I just got back from Dominique Ansel's where i got my first Cronut. For those who have been living under a rock and don't know/care what a Cronut is, it is a mix between a croissant and a donut with a cream filling.  New York has gone nuts and thus the tourist have gone nuts and further thus (?) the world has gone nuts.  There are knock of Cronuts and a black market where you can buy cronuts someone else stood in line for (questionable)... it's nuts.  So obviously, i had to get me one.
     My fellow intern and i arrived at the bakery in SoHo at 5:30 a.m. this morning and waited for the shop to open at 8.  It was fun, though the first 30 minutes or so were filled with yawns and the desire to fashion a cot out of something anything on the sidewalk.... i refrained... others didn't have such will power.

     5:30 a.m. is a strange time in New York.  You have the stragglers from going out the night before and the crazy homeless are even more rampant.  While in line there were several... a guy walking around singing (the harmless kind), the guy desperately asking who was from Brooklyn and was appalled when no one would respond.  He got over it and went back to his trash rummaging.  My favorite crazy was the man who claimed he first invented the cronut.  For about an hour before opening he had been harassing the bakery shop workers manning the line and us saying he had made the cronut 25 years ago and Dominique owed him. Cops were called.  What a mess.
    Anyway, waiting in line wasn't that bad.  Priyanka (the other intern) and I made friends with the people around us and laughed a lot, mostly out of delirium.   As time progressed, the shop workers would come around with treats to hand to us: lemon square bits, miniature cookies, etc.  I kept saying it was like charlie and the chocolate factory.  Even the way that the inventor of this pastry craze came out before the opening, "Welcome to Dominiques... thank you all for waiting," he said.  Interrupted by the aforementioned crazy saying "you poser! i made it!" (Eye Roll).  He shook everyones hand as we entered how cool is that... Dominique not the crazy!
     So we finally were able to enter the shop.  We were in the second round of people who can go in.  They only sell 100 or so cronuts a day so we have to enter in an organized fashion or else mass chaos ensues. But we made it in and watched cronuts being made and looked at all the beautiful pastries!

    Then,... the moment! We got our cronuts.  There's a limit of two per person, no way was i going to be able to eat two but i waited this long... might as well buy two!  There were no seats in the shop so we went outside and ate our cronuts!  So delicious!! I think the line was worth it and i'll forever be able to say i had the original cronut!

    I realize i have not posted in quite some time.  This summer is coming to a close and i am trying to soak up every last second of it. This leaves very little time to blog.
     Work has been work.  I couldn't have hoped for a better opportunity.... i could have opted for a star studded internship where i meet every celebrity that visits but yah know... what exactly do you gain from that?  I'm getting hands on experience with big names in our business.  Sure, some days are boring but i'm getting face time and by lines on the website.  These days there's been more slow days than fast ones but i am almost okay with that because i am getting to know my coworkers better, which i think will be useful in the long run.
     This being said... i'm starting to burn out.  I'm a family gal and i really am missing them especially after spending this past weekend with them.  I'm going to leave this summer with great contacts and a confidence that i can go into the working world and make it even if it does happen to be far away.
      I fly out next Friday and it can't come soon enough! I'm about to start my senior year... who wouldn't be excited for that?  I've still got a little time left here and i'm trying to make the most of it despite the homesickness!  I'm sure i'll be writing again before then.

     I am running myself ragged this week. I know this because i have had a fairly exciting couple of days but have come home too tired to blog... heck... i'm too tired to call my boyfriend and tell him about it (Sorry Chris!)
      Monday was (as i hope you know) the Royal Baby birth/announcement.  Therefore, i was on "royal baby watch" all day.  This sounds way more exciting than it is.  Basically, it consisted of me staring at the live feed of the door and wall outside the Ludlow Wing outside Saint Mary's hospital in case the couple came out.  Which, they didn't.  There was the random town crier. In case you didn't know (i certainly didn't) that guy is in no way associated with the royals.  As our foreign editor said, "its a guy who wears a hat, gets drunk and runs around making announcements." Fair enough. He seemed pretty excited about his fake job and got plenty of media coverage.
      The next day i went to watch Good Morning America from the control room.

Or, i thought i was just going to be in the control room but i got to go to the studio for the second hour.  The first hour i got to watch how they handled the Royal Baby coverage.  This was the day they got to make the announcement but it was raining in London where Amy Robach and Lara Spencer were.  It damaged their mics and ear pieces.  The whole studio was in a frenzy 5 minutes before show when this was happening.  The executive producer said we were taking them whether you could hear them or not! They picked up their cell phones and the mics miraculously worked but it was definitely stressful.
     I got to go into the studio next.  The guests were the hosts of project runway and Cate Blanchett.

They were all so nice.  The studio was pretty full of camera men but there were a total of 3 interns in there so the guests were excited to say hello to us.  Heidi Klum and Cate Blanchett both said hello to me and would look over sometimes and give me a wink and a smile! It was pretty cool and Heidi just glows.  Everyone else just kindof disappears around her.

       I then went to work and wrote a dot com story and watched for the Royal Baby to make its first appearance and St. Mary's.  My dot com story was on some mosquito patch they are coming up with so you don't have to use spray.  Obviously i get the most coveted stories.
       Today, i did another story .  I think this was my most involved one.  Some rare bird was spotted in New Mexico so i got to interview a lot of people and do a lot of research.  I think it's my best one yet!

    This weekend was a huge blessing.  It's always nice to have family and loved ones come visit me in New York and this weekend my Aunt Brenda was here.  We hit the ground running in a sense and ate dinner and did a night tour double decker bus the second she got in.

 The city is beautiful at night and we got to see it from Brooklyn where you can see the entire skyline lit up.

     The next morning we got up early and went to the Jason Derulo concert in Central Park for GMA. I have a friend interning there that i met at orientation that will always give me VIP wrist bands so we don't have to wait in line or stand in the back.

Neither of us had any interest in Derulo... turns out that's probably good because he sounded awful live.  We stood over by the anchor desk and watched them the whole time.  We were very close!

     Bren had heard of this place called Donut Plant in the Hotel Chelsea so we went there right after the concert and waited for the MoMath to open.  The donuts were delicious! They had unique flavors and the decor and music was very indie.

 We then walked to the MoMath which was very close to the Hotel Chelsea.  The museum was interesting.  Clearly not as awesome as some of the mainstream museums but unique in its own way.  It was very hands on.  We got to play games and experience everything first hand.  There was an exhibit that you got to step on and it would light up.  The woman manning it said it changed every couple of minutes to something new.  We experienced it making a maze and another time it would create a zone for you when you stepped onto to.  Pretty cool!  Didn't get too much bang for our buck though due to the museum only having two levels. But all in all pretty fun!

     This was the hottest day of the summer so far here, keep in mind.  So very sweaty and tired from GMA, we decided to go back to my place and regroup.  After about an hour, we grabbed lunch at a very tasty French place called Le Pain and headed to the tkts booth to try our luck at cheap broadway tickets.  Could not have gone better!

We got our first choice at tkts: cinderella!!!
      For TKTs, you have to wait in line in the middle of times square for a few hours and then reach a booth where you can buy heavily discounted tickets.  We got orchestra seats for Cinderella for 90 bucks... you heard me... 90 bucks!!!!
       So we went home, rested, and primped and headed out to grab dinner before our show.  We ended up going to an italian place right next door to our theatre.  Cinderella was really amazing.  The music was cute and the costume changes were awe inspiring!  Teared up several times because it was just that great and we were soooo close!

      That was a late night, so we headed to bed and slept in a bit the next morning.  We had heard of this  brunch spot called the Clinton Street Baking Co.  We arrived and they said it would be an hour and a half wait.  I was skeptical so we stayed.  Turned out, i was right... the wait was 30 minutes.  Score!!! Some of the best breakfast i've ever had.  Just look at the picture.. have you ever seen anything so delicious looking!!!??

     After that, we headed to the Empire State Building.  I hadn't been up there since i made my NY trip with my dad for my 12th birthday.  I remember, it was foggy that day so we couldn't really see anything! but that day when Bren and I went, it was beautiful.  Hot... but beautiful.  You can see everything!!

     We had big plans with World News that night so we headed home so i could change because i knew i'd be taking pictures and i don't know that a Texas Rangers shirt would have gone over so well.   So we rested our feet, enjoyed some air conditioning and headed out.  We made a stop by Big Gay Ice Cream on the way... not that that's on the way... it's in West Village... but still!  I firmly believe that is the best Ice Cream in the world.  I had a cone lined with Nutella... like... come on!

     I got to show her around ABC after that.  Again, i don't want all my readers to have all these ideas of grandeur about this building.  In all honesty, its more of an office building that happens to have a studio and some famous news people.  Its fascinating for us newsies and avid watchers of ABC News, but as for the general public... not much to look at.

But i showed her where i work and we stopped by the World News studio to wait for Ginger Zee who was kind enough to let us watch her do her thing as well as watch the rest of the show with David Muir hosting.  We met Gio Benitez, Ron Claiborne, Rob Nelson, David Muir, Ginger Zee and ran into Dan Harris in the elevator.  She got quite the ABC News celeb studded evening!! I gained a new love for the very sarcastic Ron Claiborne.  I was thrilled to share that with Bren!  It was a really good time!

    It wouldn't be a true New York trip, if we didn't get some New York pizza.  Lombardi's in SoHo was the highest rated one i could find in Manhattan.

 There are some great ones in Brooklyn but i thought we should stick to Manhattan.  It was delicious, very uniquely displayed and highly accredited.  The walls were lined with magazine articles and celebrities who had stopped by! So yummy!

     The last thing we did was go to an improv comedy show.  Those are a big thing in Chelsea and very cheap.

I thought that would be a fun thing to end the weekend with, though, i had a slight fear it would be very raunchy.  It was hilarious... laced with foul language on occasion... but the subject matter was just funny.  They did these impressions of women and little children with lisps.  Probably hard to picture.  Bren, i know you're reading... you know what i mean!

Anyway, we passed out very quickly that night and she left for the airport early this morning.
     This afternoon, i met some friends in washington square park for a free event called Comedy in the Park.  they had a bunch of Comedy Central semi-celebs that varied from funny to very funny!  On top of that, it was free... so even if they weren't funny we didn't lose anything but time and maybe some sweat!
     As far as the week ahead goes, i believe i have plans to see Despicable Me 2 and go to dinner with some folks.  My boss is setting me up with GMA to shadow the control room one morning which should be a blast!  I'm in the final stretch!  I miss everyone in Dallas and Norman very much and i can't wait to be back.

     I was on the elevator with Diane Sawyer today!  Otherwise, there isn't much to talk about.  The phones weren't even really ringing.   Ginger Zee did agree to let me shadow her this weekend and i have a meeting with a big wig in the investigative unit tomorrow! So lot's of plans being made for later but not much happening in the way of business.

    This weekend feels like a dream.  Chris got in on Thursday and we hit the ground running from there.   Some friends of mine staying in the NYU dorms were nice enough to let him stay there during his whole visit so that made the trip very painless and much cheaper than it could have been.
     The one thing he really wanted to eat here was New York pizza so we grabbed a slice before heading to meet up with some of my friends i've met here!  We found a very cheap bar and grille and sat and chatted for quite a bit.

I really wanted to get some good "coupely" pictures at the top of the rock that night so we did that at around 10:30 and got a great view of the city lights.  Thanks to all the strangers who very willingly took our picture for us.

 The next day we woke up and did brunch before going to the Natural History Museum.  I get in free with my ABC ID but we decided to do a special exhibit: the whales.  It was really cool! they had this huge skeleton of a sperm whale that made the entrance fee all worth it.  

 We spent a few hours there then headed to Greenwich village to get Big Gay Ice Cream.  Chris was kindof iffy about it... obviously the name freaked him out a tad.  We got there and he made these big eyes as soon as he bit into his cone! So worth it.  It's the best ice cream in new york in my opinion.

      Our plans to go the Yankees game weren't for a few hours so we hung out in West Village for a little bit.  There are lots of little shops and bars to explore so it wasn't hard to find things to do.  We also grabbed some Gray's Papaya hot dogs because i thought he needed to experience that.
       At around 5:30 we caught the subway to the Bronx and walked through Harlem to get to Yankee stadium. Needless to say, we took a different route home.  The stadium is beautiful.  We bought some hats and found our seats.

Nathan's hot dogs were a must! We voted: Nathan's beats Gray's Papaya... sorry!

After about two innings, it began to sprinkle, kinda cold but bearable.  About two innings later, it started pouring.  It was fun for a little bit, we didn't think it would last long so we laughed and kept saying we'd remember it forever.  When they pulled out the tarps and began a delay, we headed downstairs to explore the rest of the stadium.  The game ended up being on an hour and a half delay and we left along with the rest of the stadium after about 45 minutes of waiting.

      The next morning, i showed him around work and we grabbed a waffle at the waffle stand over there.  Then we headed to the intrepid.

This was the number one thing i thought he would want to do.  He's a huge nerd about planes and they have an entire flight deck filled with different planes plus this past wednesday they opened up the enterprise again.

I loved it more than i thought i would... he taught me a lot about the planes.  I mean really, who needs a tour guide when you have this guy.

      Carnegie Deli was the lunch place of choice so we got sandwiches bigger than our heads and explored times square so we could know where we going for our show that night.

We decided to rest for a little bit and change before Phantom that Night and spend an hour or so at my place where he had brought his clothes to change into that morning.  
      I thought it might be cute to do an unheard of dinner before a fancy night like this so we went to shake shack right across the street from the Majestic Theater and then went to stand in line for our show.

 He loved it! Much more than i had ever thought he would! I was so glad.  I kind of worried that he was going to think it was too girly! I forgot about all the pyrotechnics and staging this show had.  Seeing it again was a blast!

      I had a friend seeing Chicago around the same time as us so we met up with him after.  Came in handy because he took our required picture in Times Square!

      Chris left early this morning and is now back in Oklahoma.   I miss him so much more than i did before but i'm so beyond blessed that he got to visit.  My Aunt Brenda is coming next weekend and we have exciting plans as well!  Two weekends of fun with family and friends in New York?? I'll take it.  Oh... and i have work too... have i mentioned that in a while?  It's going fine... if something exciting happens y'all will be the first to know.
     It's mostly been slow because there has been a lot of waiting for our news... Zimmerman is finally done.  But now we're waiting on the Royal Baby and Mandela to die... or live forever? you never know!