Six years ago, if you told me that I would be living thirty minutes away from New York City and seeing Broadway shows on the regular, I would never have believed you. I had the most packed year this last school year and have done so many things that I think would have killed to do when I was younger. I have loved New York so much that I wonder how I could have done a college experience without NYC at my fingertips. I’ve decided to compile this year’s adventures into a blog post just like I did last year. I hope that when I eventually live somewhere boring, I can look back at these pictures and these adventures and remember that amazing times that I had with amazing people in my life.
September:
9-3-2016:
An adventure in Central Park with Sarah! With Two Boots pizza, of course.
9-4-2016:
The day that I dragged my friends to the Brooklyn Bridge and to church.
9-10-2016:
Union Square shopping with the “Kissed by Katie” squad. Also the first time my roommate came into the city with me! Also the day that Ellie wrote a song about me!
9-27-2016
The day that I was like “HEY LET’S GO TO CENTRAL PARK ON A TUESDAY TO PRETEND TO DO HOMEWORK” and we had a lot of fun but ultimately it was probably a bad idea.
October
10-2-2016:
First roommate date! Also the first time Ashley had ever seen a Broadway show. ALSO THE TIME I MET LESLI MARGHERITA.
10-4-2016
Sarah got tickets to Seth Meyers and it was my first late night show! Chelsea Clinton, Judge Judy, and Kelly Clarkson were the guests. It was SUPER awesome.
10-13-2016
I went on a road trip with five other Education majors and my professor for 12 hours to get to Grand Rapids, Michigan. Which is also where my cousins live so I got to meet EB, my cousin’s wife! It’s also when I first got to tell people that my sister was pregnant again! OH. AND THE SKIT GUYS.
10-28-2016
My 21st birthday, which was a weekend that was full of adventures - going to a bar, my first legal drink, Olive Garden, and a really nice dinner at a place in NYC with a walk in the pouring rain in Central Park immediately following. But these friends are gold and we had a lot of fun. There aren’t a lot of pictures, but there are a lot of memories.
November
11-4/5/6/7-2016
MY SISTER CAME TO VISIT FOR MY TWENTY-FIRST AND IT WAS KIND OF THE BEST WEEKEND OF MY LIFE. We did the Top of the Rock, Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Staten Island Ferry, frozen hot chocolate, John’s pizza, Broadway (duh), and church! I have way too many pictures to fit here, so here are my favorites out of the dozens.
11-13-2016
Sarah and I did another adventure day, this time going across the Brooklyn Bridge and going to Brooklyn Bridge Park. We walked a LOT that day, but it was gorgeous. We finished our evening with a trip to Champs Diner, a vegan place with the best, also first & only, cauliflower burger I have ever tried.
11-27-2016
Thanksgiving in Virginia, with a trip to DC with the Reahgann, the bestie and the boyfriend.
December
12-4-2016
SARAH WON LOTTERY FOR THE LION KING. It was a Saturday, I had a lot of finals to study for, but then Sarah called me so many times to see if I wanted to go that it woke me up and so everything I had planned for that Saturday flew out the window and we went to a Broadway instead. It was beautiful. #NewYorkProblems.
12-7-2016
My parents came to visit! Made the end of the year so much better. We saw the Rockefellar tree, THE ROCKETTES, did the Bryant Park Christmas village, Central Park, Brooklyn Bridge… It was amazing and I loved having them see my city.
January
1-22-2017
Bethany, Sami, Ashley and I all adventured into the City for church and exploration around NYC. It started pouring, Sami screamed at a street vendor to buy me an umbrella, we went to the Dear Evan Hansen stagedoor where we met Laura Dreyfuss, and then we went to church. It was beautiful.
1-27-2017
Bethany and I went to the March for Life with Lutherans for Life and met up with the one and only Laura Davis. Wonderful time with wonderful people.
February
2-9-2017
We had a snow day! My first ever “official” snow day. So we all scoured for a hill, went sledding, made hot chocolate, and overall had a great day off from school.
2-11-2017
Sarah and I did the Staten Island Ferry. It was cold and wonderful all at the same time. Which, of course, we followed with vegan sushi.
2-19-2017
Brenden came to visit. We had fun plans all ready. We went into the City. I got sick. We spent most of the time watching movies and me complaining about how I didn’t feel good. Quality time, right?
2-25-2017
ALRIGHT, LISTEN, HERE IS A FUN STORY. My friends and I were listening to Dear Evan Hansen. Completely normal occurrence. During one of the songs, I said, “Hey, Sami, this reminds me of Next to Normal and I don’t know why.” Sami said, “What’s Next to Normal?” I freak out and start playing songs from Next to Normal. I hear Aaron Tveit’s voice. Sami and I bond over our love for Aaron Tveit. Ashley didn’t know who that was. So I googled him to show her a picture of the beautiful man. I see that he has a brother. I “accidentally” find his brother on Facebook. We start screaming. We get yelled at by our RA for being too loud. We start screaming quieter. I go to Aaron’s Twitter. He’s having a concert in Long Island in two days. We joke about how it’s unlikely for us to be able to go but we start talking about possibilities. Sami jokes that her mom might be able to take us. Sami “jokingly” calls her mom. Her mom says it could work. We all start screaming again. The next day we buy tickets. The day after that, we go on a really long adventure to Queens. We hang out at Sami’s house. Sami’s parents take us to Long Island. WE SEE AARON TVEIT LIVE FROM FIFTEEN FEET AWAY. So there you go. There’s the story.
2-28-2017
Three days after our Aaron Tveit adventure, Sami got Jimmy Fallon tickets after we had all tried for two months. Yeah, we died. He gave us a hug. We saw Alicia Keys. It was magical.
March
3-4-2017
Spring Break came, and my friend from Hawai’i came to visit. Samantha and I did quite a bit of adventuring, including waiting in line for cookie dough for two hours in 20 degree weather.
3-5-2017
The next day, I obviously took her to a Broadway show because… Well. I’m me. And if you come to New York, of course I’m going to take you to a Broadway show.
3-26-2017
Megan and I had this plan to go get DEH SRO tickets for Sami as a surprise late Birthday present but there weren’t any left so we ended up just spending a lot of time at Starbucks and shopping.
April
4-1-2017
Bethany and I headed for a weekend in Galveston, Texas for the Y4LIFE leadership summit. Again, I cannot thank God enough for these wonderful ladies in my life and I am so thankful we got to grow and learn together.
4-3-2017
The day after I got back from Galveston, Sami, Megan, Ashley and I had tickets for Seth Meyers. Guests were Chelsea Handler, Jake Johnson, and Craig Finn
4-19-2017
After Easter break, Laura Davis came to visit CCNY! So of course: Broadway. She is amazingly sweet and treated Bethany to On Your Feet tickets!
4-28-2017
Brenden came to visit and my housemates and I all went to one of those trampoline places. It was pretty lit. Get it? Lit? Glow in the dark?
May
5-7-2017
Sarah and I had our last adventure together in NYC before she graduated. We went to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory which was in the Lunt-Fontanne Theater… Which is where we saw Finding Neverland, our very first Broadway together during our first semester. Kind of crazy how that came full circle.
5-10-2017
Alright, another long story that involves Sami and Ashley and Megan. We all were obsessed with Dear Evan Hansen. We had tried twice to get tickets to see it through SRO tickets (the only type of tickets we could afford). We knew that the lines were starting at unknown hours of the morning. So Sami and I didn’t have finals on Wednesday. We decided that we would go into the city at 1am and hang out by the Music Box theater to see if we could get SRO tickets when the box office opened at 10am. We got there and we met three glorious human beings who were extraordinarily great. We slept on the street. It was awesome. (Sense the sarcasm). We ended up being the last people to get tickets for the evening performance. We screamed. After no sleep, I babysit for four hours and then immediately got back on the train and went back to the City. We saw Dear Evan Hansen with the full original cast. It still seems like a dream. It was definitely one of the best moments of my life. So, here’s some pictures.
And this concludes the 2016-2017 year recap. I did, contrary to what it seems, actually go to school. I also got a 4.0GPA, so my adventures didn’t hurt my grades too much. I am so thankful for the opportunities I’ve had and I am so blessed with the friends that I have. Thank you, every single one of you. You have made this year unbelievably special to me and I cannot wait for the adventures we are bound to go on this upcoming year.
Oh, and thanks for my parents for being relatively relaxed when I call them and tell them all about what I’ve been doing. Thanks for raising me to be independent, but also being there every time I need to talk. You’re the best parents a girl could ask for.
September:
9-3-2016:
An adventure in Central Park with Sarah! With Two Boots pizza, of course.
9-4-2016:
The day that I dragged my friends to the Brooklyn Bridge and to church.
9-10-2016:
Union Square shopping with the “Kissed by Katie” squad. Also the first time my roommate came into the city with me! Also the day that Ellie wrote a song about me!
9-27-2016
The day that I was like “HEY LET’S GO TO CENTRAL PARK ON A TUESDAY TO PRETEND TO DO HOMEWORK” and we had a lot of fun but ultimately it was probably a bad idea.
October
10-2-2016:
First roommate date! Also the first time Ashley had ever seen a Broadway show. ALSO THE TIME I MET LESLI MARGHERITA.
10-4-2016
Sarah got tickets to Seth Meyers and it was my first late night show! Chelsea Clinton, Judge Judy, and Kelly Clarkson were the guests. It was SUPER awesome.
10-13-2016
I went on a road trip with five other Education majors and my professor for 12 hours to get to Grand Rapids, Michigan. Which is also where my cousins live so I got to meet EB, my cousin’s wife! It’s also when I first got to tell people that my sister was pregnant again! OH. AND THE SKIT GUYS.
10-28-2016
My 21st birthday, which was a weekend that was full of adventures - going to a bar, my first legal drink, Olive Garden, and a really nice dinner at a place in NYC with a walk in the pouring rain in Central Park immediately following. But these friends are gold and we had a lot of fun. There aren’t a lot of pictures, but there are a lot of memories.
November
11-4/5/6/7-2016
MY SISTER CAME TO VISIT FOR MY TWENTY-FIRST AND IT WAS KIND OF THE BEST WEEKEND OF MY LIFE. We did the Top of the Rock, Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Staten Island Ferry, frozen hot chocolate, John’s pizza, Broadway (duh), and church! I have way too many pictures to fit here, so here are my favorites out of the dozens.
11-13-2016
Sarah and I did another adventure day, this time going across the Brooklyn Bridge and going to Brooklyn Bridge Park. We walked a LOT that day, but it was gorgeous. We finished our evening with a trip to Champs Diner, a vegan place with the best, also first & only, cauliflower burger I have ever tried.
11-27-2016
Thanksgiving in Virginia, with a trip to DC with the Reahgann, the bestie and the boyfriend.
December
12-4-2016
SARAH WON LOTTERY FOR THE LION KING. It was a Saturday, I had a lot of finals to study for, but then Sarah called me so many times to see if I wanted to go that it woke me up and so everything I had planned for that Saturday flew out the window and we went to a Broadway instead. It was beautiful. #NewYorkProblems.
12-7-2016
My parents came to visit! Made the end of the year so much better. We saw the Rockefellar tree, THE ROCKETTES, did the Bryant Park Christmas village, Central Park, Brooklyn Bridge… It was amazing and I loved having them see my city.
January
1-22-2017
Bethany, Sami, Ashley and I all adventured into the City for church and exploration around NYC. It started pouring, Sami screamed at a street vendor to buy me an umbrella, we went to the Dear Evan Hansen stagedoor where we met Laura Dreyfuss, and then we went to church. It was beautiful.
1-27-2017
Bethany and I went to the March for Life with Lutherans for Life and met up with the one and only Laura Davis. Wonderful time with wonderful people.
February
2-9-2017
We had a snow day! My first ever “official” snow day. So we all scoured for a hill, went sledding, made hot chocolate, and overall had a great day off from school.
2-11-2017
Sarah and I did the Staten Island Ferry. It was cold and wonderful all at the same time. Which, of course, we followed with vegan sushi.
2-19-2017
Brenden came to visit. We had fun plans all ready. We went into the City. I got sick. We spent most of the time watching movies and me complaining about how I didn’t feel good. Quality time, right?
2-25-2017
ALRIGHT, LISTEN, HERE IS A FUN STORY. My friends and I were listening to Dear Evan Hansen. Completely normal occurrence. During one of the songs, I said, “Hey, Sami, this reminds me of Next to Normal and I don’t know why.” Sami said, “What’s Next to Normal?” I freak out and start playing songs from Next to Normal. I hear Aaron Tveit’s voice. Sami and I bond over our love for Aaron Tveit. Ashley didn’t know who that was. So I googled him to show her a picture of the beautiful man. I see that he has a brother. I “accidentally” find his brother on Facebook. We start screaming. We get yelled at by our RA for being too loud. We start screaming quieter. I go to Aaron’s Twitter. He’s having a concert in Long Island in two days. We joke about how it’s unlikely for us to be able to go but we start talking about possibilities. Sami jokes that her mom might be able to take us. Sami “jokingly” calls her mom. Her mom says it could work. We all start screaming again. The next day we buy tickets. The day after that, we go on a really long adventure to Queens. We hang out at Sami’s house. Sami’s parents take us to Long Island. WE SEE AARON TVEIT LIVE FROM FIFTEEN FEET AWAY. So there you go. There’s the story.
2-28-2017
Three days after our Aaron Tveit adventure, Sami got Jimmy Fallon tickets after we had all tried for two months. Yeah, we died. He gave us a hug. We saw Alicia Keys. It was magical.
March
3-4-2017
Spring Break came, and my friend from Hawai’i came to visit. Samantha and I did quite a bit of adventuring, including waiting in line for cookie dough for two hours in 20 degree weather.
3-5-2017
The next day, I obviously took her to a Broadway show because… Well. I’m me. And if you come to New York, of course I’m going to take you to a Broadway show.
3-26-2017
Megan and I had this plan to go get DEH SRO tickets for Sami as a surprise late Birthday present but there weren’t any left so we ended up just spending a lot of time at Starbucks and shopping.
April
4-1-2017
Bethany and I headed for a weekend in Galveston, Texas for the Y4LIFE leadership summit. Again, I cannot thank God enough for these wonderful ladies in my life and I am so thankful we got to grow and learn together.
4-3-2017
The day after I got back from Galveston, Sami, Megan, Ashley and I had tickets for Seth Meyers. Guests were Chelsea Handler, Jake Johnson, and Craig Finn
4-19-2017
After Easter break, Laura Davis came to visit CCNY! So of course: Broadway. She is amazingly sweet and treated Bethany to On Your Feet tickets!
4-28-2017
Brenden came to visit and my housemates and I all went to one of those trampoline places. It was pretty lit. Get it? Lit? Glow in the dark?
May
5-7-2017
Sarah and I had our last adventure together in NYC before she graduated. We went to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory which was in the Lunt-Fontanne Theater… Which is where we saw Finding Neverland, our very first Broadway together during our first semester. Kind of crazy how that came full circle.
5-10-2017
Alright, another long story that involves Sami and Ashley and Megan. We all were obsessed with Dear Evan Hansen. We had tried twice to get tickets to see it through SRO tickets (the only type of tickets we could afford). We knew that the lines were starting at unknown hours of the morning. So Sami and I didn’t have finals on Wednesday. We decided that we would go into the city at 1am and hang out by the Music Box theater to see if we could get SRO tickets when the box office opened at 10am. We got there and we met three glorious human beings who were extraordinarily great. We slept on the street. It was awesome. (Sense the sarcasm). We ended up being the last people to get tickets for the evening performance. We screamed. After no sleep, I babysit for four hours and then immediately got back on the train and went back to the City. We saw Dear Evan Hansen with the full original cast. It still seems like a dream. It was definitely one of the best moments of my life. So, here’s some pictures.
And this concludes the 2016-2017 year recap. I did, contrary to what it seems, actually go to school. I also got a 4.0GPA, so my adventures didn’t hurt my grades too much. I am so thankful for the opportunities I’ve had and I am so blessed with the friends that I have. Thank you, every single one of you. You have made this year unbelievably special to me and I cannot wait for the adventures we are bound to go on this upcoming year.
Oh, and thanks for my parents for being relatively relaxed when I call them and tell them all about what I’ve been doing. Thanks for raising me to be independent, but also being there every time I need to talk. You’re the best parents a girl could ask for.
I am a twenty-one year old college student. I have lived in Hawai'i my whole life, but I am currently getting my major in elementary education in New York. I'm obsessed with Broadway and makeup. I like writing and photography. I am always in search of adventures and memories.
Isaiah 43:1
Isaiah 43:1