new york 08: in love in a movie part 1.

5/28

@ 91st street gardens in Riverside Park in New York City, upper west side.

sharing a bench with a small bird and sitting where Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks meet up in "You've Got Mail." this is a pinnacle of my summer. it is as beautiful as I imagined and I just love it. New York is meaningful to me because of movies. I can relate to the city because of them. it is wonderful. of course I just know Tom Hanks or someone like unto him is going to meet me here, wiping my tears and kiss me like Clark Gable.

but as Rosie O'Donnel tells Meg in "Sleepless in Seattle," 'you don't want to be in love, you want to be in love in a movie.' if any statement defines me, it's that. really. not just about being in love in a movie though...everything. my imagination, my dreaming heart envisions things in perfect, Utopian forms. whether it's a bridal shower, a potluck dish, a date, a class, a paper, a hairdo, or a conversation. I am constantly anticipating the scenes dreams are made of. but the more I live, the less disappointed I am and the more I choose to make reality my new dream.








self-timer in ny public.

to remember:

I woke up early, even after an exhausting night in New York, got ready while my host was sleeping. I remember I didn't bring a blow dryer on the trip, assuming I would be able to borrow one. but there was not one visible and I didn't want to wake anyone up. I tried to straighten my hair while still wet. nothing devastating happened, thank goodness. I creaked around on the old wood floor in Chelsea's beautiful, naturally-lit apartment.

I made it all the way to the upper west side all by myself. on the subway (as the New Yorkers call what I know as the metro), I saw a missionary couple or mission presidents on their p-day. they ran into some girls going to the temple, one returned sister missionary who seemed to know them. this made me grin from ear to ear. I couldn't believe I could get from point a to point b all by myself in New York City. (remembering now that it was still only weeks after I moved from Utah to the east coast and could barely use the D.C. metro on my own, let alone the New York subway). I was Kathleen Kelly herself as I hopped off the metro and made my way to Riverside Park.

I walked in the park probably 25 blocks before I realized I was going the wrong way. everywhere everyone was with dogs. how could I not think of Brinkley? I called Melissa, my New Yorker sister. she had just finished her first year of med school! so proud of her.

I sat and imagined, over and over, that Tom Hanks would come around that corner.

+do you have a place you've been to or want to go to that's special just because something special happened there?