The Vacay in NYC Part One

Thanksgiving this year was different but really great! I spent Wed. - Sun. in NYC with my Mimi, Aunt Kerri, and Cousins Brady and Tobi. It was weird being away from family, and especially weird being away from Jeremy. Don't worry...I baked for him before I left and his Mom came to Austin to hang out for Turkey Day.

I must say, NYC is probably my favorite place on the planet (and I have done my fair share of traveling). I love the diversity of cultures, food, shopping and of course BROADWAY SHOWS! I think I vicariously live out my dream of being a Broadway star every time I go to a show. This trip we saw six shows in three days:

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White Christmas-such a wholesome, festive musical that got me even more excited about the holidays. I eventually got over the fact that I had "Blue Skies" in my head for three days, and the bitterness that I will most likely not have a white Christmas.

Shrek The Musical-this was probably the most entertaining show because of the goofy jokes. There might have been a few too many bodily function noises used, but it was great. Unfortunately, there were a few things that kept us distracted during this show.

1) Teri Hatcher was sitting right behind us...yes, the Desperate Housewife herself. She laughs just like on the show and she is much prettier in person.
2) Some guy behind us picked a fight w/ another guy and at one point the f-bomb was dropped.

3) There was a teen couple sitting in front of us (maybe 14yrs. old) who wouldn't keep their hands off of each other. They kept leaning in, kissing, rubbing, etc. so my poor aunt and cousin had to shift in their seats every five minutes to see the stage. GEEZE! Other than that, Shrek was great...not Tony Award-winning, but fun.

Rockettes Christmas Spectacular-again this was good, wholesome family fun. I was surprised that it had a whole act featuring the Biblical Christmas story...NYC isn't so p.c. after all! As great as this show was, my 8-yr. old cousin, Tobi, (who happens to be the target audience for the show) slept through the whole thing.

All My Sons-(with Katie Holmes and John Lithgow) this is an Arthur Miller play. It was pretty depressing, but it was a great play. The actors were excellent and Katie Holmes is much thinner in person. That's about all I can say about this one because what happened afterward was much more exciting! So, we were waiting outside the stage door hoping to catch a glimpse of Katie and Baby Surri when I turned around and physically ran into Idina Menzel and her HOT hubby Taye Diggs. They were both in the original cast of Rent and she was the original Elphaba in Wicked. I don't normally get starstruck, but OMG.

In the Heights-this is the first Broadway musical I have seen that incorporated some major hip-hop. Several of the songs were sort of rapped and it had a Latino flair. LOVED this musical and it was the only soundtrack I bought while I was there. The guy who wrote it (Lin-Manuel Miranda) actually wrote it while he was a sophomore in college...random trivia for the day.

Sleepwalk with Me-Mike Birbiglia is one of my new favorite comedians. He is so matter-of-fact about his comedy and he cracks me up. Sleepwalk with Me is his one-man, off-Broadway show that was produced by Nathan Lane. If you haven't heard of Birbiglia, go read his "Secret Public Journal"...dang funny stuff!

As you can tell, going to shows took up A LOT of our trip, but there's more. Stay tuned for more from the NYC Vacay. I promise entertainment, and if you have met my Mimi, you know what I mean. I love that lady!

Until then...here is a preview of what's to come------>