For my birthday I met Ian McKellen and Zachary Quinto

It's been a whirlwind couple weeks. I was lucky enough to be able to spend the holidays with my family in D.C. We've never been as spread out as we were this year. I've got two siblings out serving missions for the LDS Church and another sibling starting a family elsewhere in the country, so the nest was emptier than its ever been. But it was still incredible to be able to be with most of my family for Christmas and New Year.

The cool thing about being in D.C. (one of many cool things) is that the MegaBuses take you to New York for between $15-20. Isn't that insane? I bet a lot of people feel this way, but I often find myself almost feeling sorry for people who aren't in my family, because my family is so amazing, and I always feel that way around Christmas. This year, we got New York. With a big polka-dot bow atop the Empire State Building and a ribbon around the statue of liberty. Just kidding. But we did get a trip. A kinda freaking amazing one.

My parents are smart about trips. They found somewhere online (I'm too lazy to look up where) that lets you find people who are renting out their apartments or houses for a week. It's a much cheaper way to go than hotels, so we ended up staying in this adorable apartment in Greenwhich Village, renting from a young opera singer who was gone for the week. It was fun to feel a bit like a true New Yorker.

Among all the fun things we did, we walked down Mulberry Street

Found 30 Rock

Visited the LDS Manhattan Temple

Braved the wind and snow to get some quick shots of Lady Liberty

Realized Central Park planners have NOT seen Doctor Who

And of course, played in Times Square and ate at Grand Central Station (best burgers and curry EVER.)

All this was incredible. I was already brimming with excitement and feeling the Billy Joel song about New York running in my blood. And then.

And then.

And.

Then.

Sir Ian McKellen and Zachary Quinto. That's right. GANDALF AND SPOCK EVERYBODY.

I am a fan-girl in a family of fan-girls, so whenever we go to a show we definitely stake ourselves by the stage door afterward and wait for the stars to shine. Man, I'm getting giddy just thinking about it. Who cares that its two degrees (it was.) Who cares that I nearly stepped in human feces on the subway (I did.) ITS FRIGGIN GANDALF AND SPOCK GUYS.

Obviously there was too much of a crowd for a picture with Sir Ian, and we barely got his autograph as it is (thanks to my moms insanely long arms). We saw No Man's Land with him and Patrick Stewart, and it was SO GOOD. I did technically see Patrick Stewart with my own eyes, but he hurried through, motioning to his throat that he was ill and had no voice, and didn't stop for pictures or autographs. It made me feel really sorry for him, and that we were making these seventy year old men stand out in literally freezing whether in sopping wet rain. But they were amazing and wonderful nonetheless. We saw Zachary Quinto in The Glass Menagerie, and he was fantastic. He was also very kind and gracious in talking to fans.

We also met Dule Hill, who plays Gus in the show Psych, and he was perhaps one of the funnest celebrity encounters I've ever had. My nine-year-old sister is a huge, huge fan of the show (when she got her tonsils out, she watched Psych straight for a week. I'm not exaggerating.) He came over and talked with us for a good four or give solid minutes, and answered questions about the show. It was awesome.

Well, I've gone on too long already, but I just wanted to share a bit of the fun and joy of the past few weeks. I'm back home in Vegas now, and its good to get normal life going again. But its also fun to be refreshed and reminded at how beautifully messy and chaotic and exciting and bright and weird and awe-inspiring our world is, and to bring a bit of that magic back to our everyday lives. That's why we have trips to New York, and pictures with Spock, and why we have books.

Keep the magic, everybody.

Sarah Allen

p.s. If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook or Google+ (or other places) you may have seen some of these shots already, and for that, I apologize. But yeah, for others, follow me at those places and you can be part of the adventures as they happen :)