Traveling to The Big Apple!

(You probably don't need me to tell you but, this is Times Square)

I hope this past week and weekend was wonderful for you and Happy Monday! 

As you may know, if you read my last blog post which you can find here, I went to NYC last weekend (Dec. 5-7)! It was my second time in the city and it was honestly, so much better than my first trip! We did so much more and this time I was with some of my best friends and people that I've known since I was in diapers. It was just wonderful!

First I would like to say, please excuse my camera-phone-quality pictures. I know they're not the greatest but I didn't trust myself running around NYC with a good camera in my hand, so I relied on my iPhone! 

I went with 50 people from my dance studio! We took a bus, which four unfortunate strangers had to share with us. It was a bit loud on the bus due to the fact that about 30 of the 50 people we went with, were under the age of nineteen. 

On the first night, we went to Radio City Music Hall where we had a tour of the building, at the end of which, we met a Rockette!!!! (That was so awesome).  Then split into groups and had two hours to do what we wanted before we had to be back for the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular; my group went shopping in Times Square.

Of course, me being a big sap, I got a bit teary-eyed watching the Rockettes. They were so amazing! Any dancer would probably agree with me that it would be a dream to be on that stage and to have the talent that those women do!

On the second day we got a tour of the city, which was cut short because we had to make it to our dance classes at Broadway Dance Center, but nonetheless it was quite cool to learn so many things about the city that never sleeps! 

(An awkward panorama I got of Grand Central Station where the side of my friends face appears to be floating in midair. Oops!)

One thing that I was super pumped for was Grand Central Station because that, like many other places in The Big Apple, are in so many movies that I have seen and it was cool to finally see it for myself. I also thoroughly enjoyed the 911 memorial. I have wanted to see it for a long time and am pleased that I was finally able to. 

The two images above are pictures of the memorials where the twin towers once stood.

This is a picture of The Survivor Tree. You can learn about it here.

After the tour, we took our dance classes. We had one group one that all of the dancers, and one of the teachers, took. This was taught by the amazing Ellenore Scott who was in the top four of So You Think You Can Dance season six and an All-Star on season eight. It was such an honor to be able to meet her and take a class with her. She was such a genuinely sweet person who made us feel so comfortable and unjudged. 

After that class we had the option to take more classes if we wanted to. I took a "funky jazz" class with some of my friends. It was very fun and I loved the combination we learned! But by that time I was tired and starving so I was over it! 

A lot of the girls and I then shopped for the rest of the night while some people went to see Broadway shows.

On Sunday we shopped and shopped some more. There were two groups of girls that took more dances classes and after those we got on the bus and headed home!

I really enjoy going to visit The Big Apple, but like many other people say, I would never be able to live there! There's too many people and buildings and not enough nature! I don't mind visiting quite frequently, but I'm definitely not a city girl! 

(A sunny photo I got of Times Square on Sunday, which was the only day it was sunny and not raining!) 

With Lots and Lots of Love,

Marissa! <3

Listen To Understand | Wednesday Words #4

(Source)

I hope your week is going wonderfully!!

This week's Wednesday Words quote is, "Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply."

I think that realizing this is important. Listening with the intent to reply rather than understand, is obviously not the worst thing in the world that someone can do, because so many people don't realize when they, or even others are doing this. But if you start to pay attention, you will see that you, and so many others around you tend to do this.

So many people want to be able to get their opinions or their advice in when conversing with others instead of really trying to understand what the people around them are saying or what they actually need to hear.

I will randomly think of this quote and try to remind myself that I don't always need to tell the people around me what I'm thinking. I don't always have to put my two cents in. In some cases, it is way better for me to keep quite and learn things about the person I am talking to.

If you listen to understand rather than to reply, you will do just that. You will understand. You will gain so much understanding of the things and people around you, and it will lead you to becoming a less judgmental person. Rather than seeing people and automatically making judgments and assumptions, you will want to understand them.

I hope you enjoyed this weeks Wednesday Words and that maybe you will start to listen to understand.

Also! There will be a post about my NYC trip this past weekend, probably before the end of the week!

With Lots and Lots of Love,
Marissa! <3