Broadway...Queens of the Lottery...

Sarah and I decided that we wanted to catch a few shows during her stay, but didn't want to spend large amounts of money. Sounds like us, right? Well, West Side Story was the first on our list and one of the two lotteries that were available (of the shows we wanted to see). I had heard good things about it and the NY Times seemed to really like it, so I was actually really excited to see it.

Well, Sarah and I met up after work to try our chances with the lottery. The show was sold out for the whole weekend, so the lottery was our only chance of getting in. Sarah and I have a history with these Broadway lotteries, and have gotten quite good at winning. I was a little concerned that maybe out good luck had run out since we hadn't tried a lottery in over a year. I don't know why I was worried! Sarah was the fifth name called and we went wild! We just have lottery winning skills.Since we had two hours to waste, we headed over to Olive Garden for a little dinner. I know, I know....Olive Garden? It's kind of a little tradition (like many of the things we did over the past five days) and it was a must.

Then we went to West Side Story....Oh, West Side Story. I have a little confession to make. I have never seen the movie or seena production of the show. I have only sung a few of the songs in choir and knew that it was the story of Romeo and Juliet.

Did I like it? Well....No. I really did go in with the best intentions of liking it! I promise. I wanted to love it! I heard so many good things about it, but it was such a disappointment.

I did enjoy a few things about it. Maria was stunning and had an amazing voice. I could listen to her all night long. I also liked seeing Karen Olivo as Anita. I loved her in In the Heights and thought she did a really great job in West Side Story. I also really enjoyed the most of the dancing.There's a long list of things that ruined the show for me. I felt like the set was really weak. I know the focus of this show is not on the set, but I thought they could do better for a Broadway production. There was only one set that was impressive, but everything else not so much. I also didn't really care for Tony. Just wasn't feeling it and didn't really care for his voice. Maybe he just wasn't on that night.

I also didn't like the fact that most of the scenes that were of the Sharks were completely in Spanish. They also sang two songs in Spanish and for someone that didn't know much about the show, I found this annoying. Either go all Spanish or all English...I don't care which, but don't do half and half.

They also had some random kid sing "Somewhere." It's one of the few songs I was familirar with, and I was totally disappointed that they had this kid singing it. I would have loved to hear Maria sing it.

So, Sarah and I both walked out a little disappointed. The more and more we talked about it the more disappointed we got. We were both grateful that we went to see it, but we wouldn't recommend it to a friend.

She's BACK!

We had a solid first day! We hit up Shake Shack for some amazing burger action and then headed down to Magnolias for a little dessert. Of course the night wouldn't be complete without a little entertainment. What's more entertaining then drooling over Zack Efron for an hour and half? I can't think of much. It was the perfect start to what's going to be an amazing five days!
I heart you Sarah!

“Omigosh, omigosh, you guys!” ....Sarah's Coming!

Yeah, that's right. My Broadway buddy, brunch date, partner in crime, sky diving comrade, and best good friend is coming to town! Sarah will be here for five days I simply can't wait. We will be hitting NYC Erika and Sarah style! Watch out New York! My one regret is that we won't be jumping out of a plane this trip. Maybe next time!

Disney World: Day Four - Academy Awards...Here I Come!

We went back to Disney's Hollywood Studios for our fourth day. The Parants and I headed over to the Toy Story Mania! ride. We had to wait forever and a day to get on, but it was sooo much fun.
We met up with Kari and had our pics taken with Woody and Buzz. I gave Woody a little kiss, because he's my fave. I then turned to Buzz, who had his hands on his hips and was looking the other way (totally put out that I didn't kiss him). I offered and he waved me off. I didn't mean to offend him, but I love Woody. Kari then went over and gave him a little kiss, and all was well.
The Studio Backlot Tour ride was the next stop. It had been closed for a few months and this was the first day it was open again. They start the tour off with a little special effects show. Basically, they are trying to reenact some of the water explosions from Pear Harbor. Since we were in the front of the line, we were asked if we wanted to participate. Well, Kari and I were all over that. Basically, we just had to stand there and scream while they blew water everywhere. Good times, right?
Mom recorded a little video of us. (that's why you can hear her laughing the whole time in the background). Since we were the "wacky deck hands" we were suppose to pretend to clean until the bombs started falling. Notice how I start to scream and then start to clean again. I'm hardcore. I don't care if the ship is going down, it will be clean! I blame my lame performance on poor direction. We were told to scream and run around. Not a lot to work with! I'm still glad we did it. It was fun.

We then headed over to the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater. This was another on of my dads choices and it was my favorite of the trip. You sit in these little cars and watch old Si-Fi movies, while eating some good chow. It really felt like a drive in! The food was pretty good too.
Then we finished with some pics with some more characters.
I told the Incredibles kids that I wanted to do a power pose. They didn't even hesitate, and just struck a pose. I love these guys!

So....I'm not a baker...but.....

I really really really want to make these! I don't know if they will taste any good, but they are so cute! I've never made cupcakes from scratch, so this could get a little scary.
I wish I had an occasion to make them for! Any suggestions?

Disney World: Day Three....Guest at the House of Mickey

We spent the first part of day three at the Magic Kingdom. Naturally we arrived early and watched the little park opening show.We then jumped on the train to go over to Splash Mountain. Going on Splash Mountain first thing is an Anderson family tradition. We love ourselves some Splash Mountain. Thunder Mountain was right next to it, so we hit that one up second.
After a little breakfast, we headed over to Fantasy Land. Kari and I spent some time taking pictures with characters. We waited in line for awhile to get our pic taken with Tigger and Pooh. It was so worth the wait. Rabbit even came out just in time to be in the pic too.
Alice was next. She was so cute.We then met up with the parents to go on Space Mountain. This one's a lot more rough then the one in Disneyland, so I didn't like it as much.

Next, was lunch at Tony's. It's suppose to be the restaurant from Lady and the Tramp. It was some really good food.
Pluto, Daisy, and Snow White were in the qquare right outside, so we got to get pictures taken with them as well. Snow White's my favorite! I was so happy to see here.
Kari and I then jumped back on the train to go to Mickey's ToonTown Fair to have our picture taken with some of the Disney Princesses. Kari has always wanted her picture taken with Belle, and she finally got her chance. It was so nice chating with the ladies.We rendezvoused with the parents at the Haunted Mansion. Boo! So scary.
We had dinner reservations over in Epcot, so we jumped on the monorail for quick ride over. There was a flower festival going on, which resulted in a little photo shoot.
One of the only things I really liked about Epcot was that they had a place where you could have your pic taken with Mickey, Miney, and Goofey. Naturally, we had to do that!We went on the Nemo ride, which was a total waste of time. It was more fun taking pictures with the sharks after.
We ate at the Coral Reef Restaurant. It was really really good and had cool atmosphere. We ate next to a huge aquarium. This was one of Dads picks and it was good one.

Why Do I love New York? Reason #1:

Seeing celebrities in the wild!

I usually don't see that many in the city, but this year is getting off to a great start.

Who was it this time?

Well, let me set the stage. I was casually watching the Tuesday performance of Hair (my thoughts on the show to follow), when the cast members came out into the audience and started dancing in the aisle. I was sitting in the first row of the mezzanine on the center aisle, and one of the performers came right up to me and started messing with my hair. He then turned around and stared looking down at the seating just below us. With pure excitement in his face he looked back and shouted, "It's Tom Hanks." Of course I quickly jumped out of my seat and leaned over to get a good look. There he was....dance in the aisle with one of the cast members just below were I was sitting. I couldn't believe how close I was!I had a hard time concentrating for the rest of the show. I tried to sneak a pic of him from where I was sitting, but that didn't turn out well at all. It's not as good as my pic with David, but I swear it's him! He was there with his youngest son and Rita Wilson!When I headed out I made sure I passed by him. Luckily he was waiting to talk to the cast, so I went down stairs and nonchalantly strolled past him. Once again I tried to sneak a pic, but I ended up deleting it (stupid new phone).

It was cute listening to him talk to some of the people walking by. He just seemed so nice!

(Sigh!) I love this City!