An Atlanta Fourth of July

Happy Fourth of July! This year for the fourth, I ran down to Atlanta with my friends Hope and Diana, to visit Diana's homestead. We were greeted by this: 

Well, actually, we were greeted by this: 

Which was then put in the pigs, and the pigs were put in this: 

Wait a minute. Hold the phone. Let's back it up a bit. We left Chicago early Friday morning, journeyed through Gary, Indiana, and then went through the rest of Indiana, and down to Kentucky! I've never been there, so it was kinda of a big deal.

The whole way down  I chilled in the back seat and ate Pirate's Booty.

Well, obviously I wasn't eating Pirate's Booty the whole time. Because the rest of the time I was reading aloud this book:

We had a goal to finish it before we made it back to Chicago, and I'm pleased to report that we successfully met our goal. And before nightfall, too. 

I don't know if you know, but I'm from California, and have never been to the south. Which means I've never been to Chick-fil-a before. So we stopped by to use the restroom and take this pic: 

Oh, and check this out! They had a complimentary outlet for all my charging needs! Man, outlets were a hot commodity in New York. We were always looking for one, and did a lot of ghetto rigging. But here, at this classy Chick-fil-a, they offer a sweet outlet free of charge!

Once we finally got to Georgia, we realized we were very hungry and we stopped for my very first Chick-fil-a meal. It was delicious. And the manager was hot. 

Around midnight (or something) we rolled up to Diana's house. It was a land full of activity, because they had to get the pigs ready to cook, because they were going to be eaten at the luau the next afternoon. As you can imagine, I felt a bit overwhelmed, so Hope and I started making friendship bracelets. They are all the rage this summer, you know. 

Somewhere around 3 in the morning (okay, prolly not, but it felt like it) I finally went to bed. The next morning we went to the Atlanta Aquarium! I read about it in a book once, and had been dying to visit. You know I like myself a good aquarium. 

It was legit. I really liked it. They had baby belugas! I know, awesome, right? Also, they had sea otters! I simply adore sea otters. Cute little things. Playing and playing and in the wild working on getting dinner. Well, we get to the sea otter exhibit, and guess where they were from? Monterey, California, of course! Which brings me to my next point: I will always love the Monterey Bay Aquarium no matter where I may journey in this world. It's just a fact. 

After the aquarium we went to the Varsity which is the most happinin' hot spot in all of Atlanta. It was intense. This is how intense it was: 

Hope and I basically had the same face as we were ordering, but thankfully Diana was in her element and was able to successfully order for all of us. 

It was quite good. Greasy, but a good kind of grease. We made a pit stop for some bagels, and Hope and I spied a Ross! We LOVE Ross! Diana had no idea what we were talking about, and we had to convince her that she wanted to go shopping there. I am pleased to report that we all got new dresses! AND, I found the sheath dress that got stolen from me after DC! That's right, I bought a dress in DC, went back to Chicago, it got stolen, a few weeks later I go to Atlanta, and I end up finding that same dress again! It was a miracle! I look so good in that dress. Sigh. I couldn't even believe it. But there it was. We loaded up the car with our purchases (I love to shop!) and headed back to the Carlson homestead. When we got back to Diana's, we arrived just in time for the removal of the pigs! 

Just FYI, Atlanta was wicked hot. And humid. And gross. It was sick, is all I'm saying. 

The High Priests came over to help shred the pigs. Ew. I don't like behind the scenes food stuff. 

This is what Diana thought of it:

A bit later that afternoon, all of the Mormons in the Atlanta area came to the Carlson's for a huge Fourth of July Luau! 

It just so happened that Sandy has a friend living in Atlanta, so she flew down for an Atlanta visit!

Chicago in Atlanta.

Later that night we hung out with some of Diana's friends, and also ate leftover corn in the kitchen.

That's me and Hope, and of course Katie, Diana's sister in law, who I happened to meet as we were both  working EFY in Santa Barbara in 2004 or 2005 or something. So, Katie and I go way back. 

The next morning was church, and it was kinda a huge deal because they split the Atlanta Ward, and Diana's dad got released from being the Bishop. It was a long day. But in the end, we finally got what we came down to Atlanta for: I tour of the yard given by her Pop. 

Their yard is HUGE and Brother Carlson loves gardening, so our tour was detailed and awesome. 

The tour: 

Front yard:

Somewhere amidst all the activities, a time honored Carlson tradition was not forgotten: Blueberry pie.

It. Was. The. Most. Amazing. Blueberry. Pie. I've. Ever. Had. 

FYI, these people have like, 2900 blueberry bushes in their garden. I learned about that on the tour. 

The next morning arrived in gorgeous splendor. 

It was the Fourth of July, and everyone was preparing to run the Peach Tree Road Race, the largest road race in the world, apparently. By "everyone" I mean everyone in Atlanta besides me and Hope. We stayed at home and made cinnamon rolls instead.

After the race we hit the pool, and then a rainstorm hit us. It POURED. And stormed. It was crazy. It was noisy. I wish the noise came from fireworks instead of thunder. Oh well. It was our last night in Atlanta, and despite the rainstorm, we still went out for ice cream, and all in all we had a really fun trip. 

The morning we were to roll out, we decided to pick some blueberries first. We needed some in Chicago!

We quickly swung by the temple: 

It was newly rededicated after going through some renovations. 

The trip back to Chicago was easy. I finished my bracelet:

We finished the book, and we went to Waffle House, which I like to call Waffle Ranch, and experienced a slice of Tennessee charm unknown to me before. It provided great joy and amusement, and also cheap food. 

Happy Fourth!

New YOOORK!

Sometimes I go to New York. Well, just the once, actually. It appeared that I had a free weekend in June, so Tamry, Sandy and I planned a trip to New York! At first Sandy was just going to meet us there, but it turned out she could get on the same flight as us!

Proof:

We landed in New York, and took my very first New York Subway ride. It looks like every picture or movie I've ever seen with a New York Subway.

We were on our way to our hostel, and when we emerged from the subway, we found my inheritance:

We ended up staying at the Y, which is fabulous, because my elderly neighbor back home firmly believes in the Y. When she found out I was moving to Chicago, she told me not to worry about a thing, because I could just go and check into the women's housing at the Y while I looked for an apartment. They could also help me find a job. That's how she did it when she moved to Chicago anyway. I'm glad I got to stay at the Y even if it's in New York and not in Chicago.

We dropped our things off in a back room at the hostel, and decided it was time for lunch. It turns out one of our friends from Chicago was also in New York, and only about 10 blocks away. We met up with her for lunch at a Thai place in Manhattan. 

We found a convenience store near our hostel, and we ran in there for drinks. What did I find? My new favorite obsession: Flav water. I found it once at a 7-Eleven in Chicago, and have been searching for it ever since. I was so happy to find it in New York; I bought four.

Then it was time to hit the city! We flew in on Saturday morning, and were leaving mid day Monday.

Possibly Fifth Avenue:

Obviously Times Square:

My buddy Daniel Radcliffe was all over Times Square. He just loves it there. And he loves being huge. 

And, did you know in New York the cops love to hang out in groups? Do you think they are all working on a crossword puzzle?

Due to lack of time we decided we would let a tour guide take us to all the touristy spots, and then we wouldn't have to do the legwork. So, we jumped on a bus. A tour bus, not the normal kind of bus. 

Oh, more cops in groups. They must have finished that crossword puzzle.

So, do you want to hear about a super awesome and hilarious inside joke from the trip? Of course you do! Well, that convenience store I mentioned earlier is called Duane Reade. Naturally, I've never heard of this before, and I had a hard time remembering those two names. So, I would call it any variation of a D and an R name that I felt like, and most times the R was forgotten. Anyway, the one I think I settled on most frequently was Don Juan. Well, we passed so many Don Juan's that I felt like I needed to take a picture to prove it's existence, so here you go:

For dinner we went to Carnegie Deli, which was a joke. By a joke, I mean it had ridiculously huge portion sizes, the wait staff was only interested in turning over their tables and apparently not in earning a tip, and the pickles were gross. But, maybe I came at it with the wrong attitude. 

This is a super awesome clock that I learned about that I knew I didn't need to notate in my phone because I'm really smart and could remember exactly what it was. 

So, it's the hours, minutes and seconds till midnight, and the other half is the hours, minutes, and seconds  till the new year? That's my guess, anyway. 

Also sighted, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints "I'm a Mormon" campaign. Times Square, huh, guys? Fancy!

After gallivanting about, we made it back to our hostel around 1:30 AM. We got ourselves a private room, and it sure was fancy!

When we woke up on Sunday morning we got to see the view from our hostel, which was pretty  cool.

Then, we made our way to church. There was some ridiculousness getting there, because apparently the random bus stop we chose required that we pay outside first, and couldn't use our metro cards. What? What's wrong with you, New York? Have you ever heard of Chicago? They have this really great system where tourists can buy a 1, 3, or 7 day pass, and they have unlimited rides on every single bus or L in the city. Maybe you should adopt that system. None of this, "Oh, actually, to ride this bus you have to go back outside, around the corner, to the tree with the hobbit hole, and barter with the hobbits to give you a secret code to cash in at the Don Juan to give you a slip of paper to ride the bus because we don't take the metro card even though we previously told you that if you bought one of those you would be good to travel around NYC. Thanks though."

Do you spy the church sign right above our heads? Well, we went inside, and found the chapel. We got there very early and just waited and waited and waited for church to start. It finally did, you know, after everyone got there. After church we smiled at a few people, which was a mistake. I guess if you live in New York you have to be a jerkface, and if you are a Member in New York you are still a jerkface. We were all saying how we would probably go inactive if we lived there, especially if we were interns. These people will break your spirit, and fast! Anyway, the sacrament was the same, and it doesn't matter if everyone around us is mean, we could still renew our covenants and then get on with our day. 

In every Don Juan, and in every eatery they were selling Poland Spring Direct. What? What is this place?

We swung by Bloomingdale's, and then went to experience a miracle on 34th street.

The Macy's seriously is huge, and it was so huge that I got lost for a while and took a rest in the McDonald's on the top floor. Then it was time to vend from the street vendors! 

We lucked out and saw another group of cops. I think they were looking for another crossword puzzle to do. 

We had a few goals when we went to New York: 

1) Eat ice cream from an ice cream truck. 

2) Buy matching sunglasses

3) Walk the Brooklyn Bridge! 

This is my best Brooklyn face:

Well, once in Brooklyn, we had to get pizza at Grimaldi's. We ended up making friends with a mother daughter duo from England, and when the daughter saw the line for the pizza she exclaimed, "Mothah! We half to queue? We half to queue for peetzah?!"

When my friends heard that, they weren't exactly sure what she was saying. I guess they don't read British literature. Or have a Netflix account.

The queue:

The pizza: 

It was okay. It was certainly tasty, and it melted in your mouth. However, I prefer to chew my pizza, so this is not my particular style of pizza. 

4) Ride the Staten Island Ferry

5) Take multiple blurry pictures of the skyline

6) See the bull in the financial district

After the bull, we decided to roll back up to Times Square because we needed some souvenirs. 

Seeing how it was like, midnight thirty or something, Tamry was pretty tired. She found this button and almost shut down all of Times Square: 

The next morning we packed our bags and went out into the gross Manhattan streets to complete our list.  Thankfully, it was a gorgeous day. 

7) Walk where Tina Fey has walked.

30 Rock, baby!

We grabbed lunch inside 30 Rock and found these awesome murals:

Then we took a quick rest before heading off to the airport.

Sandy, doing what she does best: making the airport machines give us our boarding  passes.

The last Don Juanito we stopped at had Just the Reds!

And Tamry, chillin' before our flight. 

Bye! See you in Chicago! Oh, also, the cops say bye, and thanks for visiting!