Check Mark 31: Go to the Top of the Empire State Building

While in NYC for 48 hours for the American Express photo shoot, my husband and I decided to go to the top of the Empire State Building.  I mean, that's what you do when you are a tourist in New York City.  However, we didn't know the Empire State Building was one of the 7 Wonders of the Modern World, so we can check seeing another one of those off the list.

Since it was November, the line to the top wasn't long and the top wasn't crowded.  We got to see NYC from a whole different perspective.  We even located the penthouse where the photo shoot took place and got some cool shots of the building.  Cliche I know, but it really did take place in a penthouse.  We could see much of NYC that we couldn't otherwise in the 48 hours we had and we loved every bit of it!

Check Mark 30: Professional Photo Shoot for a Well Known Company

Like most teenage girls, I wanted to be a model.  I signed with an agency, went through classes, put together a comp card, and got to do one little photo shoot for a company I can't remember.  So, when I got a call about 15 years later to fly off to New York to do a photo shoot for a very well known company, I absolutely could not refuse.  The only thing was, I didn't apply or audition for the gig.  It came from saying a few kind words about the company's product in an online survey.

That company was American Express and that product was a credit card I use all the time!  They wanted to use my statement in an upcoming online marketing campaign and offered to fly me and a guest to NYC for a photo shoot.  Of course, my guest was my new husband and they photographed him too!  They put us up in an incredible hotel in the heart of it all and paid for the entire trip.  The photo shoot was with a professional photographer from France, a makeup artist that does the Victoria Secret Angels, stylists who are used to working with models, and clothes I could never afford.

This happened the same year I got married, so I would have to say this was the second most awesome thing that I got to do in 2012 - or ever!  You can check the finished product out here.