Hey hey hey! What a busy week! I have been up with the sun the last few days. Don't worry, I have taken several afternoon naps to make up for it :) You all know how much I love to sleep!

Thursday 2/26
I had a full day of nothing to do, so I decided to have an adventure! Karen and I went to the New York Public Library in midtown, and I got my library card! I'm pretty official now. The library is beautiful! I love the gigantic reading room and all of the art on the ceilings. After the library, we headed to Tiffany's to window shop! I somehow didn't realize that there are several floors of that store last time I went, so it was a great surprise to be able to explore all levels of the place! We looked at the gigantic Tiffany diamond, and I got a little over-excited when I read that Audrey Hepburn was one of the only two women who have ever worn it! It was a good day!
Wednesday 2/27
I got up at 5:30am and made it to Union Square by 7:00 for the annual "Running of the Brides." I don't know if you guys have heard of it, but it is a huge dress sale that happens in a store called Filene's Basement every year, and they sell designer gowns marked down to like $200 from thousands. I met my friend Parish there (who is also engaged). We were literally in a line that went down the street, around the corner, and down the next street of crazy women in wild outfits with noise makers and wigs and the full getup. It was pretty intense! It's called the running of the brides because it is compared to the running of the bulls... they open the doors and everyone runs into the store and grabs as many dresses as they can possibly hold. By the time my section of the line made it into the store, the racks were completely bare and there were women everywhere with huge piles of wedding gowns! Then the trading and bartering begins- everyone has signs and is walking around yelling out what size they need and what size they have to trade. It was a crazy zoo of brides and their helpers... I tried on like 4 dresses, and found one that I liked quite a bit, but none that I fell in love with. I don't think I'd be able to buy my wedding dress in that environment! It was really fun to be there and experience it, but pretty insane at the same time. I'm glad we went though :). After we had enough wedding dress shopping, Parish and I headed to the Lincoln Center to check out their Performing Arts Library. Oh my gosh- this place is so awesome! They have all the music you ever wanted, books, scripts, scores, recordings, videos- everything. There are also some galleries in the library, and we saw an exhibit of costumes, sketches, and scenic design models. It was great looking at the actual costumes that were worn in the original productions of some wonderful shows! I also got my "access card," which allows you to go watch archival videos of past productions on Broadway and elsewhere- which is super cool. I plan on spending some time there doing research and learning some shows! After the library, I headed home and met Karen and we went out to dinner. It was such a great day! I never knew I'd love a library so much. haha.
Saturday 2/28
Got up at 5:30 again for an audition. It was for Ogunquit Playhouse, which is somewhere in Maine. This audition was crazy, because they were not allowing people to sign up on an unofficial list... so I had to stand in another line that went all the way down the street until they opened the doors and let us all in to sign up. It was cold, and I was outside for an hour and 45 minutes waiting. Needless to say, it wasn't too fun. Met some nice girls in line though, so that was good! I'm glad I got there early, because I was finished with the audition by 11:00! It was pretty quick, and they didn't seem to be too interested in me- it's all good though. The great thing was that my friend Savannah was there, so we got to go have lunch after we finished auditioning! We went to a place called Bagel Stix, and they had a really good build-your-own salad. Pretty delicious! Savannah and I had a really nice chat, and it was good to talk with someone who's going through the same stuff as me right now! After lunch i headed home and took a 3 hour nap! I didn't mean to sleep that long, but I guess I needed it. That evening Savannah called me and I went and met her to hang out for a while with some of her friends from work, then headed home. Here's the weird thing that happened: Some guy on the subway decided to just start drawing me... so I'm sitting right next to him and he's sketching my face, and everyone is watching him and doesn't say anything. It was pretty awkward! When he finished he handed it to me and said something like "do you think I earned my coffee or soda?" I gave him 2 bucks for the picture. I figured, what the heck, he probably needed that 2 dollars... and in return I get a nicely done sketch that really looks nothing like me. Oh, New York.
and today is Sunday 3/1
Here I am! Jana picked me up for church this morning. She had to be there early, so I walked to a diner down the street from the church to kill the extra hour before the service started. Had some eggs and toast and 2 cups of tea in a pretty little teacup and saucer :) Have you noticed that I really like little diners? Something about them makes me so happy. The people were really nice in this one, too. I'll definitely go back there if I'm ever early to church again! The service was really good, once again. I really like their preacher! It was a nice Sunday morning... now I'm home and it is snowing outside and super cold, so I haven't decided yet what I will do today. We are supposed to get 5-8 inches of snow today, and then 3-5 more tomorrow! So, while it will be really cold, I hope it's at least pretty out!

Now for the news: I have decided that I will only be staying in New York until the end of March. I just feel like, while I am so glad that I came here, it is just not the right time for me to be doing this. My plan is to go home and keep auditioning (I can road trip to neighboring states for auditions, too!) and find a job locally, plan my wedding(!!!), and start life! It seems like everything is on hold while I am here, and it just doesn't feel right. I plan on coming to NYC many many more times for auditions, and spending months here every year in hopes of getting summer work each summer. I've just got to do what's best for me, and going back at the end of March seems to be it! So, there ya go :) In the meantime, I'll still be here going to as many auditions as possible- and maybe I'll get a summer job somewhere. Who knows! I'm just trusting my gut and living each day!

Much love- hope everyone is well!

Here are some pictures:

Here's that guy's sketch... what do you think?

a mountain of dresses, and hundreds of brides trying to get their hands on them.

Here's the view of the line that was down the next street... meaning we were behind 2 other streets worth of people.

more line views.

the Rose reading room at the NY Public Library

<--Jana's church and below, me enjoying NYC's diners!