Places to Go, People to See

So, it's finally spring. And we're doing stuff.

Sunday walks in Battery Park City, Central Park and lower Manhattan.

(Hint: this picture is not of Noah.)

Golfing in New Jersey with the Cromars. Unless windmills, pirate ships or hitting the driving range with Ben L. in the 10th grade count, I had never actually been golfing. I was pleasantly surprised and Noah was tha-rilled to discover I'm a big fan. Golf has a promising future in our summer plans. Now if only I would get those feet of mine properly shod...

Lauren and me - still smiling even after the ground guy started a conversation with, "if you're going to let the girls play..." Ahem? Who says that?

As tends to happen in this town, with the warmer weather also comes the crowds. It means running an errand that requires cutting through Times Square is now nigh unto impossible. Fortunately, it also means a lot of faces we really love.

After Mike showed that Boston Marathon who's boss, the Eads made their way to NYC for a stroll through the High Line, Thai at Chelsea Market, Shake Shack in the park and a lesson on Antony Gormley's public art exhibition.

I lived with the adorable Megan in China five years (gasp! years!) ago and we've kept in touch through movings and missions and marriages (one each). It was wonderful to see them that evening and we also caught up with them a few days later for some people-watching and grass-sitting (grass!) in Central Park's Sheep Meadow.We were also excited to have the Buswells come to town. Tyler hired Noah for his first on-campus job at the Quick Stop (thanks to that job, I'm forever forbidden from eating corn dogs. or, at least gas station corn dogs. which really are the best kind. so it's kind of like being banned from all of them.) and I met Tyler through classes and mutual friends in Logan. Trails happily crossed again and again and we got to know his lovely Rachel when we were all living in Salt Lake.

Tyler had a work conference in the city, so they made their way out for that - but not before we dragged them (not reluctantly, I might add) all over this city. We hit all the downtown sites, crossed the Brooklyn Bridge, shopped in Chinatown, lunched and cannoli-ed (um, yeah, best cannoli on planet earth. sign says so.) in Little Italy, got our art on at the Met and the Guggenheim, dined at a gen-u-ine NY deli for dinner and kicked back virgin strawberry daquiris at a comedy club in midtown. And that was just Saturday.

Apparently we were too busy having fun to take a picture together during any of the aforementioned activities. So instead, I bring you the lobby of our office building and Allison's fist and arm of justice (what am I doing?).

Tyler and Rachel stayed with us for a few days and then graduated from studio staying to a room at the Waldorf-Astoria (cuz they're classy like that) during the conference. When their trip was unexpectedly cut one day short, they very graciously offered us their room for the evening.

It worked out perfectly, as we just so happened to have family in town also staying at the Waldorf that same evening. "Of all the gin joints..."

We met my aunt Ileen (you may have heard of her... National Mother of the YEAR) and two of her (10!) wonderful children, Angie and Jared, for dinner at Patsy's on the Upper East Side then made our way back to the the hotel. Oh, so convenient.

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

I first heard about this dynamic duo when I was a kiddo - my brother-in-law's best friend married a girl with the same name as his own and I found that to be the most crazy awesome thing I'd ever heard. Granted, I wasn't very old at the time, so my exposure to crazy awesome wasn't terribly extensive and lead contenders were probably the ability to make homemade Pixy Stix with Koolaid and sugar (ugh, gross. still can't believe we did this. my mom was not aware, so please consider her name cleared in the matter.) or learning how to make a boondoggle keychain. But a fun fact nonetheless.

I had the chance to meet "guy Kelly" several times over the next few years as he captured family memories, weddings, new babies and growing nieces and nephews from behind the lens. He shot our engagements and our "fake" wedding day pictures (best idea ever. obnoxious wind on the actual game day? veil blowing away? no biggie, we already have the picture we want and it's already hanging on the wall.) and as Koryn correctly predicted, "he will make you look like a supermodel."

I haven't actually met the lovely "girl Kelly," but I know she's lovely for several reasons:

• The Knudsens adore her. I adore the Knudsens. Simple syllogism.
• Koryn tipped me off to Kelly's blog a few years ago, and all the breathtaking photography, flawless interior decorating, fabulous hosting ideas, I'm-going-to-invite-myself-over-for-dinner recipes, people-can-actually-grow-gardens-like-that? gardening and ooh-love-that handmade jewelry it entails. Seriously. This gal has perfect taste coming out her ears.

So when Kelly hosted a giveaway for these to-die-for handmade Scrabble pendants - my heart skipped a beat. That doesn't happen a lot. I not the biggest contest enterer (though one would think, with my Craigslisting and Kelloggs free-movie-ing), but this really sang to me.

Well, today - you see, I won.

No big deal.

I'm being totally cool about it.

But I think you should take a glance at what I'm about to be sporting every time you see me. And if you, too, dig her style - check out KellyAnnie.

Sweet Moves, Granny

Noah got some insider info on a Knicks game not to be missed.

So last Monday night, he found $160 tickets on Craigslist 45 minutes before tip-off and snatched 'em up for $30 (oh, he does make this wife proud...).

Noah, to the ticket seller, upon sealing the deal:

"Nah- it's not even really the game we're going for. You see, there are these dancing grannies..."

As half-time inched closer and our Utah pride started to swell, we got the no-good, very-bad news. Jean's Golden Girls were the pre-game show. Half-time was the Red Panda Acrobat.

What's that? The Red Panda Acrobat can kick 8 bowls off her shin and catch them on her head while she rides a 30-foot unicycle? Pretty cool, I guess.

And fortunately, the dance-cam caught the groovin' grannies' 93-year old star in the tunnel for her signature high-kick and splits. Plus, Noah caught a t-shirt. So the evening wasn't a total bust.

Tradition.

Noah remembered the obscure anniversary again.

This year, he even remembered it in advance (all the more impressive, in my book) and grabbed tickets to catch one of our very favorite musicians, Rocky Votolato.

And so we celebrated Fort Night on the town this year and caused a bit of a stir when we attempted to build a fort out of tables and chairs at the City Winery.

The show was so, so awesome. A friend introduced me to Rocky when I was a freshman in college and he's been one of my favorites - running tunes (who knew songs about corporate greed could have such a great beat?!), relaxing tunes, hosting tunes (if you've ever been at our house, chances are, Rocky was there too. A never-fail guests-gathering playlist). It's the first time we've seen him live, so these were pretty high expectations.

The venue wasn't really what I was expecting - lots of small candlelit tables and a relatively small, intimate crowd. Definitely a lot more low key and laid back than anticipated, but as my high school friends who used to laugh at how little I jumped and danced around at concerts can attest to - this is just my style. (Cl-ear-ly. So stoic! We are enjoying ourselves, I swear...)

Plus, Johnny and Jessica were able to join us before bidding adieu to the city for the W-E-S-T. All the makings of a great night.

Enter: the one person sitting between us and the stage. Rocky's biggest fan ever. I spent the majority of the evening contemplating how to berate this complete stranger on the blog (even though that's my number one paranoia - that some random stranger I will never, ever see again will realize I've written about them...) and then he ruined it for me by being apologetic and actually kind of nice at the end of the show.

But because his shenanigans were such a focal point of our night, here I go dishing anyway...

I couldn't figure out what about the scene bothered me most. The fact he sang along and acted out lyrics with his drank-three-carafes-of-water lady friend across the table (and we've already established, not especially a singing and acting setting). The fact he was right in my line of vision; no way around him. The fact he closed his eyes, lifted his hands to his forehead in prayer position and fell into a brief trance at the end of each song before launching into wild applause. The fact that he sang along louder and acted out lyrics more expressively on his favorite songs... and he and I have a lot of favorite songs in common. Or the fact he raised several snooty toasts and smugly swished his wine all evening while I have a strong suspicion he's only 15.

Even though I'm forfeiting my "good human" status with all this passive aggression directed at a perfect stranger, Rocky definitely earned "good human" status in my book. We got a chance to chat with him for a few minutes after the show and we were so impressed by how kind and genuine he seemed. The Rileys are even bigger fans now.

Hipster stances and a shouted farewell across the Uptown/Downtown divide at Houston Street.

We'll probably still build a fort, just for good measure. If for no other reason but the fact all the furniture we own is within a few feet of each other. Conditions are ripe for a pretty excellent fort.

Trump Card

I've mentioned before that 2009 was a year of shuffling around the map for the Furniss siblings. New homes, new cities, new adventures. Chapters closing and new chapters waiting to be written.

It wasn't a sudden trend. Mom and Dad have been updating addresses - Dad, likely in his Blackberry; Mom, on the sheet of contact information she keeps taped to the inside of the cereal cupboard - for the five of us since we got the nerve, the government-issued I.D., the desire, the gig, the acceptance letter, the transfer, the opportunity, the hair-brained idea or whatever other combination of factors resulted in a move. But I'll remember 2009 as an especially landmark year when it seemed the whole family was in a constant state of motion.

It's only appropriate that Mom and Dad should play the trump card in 2010 with an adventure of their own. Daejeon, Korea is one lucky city.

Lake Placid, NY

We were able to ditch the city for a last-minute getaway to Lake Placid with our dear friends, the Cromars, a few months ago. And because they're legitimately hard-core, it meant legitimately hard-core activities were on the agenda.

We started the weekend with a day on the slopes and thanks to half the people we know in Harlem, we were outfitted appropriately. Two Utah kids, born and bred, and the extent of our winter wear now consists of pea coats, wool scarves and knock-off Uggs? Eight-year-old Allison "skiin' the Beav" in her bright pink and green parka never saw this day coming. Ski apparel just didn't make the cut on moving day. So a special shout out to friends for helping us out. Plus, it was an especially exciting day to fit in the skinny mini Nikki K.'s snow pants.

With the morning hours quickly slipping by and a big event that made for a crowded Whiteface, one of the guys at the gear shop in town let us in on a little secret - Big Tupper. If I could quit my job and do PR for companies/organizations with stories like this, I would (though this NCPR interview, a New York Times mention and a slew of local press tells me someone's already doing a nice job of it). The resort has been closed for more than a decade, but the town of Tupper Lake banded together to get it up and running again, based entirely on volunteer effort from the people in town.

We almost missed the roadside marquis with plastic letters indicating the turnoff to Big Tupper. Fortunately we got pulled over and the local authorities assisted us to our destination.

Big Tupper didn't have any of the amenities or bells and whistles of big resorts, but the whole vibe was so friendly and genuine - we loved it. Plus, $15 lift tickets and a ski resort with a .org designation? How nice. It seems ridiculous to admit in the four winters since we tied the knot this was our first time together on the slopes. I fell for Noah all over again. For being {relatively} new to skiing, he was up for the challenge and had such a great attitude about learning. It was fun to give him a few tips and have him actually take them like I knew what I was saying. That's a good husband right there.And by midday, we were busting out tricks with the best of 'em. Ready to pull a gnarly run like the K-12, dude. (Did I lose you? Only those who know me best are still following...)

What appears to be Allison boxing out Noah and Lauren...

No, no, no... thank YOU, Big Tupper.

On day two in the Adirondacks, we climbed a sheer face of ice. No big deal.

Actually, this was a very big deal. Have you tried this?! Wicked hard.

The guy on the left - total natural. The guy and gal on the right - complete pros.
As for me - let's just say this was not a hard photo to capture. I spent a good 10 minutes in this position once I found steady footing and strong holds. This is where I spent some time pondering that age old question, "how big of a wuss am I if I just throw in the towel, hop back down and eat Sun Chips for the rest of the afternoon?"

But thanks to a supportive bunch on the ground, I set my sights a little higher and went until my forearms cried "uncle." And by day's end, I was free climbing - no ropes, no harness - to the very top. Oh wait, not me - that'd be the crazy next to us.

That NOAH, on the other hand. Where did I find this guy?

If you're ever in the opening sequence of a Bond flick and could use a guy to get you out of peril and there happens to be a wall of ice between you and safety - I have this guy's number.

Last, but absolutely not least - our lovely guides and the masterminds behind the Adirondack Adventure, Lauren and Kevin. Thanks to these two, we didn't look quite so much like the proverbial fish out of water. We would have been a disaster getting our gear at the climbing demo without them ("just tell me exactly what to ask for...") and they threw out words like "top rope" and "Petzl" and "Ouray" that made us seem like the real deal. These two are totally the real deal.

B.I.N.G.O.

I've alluded to the time my sister and I met Jodie Sweetin. I asked her if Danny Tanner was a clean freak in real life. Hmmm? The kid before me stole my question and I panicked.

And then there was the time John Stamos and I repeatedly met one another's gaze (that's probably how he describes it on his blog, too).

Saturday night, at dinner with friends at Bianca on Bleecker, one of the Olsen twins was at the table next to us.

Basically, what I'm saying is - I'm totally owning Full House bingo.