NYC Bucket: #14 Go Camping Upstate

14. GO CAMPING UPSTATE

Original Bucket List: HERE

I can still feel the calm that I felt every morning waking up in this cabin. I haven't been camping in so-o-o-o-o long. Too long. I think the last time I legitimately camped had to be when I went backpacking deep into the California wilderness with a bunch of friends at the age of thirteen. I can't even remember where that was because it was such a long time ago. So needless to say, I've been fiending for some nature for quite a while. 

Now, let me just clarify that I whole-heartedly feel that camping, real camping, does not involve a cabin. However, for the sake of this bucket list -- it counts. 

Last weekend, myself, my boyfriend, and four other friends of ours decided to leave the madness of New York City for a few days and fully indulge ourselves into some much needed nature. I have wanted to explore upstate New York basically since I moved here so I was so happy to finally take this trip. We decided to rent our home for the weekend through AirBnB. This was my first time using them and I must say they were prettay, prettay, prettay good. 

The cabin was located in South Kortright up in the Northern Catskills, about a four hour drive from the city. With six friends, three couples, and one awesome dog -- we had the best crew. We arrived on Friday evening just before sunset. The drive up seemed longer than expected due to getting lost a few times on the way along with our lengthy but mandatory pre-arrival grocery store stop. It felt like such a journey by the time we got there, but as soon as we saw the cabin it all felt so worth the wait. 

The cabin itself sat on a twenty-five acre lake that was just a few steps from the back of the house. Inside, there were three bedrooms, one bathroom, a great open kitchen, and a wood burning fireplace. The overall feel was so cute, warm, and inviting. I felt right at home.

(chickens!)

This place was made for relaxation. It was perfect. We spent the weekend grilling, hiking, nature-exploring, building campfires, and just b e i n g. It was definitely one of those 'nurture the soul' type weekends. Nature is so awesome.

My favorite part of the weekend? That's tough... but a major highlight for me had to be the s'mores. I came across this genius idea on Pinterest that suggests putting a Reese's peanut butter cup in-between your marshmallow and Hershey's. I was like whaaaa.... oh, man, yeah, gotta try it. Also, this was my boyfriend's first time ever in life experiencing a s'more, so it was kind of a special moment.

By the time Sunday came, I felt totally at peace. It was just what the doctor ordered. On our drive home, which was so beautiful, we stopped at Minnewaska State Park to check out the Awosting Falls. 

It was the perfect ending to the perfect weekend...

*****

The crew. 05-18-2014.

NYC Bucket: #2 Participate in a Flash Mob

2. PARTICIPATE IN A FLASH MOB

Original Bucket List: HERE

Of all the things on my list, this one was a biggy for me. I think I have wanted to be a part of a flash mob ever since I first learned about them and saw this one on one of my favorite shows from back in the day. Since moving to New York though, I learned that flash mobs come in all forms and can be used for all kinds of occasions.

Some of the best flash mobs are the ones that are used just for shock value or to make people laugh such as NYC's famous No Pants Subway Ride or really, anything created by Improv Everywhere. They're pretty great. A few years ago, I found myself up super late one night in my Brooklyn apartment just watching hours and hours of videos that they made. I was dying. Some of their stuff was so good. Personal favorite: Grocery Store Musical. Anywho... I've also seen flash mobs that people do for birthday surprises, proposals, and all kinds of celebrations.

So! In order to pull this little dream of mine off, I needed to find a group of flash mobbers who were down to let me get in on their mobbing. I did a little research and found this awesome organization called FLASH MOB AMERICA. They do flash mobs all across America (hence the name) and anyone can participate. You just check out their calendar and see when they're coming to your city. For NYC, there were two coming up. One of which was a birthday surprise mob but was set to be happening the following day. That was a little too soon. The next of which was for someone's marriage proposal, and it was set for April 6th which is also my mom's birthday. I thought, perfect! Good vibes for that date.

Once I signed up, they sent me two YouTube videos. One of which shows the dance that we have to learn, in full. The other is a step-by-step tutorial so that we can learn the dance. There was only going to be one rehearsal, the day of, three hours before the actual flash mob was set to take place. I convinced a girlfriend of mine to do this with me and we had practiced together one night a few days prior, so I was feeling pretty confident when we showed up to rehearsal. I was ready to go.

It happened to be the most beautiful, Spring-timey day on this particular Sunday. My friend and I met at the rehearsal studio in Chelsea around noon. At this point we had no idea where the actual flash mob proposal was going to be. It was all very secretive. When we got there, I was surprised at how many people showed up. There were at least a hundred. I was like daaaaaaaaaaayumm..... lets do this.

So we danced, and then we danced some more. It was so fun that it had me contemplating the idea of taking a dance class here. Or really, it just made me want to dance way more in general. I JUST WANNA DANCE. I do.

I snapped a photo.

It was actually really, really hot in there. They had some dumb building code that restricted us from opening the windows. We made the best of it though. At the end of rehearsal, they revealed the official location: The Bethesda Fountain in Central Park.

Yessssssss. I was so pumped! We had about an hour to get there and were roughly forty blocks south of the location. My friend and I decided to take advantage of the perfect weather and walk up. It was definitely one of those feel-good days.

We got there about five minutes before go-time. I started recognizing other 'dancers' in random places all around the fountain. The set up was that five people were going to start with the first two eight counts, then another ten or so jump in, then another 12, and so on until we are all dancing around this (hopefully) soon to be engaged couple. 

If you're not familiar with the Bethesda Fountain, it looks like this:

The anticipation was killing me as I waited for the music to start. And then just as I began talking to some random girl, Jason DeRulo's "Marry Me" started playing out of surrounding speakers. 

[dancing starts]

105 is the number that comes to my head

When I think of all the years I wanna be with you

Wake up every morning with you in my bed

That's precisely what I plan to do

[next group jumps in]

And you know one of these days when I get my money right

Buy you everything and show you the finer things in life

We'll forever be in love, so there aint no need to rush

But one day, I won't be able to ask you loud enough

[I jump in!]

I'll say will you marry me?

I swear that I will mean it

I'll say will you marry me?

...and a ladi-dadi-da the song goes on for a few more verses as more people chimed in. It was pretty amazing. When the song got to the last verse and slowed way down, all of us mobbers parted like the red sea as the main man walked his girlfriend down the center. We all gathered around in a circle. He said something to her that I couldn't quite hear and then got down on one knee. 

There were tears all around! She said yes. I mean, of course she said yes. If you're going to put on a production as big as this, you'd better be pretty sure that she's down to marry you. 

I got a couple photos, but got blocked by the people.

And the newly engaged lady hugging her dad.

And us! With our instructor :)

Overall - the entire experience was so fun. I would definitely do it again.

ENJOY THE FULL VIDEO, HERE: