Peter & Jerry

Thanks to a surprise bonus at work, I was able to treat myself to a show that I had been putting off due to needing money for basic needs like, uh...food and shelter.

I had many on my list but thanks to some that had closed already (Things We Want) or were already sold out due to a limited run (Cyrano) some decisions were already made for me! ;) Time played a part in the show I did settle on - "Peter & Jerry" as it too was closing soon.

An off-broadway show, "Peter & Jerry" by Edward Albee is a fleshed out 2 act play with the 1st act being newer, "Homelife" and the 2nd act being, "The Zoo Story", which had ran for years on its own.

I had never been to the 2econd Stage Theatre, where it was produced. It is nice but if you ever go, get there early - the aisles are narrow, so you have no choice but to climb over people if your seat is in the middle. The ushers were all over people that had their cell phones on and were talking or texting preshow or @ intermission - they asked the people to shut them off and more than once the people said they would, but would continue to talk - good listening skills! Unfortunately, not all cell users were spotted so it became a cat & mouse game as those that HAD been caught would see those that hadn't and think they could still have their's out. Ugh.

Needless to say - that served as my preshow & intermission entertainment. That plus the guy that was supposed to sit by me asked if he could stand instead (we were in the back row), but still used the seat for his overstuffed backpack and disappeared after intermission.

The show itself starred Bill Pullman, along with Dallas Roberts (who was nearly unrecognizable compared to his portrayal of a much more cleaner cut "Sam Phillips" in Walk the Line) and Johanna Day. An outstanding cast! I hadn't seen the 2nd act as a play on its own nor read it before so everything that unraveled was unexpected, surprising and new - it kept me thinking...what will happen, next?! Where is this going?! And in turn, it made me think...I need to get to writing more! Perhaps that will be my resolution for the new year.

I'd say - go see it! But it ends tomorrow. Perhaps it will be revived at a theatre near you....

Christmas, Christmas Time is here...

I started my first Xmas day away from home with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. Technically I was in the same room with them - but they were on the screen. ;) I saw "The Bucket List". A bit more serious than the trailers would have you believe and some of the special effects seemed a little shoddy for a film directed by Rob Reiner and starring the two gentleman mentioned prior. It is a nice movie but you can wait til video. It always amazes me how great Freeman can be no matter what the quality of film and Jack just seems to be a in a rut, playing they same kind of character over and over.

My roomies had the day off too so we made dinner (I used the same recipe for taters as I had for T-day and then made quick & easy chicken & dumplings) and watched "White Christmas". I had never seen that movie before. We kept commenting on Vera-Ellen's waistline. A quick google by my roommate sadly brought up that she battled an eating disorder and her high neckline costumes were made to cover her neck which had suffered from the disorder.

After the movie, I took advantage of the mild weather (high was 49!) and walked. A couple days ago it was in the 60s, but unfortunately it was accompanied with blowing rain. :(

And that was the gist of my Xmas in Queens!

Since the holiday season seemed to inspire the baker in me once again - here are some recipes that I used with great reviews...fairly easy, if you are looking for something new... :)

Cinnamon Swirl Loaf - and yes, I used Watkins ingredients. My mom is a rep! :)

Quick Chicken & Dumplings - couldn't find the soup they suggest so used Chix & Veg soup instead - it was gobbled up by the roomies!

Pumpkin Pie Bars

Expresso Thumbprint Cookies

Crunchy Peanut Clusters - sans holiday sprinkles

Peanutty Squares - I used honey

On the Company Dime

Today was what I would call "Free Food Day".

Lunch was brought in @ work today in honor of one of the namesake's retirement. Then tonight we had the company holiday party at Blue Fin in Times Square inside the W hotel - even if you never stay there, go into their lobby and checkout the waterfall.

We had our own room and even special menus printed for the occasion. Open bar and several rounds of appetizers (shrimp cocktail, sliders, chicken satay, etc) made it nearly impossible to finish the large portioned 3 course meal (thankfully they offered to pack leftovers up for us so it didn't go to waste.) If you click on the menu listing you can see the food choices we had....my picks - Spicy Tuna Roll w/ Thai Dipping Sauce (appetizer, apparently the others served prior were h'oerdurves -that is totally spelled wrong and my spellcheck doesn't even recognize it but you know what I mean! :) - ...technically), Big Eye Tuna w/ Shitake Mushrooms, Snow peas and Ginger Soy (entree) and Eggnogg Brulee' w/ Ginger Snap Mallow Mars (dessert).

I have been bringing treats in on occasion @ work and was told that I should start my own business and package some up. One person added that a husband could be found for me quickly if word got around about my baking - er...cause, that's my motivation in baking...to nab an unsuspecting man to be my hubby. Ugh. I guess they mean well though...although I don't like that they seem to think that would be a priority to me, let alone that I'd need their help....sigh. Kicking the soapbox away.

As people started to dwindle (mind you, this was a work night) one of the partners offered to buy a round of drinks at Del Frisco's for anyone that wanted to go. Me and the Admin Asst/Paralegal from the San Fran branch decided to go, in addition to a half dozen others. It was interesting exchanging notes with her - she was an actress, too but got burnout after doing a one woman show she wrote, starred, produced in and then went the current route.

By the time we were at Del Frisco's for drinks I really didn't feel like turning into "Pam" on The Office ala Chilis so I opted for Sprite - which of course went over like a lead balloon. Always interesting to observe co-workers out of the workplace. I always wonder how much of their "off hours" behavior is more them than their "work" behavior or if neither is totally accurate. It certainly is a study...humans and their behavior....who knows what they may think of me....the actress from Nebraska...if they only knew...(Insert extended Dr. Evil laugh here.) LOL.;)

Tailend

Packed up and ready to go!

Once again, the 'rents drove me to O to catch my flight but first...I met up with a friend at the Hollywood Diner (fun place and worth the drive if you aren't headed to the airport - Bonus: Harrison Ford & Calista Flockhart have eaten there) and got to see how much her baby has grown! Had time enough to eat a bite and catch up a little but it seemed like time wasn't taking its, er...time. Had to get to the airport....and found out that my flight was delayed! Gah!

Thankfully my connection in Detroit wasn't tight - in fact I actually had time to get coffee and sit for a while, ahhhhhh. While waiting I overheard a pilot that wasn't flying our flight but was a passenger, say that he had to go to Omaha tomorrow, adding -"Whatever the hell's there." I bit my tongue.

Finally got home and it was off to bed so I could be all bright and shiny for work the next day! ;)

More Visiting in Omaha

It was on the road to Omaha again, today.

I had told my 'rents that I wanted to make a stop @ Westroads to see the memorials and basically just to see the place in general. The news headline made everything so surreal - watching a place I know all too well being covered on national news and being so far away from it.

Traffic in the parking lot slowed as cars passed the outside entrance of VonMaur. The steps were covered with stuffed animals, flowers, notes and snowflakes. Snowflakes became the uniting way people could show their support, grief, etc for the events that happened and when we entered the food court @ Westroads a giant Christmas tree was covered with them. We headed over to the VonMaur and the amount of snowflakes, messages and more was overwhelming. It was a wonderful show of humanity in the wake of such needless tragedy. We only went to the 2nd floor entrance, however we could see the third floor entrance was covered with just as much, if not more notes, snowflakes, etc. Tables were set up with books to write messages to the victims' families and other tables were set up so people could make snowflakes there.

I snapped pics with my cell to show people that hadn't gone to see it - thought the cell might be a little less intrusive then pulling out a camera. Still felt a bit weird about doing it though - but it would have been hard to describe otherwise...it was an amazing sight.

Although my 'rents weren't all that excited to go, afterward - we were all glad we went. It was also interesting to see that the tragedy had not stopped shoppers - Westroads was packed.

Mid-afternoon I was to meet a group of friends @ Runza! (And bring dessert from Cupcake Island!) One friend asked if I could come early so we could chat and get some one on one. I asked the 'rents to drop me off early and my mom kept asking if it would be okay if they came in early too as long as they weren't close by - I asked that they wait. I didn't know what my friend wanted to talk about and Runza ain't that big - I know there are some things I wouldn't want to discuss with a friend with their parents only a few feet away! ;) Little did I know though that my friend had cooked up a plan to make my gathering a makeshift B-day Surprise Party (which my mom had seen an email about, thus the persistant insistance on coming in early - doh!) At any rate, my friend and another friend were there early to tell me what they had planned. Then they presented me with a birthday sash and crown,personal B-day cake, balloon and even a recorded Birthday Song from my planner friend's son! (The playdoh in the still is supposed to be a birthday cake.;)) I was truly surprised and touched.

Others started to arrive (some had seen the email, some hadn't yet - so there was a bit of confusion when they came in and saw me all decked out!;)) As with most large-ish gatherings you get to see everyone but you don't necessarily get to talk to them a whole lot. That's what happened but I think everyone understood.

Soon the "party" dwindled down and it was back to Lincoln again where I got to redeem my free B-day meal @ Noodles & Co for supper! (Once again, something that's not in NYC.)

Starting to think of what else needs to be done before I go...flight takes off tomorrow.

Roadtrip!

More maintenance was to be done while I was in NE, so it was off to get my hair did. Typical small talk occurred and New York came up. The hairstylist "assumed" that my move was inspired by a boyfriend (either breaking up with one in NE or having one in NYC) - uh, no. I think she was a bit baffled that I would just move for myself and not for someone else. Suddenly, Lincoln felt very "small town".

My ma insisted that I get a flu shot while I was back so that was the next stop and then on to Omaha to have lunch with my bro and pick up cupcakes @ Cupcake Island for a shindig tomorrow. :)

Last year for Admin. Assistant Day I had gotten a gift card @ Spezia from AP and had yet to use it when I moved so I gave it to my bro to use on his gf & the 'rents. Well...it still hadn't been used so...thus the lunch @ Spezia! None of us had been there before - it was very good and nice that we had the gift card to help with the bill! ;)

Post lunch I rode w/ my bro to his gf's apt so see her pup in person (he was featured on her Xmas card) and in turn, pick his gf up as the whole fam was going to see the g'rents in Iowa. (More importantly this would be the first time the gf would meet the extended fam.)

Both g'rents have been having health issues and much like the cat situation - hearing about it and actually SEEING it are two entirely different things. My grandpa doesn't look like himself and he is startlingly weak. It is more than worrisome. The docs continue to do tests on him as their "solutions" don't seem to be helping much. The visit went all too quickly and it was time to head back NE way. I think the gf did okay...my g'rents aren't high-pressure, they were just excited to meet her! ;)

One convo point of note as we traveled back and forth - my brother's gf filmed a commercial! It is for Bellevue University - if you live in the area you've probably seen her on TV. If not, you can check her out on this website. (She's in the bottom square in the stack on the right.)

When we landed in Lincoln again my 'rents dropped me off @ the original Misty's to meet some Lincoln friends for supper. I'd never been to Misty's before - one of the it restaurants in town. I had heard a lot about it though and was a bit amused by what I saw when I got there - as one of the friends @ the table said...it is like all the small town NE steakhouses wrapped into one. He's exactly right.

Since I had no car, one of my friends became my taxi and we ran a few errands - including a stop @ Gordmans! - before she took me back to the homestead.

Already 2 days down!

There is no place like Nebraska...

Had some vacay days that I didn't realized I had so I used some of them to finagle a four day weekend back to Nebraska!

Woke up dark and early to catch my flight - which was delayed just enough that I got to run as fast as one can with carry-on luggage from one end of the Detroit Airport to the other. Thankfully that plane was delayed a bit, too (de-icing).

Landed in O and was able to view the landscape covered in white! (No significant amount of snow has gathered yet in NYC - last night it was raining in Manhattan and when I stepped off the subway in Queens the ground was covered with ice slush - that's about the closest we've gotten.) I was picked up by my friend from Cali and her fam. Yep, you read that right - she was back in NE visiting her fam and offered to be my ride! When in Cali our tradition is to eat @ In-N-Out, when in Omaha - Red Robin. So Red Robin is where we went for lunch! :)

Post lunch we visited Husker Hounds (so the Californians could get some gear) and left the boys behind to head for Michaels where my friend's grandma works. She wasn't there but my friend asked what arrangements were ones she had made. And then purchased one to take to her mom's house for the holiday and see if her grandma recognized it! ;)

Soon it was time for my next stop - iSalon, where I was getting a facial from a friend of mine. My Cali friend bid me adieu as she slid around on gutter ice, "Ice, Ice, Ice" she chanted - somewhat enjoying the snow and true winter while she was here. ;)

Ready for a facial and lots of catching up! Our convo was all over the place including her talking about being at Westroads during the shootings. She had just left VonMaur and was in Younkers when it happened. The first hint of trouble was when an announcement was made that they were locking up Younkers because there had been an "incident" in the mall. So of course many had no idea what was going on until later... Knowing someone and getting a first hand account made that news headline even more personal.

We continued to talk and I mentioned the time...and it had gotten away! I managed to keep my next ride waiting for about a half hour! Oopsy! Thankfully they were understanding and when I tried to pay my friend she told me "Merry Christmas!" I shook my head - very, very thoughtful. If you live in Omaha - I HIGHLY recommend her. In fact, I have yet to find a spot in NYC - I just make sure to visit her whenever I'm back! ;)

My "ride" took me to Scooters to have coffee and chat some more! I had sent gifts to them prior to my arrival and they had waited to open them until I got there. (The sock monkey hat was one of the gifts - purchased in Union Square!)

All too soon, it was time for another switch off - my parents arrived @ Scooters to take me back to Lincoln. But first...we'd make a stop @ Valentino's Grand Italian Buffet!!!

Had a few things to pick up once we hit Lincoln so we stopped at Target! Oh Target - how I've missed you so! By the time we got out of the store it had started to lightly snow.

When we got home, the family cat's name - Purrvis - was ready to spill from my mouth as I opened the door. But then I had to stop myself. Sadly, the cat we had since my bro and I were in junior high passed just a couple weeks before I got back. I knew my parents had been having a tough time but I didn't fully realize the impact of his passing until I entered the house. It seemed VERY empty. It was so weird. And sad. Of course, I tried not to dwell on the sitch as I didn't want to make adjusting to life post-cat worse but it surprised me at how such a little animal could have such a huge impact on a house/household. My brother got a brick at the Nebraska Humane Society in honor of Purv. So if you ever go there - maybe you'll see it. He is certainly missed.

Hooray it's my Birthday!!! :)

Today it is official. I am a whole year older and...I'll just leave it @ that. ;)

Prior to out of town friend #1 visiting last week, I had put in requests for tickets at a talk show (The Morning Show with Mike & Juliet) I walk past the entrance of every day. When I put in the request it asked for 3 dates - so I put in dates that I knew I would have off beyond while my friend was here. My birthday ended up being the one they gave me tickets for!

But since my friend was no longer in town I flew solo to the taping. Munched on Au Bon Pain goodies in the waiting room and got to know the ladies standing in front of me - they were from Canada. The audience wrangler told us the topics for the day - saying that JASON LEE would be interviewed! But he quickly squashed any excitement by apologizing because the segment was taped yesterday. Boo!

A comedian came out to warm up the audience and asked if anyone was celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, etc. Another gal in the audience was celebrating a b-day, too! We both got Mike & Juliet tees.

The hosts came out for a quick Q&A (Mike was good at asking people questions and not really waiting/ listening for a response - he seemed a bit distracted) and then the show started. One of the topics they talked about was women who don't eat all day so they can save their calories for drinking at night. Never heard of such a thing but I guess it is becoming a worrying trend. Yikes!

They use a camera on a long crane to film most of the show in the modest sized studio and have names of people on the neck of it where they got smacked in the head by it! The camera swept the audience several times but I'm not sure I was visible.

Soon enough the show was over - but not before they showed the pre-recorded Jason Lee interview and announced that "today's" audience got a free "Alvin & the Chipmunks" Soundtrack CD. Once again the audience groaned as it was yesterday's audience that got it. Not that I needed that CD - but that's kinda stinky, don't ya think?

I scurried home to change into my more trendy look for the day (didn't think it would work for a morning television audience member outfit) and then headed back into the city again to meet a friend visiting from Boston.

We met up @ Union Square and grabbed lunch @ Max Brenner - Chocolate by the Bald Man. Never had a meal there before - it was quite tasty! Then we headed out to find the "Gap Tidings" Mobile I had read about.

We found it and were told we could record a "Gap Tidings" greeting to email to family and friends. My friend and I decided we'd send it to "Omaha" and practiced our movements and what we were going to do - It primarily revolved around our version of "Deck the Halls".

When we got inside the traveling studio they decked us out in various Gap stripe accessories and props and we did our thang. ;) We got free long sleeve tees for our efforts and were told the video would be posted within 24 hours. (Alas, they screwed up our posting and someone else's video was posted under our title (Cornhuskers take Manhattan) and # - but they did post the candid pic they took!)

Next, it was off to see all the holiday displays since my friend hadn't seen them yet. I discovered there were some I hadn't seen yet, either - like one strip of more kid oriented and interactive window displays @ Macy's. (You could line your face up with the astronaut helmet on the window - see lower left corner of pic - and it would project your face on a floating astronaut's helmet - so, you were in fact the astronaut! - Kinda cool!)
Time slip, slided away soon enough and it was time to pick up my "Ooey Gooey" cake (Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Almond Buttercream) from the Sugar Sweet Sunshine Bakery.

We discovered that the Bakery I had found online was in a potentially sketchy neighborhood. Was a bit worried that I had led us in the wrong direction but we finally found it and the block it is on had some other places I'd like to try sometime!

Once we picked up the cake we headed over to BLT Burger where we were meeting another friend for supper. Since we were early we sidled up to the bar and I took the opportunity to try out one of their spiked milkshakes! :)

My local friend showed up, we ate, talked and brought out the cake. I started to cut and serve and our waiter was sweet enough to find a candle to stick into my slice and lit it with his lighter.

Post supper the original plan was to meet up with some other girls that my Boston friend knows so to kill time we headed over to the Heartland Brewery in Union Square for more drinks. It would be longer than we originally thought before the girls would be ready to meet us and being one year older and all, the long day was not making me that excited to have a long night, too. So we texted our apologies and headed home.

We heard that a winter storm was coming so my Boston friend headed out when I did in the morning - sadly, she didn't beat the storm and ended up on an 11 hour ride home! Ugh!

The Homecoming

I gave myself an early B-day present by going to "The Homecoming".

The cast alone for this show is enticing but so is the playwright - Pinter. I hadn't seen a theatre production of Pinter's yet. I'd seen "Sleuth" where he wrote the screenplay but that was it.

I knew going into the show that it would probably be a mind messer, but I still sat there trying to figure out where it was going and "the point". Eventually I just had to focus on the acting. Ian McShane is good - but seems a bit overdone in the yelling department, especially for Pinter. I had never seen Raul Esparza act on stage and it was fascinating how he gave his menacing character an edge that still seemed attractive, even though you knew he was bad news. Michael McKean had the task of being on stage but not saying a lot. I made a point of trying to watch him during all the action just to see how he was handling that as an actor. (Of course, then I was missing out on the action! ;)) But as far as I'm concerned the leader of the pack was Eve Best. She plays a VERY complex character and from what I know/heard of how to handle Pinter scripts she was spot on.

As the curtain fell on the final scene and the audience sat there trying to process what they just saw - the curtain had trouble tumbling past a couch on stage. Then...when the curtain call came it only rose to the knees of the actors. Legs fidgeted as you could tell the actors weren't quite sure what to do and then Michael & Raul lifted the curtain up and popped out their heads waving and being goofy. Finally the curtain raised and the impromptu moment was somewhat of a needed levity for the evening.

Where'd the Weekend Go?!

Already it's Sunday!

I met up with visiting friend #1 in Times Square to watch a matinee of "Enchanted" before she flew back home. We saw them filming a part of the movie in Central Park on our first visit to NYC so we thought it would be appropriate to view it together in the city, too! :)

While I was waiting for my friend I snapped a pic of the dress made out of Hello Kittys in the Hello Kitty shop window. Never would have thought of that idea! May be a tad more comfy than the aluminum foil dress. ;)

"Enchanted" was fun, better than I had expected (except I didn't quite follow the climactic near ending) and after I saw the movie I found out there are a lot of "inside" references that I didn't catch...may have to see it again sometime to find all the "eggs".

I bid friend #1 adieu and later in the evening I met up w/ visiting friend #2 on 5th Avenue during a severe downpour of rain! Aside from the Rock area, 5th was pretty dead on a Sunday night. And we finally decided to hunker down in the Starbucks I frequent every weekday morning on the way to work! ;) Soon it was time to say goodbye again as she was flying out the next day. Hopefully it will be a little less wet by then...

Skating @ The Rock

Even before I moved to NYC I had planned on being in NYC for my birthday so I could celebrate by skating @ Rockefeller Center. However, since my b-day fell on a Wednesday this year I had to fudge a little and opt for the Saturday before. I let everyone know my plans and was fortunate enough to have 2 friends fly in and a few local friends join me for this "event".

The plan was to meet up @ 10am (I was told by a local, the earlier you get there the better - but I knew 9am would probably be pushing it for a Saturday Morn so thus the 10am.)

At any rate, we got in line and the line was not tiny. We found out that skating sessions were an hour and half long then they took a break for the Zamboni to go over the ice and then they started again. When we got in line, they were on said break. As we inched closer the reservation I had made for Brunch was inching closer, too.

After getting past the halfway mark my friends were determined to see it through and when all was said and done, we waited about an hour and half and paid $26 to skate 20 minutes minus the time it took to change into rental skates in a surprisingly tiny locker area. But we DID skate and scurried to get all the photo ops we could - including some with a skating Santa! ;) The 2 males in the group were also first time skaters! What a great place to make your first strides as a skater! It was my 2nd time and I had a moment of panic as I first got on the ice - what the hell was I thinking?! But soon I felt a tad more comfy - I think I managed to circle a couple times with pause for pics! ;)

Reservations were easily changed (thankfully) and as we were walking over one of my friends detoured to a street vendor. As she was looking @ ties, the rest of us started looking, too...out of the 6 of us, 4 made purchases and the vendor nearly missed the sale as he had stepped into a Cafe Europa a few feet away for a snack! I upgraded (?) to a hat with ear flaps for $5.

Brunch @ Cafe Un Deux Trois was a perfect capper to skating. It wasn't too fancy (they had crayons for you to draw on the paper tablecloth) and the food was fairly tasty and not terribly pricey for midtown Manhattan.
Once the meal was over, the group split up for the day. One of my out-of-town friends and I stuck together though, as we were going to try and get tickets to see Mary Poppins. On the way there we were sidetracked...by Ice T! Yep, Ice T is a spokesperson for Dell and they had him live and in person signing autographs and posing for pics (which later appeared on the ABC Jumbotron in Times Square) in the ABC studios building.

Back on track, we headed to the box office and got tix for $60 in the balcony.

Had a bit o time to kill before show time so we wandered over to Grand Central Station to see their light show.

Back to the theatre - When we went to find our seats we were surprised to discover that the "balcony" seats were in fact our own little side area - a small part of our view was obstructed (which would explain the price) but it was still a fun place to be perched! It had been a while since I'd seen the movie "Mary Poppins" so I'm not sure how much was added or changed but I do know it was quite a production! Very enjoyable (especially visually) and worth the money spent!

Post show it was time to celebrate another early birthday! We headed to Joe's Bar to have a drink with one of the first time skaters. I had never been to Joe's Bar before, but when walking in it felt like I had walked into a small town bar in Nebraska. There was even a guy sitting at the bar with a mullet! ;)

On the way to Joe's and back we ran into clumps of "Santas" that were participating in SantaCon. (Rather we tried to avoid running into them because at that point in the evening - the Santas were a little too jolly.)

Wonder if the skating Santa from earlier in the day was amongst that crowd?! Ho, ho, ho!

Here & There All Around the Square

I got the day off Friday and my visiting friend and I woke up bright and early to try and get standby tickets to Regis & Kelly. When we arrived the line was already about 30 people long (and that was just the standby - the actual ticket holders weren't there yet). I decided to make a trip across the street to *bucks to use an early B-day present from the 'rents - a *bucks giftcard! But upon my return I found out that I could have gotten my breakfast for FREE!!! (Even w/out a giftcard.) There is a guy that drives around to The Early Show, Rachel Ray, Regis & Kelly, The View and The Late Show w/ David Letterman and distributes coffee, hot cocoa, donuts, bagels, french toast sticks, fruit and more to those standing in line. A very cool deal - and somewhat of a consolation for those that stand and don't get into the show...

As we stood in line we found out that the couple ahead of us was there celebrating their 20th Anniversary and the couple behind us was celebrating their 33rd! Needless to say, they bonded and it sounded like they were going to hang out together as they both finished their trips. The couple that had 33 yrs racked up told about how they met because they both were scuba divers and he actually proposed to her underwater - adding that if she said "no" he knew how to cut off her air. Ha?

Finally it was time for them to hand out standby #s and we got the 3rd and 2nd to last #s. We were to come back in about 40 minutes to see if fate would smile upon us. Time ticked slowly as it was a bit frigid out and there weren't a lot of places open to hide in. We headed back and waited and waited until 9am and found out that alas...we weren't going to see Regis & Kelly that day. :( My friend did get to go in and buy a souvenir for a relative at their gift kiosk though.

Where next? To see what holiday displays we hadn't seen the night before, of course! As we headed to 5th avenue we walked past the Lincoln Center Tree. Then headed down 5th to see the windows @ Saks, Lord & Taylor (Windows alternated between mannequins dressed in white sparkling dresses and animated dolls in various old fashioned grand 5th ave mansions of yore settings) and Macys (one section of windows was inspired by "Miracle on 34th Street" and check out the sunglasses wreath!). In a very smart move - most businesses with window displays have a chained off area for people to walk and gawk so they aren't impeding the general foot traffic flow.

We decided to see what chaos there may be inside Macy's and found the New Year's Eve Ball on display! Much like a Wurlitzer Jukebox it changed color every few seconds and they had expensive replica ornaments on hand if you wanted your very own New Year's Eve Ball.

And all that was done before 11am! We went to Benjamins for lunch and visited my roommate who was working there.

Once we were warmed up and recharged we walked down to Union Square window shopping along the way. While walking the area a guy hollered at me and I ignored him (as is standard in NYC) and then I realized that I probably should pay attention to him as he had picked up my pair of gloves that I dropped! (I had inadvertently left the house with my "nice" gloves and not-so-nice gloves in tow and the "nice" ones were what he found. Whew!)

From Union Square we headed to the NYC Library where we saw the Jack Kerouac display that includes the unfurled original draft of "On the Road".

Behind the Library we went to Bryant Park to see the Canadian Xmas Tree and to ride the carrousel! A while back my mom had found some info about the carrousel and said that the rabbit and frog (w/a rooster head for a rearend - not kidding) were the most popular ones to ride. So my friend rode the rabbit and I rode the frog! About the time we started whirling around it started to flurry and since we were the only riders, the carrousel operator was eager to take pics of us so he had something to do!

Time to warm up again @ *bucks and then it was off to the Young Frankenstein Box Office to sign up for lottery tickets. (Unfortunately, I had an audition so I wouldn't be able to go but was trying to win them for my friend! :)) McDonald's was a sponsor of the lottery (which happened to be across the street) so we had our dinner there as we waited for them to draw the lucky winners and my friend won!!!

We parted ways and I headed towards my audition by way of meeting another friend that flew in and was staying with another friend of hers that lives here (did you catch all that?!) She greeted me with a bag of frozen Runzas and then we headed to Cafeteria for a quick bite before I headed to NYU for my audition.

On the way there, I walked thru Washington Square and saw that area's Xmas tree framed by the Arch.

My audition was for a feature length film by an NYU student. I walked in and was introduced to the 4 people sitting in the room, was told I'd be filmed and so it began...I felt like I was doing okay, until the person reading the other lines totally skipped some physical business I was supposed to be doing and lumped the whole chunk of lines together. Uh, er...awkward pause, oh...I see what just happened - trying to fast forward any movements I had in mind, etc I got to where I needed to be but by then I saw it all going down the drain. Dang. Oh well. Another audition under my belt and another lesson learned - for all the prep you may have, you still have to be ready for the unexpected.

When I finally landed at home I had 3 of my 4 gloves left. Of course it was one of the "nice" ones that was missing - Doh!

Spectacular, Spectacular!

So begins the start to my b-day weekend!!! Hooray! :)

A friend from NE flew in and I got off work a bit early to meet up with her and 2 local friends @ Radio City Music Hall for the Christmas Spectacular.

The place was absolutely packed and every landing had souvenirs galore as well as lots of food and beverage - which was allowed to come into the theatre (all of us found that a bit surprising). Besides our program we all got a set of 3D glasses and a little light up wand that noted the 75th Anniversary on it.

"Spectacular" is certainly a fitting word to describe this show. I don't know that I would make a tradition to go every year but it is certainly worth seeing at least once! Note to first timers - If you hear "12 days of Xmas" and the Rockettes are dancing kinda weird...that's because they are acting out all the verses! It took us just a bit to catch on to that - felt rather "Durr" when I realized how long it took me to figure it out, but felt better when I knew I wasn't the only one! ;)

After posing for pic ops and weaving our way thru the crush of people we decided to check out the lit Rockefeller Tree and the Saks Snowflakes down the lane. (If you face the tree the snowflakes are behind you and vice versa.) Then we moseyed to the much ballyhooed Snowflake - which is just that, a ginormous lit up snowflake. Our party of 4 became 3 and we were hungry!

My visiting friend suggested Ellen's Stardust Diner - a diner where the waitstaff sings as they serve!

After eating our tasty diner food it was time for me to show my friends the Charmin Building! Although they arched their brows and were skeptical about this place I spoke of...once they were there they were glad I took them! :) (Since my last visit - Molly Shannon had been there and signed the door of the stall she used which was now deemed a VIP stall! ;))