So I went to New Jersey to see Duane, and it was amazing. I got in on Friday night right on time, and he was standing, looking very handsome I might add, at the bottom of the escalator. I ran over to him and gave him big hugs and kisses, and then we got my baggage and went back to his house to drop everything off. We then went to dinner with his friends Janet and Josh. They were very nice, and it was a good evening. This is us that first night:
The next day was the day that he had been planning for a while. That was our New York day. He took me to New York, where I have never been, and took me to see Mamma Mia. He also took me out to a very nice dinner in the city. We took the train from New Jersey to New York. Here are some pictures at the train station:
We took the train from New Jersey into New York, which was actually very fun. I really like trains, and it was fun to see different parts of New Jersey. It was also very neat to ride into Pennsylvania Station. You ride through the tunnel for about 5 minutes, and then it opens up, and you look up out of your window and see the huge buildings of the city. It is almost like a movie set. They only give you that brief second of a preview though because then you are underneath the ground while the train parks. We got out, and went up into New York.
Being in the city was quite surreal to me. Most of the time it felt like I was on the back lot of some film studio. It was freezing in the city, but it was really neat how we could walk anywhere. Pennsylvania Station is on 7th Avenue, and you just keep walking up the street, and you find Broadway. Mind you, most of you know me to be quite the little Broadway girl, so to actually see the sign that said "Broadway", my heart stopped just a little bit. I was in Lindsay Heaven. In New York, on Broadway, with a wonderful man. Yep. Lindsay Heaven.
Anyways, Duane took me to see Mamma Mia at the Winter Garden Theater. Which is also the theater where Cats played for so long:
The play was really fun and really cute. It was wonderful to see an actual Broadway production as the quality of everything was really fabulous. And it was such a cute, fun and light show. It was perfect, and my baby had gotten us fabulous seats.
After the show, he took me out to a real New York dinner! It was at a little French restaurant just North of the theater called Maison. We got three courses, and all of them were very good. I got a little Pizette, which is like a little pizza, roasted chicken, and then a Chocolate Souffle. The dessert looked so scrumptious that I took a picture of it:
After dinner we had to walk back to Penn Station to catch our train back to New Jersey. It was beautiful to walk through the city at night, although it was utterly and bitterly freezing. We thought about taking the subway, but I hadn't gotten a picture of Times Square when we passed through it in the morning, and I wanted to see it all lit up at night, so we braved the freezing temperatures. Here are the pictures:
What I haven't yet told you is that I have a little bit of city anxiety. And, by a little, I actually mean quite a bit. It was so cute cause Duane took care of me to calm my fears in this respect, but as we were walking back to the train station, after Times Square, there were two corners where we had to walk through two huge groups of black Islamists. The first corner we walked through the group and the preacher dude that was speaking said "These white people, they don't know what we're talking about, they don't understand" I was like OMG! THEN on the NEXT corner there was some chick who looked to be like a masters student or something ARGUING WITH THEM! I was pretty sure someone was going to get shot. No one did though, so that is good. We got to Penn Station and had a little while before our train. We started to wander around but at that point my anxiety got the better of me, and we had to go back to the part of the station where I was familiar with. Poor Duane with poor anxiety attack Lindsay. But, he was so sweet about it and hugged me and held me until the nerves had passed.
The train ride is about an hour each way, so because we were looking so cute, I decided to take a bunch of pictures of us. I am going to post them cause they are so cute:
The next day was a pretty lazy day. We hung out for a while, and went to brunch, which was really good. We went over to his sister Tammy's house, and I got to meet her and her boyfriend. They were very nice, although both a little under the weather I think, so that was too bad. Tammy has just gotten a cute little puggle puppy. Which is a mix between a beagle and a pug. As I am blogging this I am kicking myself for not getting a picture of the puppy cause he was so cute. But, alas, another time. After that we went back home and I got to see a lot of old videos of Duane's. He was in drum and bugle corp in high school, which is like an amazing marching band which tours the country over the summer, so he showed me a video of that. And, I got to see some of his college piano recitals that he had been in. They were all very awesome.
The next day was sad because it was Monday, and I was leaving. :( I didn't leave until late afternoon, so we did get a lot of the day together. Duane was able to show me the music from the children's musical he had written, which was very good. He also played the accordion for me! I added the clip below:
Duane has quite the extensive instrument collection. All of which he can play very well. I took a picture of his string instruments which hang on his wall:
They are all named, from the left it is Mandy, Bassy, Banji, Lecty, and Cousty. And his accordion is Courdy:
I also took more pictures of us. And yes. I am that girl that takes pictures of me and my baby kissing, and then I POST THEM. Deal with it.
Duane is amazing. He is kind, sweet, handsome, funny, smart, and more talented than I knew. I had such a wonderful time with him and I miss him very much already. He is more wonderful than I think he knows, and one of the most amazing people I have ever met. I am very lucky to have him in my life, and I appreciate him every single day. No matter what he can make my day brighter. The trip was great, and he is great. And I love him.
The end of this blog. There will be more I am sure. We are way cute though amirite? :D
