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For Year 2: 2012 NYC To Do List






I am a list maker. Always have been, always will be. I suppose it’s the eternal student and researcher in me. I never really forget the things I want to do, but I like to have the list at hand just in case. But the really big fun comes when I get to cross something off. It is the most fun after looking through my pictures. Once that is done I know there will be at least two more activities to take its place. I feel like I am constantly learning about places I want to try whether to sightsee or even to eat at. Patricia Schultz kept her number at “1,000 Places to See Before You Die”, but I am thrilled when my number for a particular year isn’t that high.

So I have decided to focus in on my own city, trying to scratch the surface of the things I want to accomplish here in NYC year to year, on top of my travels elsewhere. Last year when I began this blog I set a goal for myself at the end of my NYC series (http://bit.ly/qnILEW).


Last year I was able to accomplish many of the things on my list. More so, I was able to do, see, and eat so many things that were not on my list. That is the best part, when you stumble upon a new sight that was not in your plans but suddenly becomes a great adventure. For me that happened with my visit to Thomas Paine’s house (http://bit.ly/Iy8uCG). I had only learned of its location a week before and then happened to be in the neighborhood with time to spare on the day I went. Sometimes fate is just on your side.


Then there are the items that you had in the back recesses of your mind but never thought you could accomplish so quickly. For me that happened with the Bouchon Bakery (http://bit.ly/JrNrWr). I had heard of it before, had it filed in my NYC folder but haven’t really planned a trip there. Then I got tickets to see Anderson Cooper tape his new daytime television show and what do you know, there is a Bouchon Bakery in the Time Warner Building where the show is located? I love good food karma. The food at Bouchon Bakery is ever better.


Keeping track of what you want to do and where you want to go each year is more than just a hobby or a path to guide these blogs of mine. I really do believe in not letting a moment pass you buy or waiting on others to fulfill the dreams you have in your heart. I do plenty of things by myself, I actually prefer it. I know that I am going to enjoy it and not ruin my day by complaining. That makes me my own perfect date. Ultimately if I have to choose between going solo or missing out on some experience I find extraordinary I can’t give it up. More importantly I don’t believe anyone should hold their breath waiting to find someone who can schedule the time to do what you want to do. People miss out on a lot that way. I refuse to miss out on anything. I do what I want when I want. I am the Queen of F-cking Everything, hear me roar.

This list is more exciting than the last because now I have my mojo working. I know how much more determined it makes me. I am more excited to see where I will go and what I will do that isn’t even on this list yet. 

I have decided to call this blog “Year 2” because for me this is only the second time I am making a list and checking it twice. Just like the big guy up north. These are my new goals. I know it is the end of April but I have been formulating this list for quite awhile and considering my blog only turned one year old in March (http://bit.ly/IpJd3V
we are still early on.


The things I was not able to accomplish last year, will be filed under their appropriate heading and labeled “From 2011” so that everyone can see what is new and what is repeated. Every time I complete an event, I will of course proceed as normal and share my reviews with my readers so that they may plan accordingly.

Here we go, just a little over seven months and we have all this to do!!

1)   Plays/Shows
Death of a Salesman
The Best Man
Other Desert Cities
Harvey
Memphis (want to see it again now that Adam Pascal is in it)
Madame Butterfly Opera

    2) Activities/Lectures/Exhibits
Terracotta Warriors at Discovery Times Square
South Street Seaport Museum
Alexander Hamilton’s Grange
Slavery and Underground Railroad Tour
Harriet Tubman’s House
The Cloisters
Battle of Brooklyn Re-enactment at Greenwood Cemetery
Historic Tour at Greenwood Cemetery
Weeksville Heritage Center
Intrepid Sea, Air, Space Museum


            
From 2011
         Circleline Cruise (of NYC skyline and 5 boroughs)
Wicked Backstage Tour
Grant's Tomb
Teddy Roosevelt’s Sagamore Hill
FDR Home in Hyde Park & FDR Presidential Library
Vanderbilt Mansion Historical Site
The Museum of Natural History
Brooklyn Botanical Gardens

3) Food
Blue Spoon Coffee
Sugar, Sweet, Sunshine Bakery
S’Mac
         Big Gay Ice-cream
         Gorilla Cheese Truck
         Phil’s Steaks Truck
         Japadog
         Beacher’s Handmade Cheese
         Buttermilk Channel
         Triomphe
         Lure
Steak n’ Shake
Hill Country
Lauduree (loved the one in Paris)
Neely’s BBQ Parlor (loved their restaurant in Memphis)
Four & Twenty Blackbirds

From 2011
Locanda Verde
Rue 57
The Palms
Butter
Cafe Naidres
Butter Lane Bakery

Wish me luck!        

For a complete list of what to see and do in NYC:




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