Heather Noelle

Goodbye For Now

A few weeks ago I said goodbye to the city for the summer.

My family came up from Maryland to get me, so I got to have a few more adventures before leaving.

We went up to the top of the Empire State Building for the last time:

Of course I took them to Culture Espresso:

We ate at the Shack Shake in Madison Square Park for the last time (view of the ESB from the park):

Monday morning we finished packing and loading up the car and after one more trip to Culture, we drove over the Manhattan bridge to grab lunch in Brooklyn:

After getting lost several times, we found DeFontes, a sandwich shop that Guy Fieri featured on his show Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives:

After eating our delicious subs and buying a pound of fresh mozzarella, we drove over another bridge and left the city for the summer. Goodbye for now, New York:

Procrastination

This week is my last week of classes, and next week I have my final exams. And, yet, I feel strangely calm and detached from the stress of it all. I think it’s because I am already in summer mode, not a care in the world! I also found my newest form of procrastination: cooking.

Growing up, I hated being in the kitchen. I never wanted to cook. I only occasionally made my specialties: scrambled eggs or black bottom cupcakes.

This year, cooking for myself has been a necessary evil. Until recently. A friend sent me a few of her favorite recipes from food blogs and I decided to get creative (and thus, spend less time on schoolwork). 

I made baked parmesan tomatoes:

I attempted to make sour cream pancakes. They were a little underdone in the middle because I desperately need pancake flipping lessons. But they still tasted good.

Since I had leftover syrup, I decided to try making something to go with it that’s slightly easier to flip: french toast! I used Ezekiel bread, but with some milk, eggs, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and nutmeg, it actually turned out quite delicious!

I am very proud of myself for the progress I’ve made, although I still have much to learn about the art of cooking. Especially with meat. I’ve mostly stayed away from that. Once I tried to sauté chicken and ended up frying it in the olive oil, it was so crispy. 

Oh, I also discovered my new favorite bakery: Milk and Cookies on Commerce St. This gargantuan freshly-made ice cream sandwich is called the “Overload.”

Happy nomz! 

Fire Escapes

I’m not quite sure why, but fire escapes on old buildings are one of my favorite things about New York City. When I walk through older parts of town, I’m always looking up, studying the fire escapes. Maybe they are so romantic to me because they are part of an era gone by. 

Timothy Comes To Town

Last week my two-year old cell-phone decided to die on me. So I went 6 days without a working phone. Just so you know, it is feasible. 

However, I couldn’t go for much longer, so my father hopped on the Bolt Bus on a Saturday morning to spend the afternoon with me in the city.

I took him to my favorite coffee shop, Culture, where enjoyed a mocha, latte, and one of their famous chocolate chip cookies. 

Then we paid a visit to Sprint by Bryant Park where I got an upgrade on my phone. I have now entered the world of touchscreen.

We ended the afternoon at Penelope, with their delicious spinach and artichoke dip, Joey and Jack’s Chicken Pot Pie, Curried Chicken Salad, and, to finish off, warm cranberry apple crisp with a spot of coffee. 

I’m so glad my daddy came to visit. I loved spending time with him and sharing some of my favorite spots in New York City with him. He got a peek into my world at school. And a bonus for me was being with someone for hours who I know, without a doubt, loves me. 

Timmy, you’re the best!

Spring

Spring in Annapolis

Spring in D.C.

The Centennial Cherry Blossom Festival:

Early Spring in Central Park

Spring in Herald Square

Busier and Busier

As the semester has gone on, I have been busier and busier. My week days are taken up with classes and studying, especially to catch up on the work I have not been doing over the past three fun-filled, but crazy weekends. 

The last weekend in January, my friend Katherine came to stay with me in the city. She is at a prep school for the Naval Academy and she wanted to have a weekend in New York over her winter break. She was really a blessing because she loves to cook and was kind of enough to go grocery shopping with me at Trader Joe’s and then make multiple meals. Saturday night we made pork, Sunday morning we made french toast with Great Harvest Challah bread, and Sunday night we made a red pasta sauce to put on top of angel hair pasta with chicken, mushrooms, and basil. Katherine also took me to Serendipity 3 (although neither of us have seen the movie Serendipity) to have a famous “Frrrozen Hot Chocolate.” On top of that we went to Dylan’s Candy bar and Katherine bought cupcakes for us from Magnolia’s to eat Sunday night while I was babysitting Sunday afternoon. Clearly, the weekend was all about food (not to mention the coffee) and fellowship. Just the way Katherine and I like it. 

The first weekend in February I was occupied with my house, Queen Elizabeth I’s masquerade ball with the house of C.S. Lewis. It doesn’t seem like a dance would be that big of a deal, but this was quite a production. I spend an entire afternoon making masks with my date, then helped QE1’s helmsman, Caley, get the refreshments for the event at Traders Joe’s, and after that helped her set up for the event in our Student Lounge. I rushed home after that to get ready because my roommates, our dates, and a few others were coming over to have dinner. Which also became a big production and we were an hour and a half late to the dance. But broccoli cheddar soup, crepes, and a surprise visit from Caroline’s boyfriend Nate made it worth it. After dancing for over an hour and taking pictures in our “photo booth”, a group of us went to Moonstruck diner to end the night and we got in after the clock struck twelve. 

And I have not had a moment of rest this weekend either. I volunteered to be student ambassador for King’s official visit weekend, Inviso, which kept me busy from 8 AM Friday morning until 3 PM Saturday. I met and talked with students, took a group to dinner and show (Million Dollar Quartet - fabulous - I am telling you to get tickets to see it right now), and also answered questions on student panel. Additionally, a prospective student stayed in our room for three nights, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I didn’t mind doing it at all because I love my school and want to talk about it to people any chance I can get. I also feel I have a good story to contribute to the conversation - my college search and how I got to King’s was a bit unusual. But after this weekend, I am so impressed with the admissions office and all the people who make Inviso happen because it is not easy and they do a fantastic job of presenting The King’s College to prospectives. After being on the other side of the equation, I am also so thankful for all the people who listened and talked and gave me the time of day on my visit weekend over a year ago. You all make such a difference in the students’ final decisions!

This coming weekend I have another lovely friend visiting, so I’m off to the races again!

Anything Goes

Saturday morning I woke up to a quiet New York. There were no horns honking, no sirens wailing. There is something about the snow that muffles the typical city noise. 

New York City is beautiful covered in snow. I was up early and walking down the street by 7:15 and was struck by how serene the city was, except for the plows waiting to do their duty, and city employees brushing the drifts off the sidewalks. 

I wasn’t up early just for the snow, though. I was on my way to get rush tickets to see Anything Goes Saturday night. I waited two and half hours in the cold and wind and snow for the box office to open. Somehow I didn’t really mind though. I would rather be out in the snow that morning than sitting in my apartment. The city really is magical in white. And it paid off: I got two tickets, one for me and one for a friend for the 8:00 show.

Ashley and I absolutely loved Anything Goes. It’s a revival, classic, with great songs like “Friendship” and “Blow, Gabriel, Blow.” But the director of this revival and his all-star leads were able to put their own spin on the characters and songs. Sutton Forster and Joel Grey’s version of “Friendship” is the best example of this. I really can’t explain it - you just have to go see it. The entire cast was fantastic, with an incredible tap number that must have last five minutes (watch part, but not all of it here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qo6lPifGnGA). And my dream of seeing Sutton Foster live on stage came true. I recommend this show to anyone and everyone. It was worth the money and the wait in the snow. Anything Goes deserves the Tony awards it won.