(Almost) a New Year's in NYC

Here are some interesting stats about my trip to NYC:

Shows Seen: 2 (Billy Elliot and A Little Night Music)

Celebrity sightings: 5 (Elmo, the Cookie Monster, Batman, Spiderman, the guy who played Mark Cohen in Rent)

Conversations with Celebrities: 1 (Mark Cohen and I talked about Broadway shows in my hotel elevator. He got out on the 7th floor. I got out on the 9th floor, went into my room, and died.)

Instances of Physical Contact With Celebrities: 1 (I fist-bumped the Cookie Monster.)

Museum Exhibits: 6 (Kandinsky, El Greco, Jane Austen, JP Morgan's private study, Monet's Waterlilies, Tim Burton.)

Paintings Viewed: Don't even go there . . .

All in all, it was a fantastic way to close out the year. I was back in Charlottesville for the actual New Year's Eve, where I was entertaining two girls from Alabama who were visiting us. Hence, my night was spent playing charades (picture a little blonde eight-year-old girl trying to speak whale without sound) and watching Harry Potter. In between games, when I had an average of 0.3 seconds to myself before my young charges would go, with their adorable deep southern accents, "what're we gonna do naaooow?" I felt an overpowering feeling of gladness for what this year has given me. It's given me a ticket out of high school and into my amazingly bright future at Kenyon with people that I've already come to love. It's given me a million laughs and enough tears to make the laughs worth while. It's given me the time to grow out of acne (finally, thank GOD). So thanks 2009, it's been fun! Here's to 2010 :)