Thursday evening gift exchange....
Sherry with her beautiful scarf made by Susan....
Michele with her blanket from Patti and on the table is the blanket from Sherry....
The girls minus me at the outlet mall. I caught this of them acting silly....
Macy's at first sight....
Me in front of the older part of Macy's....Wooden Escalators!
Beautiful Architecture.....
Times Square.....
Empire State Building....
Up Town Girls... waiting for the uptown tour in NYC!
Three Chicka's.... Lesa(me), Sherry, and Michele with our Pumpkin Beer.
Night Time at Rockefeller Square.....L/R Cynthia, Lesa(me),Sherry, Susan, Michele, and front row Patti
Street Fair in Cranford NJ.....
One of the beautiful examples of homes in Cranford NJ....
The side of the house.....
Another beautiful home....
Yet another I found I loved....
Our Hostesses home....
I'll try to remember all that we did. Let me start with the day I landed. I was picked up by Michele who surprised me while I was waiting for my luggage. It was GREAT seeing a familiar face amongst all of the crowd. Cynthia was waiting on us outside. It was good to see her too. We loaded my bag into Cynthia's car and away we went to Michele's house. When we arrived all of my China Sisters that had arrived earlier on greeted me. I was so excited to see everyone!!!
Our first evening we ate and shared gifts with one another. All of the girls were very generous. I love everything I got. Susan gave a very special gift of hand knitted scarfs. They are beautiful, and came in handy when we went NYC. Sherry gave us the most beautiful baby quilts with the China Doll print and the Asian parasol print on the reverse plus a meaningful adoption quote. Patti gave us a beautiful crocheted baby blanket that her mother put many hours into making them. Mine was the prettiest teal blue to match our paint we will be using in the Nursery. Cynthia gave us a cute bag with our daughters names engraved on a name plate, Patti and I got two bags one for our daughters we have now and the other for the ones we are waiting for..... it was filled with Emergency Chocolate and ladybug tissues along with Eye Masks that say "Mommy Needs Sleep" on them. Michele gave us a ladybug bag stuffed with a Cranford T Shirt (where we were staying), a piggy puffy, and some Raspberry Salsa...Yummy.
I do hope I didn't forget anything ladies. If I did please let me know. I still owe thank you notes to everyone....I'm terrible.
Friday we went to the outlet mall in NJ. There wasn't a one of us that didn't come out with out a bag or bags. We all got a water massage, and herbal treatments. Michele and I got wonderful leg massages. That evening we had macaroni and Cheese that Michele made, Yum. That night 5 of us made a mad run to get our Train Tickets at the Depot for the next morning. We were really acting crazy and I know Michele was having a hard time concentrating on her driving. Sorry Michele....
Saturday Morning bright and early we left for the Train Depot and waited for a while for it to arrive. Once on we stood and as seats were available we sat. Off we go and on to the little girls room. From there once we got back together we were off to visit "Macy's". Now I was very excited about this. Three of us got musical water globes that played "New York New York". I absolutely LOVE mine! Thanks ladies for allowing me to stop in I know that it was hard on some. I will always cherish my photo of the old Escalators that have wooden railings and steps. So very neat!!!
We went on to get tickets for the Up Town Bus Tour and also our tickets for later on for the Downtown tour. I'm glad we did this even though it was chilly on top we had a great view and a wonderful time. Time out for a bite to eat and a Pumpkin Ale, YUM. That was so good!! Then down to get Cheese Cake at a place called "Juniors"; I found this to be a very nostalgic diner. It was like going back in time to the 40's how cool is that!?!
So much to see so much to do. We went to Canal Street to get some purses and some Dulce Gabana (sp) sunshades I had promised to Holly since she is in Delta Gamma Sorority. All six of us ended up going on a tour of two different places that were offering supposedly name brand purses such as Coach, Prada, Dulce Gabana, so on.... This was quite an experience and we made it out okay.
We saw Rockefeller Square at night which was absolutely beautiful all lit up. The colors change on the ice, of course my favorite was the blue! From there we went to The American Girl Store and got to see all of the wonderful dolls and saw the mothers and daughters that were having their dinner there along with their dolls.
From there we went to a beautiful Cathedral and then caught cabs to go down to Little Italy where we had a wonderful Italian dinner with Wine. Mine was delicious! The owner came by our table to make sure all was well at our table. We then caught another couple of cabs and made a mad dash to Penn Station where we caught the train back to Michele's area.
Sunday we went to a wonderful Street Fair in Cranford where many found some lovely Mariano Glass Pendants and chains which I came away with my share. I love my purchases! We ate at a old hotel for lunch and I had one of the best salads I've had in a long time. Good Food~Good Friends lots of laughs some tears. That evening we had a wonderful meal. Michele made some tasty chicken and after dinner we settled down for a movie and popcorn along with our Margaritas.
Monday was farewell day it was sad to have to separate from everyone. Cynthia took Susan and Patti to meet their flights, and Michele took Sherry and myself to do a last minute shop stop at a baby boutique and I got Wendy two of the most beautiful dresses for Christmas. Funny Sherry and Michele weren't going to get anything, but the sale was just way too good to pass up. Besides, Michele found a dress that was to die for in BLUE, and Sherry found a Renaissances dress. I was slightly jealous of the Blue dress find....
finders keepers......
We has a great lunch at a little pizza shop and then off to the airport.....
PART II
I'm home from NJ/NYC and extremely worn out after my FULL DAY of Flying! I arrived at the airport safe and sound not to mention stomach full and with one more package in hand. Kissed Michele and Sherry bye, and on to the curbside check in station. I had my bag weighed and was over by 7lbs.! The guy said I needed to add some to my carry on. Oh and by the way, my flight was canceled! Okay ladies, you knew how nervous I was about flying by myself for the first time; well I marched in and shuffled my stuff around from one bag to the other plus adding some to my toy bag and off to the counter I went. Yes, it had been canceled and I had called Cynthia to get Michele's # in case I needed her to come back for me. I finally found her # in my Harry Potter book and called to let her know. Thank you Michele for hanging in there with me while they got me book for stand by and on the 7:30 flight out. When I got to security all was going better until they took my purse and said there was something in the bottom they needed to check so I got my things and went over to the side table where again he told me he was just going to go through my purse....I told him that was fine. I also told him I could have forgotten something but I really thought I got it all. You see, while I was moving things I had my purse still around my neck but my thoughts ran and I started imagining someone putting something in it. 
Any way, It was my Aquaphor like Vaseline for my face. The guy looked at me and told me to stick it in that small bag. Boy that little baggy was full! Remember it was the snack size.
I then went to the counter to see when I needed to be there for stand by, and the check in clerk suggested I go through Chicago and then connect to Ft. Worth. Not a bad idea since the flight I was to stand by for would be full, and the one I was booked a seat for was leaving at 7:30. This way I would be home at 8:30, or so I thought.....
With that canceled flight that screwed the whole system up!!!!! I got on the Chicago flight fine and met a lady I was sitting with and we talked some. Then when we finally got to take off after waiting 20 minutes on the runway, we arrived in Chicago, and the Stuart came on to say all of the gates for change over. I couldn't hear the guy he talked in a low gay voice, and no one could hear a thing he said. I asked him my gate when I got to the front which ended up being K1 and we were in H13!! Now that doesn't sound all that bad, but O'Hara(sp) is HUGE! I walked so fast that I began to run some I felt like Home Alone or O J as Sherry said. I had 15 minutes before the gate would close!!! I had to Pee!!! I finally got to K2 and K1 was around this long corner wow! I was panting, and I had my carry on that was really fun now, and the toy bag that had additional stuff in it..... I checked in and by goodness if the darn thing wasn't delayed 30 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I met a guy who is Chinese and we talked a minute while in the check in lane. He was going to Ft. Worth to interview for a job with Alcon and wanted to know about the area. We got to talking about kids and I told him I was adopting from China, didn't consider he could be anything but Chinese, because of the way he looked and his accent some what. I was right. He was from China, Shendong between Beijing and Shanghai, he was really tall.
He was really happy we had adopted and were going back.
Finally took my much needed potty break, and got a sandwich from Wolfgang Puck's. Got back in my area, and boarded again. This time we sat and waited for everyone to get on which seemed to take FOREVER!! I was sitting by a man that was from India, I think, and we were hoping that the window seat would be vacant so we could have a seat between us so we would be able to just relax. No such luck. They had booked the poor woman and her daughter of age 2, one in the seat next to me and the other next to a Chicago native. He moved over with us and I was now between a Muslim and young man from Chicago. We actually had a very nice time. I got to know both of these men very well. The Muslim man, and how I how I know he was Muslim is he did a prayer ritual with his hands and then over his face and thick beard. I said my prayer for a safe flight as well, he showed me his daughters photo what a cutie. Chicago guy, Rob, and I really got a long very well. I offered him half of my sandwich because A) it was a nice thing to do, B) the poor guy had been 3 hours on stand by. He didn't accept, but I could tell he was hungry. I tried again....still no thank you anyway.
When we finally landed after a 2 hour flight, we got to wait some more..... The Captain came on saying that due to the weather earlier they had closed many of the gates and that we were in a LONG line to get into on or two slots!!! The joke became "Folks another 10 minutes and hopefully we will be next. It was 11:30 by the time I got to the DFW Airport!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Then my luggage was at section A and we were all the way over at C. Whew!!!
Wendy and Mike came in and my three new male friends all came over to meet her. It was so sweet to see how the Chinese guy acted toward her. He has three children 2 boys and the baby is a girl, he said "finally". He came and said hello to her, and she had just woke up from in the car so she was a little withdrawn. It was so sweet though how he lightly stroked her arm. He asked what Province and I told him. He then said that she was tall. Humm He said that all of the ones from Guangzhou areas are very tiny. I had thought she was tiny! Evidently not. hummm
We told all of them by and wished them well.
Got home exhausted after Mike made the last stop back at A for my luggage which had come on the 7:30 flight from NJ that I should have been on to begin with. Oh well, I met some incredible people!
Now I'm just taking it easy. Wendy had a ragging fever when I picked her up at the airport! She has been very sick with a cold all weekend and still has a pretty good fever. If I don't get my photos up soon it is because I'm tending to her.
Speaking of....she is stirring so I guess I will close.
Sorry this is so long.
Thank you Michele for your kind hospitality. I really enjoyed the whole weekend. Thank you also for taking me back to the little shop. Sorry you guys bought something too. Hehee. The pizza was delicious and so was the company.
Cynthia, thank you so much for sharing your city with us, and allowing me to see Macy's. That was a real treat for me, and I really appreciate it.
I miss you all, especially BRANDI and THUMB!!!
Love and Hugs,
Lesa
