Naked Cowgirl Trail of Events for 2014

     January 2014 started with a blast, a Super Bowl Winter Blast...at least it did for us living in New Jersey and New York since the Super Bowl XLVlll was held at Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. I was honored to be a big part of the festivities at the Secaucus Winter Blast Tailgate Celebration performing my song "Ride It Like A Cowgirl" with my amazing dancers, the "Foxy Cowbelles".

Charlie's Corner had a huge beer garden with live performances, plenty of beer...and a HEATED tent! Needless to say I spent a large amount of time there in my "Naked Cowgirl Signature Bikini" trying to stay warm!There were so many great vendors there like "The Original Soup Man" aka "Soup Nazi" from an episode of Seinfeld.

     Times Square Alliance did an amazing job creating "Super Bowl Boulevard" which was a huge extravaganza for many blocks including a toboggan ride slide, food, music, entertainment, the unveiling of giant lighted Roman numerals XLVIII and so much more! I walked around Times Square as "The Naked Cowgirl" on Saturday, February 1st, the day before the big game, surrounded by Seahawks and Broncos fans, tourists & locals, and plenty of media! I even got on Channel 5 Fox News surrounded by a group of face-painted, heavily decorated, extremely loyal Seattle Seahawk fans. Super Bowl Sunday was just as crazy although the streets did clear out a little earlier as football fans from all over made their way into the local hotels, bars, and restaurants to cheer for their favorite team...or at least for the numbers on the "football pool" to come out so they could win back some of the money they bet on the game.

     February 15th, Valentine's Day weekend, I participated in my first "NYC Cupid's Undie Run" along with some friends who joined my "Team Naked Cowgirl Fox" to raise money for The Children's Tumor Foundation. The event started at Stage 48, a nightclub in NYC in which everyone was dressed "down" in their underwear (as well as pajamas and costumes), danced to the music the DJ played and drank a good amount of alcohol to get ready to run 1.5 miles outside in the freezing cold in our underwear while it was snowing!

As one the the VIP's for the event promoting the hell out it, my team and I had access to the rooftop VIP section of the club with open bar and the ability to go out on the roof for some amazing photos taken by some of the best New York City Photographers like Dez Santana, Christopher Taylor, Caryn La Greca, Milo Hess...and many others.
     As if that wasn't enough fun for one day, I convinced a few of my team members to walk to Times Square with me, while it was snowing, and hang out at the "Crossroads of The World" and take pictures with me in their underwear for tourists from all over the world. What an awesome team I had! I'm disappointed that this years Cupid Undie Run is being held the weekend before Valentine's Day and I can't make it, but I will be in San Antonio, Texas to see my younger son graduate from US Air Force Basic Training, which I am SO EXCITED about! Maybe next year I'll do it again:) 

     With so many changes in Times Square over the last year or two pertaining to the excessive amount of characters out there and the negative publicity some of them were getting, I decided it was a good time to take a break and step away for a little while and focus on other things in my life that needed tending to like my family life, fitness career, and personal/social life.  My older son was in Germany for 2 years with the US Air Force and was surprisingly relocated back to an Air Force Base in New Jersey in May so I get to see him more often. Considering I work every other weekend at the hospital as an x-ray tech, plus train clients and teach classes in the gym all week, I decided it would be best to cut out Times Square for a while and be home more to spend time with my family, especially knowing that my younger son would be leaving for basic training in the fall.
     I got to do some nice day trips with my kids throughout the summer such as a" New York Waterway Taxi" ride around Manhattan, an "Irish Festival" that had NOT ONE thing Irish for 10 blocks, a stop at the Brooklyn Brewery on the way to a vegan restaurant in Williamsburg, and a few other places. It was nice being the tourist instead of the "tourist attraction" for a while.
     Being a dedicated vegan and loyal supporter of animal rights and "Equality For All", I couldn't resist walking again as the "Naked Cowgirl" with Mercy For Animals in the NYC Pride Parade on June 29th which always goes down 5th Avenue to Christopher Street in the Village. This is always such an amazing parade and so much fun to be a part of!

     With my younger son graduating high school and preparing to leave for basic training, I found myself at a crossroads in my life with some major decisions to make as to where I want my life to go. I'm trying to simplify my life, remove the stress, and find happiness...as most of us are trying to do. This required me to yet again do some soul searching, change old patterns that are self-destructive, and be a stronger person to pursue my goals that might have been lying dormant for a bit. I also decided that going to Times Square would be something I would do if and when I felt like it for fun or if I was hired to be there.
     September 28th was the Grand Opening of The ViiBE Dance Center which moved from Cliffside Park to Ridgefield, NJ in conjunction Shred Kickboxing, Eric Alt's Hue Color Bar, and Jambox Entertainment. My music manager, also a singer/song writer Lori Michaels, is co-owner of The ViiBE and asked me to make a Naked Cowgirl appearance to take photos with some of the dancers and their parents. It was a fun day hanging out with all of her dance and vocal students as well as the friends and family members.

     October was the NYC Walk For Farm Animals, with Farm Sanctuary, which raises money and awareness that all animals are sentinel beings and should be treated the same as we treat our own pets...with love and compassion. Although I walked in this event last year, I felt it would be more rewarding and beneficial to volunteer and help out. My daughter Tiffany even came with me to volunteer. It was a fun day!

On December 5th I felt the urge to drive into Times Square for a Naked Cowgirl Appearance after so many months missing in action. I was a little nervous since it had been so long and I honestly hadn't been practicing my guitar and was completely rusty! It was so reassuring to see how all of the locals and the Times Square Characters were so glad to see me back and all wanted to get their photo taken with me. That in itself made the trip all worth while! I even ran into some old friends who work in the area who came to see me in action and took a few photos of me.

     I drove my son to the Air Force Base only days later and cried all the way there and back home. I have been in a very different place since he has left. Luckily I still have my 22-year old daughter at home with me and my dog, and my older son who drives up from the base a couple times a month. I'm torn between missing the heck out of him, and liking my new found freedom, which is only temporary since he has only joined the Air Force Reserves and will be living home and going to college once he is back.

     I decided to finish 2014 with a Cowgirl Bang! I went into Times Square New year's Eve morning but since I got there too late (after 11am) I couldn't park in the Icon Parking Garage right off of Broadway and instead parked 2 1/2 blocks away and walked to Broadway in 28 degree temperatures! I usually stand near the island on 45th and Broadway but it was so crowded with the barricades that I decided to stand in the blocked-off street behind the bleachers and just take photos as long as I could tolerate it...which was about 20 minutes I think.
     I usually always choose New Year's Day as my "holiday pick" at the hospital to work but since someone with a small child asked me to work Christmas Day, I was off on New Year's Day for the first time in a long time. It was so nice to wake up and spend hours in my pajamas with my coffee and my feet up writing for hours in my journal about all of the changes I am ready to make in my life in 2015, as well as writing about all of the things and people I am grateful for in my life. I welcome 2015 and all of the good things that are coming into my life this year!.