Thursday, June 25, 2009

A little bite of the big apple

I am a lucky girl. Truly. My friend, Em, invited me to get in on an excellent airline deal to NYC with her. So of course I did. We spent last weekend enjoying the city and each other's company.

It was simply lovely. Our main wish in going to the city was see the luminous Ms. Graham
in "Guys and Dolls." So, imagine our horror and heartache when we arrived and discovered that the show had been cancelled, and the last performance was four days earlier! To say we were disappointed would be an understatement. Mustering our strength, we decided to get tickets for "9 to 5" the next night instead. Not the same but a good alternative.

Friday began with a trek out to the Doughnut Plant. I had seen it featured on a Food Network show and was determined to try some of the delightful doughnuts. I swear, I could eat a doughnut everyday and never get sick of them. Love them. We found the cute little shop and saw the owner himself out front. He's the one in the shorts.

At first I thought I would only get a couple (didn't want to go overboard), but then I reasoned that it was not likely that I would be returning soon to try all the other kinds, so I bought four with not a hint of shame. Here I am sampling my first, a jelly-filled with a peanut butter glaze. So, so yummy.

After enjoying our morning treat, we set out to do some shopping and just general city strolling. It was a great day (the incessant rain had stopped), and we saw some great stuff. One of my favorites was a glorious hat shop. I wish the picture did justice to the gorgeous creations on display. Why don't we wear more hats? Em thought I should get one and then go to the Kentucky Derby. Hmmm . . .

For lunch we decided to try out the Shake Shack. It's a little burger stand in Madison Square Park. It's quite popular (we waited an hour in line - I know, I know) and after getting our food, I could see why. The burger was very tasty, and I even loved the crinkle-cut fries. Em and I agreed that, oddly enough, the weakest part of the meal was the shake. But it was so nice to sit outside and enjoy good food with a great gal in a fun city. It was one of my favorite moments.


We saw "9 to 5" that night, which starred Ms. Allison Janney. It was a fun, energetic show. We both loved it. Afterwards we went out to Times Square because a) it was right by the theater and b) one of my brothers was there. What was my brother doing in New York? Well, he had come out to attend the US Open with a friend. They had only arrived that afternoon and had spent a few hours hanging out in the lawn chairs put out in Times Square for the summer. We had to take a picture because when else is this going to happen? By the way, my brother is the guy in orange. I have no idea whose brother that is in the plaid.


Saturday was a soggy day, but we still went out and had a great time going to Chelsea, Greenwich and such. We also made a special trip up to Tiffanys for me. I don't believe you can visit the city and not make a stop at Tiffanys. This time was extra special though because I came out with this:
Yes. My very first, very own little blue box. I had saved up to get a special souvenir. I was so excited that I didn't even open it for a couple of days. I just sat and stared at the box. Sigh.

That night we saw another great show, "39 Steps" which is a Hitchcock comedy. It had four actors who played over 100 parts. It was hi-larious and extremely well done. Sunday we took it easy and finished up things by visiting the East Village, the Upper West Side and Central Park. Then, unfortunately, we had to head out to JFK to come home. Good times usually have to end. I was made starkly aware of that when I made it back to SLC, but my luggage did not.

My thanks to Miss Em for such a great weekend. If I'm lucky, I'll get to go back soon.

Monday, June 22, 2009

The Cats

A friend let me know this was posted on YouTube. Can you imagine how cool this would be if it were real? One can only dream . . .

Monday, June 8, 2009

Who says there's nothing to do in Utah?

You know you wish you could have been there.

Friday, June 5, 2009

Happy National Donut Day

How are you celebrating?

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

I left my heart

Fabulous weekend, my friends, I had a fabulous weekend. My friend/roommate/partner in crime/rock star, Deb and I took a trip to San Jose/San Francisco. Our main objective?


It was, in a word, superfantasticmarvelosity. I had never seen the show and so, was quite excited. The horrible hype machine here in SLC did nothing to ruin it for me. I laughed, cried and was amazed. Loved it. The principals were all incredible. Well done one and all.

Besides seeing the show, we had time to do a bit of sight-seeing, shopping and whatnot. We made a stop at the Winchester Mystery House. Again, something I have never seen. And all I can say is 1) what a gorgeous house 2) Mrs. Winchester was a complete wack-a-doo and 3) I need more stained glass windows in my house.


If you look reeeeeally closely, you can see Ghiradelli Square and Alcatraz in the photo below. And maybe some lady carrying her groceries home. I'm not sure. I am so glad I don't have to worry about parking on this street on a regular basis. Hill vs. Marie? The hill.



One of my favorite parts of the trip was our rental car. We stayed with Deb's sister, but we didn't want to have to burden her with carting us to and fro. We got in around 10 pm, picked up our car and headed to the house. The next morning Deb's sister commented on our, um, interesting car. I don't usually find anything interesting about a silver Ford Focus but meh. So, we looked out the window and we saw

I don't know how well you can appreciate it from the picture, but this car is baby poop yellow. Just about as unattractive of a color as you can imagine. Apparently, San Jose has special street lights because of a nearby observatory. In the nighttime, under these lights, our car looked silver. Seriously. We both thought that. In the daytime, however, another story.
Fabulous.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Mixed Feelings

So, the first trailer for "New Moon" is out. If you haven't seen it yet, check it out.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon 'Trailer'

I'm not sure how to feel. I liked "Twilight," but it definitely could have been better. There are things in the trailer that give me hope (chemistry between Bella and Edward, cool werewolf morphing, cute boys), but there are hints of the same problems (stiff, stilted acting on the part of the vampires).

What do you think? Will "New Moon" be a hit or miss? And regardless, will you be seeing it this fall?