start spreading the news...

and oh how i am...

ny, ny, how i love you. granted this love is only temporary as after a few days i no doubtedly am ready to return to my quieter and oh-so-much cleaner city but still, it's love nonetheless...

i had the wonderful opportunity to spend wednesday and thursday in new york for work training. i've been to new york before and, well, let me paint a picture of what my prior trip was like so you can fully understand how great this last one was.

my last trip consisted of me riding a 5-hour crammed chinatown bus that cost me a measley $20 and left me wishing i had spent another $20 on a portable fan as there was no AC. my roommate had a traumatic experience using their in-house bathroom that she could only describe as "the grossest experience of my life." she still has flashbacks but has made incredible progress.

clearly we were off to a good start.

upon arriving in ny we were dropped off who knows where (i honestly had no clue) and found ourselves in a nasty part of town somewhere around chinatown, upon which i fittingly stepped in sewage that would not dry for hours (my own fault, i know). after meeting up with some friends, we then proceeded to cram 4 girls into one queen sized bed in a nice, but allbeit small, hotel room. that's right, 4 girls, one bed. just think about that for a minute and let it inspire gratitude in you for whatever bed you do have.

so you get the idea.

insert my trip this week. i arrive at the airport to have someone take my carry-on and hand me a valet slip for my luggage (since when do they do that?). i could already tell i was off to a good start. after a whimpy 39 minutes in air i was there and ny welcomed me with all of her glory. it was a beautiful day (did i fail to mention that my last trip there was cold and overcast? fitting no?).

upon landing i took a cab to the manhattan temple to do baptisms. (side note-if you haven't been to this temple i will personally donate $5 to the fund to get you there, that's how much i want each of you to go see its beauty...) as i was technically there for work, we then had meetings on the second floor of the building where the temple is.

then (and this is the best part) i went and checked into the Marriott Marquis at Times Square. Me, staying in a hotel in Times Square! It was beyond beautiful. My room overlooked Times Square and as I walked in and tried to decide which of my two queen sized beds to sleep in that night, I realized I had come a long way.

gone were the days of taking the subway and fitting an obnoxious amount of girls in one bed. replaced were lots of cabs around town, amazing restaurants and my first ever broadway, the drowsy chaperone.

all in all, i'd say i've made significant progress since my last trip. will i ever have another trip as nice as this one to ny? you bet your life i won't. hence why i have to write it down.

So in the end, I am spreading the news...And the news is that no matter if you're walking through sewage or seeing a musical, ny is a great place to be.