Jo! Your one beauty

Sometimes you get bored and restless and have some sort of  breakdown impulse to make a big change.  So you talk your roommate into cutting your hair.

I don't know why, but I felt like I was drowning in it.  Everyday was this exhausting routine of brushing and combing and trying to make it look presentable and then just throwing it up in a messy bun because it would get caught in bags, bra straps, and armpits.  It once got stuck in the car door of my uber on a windy day and even between my bed frame and the wall.   And uhhhhh...it was EVERYWHERE.

But also because a part of me sort of became curious of who I was without my hair.  I'm pretty sure I'm not the only women out there that feels this way, but my hair is a defining characteristic of who I am.  Silly, right?  A co-worker was trying to jog the memory of someone who had met me briefly and described me as "Whitney...you know...the one with the pretty hair."

The past few years have been so amazing in so many ways but also really disappointing and tough.  It's been full of challenges and heartbreak and, I know this probably sounds so ridiculous, but its like my hair was just hanging on to all of it.

New Hair=New Start?  I dunno.

So I just did it.  Well, actually Diana did it.  I called Mom (who has given me every haircut of my entire life except 3 random trims) and asked if she would fix it next time I saw her, just in case it turned out to be a complete disaster.

And then we went for it.

And after the first few seconds of shock wore off...I felt so good!!!!  So light, so relieved,  and so ME!  It's not a pixie cut and I didn't dye it purple or anything too drastic.  Just 15 inches of dead life gone. 

Bring it Next Decade

Yesterday was my Birthday, and what could have been a day of mourning for the passing of my twenties, was actually a huge welcome celebration for my thirties.  That's right...Bring it next decade! 

                             

My morning was laid back with church, cupcakes, and lots of balloons.  The afternoon however, was pretty crazy and intense, because I went SKYDIVING!

Skydiving has been on my to-do list for years and it finally happened.  

This Chick was a good enough friend to come with me!

We drove 90 minutes to the middle of nowhere, signed in, took a short class, and an hour later we were hopping on our plane.

The "Getting Ready" area

Since it was my birthday, I got to do something pretty special.  I got to FLY THE AIRPLANE!!!

That's right!  I sat in the co-pilot seat, the pilot let go and gave me complete control for quite a while actually.  I'll admit, it wasn't the smoothest ride but it was SUCH an amazing feeling.  I couldn't believe that I got to experience what it felt like to be in control of a plane!  I took us from 6,000 ft in the air to 13,000.  And then it was our turn to jump.  

I'm pretty sure this picture was taken after Diana exclaimed that she hated me ;)

You have to lean your head back for the fall....

and there she goooooes

Bye Diana.

My turn!

The feeling right before you jump out of a plane is sort of weird.  It's a combination of excitement and disbelief.  Like, "Is this really my life right now?" 

AHHHHHHHHHH!

Hey there!

My mouth was open the whole time from laughing/smiling/screaming...I'm so glad I didn't swallow a bug!

 What I really loved about this place was that I got to be (sorta) in control.  I pulled the parachute and even got to fly us around under the canopy.  I steered and did all the tricks!

I couldn't stop looking down, it was so pretty

But looking at the horizon will take your breath away.

Even though I was the last to jump, Diana landed after me.  She landed, got her parachute off, and we ran and hugged each other!  Best time ever.

Seriously, you guys gotta try it!  Everyone.  Everyone go skydiving right now!!!

After that rush, we had the whole car ride home to calm down.  Then I face timed with my family, ate some more cupcakes, and called it a successful day. 

Seriously, aren't they the best!

My favorite!

 Good start Thirties...good start.

P.S.  Wanna take a look at all the cool stuff I got to do this year?  I almost finished my 30 things list! I'm giving myself my "birthday month" to finish up a few things.  I'm almost there!

 P.P.S Okay, you guys get one picture of what most of the pictures turned out like.  When you are traveling at 120 miles per hour, it's hard to keep your cheeks in check. ;)

And that's all I have to say about that

Die Hard Fans

I saw my first baseball game my sophomore year in high school.  I went on a band trip to Chicago and one of the events was taking in a game at Wrigley Field. What I remember about that game is the freezing cold rain and flirting with boys. 

Seriously, that's all.

I saw my second baseball game on Monday night.  It was quite a different experience.  It was hot and muggy, I went with my best friend, and I did my best to actually be invested in the game and the team.  That ended up not being too hard because when you are surrounded by people who care SO much, it's easy to care too.  

I bought this hat just for this occasion and even had my nails painted in Cubs colors!

Also, it's easy to care when the game goes 13 innings and you have been there for 5+ hours! 

That's right, we were there for the WHOLE game; from the first pitch to the winning point. Did I want the cubs to win or just want the game to end so I could go home?  I don't even know. 

What really matters is that we got out of there with plenty of time to sleep and be ready for the rest of our week...oh wait, we left the field at 12:20...AM!

This picture was taken four and half hours into the game.  

I'm getting old.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Concrete Jungle Where Dreams are Made

Settle in.  Grab some popcorn and maybe a glass of wine...because this is my long ass blog about NEW YORK CITY!

   

I don't know how I have gone my entire life without visiting New York.  But as my 30's approach, I figured it was time to stop thinking, "Maybe next year" and just do it!

So Diana and I bought our tickets and reserved an Airbnb for my first trip to NYC!  

Diana found us some New York Passes at a disount price, which allowed us into a ton of attractions for free and most of the time we got to skip the line.  And we crammed as much as possible into three and a half days!

First ride on the subway...so far so good.  

After arriving in the big city and getting settled in at our (super sketchy) airbnb, we headed to Red Roosters to eat the best chicken sandwich of my life.  

I seriously didn't know chicken could taste like that.

Then we headed to Times Square!

And I can quite honestly say this might be my least favorite place in the whole world. Don't go. DON'T DO IT!  You will get squished by the crowd of stupid people who keep taking pictures, walking the wrong way, and don't know their way around. (Whether I fall into this category is beside the point.)  And you will get other human sweat on you. Not your own...other people's!  I repeat. DON'T GO!  
Unless you want to see a Broadway play, then you are pretty much stuck walking through Time's Square no matter what. So yeah, we were there like everyday getting tickets for our shows. 

I had to take a bow on Broadway!

The first night we went to Matilda which was so cute!  

It's nice traveling with this chick because we entertain ourselves so well during long waits.

The next morning, we headed out early to stand in line for rush tickets to the color purple!  We missed it by about five people, but decided to splurge a little and got tickets anyway.  

And it was so worth it!

Except can someone explain the significance of the wall of chairs?  It looks cool and I get the function of using the ones on the bottom for everything from sitting to weapons...but a whole wall of chairs.  We couldn't figure it out.  What are we missing?  

Anyway, after snagging those tickets we headed to Madam Tussauds to pick up our NY passes. And while we were there, we hung out with some celebs.

I helped Steven direct a scene, fought some ghosts with Melissa, sung a tune with Whitney (miracles do happen) and got to touch JLo's butt.  No Biggie.

Then we went to this exhibit called "The Body" which was so interesting that neither of us took any pictures. But here is one from the internet.

It's an exhibit of people who donated their bodies to science and their bones, muscles, and organs are on display in a ton of different positions.  My explanation isn't doing it justice by any means, but we both loved it. 

Then we went to MOMA!

And saw a lot of really cool and weird art.

How does that make you feel?

Name that Artist!

My favorite.  I super love it a lot a lot a lot. 

A little Monet.

Okay, it was a HUGE Monet

And of course this totally insignificant piece of art...

Ugh...a photo of a painting is just the WORST! ;)

Then we headed to the top of the rock to get a different view of NYC

It was super duper pretty!

After that, I wanted to see the skating rink in Rockefeller Center.  But it's August.


So we hung around that area, took a walk by Radio City Music Hall, and then ended the night at The Color Purple.

The next morning we woke up sorta kinda early, ran to get our tickets to Fun Home, then hopped over to the Met.  

Now you could easily spend a whole weekend in this museum.  It's so huge.  But we decided to limit our time to two and a half hours. Totally enough time, right?

 Oh! Sorry, these I are just pictures of my closet.  I have no idea how these got on here!

Van Gogh himself ladies and gents!

Oh Hayyy Jackson, I love seeing you again.

Then we zoomed through the Guggenheim 

And last, we headed to the 9/11 memorial and museum.  I wasn't sure if this was something that I wanted to do.  Our trip was so fun, I didn't feel like getting too serious about life. 

But it was Beautiful.  It was touching and respectful and I learned so much about that day.  I want to go back to spend more time there someday.

 Then we caught a cab and half rode half RAN through the streets of New York to catch Fun Home!  Which was so, so good!  Like, every play should be done in the round.  And someday I will work at Circle in the Square Theatre.

Sunday we woke up to catch the ferry to the Statue of Liberty.  I love myself a good ferry ride and this one didn't disappoint.  No matter where you look, there is a pretty view!  And here are some pictures of my pretty view. 

Then we headed to Central Park to meet up with our friend, Micaela!

I haven't seen her since her wedding two years ago! So it was great to hang with her for the rest of the day.  

Turtles in the pond

Oh no biggie.  Just a few guys casually walking around with huge snakes.

 

 Photo Credit for this beautiful picture goes to Diana Coates

Later that night, we checked out Washington park.  

I took a little dip in the fountain!  The cold water felt so good.

After hanging out there, we all went out for some yummy New York pizza.  Then Diana and I had one last stop for the day! 

 
The Empire State building!

Night pictures never turn out very well.  But trust me, it was a great view.  And I'm so glad that we went at midnight because we didn't have to wait in line at all!  

 

Our last morning, we woke up early enough to do one more thing!  We walked across the Brooklyn bridge.  

And that was the only time I stepped out of Manhattan.  Yep, we did all that stuff and I never even visited another borough.  

We had to hustle to catch our flight.  The epic story of catching our plane back could be a whole post in and of itself. But just know that we are awesome and still made it back to Chicago.  Home sweet home.  For now ;)

Whew!  Did you make it through that whole post.  Kudos.  Give yourself a pat on the back, because woah!