, I was close enough to tell that it really was him. ‘Twas an interesting sighting for so early a morn!

On Thursday, we had a “local flavor” intern event which consisted of going to a Mets game! After work, we journeyed by subway to Citi Field in Queens and watched the Mets lose to the Braves. We left a little early but we saw every run that was scored the whole game so I think that counts for something! Citi Field is really nice and we had great seats! While baseball isn’t my favorite sport, it was still a really fun experience.

Entrance to CitiField

Really neat stadium!

Baseball Time!

Yesterday I slept in, as usual, and then I headed to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, one of my favorite places in New York. It was nice to walk through the museum looking at all of my favorite galleries. I kept my headphones in the whole time, listening to my movie scores playlist and blocking out everything else. The exhibit they have in the Anna Wintour Costume Center at the current moment is called Charles James: Beyond Fashion. The gowns on display were from the 1940s, 50s and 60s. They were beautifully constructed and I couldn’t help but notice how tiny they were. Not just the waists, but also the height. The women who wore them must have been so little! Looking at his designs was great, but nothing compared to my favorite wing of the museum, the 19^th and 20^th-Century European Paintings galleries. That’s where all of the Degas, Monet, Van Gogh, Manet, Matisse, and Renoir paintings are. There was also a Picasso that I don’t remember seeing the last time I was there. I know people always say Monet is their favorite and blah, blah, blah but I just love looking at his paintings. The colors are just so beautiful and his paintings were made out of his love for the landscapes he saw. I also love Degas and his paintings of the dancers. Van Gogh paintings are so amazing to see up close because you can see how thick the paint is on the canvas. I feel like every time I go to The Met, I appreciate the paintings even more. As I was looking at the Monet paintings, I would look down at his signature on the bottom corners and think about how Claude Monet stood right where I was standing when he painted that and with his hand, he signed the bottom. He signed the signature I was looking at. It just blew my mind and I think I fell even more in love with the art hanging on the walls all around me.

After I left the museum, I went to a bakery called Two Little Red Hens that I’d read about online, which is located in the Upper East Side. The bakery was a tiny little whole in the wall but their cupcakes were delicious. The one I most wanted to try was called the Brooklyn Blackout cupcake, which was getting rave reviews in the articles I was reading. The cupcake consisted of chocolate cake with chocolate fudge icing and chocolate pudding in the center of the cupcake. It was so delicious I have no words to describe it. Just imagine delicious gooey chocolatey goodness and you’ve got the Brooklyn Blackout cupcake!

The Brooklyn Blackout Cupcake

Today, I went to Mass at St. Patrick’s and then met up with a familiar face from College Station. The director of the organization I’m in at A&M was in town and she and I met up to see the Broadway musical, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. While I didn’t know a whole lot about Carole King before I did some Googling last night, I did know that she was/is a song-writing legend. The musical was absolutely fantastic and if you’re a fan of hers and the music from that time, you would LOVE this musical. The performances were incredible and Jesse Mueller, the actress who plays Carole, was phenomenal! She definitely deserved the Tony Award she won! I would highly recommend it to anyone visiting New York anytime soon!

Now I’m just relaxing and watching some Netflix while writing this blog. I honestly can’t believe I only have three more weeks of my internship left! It is just insane how fast the summer has flown by! This week one of my best friends is coming to visit and I can’t wait for all of the fun we’re going to have!!

Check back in next week for an all new post!

XOXO,

Alex

Goodbye, Twenty-One!

Welcome back, loyal blog readers! Week 5 proved to be super busy and eventful, so here we go!!!

The first three days of the week were spent at my Intern Conference. The conference was held at Deloitte’s absolutely amazing, resort-style training center called Deloitte University in Westlake, Texas. The facility itself was most impressive, but add on a delicious buffet that was available for each meal and a Starbucks counter where you can get whatever drink you want for free and you’ve got quite the luxurious retreat…or at least what the average college student would consider luxurious. The conference wasn’t all fun; there were several learning opportunities too. We had a couple of guest speakers, a partner panel where several partners from all over the country answered questions from the audience, and a really fun and intense simulation exercise. The simulation exercise gave us the opportunity to work with interns from different east and west coast offices to create a plan for providing relief to a fictional African village. It was a really interesting project to work on and a great opportunity to meet new people.

View from my room at DU

Each night we had a planned social activity. The first night was a community service night and the second night was a really fun game night. There were poker tables, roulette tables, pool tables, a photo booth, arcade games and some caricature artists. I got my caricature drawn, but more on that later. I also posted up at a roulette table and did a pretty amazing job! If we had been playing with real money, I would’ve been a really happy girl! In conclusion, the conference was awesome! I met a lot of people from so many different places and got even closer to some interns from the New York office. It was a really great time and being back in Texas for a couple of days was very refreshing.

(Speaking of Texas: Upon arriving at Deloitte University, the other NY interns on my bus absolutely freaked out over the cacti and cows! It was insanely funny!)

I didn’t have to work on Thursday so I used that opportunity to go and see Newsies! The show was great! It was upbeat and high-energy! The choreography was fantastic and it definitely helped that the entire cast was very talented in the dancing department. They were also strong in the singing and acting departments, as well! Just before intermission was the extremely fantastic “Seize The Day” number. The cast dances for pretty much the whole song and it was just SO GOOD! When the cast hit their final pose at the end of the song, the audience cheered and cheered. I can honestly say I have never heard an audience applaud for that long after a number. When it sounded like it was going to stop, it just picked back up again! It gave me chills…I can’t imagine how the performers felt.

Fun day seeing Newsies!

Later that night I went to dinner with my roommate and then we went to Madam Tussaud’s Wax Museum!! She had never been before, so we figured that night was as good a time as any! We had SO much fun posing with all of the wax figures. My personal favorite: Kate Middleton and Prince William…obviously!

#PowerCouple

Me and my besties, Will and Kate!

Friday, aka the Fourth of July, some of my friends and I decided to go to this BBQ Block Party down in the Financial District. We were able to get some free burgers just in time to get under an awning before the rain started pouring down. We stayed there until the rain let up a bit and then we went shopping for a little while. After shopping, we walked down to Stone Street where we waited for some other friends to meet up with us for dinner. While we waited, we charged our iPhones at this charging station and chatted to two NYPD officers. They were so nice and we talked to them for nearly an hour! One of them actually told me he thought I was from the city because he thought I had a bit of a New York accent! Haha! Once our friends showed up, we grabbed dinner at a nice little bar and then headed to watch the Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks show! We got super lucky that we found a spot right in front of one of the Macy’s barges so we had a great view of the 35-minute long firework display! Macy’s does everything BIG, that’s for sure! The show was gorgeous, and, despite the rain, we had a great Fourth of July!

Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks

Yesterday I spent the day with one of my friends from high school, his mom and one of her best friends. We had quite the eventful day because they wanted to see a bunch of sights. I met up with them at the Museum of Modern Art, or MoMA, where we walked around and looked at the art for a bit. Then we went to Gray’s Papaya, a little whole in the wall hot dog place that can be seen in the movies Fools Rush In and You’ve Got Mail, among other things. After that, we took a walk through Central Park, which was lovely, as always. Then it was onto Serendipity for their signature Frozen Hot Chocolate. It was delicious, as always. Next up was The Plaza Hotel. I decided we should try to go inside and it totally worked! The inside was gorgeous!! One of my dreams being to get married at The Plaza, when I saw signs that said ‘Grand Ballroom,’ I figured we should follow them. The signs led us to the elevator and a sign that said the ballroom was on the third floor. So…we went to the third floor. Much to our surprise, when the doors opened it was completely dark…but there it was! The Grand Ballroom! Unfortunately, our fear of getting caught someplace we shouldn’t be kept us from getting a really good view of the ballroom. However, we will always be able to say we nearly broke into the Grand Ballroom of The Plaza Hotel. We did find a ballroom that was unlocked and took a look inside. I also used the restroom in The Plaza Hotel…so there’s that. Then we went to FAO Schwartz and a few other 5^th Avenue shops. Finally, we had a late dinner at Ellen’s Stardust diner and soaked up all of the bright the lights in Times Square. It was a LONG day but I got to experience several things I haven’t had the chance to do yet! It was also nice to see some familiar faces in the big city!

Beautiful stone arch in Central Park

Serendipity's Frozen Hot Chocolate

Lobby of The Plaza Hotel

Entrance to the Grand Ballroom

Other ballroom we saw

Today was a relaxing day filled with cleaning up my area of the room and unpacking my suitcase from Wednesday. I also went to Mass at St. Joseph’s for the third time. Even though the church is extremely hot, the choir keeps me going because THEY ARE AMAZING! Today the priest gave a fantastic homily and I left feeling rejuvenated and ready for the week!

As some of you may know, tomorrow is my 22^nd birthday. It seriously seems like I was just down at the beach with the Dunn family ringing in my 21^st, and now it’s time for the big 22!! As my mom pointed out, this is the first time I won’t see my parents on my birthday. Kind of crazy to think about, but I am so blessed to be where I’m at…just a girl from a small town in Texas living out my dream of living in New York City.

When I sat down to get my caricature drawn, I asked the artist how he was doing tonight! The artist said he was doing great and then looked at my name tag to see where I was from. I told him I was working in New York but I was actually from Texas. He smiled and said, “I knew you had to be from Texas!” I asked him why he said that and he replied, “Big personality!” I started laughing and then smiled so he could draw my picture. When he revealed it to me, I couldn’t help but laugh! He completely captured what this summer is for me in one caricature. It’s adorable and I’ll probably have it framed.

My Caricature

My 21^st year of life was an amazing one! I found my soul mates, aka my amazing best friends (you know who you are!), led an organization and ended the year being so proud of the work we’d done, and tried to live each day with a smile. I learned a lot about myself and I hope 22 teaches me even more!

Hope you all have a lovely week!

With Love,

Alex