Video from Election Night

Here's a clip of when the final results were announced. There was some excitement, but I thought there would be more cheering and celebration. People cheered and then were kind of over it. There was more excitement celebrating the Giants winning the World Series than presidential election results!

Election Night 2012

It was pretty exciting to experience the presidential election in New York. Rockefeller Plaza was turned into "Democracy Plaza" with lots of interactive things to do besides standing around waiting for results to come in. There were a lot of people there, but it wasn't so packed that you couldn't move. I would say there were more Obama supporters than Romney there. Considering Rockefeller Plaza is a tourist stop, there were also many tourists there to witness the event. Oh, and as we were walking to the event, we passed Bill O'Reilly on the street.

Take a look at some of the happenings!

Rockefeller Center lit up for the event.

On the side of Rockefeller building they had a bar graph and tally going for the electoral college. They would change the numbers when new data came in and raise the carriage higher, which would let out more fabric.

Artists were using touchscreens to draw your picture next to Obama. Not sure if they had a Romney one, as I didn't see anyone getting their picture drawn next to his.

One activity let you sit at the desk and report the election. The monitor would show you with Rockefeller Plaza in the background.

Downstairs in Rockefeller Center you could take your pic in the Oval Office or presidential press conference. It was free, and for every picture taken they would donate $1 to the Hurricane Sandy relief efforts.

My roommate Julie had previously purchased Obama buttons to send to her dad (FYI people in Canada totally follow our politics and the majority supported Obama). We each wore one on our beanies. A woman from Israel asked to take our picture! The lights in the background are from the TV set ups.

I was able to get close to the NBC news area. There's David Gregory on the left and Brian Williams on the right. 

Trip to Queens County Farm

Fall is here in the city. Well, it has started to make it's way. Last week the air was cool and crisp and we were pulling out our sweaters, scarves, and jackets for the first time. Abby's favorite holiday is Halloween and she really wanted to find a pumpkin patch. I had heard about how beautiful the leaves were when they changed colors and wanted to see this with my own eyes. And Julie was down for a great adventure. We did some internet research and found the Queens County Farm Museum, which we could take the train and a short walk to get to. It's located on the border of Queens/Long Island and a working historical farm owned by the city.

For October, the farm had a corn maze, hay rides, animals, food, and a pumpkin patch. The area was beautiful and reminded me a bit of Deer Hollow Farm in that it had a lot of educational programs and was a really neat space for people to visit (sans hiking). When we got there, we had a snack and yummy apple cider. After walking around we decided to do the corn maze. Each team had a map they had to fill in with puzzle pieces they would find at mail boxes located at different areas in the maze. It was really fun to try to find mailboxes and walk through the maze. And to be in quiet open space away from the city. Abby ended up not being able to get a pumpkin because the line was really long, and they were expensive. We saw a few trees with leaves changing colors, but not to the effect people had described. But we had a great time! See pictures from our adventure below!

One of the barns on the farm. This one was finished inside so event could be held there.

One of the pumpkin patches.

The main pumpkin patch.

Following Abby through the corn maze.

Julie getting a puzzle piece from the mail box we found!

I carried the flag. Each group had their own with a different flag color/pattern. This was so groups could be recognized, and found!

Corn maze! Do you see some flags? The blue tower is where staff was located to help answer questions and monitor the game.

Corn maze with people going through.

End of the corn maze.

We finished the maze!

Gift shop.

One of the green houses attached to the gift shop.

Abby, Julie, and I.

Corn!

Photo of the Day

I took this picture on the way to the subway after work. I did not edit it. The clouds are amazing this afternoon!

I've Got Mail!

Thanks Laurie for the Cheap Bastard's Guide To New York City book! It arrived in the mail today! In addition to the 2012 Not For Tourists Guide to New York she gave me as a going away present, I have lots of resources for future adventures.

Wanderlust Yoga in the City Event

In one of my fitness magazines, I saw advertised the Wanderlust Yoga in the City event. Not wanting to miss an opportunity to partake in a free event, Julie, Abby, and I decided to attend. It was also the weekend before school started, so we figured we should have a little fun now before the semester started and we became occupied with school work.

The event took place at the Hudson River Park. It was a nice day, and although hot, there was a breeze blowing. As you can see by the picture, the clouds were amazing against the blue sky. It made for a really beautiful backdrop. Each group yoga session was led by different instructors. For our class, we had three different instructors that led a segment. The last woman who led the class was pretty hilarious. She had this hip hop, yoga, interpretive movement hybrid technique. We started out by chanting, "Start the day with love. Fill the day with love. End the day with love."  At one point we were instructed to pair up and do this mime activity with a partner. All in all, it was an interesting event and a neat experience.

Empire State Building

So I've been in NYC for about 6 weeks now, just long enough to feel comfortable in my surroundings, yet continuously blown away by the cool things I see on a daily basis. The family I nanny for lives in Gramercy Park, and I pass by the Empire State Building on a regular basis. I took this photo last Friday after work. We had the nicest weather that day; in the upper 70's and warm, but not humid. It was heaven!