March 5-9: New York!

Prom 1989

A long time ago (20 years) in a galaxy far far away (Phoenix), I was the best of friends with a sassy redhead named Sara. That's Sara (far right), Michelle (middle), and me (I know - bigger hair) at Prom in 1989. Our Junior year. This is Sara today. Scary how little she has changed, no? I mean, the bangs are slightly less....bangy....but other than that. For my birthday this year, Dave sent me to the Big Apple to visit Sara. I hadn't spend a significant amount of time with her since about 1990, although we have kept in touch over the years and have had an odd dinner here and there if we both happened to be in the same place at the same time. I arrived on Friday night and we went out to eat at a restaurant called Zafra, a Cuban Latino restaurant in Hoboken. We had Cebiche Tamal de Pollo con Mole Rojo for appetizers. I had the Pollo con Mole Oaxaqueño for dinner. Sara had the Camarones Coloraditos and I wish I had gotten that because I tried hers and it was exceptionally good. However, my overall assessment of Cuban food - awesome. We didn't eat until 9pm and got home at midnight so I was pretty wiped out by then.
The next morning we ate breakfast and then headed to Battery Park to catch a ferry to Ellis Island. Josh is studying national landmarks and per his instructions, I took pictures of the Statue of Liberty. Having been to New York, I had seen it before, but, never this close. I also hadn't been to Ellis Island, which turned out to be quite fascinating. I would highly recommend it - an education in how people arrived in our great country. After Ellis Island we went to a Coffee Shop to get a snack before heading to see "An Education". We wanted to preview an Oscar nominated movie since our plan was to watch them the next night. At the Coffee Shop I had calamari that was excellent. Then we headed to the movie. Afterward, we met Sara's husband, Brett, at Po. Po is in the West Village and a tiny tiny place. I say that, but most restaurants in New York seem to be very tiny. Must be why they are so expensive. I had the organic pear salad and the striped sea bass (the special) for dinner. For dessert I had the Po Sundae ("Pó Sundae" fresh mint gelato, cinnamon spiced pine nuts & chocolate sauce), which may have been the best dessert I have ever had in my life. Again, it was midnight and I was exhausted by the time we got home. However, at 3am I woke up with horrible stomach cramps and ended up spending the next hour experiencing dinner a second time. Not pretty.
We had a leisurely morning because I still wasn't feeling 100% and then headed out to Sosa Borella for lunch. I had the Pollaio - Grilled sliced chicken breast, mesclun, avocado, tomato, corn topped with gorgonzola cheese. It was a salad - very mild. Very yummy. Then we headed to the Gerschwin Theatre to see "Wicked". I have to say - loved it. Loved it more than any musical I have seen in a long time. We then headed home where Sara made three bean chili and broiled pineapple with sugared macademia nuts and a rum balsamic reduction sauce. I know - gourmet galore! We settled in to watch the Academy Awards and (what?!) their cable company and ABC were at war so it wasn't on! Read: THE OSCARS WERE NOT ON IN NYC. Yeah, you could hear the howling and weeping and wailing in the streets. Just after the timeframe that would have been the opening monologue, they suddenly came to an agreement and the show came on. Phew - dodged that bullet. We watched the rest of the Oscars and then went to bed happy.
Monday morning I headed out to wander along Washington Street in Hoboken and check out the little shops. Sara had some work to do and I was meeting my friend Dede for lunch. Dede and I spent our summers together growing up, because I spent every summer in Provo. We went to Girls' Camp, climbed trees, saw movies, went swimming, and talked about boys. I had asked a woman from Hoboken on the plane for a lunch recommendation and she said "Bin14". But first, I wandered in and out of little shops, bought a piece of chocolate, and did price comparisons on food in a little market. When I walked into Bin14 I had to laugh. Who would have thought that 20 years later I would be meeting Dede at a Wine Bar in Hoboken? Not me! I had the Roasted pear, goat cheese, bibb lettuce, Elderflower Salar and a Margherita with fresh mozzarella Pizza. Divine. Probably the best Margherita pizza I have had. Dede and I did the speed catch up on our lives and then Sara met me there to head to the Museum of Modern Art. The MoMA was having an exhibit on Tim Burton (weird guy) and Monet that we thought would be interesting. It was interesting, but it was packed. I did get to see the original costume from Edward Scissorhands. I thought the Cambell's Soup series by Andy Warhol was particularly entertaining. I'm not a huge fan of modern art, but liked some of the stuff I saw.

After the MoMA we went to Top of the Rock to see some views of the city. I had been to the top of the Empire State Building, but that was it. Never made it to the top of the WTC, unfortunately. It was a beautiful sunset. By that time we were hungry, but we took a detour so that I could see the skating rink, which is actually quite small. We jumped on the Subway and went back down to the Village to eat at The Fatty Crab. I had never had Malaysian food and was on a mission to try new things (being surrounded by chains in Utah). For appetizers we had the Green Mango with chili-sugar-salt and the Steamed Veggie Buns. I got the Malay Fish Fry - tumeric tempura, crab curry, green chili, tamaki. It was extremely spicy, but I would get it again. On the way home we got cupcakes that were kind of on the sweet side (read: too sweet) and then went to bed.

Skating in Rockefeller Center

My last day we decided to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met) and our route included a walk through Central Park. It was a beautiful pre-Spring day and even a bit warm! The Met is HUGE. Ridiculously huge. It would take a person a month going every day to get through it all. We focused on the impressionists, keeping with the previous day's theme.
Then we headed to Serendipity for lunch. The menu is ridiculous. There are so many options and it is all done in a headache inducing font. Very hard to read. I like their online menu better! I got the Monet Salad, which I have since duplicated at home, and the blackout cake (Dave's is better). You really go for the ambiance, and the fact that it was the site where John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale eat in the movie Serendipity. After lunch we headed home, and then it was time for me to get on a plane and get back to Utah. It was a great weekend and fun to see old friends! I have to say, New York has gotten a little stranger in my absence, but, I am willing to concede that I live in a quiet bubble of a small-ish town now so it could be my perspective. It didn't seem so overwhelming when I lived on the East Coast. I still could never live there, but it is a fun place to visit - especially if you are a foodie!

December 30th: Carlos O'Brien's

I didn't take pictures of everyone - forgot! But we had a Carlos O'Briens dinner while I was home and I have to say that some of my best friends from high school were there. I loved having Misty and Regina to hug, as well as the Monicas, Jay, and Morgan. This time I brought Dave so that everyone could meet him.

KD (Misty's daughter), Misty, Regina, and me

Class of 90: Tara Ruiz, Morgan Brown, Monica Valdez, Me, and Monica Holguin (maiden names used!)

I love these girls. Seriously - how blessed can one person be to have such wonderful friends that are still around after 20 years?!

High School Reunion Part Three

After a short nap I got up to get ready for the main reunion event, which took place at the Biltmore Embassy Suites. I picked up Regina and we headed to the hotel. I think both of us were a little nervous to see so many people. As soon as we arrived I ran into Bobby Greene, who was my very first boyfriend in 5th grade. He says 4th grade, but who has a boyfriend in FOURTH grade?! Ha ha. It was great to see him and a surprise because I didn't know that he was coming. Neither did he, actually. He jumped in his car and drove from San Diego as a spur of the moment thing.

I wandered around a bit saying hi to people I knew. I actually knew more people at the Happy Hour so it was a bit daunting. There was almost no one from the Class of 1990! My first thought was that we would definitely be doing our own. I guess people didn't really want to hang out with the classes that graduated ahead of us.

Eventually the wait staff at the hotel started getting irritated with us because they wanted to serve us dinner, so we found seats and started eating. The food was really not spectacular considering the price of the reunion. I would say that the event did not justify the cost at all.

Then we had a slideshow which, unfortunately, wasn't really well done. There were large clusters of pictures with the same people in them, although I guess that wasn't really the person's fault who did the slideshow since people were supposed to submit their pictures for it. It's just - you would think that people would cheer or laugh as pictures were shown, but it was largely quiet. Kind of unnerving.

Anyway, the dinner ended and a large group of people "crashed" the reunion and after that there was dancing and mingling and catching up so that was fun. Once people started getting too drunk, Regina and I headed out. I can definitely say that I have never been hit on so much in my life and Regina felt the same way. It made us alternately creeped out and sad that single guys we went to high school with wouldn't respect the fact that both of us were married. Yikes!

Overall the reunion was worth it and makes me more excited about doing one for just my graduating class. It was great to see so many old friends and be able to hug them again. I'm sure we will do another multi-class reunion down the road. It just tended to be one particular group from high school that attended so it would need to be advertised much better. My guess is that word will spread and people will make more of an effort to get to the next one!

Andrya and me - we joked about seeing each other at the reunion since she lives in Utah about 20 minutes from me and we never see each other!

Class of 1990: Shawna, Dan, Andrya, Dylan, Heidi, Terry, Tara, and Bobby

Bobby and me

Andrea and me - Andrea left North High my Sophomore year, but we stayed friends.

DeeAn, Brenda, and me - DeeAn and Brenda were on the Pom Line

Sali and me - Sali was a cheerleader with me for two years and she was a surprise as well! I was excited to see her.

Dylan, Regina and Dan

Dan and me - I've seen Dan over the past few years at other gatherings. We went to school together from 2nd Grade - Senior year.

Rhon and me - Rhon was a Senior when I was a Freshman and ended up marrying one of my best friends from high school.

Dan and Amy Ballard - Cute brother and sister!

Dana, Darren, and Regina - I love that Dana wore his uniform.

High School Reunion Part Two

Saturday morning I woke up early, got dressed, and watched a bit of the morning session of General Conference before heading over to my high school for a tour. In the past 20 years they have made some seriously major changes to the school and I wanted to see what those were. It was almost like being in a completely different school as I walked through it. Very strange - strong memories for some areas and absolutely nothing for others. The strangest part is that the parking lot isn't the same - so my parking spot is gone. That area is where my strongest memories of high school are because there was a huge tree that we all sat under, and where I could find most of my friends at various times during the day.

Hallway - LA Building

1990 Basketball team - State Champions

The State Champion banner

The North High Fight Song

North Mustangs Banner

Members of the original "Cream Team" (1987) in the football locker room

The Old Gym - cheer tryouts and practice were held here

Championship trophy - Basketball 1990 (I actually teared up)

Science Building - my locker was down this hall

Collage from Mr. Dodge's first year at North High (my Sophomore year) - he is still there

After the tour, we all went to America's Taco Shop for lunch. America's is owned by Terry Bortin, who graduated with me. It was recently named the best carne asada in Phoenix, and it is. I could eat there daily! There was a perpetual line the entire time we were there and it was a Saturday. I highly recommend it if you ever happen to be in Phoenix.

High School Musical...er...Reunion - Part One

*Note - this post will probably be incredibly boring to most people.

I am one of those people who actually really really loved high school. Loved it. Not many people say that, but I did and do and still love people that I went to high school with 20 years ago. In fact, some of them are still my favorite people on the planet, and I have met some wonderful people in my life. 20 years has just made them more interesting.

This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend a multi-class reunion. They decided to have it be the Class of 1986-1990. I didn't know anyone from the class of 1986, but that didn't seem to matter. There was a lot of love and everyone was just introducing themselves if they didn't know someone.

Friday night kicked off the reunion with a Happy Hour at a restaurant called Aunt Chilada's. It's a fun restaurant, but the parking was an issue and it was super crowded because it was Friday night. It was hard to tell who was there for our reunion and who was just there drinking. There was a LOT of drinking going on. But, I guess you would expect that from a happy hour. I arrived around 6pm and saw my friend Claudia and made a beeline for her.

Claudia and me

Claudia graduated in 1989, but was one of my closest friends in high school. When she turned 18 we went to buy a lottery ticket and they made me hold it while walking out because she looked so young. She also got carded at a PG-13 movie. It was hilarious because I believe she was 17 at the time. My mom and Claudia and I used to go to movies together.

Jay and me

My Sophomore year of high school was an eventful year for me. I had made the cheerline so life got busier. I also had a class in the Science Building (picture in future post) after lunch. Every day I would walk down the sidewalk into the building and see a River Phoenix/James Dean look-a-like by the name of Jay Connolly. I went to drastic measures to meet him, and ultimately we became the very best of friends. When my mom would go out of town for work, she would have Jay come and stay with me! That seems hilarious now, but we were like brother and sister. He graduated a year before me, but took me to my Senior prom.

Jay and me - 1990

I spent some time hugging and catching up with several friends. I was surprised to see that I actually knew a lot of people there. Some people I had forgotten entirely about so seeing them again was wonderful. And then, across the crowded room, I spotted Amy.

Amy was a Senior when I was a Sophomore and Captain of the cheerline. I had actually had a "I like you, you like me, now what?" moment with her younger brother when we were in 8th grade, so I was convinced that she wouldn't like me. Of course we became very good friends, and spent a lot of that year hanging out. I hadn't seen her since my high school graduation. I pointed to her and literally hollered, "I cannot believe I am looking at Amy Ballard!!!" There are some people that you just wish had stayed in your life, even if that would have been impossible. Amy is one of those people. Claudia and Jay DID stay in my life.

Amy and Heidi

I saw many friends that night and I won't bore you with too many pictures. There were probably hundreds of pictures taken by all of the people there. I just have to add one more picture, however, because the woman in this picture had a very profound influence on everyone at my school at one time or another.

I met Regina the second day of my Freshman year in Spanish. She was a Junior and when she talked, she sounded like she had laryngitis. And that is how we met. I turned around and said, "Do you have laryngitis or does your voice always sound like that?" She laughed one of those throw back your head laughs and said, "I just always sound like this." That was 22 years ago and she still sounds like she has laryngitis.

Over the years I have tried to find her, and was successful shortly after I married Dave, because I literally called every Regina Battle that I found in Phoenix. I had no idea if she stayed there, but when I heard her voice on the answering machine I was ecstatic. She called me back and we got caught up and have stayed in touch ever since, but just hadn't seen each other yet. Of all of the people at the reunion, I was most excited to see her.

Regina is one of those women that lights up a room and makes everyone around her feel like gold. And literally - she knew every single person at the reunion and could remember specific details about them. I heard over and over again the statement, "Regina SAVED me in high school." I sat back enjoying the moment as I saw her soak up everyone's energy and love. Regina and her husband are ministers now and one of the major reasons she agreed to go to the reunion was so that she could be a missionary to her friends. There were many people there that simply needed to see her. Regina is stunningly beautiful - both then and now. I am very blessed to have had her as a friend and I am so grateful that we are back in each other's lives now!

Regina and me - 2009
Regina and me - 1989

Like I said, there were many other friends that I was able to see. Here is a mosaic for you!

Top: Amy Trottier and Michelle Ely; Claudia McNaughton, Amy Trottier, Michelle Ely; Amy Trottier and Tara Ruiz; Mina Cholas, Jessica Starr, Rob Hanse
Middle Top: Gen Barson and Shawna Sterne; Heidi Rasmussen, Carl Bisbano, Shawna Sterne, and Amy Trottier; Regina Battle and Claudia McNaugton; Glenn Noone, Danny Flower, Ron Sanchez, Mohammed Oliver, and Jimmy Satterlee;
Middle Bottom: Mike Devito, Michael Levin, Glenn Noone, Kenny Munoz; Mohammed Oliver, Glenn Noone, Todd Lehman, Joel Price; Mohammed Oliver, Ron Sanchez, Dana Andrews; A bunch of people
Bottom: Amy Ballard, Mohammed Oliver; Aimee Rogers, Sharon Newkirk, Tony Romanello, Amy Ballard, April Burke; Regina Battle, Heidi Rasmussen, Amy Ballard; Heidi Rasmussen and Robert Arellano