Money Can Buy Happiness

...because Levain cookies cost money.

Many of my loved ones know, I love chocolate chip cookies. I mean really, really love them. As in, I daydream about them and ask for them for my birthday and had everyone eat them the night before my wedding (ps, got married, more on that later). I even have approximately 20 choc. chip cookies recipes saved to Pinterest because they all claim to be the BEST recipe and I need to discover which is the greatest for myself.

Anyway, for years I'd been hearing about cookies from this tiny shop in New York City called Levain Bakery and I knew I would eventually need to get there. At this point in the post it's time for me to acknowledge my Aunt Nicole for planting this seed in the first place. Many thanks to her love and devotions to sweets. If it weren't for you, Nic, my family never would have known about this place.

So, my first time in New York was last October.  We just stayed for one night, as we were on our way to Boston. The only thing I wanted to do my first time in New York was try these cookies. Due to a series of unfortunate events, we missed the bakery hours by just a couple minutes! As in, we arrived to NYC at 6:47pm and the shop closed at 7. And yes it was more than a 13-minute walk away.

Fast forward to planning this trip. I'm a tiny bit obsessed with planning things down the minute. Maybe it's from having one too many experiences like aforementioned disaster. So, Jason and I had 2 days in New York City, and other than seeing a Broadway show, our weekend revolved around eating Levain* cookies. I had the weekend planned to perfection-- including travel time, casual hang-out time, and "sit on a bench in the Met because I'm tired from waking up at 3:30a to catch a 5am megabus that made me so carsick I almost fainted" time.

Or so I thought.

Picture this:
It's 3:22pm. We're 22 minutes behind schedule, but that's nothing to sweat about. I mean the line at Levain, can't be too long, can it??? We stroll through Central Park to reach Levain (that was our first mistake-- should have power-walked). We see the line. We think it must be for something else. Jason walks to the front of the line. Nope, it's definitely for Levain. We say, "No worries. It's 3:52. We got all the time in the world!!" Between now and our Top of the Rock reservation at 5:45, our only job is to get cookies, see our friend Ashley, and change into nice clothes. Line crawls. I think it's moving but I have no idea. I eyeball how many feet we've moved. I estimate 5 ft in 10 min. I try calculating the rate at which line is moving. Line's too long. I give up.

It's getting close to 4:30. I'm stressed. I text Ashley. She's an angel, says not to worry. I check our Top of the Rock reservation. We recalculate walking/public trans time. I stress some more. Jason says, "Honey, you need to choose between cookie, your friend, and Top of the Rock. Pick two." Easy choice. Why would I choose a world-class view from a Skyscraper in New York City over eating cookies and hanging with our best friend who we're planning on spending time with most of the next day? Sweet Jason calls Top of the Rock. They say we can't get our $64 refund because we didn't cancel 24 hours in advance. I ask him to call back later so we can devise a plan. We think of several alternatives, all of which do not work. None of these ideas include stepping out of that line for Levain, mind you. I will not.** At this point, it is less about the cookies and more about how much time we've wasted in this line. We call Top of the Rock back. We get a different employee. This employee is cool and understands our dilemma. Says she'll move the reservation to next week and tells us to cancel ASAP by going online. For once in my life, I'm cool with someone breaking the rules (lol I'm not uptight; I'm fair).

I text Ashley asking if the cookies are worth it; she's obligated to say yes. Lol. She knows how long we've waited. I send a text to my mother. We're needing extra encouragement at this point. No response. I know she'd say yes. We wait. It's cold. We finally reach the door. It's 4:48.

The next few minutes are full of sweet bakery scents, warm air on our faces, frantic cookie decisions, and realizing there's nowhere to sit because the bakery's packed.

We emerge from the bakery. We briefly go around the corner to try a bite of cookie before sprinting to the subway station. I take Bite 1. I'm in heaven. A stranger stops us, asking why anyone would wait in a line that long. I give a concise cookie review. I'm impressed by my review, as is Jason. I realize I was born to be a Cookie Critic. I take Bite 2. Again, bliss. We realize we must go. We rush past the cookie-waiters. I imagine holding the bag of cookies like a trophy shaking it in the air. I realize that'd be rude. I settle for a picture of me happily eating the cookie with the line in the background (scroll down for pics). It's 4:54 and we are basically running. I have a friend to see and a surprise dinner reservation at 6:30; nothing can stop us...even looking like tourists.

We get back to our hotel. We sit there eating the cookies. We ordered and paid for 5. Jason realizes they gave us 6. I realize New York City is on our side. The cool Top of the Rock employee, the extra cookie, my friend who is on her way to see us. All is well, all is well.

*Author's note to the locals: Do I call it Levain or Levain's? Please weigh in on this.
**Author's note: upon reading this, I noticed I sound selfish when I refused to leave the Levain line. I want to clarify Jason has been to the Big Apple five or six times and has done everything, seen everything. He knows we'll be back. He kindly let me choose how we spent the weekend.

Pictures to summarize what I've just written about:

At the Met, hours before knowing the predicament we'd be in

Stopping to take pics in Central Park like it's our job

Hmm that last picture was a little dark. Let's try a selfie!

Picture of line, post cookie purchase. If you squint, you can see all the humans lining up.

Picture with my prize and the line of humans

Calmly eating dinner

After seeing An American in Paris:) We loved it!

Ashley, who I love more than the Top of the Rock

Me eating that 6th cookie two days later in Washington DC. I heated it in the microwave for 9 seconds. It blew me away.

That's all for now, y'all. Make sure to let me know where I should buy more cookies (nationwide suggestions encouraged).

2 Timothy 1:7

I'm leaving on a mission in the morning:) Excited, delighted, thankful.

This site will always have my most current address:

http://www.missionsite.net/jenniferriding

I have been blessed with a gift to not doubt. I don't doubt that I am going to teach others the true message of Jesus Christ. I don't doubt that He is God's Son. I don't doubt that He died for me and rose again. I don't doubt that Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus Christ. I don't doubt that the Book of Mormon is true.

I don't doubt God's love for me or you.

Heart full of gratitude!

Shalom y'all:)
http://mormon.org/missionaries

LOL

So...I'm leaving on a mission in 5 days. The internet tells me so:

People have been asking how I'm spending my last week in the "real world." Actually..I've been in bed since Tuesday because I just got my wisdom teeth out. LOL. Yes. 

I can't think of a better way to spend my last week at home. If I weren't on Vicodin, I'd probably be freaking out about my mission... or I'd at least have enough sense to finish packing. But no, I've just drifted in and out of sleep for the past three days. Life is great.

jen-ri 4 lyfe

21 years ago today, a beautiful blessing was born.

That's what "Emi' means in Japanese.

And a beautiful blessing, she is. :)

Jennae and I first met in the summer of '96. Her mom was pregnant when we moved in and I thought her mom was permanently shaped like that (I was 5...what can I say?)

Apparently, we were friends but we hardly recall those times.

I first invited her to my house to play in 5th grade. We made cookies. I used my hands to form the dough and place it on the tray. Jennae used a spoon. Later, my mom told me I should follow Jennae's example.

Jen Jen and I became close pals in middle school. We knew we were cool when I was NJHS president and then she would be next year's president. So, I passed on the torch. We have a picture together from that night. She was literally a foot taller than me.

We even dabbled in a bit of church ball from time to time:

By this time...we were old enough to go Girl's Camp. Oh Girl's Camp. Is there anything like it?

GC 2006

We thought matching every day would be cool for GC 2007

Speaking of summer 07, it is a legendary summer in our book of friendship. We were inseparable. We spent every single day together. And any moment we weren't together, we were on the phone. I still remember the days the she got texting- July 17, 2007. It was the greatest day.

We even had our birthday party together.

Making wishes with our two crushes nearby

We made dozens of high school memories together.

Wedding receptions *why didn't yall tell me to tuck my shirt in?

Prom

Jennae's Marquette Show

Lunchtime

Stake Softball

SMOSS reps 

Our Hannah Montana Phase

More Girls Camp mems

EFY

And then continued making memories in college <3

Jennae's 18th birthday

Hikes for dayyss

Summer Ten- summer of dreams

New Year's Eve- love being together during Christmas Break

Go Cougs

Concerts

#ldsconf

Summer girls. All of us.

Classic Photo Spot

Jennae and I will be best friends for life. We've been through so much together. She is always willing to listen to me worry and to laugh at my jokes :] She's beautiful, hilarious, diligent, kind, thoughtful, loyal, passionate, and delightful. Love you forever Jennae Emi <3

Zooey 101

Zooey Deschenal just said it perfectly,

"Being tender and open is beautiful. As a woman, I feel continually shh'ed. Too sensitive. Too mushy. Too wishy washy. Blah blah. Don't let someone steal your tenderness. Don't allow the coldness and fear of others to tarnish your perfectly vulnerable beating heart. Nothing is more powerful than allowing yourself to truly be affected by things. Whether it's a song, a stranger, a mountain, a rain drop, a tea kettle, an article, a sentence, a footstep, feel it all-- look around you. All of this is for you. Take it and have gratitude. Give it and feel love."