Also I will probably post a lot of pictures in this post. If this post looks like it is going to be really long or the scroll bar on the right side is really small, that is probably why.
So let us take a trip back to November 2010. Seems so long ago doesn't it? (I wish Sarcasm translated well in text.)
Wednesday the 17th, I took a plane ride to Ithaca, NY to get picked up by Lena. I wish I could say the plane ride was fun, but I and my stomach would be lying to you. Once I got to Ithaca and changed clothes, I felt perfectly fine.
Once Lena picked me up we went to Wegman's (Best grocery store I have EVER been in) I grabbed something to eat because I was STARVING, and after I ate Lena grabbed a few things, we played around a little bit,
and she showed me one of the coolest candy departments I have ever seen! (I wish I had gotten a picture of it!!!)
After that she showed me the local music store which was also really cool. We then went to The Commons (I think that's what it was called. Don't completely quote me on that.) We browsed several of the stores.
We were pretty much biding our time before Lena could pick up her new guitar that a fellow youtuber was giving to her FOR FREE!!!
We also went out for sushi and bubble tea with a couple of her friends from school which was pretty fun. It was funny because I had never had bubble tea before so when I went to get my first sip of it they were watching me very eagerly. I enjoyed it very much and I have actually been craving it for a few weeks now. Thanks Lena!
Thursday, we got dressed up in our Hogwarts attire,
had breakfast, and went to Lena's two classes of the day, Harpsichord and Choir. Once Choir was finished we pretty much rushed back to her dorm, loaded her car, picked up Rachel, and headed to Cole's house in Jersey.
Once everyone arrived at Cole's, we packed into the van and headed in to the city. I was most excited about this because I have always imagined going to NY, but I never in my wildest dreams thought it would happen. The traffic is probably the only thing that I didn't like. We found our parking garage, and headed to the opening of Central Park (I Think). When we got there we pretty much had a sing-a-long, chilled, and had a blast.
Then we got our instructions about the flash mob wizard duel.
We were split up into the death Eaters and Dumbledore's Army.
Cole got picked to be Harry, and Andrew Slack was Voldemort (Who would have thunk it? Haha). We then marched to Columbus Circle to have said flash mob. It was really fun. I was out pretty quickly. I am not very good at dueling and I couldn't stop laughing to save my life! It's all good though because it gave me a chance to take pictures and film.
It was really cool because when Cole and Andrew finished saying all the lines they could remember from the Final Battle (YES!!!), Cole finished of Andrew and the moment Andrew drops to the ground it starts raining! It was the coolest thing ever. We were jumping up and down chanting Harry, and it was a really fun time. We picked up our stuff and walked over to Lincoln Center to go wait in line for what we all were waiting for. Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 1!!!
The theater let us take our seats early which was great because we got to sit in comfortable seats, but not great because time seemed to take longer. Lena and Jay from Lily & James had a jam session which made the slow time passage bearable.
Myself, Rachel, Katie, Katherine, Anna, and Cole played "Imperio, Love Potion, Avada Kadavra" which is the equivalent to the muggle game, "Marry, Screw, Kill." It was pretty hilarious.
Everyone cheered when the movie started, and everyone was in tears and applauding the movie when it ended including myself. I find it funny because I have always been to person to hate when people clap at the end of the movie, and I end up doing it for Harry Potter. Well, there is no lie about it. It deserved the applause it got! :D
Friday was a sleep in day for us. We didn't get up until about 2 or 3 in the afternoon. The moment I woke up I took a shower so that I would actually wake up. By the time everyone was awake is when we were joined by Jacqui, Jennie, and Jacob. Cole's mom made us dinner. We helped with putting out dishes, silverware, putting the food on the table. We then had dinner at the table like we were the Weasley's.
This is something that I haven't done in over a decade. Well not the Weasley dinner, but an actual sit down dinner. It was a heart warming feeling. It didn't last too long because we had to go to Sam's school to see him in The Drowsy Chaperone. I had never heard of the musical before, so I wasn't sure what was to come, but it was fantastic. Sam was the lead role, and he did a fantastic job.
Once the show was over we kidnapped Sam, and went back to Cole's to make sandwiches,
had a Final Battle sing-a-long session,
and watched Sam and Cole be, well Sam and Cole. :)
Saturday morning, we woke up pretty early and headed to the closest IMAX theater to watch Deathly Hallows pt. 1 again this time with Jacqui and Sam. I cried just as much if not a little more watching it the second time.
Once the movie was finished we headed back to he house and said our good-bye's to Sam. Unfortunately, Sam still had two more performances of his show to do, so he wouldn't be able to hang out for the rest of the weekend. It was a sad day. Lena took him home because she had to go into the city to rehearse for the Wizard rock festival for the following day.
We pretty much for the rest of the day were biding our time until that night for the Upright Citizens Brigade Hogwarts Improv Championship show.
We did what normal Harry Potter fans do, Play Harry Potter Scene It. I almost won too!!! Darn that Cole!!!
When it was time for us to head on out, Cole's mom drove us to where we needed to be, and there we waiting in line for about an hour for the show.
I didn't know if we were allowed to take pictures so I didn't just in case I would have gotten yelled at. It was really funny. The thing that made it even better was the Emcee was a Slytherin, and he was making fun of Hufflepuffs, and Lena wasn't gonna let him bring her down like that. For a Hufflepuff, she sure is spunky! They were playing the 142 ____ walk into a bar game off and on, and they made that the tie breaker of the improv show. He asked Lena to give him a magical thing since he was giving her such a hard time. She threw out Time Turner, and the winning joke was the best of the night. It was 142 time turners walk into a bar, and 142 time turners walk into a bar, and 142 time turners walk into a bar.... It was funny, and I laughed myself into tears. They were Hilarious. I think the mocking of the teams were just as great as the actually improv games itself.
Sunday was the NYCWRF (New York City Wizard Rock Festival.) It was an entire day of nothing but wizard rock, and it was glorious. A group of us actually went early with Lena so that we could help her carry in her eqipment, merch, etc. We got there early, so we went to a muffin shop and had brunch. I had the BEST pumpkin muffin I had ever had, and some really great chai tea. Once the building was open, we loaded all of the equipment in front of the stage, and went upstairs to practically wait until the show started.
All of the bands that played were amazing!!! A lot of those bands I haven't seen live before so it was pretty cool seeing them in a setting that I was familiar to. I love going to rock shows like this. I love being able to change where I want to stand at the drop of a whim. I love venues that allow you to be on the floor to dance and when you get tired go to an upper level to chill. The music was loud, but not to the point where you couldn't understand what the singer was singing. Those are the shows I strive to go to. It was my second ever Wrock show (Well if you count all of the concerts at Infinitus one complete show. If not then it is my 5th wrock show. No biggie.)
Monday was the day I was dreading. I didn't want to say goodbye to anyone. You could tell that Cole was ultra sad that everyone had to leave. Katie left the night before, and so did Jennie and Jacob. Anna went home after the show and so did Jacqui. We got to see Katherine before she went to school. Myself, Lena, and Rachel were the last to leave. We drove back to Ithaca, had lunch, we dropped Rachel off at her car, said our good-byes, and Lena dropped me off at the airport. What made matters worse was the fact that my plane was delayed an hour because of heavy rain at my layover airport.
All and all it was one of the best weekends (A long weekend too.) of my life. It was a completely spontaneous trip. I didn't plan on going until a month and a half before, and it was all because Lena asked me to come. I am so grateful to Harry Potter for bring so many great friends, and so many great adventures into my life. I probably wouldn't have as interesting of a life if it wasn't for him! I'm glad I got over my indifference with him so many years ago. Who knows what I would be like now. Sheesh, I don't even want to know!
Sorry if this blog was long. This would have been a long video! haha.
Everyone have a great day and DFTBA!!!
Much Love
~Alicia~
