The Big Apple

Well, for the second time in my life, I visited the Big Apple - New York City.  And I have to say, this experience was definitely better than my first time when I was in high school.

First, let's go over the cruddy parts of the trip, and then I'll review the best parts!  Probably the cruddiest part of the trip was my flight out there - it was with American Airlines, and after arriving at the airport a whopping 4 hours before my flight, a huge storm apparently struck a bunch of planes with lightning, and all the flight schedules got thrown off.

So my 7:50 pm flight didn't end up taking off until 9:30 pm.  That was awful.

The second cruddiest part of the trip was the musical we saw on Friday night - Cats.  It was a definite let-down.  Did you know it's JUST songs & dancing?  There's no actual dialogue or distinguishable plot.

The costumes were pretty cool, though.

ANYWAY, on to the best parts of the trip!  My flight back to Orlando, I flew with Delta AND I got to volunteer to sit on the Emergency Exit row next to the window.  It was awesome!  Just look at all the foot room I had:

Aren't my shoes so attractive?  And I may or may not have drank (have drunk?) 2 mini-bottles of Bailey's Irish Cream with Ginger Ale on the plane.  So I was pretty happy when I got home.  haha

Second awesome thing - I saw a celebrity in New York in front of the Neil Simon theater!  I was just standing in line waiting to watch Cats, and I saw this woman walk by:

She obviously didn't look this celebrity-perfect when I saw her, but she looked pretty good!  Ten bonus points for you if you know what show she's from!  *Hint* It's on Netflix, and it has a woman's name in the title of the show.  It took me about 30 minutes to remember where I had seen her before, but I finally did.

And even though Cats wasn't the greatest, I still had fun sitting in between these two ladies:

On the left is Christina and on the right is Charesse.  They are two of my co-workers.  I had a blast getting to know them better during my time in New York.

Also, the few hours I had before I had to be at the airport on Saturday to fly home, I got to go hang out in Central park, because the hotel I stayed in - the Courtyard Marriott at Central Park, as pictured below - was only 6 blocks from Central Park!

Enjoy the pictures :)

The lobby of the hotel - isn't it swag-ilicious?

I totally wish I had taken this picture, but isn't it beautiful?!

I totally walked down this sidewalk, and I immediately recognized it from movies like "Maid in Manhattan" and that one movie with Ryan Reynolds where he tells his daughter how he met her mother.

I definitely stopped and watched some people playing volleyball.  It was so nice :)

Here I am, just chillin'. 

Anyway, so that's a little bit about my trip to NYC.  Have you ever been to New York?  What did you like about it?  What did you hate?  Would you go back again?  Let me know in the comments!

Summing Up "Twice Upon a Time" (Bk 2) & "Ever After" (Bk 3)

Why I Chose This Book: Because the first one was so good (despite the occasional awkward sentence structure and grammar fails) that I wanted to check out the sequel!

Book Rating (1-5 Stars): I give it 4 stars. I believe this may have been self-published, so if it was ever picked up by a publisher and cleaned up a little bit, it would be 5 stars for sure!

Setting of the Book: Athelia & Earth... Mostly Athelia though.

About the Author: Aya Ling is a mystery wrapped in an enigma sprinkled with a little bit of unknown.

Plot of the book in one sentence: Kat gets transported back to Athelia after the wedding with her memory gone - can the Prince win her heart again?

If I Could Rename the Book: My creative juices are too dry at this moment.

Genre: YA

Point of View: First person - told from Kat’s POV

Favorite Character: Still the Prince

Least Favorite Character: Still Bianca... Ugh

Other (Main Characters):

Kat - 22 year old who is transported back to Athelia with her memories of the first time she was there having been erased

Prince Edward - just married "Katriona," the woman whose body Kat was inhabiting in the first book. Has to win her heart again when she's once again transported to Athelia & doesn't remember him.

Elle - the Cinderella character from book 1 who's really good friends with Kat and who wants to marry Henry

Henry - Edward's cousin who is also studying to be a doctor

Bianca - Katriona's evil sister who wants nothing more than to see Kat destroyed

Katriona - Kat's twin whose body Kat inhabits in the first book. However (plot twist), Kat doesn't take over her body in the second book, she merely arrives in Athelia and Katriona ends up in another country wearing a wedding dress and a wedding ring with no memory.

If the Book was made into a movie, who would play the main characters?

Been there, done that

Favorite Scene of the Book: when Kat regains her memory (spoiler alert)

Least Favorite Scene of the Book: when Katriona comes back and confronts Kat

Did I like the Ending? No, because once again, Kat has to leave Athelia. Ugh.

Which of my friends could I see loving this book? Hillary Duff

Which of my friends could I see hating this book? Bill Nye

This book left me feeling: Frustrated

How Long Did It Take Me to Read It: 3 hours?

Why I Chose This Book: I had to know how it ends!

Book Rating (1-5 Stars): Still 4, because of the grammar and sentence structure.

Setting of the Book: Athelia & Earth (once again)

About the Author: Idk

Plot of the book in one sentence: Kat returns to Athelia a third time, but because Edward is officially married to Katriona who doesn't want a divorce, things get in the way of them being together.

If I Could Rename the Book: Third Time's a Charm - Hopefully, Because this is Starting to Get Old

Genre: YA

Point of View: First person - it actually goes back and forth between Edward & Kat

Favorite Character: Amelie

Least Favorite Character: Bianca... And Liam

Other (Main Characters):

Same as the second book, with some additions- 

Bertram - Edward's bodyguard who has a thing for Amelie

Amelie - Kat's maid

Liam - grew up with Edward & wants to overthrow the peerage system

If the Book was made into a movie, who would play the main characters?

You already know.

Favorite Scene of the Book: Edward when he appears in court *sigh*

Least Favorite Scene of the Book: when Kat gets thrown in jail

Favorite​ quote of the book: "The End." Lol

Did I like the Ending? Yes, I was satisfied.

Which of my friends could I see loving this book? Christy Carlson Romano

Which of my friends could I see hating this book? Wolverine

This book left me feeling: Finished!!!!

How Long Did It Take Me to Read It: ehhh, idk.

Vegas, Baby!

Hey, y'all!

So at the end of June, I went to Vegas with my boss and her mother to attend HD Vest's annual financial conference.  I wrote a blog post about it for work - you can read it here: https://lyncotax.wordpress.com/2017/07/24/what-happens-in-vegas/

And yes, I just linked to my work blog.  #SEO #Marketing #Followtheclicks

This was my first time in Vegas, and I had a BLAST!  (Although I did miss my hubby like cray and sometimes I wished I had more than $10 to blow on video poker, but c'est la vie.)

For the first two days, we stayed on the strip at a hotel named Harrah's - the conference we attended was a short walk away at the Wynn/Encore (pictured above).  I did a little shopping when I first got there and bought this really cute outfit for .... way more money than I'm used to spending.  And then, of course, when I got home, I accidentally washed and dried the pants that were hand wash only, and they shrank about 2 sizes and 3 inches in length  :'(

But that's okay, because life happens.

Aaaaaand, did I mention we got to see Sugar Ray Leonard speak?!  That was a pretty cool day for me.

After the first two days, we moved to Sam's Town, which is a little bit off the beaten path as far as Vegas is concerned, but I absolutely LOVED the whole hotel!

I went and saw a movie by myself FOR THE FIRST TIME!  I'll give you two guesses as to what movie it was - either "47 Meters Down" with Mandy Moore or "Despicable Me 3" with the minions.  Which do you think it was?  Because honestly, until I walked up to the ticket booth, I was still going back and forth.

Other fun things I did whilst in Vegas - gambled $10 (I lost it all...oh well), went to Fremont Street (it was during the day, so I wasn't that traumatized), and ate some kick-butt buffet dinners (I may or may not have gained a good 5 lbs on the trip).  Oh, and I got to take a picture with a million bucks.  No big deal.

Anyway, so that's pretty much it.  What do you think?  Have you been to Vegas?  What was your favorite thing you did while you were there?