Top Ten Moments in NYC

1. Walking into the first Starbucks with JR Kerr and David to get my first espresso of the trip.
2. Top of the Empire State building taking useless pictures that sure were fun to take. Could have done without the security lines, though.
3. Sitting at the long table at Nikko's after walking through Central Park with David and Jay watching the gang from Buddy's church (Grace Fellowship) and the gang from Todd's church (Christ Fellowship) get to know each other.
4. Lunch in the basement of Macy's with the same gang.
5. The free books in the SWAG bag from Q!!!!
   
6. SOHO: three good espresso bars (! no wonder it's a top moment!), designer boutiques, an amazing Apple store that was offering an iMovie tutorial in its cool theater, not needing the $220 denim shorts I found in a boutique.
7. Sitting on the rooftop terrace of our hotel with Todd and David after the Fray pondering what the lasting takeaways of Q would be while we watched the Empire State Building.
8. Making Spring ride the subway.
9. Riding the wooden escalator at Macy's. It was so...authentic.
10. Returning to the upper West side for dinner at Bodrum, an amazing Mediterranean restaurant David and I found through research.

More on Macy's

I know this is a weird picture, but this is the escalator at Macy's. It is wooden! It feels like church pews made into an escalator. It's also kind of freaky to step on...there's an optical illusion effect. We went to Ben and Jerry's on the fourth floor during one of our breaks.

During lunch Todd, David and I took off to an Irish Pub somewhere in the fashion district. We weren't sure we could find food, but we knew we could put new buttons on my coat or buy some sweet trims! Project Runway fans rejoice. During lunch we had the computers out and were looking at the Christ Fellowship website. I got a blog in on Coffee Shop Journal, too.

Spring Hoffman managed to get to Q by 11 or so; not bad considering she had to get up at 5! We were hunting for caffeine to charge us, and a phone charger to charge her battery.

Day One at Q came to a close when we went to Little Italy to meet Greg Reade and his parents for dessert. Long but good day!

Q day

This is the building we are meeting in...GOTHAM HALL. Does it get any better than that? Yes, it does. Gotham Hall is just down Broadway from the flagship Macy's. Do you know they have 7 restaurants inside including Starbucks? I am so energized by being here in this city, learning about new ways God wants me to work in the world, hanging with so many of my best friends in the world. If you know me, you know the mood that I am in: I just want to jump out of my skin with the sensations of it all. And in addition to that I'm learning new ways to change my world all the time!

Comment, people: I wanna know if you are listening!