Lazy weekend.

Last night I caught a nice little set from Johnny Gallagher in the East Village with my friends Louise and Rob, and then we hit my favorite Italian place followed by my favorite trashy dive bar.

I must say that my decision to wear cowboy boots was a great choice, and that Rudy's will stay classy forever. There was even a dance party to "Single Ladies" with a bunch of random cute hipster boys; my favorites were the trapper hat guy and the one who asked each of us who we were putting a ring on.

Today has been lazy, and I've loved every minute of it. In fact, I've barely left my room, let alone my apartment. I'll venture out into the icy air in a few to pick up some things, but aside from that it's a quiet night in HK, my friends. All the better to celebrate deadline week.

Back to reality, barely.

I made it back to NYC after a lovely little break in Tennessee and Texas. The holidays were nice, if uneventful. Actually, I think they were nice because they were uneventful. Mine were comprised mostly of hangtime with the family, playing with puppies, playing the piano and watching a lot of movies.

Then it was back to the city and "real life", if you can call it that. I've already caught up with most of my lovelies here in a span of 2 days, so you could call that a success. I also consider it a success that I was able to introduce Emma to the joy of Will & Grace. Seriously, she'd never seen it. Ridiculous, I know.

Somehow in that span of two days, I've also managed to hit up several of my favorite eateries, at least the ones in my neighborhood. Just FYI, ice cream shouldn't crunch - Five Napkin seems to have issues with their desserts, but we always come back. And it was a small joy that the barista at Amy's Bread remembered how I take my tea. Sure, it was only a matter of weeks since I'd been there, but considering how frequently I'm usually there, I considered it a success.

Yesterday was also a sad day - the final performance of Aaron Tveit (and therefore the OBC) in next to normal. Louise and I went, sitting in excellent seats I was able to get thanks to a tip from Adam, and cried our little eyes out.

I'd write a mini review, but most of you haven't seen it and wouldn't really be interested in the details, so I'll just say that it was an incredible show, though also incredibly sad, but I'm quite glad I was able to be there.

Now it's back to work. Joy.

How about a countdown?

• 11 days until my bestie Brin gets to the city.
• 24 days until yet another bestie, Kely, arrives.
• 26 days until the Tony Awards.
• 34 days until my conference in Houston (yay Texas).
• 36 days until I see my dad in Paris.

So exciting!

The sun is shining, it's a lovely day...

The beauty of my job is its flexibility. I always have a ton to do, and generally work pretty long hours, but there are some nice perks. For one, I can take a little bit longer of a lunch break than usual, if I put in the extra time to get things done later in the day.

And that was absolutely necessary on a day like today. The weather is gorgeous and it feels like the city's finally waking up to spring. At lunchtime, I ventured over to Central Park to soak in some sunshine. I also got to watch a bit of softball with the Broadway Show League. My favorites from HAIR were playing 9 to 5, along with matchups pitting the casts of shows against one another in a little friendly ballgame.

Coincidentally, it's also the first game in the new Yankee Stadium today. I missed out on that one, but I'll be at a Yankees game soon, I assure you.

Nothing like watching softball in the sunshine Central Park on your lunch break to pep up the day. And shout-out to Tommar and Jay for being ballers.

Dig it, people. It was about time to let the sun shine in, for real.

And this weekend is supposed to be gorgeous, too!

It lived up to the hype.

When I last left you, I was on pins and needles waiting for the weekend. Well, it measured up to the hype.

As you might have gathered by now, I'm a little obsessed with Broadway shows. Similarly, you might have noticed that I'm becoming addicted to Billy Elliot. I had been keeping up with the rotation of who played Billy which night because I really wanted to see my favorite actor in the role again. (By the way, none of you even attempted to guess which was my favorite when I posed that question, so I'll just tell you: It's Kiril. The blonde one.)

So, Kiril was on Friday night and I got myself a ticket and went. Yay payday! He was just as fabulous as I expected him to be, and his "Electricity" was phenomenal as ever. Something funny I noticed was that Kiril really likes to milk the occassions when Billy curses on stage. For example, there's one line where Billy usually says, "I nah, I nah (that's "know" in a Geordie accent), bloody hell." However, on Friday, Kiril said, "I nah, I nah, for f*ck's sake." Of course, his second line in the entire show begins with that pleasant little word, so it wasn't a shock to hear, though it did kind of make me giggle that I noticed it.

Last note on Billy... I kind of adore Matthew Mindler, the 7-year-old who plays the role of (I kid you not) "Small Boy" in the show. He wants to sign everyone's Playbill, though he obviously has just learned to write his name. And even though it made me feel like a 12-year-old, I got a picture with Kiril at the stage door. I'm a dork, but I'm okay with it.

Then Saturday, I began a massive project I had been planning: spring cleaning. I literally took every item I owned out of my room besides my bed and my shoes. By the time I got everything but the bed out, there was no room anywhere else in the apartment to move the bed anyway. And like I would really get rid of any of my fabulous shoes? I scrubbed the place down and was very picky about what made it back in. My decor got downsized and I rearranged furniture, so it also looks a little different too. The best part, however, is that my closet has so much more room in it now. The biggest space adjustment for me in NYC has been the battle with closet space, so every tiny victory is worth celebrating.

All in all, I was at it from about noon until 5 a.m. on Sunday, so it was quite a day. Now, I should clarify that I am prone to distractions like Facebook and The Girls Next Door on E!, so it wasn't like it took 17 consecutive hours. I'm so glad I got this project completed before spring officially begins on the 20th!

Then, after going to bed so late on Saturday night/Sunday morning, I was actually up-and-at-'em suprisingly early on Sunday. I wanted to finish up a few errands before heading downtown for the event I had been so highly anticipating for weeks. Right before I hopped on the train heading downtown a little earlier than really necessary, my friend from NJ texted me saying he was killing time in Manhattan and wanted to know if I'd like to hang out. Unfortunately, I didn't make it in time because I got distracted listening to a certain Matt Doyle singing on my iPhone and got on the wrong train. Can I just tell you that makes twice in one week I've carelessly ended up in Queens because of a train mistake? Lame.

Oh, so you wanted to know what the highly anticipated event was? HAIR on Broadway. I am such a hippie at heart, and I simply ADORE the music from the show, but I had yet to see a production. I was especially excited to be going with a fun group of people from Student Media at OU. They were in town for the CMA conference (still are, technically), and my former adviser knows about my love of theatre and invited me to come along. I even had a surprise friend there, Lizzy from Phi Lamb, who I didn't know was coming on the trip!

I could gush about how much I loved HAIR for pages and pages, but you still wouldn't get the full feeling of how fantastic this show is. Sure, it really doesn't have much of a plot, and maybe some of the themes are a little controversial for the blue-hair crowd, but I had the time of my life seeing it. And, I might have mentioned that I have a ticket to the Opening Night performance, so now I can't wait for March 31. Our entire group was just enthralled by the performance, and a highlight was definitely Will Swenson walking across our aisle on the backs of the seats, and pausing in the middle of the song to ask me, "How are you doing tonight?"

We hung out afterwards at the stage door to meet all of the cast. Again, could devote pages to their talent and how fun/kind they are, but I won't. After I get my latest pictures uploaded, I'll share some with you - especially the super cute one of Gavin Creel and me. Seriously, I might have to crop him out of it and use it as my Facebook profile pic. Just sayin'. Then it was time for a late dinner at a cute little Hell's Kitchen diner, complete with flirty NYPD officers at the next table. All the Student Media girls were crushing.

So, that's how my weekend lived up to the hype provided by a dorky dancing Brad Pitt gif.

Sidenotes: Monday wasn't too shabby either. I ended up meeting up with the friend I missed because of the Doyle-subway-distraction event and we watched the EPIC new Gossip Girl. And today was St. Patrick's Day, which I LOVE! I even got to catch a quick glimpse of the parade, and I had a cupcake from my fav bakery with Shamrock sprinkles. Oh, and I've had two job interviews so far this week. (Like how I snuck that one in there?) As always, I promise more updates on my life sooner rather than later, but for now I'm actually feeling quite under the weather and am determined to be in bed before midnight.

Slainte and good night!

ETA: I always forget to tag my posts and have to go back in and edit them.

Apparently, I'm now in love with several things...

I have turned into a terrible blogger. I keep saying that I will do better if I blog in little bursts, just covering one quick topic, but then I get lazy or forget and have too many things to talk about. This happens so frequently that big things don't even get mentioned. I'm going to try to catch everyone up.

So, I'm chilling in a hotel in Newark, watching the Oscars (which I'm really unimpressed by). I am here for a work conference, celebrating the end of the application deadlines, gearing up for spring campaigns and brainstorming for next season. It's always fun to bring the RT together, because boy, do we know how to have fun! Let's just say it's a good thing the conference doesn't officially start until 1 p.m. tomorrow.

The past couple of weeks have been transitional at work, switching from crazy finish-the-season-strong mode to admissions focus (i.e. applications and interviews). And it's time to start seriously thinking about next year. Don't worry, once something worth mentioning is in the works more definitely, you'll be updated.

Look at me, breaking one of my favorite rules: Not talking about work on the weekend.

So instead, let's transition to my favorite topic: Fun in the city. I've been having plenty of that. Yesterday I finally ate at the famous Stage Deli, and though I was skeptical, it definitely lived up to the hype. They had the most amazing potato salad I've ever eaten. Yeah, I just used the word "amazing" to describe potato salad. That means it must have been pretty dang good.

Also, my friend and I attended a makeup workshop at Henri Bendel, hosted by Trish McEvoy reps. I'm in love with Trish makeup now, by the way. If you are looking for something to buy me, that's always a good idea.

Hmm, what else? What about the places to eat and drink? Mostly we've been hitting up our regular haunts - like Silk Road, Rudy's, etc. But I would like to point out the fact that I have found the best cupcake in NYC. No, it's not Magnolia (overrated), or Crumbs (overfrosted), or any other chain. There's only one of these places in the world, and it's down the street from my apartment. If you haven't tried Two Little Red Hens Bakery, you absolutely must. I insist. I even brought my RD a cupcake from there as a gift because I had to share the joy that they bring.

Finally, what recap of my life would be complete without mentioning the Great White Way? There's so much to talk about (as always)! For Valentine's Day, I (along with everyone else in the city) went to see a show. I chose Billy Elliot, and that was a good and bad idea. Good because it was seriously incredible. Bad because I'm in love with it and want to see it a dozen times now. And of course, I need to see all of the actors who play Billy! (Kiril's my favorite, right now.)

Also, my friend and I have been attempting all week to win the Wicked lottery. If you're not familiar, Broadway lotteries are systems that allow people to get great seats for cheap, if you're lucky. Basically, you go to the theater two hours before the performance, put your name in a hat, and if it's drawn you get up to two tickets for about $25. We tried a couple of times this week, but to no luck. However, I was determined to win, so we went again yesterday. (Honestly, it was more about trying my luck and wanting to win than having a great desire to see the show at this point.) As luck would have it, I had luck that day, and I won! We sat on the 2nd row and had a blast. I'm now in love with Aaron Tveit, who played Fiyero. That's awesome because he'll soon be in Next To Normal, opening soon on Broadway.

So that's what's going on right now. Hopefully there are plenty more fun and exciting things to be happening in the near future. I can't believe it's already nearly March, but no wonder time flies when I'm having so much fun.

P.S. I watched several episodes of Gossip Girl on DVD this weekend, and now I really want to run into Ed Westwick in the city more than ever. Someone out there, make this happen please?

Across the boroughs

I have had the most utterly random day. Let me explain:

I woke up in Queens, where I had stayed the night before at my friend Jericho's place, along with another of our friends, Christa. This was my first outing to Queens, as a matter of fact.

Then we decided, after a lazy morning of Facebooking and Googling ourselves, that we should go to Ikea in Red Hook, Brooklyn. (That's where the Real World cast was for the current season, just as an aside.) I am proud to say that I only purchased one thing, a really adorable pillow for the couch. We also had the perfect cheap lunch at Ikea - $2.25 for a hot dog, chips and a drink. Not too shabby.

We had been discussing the fact that there are multiple Urban Outfitters in Manhattan, yet none in Brooklyn, which we thought was strange. In fact, that is false. I used trusty Google Maps on my phone to find out that there is an Urban on Atlantic. So we drove there, too. (Jericho has a car in the city - crazy, I know.) After that rendezvous turned out to be unfruitful because we couldn't find a parking spot, we decided to continue our adventure elsewhere.

Christa and Jericho wanted to go to Home Goods to find stuff they didn't get at Ikea, so off we went. This time our trek took us to Long Island - Port Washington to be exact. At Home Goods, I really wanted to buy a lot of random crap - including a wooden duck painted purple, with a little wooden tag hanging from its neck stating, "My name is Alice." It was so ugly it was cute, but not $14 worth of cute. So Alice the duck is still at Home Goods in Port Washington.

Then we were super classy and had dinner at Taco Bell, because we realized that there aren't many fast food places in the City, and that was an experience we felt was appropriate for our very random day. Then we returned to the various boroughs we call home (Queens for Jericho, Brooklyn for Christa, and Manhattan for me).

We decided that we need to have a Five Borough Weekend soon. I mean, we hit up three of them today, but could not come up with a good reason to venture into Staten Island (is there really ever a reason?) or the Bronx. I have a feeling an outing will be planned to accomplish this feat soon, however. We are good at themed outings.

For the rest of the evening, I am crashing on my couch. I think you might giggle if you saw what I was surrounded by. It's all very Emily. I'm wearing my Spring Awakening shirt with my PJs, and I just got through practicing a couple of songs from The Last Five Years for my vocal performance class. I've been flipping through my Broadway history book, and I'm about to watch the HBO recording of Angels in America.

Random and assorted, indeed. But I think it makes for a pretty solid Saturday.

Best. Weekend. Ever.

I had seriously the best weekend ever. If I tried to sum it up in words, it would be all wrong for two reasons: 1) I would ramble on forever and you'd get bored, 2) It would still not accurately capture it. So, they say a picture is worth 1,000 words, so here's a more succinct version.

After work, some of the girls went out for dinner on the Upper West Side. This restaurant is great. Yummy Chinese food yes, but the best part is the free wine. Sure, it's just Franzia, but that makes it so much better.

During dinner, we decided to play the role of "douchey frat guys" and so what better place to go than "Bro-J's"? It's the land of boat shoes, croakies, pastel polos and '80s rock. Brings me back to South Greek days.

While wandering the UWS, we came to my favorite bakery, Crumbs. So Christa and I just had to have a cupcake. Those are some of my favorite NYC treats, and it had been way too long since I had eaten one!

Saturday, I slept in gloriously. I think I got 12 hours of sleep. Then I spent the day lounging about watching Season 2 of Dexter. Love that show SO much! Oh, and I nearly forgot to mention that it was snowing steadily all day, creating a beautiful backdrop to my lazy day from the window.

That night, Kayleigh and I braved the elements to go see a movie. While waiting in line at the 42nd St. theater, we saw the singer Adele. I was just saying how I felt like I was due for another celebrity sighting.

Though we initially intended to see Milk, we ended up going to Benjamin Button. I seriously loved this movie. The moment Brad Pitt comes on the screen on the motorcycle, I remembered exactly why he's always on the top sexiest men lists.

Sunday, I woke up relatively early and headed out for the day. At the suggestion of my mom, I paid a visit to Henri Bendel's, and I am beyond glad that I went out on that whim. They were having a massive sale - as in 80% off some things! I ended up getting several things that I would never have even considered buying before, at a total that would have been over $1,000 if I had payed original price. Luckily, I paid less for the grand total than one item would originally have cost. I have never experienced a sale that rewarding. Seriously.

And then, something that always makes a weekend great: I went to a Broadway show. And even better, when that show is Spring Awakening. I seriously cannot believe that it's closing next week, but it has been an amazing run.

Oh, and as if I was already having a phenomenal weekend, it just got better. Matt Doyle, who happens to be just my absolute favorite, was (to my pleasant surprise) playing the lead role this afternoon! I absolutely adore his voice and his portrayal of Melchior. I got a great discount ticket, which happened to be an amazing seat. The fifth row, on the left aisle! And of course, I stayed after at the stage door, and I got to chat with him for a couple of minutes. (This photo is from the last time I saw the show.)

And then I'm ending my weekend now, having just watched the Golden Globe awards. It reminded me of how many movies I still need to see from this year. Also, worth noting - the Old Hollywood look is back; everyone was so classy tonight!

And that's the way I like things: classy. I hope your weekend was even somewhat as amazing as mine, though I'm not sure if much else could compete with how great the weekend was for me.

OMFGG.

"Just tell me G.G.
Three words, eight letters
Wanna be your rock, girl
Be your steps at the Metters"

This is entirely too funny. If you're as big a fan of The Greatest Show of Our Time as I am, you will love this. At least I hope. See how many references you can catch.



And you know that I most certainly do love this show entirely too much. I wanted to point a couple of things out. First, the Pinkberry that is a frequent setting for last night's episode is the very same one my friends and I frequent on 2nd Avenue in the 50s (55th, I think?). Also, I was bored on my way home from work yesterday and decided to watch an episode on my iPhone while en route. It was simply beautiful and poetic that as I passed the Met, the girls were gathering for their breakfast on the steps in GG world. Love it.

I'm back.

Just so you know, I'm back in New York, after a wonderful vacation in Kingsport and Paris. Since I am sure to have more time to procrastinate and faster internet access now, expect more thorough posts. Here's a preview of what might be to come:

1. Rena and I are going to start working on a project. I might need your input.
2. Should I start doing a regular posting day, ala RubyTurtleHippie?
3. A review of 2008's shining moments
4. More videos, links and utter nonsense
5. The quest for that elusive 100th post.

For now, I'm actually getting back to work. But I must also mention that I am overjoyed because tonight Gossip Girl returns! I have been going into Chuck/Blair withdrawals. The rest of the week should be great, too. Tomorrow a coworker has a comedy show, Wednesday I'm going to see "In the Heights" and Thursday is the BCS National Championship game!

I hope you're all having a great Monday.

What I Like About You

As promised, here's a semi-comprehensive list of "Things That Are Awesome About Texas that I May or May Not Have Even Realized That I Missed".

1. My family. This one's a no-brainer.

2. Playing with our spastic Chihuahua, Fred. Fred, darling, if you will. You know, like Breakfast at Tiffany's. He's so spoiled, he makes me look well-adjusted and non-materialistic. :)

3. Driving on the highway. Hot, nasty, bad-ass speed, as Eleanor Roosevelt would say. It's pretty bad that I had forgotten that you're supposed to buckle your seatbelt when riding in cars.

4. Cheap beer. I'm sorry, NYC, but a $6 draft is NOT a special. It's even better when you go to the one bar in town where everyone under the age of 30 congregates and have a good time without paying a dime.

5. Wal-Mart. Okay, this one's actually a toss-up. I enjoy the huge grocery section and the kitschy High School Musical merch on every aisle. However, I was slightly nervous that I was going to have to stop and talk to a ton of people with whom I had no desire to carry on a conversation. Fortunately, I only saw two people I knew and I actually like them.

6. Movie tickets that are $2-$4. Pardon me if I spend an entire day just watching everything I want to see for the price of one ticket in the city.

7. Mexican food.

8. My favorite hole-in-the-wall local restaurants. A short list (of which I probably won't hit up in its entirety): Sandwich Etc., Burger Land, La Familia, Taco Delite, Magel's, Capizzi's, and then the chains I've been missing - Braum's and Sonic.

9. Speaking of Sonic - Sonic ice should get it's own distinction on this list.

10. Friends from high school. I don't feel the need to make this visit a high school reunion, but there are a few friends that are high on my list of need-to-see while I'm in town.

Gabriella Van der Vyer

Some really fun things have happened in the last 24 hours, y'all.

Let's begin with the scene I caused in the middle of our Christmas party last night. Even though I had it set to be recorded, I really wanted to see the announcement of the Heisman winner live. So we paused our revelries to watch the last 10 minutes, and boy was it worth it. We're all in silence as the envelope is opened, followed by a lot of screams and cheers coming from yours truly after the name Sam Bradford was announced. Everyone kind of stared at me like I had gone crazy, but I wasn't worried.

There aren't a whole lot of details to share about the party otherwise. I mean, it was full of baked goods, wine and champagne, and "put your chin on the table." Yeah, that about sums it up. We might have even watched part of Elf sometime in there.

Today was Christmas shopping day with Justin and Jericho. We met up this afternoon in Chinatown and set off on a knock-off expedition. Sadly, their 9-room purse emporium had been shut down since last weekend (oopsy!), so we had to settle for following enthusiastic salesmen/women into nondescript storefronts. The decision had been made well in advance that we were absolutely not climbing into any vans.

With a little background knowlege on good fakes and a lot of bargaining skills, we ended up hitting the jackpot. I got a very good-looking Chanel 2.55 bag that I will proudly be rocking this holiday. Hmm, I probably shouldn't have announced that it's fake on the internet. Oh well, I'm not concerned. I really wanted to find some black Ray-Ban Wayfarers, but I had no luck there. I even busted out a photo of Rob Pattinson at the MTV Movie Awards on my phone to show the salespeople.

Speaking of RPattz, there was another great purchase I made in Chinatown: High School Musical 3, Australia, oh and TWILIGHT on DVD. Too bad it won't let me fast forward, because if so I'd be watching the baseball scene over and over and over again. And that part where he's rocking the Wayfarers in the parking lot. But I digress...

Our next adventure took us beyond Chinatown down to the Young Designers Showcase in SoHo. This is basically a bunch of trunk shows piled into one gymnasium-style room. The talent in this place was sensational, and they made everything from hand-stitched pillows to crazy "Project Runway" style fashion to the most gorgeous jewelry I've ever seen to really random crap. I picked up a few Christmas gifts, along with a great hat/headband type thing for myself that I simply fell in love with and could not pass up.

Around this point in time is when Justin and Jericho revealed to me that they (along with our friend Christa) had decided yesterday that we needed alter egos. These characters are the much wealthier, highly entitled and somewhat snooty versions of ourselves that can be implemented when shopping at high-end realtors. (Or whenever the mood strikes, really.) Their names are Kennedy Vaughn, Duncan McDougal and Anastasia Beaverhausen - yes, it is a Will & Grace reference. Now, my first name was chosen for me during an earlier discussion from which I was absent. They picked Gabriella because, "It just sounds bad ass. It suits you." After a little research and brainstorming, Gabriella No-Last-Name became Gabriella Van der Vyer. I know, you're jealous of how awesome we are.

So Kennedy, Duncan, Gabriella and our friend who doesn't have an alter ego then went for dinner at Little Italy. And by dinner, I of course mean some random pasta dish and lots of sangria. Gotta go big or go home.

There was one final stop on this holiday express, and that was the Union Square Holiday Market, which is basically tents set up around the square where they sell all kinds of crazy crap. Some of it is quite strange, and some of it is straight up awesome. Since we had already done considerable damage to our pocketbooks at this point, we didn't spend quite as much time here, but it was still a lot of fun to peruse.

Now I'm kicked back, blogging, Facebooking and watching Twilight in the comfort of my apartment that happens to smell like Henri Bendel's "Holiday" and "Winter Spruce" candles, aka the best scents in the world. I'm also fantasizing about the fact that only four days of work stand between me and kicking off my winter holiday.

A little bit random.

A few things I'm currently loving:

1. Britney's new CD - It's all great, but I especially enjoy "Blur" and "Mannequin."
2. Sour Patch Kids - The yellow ones are my favorite.
3. Robert Pattinson's singing voice - It's definitely not expected. There's something gritty about it that I really love.
4. The weather in NYC - The cold is my friend, when I'm bundled. As long as the rain stays away while I'm outdoors.
5. August: Osage County - I saw it last night and it was seriously the best play I've ever seen.
6. The Christmas spirit - I haven't grimaced at a tourist all week.
7. Festive nail polish - By this, I don't mean snowflakes and trees drawn on. I mean, deep reds and greens.
8. Counting down the days until I get to go home for the holidays! Not counting today, 13 days (only 9 work days)!

I've decided I want to hit 100 posts by the new year. This one is #80, so expect a little less than a post-a-day between now and then. It's Christmas-Blog-a-Palooza! Sure, I might sacrifice content, but it's not like I'm going for a Pulitzer here.

Christmas is in fashion.

You guys. Ashanti stole my look.
I totally have (and rock) that hat. Though you'd never catch me in boots or a coat that hideous. I wore my awesome beanie to the Rockefeller Center tree lighting tonight. Four hours in the cold to see some sparkly lights... so worth it.

Fabulosity.

My good friend Sam gave me the "Your Blog is Fabulous" award! I must say that this fact should go without saying, without an award, but I'm fully appreciative that someone else acknowledges my fabulosity. Haha, she's known it for years. So now I have to list 5 of my fabulous addictions and then pass it on to five others.


1. Headbands
Not just any headbands will steal my heart. It takes something fabulous, typically from the magical hair accessory department at Henri Bendel's. I love them all, particularly the ones with bows, sparkles, and big accents that sit to the side. I got four new ones this weekend - though all but one is wrapped up for Christmas.

2. "The theatahhh..."
It's an awesome predicament when there are no shows left on TDF that I haven't seen that I'm remotely interested in. I have a huge collection of Playbills stacked up from this season, and I'm not done yet. Next up is Pal Joey, Billy Elliot, Vanities, 9 to 5, West Side Story, Guys and Dolls, Hair, Shrek, and a couple of plays I still haven't seen, like August and All My Sons.

3. Christmas, the whole thing.
The music is blaring from the week before Thanksgiving until New Year's Eve. And I have quite the collection. The decorations go up promptly at Thanksgiving, if not before. Nativity scenes and snowglobes are my favorites, which is the extent of my decorations in the apartment this year, sadly enough. Shopping might have to be cut down a little bit this year, but I'm going to make up for that with sight-seeing! I can't wait for the Rockefeller Tree Lighting, White Christmas the Musical, the Gay Men's Chorus Holiday Spectacular, ice skating, and all the decorations around the city.

4. Amazing perfumes
I have a thing for scents. I mean, it's the strongest sense tied to memory, which is saying something. I have quite the formidable perfume collection, though it's been so long since I've replenished it that it's dwindling rapidly. My current favorites are Bond No. 9 Bryant Park and West Side, Miss Cherie Dior, and the one I'm getting for Christmas, Miss Charming from the Juliette Has a Gun line.

5. Gossip Girl and the New York fan mentality.
Just click here and here, no further explanation required.

Now it's my turn to bestow the award on 5 people. So I'm going to go with... Megan, Leslie, Katie, Cherilyn, and Virginia.

Just a quick update...

I had an amazing Thanksgiving. Here are the highlights/interesting stories:

1. My sister and I walked past the actor who plays Georg in Spring Awakening on Wednesday evening. I couldn't remember where I knew him from at first. I should have befriended him. (Or "boyfriended" him, as a friend suggested via text.)
2. Patti LuPone is craaaazy.
3. We decided against getting up at 4:00, fighting the crowd and standing in the cold to see the parade in favor of watching it on TV while eating breakfast from The Bagel Mill. We would have missed the Rick Roll if we hadn't! Besides, we'd done it in person before.
4. Thanksgiving dinner. No explanation necessary.
5. We saw the Rockettes on Friday afternoon. I will never be too old to love that.
6. Christmas windows! My favorites were at Bergdorf's.
7. I decorated for Christmas. It's not quite the spectacle I usually do, but we have a tiny apartment, so I do what I can.
8. My sister and I got last minute tickets to Equus. Insert Harry Potter/magic wand joke here.
9. We also ran like fugitives from the theater so they wouldn't accost us for taking illegal photographs in the theater. It was just during the BC/EFA auction.
10. Saturday was filled with shopping. I got some great hats, which I will bust out this week, so you just get ready.
11. Mom really wanted to eat in Little Italy, because it's amazing and they have great sangria. However, we still had wine left over when we were leaving, but the waiter insisted that we take it with us rather than letting it go to waste. So they gave us the glass, and we finished it as we walked down the streets of Manhattan. Classy.
12. I loved, loved, loved spending family time, and I was so sad to see them go.

That's it for now! I'm so excited that Christmas season is here, so more to come on that topic soon.

Thankful.

Today's one of those days when I love living in New York City.

I rolled out of bed at 8:00, thankful for not having to do a long commute this morning. Don't get me wrong, I usually enjoy my time to sit and read/listen to my iPod/people watch/just mentally prepare for the day. It's just that it's nice to not have to worry about the process of getting ready and traveling before even starting the bulk of my day.

I threw on some sweats that I had to dig out of a box where they'd been waiting for a chill in the air to prompt their need, thankful to my mom for sending warm clothes my way. Then I plugged in my computer, synched up to the network and got started.

I'm thankful that there's an amazing bagel shop just around the corner, because that's where I went to take a break this morning. Normally my refuel break consists of chatting with the girls in the chute next to mine, or maybe even venturing down to Dunkin Donuts. But today, I got to hang out with my buddies at The Bagel Mill. I am also thankful that the one day I need to purchase a dozen bagels, they are the special for the day!

Now, this might prompt ridicule, but in the spirit of full-disclosure I'm going to go ahead and throw it out there. I am thankful for decaf coffee. I gave up caffeine for all intents and purposes a few months ago, but I was a little saddened by the thought of no Peppermint Mochas all Christmas, especially with a Starbucks such a short walk away from my apartment. However, a friendly barista gave me a friendly reminder that decaf coffee exists. So, problem solved. Now I have that warm minty goodness cheering me up while I work.

Also cheering me up is the amazing Christmas music mix. I'm thankful that God gave the artists such talent so I could enjoy the beautiful sounds of the season. If you haven't gotten your copy of this year's Carols for a Cure, you should. If you don't live in NYC and want one, let me know.

Finally, what I'm most thankful for this morning is the fact that my family will be here soon! We're going to have a great little Thanksgiving in the city - complete with the Macy's Parade, the Rockettes, lots of shopping, Christmas window displays, a Broadway show (Gypsy tonight, with Patty!), and who knows what else.

Happy Thanksgiving, ya'll, in case I don't get to the blog tomorrow.

P.S. On a slightly off-topic note, what is, in your opinion, the best place to get a Christmas-y smelling candle?

On the Town

I saw On the Town tonight at the New York City Center Encores. This may not seem like something momentous, because I go to shows all the time. But it is.

On the Town just so happens to be one of my favorite musicals. (Boiled down, it's about three sailors who have 24 hours leave to spend in New York City.) However, I only knew it from the music and the old movie with Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra. Regardless, it has held a dear place in my heart for years now. I'm not even exactly sure how I discovered it, but no matter. I even have a snowglobe that plays the iconic "New York, New York, a helluva town..." refrain.

It was put on as part of the Bernstein festival, honoring the music of Leonard Bernstein, with a limited 6-performance engagement. I'm so glad I got to see it done live, and done well. The music is great, the story is fun, the ballets are lovely, and I would simply adore to sing Hildy's part. (Hear that, Mr. Producer? Cast me now, please.)

That's all, really. I just thought you should know, because this little piece of excitement made me a very happy camper.

Tomorrow I'll do my own version, along with some of the girls from the office. We're going to do a whirlwind touristy day in New York for ourselves, starting with brunch at Sarabeth's. Yum.

(Also yum... singing, dancing sailors. That's all I have to say about that.)

what a week (or two)

It has been quite exciting and eventful around here for the past couple of weeks, which hasn't left a lot of time for keeping in touch, or blogging. Here's what's kept me busy.

Tuesday, 10/21:
I saw 13 for a second time, for two reasons. I wanted to see what changes they had made since previews, and the real reason -- Jason Robert Brown was having a talk-back with the audience afterward. I got to see/hear one of my idols sing and play the piano! Fabulous. Also, my friend Jessica came in from Norman.

Wednesday, 10/22:
Jessica and I got to spend some time together, when I wasn't working. We walked my favorite route through Central Park and did some typical touristy stops. I also got some beautiful shoes from Bloomingdales.

Thursday, 10/23:
Besides the fact that it was my half-birthday, I went with some friends to the midnight premiere of High School Musical 3. But I've already blogged about all that.

Friday, 10/24:
On a whim, I got a student rush ticket to Tale of Two Cities. Twenty five bucks for front-row center? Yes, please. It was fun sitting right behind the conductor, and I love being right up close for the curtain call. I honestly didn't expect much from this show, but I happened to love it. Sure, there are plenty of things wrong with it, but I really enjoyed it. And now I'm re-reading the Dicken's book it's based on.

Saturday, 10/25:
Jes and I did a lot more running around on Saturday. We started with brunch at my favorite spot, Sarabeth's (on the Upper West Side, though the one on Central Park South is equally adorable). That afternoon, we saw Altar Boyz. The best part was when they busted out Lambchop. We ended the day with more shopping in the magical corner of 5th Avenue - Bendel's, Tiffany's, Bergdorf's, etc. And we made friends with Whitney, a doorman at Tiffany's. Finally, we headed to Junior's for some amazing cheesecake.

Sunday, 10/26:
I got to sleep in, which is a rare occurance, even on my days off. Then, I spent the afternoon browsing piano music at The Colony, where I found the CAMP piano book. And then I got yet another great seat at a cheap price to Chicago. I was sad I didn't get to see the OU production, so I figured the Broadway show was a worthy substitute.

Monday, 10/27:
As I posted about below, I went to the Wicked 5th anniversary special, The Yellow Brick Road Not Taken. Might I mention that Rufus from Gossip Girl, Justin from Ugly Betty, and the one and only Mario Cantone were there? I had a blast and really enjoyed the performance, which was an early draft of the first act. I must say, it is a good thing they made the changes they did, however. And, it kind of rekindled my love for the music, because I was kind of way over Wicked prior to Monday night.

Tuesday, 10/28:
Sarah, Rena and I went to see The Phantom of the Opera after work. It was Sarah's 5th time seeing it, my first time seeing it live (surprising, I know), and Rena's first Broadway show ever! And of course, it's Phantom, so it was beautiful. Also worth mentioning is that I ate Thai food and actually liked it. That's a big deal. Ha!

Wednesday, 10/29:
Wednesday was jam-packed, in preparation for next week's deadline and this weekend's trip. I did have time, however, to see the amazing Chanel Mobile Art exhibit with Flavia and Kayleigh. It was the single most incredible exhibition I've participated in. I loved the way you were immersed in the experience, rather than being a passive observer. I could go on and on about it, but this post is already getting long, so I'll leave it at that for now.

Thursday, 10/30:
I got on the Super Shuttle to the airport at 3:00 a.m., because this weekend I got to take a trip to Tennessee to visit my family! Though traveling on 2 hours of sleep and working for hours after landing was not particularly fun or exciting, the evening was great. Mom and I baked cookies, I got to play the piano for a couple of hours, I watched Grey's Anatomy for the first time all season, and I went to bed with Bridget, our Scottie, curled up at my feet. Life is good.

That brings us up to today. I have lots to do, so I'm going to end this post now, but I'm sure I'll have plenty to say about my visit to my mom's house. I hope you have a very happy Halloween, and don't let the crazies get you!

Why I love living in New York

This is amazing:
http://www.playbill.com/news/article/122709.html.

On the Town is one of my favorite musicals ever. I have watched the DVD dozens of times. And I'm going to see it performed live as part of the Bernstein festival.

I've gone a little post crazy, with two in one day. But this is big news, y'all!

Edited to add:
In other news, we got cable/high-speed internet today. I'm utterly overwhelmed by the number of channels. Also, I scored front row center seats to Tale of Two Cities tonight for cheap! Yay!