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WARNING: this will be LONG! I don't even know if I can't fit everything in one post, but here goes nothin':

Just got back from the airport not too long ago. What an amazing trip! New York truly is the greatest city. There's so much to see and do. Great shopping. Cool people. Awesome concert venues/local bands. Ahh!

Ok, so the first day (Wednesday) got off to a rough start. Our flight was delayed by almost 3 hours, so we didn't get to the hotel until almost 5 am. And they lost Nancy's luggage. We were planning on getting to Central park at around 9 or 10 am, but that didn't exactly work out. Janet's flight was also delayed, so she didn't come till almost 11 (and she should've been there at around 8 I think). Her and Ricky decided to walk to Central Park, while I stayed with Nancy so she could by some clothes/toiletries. The airline said that they'd drop off the suitcase by 1 pm at the latest, but it didn't come till almost 3 pm. We got to Central Park a little before 4, and had to walk all over to try and find the Summerstage. Eventually we found it, but the line was HUGE! Good thing Ricky, Janet, Jenny (Ms. Dammit from the strokes message board), and Rachel (Ms. Action, also from the strokes mb) were already towards the front of the line. People were really pissed, though, because they thought we were cutting. They opened the doors sometime between 5:45 and 6. Everyone was rushing to get a good spot. I didn't even have them check my bag, I just bypassed the security guard. We ended up getting spots right at the barrier on Albert's side! There was this security guard named Pat that kept handing out sunflower seed kernals to people, and chatting with us. We were joking around saying we demanded fresh fruit...and low and behold he goes and gets this huge orange for us! It was pretty funny, because we really weren't being serious.

First up was Sean Lennon. He looks so much like his dad. I like him a lot. Afterwards, Pat the security guard noticed my Beatles purse, and asked if I wanted Sean to sign it! So he did! I just thought that was so nice. He wrote, "To Amanda, Love, Sean Lennon." By the way...I was, of course, wearing my lucky skirt! It still has not let me down. I love it!

Next was Adam Green. I had only heard a few of his songs before. He's so adorable! Such a crooner and very entertaining/funny. I like his songs a lot. I liked how he interracted with the crowd a lot. I'm going to have to get his albums.

Before the Strokes came on, Danny (strokes security guard)walked past us. We asked if he remembered us from the SF show, and he said he did (but who knows if he really did or not). The security guards were telling us that we could take pictures, but we couldn't use flash. However, Danny said it was ok for the audience members to use flash, so that was cool. Finally, the Strokes came on. They started with "I Can't Win," and Julian went into the audience.I have no idea what the setlist was, but they did do the GBV cover, Happy Birthday to Danny, others, and the cabinet aka amanda de cadanet (though I pretended he was singing it to me, since my birthday is on May 29th, hehe), and even "Is This It?" Before "Hard to Explain," Julian said, "I'm getting married, and this is Hard to Explain!" So sorry guys, I'm 99% sure it's official...Anyway, overall, they played an amazing show. They were really responsive to the crowd, and you could tell that they enjoyed being back home.

After they finished, the security guard threw a balled up setlist to us, but Janet kept dropping it! He ended up giving it to a different person Oh well. Got some merchandise afterwards (I just got a pin), and got a "present" from the Misses (an old fake i.d. of Jenny's to use for the rest of my trip!) We all ended up going to McDonald's afterwards,and then we went back to the hotel.

It was so surreal seeing the Strokes in their hometown in the middle of Central Park. It looked so gorgeous having this lit up stage in front, yet being surrounded by trees and buildings and stars

Since our hotel was in the East Village, we did some shopping around there on Thursday. We also went by Wiz Kid Management, which is the company that manages the Strokes. Esperanza (intern) and Juliet (assistant manager and supposedly Julian's fiance) were in there. I made up some lame excuse for why I was there. I told Esperanza that I just finished my undergraduate program at USF, and am going to NYU for grad school next year, and was wondering if they had any internship positions available. She was nice. She said that they start taking applications at the beginning of the school year, and she gave me an e-mail address to write to for further info. The office is cool. Lots of big Strokes posters and video games! Oh, and by the way...Ricky saw a gold ring on Juliet's left ring finger.

Being the stalkers that we are, we went to the bar 2A (where the Strokes always hang out). Janet and I went in (suddenly I transformed from almost 18 to being 23, muahaha), but there wasn't really anyone there so we left. We went to the 5th Ave/Times Square area to try and get tickets for David Letterman. It's a lottery system, and we didn't win, unfortunately. We hung around the area for a while to shop and get some lunch. I'm in love with H&M. So cute, and so cheap! We don't have any in CA, so I was in heaven. I swear we spent about 2 hours there, and I ended up spening $95! Yes, I am psycho. But that was the first time I went shopping in about 7 or 8 months. Went back to the hotel later in the evening for a quick rest before going to another concert. We went to Arlene's Grocery to see a band called The Bravery. Arlene's Grocery is a 21+ venue, so I used Jenny's i.d. again. It was funny because the guy checking was like, "hmm...you look very young for a 23 year old...", so I quickly said, "hehe, yeah, I get that all the time!" and walked in quickly. The first band, Houston McCullough, was kind of boring. They had no singer! I mean, they played their instruments well, but it just became really dull after a while. The Bravery was great, though. They sound a lot like the Cure. They gave out free cd's afterwards and we talked to some of the band members. They were nice. You should check them out if you like the Cure. I had a really good time that night.

I think we got back to the hotel around 3 am, and didn't fall asleep till almost 4. We had to get up at around 7 or 8 because Nancy's friend (who lives in Jersey City and works in NYC) was going to show us all around. Needless to say, we were all exhausted. We went by the farmer's market to get some quick breakfast. After ,we took the subway to Wall St. We walked around the West Village after, I think? Then we went to the South St. Seaport. Took a ferry to Jersey City. Walked around some more, and had lunch. Went to the World Trade Center after. It was so weird seeing it in person after seeing all the footage on t.v. I recognized one of the streets where people were running down. I think it makes a greater impact on you when you actually see everything in person.We went to Washington Square Park after, got some ice cream, and sat by the fountain. Took a cab back to the hotel.

Met up with Jenny and Rachel at 2A. We were supposed to go to two concerts that night: Regina Spektor at Tonic, and Robbers on High Street/A.R.E Weapons/The Fever at the Bowery Ballroom. Unfortunately, Regina cancelled for some reason, so we had to go to Tonic to get a refund. I almost didn't get into Bowery Ballroom, since they know Jenny and Rachel really well and are strict on i.d. You have to be at least 18, and I was 8 days away from it. Nancy had to say that she was the mother of Ricky and I, so they finally agreed to let us in. It's a cool venue. On the bottom floor, there's a bar and a bunch of seating areas. We waited for Jenny's sisters to come. The first band was Robbers on High Street. They were really good! They sounded a little Maroon 5-ish to me, but they were *so* much better. Didn't watch the second band because they sounded really bad. Came back up for The Fever, and I really liked them. They have a really cool sound (well, minus that creepy robot mic they would use sometimes). I got their 'Pink on Pink' EP after the show. There was this really creepy , fat old guy in a white wifebeater tank top who kept touching mine and Jenny's sister's asses the whole time, though. That was the only bad thing.We walked all around afterwards, and had some, er, strange encounters. There was a guy that said, "Hey ladies." But when no one replied to him he said, "I'm the best thing that will ever happen to you your whole lives!" Haha, loser. Eventually it was time for us to go our separate ways. Took some pictures, said goodbye, and took a cab back to the hotel. It was another night staying up till 4 am.

On Saturday, we ended up sleeping in till after noon. It felt good after all that nonstop stuff. We went to the main library (on 42nd and 5th, I think?) in hopes of finding a Dwight (the school the Strokes went to) yearbook. No luck. So we just went back to the area around Arlene's Grocery to go to all those vintage stores. We had a nice dinner at this Mediterranean/French/Italian restaurant. Took a cab to the Empire State Building. I completely forgot to get souvenirs for family and friends, so I ended up having to get the expensive stuff there. That was the last of my money There was hardly any visability because it was kind of clouded. It still looked really cool, though. The clouds were swirling all around the top, and had this eerie glow. It felt like we were in another universe or something.
I had a sharpie with me, so I made my mark. Many times.

We had to find an internet cafe or Kinko's to print out this really important travel document for the flight. Took another cab. While we were stopped, there was this cab of older/ugly/sleasy kind of guys next to us. I was in a really weird mood (I think I got high off the swirly clouds at the top of the Empire State Building), so I kept making funny faces at them. They rolled down their window, and Nancy rolled down ours. She said, "Hey, it's 50 bucks for this one [meaning me]!" and this sleasy guy with muttonchops said, "You serious? Alright!" and he freaking got out of the cab and tried to get into ours! ::Shudders:: I swear, that was the slowest window EVER! But we managed to close it on him.

We were walking endlessly trying to find some place that was open, had internet access, and a printer. Eventually I found a little juice bar, so we got it all done there.

Didn't get any sleep. The super shuttle picked me up at 4 am. Got to JFK airport at around 5:30 am. The flight was 6 hours long. I slept for most of it. I wasn't even awake during the take-off!

This trip was absolutely amazing. I had so much fun! New York is so cool. I can't wait to come back. And who knows, maybe I will end up going to NYU for grad school after all?