It was hard to believe that our New York Adventure was almost over. We overslept on Saturday morning. Both of us thought that we'd wake up around 7 or so, but we didn't wake up until past 8:30. That seems like a good time to wake up on a Saturday morning, but not when you only have a few hours left in New York City. We got ready quickly, packed up our bags, and said good-bye to our hotel room. We left our bags with the concierge so that we could walk around the city more freely.

Lorei had been in meetings all week, so she didn't really get to see much of anything. She wanted to go to St. Patrick's Cathedral to light a candle for her friend, so we headed back up 5th Avenue. The cathedral was a little busier on Saturday, and there were even some christenings going on in the chapel. Nevertheless, we were able to light several candles, take a lot of pictures, and enjoy the ambiance of the cathedral. While we were there, we also got a call from Kiana, who were were supposed to meet later that day. We made plans to meet in Manhattan instead of Brooklyn, to give me and Lorei more time in the city instead of on the subway.

After our visit to the cathedral, we decided to go to H&M, since neither of us had actually been inside of one--I, because their clothes don't fit me, and she, because she lives in the woods (LOL). We were pleasantly surprised to find that the clothes weren't all made in China (though most of their accessories were), and that the clothes were actually cute. We didn't spend much time there, though, and we didn't buy anything either.

We walked back to Grand Central Station, stopping at Rockefeller Center along the way. The subway turned out to be an interesting experience. We had figured out what to do by then. Unfortunately, we had not counted on the weekend tourists all in the station trying to figure it all out. Oh well. We made it onto our train with no problem and headed to Union Square.

Union Square hosts a beautiful market on Saturday mornings, and we took advantage of the nice weather to look around. Soon Kiana arrived with Zach and Billy. Wow! I hadn't seen Zach in at least 5 years, probably longer. And it was great to meet Billy (especially now that I've learned that he's going to be a part of the family!). After looking around the market for a while, we decided to have lunch at Republic. Republic is a cool, trendy noodle restaurant there in Union Square. The food is really good, and the company was even better. It was very cool to hang around with Kiana after all of these years (and when we're both considerably more grown up) and to get to know Zach and Billy.

All too soon we had to leave. So we hugged everyone and took the subway back to the Roosevelt. We picked up our luggage and rearranged everything while we waited for our ride to the airport. I even had time to download pictures from my sister's camera. Our driver soon arrived, and we were on our way to JFK. All I have to say is, I had to work really hard not to watch where he was going. SERIOUSLY scary driving! But we managed to make it to the airport in one piece. We made it through security without incident and found our gates, which were pretty close to each other. I went to the food court to find something I could eat later for dinner, and then we just waited to board. Lorei's plane left about an hour before mine did, and I ended up spending some time talking with the nice lady who was sitting across from me.

Finally my plane arrived, and we boarded the plane. Hallelujah! The flight was less than half full, and nearly everyone got an entire row to themselves. I read, watched TV (probably Top Chef), ate snacks, and slept. Sometime in all of that, I also managed to get very airsick and was only praying for the sweet relief that solid ground would bring. At last we reached Burbank airport, and my New York City adventure was over.

So it looks like I may be able to go back sometime this summer. Maybe then I can do the other two things on my list--visit the Met and finally meet the Chans. :)