Halloween!

There was no costume for me this year (our office really doesn't do that sort of thing) but I did wear my candy corn earrings and Boo! T-shirt.

When I got off the subway I saw a sign posted that Pink was performing on The Early Show and saw the set up when I went past, however she wasn't out there yet. I did see the Weatherman surrounded by various costumed people as he reported as well as fancy jack-o-lanterns carved out w/ the hosts' likenesses. And then I noticed the breakfast truck and although I normally scoot past (as the free breakfast is intended for The Early Show audience) I decided to stop today and got a free coffee and Krispy Kreme donut shaped like a pumpkin and frosted like a Jack O Lantern. :)
I still had time before I had to get to work so I walked over to the Today show (cutting thru Rockefeller center where I saw their harvest display) and could hear them (playing a fairytale variation of Family Feud) but could only see the tops of their costumes - someone was dressed as Humpty Dumpty. I tried to venture in closer to get a pic but was going to be stopped so they could check my bag. Eh. I decided that was too much hassle just to get a pic so I moved on. They didn't have free breakfast, either! ;)

Post work, I headed to the Sunshine Theater to see "My Name Is Bruce" w/Bruce Campbell himself introducing the movie and coming back for a Q&A after.

There were 3 guys dressed up as Ash in the audience and Bruce had the best one come down to chat w/ him. Bruce said he wanted to give the guy some money and asked how much was spent on the costume. The guy guessed about $100. Bruce said - Here's $5.

Then Bruce got a shirt from a fan that said - Bruce Campbell '08 w/ a Chainsaw on it. She then asked if she could touch his scar. He let her, but not w/out comment and then he gave her $2 for the t-shirt.

Bruce then pointed out that Sarah Berry from Evil Dead II was in the audience and said that she had to stand up and scream otherwise no one would recognize her (for some reason that pic is darker so when I tried to lighten on my computer it went to b&w!) The lights went down and Berry and her partner (not sure if he was a friend, bf, hubby or what) headed up the stairs to find a less close seat and ended up sitting right beside me!

The movie is very much "for the fans" as Bruce stated before it started. Many of the jokes would probably go over the head of those that have never seen a Bruce Campbell movie before...although, if they haven't...I'm not sure why they'd be watching this movie!

After the movie, Bruce came out again and someone asked him about the actors - to be honest, some weren't that good - but Bruce noticed the undertone of the person asking the question and tried to defend by saying he got them from the Oregon area Shakespeare Festival and that @ the very least the lead female had a little something goin' on, right?!

Most of "Bruce" was filmed on Campbell's property - which he repeatedly said he wouldn't divulge where in Oregon that was.

A fan also asked if the jeans he was wearing were the same in the movie...yes, in fact they were!

He said that Ted Raimi is the Clint Howard of his movies. (Ted appears as several characters w/ several accents in "Bruce".)

He also corrected a fan when they said he made a "cameo" in Spiderman saying that in the first one he named Spiderman, the 2nd one he was the only one to defeat Spiderman (snooty usher) and the 3rd one he was the only one Spiderman has ever asked for help. So this was much more than just cameo appearances.

Had I wanted to, I probably could have asked to go backstage to see Bruce after as the friend of Berry was fairly friendly and I also went out the stairwell Bruce was on so I could have just gone down there but thought I'd leave well enough alone. I've met him once and I really don't know what I would have said to him anyway! ;)

So from 2nd & 2nd I headed down 2nd to meet my friend @ a restaurant she works at in the 30s and all along the way I checked out the various Halloween costumes and wished I had on those camera glasses to record it all. The most creative are indeed the ones that aren't bought @ a store.

After meeting up w/ my friend we headed home and saw even more costumes (including contestants for "Price Is Right" complete w/ their bidding stands) and my friend had a guy come up from behind her and put a small carved pumpkin in her face and say "Boo!" and then kept running to the next group to do the same thing. The guy's friend was behind us and I asked if he did that to everyone and instead of answering the guy just started running to catch up w/ his friend. Weird.

The 4th in Boston!

This year I decided to spend the 4th of July Weekend in Boston visiting my friend there. I took the bus out after work on Thursday due to a delay w/ the bus, I almost missed using the T when I got there! (They stop running around 1230am.)

Since I was recovering from a bout of food poisoning it was already a weekend predestined to be laid back. Friday morning we watched Good Will Hunting and picked out the spots to find or see the spots we recognized. Then we headed out to find lunch via Trader Joes and then back to Sarah's for some SatC viewing! :) Soon it was time to head out to our firework viewing destination and our journey there was full of good people watching. So many people! We passed the area where people were gathering to listen to The Boston Pops and got free souvenir programs in the process! Then we walked past the park w/ the infamous bench from Good Will Hunting but alas that section was blocked off. No pic opps today! :(

The party we were going to was BYOB and since my stomach was being picky I thought that a chocolate stout sounded good. Of course it did - a Bud Light would have been easier to find but eventually we did actually find some! (Thanks go to my patient friend as we searched. ;))

So we get there and we hang out and mingle w/ other guests right up until it's time for the fireworks to start and then we begin our journey up this tangle of stairs to get to the roof. (No, this was not a roof party by any means - this was a roof we probably shouldn't have been on but it still had a great view! ;))

We could hear The Boston Pops in the distance and see the fireworks @ first but then for some reason the smoke would not clear out so it was a bit distorted after a while - however, that aside it was much better than standing in the rain and watching like last year!

Once the fireworks ended we hung out on the roof for a bit and watched the mobs of people spill out onto the street below what a sight! Then eventually we decided it was time to join said mob and make our way to my friend's house.

Saturday we started our day w/ a lighthouse tour....right after a quick breakfast @ Panera. :)

You can see pics from the 4th of July weekend w/ more details about the tour here.

After the tour we meandered a bit and wandered into the middle of lots of free samples connected to HarborFest! Wheeee! :) Then we met a friend of my friend's at The Times where we had the unfortunate experience to sit near an awful pub singer. (It truly was so loud and bad we asked to be moved - and believe me, we tried to tolerate it for a while...)

The HarborFest flyer mentioned a parade at the USS Constitution so we walked over there only to find that the museum was closing shortly as well as the ship so we quickly walked thru and then waited in the stands for the parade to start...late. (The museum/ship closed at 6pm - the parade was to start at 7pm.) The parade didn't end up being what we thought it would be - it was several groups marching in colonial gear and playing instruments. Since it was actually a bit cold for July we decided to bail after the umpteenth delay. Interesting at first, but ultimately disappointing.

From a distance I saw the Bunkerhill Monument - will visit it more formally on another visit!

Time to call it a night and then back to NYC in the morning!

Happy St. Pat's Day!

Since I was out of town when the Columbus Day Parade marched down 5th Avenue I was excited to actually be around for the St. Pat's Parade down 5th because that meant it conveniently went past the building I work in! :)

A couple co-workers and I took a short break so we could step outside and catch a glimpse. Lots of bagpipes! While we were watching my co-worker suggested we get lunch @ one of the Irish Pubs nearby (I had told her earlier that back in O, me and a friend of mine used to meet for lunch & get green beers on St. Pat's Day.)

So that's what we did! We headed over to Patrick Conway's near Grand Central. They have a very nice set up downstairs - an escape from those that didn't have to work for St. Pat's and were in full on celebration mode @ the bar above! After we had been sitting there a while someone familiar caught my eye at a table close by. Then I realized 4 of our co-workers were sitting there! It appears that many in the office were celebrating! ;)
Note: You'll see in the pic that I did not get green beer this year. I got Guinness instead. :)

After work, I met up w/ a co-star to run lines. We are supposed to be off book starting tomorrow. Eeek! I think rehearsal is gonna be rough...

Had I not had lines to cram into my head, a co-worker suggested Stout as the place to go for St. Pat's. I looked it up and it looks like a good place to go even if it isn't St. Pat's! Another destination to put on the ever growing list....

I also was asked to be a playwright for Phare Play's upcoming 24hr play festival. I was kind of on the fence about it but when they couldn't find anyone else I decided to give it a try - and maybe being "forced" to write will get the ball rolling w/ me writing new works in general... Oh, did I mention that this festival starts w/ us writing into the wee hours on Friday into Saturday, March 28th - the same day we have dress rehearsal for Office Hours and Office Hours opens on Sunday, March 29th? Yeah...it will be interesting...

Celebrating NY Eve in NYC

My work is just a few blocks from Times Square and the subway stop I get off on, is in Times Square so I got to see the prep for the big New Year's Eve bash - crowds weren't highly visible yet as I was a few blocks from the ball drop @ 42nd.

By the time I got off @ 3pm, the crowds had solidly reached 45th. The sellers of knockoffs were out in full force, muttering - Rolex? Rolex? to those passing by and making sure to have their purses on easily moved carts and blankets so they could pick up and go when the cops came along. The "legit" vendors had added plenty of "2008" New Year's garb added to their carts and I caught places like the Palace Theatre boarding up their glass doors in prep for the evening - it looked like they were preparing for hurricane season, but no...just New Year's Eve! Yikes!

I have to say, from where I took pics on 45th - it wouldn't even be worth standing there. You have to be @ just the right angle to see the ball drop (You can just barely see the pole above the Toshiba sign on the skyscraper in the distance) and if you aren't at that angle then well, I guess some could watch live performances on the stages set up for the "Dick Clarke's Rockin' New Year's Eve" - but no ball.

Pics taken - now it was time to get the heck out of here! Most main streets in the area were being shut down at 3:30pm.

I headed home and packed (am planning on starting my move tomorrow). Then all too soon it was time to head out again to be at the restaurant my roomie was working at, at about 10pm.

Already the subway was filled with those that had partied enough for the evening. I had one guy with crazy plaid pants and bed head (he caught a glimpse of himself in the window and attempted to make it look better but didn't) sit closer than even my friends sit to me and ask me about the book I was reading (it was an autobio of Eli Wallach - great and quick read, especially for actors) - he asked if Eli was a good writer - not realizing he was an actor. I explained that Eli was an actor that was in the Good, the Bad and the Ugly and then he knew who I was talking about. In the meantime, his friends that were sitting across the way were trying to get his attention to give me some space - he of course didn't think he was close @ all - he was just talking. Fortunately another person that he knew got on the subway so they all moved.

Finally got to my destination and got to enjoy some champagne and be adorned with a New Year's eve crown - cause you can't celebrate w/out one. ;)

Once the new year had officially been rung in and the restaurant was officially closed - my roomie and I joined her coworkers and went over to the Rodeo Bar. I'd never been - but I liked it! I would actually like to go back when it was a more "ordinary" day and eat there.

Since it was about 3am now - Happy New Year to the West Coast - we all decided to call it a night. As my roomie and I were waiting for a light to change, we heard what sounded like crumbling plastic - when we turned to look, we saw an SUV that appeared to have blown a tire. However, the longer we looked we realized in horror that the trouble the car was having was not from a blown tire, but from a human being that was hit by the car and now rolling with the tire. The guy was flung lose and run over by the SUV again as they continued driving. I truly could not believe my eyes. This was the 2nd time I'd seen something like this happen - the first where I wasn't in a vehicle nearby.

No one that knew the guy seemed to be around and unfortunately the first ones to rush over to the guy were drunk and flipped him over - I cringed, not knowing if he had internal injuries that may have done more damage. My roommate went over and said they were trying to see if the guy was breathing and others were calling 911. My next worry was that as the crowd built that some other drunk idiot would take another person out in the street - cops were out everywhere else, where were they around here?!

Once my roommate saw that I didn't follow her over and that everything seemed to be taken care of as much as it could be - she joined me again and we headed home.

What does it mean to start a new year that way?! I've been checking the police blotters but never could find an update on what happened to the guy. Hopefully he ended up being okay.

By the time we got home and to bed it was 5am. Hmmm....wonder what time I'll get around to starting my move....?

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

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!

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! ;))